Immortal Yuan Records

Azure Ox...the Azure Ox again.

This thing appeared far too often among the system's rewards.

And every time, it kept him from getting it.

Di Xin looked at the options before him, with an urge to curse.

Laozi riding an Azure Ox and heading west through Hangu Pass was a mythical tale known even to many people in later generations.

Di Xin guessed that the Immortal Beast Azure Ox here was most likely Laozi's mount.

What annoyed him wasn't that he couldn't get the Azure Ox. The Azure Ox might be even more trouble than the other treasures, after all, its master was a big shot even more terrifying than the Primordial Lord of Heaven and Lord Tongtian.

It was the reward for option two: that Primordial Gold Dou.

Di Xin had only just escaped danger unscathed, and now he had to get Lady Bixiao's Soul Origin Golden Dou too. He couldn't even imagine what the consequences would be.

Even now, he had no idea how to resolve this.

Clearly, Zhao Gongming and Yang Jian, along with the others, wouldn't let the matter rest. Whether they could still track him down was anyone's guess.

The system was such a trap!

He wouldn't mind getting a few treasures. After all, who ever complained about having too many?

But it couldn't keep shearing the same sheep!

Yunxiao had lost the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, Zhao Gongming had lost the Dragon Binding Rope, and if Lady Bixiao lost the Primordial Gold Dou too, they might spend their entire lives hunting down those treasures.

Even if they were in his hands, he wouldn't dare use them!

But if he didn't choose option two, the system would give him the Azure Ox.

And that wasn't all. Di Xin carefully analyzed option one again. Since it came before option two, it must carry considerable danger.

Could taking the Spirit Pill, which was said to be worth ten years of cultivation, cause his Magic Power to fluctuate and expose his cultivation?

He thought it over from every angle, and that was the only possibility he could come up with.

That was absolutely out of the question.

As he was analyzing the options, a line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Di Xin pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. There was no need to choose; the Primordial Gold Dou had already arrived.

He inspected the system space with his mind and, sure enough, saw the miniature incense burner glowing with a faint green light inside.

The little white puppy had let go of the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors. Entangled in the Dragon Binding Rope, it lunged at the Primordial Gold Dou and began gnawing on it.

Di Xin watched absentmindedly for a while, then rolled over and lay down. He wasn't worried that the Sky-Howling Dog would chew up the Soul Origin Golden Dou. He was worried about how this whole mess would end.

He considered sending someone to find out what Zhao Gongming and the others were up to, but decided against it. That would only make people suspicious.

In the end, he let it go. He rolled over on the couch and began carefully examining the newly acquired cultivation scripture, Immortal Yuan Records.

The book the system had rewarded him with didn't appear as a physical volume. Instead, its contents had been poured directly into Di Xin's mind as countless words. All he had to do was direct his thoughts toward it, and he could read what it contained.

When the reward had arrived earlier, he'd been in grave danger and hadn't had the leisure to look.

Now, after reading just a few lines, he shot upright, his face alight with joy.

The things he'd begged Zhao Gongming, the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, and Yang Jian for—and had been turned down flat on—had already been prepared for him by the system.

And it seemed that Immortal Yuan Records covered far more than the cultivation methods he'd expected.

Just the introduction alone made him feel as if a fog had lifted from his mind.

"Immortal Yuan is the primal force of Qi cultivation, the Immortal Power of the immortals. Qi Cultivators refine their bodies with qi, control artifacts with qi, and cast spells with qi. This is called Magic Power..."

As he read on, Di Xin sprang to his feet.

Immortal Power was actually so much stronger than primal force.

It could destroy the heavens and earth, move mountains and fill seas; its divine powers were boundless, truly allowing one to share the lifespan of heaven and earth!

Could this be the reason he'd crossed over into this world?

Had the system given him this book to guide him down this path?

He absolutely couldn't die. He absolutely couldn't end up on the Investiture of the Gods.

Di Xin clearly remembered that after King Zhou burned himself to death at the Star Picking Tower, he went to the Investiture Terrace. Jiang Ziya then appointed him the Heavenly Joy Star, one of the twelve zodiac stars, in charge of marriages among mortals.

What a tedious job. How could it compare to the carefree life of an immortal?

Di Xin grew ever more impatient. He had no thoughts to spare for whether Zhao Gongming and his group were itching to kill him. He read all of Immortal Yuan Records in one sitting.

Then, feeling he might not have understood it thoroughly enough, he started reading from the beginning again.

He read until midnight. He'd lost count of how many times he'd gone through it, completely immersed in the wondrous world the book revealed.

The book covered only basic cultivation theory. It contained no divine powers or spells, nor any powerful techniques.

But it was exactly what Di Xin most urgently wanted to know.

From the book, he learned how to breathe and cultivate to gain primal force, how to circulate and release it, how to use it to activate magical treasures, and about its many wondrous applications.

The book was like a door. It let him truly glimpse a fantastical and bizarre world, and all the extraordinary abilities of a Qi Cultivator—things he'd never dared imagine before.

I think I know how to fly now. I just don't have enough primal force.

I think I'll be able to use Earth Evasion, Water Evasion, and Fire Evasion someday. I just don't have enough cultivation, and I haven't learned the corresponding evasion techniques.

I think I'll be able to tame the Sky-Howling Dog. I just can't activate the Monster Summoning Banner yet.

I think I'll be able to wield the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, the Monster Summoning Banner, and the Primordial Gold Dou. I just haven't grown strong enough yet...

There were very few things he could do now, but he could already see all the possibilities that lay ahead.

After reading through the book all night, Di Xin spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, imagining what the future held. His excitement only grew.

By the time dawn broke, he still wasn't sleepy.

Still, to avoid arousing suspicion, he pretended to have just woken up. He washed up with the attendants' help, then had breakfast with Daji.

He'd planned to visit the ruins of the Imperial Study after breakfast, but just after setting out, he suddenly heard a rumbling drumbeat from the direction of Longde Hall.

The drum sounded nine times, each beat short and forceful.

Hearing it, Di Xin couldn't help but feel a jolt.

From the original owner's memories, he knew there was a story behind the drum. It was called the Court Urging Drum.

Great Kings throughout the ages had been delayed in attending court for all sorts of reasons, so the ministers came up with an idea. Under ordinary circumstances, they let it be, but whenever the drum sounded nine times, the Great King had to hold court, no matter what he was doing.

This was a special privilege granted to the ministers.

However, to keep the ministers from beating the Court Urging Drum every day, the Great King at the time had stipulated that it could be sounded only once a year.

Because of this agreement, the ministers were especially cautious about exercising this power.

They couldn't know in advance whether the matter that seemed so important at the time would turn out to be the most important matter of the year—important enough to justify using their one chance.

And because they had to weigh the matter so carefully, they went back and forth weighing it, and the Court Urging Drum was rarely sounded each year.

Di Xin had been on the throne for eight years, and this was the first time he'd heard all nine beats.

What could have happened?

Could it have something to do with Zhao Gongming and the Three Ladies of the Auspicious Clouds?

Making guesses as he hurried along, Di Xin headed for Longde Hall.