Chapter 12: with translation of chapter title

Zhou Shuo had long wanted to expand the Fangsheng Hall, but this expansion was not the gangster‑style land grab; mixing with the underworld would never yield a city, and when Qin later conquered the six states there would be no good place, so Zhou Shuo recruited Li Kai to open branches of Fangsheng Hall in the other five states.

Li Kai, having served as a commander, after hearing Zhou Shuo's words suggested going to Wei, because Zhao had been weak since the Battle of Changping and constantly clashed with Qin; among the Three Jin, Wei had long been weak but relatively peaceful, and he had visited Wei during his wanderings—its lineage was fractured, the populace resented the powerful, making it an excellent place to develop.

Zhou Shuo gladly accepted Li Kai's suggestion, then summoned Ye Jiujie to call Tie Lao Cai and Guan Rang over, ordering them to prepare the dispatch; although Tie Lao Cai and Guan Rang were a bit doubtful, they accepted without hesitation.

After sending Ye Jiujie, Tie Lao Cai, and Guan Rang to prepare, Zhou Shuo kept Li Kai alone, first having him clean himself, then using medical arts to regulate his body and mind; this man had suffered a dramatic reversal, having surrendered on the battlefield years ago and then wandered, exposed to wind and dew, accumulating chronic ailments—if untreated he likely wouldn't live many more years; having finally found a useful subordinate, Zhou Shuo naturally could not let him die.

Zhou Shuo himself practiced martial arts and cultivated the Dao, having once deceived He Wusheng into giving him a Fangxian Scripture on alchemy and forging, later self‑studying medicine; though not a divine physician, he had some skill, and Li Kai's ailment was not a stubborn disease—within less than half a month, this sorrow‑wounded old man began to slowly recover under the effect of medical techniques and spiritual medicines.

At high noon, in the courtyard's center, a half‑embedded four‑meter‑tall bronze furnace radiated astonishing heat; Zhou Shuo sat before it calculating the heat value, preparing to add charcoal, and when the heat was about to reach the critical point he stopped adding charcoal, then opened the furnace's mechanism so that the burning medicinal lead and mercury true qi inside would surge upward into the upper chamber to condense.

Zhou Shuo felt the furnace's temperature gradually drop, relaxed his breathing, sensed the condensing pills inside the bronze furnace, then slowly exhaled and inhaled, invisibly infusing his true qi and intent into the chamber; the bubbling medicinal lead and mercury, under the influence of this true qi and intent, began to slowly contract, finally forming seven pills.

When the bronze furnace had completely cooled, six pills had taken shape; Zhou Shuo cut off the output of true qi and intent, stepped forward and opened the furnace lid, and amid a thick burst of steam seven silver pills the size of pigeon eggs lay still in the chamber; gazing at these seven pills, Zhou Shuo immediately felt a special resonance—just a thought stirred them, and the seven pills shot forward to hover before him.

"Success." Zhou Shuo let the other six pills float around him, reached out and pinched one, gazing at the flawless silver sphere, a smile unbidden appearing on his face—this Qi‑Spirit Golden Core was preliminarily forged.

After sparring with the vulture, Zhou Shuo could already tell he was not the type of martial artist who could engage in close‑quarters life‑and‑death combat; having opened the Ren and Du meridians and made progress in Daoist arts, he began seeking development in Daoist techniques, lacking high‑level methods, so he looked for a way in the art of forging, and this Qi‑Spirit Golden Core is the treasure he forged by combining the Manifestation Golden Core and qi‑refining technique.

In Daoist arts, the Manifestation realm is when the soul is cultivated to toughness, able to borrow external things—smoke dust, water flow, sand—to shape a body for physical attack; the Fangxian Dao forges lead‑mercury medicines into a Manifestation Golden Core, burning it into metallic vapor for the soul to embody and manifest; Zhou Shuo also uses this method, except that the Manifestation Golden Core is a consumable, whereas the True Qi Golden Core he refines serves incidentally as a treasure, dispersing into qi, condensing into pills, and capable of taking various forms to protect the body and harm foes.

"Tsk!" Zhou Shuo gazed at the forged Qi‑Spirit Golden Core, then involuntarily sucked in a breath; although he could constantly pour intent and true qi into it to strengthen its bond with himself, even if the Qi‑Spirit Golden Core were refined to great destructive power, upon encountering a Daoist master it might still prove ineffective—this is the difference between internal and external; a superb secret manual is priceless in any world, and Huang Shang is not so easily made.

"Master of the Hall." Just as Zhou Shuo was pondering, a disciple of the Fangsheng Hall entered and paid his respects.

"What is it?" Zhou Shuo stored the Qi‑Spirit Golden Core in his sleeve, turned to look at his subordinate; after Ye Jiujie followed Li Kai to Wei, he had no personal attendant left at his side.

"A disciple of the Qijue Hall just came, saying Lord Wei Zhuang invites you to the Zi Lan Xuan." The disciple reported the matter somewhat respectfully.

Wei Zhuang seeking him out probably meant another amusement, or perhaps it was about Li Kai; Zhou Shuo rose, dismissed the disciple, tidied himself, and set out for Zi Lan Xuan to meet Wei Zhuang—although there were no ready‑made superior techniques and Huang Shang was not easy to accomplish, most failures in the world are those who give up before success.

Upon arriving at Zi Lan Xuan, Zhou Shuo was greatly surprised—Wei Zhuang was not there; instead awaiting him were Han Fei and the owner of Zi Lan Xuan, Zi Nu, as dusk approached; when Han Fei saw him, he first startled, glanced at Zi Nu, then stepped forward and clasped his hands in salute.

