You Want to Sneak a Peek at the Empress Sleeping?

Cold Night Palace.

The imperial bedchamber was surrounded by a meticulously designed landscape garden.

At the center of the courtyard was an artificial lake, its water clear to the bottom. A few water lilies floated on the surface, while the occasional koi darted through the water, sending ripples spreading outward.

Along the banks, rockeries rose in layers, their jagged stones unusual in shape. Water trickled between the rocks, forming a series of small waterfalls,

At the heart of the lake stood an exquisite waterside pavilion, with double eaves and layered arches. Pale blue tassels hung all around it, and two figures could faintly be seen inside.

Yu Youhan wore a long purple iris dress and a gold hairpin entwined with flowering branches. Seated on a platform suspended above the water, she had her tight dress tracing a semicircular curve. She gently dipped her toes in the lake, drawing little fish to swim around them.

She looked less domineering and imposing than usual, her tender cheeks flushed pink, like peach blossoms in spring.

Chen Mo stood to the side, quietly admiring the breathtaking sight of "a little fish nibbling at her feet."

"You mean you went to the Music Bureau to visit prostitutes, and were attacked by a ghost cultivator?" Yu Youhan's voice was clear and bright, like pearls dropping onto a jade plate.

Visit prostitutes? More like visit loneliness...

Chen Mo sighed inwardly and said, "The man called himself Daoist You. He was from the Ghost Devouring Sect. The Soul-Summoning Banner was his magical treasure, but Qin Wuxiang stole it three years ago. When he heard Qin Wuxiang had died at my hands, he tracked me down."

"But with the Vitality Essence and the divine ability Your Highness bestowed upon me, dealing with that ghost cultivator was easy."

Yu Youhan gave a slight nod.

She had bestowed that Dharma Seal upon Chen Mo to protect him.

Ghost cultivators focused on cultivating their souls and raising ghosts, leaving their own bodies frail. With Chen Mo's Soul Absorption ability, a mere Fifth Grade Ghost Envoy stood no chance against him.

"The Ghost Devouring Sect was destroyed long ago. Daoist You must have stumbled upon an opportunity by chance, so there's no need to worry about retaliation."

"But your soul..."

Yu Youhan turned her head. A lock of dark hair fell over her shoulder, and her starry eyes flicked toward him.

Chen Mo gave a wry smile. "I ate too much and got stuffed."

After swallowing the soul power of over a hundred vengeful ghosts, his soul had expanded dramatically. The most obvious effect was that his senses had become unnaturally sharp: not a sound within a hundred paces escaped his notice, and his reaction speed had become astonishingly fast—

That was where the problem lay.

His reactions were too fast, but his movements lagged half a beat behind. He had the peculiar grace of a high-ping warrior.

"You cultivate your body but not your soul, and your Violet Palace and Spiritual Terrace haven't yet been opened. Swallowing too much soul power recklessly is like building a castle in the air. At best, it will throw your mind into chaos. At worst, your soul will be damaged and your Spiritual Terrace shattered. In simple terms, you'd become..."

"A vegetable?"

"Hmm?"

Yu Youhan asked in confusion, "What do you mean by a vegetable?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "Like a plant, unable to move, with all five senses gone, unaware of everything..."

Yu Youhan nodded. "It's a fitting term. Well, if your luck had been a little worse, you'd be a vegetable now."

"..."

Chen Mo hadn't expected he'd nearly turned into a tree. He frowned. "This divine ability has side effects?"

Yu Youhan's jade-like toes toyed with the little fish. She had clearly understood what he was getting at and replied coldly, "It's like eating. Once you're full, you stop. An ordinary person would feel their Spiritual Terrace swelling after swallowing just a few vengeful ghosts and wouldn't be able to continue. Who would swallow over a hundred in a row? Did you need me to tell you that?"

Chen Mo looked a little embarrassed.

That Daoist You had bared his chest like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and Chen Mo simply couldn't help himself.

