Prefect Li Ke

In a blur, the imposing middle-aged man arrived in the pavilion.

With his hands clasped behind his back and a faint, appreciative smile, he sized up Li Qingyun before him.

"Qingyun greets you, Senior."

Li Qingyun was slightly startled inside. He cupped his hands in salute and said modestly, "Senior, you flatter me. I merely got lucky!"

He could sense the powerful cultivation aura emanating from the middle-aged man in the Golden Line Black Robe. At the very least, he was in the Dao Foundation Realm—no, he should be in the Opening Mansion Realm!

Last night, the Golden Light Seal had blasted open the Yin Cloud Grand Formation. Then an Opening Mansion Realm expert had led people in pursuit of Old Ghost Tushan. That powerful figure had swept over Zhou Mansion, and Li Qingyun had caught a distant glimpse of him.

The middle-aged man in the Golden Line Black Robe before him was not that Opening Mansion Realm expert!

"Haha, are you truly unruffled by favor and disgrace, kid, or do you just enjoy playing the pig to eat the tiger?"

The middle-aged man in black laughed and scolded him. Casually sitting down on a stone stool, he said,

"My name is Li Ke. Since you are Marquis Qinghe's son, have you heard my name before?"

It was actually Li Ke!

Respect appeared on Li Qingyun's handsome face. "So the Prefect has come in person. Qingyun is deeply honored!"

Since this imposing and domineering middle-aged man called himself Li Ke and was an Opening Mansion Realm expert, he had to be the Grand Prefect of Pingyang Commandery!

The moment the Azure Blood Talisman appeared, even this Prefect had personally come!

"Since you know my name, why are you still being so stiff and polite, kid?"

As Li Ke looked at the handsome and composed youth before him, the look in his eyes that he reserved for outstanding juniors became increasingly apparent.

He waved a hand and laughed. "Stop putting on airs! Since you are Li Jiuling's son, by seniority, you ought to call me Uncle!"

"This..."

Seeing the Prefect grow increasingly easygoing, Li Qingyun instead felt somewhat awkward and hesitant.

He knew that Prefect Li Ke had to be a member of the Li Imperial Clan of You Kingdom, and his status could not be low. Otherwise, he could never govern an entire region.

The authority of a Prefect was immense, equivalent to a great frontier official in ancient times from his previous life.

Such an important post had, throughout history, mostly been held by disciples of the Li Imperial Clan.

Compared with Li Ke before him, Li Qingyun's bargain-bin father, Marquis Qinghe, was far inferior in both strength and official position!

Li Ke calling himself Li Qingyun's "uncle" clearly meant that he valued the lineage and inheritance of Marquis Qinghe's branch.

By that reckoning, Li Qingyun could barely be considered a descendant of the Li Imperial Clan.

Yet even Li Qingyun's bargain-bin father, Marquis Qinghe Li Jiuling, would never dare call himself of Imperial Bloodline in ordinary times.

Too many generations had passed. Qinghe County's branch had long since drifted away from the imperial clan's center and fallen into ordinary nobility. They could only remain in Qinghe County, painstakingly managing their affairs and barely preserving a shred of their ancestors' dignity.

At this moment, Li Qingyun suddenly recalled an old matter:

About two years ago, the heir of the Marquis's Estate, Li Shiqi, had no idea what fit had seized him. Without the slightest sense of his own limits, he had stubbornly clamored to enter the Daoist Academy in You Capital.

Unable to endure Cui and her son talking about it day after day, Marquis Qinghe had swallowed his pride and set off for You Capital himself.

But afterward, his bargain-bin father had returned with his tail between his legs. On the very day he came back to the estate, he had given the heir a brutal beating and ordered him never to mention the Daoist Academy again...

According to the Li Dynasty's rules, any disciple of Imperial Bloodline could enter the Daoist Academy.

Of course, those lacking aptitude would still receive neither resources nor important appointments afterward, even if they had gilded themselves at the Daoist Academy.

"Qingyun, at such a young age, you are already at the third layer of Qi Refining. I heard from your Senior Brother Zhao that you only recently joined Lingbao Temple. It truly pains this old man to hear it!"

