[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-peace-decree":3,"chapter-the-peace-decree-the-peace-decree-chapter-106":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Peace Decree",{"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},2328281,4553,"Chapter 106: The Old Affairs of the World: Seizing Its Qi, Fate, and Mandate","the-peace-decree-chapter-106",106,"\u003Cp>The Qilin immediately reacted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked at Li Guanyi, and its first response was agitation and worry; it let out a low roar, and the fire that had merely flowed and shifted across its scales now blazed fiercely. The Qilin said: “What are you doing here?! This place is dangerous—those sorcerers could return at any moment!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Leave at once!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi did not answer, but instead manipulated the formation’s transformation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The formation’s inherent power covered an immense area, rivaling that of top-tier experts, yet controlling it was like pulling the trigger of a powerful crossbow—it required only a modest amount of Qi. At Li Guanyi’s current realm, if he were to attempt to activate this great formation fully as a killing array,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he could not do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But using his own Qi to guide subtle changes in the formation, gradually weakening its power, was not difficult. Establishing such an array was profoundly mysterious, but dismantling it was far simpler.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the influence of Li Guanyi’s Qi, the malevolent energy of the [Four Symbols Sealing Array] weakened, and the confinement upon the Qilin gradually lessened. At first, the Qilin had been pinned down by chains and Eight Trigram bronze pillars; now, as Li Guanyi moved, the array’s power dimmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi exhaled in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the core region of this array was far more complex, it still fell within the variations of the [Four Symbols Sealing Array], and did not exceed the scope of the Sixtieth Volume of the [Imperial Chronology Scripture].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Li Guanyi delved deeper, he sensed four forces circulating and transforming within the array, interlocking and mutually generating and restraining one another like chains, together forming the core seal of this great formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dragon, Tiger, Phoenix, Turtle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Four Celestial Spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their transformations were profoundly subtle, aligning with the shifts of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi responded to each one in turn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Zǔ Wenyuǎn had taught him daily, just as he had practiced and deconstructed with the silver-haired girl after every session.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did it effortlessly, almost without thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could dismantle the array as easily as plucking a flower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qilin froze, watching the son of an old friend sit there, right hand raised, fingers like a sword, weaving Qi changes with effortless grace. The mysterious array that had resisted its own attempts for ten years was now slowly unraveling under his movements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a sharp crack,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>one chain finally snapped loose!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qilin’s body, long pressed low, could now stand upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No longer forced to endure the agonizing posture of being unable to lie down or stand straight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, the second chain loosened; flames surged and shifted across the Qilin’s body, blazing intensely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qilin noticed Li Guanyi’s complete focus and knew he was at a critical moment; despite all its curiosity and questions, it held its tongue and did not disturb him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi’s eyes half-closed; as he deduced and dismantled the array, his own [Four Symbols Meridian Body] shifted in response. In an instant, the array’s interior seemed to become his dantian—he adjusted his internal cultivation according to the array’s external changes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Water countered fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fire overcame wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the outer Four Symbols’ sealing array slowly unraveled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the inner Four Symbols’ cultivation body adjusted perfectly in step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The final, stuck step of the First Realm’s Hunyuan stage—long blocked—now trembled, hinting at imminent breakthrough. When the Four Symbols unified and his body achieved complete Hunyuan, Li Guanyi would step into the Second Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his study time had been too short.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this array was far too complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi finally undid the portions he could dismantle, withdrew his hand, and said softly: “This array is extremely complex. I have learned its diagram.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I cannot unravel it all at once. Still, this much will make you more comfortable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve dismantled part of it, leaving only the surface layers intact. When you lie dormant, no one will notice the internal seals have been broken. I’ve recorded the changes after my work—I’ll return once I’ve figured out this section and finish dismantling it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qilin nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi was about to speak again when his expression suddenly froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat at the array’s main position and sensed its subtle shifts—now, a ripple had formed in the southeast and was rapidly approaching. It was that sorcerer—he had returned in only a quarter of an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi frowned. “He’s back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guards stationed here were all sorcerers above the Third Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sorcerers’ cultivation was many times harder than that of martial artists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fewer people pursued it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, those who achieved mastery were rare, and each bore great renown in their region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their methods were strange, mysterious, and uncanny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi was merely a First Realm martial artist. Without his Golden Skin and Jade Bones, an ordinary cultivator of his realm could not withstand even a Third Realm sorcerer’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately planned to withdraw, but the man arrived too quickly. Li Guanyi erased all traces of his entry, reseated the Qilin as before, scanned the area, stepped forward, and vanished into the array, hiding behind a thicket within it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His right hand gripped his sword hilt, brows furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why had this sorcerer returned so early today?