Emperor Tai Shi, dressed in a Daoist robe, lay on his jade bed, "Dread of Kunlun Mountain, immortals, Spirit Ginseng, Jia Mu..."
Kneeling before the couch, Qin Xiao said with concern, "This son has heard that there is a True Buddha in the West, and emissaries have already been sent to seek him out. Father Emperor, please take good care of your health. If the Daoist path cannot grant longevity, perhaps the Buddhist path can?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Emperor Tai Shi coughed violently a few tis, gasping for breath, his complexion looked as if it was dusted with gold powder, glinting under the candlelight.
"There's no such thing as a True Buddha in the world, it must be a trick of the Buddhists. However, you may liaise with Buddhism if you wish, so that when you ascend the throne, your first task will be to promote Buddhism over Daoism. The Daoism in Qing Kingdom is too ingrained to eradicate!"
"I will heed Father Emperor's teachings."
Qin Xiao said with worry, "The real immortals of Baiyun Guan have ingrained power. When this son tried to take control of the six ministries, they repeatedly set obstacles in secret. Could Father Emperor order..."
Emperor Tai Shi imdiately interrupted, "You need not speak of this, when I was in Kunlun Mountain, I promised the immortals I would promote Daoism!"
Qin Xiao's expression turned bitter, as the Grand Preceptor had said, Father Emperor had indeed gone mad, falling into demonic obstacles.
Emperor Tai Shi had lived 120 years, battling with his princes, his father, Da Qian, and Buddhism—most of his life spent in struggle. Just by looking at his son's expression, he knew what was in his heart.
"Everyone in the world thinks I have gone mad."
"However, the truth is that I alone am lucid. There really is a Kunlun Mountain in this world, and there really are immortals!"
Emperor Tai Shi's voice beca increasingly weak. As he tried to use the Qi-Blood in his Dantian to stimulate his potential, what erged was a deadly mixture of gold, silver, lead, and rcury. In an instant, his breath beca faint, as though he was on the verge of death.
"Father Emperor, your son believes!"
Seeing this, Qin Xiao quickly responded in alarm.
"When your son ascends the throne, I will not give up the search for Kunlun. Generation after generation, until we find a True Immortal!"
"Good."
Emperor Tai Shi did not care if his son was sincere or not, in his current state he couldn't manage future affairs, the only thing he was good for was to suppress the imperial court and buy ti for Qin Xiao to seize control.
As long as there was a breath left in him, as long as Emperor Tai Shi was alive, Qing Kingdom's court would not fall into chaos.
His Qi-Blood gradually stabilized, and the Blood Pill within his organs condensed and suppressed the toxin, preventing further erosion of Emperor Tai Shi's vitality.
"You may leave, I need to rest now!"
"Your son takes his leave."
Qin Xiao left the room, instructing the attending eunuchs to keep an eye on His Majesty's health at all tis. Should anything actually go wrong, they were not to cause a commotion, but to secretly send a ssage to the Forbidden Army to seal the palace without declaring mourning.
Inside the room.
Emperor Tai Shi's eyes were slightly closed, visions of his past experiences practicing in Kunlun Mountain appeared before him.
Among them, the image of Zhou Yi beca clearer, as if standing right before him. Despite his old age and decay, his instincts as a martial expert instantly put Emperor Tai Shi on alert.
"Who is it?"
Zhou Yi looked at the aged Qin Zheng, and without casting a healing spell, slowly said.
"After not seeing you for a hundred years, has Mr. Qin forgotten about ?"
"True Lord!"
Emperor Tai Shi finally saw clearly, standing before the bed was none other than Zhou Yi. He struggled to get up and pay his respects, but his limbs were weak and powerless, leaving him gasping for breath with even a small attempt to move.
Zhou Yi said, "Mr. Qin, your lifespan is short. Do not continue to deplete it in vain."
Emperor Tai Shi, upon hearing this, stopped moving. Seeing that Zhou Yi's appearance had not changed at all, a glimr of hope flashed in his eyes, "Did True Lord co to take his disciple to practice in Kunlun Mountain?"
"No!"
Zhou Yi shook his head, "I should have long forgotten about you, but upon exiting my seclusion and hearing of your deeds, I felt guilt and ca to see you one last ti."
Emperor Tai Shi said in dismay, "Why does True Lord feel guilt?"
"When you mistakenly entered Kunlun, I should not have taught you martial arts," Zhou Yi sighed. "I wanted to clear my junior brother's na conveniently through you; I never thought it would lead you to be obsessed with the Daoist path, even to the detrint of the masses."
"True Lord is right, but I couldn't control myself," Emperor Tai Shi said. "The words 'eternal life' are like a demon in my heart, controlling my body and soul. Every deep night, I repent for the evil I have done, yet in the dayti, I cannot help but act wildly!"
Zhou Yi nodded slightly, saying, "After today, the heart demon will disappear."
"Am I going to die now?"
Emperor Tai Shi coughed violently and asked, "Having committed all these evils, I should enter the eighteen layers of hell upon death. As I'm on my deathbed, may I request one thing from True Lord?"
Zhou Yi's brows slightly frowned, "Speak."
"I am well aware of my sins, hence I will pass the throne to my third son, Qin Xiao, because he is of a gentle nature and will surely be a benevolent ruler," Emperor Tai Shi said. "But too many treacherous officials and demonic alliances exist in the court. After my death, chaos will surely arise.
Qin Xiao is too upright to deal with the cunning of ghost monsters, so I ask that True Lord protect him a little."
