Eternal Evergreen Undying Turtle

Wen Zhongyong stood at Sima Ting's side. He was somewhat shorter than Sima Ting.

"According to intelligence from our informants, this may be connected to someone.

"Before the New Year, Empress Jin Li took a treasure from the imperial treasury. It was called Exquisite Jade Tide."

"This treasure?" Grand Chancellor Sima Ting asked in surprise.

This treasure came naturally as a pair. Those who possessed both halves could communicate with each other.

But only the two of them.

It could not compare to the communication treasures of today.

"According to the informants, Empress Jin Li had been using Exquisite Jade Tide to communicate with a mysterious person.

"Old Madam Qin's breakthrough into the Emperor level may have been assisted by this person!" Wen Zhongyong gave his judgment.

Upon hearing this, the depression in Sima Ting's forehead became even more pronounced. Clearly, he was already enraged.

Most of the palace maids were Sima Ting's people. Learning this information was simplicity itself.

Moreover, in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Area, Jin Li had mentioned Qi Yuan's name. While in her bedchamber, she would occasionally mutter "Qi Yuan" to herself. It was only natural for such information to leak out.

"He actually dared to ruin my plans!

"Have you found out who he is?"

Wen Zhongyong shook his head. "The other half of Exquisite Jade Tide vanished without a trace a thousand years ago."

"Can you guess his identity?" Sima Ting asked. "Someone capable of helping Madam Qin break into the Emperor level is likely no ordinary person!"

He had many enemies.

Even within the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate, he had enemies.

And now, someone was helping Empress Jin Li, adding to his troubles.

This might be aimed at him, or it might be aimed at the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate.

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate was the number one sect of humanity.

More than ten human kingdoms all revered the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate as a sacred land.

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate stood in the far north.

It both suppressed humanity's fortune and intercepted the great demons of the Demon Race Ancestral Court.

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate stood high above all, like immortals.

However, in recent years, the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate had also begun to meddle in the imperial power of the mundane world.

Sima Ting could be considered one of the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate's chess pieces.

The other countries, too, were gradually being devoured by the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate.

Besides the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate, humanity had quite a few other sects.

Many of these sects had joined forces to resist the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate.

In Sima Ting's view, the person on the other end of Exquisite Jade Tide might be an expert resisting the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate.

However, thinking of something, Sima Ting asked, "Could it be the Demon Race?"

He was somewhat worried.

In his earlier years, in order to rise to power, he had cooperated with a great demon.

But after clinging to the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate's thigh, he decisively severed contact with that great demon.

He feared that this matter was related to that great demon.

"Who he is is not important." Wen Zhongyong wore a confident expression. "As long as we know that he is our enemy, that is enough.

"He dared to ruin the Grand Chancellor's arrangement and the Holy Gate's plans. Even if he is a Supreme Emperor, he must die."

"You mean?" Sima Ting was delighted upon hearing this.

"Yes. I already know his name. It is Qi Yuan. Together with Exquisite Jade Tide, that is enough to curse him to death.

"Even if it is a false name, so what? My curse technique can still curse him to death."

Sima Ting revealed a worried expression. "What if he is a Supreme Emperor?"

Hearing this, Wen Zhongyong took out a section of bamboo ruler. "This is called the Kingdom Stabilizing Ruler. It was bestowed by the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master and contains the Holy Master's supreme cultivation.

"If I borrow this item to curse him to death, even a Supreme Emperor will find it impossible to escape death."

This ruler had been personally bestowed by the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master.

Those of them who traveled abroad all carried this item in accordance with the Holy Master's orders, heading to various kingdoms to gather fortune.

"What if the other party merely used some nameless nobody to communicate with the Empress? Would that not be a waste?" Sima Ting asked again.

"It harms neither me nor him. It would merely waste some time, and it could also beat the mountain to frighten the tiger.

"Grand Chancellor, please wait a moment. Once I find a jade vessel, I will perform the curse-killing technique!

"Even a Supreme Emperor must perish!"

"Then I will trouble you, sir!" Sima Ting said.

He was somewhat expectant as well.

He dearly wished that Qi Yuan was the great demon with whom he had previously colluded, and that he would be cursed to death.

Then he could become the ruler of the Nanqian Kingdom with a clear conscience.

If he was not, he still had to die!

Helping Empress Jin Li and offending him was a capital crime!

Heavenly Fortune Holy Mountain.