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it true that the thing you feared most always came to pass?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi slowed his breath, calmed his spirit. He had dared to come here because he had prepared thoroughly—he understood this array and could use it to slip away gradually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the one who arrived was not just the sorcerer—there were two people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was the sorcerer in gray robes, with a goatee, around forty years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other was a woman wearing a hood; her voice dripped with mockery: “The great sorcerer of the realm, Hou Zhongyu, dares speak to a weak woman only within your own array? You’re less brave than a mere martial artist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Meeting a palace maid in secret inside the imperial palace.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aren’t you afraid His Majesty’s Imperial Guards will storm in and drag us both away?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forty-something sorcerer smiled faintly. “Merely caution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, this [Four Symbols Sealing Array] is the foremost array openly known in the realm today, located deep within the imperial palace. To converse here is safest. Lady, rest assured—these days are precisely when the Gold-Wardens are changing shifts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The new Gold-Warden is a rebellious youth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I spent several days observing his routines.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At this very moment, he is cultivating his breath and Qi in the pavilion garden of the Qilin Palace, forbidding all disturbance, and will not patrol. Though he is His Majesty’s personal guard, he comes from a noble family, a relative of the imperial clan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if he’s not a complete wastrel, he doesn’t vigilantly uphold his duties at every moment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I guarantee you, our conversation will not be detected by that Gold-Warden.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Guanyi silently cursed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Truly, an ancient fox met its match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Playing a duet from the Tales of the Supernatural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had calculated every possibility, yet never imagined he’d meet someone with the same cunning as himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While he was probing the other’s schedule, the other was probing his—hence their collision. Li Guanyi suddenly recalled Zǔ Lǎo’s words: variations are rarer than standard forms, proving the array’s controller has divided loyalties. It was true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why was he meeting a palace maid inside the palace?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi gripped his sword, expression calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu paused, then said: “After all, the Empress’s confidante comes to speak with a man about another man—if discovered, even if I kill that Gold-Warden, both you and I will be executed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace maid fell silent, then replied coolly: “...You understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu said: “After all, it concerns that man.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace maid seemed enraged, her teeth clicking sharply: “Be silent!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu smiled and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only you and I are here. Must we whisper about such matters? If we won’t speak plainly, then wait until the end—until His Majesty deposes the Empress, casts her into the Cold Palace, and your privileged life as her confidante vanishes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After all...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His Majesty knows the Crown Prince is the bloodline of the Regent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Guanyi covered his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instinctively suppressed his Qi even further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with his composure, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Crown Prince is the Regent’s bloodline?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Emperor knows?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly understood why Xue Imperial Consort was so favored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace maid, enraged, clenched her teeth audibly: “Be silent!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu said calmly: “Be silent? If Her Majesty refuses to provide me what I need, then I have no reason to conceal anything further. Let us speak plainly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace maid snapped: “You demand more and more!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu countered: “To obtain Qilin blood for eternal life requires the power of an entire nation!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace maid hissed: “You—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She calmed herself. “His Majesty will not harm the Crown Prince.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu smiled again. “Yes, he won’t—because the Regent still lives.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hidden, Li Guanyi gripped his sword hilt tightly, feeling he had stumbled upon something monumental. The Regent—the tyrant—was still alive? And the current Crown Prince was his blood?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu sneered: “His Majesty ordered the destruction of the records of Grand Duke Taiping and the Regent—not merely to conceal the Regent’s past deeds and preserve the imperial family’s honor? Grand Duke Taiping returned to punish the Regent to secure Chen Guo’s safety and stabilize the people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He would never have killed the Regent as the Regent had killed previous emperors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He merely wounded and defeated the Regent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That would have merely created a second Regent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Without legitimacy, words lack authority. He intended to expose the Regent’s crimes to all, punish him by law, and pacify the people’s hearts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On that day of battle, he wounded and defeated the Regent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At that time, the Regent had not yet killed the last two emperors he had installed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was His Majesty himself who killed them, becoming the rightful heir.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone believed His Majesty was merely a man of calculation, but only a handful of us knew it was he who guided others to choose him—to kill his brothers, then tacitly allow his seized wife to bear the Regent’s bloodline and name him Crown Prince.