Besides, other than having a bit of "lag," he hadn't felt "stuffed" at all.

"Enough."

Yu Youhan shook her head.

Chen Mo's body suddenly rose into the air. Against his will, he flew in front of her as she extended a slender jade finger and gently tapped the center of his brow.

His vision suddenly went black, and he plunged into boundless darkness.

It was as though he had reached the end of the universe. There was no time or space, no up or down, no left or right—only pure nothingness.

"This is... my Spiritual Terrace?" Chen Mo realized.

Boom—

Like thunder, a faint glimmer lit up the void.

The glimmer stretched farther and farther, drawing into a thin line. Like the creation of heaven and earth, it split the universe in two.

Boom, boom, boom—

The entire Spiritual Terrace trembled. The clear rose and the turbid sank, gradually separating into distinct halves.

The vast, tangled soul power swirled like a river of stars, gathering in the air to form a golden miniature figure. Its body was nearly transparent, and it sat cross-legged like an old monk deep in meditation.

Though its face was blurred, it was unmistakably Chen Mo himself.

The swollen, bloated feeling disappeared. His spiritual sense became refined and abundant. He didn't even need to open his eyes to take in everything around him.

The ripples stirred by fish on the lakebed, the skirts of palace attendants swaying as they walked, the silkworm moths chewing leaves on a distant ginkgo tree...

Immersed in this wondrous sensation, Chen Mo's spiritual sense passed through one palace after another, until, without realizing it, he reached a magnificent palace. Nine rows of gold studs ran across its vermilion doors, and above them, on the plaque, three silver-hook, iron-stroke characters read "Yangxin Palace."

"Impertinent!"

Suddenly, an angry shout exploded beside his ear!

A vast torrent of soul power immediately bore down on him, as if Mount Tai were crushing him, threatening to grind him to pieces!

"Hmph."

A cold snort rang out.

The spiritual sense that had been so menacing just moments ago abruptly froze. Then, without the slightest hesitation, it withdrew in an instant, as if nothing had happened.

Chen Mo pulled back his spiritual sense, his face slightly pale.

That angry shout had made him lose focus in an instant, leaving him unable to dodge. If Her Highness hadn't stepped in to protect him, he would have been badly hurt!

"I just helped you open your Violet Palace and condense your spiritual awareness, and you're already in a hurry to die?"

Yu Youhan looked a little exasperated.

It was midday. The Imperial Empress had finished lunch and was resting in Yangxin Palace. What Chen Mo had just done was no different from swaggering straight into the Empress's bedroom.

Like the Old Immortal eating arsenic—had he grown tired of living?

Chen Mo knew he had nearly caused a disaster and smiled sheepishly. "It felt so strange. I lost control for a moment."

Yu Youhan said coolly, "The palace is more complicated than you imagine. Apart from Cold Night Palace, don't go wandering into other places. As for the method of cultivating the soul, you're not ready for it yet. We'll talk about it when you're about to break through to Fifth Grade."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Chen Mo bowed.

At the Fifth Grade Pure Yang Realm, one condensed a Martial Soul with spiritual sense. He was curious what his would be.

"By the way, there's a strange case in the city lately..."

Chen Mo briefly reported the murders on White Pagoda Street.

Yu Youhan wasn't interested in it at all. "Heaven Capital City is a mixed bag. It's normal for a few minor demons to slip in. The person who should be worried is the Imperial Empress. Don't meddle."

"I do have something for you to do..."

Yangxin Palace.

Outside the high walls, Eunuch Jin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He had just sensed a probing spiritual sense and thought some insignificant intruder had trespassed in the palace. He was about to blast it to smithereens when an overwhelmingly powerful pressure arrived right after.

If he hadn't run fast, he would've been done for...

Aside from that woman, who else would dare act so recklessly in the palace?

"This is where the Imperial Empress rests. It's not some secret stronghold. Could Imperial Concubine Yu be trying to sneak a peek at the Empress sleeping?"

Eunuch Jin's old face was full of question marks.