"Brother Zhou."

"Young Master Nine, where is Elder Brother Wei Zhuang? He summoned me, thinking there would be another bustle." Zhou Shuo returned the salute with clasped hands, while glancing at Han Fei and Zi Nu behind him.

"It's precisely because I heard you enjoy liveliness that I invited you here." Zi Nu changed into a purple dress, the corners of her mouth hinting a smile, she approached gracefully to reply; the one who invited Zhou Shuo was not Wei Zhuang but herself.

Facing Zi Nu's words, Zhou Shuo noticed Han Fei's smile was stiff—evidently he had not anticipated this invitation; it was an interesting invitation, but he had no need to concern himself further; as long as there was liveliness to watch, that was fine.

"But where is this liveliness? The sky is already dark—should we go out with lanterns?" Zhou Shuo lifted his head to look at the sky; faint stars were already appearing.

"The night is long, going out with lanterns makes a fine ambience." Han Fei followed Zhou Shuo's gaze upward, looked at the hidden stars, the moonless sky, and couldn't help chuckling.

"What's there to discuss about ambience? If there's business, just lead the way!" Zi Nu eyed the affectedly nonchalant Han Fei, her lips twitching; Han Fei's face correspondingly fell, he gave a wry smile at her spoiling, but could only nod and turn.

Zi Nu took two gauze lanterns from inside Zi Lan Xuan, then handed one to Zhou Shuo; the two lifted their lamps and, led by Han Fei, passed through the dim city lanes, entered a desolate, cold palace courtyard, not far from the ruins lay the glittering lights of Han Palace, the residence of the Han king.

"I never expected the supposedly splendid Han Palace to have such a place." Zi Nu held a gauze lantern, walking along a lakeside corridor, looking at the withered, untended waterweeds below, she felt a hint of curiosity—the palace grounds were usually kept clean and beautiful, even the aquatic flora and fauna had dedicated caretakers who would fish out any dead growth to avoid marring the palace's overall aesthetics, yet here there was no sign of any upkeep; it looked long abandoned.

"A royal palace—nothing here would be strange." Zhou Shuo scanned the dark palace courtyard, noticing that in the messy center of the lake there seemed to be a patch of land bearing a flowering tree in full bloom, which looked exceptionally beautiful in the night light, seeming out of place in this cold palace.

"Brother Zhou, how could you have such feelings!" Han Fei glanced at Zi Nu's slightly lagging steps, then fixed his gaze on Zhou Shuo holding the lantern.

"Once you enter the palace gates it's as deep as the sea; to be born mistakenly in the imperial gardens—isn't that common knowledge?" Zhou Shuo gave Han Fei a sideways glance; if he merely had such feelings from watching modern palace dramas, then this Young Master Nine, born in the imperial gardens, ought to understand better—this is clearly pretending to be confused while knowing the truth.

"Then why don't I have it!" Han Fei's face fell bitterly; "Once you enter the palace gates it's as deep as the sea; to be born mistakenly in the imperial gardens"—that statement is quite right, I can indeed feel it deeply, but when did such things become common knowledge!

"Don't look at this place's present decay; I imagine it once bustled, humble rooms empty halls, years ago beds choked with rushes, withered grass fluttering, years ago songs and dances rose." Zhou Shuo ignored Han Fei's bitter face, surveyed the cold courtyard, and a line from Dream of the Red Chamber rose in his heart; he felt it, murmured it aloud, and also thought of himself—life is like a palace drama, he could obtain the gate of transmigration, make this journey; if tomorrow he lost that gate, what would become of him?

"Mm." Zi Nu listened to the poetic comparison, couldn't help but glance askance; beside her, Han Fei also opened his mouth, feeling that this lord seemed even more like a princely scion than himself.

"Cough cough, said too much—here you're the landlord, you introduce!" Zhou Shuo casually recited the verse, then, seeing Zi Nu's sidelong glance, he promptly stopped; he was just making a casual remark, had stolen the scene, still better let the landlord speak.

"Hehe, just as Brother Zhou said, this place indeed once thrived, bustling and hot, but now it has grown cold, used to preserve the memory of its departed master; Brother Zhou, can you guess who that departed master was?" Han Fei suddenly turned to Zhou Shuo and asked.

"This is Xinzheng, maybe it's Duke Zhuang of Zheng." Zhou Shuo replied offhand, not mentioning the plot—Xinzheng was once the capital of the State of Zheng, later Han conquered Zheng and moved the capital here; that could make Han Fei, a Legalist scholar, feel moved, and likely only that early hegemonic Duke Zhuang of Zheng would evoke such sentiment.

"Brother Zhou, why are you so certain?" Han Fei looked at Zhou Shuo in surprise—what kind of background does this guy have?

"Simple, because your Han state has produced few notables; I recall only a handful—Shen Buhai, Duke Zhuang of Zheng, and… Shen Buhai is a famed Legalist minister, this is a royal palace, the fitting person would be Duke Zhuang of Zheng alone." Zhou Shuo sized up Han Fei; actually, if we truly count notable figures from Han, Han Fei himself is one, the Zheng state that aided Qin in canal work is another, and, well, early Han's Zhang Liang could barely count as one, but these three are hard to speak of—historically he just knows that many people.

"Brother Zhou…" Han Fei half‑laughed, half‑cried—Duke Zhuang of Zheng isn't from Han; he's the ruler of Zheng, and moreover this lord's tone suggests only a handful of people could catch his eye in Han; others presumably couldn't, but before he could finish his words, Zi Nu beside him cut him off.

"You look down on Han?"