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the civil officials represented by Dan Tai Xianming, the aristocratic clans, Xiao Wu Liang left behind by this child, the military meritocrats, and even the faction represented by the Xue family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, all factions realized they had only one choice left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist, who looked no more than forty, lowered his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still remembered what happened over a decade ago: the Regent’s sinews had been sealed, his power shattered, yet he sat quietly there, while the current Emperor, clad in imperial robes adorned with twelve jade pendants, appeared before the crippled prince like a beggar receiving alms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Regent lowered his eyes, still clutching the jade seal, then tossed it away and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You want it so badly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What a heroic bearing—such a true overlord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His Majesty, after all, falls short.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am no prince or marquis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am the Regent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist murmured: “As you said, why does His Majesty favor Imperial Consort Xue so deeply? Because her son is his bloodline—once born, he will surely make him Crown Prince.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Does Imperial Consort Dan Tai feel great unease?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even though her father is Chancellor Dan Tai, her mother the eldest daughter of the Lu clan; even though when the Regent departed, he left behind his mightiest divine general, Xiao Wu Liang, at court—His Majesty’s heart was never beside her, yet her rival is the Xue family, one of the Three Great Merchants of the Realm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And even now, the Xue family remains the Xue Duke, officially recognized by the Great Emperor of Zhongzhou.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Imperial Consort Xue is pregnant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The child is a prince, a rare and noble fate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet she must still fear, won’t she?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female attendant fell silent. This was the struggle within Chen’s court at this very moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu said: “What if I told you that even the Xue family’s tiger and Dan Tai’s father have both been deceived by His Majesty—what would you think?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female attendant froze, then her expression flared with excitement: “You—you mean—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu said: “His Majesty will not move the Crown Prince, but he will never allow Imperial Consort Xue’s son to become Crown Prince. That year, he fathered a secret son, and he has hidden him well ever since.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Balance cannot last forever; their contradictions will inevitably explode one day.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When the Xue family, the imperial in-laws and merchants, collides with the Empress’s faction of aristocratic civil officials until both are crippled, his true son will emerge—and claim all, reaping the benefits of others’ ruin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At that moment, His Majesty will ‘abdicate’ the throne to this collateral descendant who is not his ‘biological son.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It will be abdication—the kind of sacred imperial act civil officials and pure scholars will praise endlessly in history books. He will be remembered as the Holy Emperor, while his true son inherits a nation shattered by conflict, littered with achievements.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the Xue family and the Empress? Merely pawns in his eyes—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That is why Tai Ping Gong and Yue Pengwu, two men who witnessed those events firsthand yet possessed unyielding integrity and could not be controlled, must die.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu said: “They fought for the people and the realm, expanding borders.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But how could they forget? How could they possibly forget?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As long as they live, His Majesty’s throne will never be secure!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They will stain his legacy in history!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The young man who once drank wine with them, drunken under the moonlight, full of youthful ardor, died the moment he ascended the dragon throne.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whether the nation’s borders expanded or the people lived in peace—these are good things. But the most crucial thing is: does the throne still bear the Chen surname? The vital matter is whether, after death, he may be remembered forever!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My hair still looks black, yet I am already sixty-seven.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I witnessed the Regent’s departure. That overlord survived at the cost of Xiao Wu Liang agreeing to guard Chen. When the Regent left, he told Tai Ping Gong he had been crippled, his martial arts lost half their power, and the people believed him dead, rejoicing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet he still lived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Regent said: as long as he lived, Tai Ping Gong could live.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet even the ruthless Regent never imagined—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The current Emperor’s heart is so cruel. He could abandon even such a divine general of the nation. Surely, by the time all dust settles, the three-zhang white silk prepared for the Empress already lies within its box.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Xue family’s wealth is the foundation upon which the next Emperor will step into the world.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female attendant’s face slowly turned ashen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her slender fingers trembled slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Zhongyu smiled: “So—will you join me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can tell Her Majesty who His Majesty’s secret son is. All I ask is enough provisions to refine the Elixir of Immortality.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female attendant gritted her teeth: “You threaten me with this—do you fear retribution?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist said coolly: “If one cannot achieve immortality, living seventy years or a hundred is the same—both are mere ants. Better to live wildly than die on a sickbed. Death? It is merely returning to dust.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This attitude left the female attendant defeated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The great thieves and overlords of the realm, whether righteous or wicked, possessed an aura she could never match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The alchemist said coolly: “Besides, stealing the Mandate of Heaven is not without precedent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The destiny of Tai Ping Gong’s son—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I took it myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>",2618,"2026-06-20T19:20:33.127Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","3c47ea393d88066612cc6235fa5c45affa6249ccda8b74621d163e687c6c210d","the-peace-decree-chapter-107","the-peace-decree-chapter-105",593,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-peace-decree-cover.jpg"]