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Zhaoyang Country

Wenchang Hall, Imperial City

Azure incense smoke curled through the air as the sound of strings and wind instruments rose.

Emperor Xuan Jing, the current Emperor Wenchang of Zhaoyang Country, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He held a Daoist scripture in one hand and a Buddhist scripture in the other, comparing them side by side, his brows occasionally furrowing.

As though there were points he could not comprehend.

"Your Majesty, His Highness Xuan Ye has come to request an audience. What do you say?"

The eunuch carefully approached Emperor Xuan Jing and asked in a low voice.

"Xuan Ye? Why isn't he staying properly at the Imperial Court? What has he come to me for?"

"Summon him in!"

Emperor Xuan Jing was puzzled. He waved his hand, signaling for Xuan Ye to enter, while information concerning Xuan Ye surfaced in his mind.

Zhaoyang Country had endured for a thousand years and could be considered one of the more ancient of the Ten Countries. Since the founding emperor, Xuan Qianqiu, ascended the throne, twenty-nine emperors had reigned by Emperor Xuan Jing's generation.

Xuan Jing had been on the throne for fifteen years. Xuan Ye was his full-blooded younger brother and was responsible for controlling the Zhaoyang Imperial Court.

The so-called Zhaoyang Imperial Court was responsible for dealing with the various cultivators within Zhaoyang Country, suppressing sects, and overseeing all manner of places haunted by Evil Spirits within its borders.

Similar institutions included Yanfeng Nation's Prayer Hall, Zhanmeng Nation's Demon-Slaying Directorate, Rou Zhao Nation's Underworld Soil, and so on.

Upon seeing Xuan Ye, Xuan Jing smiled faintly. "What brings you here today, Imperial Brother? Matters of court may be deliberated by the Inner Cabinet and approved by the Crown Prince."

Xuan Ye glanced at the Daoist and Buddhist scriptures in Emperor Xuan Jing's hands, frowned, and sighed. "Why is Your Majesty studying Daoist arts and Buddhist scriptures again? There has never been a method of immortality in this world. Why can't Your Majesty understand that?"

The two were brothers, so Xuan Ye did not stand on ceremony and spoke bluntly.

Now that Emperor Xuan Jing had reached middle age, he had become increasingly obsessed with the illusory path to immortality. Yet constrained by his limited talent, he was unwilling to put in the effort to cultivate. Even now, he was only at the eighth rank, with a lifespan of merely sixty or seventy years.

Thus, after seeing no hope in cultivation, Emperor Xuan Jing had become ever more engrossed in the legendary methods of immortality recorded in mythological tales, strange chronicles, unofficial histories, and rare solitary manuscripts.

For this, he had exhausted the people and squandered wealth over the years. Had Zhaoyang Country not possessed a vast foundation, it would have long since been run into the ground.

Hearing Xuan Ye's words, Emperor Xuan Jing did not grow angry. Smiling, he waved his hand. "Ah, that is not so. Ancient texts record that gods existed in antiquity, feeding on wind and drinking dew, living eight hundred years and enduring alongside the world. There was also the True Dragon, an auspicious beast of heaven and earth. Bathe in its blood and consume its dragon essence, and one may live for a thousand years."

"These things have been verified since ancient times. How can you say there is no path to immortality, Imperial Brother?"

"Enough, enough. Xuan Ye, quickly tell me what brings you here today!"

Xuan Ye cupped his hands and said, "Fang Wenshan, the City Lord of Chiyang City in Dahuangluo Land, sent word yesterday. An unknown existence acted twenty li northwest of Chiyang City. Heaven and earth split apart at the scene, and a Fire Meteor fell from the sky, utterly destroying an unnamed mountain a hundred zhang high."

"Fang Wenshan suspects that a Land Immortal of the upper third ranks acted there, but the Dragon Court detected no trace whatsoever."

"Hmm? A Land Immortal of the upper third ranks?"

Emperor Xuan Jing finally set down his books, his expression turning grave.

Existences of the upper third ranks were capable of destroying cities and annihilating nations. The moment one appeared, every movement they made would draw the attention of countless forces.

No wonder Xuan Ye had hurried over to seek an audience with Emperor Xuan Jing after confirming Fang Wenshan's report.

This was no longer a matter that the Inner Cabinet or the Crown Prince could decide.

"Is there any other news?"

Emperor Xuan Jing asked.

