Chapter 40: Wealthy and Imposing

Xu Chen and the other two followed Offering Yu into the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Zhao Rui was already waiting to receive them in Xianyun Hall.

Seeing the three, he hurriedly bowed and said, "Zhao Rui has been presumptuous in my invitation; I ask that the three Daoist Friends forgive my offense."

The three returned the bow, and Jiu Shixiong smiled, "Your Majesty is too modest. We came on our master's orders to offer birthday congratulations to Your Majesty and should have visited earlier, but because an incident occurred on the road and there were still some loose ends to tie up, we arrived late. We ask for your understanding."

Zhao Rui's expression immediately grew solemn. He invited the three to be seated, served them Spirit Tea, and then dismissed the palace maids, eunuchs, and attendants before asking, "Could it be that the Ziyang Sect is still coveting that Spirit Medicine?"

Jiu Shixiong nodded slightly and said, "Since Your Majesty already knows, it would be improper for us to conceal it. That is indeed the case. On the way to Jingshi with Princess Xiyun, we encountered a Zhenyuan Realm expert from the Ziyang Sect blocking our path to rob us. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to slay them, but there are still others following us. We dare not be careless and have been searching for their traces in Jingshi these past two days."

Zhao Rui's face showed hatred as he said, "This Ziyang Sect has too little regard for our Song Immortal Sect; they actually dare to come to Jingshi to strike."

Jiu Shixiong smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, rest assured. We will handle this matter ourselves and will not bring trouble to Your Majesty. For now, may I ask where Princess Xiyun is?"

Zhao Rui raised a hand to signal, and soon Princess Xiyun entered from a side door. Seeing the three, her eyes filled with surprise and joy. She knelt on the ground and bowed, "Zhao Qian thanks the three Immortal Masters for protecting me all the way so that I could reach the capital and see His Majesty. Your great kindness and virtue will never be forgotten."

Jiu Shixiong nodded and said, "Princess, please rise. It was a mere trifle, not worth mentioning!"

After Princess Xiyun stood up, Jiu Shixiong looked at Zhao Rui and said, "Regarding the matters of the Marquis of Xilu and the Pingxi King, it seems Your Majesty has already reached a decision."

Zhao Rui let out a long sigh and said, "I had doubts from the beginning about the Pingxi King killing the Marquis of Xilu, but I arranged for imperial censors to investigate and found no traces. All those in the know were silenced by the Pingxi King; the only one to escape was Princess Xiyun. If not for the three Daoist Friends escorting her to the capital, I fear I would still be kept in the dark. For so many years, I have indeed been too indulgent toward this younger brother of mine."

Jiu Shixiong smiled, "These are Your Majesty's family affairs. Even if we Immortal Sects know of them, it is not our place to intervene. However, with the Ziyang Sect meddling, it is indeed difficult for Your Majesty. Since the Yuqing Hall is now offering assistance and Your Majesty has recruited so many cultivators to help, I imagine the rebel army will be quelled in a matter of days, and the Great Song will remain peaceful and prosperous—truly a blessing for the common people."

Zhao Rui smiled bitterly, "I hope for your auspicious words, three Daoist Friends. If this battle is fought, I fear it will bring devastation to the people, with tens of thousands dead or injured. Since there are still remnants of the Ziyang Sect active in Jingshi, I must trouble the three Daoist Friends to take action. If you need my help, I will certainly go all out."

Jiu Shixiong said sternly, "Dealing with the Ziyang Sect is the duty of the Taiyuan Sect. However, regarding the Spirit Medicine that Princess Xiyun brought back..."

"Ah, why mention a mere Spirit Medicine, three Daoist Friends? I must thank you three for your righteous intervention; otherwise, with the Pingxi King colluding with the Ziyang Sect, I fear my throne would not be secure. Rest assured, three Daoist Friends, the Taiyuan Sect will absolutely not be implicated in this."

Upon hearing this, the heart that Xu Chen and the others had been holding in their throats for so long finally relaxed completely.

Of course, along with the surprise, there was also some lingering fear.

The Blood God Grass was no small matter, but fortunately, Princess Xiyun had no idea what it was, and the Emperor seemed to have no intention of looking into it closely, which made things much simpler.

