The Fourth-in-Command of the Undying Lineage

The Ask Dao Sect, Hundred Refinement Peak.

Li Haoran was still reminiscing about his past life and his memories with Mu Baiyi.

As a rising vice leader, Mu Baiyi is young and ambitious, and Qin Haoran values him highly.

"Mu Baiyi is also a pitiful child. His family was poor when he was young. After becoming a cultivator and joining a sect, he originally thought he would make money, but he didn't expect to make much money. Instead, the sect closed down first."

"Later, he saw that the Nine Nether Sect's monthly offerings were quite good, so he joined the Nine Nether Sect."

"According to him, he originally wanted to join the Immortal Cult, since the monthly donations of Immortal Cult members are three times that of local officials."

"Then why didn't you join?" Qin Yanyan interjected.

"The Immortal Cult is too well hidden. If you can't find the entrance to the Immortal Cult, the Nine Nether Cult is easy to find. There's a one in ten chance that a wandering ghost is from the Nine Nether Cult. If you follow the clues, you'll find the Nine Nether Cult."

"Of course, that was before. Later, Qin Haoran discovered that this method was too risky and could easily be caught by the righteous path, so he learned from the Immortal Sect, which makes it quite difficult to find the Nine Nether Sect now."

"Qin Haoran and Mu Baiyi have a pretty good relationship. Back in the Nine Nether Sect, Mu Baiyi helped Qin Haoran a lot."

"Once, Qin Haoran heard that money shops were profitable and wanted to set up one, but he was afraid that no one would come to deposit money, which would be a laughing stock. So he had Mu Baiyi disguise himself as men, women, and children to deposit money on the opening day of the money shop."

"It's just hiring shills; it's a very common business tactic." Thanks to Qin Haoran's memories, Li Haoran is now proficient in all sorts of underhanded business methods.

"Has that money exchange opened yet?"

"No, Qin Haoran forgot to get government approval for the money exchange he opened, and then the two of them were arrested for illegally accepting public deposits."

"We explained that no one had deposited any money, and that we had staged the whole thing ourselves."

"The government released you?"

"No, the authorities said we are guilty of both illegally absorbing public deposits and fraud, and will be punished for both crimes."

Lu Yang: "..."

Qin Yanyan: "..."

"During their time in prison, the two of them studied various laws diligently, working side by side. They were eventually released after serving their sentences and returned home having completed their studies." Li Haoran hadn't fully acquired Qin Haoran's memories yet; otherwise, he would be a renowned legal scholar by now.

"Fortunately, Qin Haoran had anticipated this calamity and made arrangements for the aftermath before going to prison, thus preventing the exposure of the sect's deficit."

This is enough to show that Qin Haoran has extraordinary foresight.

Li Haoran was about to continue recounting the glorious past of the Nine Nether Sect when a cold, beautiful figure appeared behind him.

"Senior Sister."

"Greetings, Senior Sister." As a member of the Heavenly Court Sect, Qin Yanyan struggled with whether to address Sect Leader Yun Zhi or Senior Sister. After some internal struggle, she chose to follow the crowd.

"Senior Sister, I was just confirming with Junior Brother Li that the one wearing the white paper hat in Hanshui City is the leader of the Nine Nether Sect, named Mu Baiyi."

"Nine Nether Sect Leader Mu Baiyi? I understand. You've done well. Junior Brother, come back with me."

Lu Yang stood obediently beside his senior sister and followed her back to Heaven Gate Peak.

"Senior Sister, is there something you need from me?"

"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for the Fairy Senior."

"Looking for this immortal?" Upon hearing this, the Immortal Fairy sprang up from the bed with a jolt and cheerfully emerged from her spiritual space.

"Speak, what do you want from me?" The Immortal Fairy rarely encountered Yun Zhi asking for her help, and she felt refreshed and ten years younger.

She's only six years old now.

"Emperor Xia's lifespan has run out; he has about ten years left. The Little Medicine King is useless to him. What are your thoughts, Fairy?"

Lu Yang was shocked by the news. Everyone said that Emperor Xia was in his prime, ready to accomplish great things, and that the future of Great Xia was bright. How could he suddenly be dying?

The Immortal Fairy, her face beaming with excitement, eagerly asked, "When shall we start our rebellion?"

She felt that the Ask Dao Sect clan was powerful and wealthy, possessing the resources to contend for supremacy. With the time ripe and the world rallying in support, success was assured!

That's exactly what Lu Yang said in his strategy for the Nine Nether Sect!

With two top-tier warriors like her and Yun Zhi, wouldn't it be easy for her to become emperor?

"... It's not a rebellion, Fairy Senior, do you have a way to extend your lifespan?"

The defining characteristic of the Immortal Fairy's Dao Fruit is immortality; even in death, she can be resurrected by reciting her title and name. Not to mention cultivators, even a minor Medicine King would envy this ability.

In Yun Zhi's mind, the Immortal Fairy was the most likely to solve Emperor Xia's problem.

"Give him a nascent Immortal Dao Fruit, and make that Xia Emperor the fourth leader of the Immortal lineage?"

Everything follows a first-come, first-served principle; those who arrive last are naturally last in line.

The Immortal Clan is powerful and well-equipped. The chief leader is the head of the Five Immortals of High Antiquity, the second leader is the Golden Core Ancestor, the third leader is a Half-Immortal, and the fourth leader is the current emperor.

Lu Yang immediately felt that his position as the second-in-command of the Immortal Lineage carried great weight.

"The imperial palace and ancestral land will definitely not agree," Yun Zhi shook her head.

If the Xia Emperor were to become the fourth leader of the Immortal lineage, Yun Zhi could imagine that if this were to come true, the person in the Imperial Palace would be furious and would want to challenge the Immortal Fairy to a duel.

Moreover, this would expose the existence of the Immortal Fairy.

Yun Zhi wanted a method that would be visible to the world.

"If the Little Medicine King doesn't work, then it'll be the Immortal Fruit... My Immortal Fruit can preserve a corpse from decay; it can only be used after death."

"The immortal fruits of Qilin Immortal and Yingtian Immortal do not have the effect of granting immortality or prolonging life."

"By the way, does he have a son? Let's search the Zimu River; maybe we can leave him an heir."

He had nine sons and seven daughters.

"So fertile, are they giving birth to piglets?" the Immortal Fairy muttered, noting that even after drinking the waters of the Mother-Child River and the Twin River, she couldn't conceive as many children as Emperor Xia.

Despite the efforts of the Qilin Immortal and the prodigies of the Dragon and Phoenix clans for many years, not a single Qilin has been born.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more difficult it is to leave offspring.

"That's right!" the Immortal Fairy exclaimed, remembering a clue. "There is a Spirit Root heaven and earth in the world, which is a peach tree. It is naturally grown and nurtured by nature, and it is not among the heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The peaches that the peach tree bears have the effect of prolonging life!"

"The five of us ate peaches from that tree; they were delicious and very juicy."

"Where is this Spirit Root of heaven and earth?" This was the first time the eldest sister had ever heard of such a Spirit Root of heaven and earth, and it was not recorded in ancient books.

"I don't know. The peach tree has legs. It ran away after we picked the peaches."

The eldest sister nodded. This was a clue, but it was not easy to find. She told Lu Yang to continue cultivating while she went to consult other elders.

After his senior sister left, Lu Yang seemed to be deep in thought, then turned and walked towards the Scripture Depository.

What are you going to do?

"I vaguely remember seeing a Law Technique in the Scripture Depository, related to immortality. It was buried at the very bottom, so very few people should have studied it. It might be useful."