[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s":3,"chapter-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-233":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Immortal Through Martial Path, I Who Cannot Die Shall Ultimately Be Invincible",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2325451,4549,"Chapter 233","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-233",233,"\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou sipped tea, his mind churning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The case at the Medicine King Temple was his doing, but he killed only three people—yes, only three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three cultivators, three fourth-rank cultivators, all cultists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t a murderer; he wouldn’t kill innocent travelers staying overnight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, the black-clad masked figures had wanted to lure him to the woods near the Medicine King Temple, where one fourth-rank cultivator waited, hoping to force him into becoming an inside agent to help them break prisoners out of jail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were all conclusions he had extracted himself through interrogation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultists had mistaken him for an ordinary jailer and paid him no mind—yet their contempt cost them all their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked casually, “What does this case have to do with your Embroidered Uniform Guard? I recall it’s a Jingzhao Prefecture case.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Wuxiu whispered to him, “This case has been confirmed to involve cultists. Any cultist case falls under the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s jurisdiction.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou uttered an “Oh,” feigning sudden understanding. “So the Medicine King Temple was a cultist den?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not at all!” Qi Wuxiu shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou pressed further. “Were all the dead cultists? What about those travelers?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had killed the three fourth-rank cultivators in the woods behind the temple, away from the Medicine King Temple itself. The people who died at the temple had nothing to do with him. After all, he hadn’t recognized those travelers as cultists—perhaps his perception was too shallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Wuxiu hesitated. “Keep this secret. The Medicine King Temple was innocent—that’s been confirmed. But the dozen or so travelers who stayed there? Their origins are suspicious, suspected smugglers. Preliminary evidence suggests they were all murdered by cultists.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So all this time, it was the cultists who committed the Medicine King Temple massacre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou lifted his teacup, hiding his confusion. “How are you certain the cultists did it? Do you have proof?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We found a corpse in the woods behind the Medicine King Temple. Its abdomen and back were tattooed with cultist scriptures. Who else could it be?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then who killed this cultist?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unclear. Perhaps internal strife. Or maybe a betrayal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why did the cultists kill those travelers?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What else? Money. They wanted to steal their goods. Once they started, they didn’t stop—they just killed them all. These cultists are brazen beyond measure, daring to commit such atrocities right under the Son of Heaven’s nose. Orders have been issued: every cultist case must be investigated to the end, not a single one spared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou’s head buzzed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled the scene: he had killed three fourth-rank cultivators and thrown their bodies into the cliff behind the temple. When he left the Medicine King Temple, it was silent as a grave—no massacre had occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he woke up the next day to rumors that the entire temple had been slaughtered. He had even wondered if he’d sleepwalked that night, lost control, and gone to the temple to commit the massacre. Or worse—he suspected the Embroidered Uniform Guard had killed the people and framed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, hearing Qi Wuxiu’s account, it was indeed possible the cultists had committed the massacre. Three fourth-rank cultivators vanished without a trace—dead or alive—so the cultists must have panicked. In their panic, killing witnesses became inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, when he killed the three fourth-rank cultivators, the rest of the cultists had been hiding inside the Medicine King Temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m leaving for Dongzhou tomorrow. I doubt we’ll meet again until next year. Come, let me toast you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou laughed. “You’re leaving on official business tomorrow, yet you still found time to come here today—just to show off.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Wuxiu, caught out, looked slightly embarrassed. “I can’t show off at home, and not in the yamen either. But here, it doesn’t matter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A third-rank cultivator meant nothing in the Qi family, and nothing within the Embroidered Uniform Guard either. Where else could he show off? After thinking it over, only Chen Guanlou’s place fit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou burst out laughing. “Next time you want to show off, come again. You’re doing fine in Jingcheng—why go to Dongzhou?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dongzhou is the cultists’ stronghold. We’ve received intelligence that they’re preparing to rise. We’ve been sent to infiltrate and investigate, preparing for future operations.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou was stunned. “The rebels in Jinzhou were just crushed, and now Dongzhou has cultists rising. Has the world truly descended into chaos, with the people suffering beyond endurance?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had left Jingcheng several times, but always took remote backroads, avoiding attention. He’d never spoken deeply with common folk, so he had no real sense of what the world was like now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Jingcheng, it still seemed peaceful, the people content and prosperous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though prices had risen, the common folk could still bear it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But according to Chunxiang’s sister-in-law, finding work outside the city had grown harder—fewer jobs, more people, wages constantly falling, and crowds still fighting over scraps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few refugees from the north had gathered outside the city. But refugee waves came every three or five years—no one paid them much mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet if the whole world were as peaceful as Jingcheng, there would be no rebels in Jinzhou, no cultist uprising in Dongzhou. If people rebelled in the provinces, it meant they had been driven to the brink—starving, desperate, with no choice but to rise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Wuxiu said solemnly, “The capital region is still fine. In the provinces, it depends on heaven’s will and the officials. Whether things are good or bad—I can’t say.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Chen Guanlou couldn’t help but say, “Then the problems in the provinces must be severe indeed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn’t say whether things were good or bad—meaning the situation in the provinces had deteriorated beyond imagination. What were the Embroidered Uniform Guard? They spied on the entire realm; nothing happened without their knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying they couldn’t tell good from bad meant they knew the provinces were rotten to the core—but out of caution, they dared not speak it aloud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old emperor loved grandeur and craved glory. In his youth, he had been wise and mighty, ruling brilliantly for decades, and he would not allow anyone to tarnish his reputation in his old age, to discredit his achievements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To whisper in his ear that the realm was rotten was to deny his governance, to deny his past accomplishments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old emperor’s attitude was this: When I was young and barely understood state affairs, I still made the empire flourish. Now that I’m old, I’ve shaped this realm for decades. Even if I now choose to rest, the world will still follow the path I laid out—population and strength will only grow, never decay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My authority is like a towering mountain—who dares defy me? Who dares act recklessly? Even if I don’t hold court for a year, the realm won’t collapse. When I was young and ignorant, the realm didn’t fall apart; how could it now, when I’m old and everything is properly ordered?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It makes no sense!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You say population and strength are declining? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I suspect you harbor ill intent, show disrespect to me—execute them all.\u003C\u002Fp>",1193,"2026-06-20T17:39:59.050Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","bea4dbbabb26bdf88a30152451c8fad06d2fb2515fc95f3a7e8676d8c75b1e59","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-234","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-232",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fimmortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-cover.jpg"]