And so, for the rest of the time, the three drank and chatted with Zhao Rui, incidentally exchanging much information regarding the causes and consequences of the Pingxi King's rebellion. Once the pot of tea was finished, the three rose to take their leave.

Before they left, Zhao Rui actually gifted each of them a bottle of Great Origin Pill as a token of his gratitude.

"It seems the Yuqing Hall has truly invested quite a lot this time!"

Back at the inn, sitting in their room, Jiu Shixiong was filled with excitement and emotion.

Today, they had finally felt the power of the phrase "wealthy and imposing."

Just a moment ago at the Liushang Garden, when they had traded for various rare Spirit Medicines and Spirit Materials in succession, all the cultivators had gasped in astonishment.

Just yesterday, the three were overjoyed by the Third-grade Small Yuan Pill gifted by the Treasure Pavilion, but in the blink of an eye, they felt as if they had an endless supply of Great Origin Pills.

Including these three bottles, the three of them now had eight bottles of Great Origin Pills. The entire Taiyuan Sect could only refine about that many in half a year, and when divided among more than ten people, each person would only get a few pills. Furthermore, those were prioritized for the three Elders and the few Zhenyuan Realm senior brothers and sisters; for a "scum" like Xu Chen who wasn't even in the middle stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, there wasn't a single one.

However, they did not know that most of the pills gifted by the Yuqing Hall and the Emperor were merely to curry favor with the Great Elder Danchenzi, who was about to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm.

If it were just for the sake of the three of them, I fear the Spirit Medicine they had obtained would have been forcibly taken by the Yuqing Hall.

Zhao Xuan's expression, however, was somewhat worried as she said, "The matter is growing larger and larger. I worry that news of the Blood God Grass will eventually spread. We cannot stay in Jingshi for long."

Xu Chen was feeding the Xiao Huli and did not make a sound.

The Blood God Grass was a massive opportunity for the Taiyuan Sect, but for the three of them, it was a giant bomb.

However, he could not play much of a role in this matter.

Because ever since he came down the mountain and experienced what he had, he felt he was very ill-suited for these power struggles between the mortal world and the Immortal World.

Previously, he had thought the imperial forces were nothing in the eyes of the Immortal Sects, but after truly coming into contact with them, he realized they were not that weak. At the very least, relying on the great tree that was the Yuqing Hall, the strength of the Great Song Emperor was still very formidable, and the Taiyuan Sect had no power to shake it.

The Immortal and mortal worlds were intricately intertwined; any move would cause turmoil and unrest in both realms.

The only thing he needed to do now was to improve his own strength as quickly as possible.

Because whether in the Immortal World or the mortal world, to get along well, one had to speak with strength.

His current strength was too pathetic; he had no power to speak at all.

Even Jiu Shixiong, who was in the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, was not considered outstanding among the cultivators who had come to Jingshi to offer birthday congratulations; his cultivation could only be considered average.

Not to mention that a Ziyang Sect Zhenyuan Realm expert was still hiding in the shadows, watching them like a tiger.

The room was somewhat silent. After Xu Chen finished feeding the Xiao Huli half a bowl of milk and slowly tidied up, he said, "The only good news right now is that all the attention of the Song Kingdom's Immortal Sects will turn toward the Ziyang Sect and this rebellion-suppression war. It is possible that not many people will come to care about this matter in the short term."

Jiu Shixiong nodded, "Junior Brother is right. This is indeed good news. At the very least, before the news of the Blood God Grass leaks, we are still very safe."

Zhao Xuan said, "It is not only Princess Xiyun and the Emperor who know the news of the Blood God Grass. I worry that because of the Emperor's actions today, the people of the Ziyang Sect will spread this news to disrupt the Great Song's footing and buy the Ziyang Sect some time to respond."

Jiu Shixiong, however, curled his lip and waved his hand, "Junior Sister, rest assured. The people of the Ziyang Sect will absolutely not spread it, because the more they stir things up, the greater the pressure the Song Kingdom's Immortal Sects will put on them. Today, even the Longmen Mountain, which wanted to stay out of it, couldn't help but intervene. I fear they will soon join forces with the Yuqing Hall to pressure the Ziyang Sect, forcing them to hand over the Immortal Treasure from the Ancient Tomb."

