Palace Dinner

Mu Chen arrived at the royal palace. He was now highly favored by Zhou Qing and could be said to have shown great kindness to their entire family.

The hidden injuries in Zhou Qing's body had now been healed, but the cultivation he had lost in the past had not recovered.

What happened back then had always remained a heart demon that bound him. Unless he could overcome it, Zhou Qing's cultivation would never improve again in this lifetime.

"So you're Mu Chen. Aunt Qin thanks you for the medicine." The beautiful woman in palace attire seated beside Zhou Qing possessed a dignified and graceful bearing. As the queen, it was only natural for her to have such poise, and her face was likewise filled with gratitude.

Mu Chen nodded and accepted her thanks. Qin Yu had not appeared last time, and she looked quite healthy now, but he knew that was only on the surface. She still had only around ten years left to live. The Ancestral Stone Spirit Liquid had no effect of replenishing one's lifespan.

"Nephew, let's put everything else aside for now. Let me offer you a toast first." Zhou Qing poured himself a cup of wine and drained it in one gulp.

"Royal wine really does taste different." Mu Chen took a small sip, then downed the rest. This was the first cup of wine he had drunk since coming to this world.

Though Jade Brew was strong liquor, it differed from the potent distilled liquor made from grain. Its strength came entirely from the quality of the Source ingredients, allowing one to taste the ingredients themselves.

"If you like it, you can take some back with you later," Zhou Qing said casually.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Mu Chen nodded.

The delicacies on the table were basically all Origin Food. Only the dishes before Zhou Yuan were ordinary meals that regular people could eat. Since he could not open his meridians, his body could not withstand Origin Food.

Aside from containing pure Source Qi, Origin Food was also delicious. Even rice made from Mystic Crystal Rice was softer, stickier, and sweeter than ordinary rice.

Once it entered his mouth, he could feel pure Source Qi flowing into his body and toward the blockage in his second meridian. It was truly quite marvelous.

Only the royal family and royal estates could generally afford such food. Commoners could at most eat it once or twice.

Hehe, Little Marten, want some? Mu Chen asked inwardly, his tone deliberately tempting.

"It's useless to me. Beast Soul Crystals help me far more. I'm currently in the state of a demon spirit—how could I eat something like this?" Little Marten's exasperated voice sounded in his mind. He truly was not human, but a Heavenly Demon Marten. Still, Mu Chen was genuinely a bastard.

Mu Chen smiled. Teasing Little Marten had become a hobby he had recently discovered.

"Nephew, how many meridians have you opened now?" Zhou Qing asked casually.

"I've opened one. The second will take a while longer," Mu Chen said.

He saw no need to hide it now. Those with high cultivation would not care how many meridians someone in the Meridian Opening Realm had opened.

Zhou Qing nodded, glanced at his son, and sighed softly.

That was just as he had expected. When Mu Chen had previously asked him for the Qi Gathering Technique, he probably had not yet opened his meridians. He must have done so only recently.

He did not know when Zhou Yuan's Eight Meridians would manifest either. This was also a source of anguish for him. If Zhou Yuan could not cultivate, then there would be no hope of survival. The Resentful Dragon Poison would eventually take Zhou Yuan's life.

Zhou Yuan clenched his fists. Knowing the grudge between them and the Wu Family, he wished more urgently than ever to open his meridians—for the sake of finding Source materials that could replenish one's lifespan, and for the sake of settling old scores and reclaiming what belonged to him.

Yet after trying for so many years, his Eight Meridians had never manifested. With no other choice, he could only place his hopes on Source Runes.

"Zhou Yuan's Eight Meridians have not manifested. Uncle Zhou, have you found a solution?"

"I'm quite looking forward to Zhou Yuan opening his meridians. We can be rivals in the future, competing and sparring with each other to spur both of us onward," Mu Chen said.

To gain a true friend in life was enough to comfort one through all life's hardships. Someone like Zhou Yuan would not betray a friend, though one still had to be wary of him dragging down his teammates.

Zhou Yuan gave Mu Chen a deep look. If he could open his meridians and cultivate, he too looked forward to sparring with Mu Chen—not out of any grudge, but simply as an exchange between friends.

Zhou Qing nodded approvingly. Yuan'er usually kept to the palace and had few friends. He was happy that his son had made a friend like Mu Chen.

"There is one final method. The Great Zhou Ancestral Sacrifice will be held soon. Yuan'er, you may be able to find an opportunity to open your meridians there. As for whether it will succeed, that truly depends on your luck." Zhou Qing sighed softly.

Zhou Yuan's eyes lit up, brimming with anticipation as he looked at Zhou Qing in overwhelming surprise.

Mu Chen took it all in and grumbled inwardly. You might not know whether it'll succeed, but how could I, a transmigrator, not know?

At that time, Zhou Yuan would be able to take a Twin Lotus Saint as his master. Moreover, Cangyuan would become the fourth Three Lotus Saint of the Lower Five Heavens in the future, and even his senior brother was a Saint. With such an opportunity, Mu Chen even wondered whether some lingering Saint Dragon Destiny still remained on Zhou Yuan.

No, it should be protagonist's luck. Without that luck, Zhou Yuan might not even have survived the day of Python Sparrow Swallowing Dragon.

"Uncle Zhou, I'm an outsider, yet you're telling me this so directly. You really don't treat me as an outsider," Mu Chen teased Zhou Qing. He truly did not regard him as one.

Great Zhou's ancestral land—never mind the royal family's ancestral land, even an ordinary family would not let outsiders know of its ancestral land. Only members of the royal family could enter it.

Whenever they worshipped the ancestors, the Imperial Guards Zhou Qing brought only stood watch outside the ancestral land. They were not qualified to enter.

"Hahaha, I already call you nephew. We're family, so it doesn't matter if you know. Even I don't know whether it will succeed." Zhou Qing's expression was bitter. If there had been another way, he would not have placed his hopes on the secret words passed down by his ancestors.

Before him, every ruler of Great Zhou, including himself, had tried entering the ancestral land, but none had succeeded.

The secret words might have been nothing more than empty rumors, but they were Zhou Yuan's final hope of opening his meridians.

Zhou Yuan calmed down. This method was highly uncertain, but he had no other choice. He could only take a gamble.

Mu Chen did not think much about it. The Zhou Clan's ancestral land would not allow him entry anyway. Even within the royal family, only a select few were qualified to perform the ancestral sacrifice.

Once Zhou Yuan brought Yaoyao out, there would be plenty of chances to get acquainted, make his presence known, and perhaps even get some good things for free.

After finishing the meal, Mu Chen left the royal palace, taking some of the dishes away with him. Zhou Qing and the others were left utterly stunned.

Zhou Qing naturally had no objections to packing food up. Any leftovers were usually distributed among the maids and soldiers to take home, since those without a certain level of wealth would not ordinarily eat Origin Food.

As an emperor, Zhou Qing had seen all manner of things, but it was the first time they had encountered someone as unconstrained as Mu Chen. Yet they did not dislike it; instead, they found him straightforward.