It was humanity's sacred land.

The mountain rose ten thousand zhang high, overlooking the entire Moon Gazing Continent.

An ordinary-looking young man crawled out from a pleasure house.

His face carried an easy, casual expression.

"Dust upon dust along the road, crimson dust upon crimson dust—none compares to the taste of beauty."

If this ordinary-looking young man were placed on the street, he would be the sort who drew no attention at all.

But if his identity were exposed, it would surely leave everyone utterly shaken.

For he was the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master!

"Three thousand years at last—I can finally leave the three-hundred-mile radius around Heavenly Fortune Mountain. Not bad, not bad." The Heavenly Fortune Holy Master had originally been a land turtle in the mountains. Three thousand years ago, a drop of blood had fallen upon him.

He awakened his intelligence, transformed into human form, and gained a lifespan of ten thousand years.

Through that drop of longevity blood, he gained many secret techniques and pieces of knowledge he had never possessed before.

But the price was that he could not leave Heavenly Fortune Mountain.

He kept his head down and cultivated, year after year.

However, his aptitude was terribly poor. It took him a full five hundred years to step into the Emperor realm.

It took him fifteen hundred years to step into the Supreme Emperor realm.

Twenty years ago, he had even stepped into the legendary Heavenly Domain Realm.

His talent was not high, so he was especially adept at keeping his head down.

When he encountered enemies, he would usually outlive them, then open a pleasure house atop their graves and enjoy a night of romance.

Of course, this was limited to the vicinity of Heavenly Fortune Mountain.

He would even force the descendants of those who offended him from respectable lives into prostitution and take them into his chambers.

He did not like women from respectable households. He preferred prostitutes.

However, as his strength grew, he became increasingly inflated with confidence. He even established the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate and became its Holy Master.

None of the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate's elders knew that every generation of Heavenly Fortune Holy Master had actually been one of his disguises.

Walking down the road, the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master hummed a little tune. "Sure enough, I was still too timid before.

"After stirring up the war between humans and demons for a thousand years, the blood energy produced by all those deaths only allowed me to enter the Supreme Emperor realm. The progress was rather slow.

"Controlling humanity's national fortune and the Demon Race's bloodline, then sacrificing them—that is the proper path!"

Feeling his strength constantly soar, the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master could not help but sigh.

His talent was poor, and his cultivation progressed extremely slowly.

According to the secret techniques from that drop of longevity blood, only by provoking war between humans and demons and feeding upon the blood energy it produced could his strength slowly increase.

Humans and demons were already opposed to one another. Secretly driving wedges between them required little effort.

But as his strength surged, he gradually became dissatisfied with such growth.

Thus, he set his sights on the strongest, most vicious, and most sinister method in those secret techniques.

The national fortune blood sacrifice method!

He had sent the Kingdom Stabilizing Ruler into various kingdoms to draw upon their fortune.

In another sixty years, the national fortune blood sacrifice method would be complete.

At that time, once he performed the blood sacrifice and offered up all the humans and demons of this world, he would leap like a carp over the Dragon Gate, turn from a turtle into a Black Tortoise, and become the true master of the Moon Gazing Continent.

Looking back upon his life, the Heavenly Fortune Holy Master savored it with great relish.

His life had been exceptionally splendid.

He had kept his head down to the very extreme.

A great vessel that took long to complete.

"I have once lowered my brows and bent my waist before the powerful, and I have once stirred the winds and clouds with but a few words.

"No matter how peerless your talent, how it blankets the ages, do you not still turn to ash and become a laughing matter?

"Eternal Evergreen Undying Turtle—a great vessel completed late, and today is its day!"

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Master often frequented pleasure houses and often hummed little tunes. Unfortunately, his education was poor; never mind tonal patterns, he could not even make his rhymes match.

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Master prepared to return to the Heavenly Fortune Holy Gate and continue his secluded cultivation.

For the final sixty years, to be safe, he needed to cultivate inside a coffin and let his disguises preside over the greater situation. Unless something major happened, he would not emerge—at most, he would visit a pleasure house a few times.

But just then, a crow flew overhead.

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Master immediately cursed his rotten luck.

With a flick of his finger, that crow died beyond all possibility of death.

For some reason, he suddenly felt his heart pound with fear.

"No, I cannot keep coming out to fool around!

"The pleasure houses... I will not go either."

The Heavenly Fortune Holy Master made a decision that betrayed his ancestors.