Xu Chen's eyes lit up, "If four Spirit Realm Great Cultivators strike together, I fear the Ziyang Sect won't be able to resist!"

Zhao Xuan couldn't help but smile, "Junior Brother, you think too simply. Before the Immortal Treasure is clearly identified, these Spirit Realm Great Cultivators who cherish their reputations will not easily start a war. Furthermore, the Ming Kingdom also has several Spirit Realm Great Cultivators. If the Ziyang Sect cannot hold on, the other Immortal Sects will absolutely not stand idly by. By then, who wins and who loses will still be an unknown."

Xu Chen chuckled, "Wouldn't that be even better? They can fight to the death and beat each other's brains out, while we quietly make a fortune. No one will care about scum cultivators from small sects like us."

Jiu Shixiong slapped Xu Chen's shoulder hard and laughed, "Coming down the mountain this time, Junior Brother has truly grown quite a bit. Thinking this way is correct. Protecting your own life and quietly making a fortune is the best path of cultivation. Let's go, let's go out and browse other trading venues for cultivators. Perhaps we can still get some good things. Our luck was good today; we actually managed to trade for three types of Spirit Medicine for refining Heqi Pill. Perhaps if we are lucky, we can collect the remaining few Spirit Medicines while in Jingshi."

Zhao Xuan curled her lip, "You're ugly, but you sure have beautiful dreams!"

"Hehe!" Jiu Shixiong laughed dryly, "It's mainly because I feel particularly wealthy and imposing today. I've come down the mountain to train so many times, and I've never felt this refreshed."

A moment later, on a pavilion not far from the inn, a young man and woman were watching Xu Chen and the other two leave and head toward the north of the city.

"Senior Brother, we cannot continue to stay in the Great Song's Jingshi. We must send the news back immediately!" Lin Qiu Ya said with some anxiety.

The handsome young man in white frowned, "It is already too late to send this news back now. Since the Yuqing Hall knows the news, they have certainly already gone to visit the Ziyang Sect."

Lin Qiu Ya said urgently, "Even so, the sect still does not know that the Yuqing Hall would actually support the Song Kingdom's Emperor in using this method to recruit cultivators to deal with us."

The young man in white said impatiently, "Junior Sister, do not lose the big picture for the sake of the small. Even if the sect loses some low-level cultivators this time, as long as we can bring the Blood God Grass back, our Ziyang Sect will produce another Spirit Transformation True Monarch; these losses are completely not worth mentioning. Once we leave, this Blood God Grass will never be obtained again."

Lin Qiu Ya thought for a moment and said, "Then Senior Brother, you stay here to deal with the people from the Taiyuan Sect, and I will go back alone to report."

The man in white grabbed Lin Qiu Ya's arm, his expression showing a hint of ruthlessness as he said, "You are not allowed to go back!"

"Why?" Lin Qiu Ya said, both shocked and angry.

The young man in white felt that his emotions were perhaps a bit too agitated. He let go and forced a smile, "Junior Sister, your realm is too low. It is thousands of miles back, and since the Song Kingdom has already begun to lay out plans to deal with the Ziyang Sect, I am not at ease with you going alone."

Lin Qiu Ya then turned her worry into joy, leaning gently into the white-robed man's embrace and whispering, "So Senior Brother was worried about my safety, but the situation is urgent right now; we cannot just do nothing."

The white-robed youth thought for a moment and said, "The Taiyuan Sect must be anxious to send the Blood God Grass back right now. After the Emperor's birthday banquet ends the day after tomorrow, they will surely be in a hurry to leave; that will be our chance to strike. Once we obtain the Blood God Grass, you and I will return immediately. At most, it will only delay us by one more day, so it certainly won't cause any trouble. Let me see where they are going now, and later, Junior Sister, you can find an opportunity to rendezvous with them and strive to find out their departure time as soon as possible."

After the white-robed man finished speaking, he flipped his hand to take out an ancient-looking Copper Mirror and tapped his finger lightly on it, only to see a speck of green light appear within the Copper Mirror.

The green dot was precisely a wisp of Soul imprint that Lin Qiu Ya had left inside the Jade Slip she gave to Xu Chen.

It indicated that the three of them were currently heading toward a desolate mountain outside the city's north gate.