Eunuch Mo, third on the Grandmaster Ranking, had come in person to summon her. He hadn't gone to the imperial palace, but had headed straight into the Immortal Hall.
After watching his back disappear into the Immortal Hall, so heavily guarded on this day of the Immortal Ceremony, Li Ji'an's thoughts surged.
Especially when he saw the emperor emerge from the Immortal Hall moments later and stand respectfully outside, waiting in silence, he knew his earlier guess had been right.
Since the first Immortal Master had descended to the mortal world over a hundred years ago, the Immortal Ceremony had been held only once every ten years. Nothing unexpected had ever happened.
"So they really came specifically for Ning Sujin?"
"No wonder she couldn't avoid them, no matter what. These cultivators probably have ways to track people down."
"Because of her ability to discern auspiciousness and avoid inauspiciousness?"
"Ning Yutan..."
Clue after clue flashed through Li Ji'an's mind. In the end, Ning Yutan was the only likely thread.
But what he couldn't understand was why this had happened only now, when Ning Yutan had gone to the Cultivation World five years ago.
Time trickled by...
It wasn't until night fell and the evening drums sounded that the Immortal Hall's doors suddenly opened.
Ning Sujin walked slowly out of the Immortal Hall, her expression complicated. She passed through the ranks of heavily armed guards and came to stand before Li Ji'an.
"The Immortal Master is taking me to the Immortal Realm!"
"How auspicious?"
"Extremely auspicious!"
Li Ji'an stared into her eyes but still couldn't see a trace of turmoil. He gave a carefree laugh. "Then that's wonderful!"
"Take care!"
"You too!"
This time, he didn't get a clear look at a flying sword or boat. He saw only a streak of light flash in the distance.
Li Ji'an waved toward the streak of light in the sky and sighed at life's unpredictability.
In the days that followed, without Ning Sujin to discern auspiciousness and avoid inauspiciousness, he became ever more cautious in everything he did.
Four years passed in a flash.
With the once-in-a-decade Immortal Ceremony about to begin, the Immortal Palace grew tense. Patrols of armored guards increased by half, and the hidden experts were all on alert.
"Whoosh!" A faint sound rang out in Li Ji'an's room. The force of his qi, fine as a steel needle, punched through a stone slab four fingers thick before him.
"Whew... I've hit my limit. Even with my blood and qi at the marrow-cleansing minor accomplishment stage, I still can't send them more than a zhang beyond my body, and I haven't refined them finely enough... I wonder how the Su Family's Stormy Pear Blossom Needles are activated and honed?"
Over the past four years, Li Ji'an's internal cultivation had risen by only a small step. That was, of course, because he had kept it in check.
His external martial arts, on the other hand, had advanced by leaps and bounds. With his extraordinary comprehension, along with the insights he'd gained from thousands of first- and second-rate martial arts manuals in the lower three levels of the Scripture Pavilion, he now had a solid grasp of refining and unleashing his blood and qi.
Building on the many martial arts he'd studied, he had optimized and created several techniques no weaker than those in the Pavilion's middle three levels.
Still, he could go no further.
Creating a top-tier martial art from scratch wasn't the work of a single lifetime. Every top-tier technique on the Martial Arts Ranking had been refined and improved over generations, evolving one iteration at a time.
For now, he could only hope to enter the Scripture Pavilion's middle three levels—or even its upper three—after this Immortal Ceremony. With those top-tier martial arts as a foundation, and another boost to his comprehension in his next life, his chances would be good.
"Brother Li, will the Immortal Master take you to the Immortal Realm next year?"
Zhao Yunsheng, who had been held hostage in the Immortal Palace for nine years and was now seventeen, stepped forward and removed the stone slab Li Ji'an had pierced. It fit perfectly onto the wooden cart he'd built himself.
Li Ji'an shook his head. "Of course not."
"Then you just love practicing martial arts... Hmm, are you what people call a martial arts fanatic?" Zhao Yunsheng had nearly grown accustomed to life in the Immortal Palace. He tinkered with his wooden cart as he spoke.
"Maybe." Li Ji'an smiled without committing either way.
Over the past four years, he'd spent more time with Yunsheng than anyone else. He quite liked Yunsheng's single-minded devotion to carpentry. At least he was guileless and had no ulterior motives.
The two got along peacefully.
Yet that peace was broken three months later.
As the Immortal Ceremony drew near, Prince Yun, who had long been maneuvering against the emperor, suddenly rose up. Leading his army and gathering refugees, he seized five northwestern provinces in a single night.