Zhou Yi pondered for a mont without giving a direct answer.
"I will observe secretly for so ti."
"Thank you, True Lord."
Emperor Tai Shi's face showed joy, his spirits relaxed, but his Blood Pill could no longer suppress the deadly poison, which traveled through his qi-blood and spread throughout his body.
"I wield Tai A, ride the Dragon Chariot, ascend Kunlun..."
A few breaths later, he passed away.
Zhou Yi gently touched Qin Zheng's eyelids, helping him close his eyes.
"I must take this as a warning. With enough strength to intimidate the world, one must be more careful and cautious in their actions. A mont of caprice could lead to a century of suffering in the Mortal World..."
...
The ninety-seventh year of the Tai Shi era.
The Emperor passed away in the Kunlun Palace, and the Crown Prince Qin Xiao ascended to the throne.
During the mourning period for the nation, a bloody cloud on appeared over the skies of Xianjing, followed by an upheaval of the earth dragon that killed or injured thousands of citizens.
The real person from White Cloud Monastery, after divination, knew this was a warning from the heavens. Crown Prince Qin Xiao was a reincarnated calamitous dragon that clashed with the fate of the nation!
Using this as a pretext, the officials at court pressured Qin Xiao to abdicate in favor of his younger royal brother, the previous emperor's son, to ensure the continuity of Qing Kingdom.
One month later.
Thousands of soldiers stord the imperial prohibitions, infiltrated Shangyang Palace both from within and without, only to be utterly annihilated by lightning from the heavens.
The following day.
The real person from White Cloud Monastery ascended to immortality, taking the court's allies with him. The opposition lost its lead and could no longer pressure Qin Xiao to abdicate.
After the new year, the era was renad to Jiading.
...
The Northern Border.
Serpentine Mountain.
Six months ago, Zhou Yi arrived by fleeing light and randomly picked a Naless Peak to set up Formation and Prohibition for secluded cultivation.
The Spirit Ginseng child hauled a hoe, pouting as he said, "Immortal, can we stop moving all the ti?"
Each ti they changed locations, they had to break new ground for the spiritual fields and transplant Spiritual dicine, which ant at least two or three years of exhausting work for the little arms and legs of the Spirit Ginseng child.
"We won't move anymore."
Zhou Yi promised, "This place is desolate and uninhabited, with the nearest city at least a thousand miles away. No one will disturb our quiet cultivation. In the future, I will visit the celebrations less... every fifty, no, twenty... every twenty-five years!"
"Heh heh."
The Spirit Ginseng child rolled his little eyes, clearly unconvinced.
Zhou Yi felt sowhat guilty and scolded with a fierce exterior but weak interior, "You've grown bolder by the day, haven't you? Now get moving and tend to the fields!"
After sending off the Spirit Ginseng child, Zhou Yi circled around the Jianmu tree a few tis, his Divine Sense probing into the tree's interior. A confused consciousness was touched, sending back a thread of joyful emotions, sowhat familiar yet sowhat strange.
"Do not worry, Bull God. I will hasten the growth of the Jianmu tree so that you can have a complete consciousness."
The growth of the Jianmu tree was exceedingly slow. It was not yet three zhang tall and still in an embryonic state, far from nurturing a spiritual intelligence.
The soul of the Yellow Bull God was reduced to a weak consciousness because of this influence.
This was also the opportunity for the Yellow Bull God, using this chance to rge into the Jianmu's weak spiritual consciousness, the soul would revive as the tree grew. An adult Jianmu tree, even the Demon Saint would struggle to take it over, let alone the soul of the Yellow Bull God!
"I wonder how the three offspring of the Turtle Chancellor are faring."
When Zhou Yi was cultivating in seclusion near Greenwave Pond, he often checked for traces of the Four Spirits Sanctuary, but found nothing.
The vast ancient relic vanished without a trace as if it existed in a different space from the Nine Continents.
"This might actually be a good thing. Utilizing the inheritance of the Sanctuary to avoid the waning days of magic might spare from being trapped on Kunlun Mountain, unable to break through for hundreds of years, slowly waiting to die!"
The disappearance of the Four Spirits Sanctuary filled Zhou Yi with suspicion.
"It is said that the Four Spirits Sanctuary was built by the Demon Saint, equivalent to the Returning Void of the human race. By inference, perhaps there truly is an ancient monstrous being from the human race, sealed within a certain relic!"
"I must be careful when I leave in the future, especially during tis when magic dwindles, to avoid displaying large-scale spells, as the aura is too conspicuous!"
...
The Taoist temple.
The closed-door ditation room.
Zhou Yi sat cross-legged, taking out from his storage bag a relic of the Dragon Emperor, a transparent Treasure Bead.
After slaying the Dragon Emperor in the depths of the western sea, he purposefully left behind a stone stele engraved with the words "True Lord Xuan Yi slayed the dragon here", and beneath the stele, he left a scroll of a Cultivation Technique.
In the future, when Spiritual Energy revives and cultivators pass by the deserted island, they would be able to obtain the inheritance of the technique.
"Perhaps by that ti, the Cultivation World will be referred to as ancient, and what I left behind will also be an ancient Cultivation Technique!"
Zhou Yi, having indulged in his wicked sense of humor, examined the Treasure Bead with his Spiritual Sense. It was whole and indestructible.
"After pondering the Earth-Shattering Prohibitions for centuries, I have yet to find a suitable Spiritual Object for refining. This Treasure Bead is destined to be mine!"
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