This time, Xuan Ye hesitated. Fang Wenshan's message had included other conjectures, but that latter possibility...

Xuan Ye looked at Emperor Xuan Jing and let out a deep sigh inwardly. He still decided to report truthfully. Fang Wenshan's message needed to be put on record, and he was not the only one who had seen it. Emperor Xuan Jing would learn of it sooner or later.

If he did not speak now, it would be the crime of deceiving the sovereign.

"There are indeed some other findings..."

Then, Xuan Ye slowly recounted the strange rain in Chiyang City of Dahuangluo Land, as well as the speculation that a mythological True Dragon capable of bringing rain had appeared near Dragon-Raising Temple.

As his words fell, Emperor Xuan Jing's eyes gradually widened, his excitement impossible to conceal.

"In a year of drought, rain fell across the land. Dark clouds covered the sun, and a Fire Meteor descended from heaven to destroy demons."

"A True Dragon—this was absolutely the work of the True Dragon from legend."

Emperor Xuan Jing's face flushed red with excitement. He rose from the meditation cushion and paced back and forth before his seat.

Though he was only eighth rank, he was still the emperor of a nation and possessed considerable insight. What had occurred in Dahuangluo Land simply could not be described by ordinary reasoning.

"Your Majesty, could it not have been the work of an Earthly Immortal of the upper third ranks?"

"Or perhaps caused by the use of some evil artifact?"

Xuan Ye asked hesitantly.

"Impossible. Even if it were our progenitor—" Emperor Xuan Jing suddenly paused, his expression turning somewhat unnatural. He hurriedly skipped over it and continued, "In any case, cultivators of the third rank cannot accomplish such a thing. As for first- or second-rank cultivators, perhaps they could, but in all of Zhaoyang Country's thousand-year history, only our ancestor, Emperor Xuan Xuan Qianqiu, ever reached such a realm. At present, such cultivators simply cannot exist."

"As for it being caused by an evil artifact, that is even more impossible. Fang Wenshan also said that when the rain fell, the Pure Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth was abundant, and demons fled in all directions. This was absolutely the work of a spirit beast possessing immensely powerful Spiritual Light."

"And what spirit beast could possess such powerful Spiritual Light, if not the True Dragon of legend?"

"Dragon-Raising Temple truly lives up to its name as a force that has stood for a thousand years... I never imagined such a divine creature truly existed within the temple."

At the thought of bathing in True Dragon blood and consuming dragon essence to extend one's lifespan by a thousand years, Emperor Xuan Jing's heart blazed with heat.

The path to immortality he had pursued so bitterly for so many years lay right before his eyes. The fact that he could retain even a shred of composure was already no small feat.

After Emperor Xuan Jing's analysis, Xuan Ye nodded as well. Once every possibility had been laid out, the least likely option had instead become the most likely one.

Although the descent of a True Dragon from myth and legend in Dragon-Raising Temple was simply too unbelievable, the temple had stood for a thousand years and even bore the name of raising dragons. Perhaps possessing a True Dragon was not all that strange after all...

Yeah, right!

"Xuan Ye, heed my command: Have the Imperial Court join forces with Fang Wenshan of Chiyang City and pay a visit to Dragon-Raising Temple to discuss the matter of the True Dragon. You must uncover even the slightest clue for me!"

"By your command!"

Xuan Ye's expression tightened as he hurriedly replied.

He knew Emperor Xuan Jing was getting serious.

"Chief Eunuch, lead the palace attendants and secretly coordinate with my imperial brother Xuan Ye's actions. If necessary, you may temporarily mobilize the royal retainers. You must get to the bottom of this True Dragon matter for me."

Still seemingly uneasy, Emperor Xuan Jing knew that, when facing Dragon-Raising Temple, a sect that had endured for a thousand years, the court did not dare press too harshly. Yet the matter of the True Dragon was of paramount importance, so he gave the palace attendants further orders to act in secret.

An elderly eunuch flashed out from the shadows. Judging by his aura, he was actually a sixth-rank powerhouse.

"By your command!"

The two accepted their orders and departed. After they left, Emperor Xuan Jing could no longer contain himself and burst into loud laughter.

"Heaven has not forsaken me!"

"The path to immortality!"

For a time, all of Kyoto was shaken by this message from Fang Wenshan.

Forces of every stripe, openly or covertly, began heading toward Dahuangluo Land.

Storm clouds gathered

Their sights fixed squarely on Dragon-Raising Temple!