Prefect Li Ke looked at Li Qingyun as though he were a piece of gleaming jade. Suddenly, some anger entered his voice. "Your Marquis Qinghe's Estate is truly strange. Since you are so extraordinary, why did they not send you to the Daoist Academy in You Capital?"

"Our own realm, our own Daoist Academy—it is no worse than Lingbao Temple. Marquis Qinghe is truly muddleheaded!"

As he said this, Li Ke's expression became somewhat complicated. With a distant sigh, he said, "Our old Li family has relied on the Biyou Sect and held You Kingdom's Royal Authority for three hundred and thirty-four years. The younger generation is worse than the last, the dynasty is steeped in the air of decline, and corruption breeds everywhere. If true talents capable of holding things up do not emerge soon, ruin and replacement will not be far off..."

Li Qingyun knew this.

Throughout history, You Kingdom's dynasties had changed without end. Even the longest-reigning "imperial clan" had lasted barely more than five hundred years, while the shortest-lived dynasty had survived only a little over a hundred.

For the Li Dynasty to have endured until now and held the royal authority for three hundred and thirty years was already quite impressive.

But having sat in that position, who could possibly be willing to let the next "Aristocratic Clan" replace them!

And all of it came down to strength.

The sects hidden behind the secular world played their game at higher levels. Who sat upon the throne was ultimately determined by whether the sect standing behind that household was strong enough!

The Li Dynasty was the "puppet" supported by the Biyou Sect, delivering countless resources and benefits to the Biyou Sect every year.

"Prefect, the rise and fall of dynasties and the changing of worldly affairs are all ordained by the Dao. I am merely a concubine-born son of the household. I could scarcely gain a foothold even in the Marquis's Estate, so I had no choice but to join Lingbao Temple, seeking only to keep a blue lamp by my side. How could I have the qualifications to point at rivers and mountains?"

Li Qingyun gave a soft, self-mocking laugh.

He had deliberately said it this way, lest he be carelessly led into a ditch by this bargain-bin uncle of his.

"How could that be? Such a vast Marquis Qinghe's Estate cannot accommodate someone of your aptitude? Has Li Jiuling's brain been fried into a lump of paste!"

Li Ke was greatly astonished, his anger flaring as though he were about to roll up his sleeves and demand an explanation from Marquis Qinghe.

Li Qingyun said with a faint smile, "Actually, I do not possess any so-called Dao Bone Spiritual Root. That was tested after I was born. The reason I have still entered the Dao and begun cultivating is merely because I was fortunate enough to have this spirit cat!"

As he spoke, he pointed toward Big Black Cat, which was sleeping in the sun atop the artificial rockery in the courtyard.

"After I entered Lingbao Temple, Big Black Cat brought back a red fruit one day, its fragrance filling the air. After I ate it, surging heat flowed through my body, and only then did I gain my current cultivation..."

I had originally prepared this story to fool Senior Brother Zhao and the others at Lingbao Temple. Now I'll use it first to fool this bargain-bin uncle!

"So that is how it is!"

Li Ke was startled. He suddenly stretched out a hand and patted Li Qingyun several times on the head and body.

Then he looked as though he had lost something precious, filled with regret and pity, and could not help sighing twice.

"Worthy Nephew Qingyun, your aptitude truly is..."

A trace of sympathy appeared in his expression again. He patted Li Qingyun's shoulder as though comforting him. "Do not lose heart either. Since you have still entered the path of cultivation, that means your fortune is not bad, and perhaps you can go farther. Being able to have that spirit cat acknowledge you as its master is also part of your fortune, is it not?"

At this point, Li Ke was already somewhat unable to remain seated. The warmth in his brows and eyes began to fade.

The talisman-patterned ring on his hand flashed, and three white jade pill bottles flew out, landing lightly upon the stone table.

"These were originally the additional rewards this Prefect intended to give you! True Essence Pills are the finest medicinal pills for the Qi Refining Realm. They will surely help you rise another level!"

"Keep at it!"

After saying this, the smile on the Grand Prefect of Pingyang Commandery's face had faded. He returned to the majesty of an Opening Mansion Realm expert.

His expression was distant, unreachable.

With a light leap, he flew out of Zhou Mansion and vanished into the distance like a speck of black light.