The emperor flew into a rage. All these years, he hadn't moved against Prince Yun by force because he'd planned to keep him placated until the next Immortal Ceremony. Once he'd won the Immortal Master's favor, he could ask the Immortal Master to intervene and settle the matter without bloodshed. But he'd underestimated Prince Yun's cunning.
And now, with the emperor diverting so many troops and experts to ensure the Immortal Seeds' safety, Prince Yun had caught him completely off guard.
The emperor summoned his trusted ministers, including Duke Zhenguo, to court in the middle of the night to discuss countermeasures.
But before Duke Zhenguo could lead troops out of the imperial capital, a blood-written petition from Prince Yun arrived at court.
In front of the assembled officials, Prince Yun's envoy held the blood-written petition high and cried out in anguish, pleading his innocence. He declared that the uprising hadn't been his intention; he had acted only in self-defense. Someone had already told him the emperor was about to move against him. He also insisted he hadn't been behind the calamity that had befallen the Immortal Seeds nine years ago. If the emperor could identify the true culprit, clear his name, and proclaim that he would face no further punishment, Prince Yun was willing to surrender his military authority and come to court bearing brambles on his back to beg forgiveness.
This move gave the emperor, who had been in a somewhat awkward position at this critical moment, a glimmer of hope.
As long as he could hold out until next year's Immortal Ceremony, everything would be resolved.
So, after furiously berating Prince Yun, he reluctantly agreed.
But to his surprise, at that very moment, a censor stepped forward without hesitation. Claiming he couldn't bear to see the people suffer or another war break out, he risked his life to expose the current Imperial Grandson, declaring that the Imperial Grandson had masterminded the Immortal Seeds' calamity nine years ago to usurp the throne.
In an instant, the old emperor felt his blood and qi surge. He had indeed suspected his grandson back then, but he'd never had any proof. Meanwhile, Prince Yun had repeatedly taken a hard line, making the emperor suspect him even more. Then an Immortal Master had reprimanded him, leaving him no choice but to focus on the next selection of Immortal Seeds and on Prince Yun.
Now, his suspicions were magnified beyond measure.
And under the circumstances, even if the Imperial Grandson hadn't been highly suspect, the emperor might still have thrown him to the wolves to placate Prince Yun for the time being.
The Imperial Grandson learned of the accusation and was forced into a palace coup. The Grandmaster behind him finally revealed himself and fought the emperor in a fierce battle.
As grandfather and grandson tore into each other, Duke Zhenguo personally led an army to welcome Prince Yun into the imperial capital. In the end, they captured the emperor in one fell swoop...
The dynasty was rocked to its foundations, the world turned upside down, yet the Immortal Palace scarcely changed. Apart from several top experts rushing to the emperor's aid, everything continued as usual.
By the time Li Ji'an heard the news, the realm had already settled down.
Prince Yun proclaimed to the world that the Imperial Grandson had rebelled and murdered his grandfather, and that he had led his army to defend the emperor. Then, faced with the crisis, he had taken the throne.
Duke Zhenguo was rewarded for his unparalleled service and made a prince!
What made Li Ji'an sigh most was a bit of street gossip: Duke Zhenguo's ancestor had once been the foremost general under the first Prince Yun. The first Prince Yun had granted him the title of Marquis Dingyuan and stationed him in Qingzhou—and it had also been the first Prince Yun who helped make it happen.
Even generations later, the Marquis Dingyuan estate and Prince Yun's estate still upheld the friendship between their ancestors.
"Brilliant, truly brilliant! And yet so utterly dull..." Li Ji'an sighed, reflecting on how much effort some people spent chasing power and status.
Of course, he'd heard all that gossip from Zhao Yunsheng, who had been summoned to the imperial palace and made Imperial Grandson. Bored, Zhao Yunsheng had slipped out to visit him.
A year later, the Immortal Ceremony began as it always had.
According to Zhao Yunsheng, when the Immortal Master saw that the emperor had changed, he didn't even ask about it. Instead, because this year's Immortal Seeds were better than the previous year's, he bestowed an Immortal Treasure.
At that point, this life's Immortal Seeds were beyond hope. Li Ji'an stopped deliberately holding himself back and devoted more of his energy to internal cultivation.
Thanks to Zhao Yunsheng, now the Imperial Grandson, he was able to remain in the Immortal Palace with ease and take up a post in the Scripture Pavilion.
Thus began decades of steady cultivation, year after year...
Before you continue