Righteous Path Grand Plan, the Disappearance of Myths

Diyi Era of the Zixuan Dynasty, July 28.

After traveling day and night beneath the stars, I finally reached Heavenly Wonder Pavilion.

Heavenly Wonder Pavilion was truly enormous. Of all the cities I had seen in my life, not one could compare to it.

Yet such a vast Heavenly Wonder Pavilion was filled entirely with people from Heavenly Wonder Pavilion.

What rotten luck.

Whose son was that, whose daughter was this, or whose grandson was the other? Every last one of them seemed to belong to some great Heavenly Wonder Pavilion family.

Diyi Era of the Zixuan Dynasty, July 29.

If you wanted to get along with the people around you, the most important thing was never to share your own happy and joyous matters with them.

So when I collected my magical artifact, although one artifact rolled itself into my sleeve, I did not make a sound.

"Sir, regarding the Artifact Pavilion's missing magical artifact, the person in charge there hopes that you can go and clear yourself of suspicion."

The Artifact Pavilion was where Heavenly Wonder Pavilion stored treasures such as magical artifacts and medicinal pills.

Since the items inside would all be priceless treasures if placed outside, they had borrowed an ancient title once reserved for immortal treasures to name that place.

Hearing this, Tan Shuchang looked up at the visitor.

He was a pavilion officer from the Artifact Pavilion.

Pavilion officers had twelve ranks. They were the fourth tier of Heavenly Wonder Pavilion personnel, below Spirit Officers and Dao Generals. But in Tan Shuchang's eyes, all twelve ranks naturally looked the same.

So he asked, "What rank is the Artifact Pavilion's person in charge?"

"Reporting to you, sir, the person in charge is a twelfth-rank pavilion officer." Upon hearing this, the pavilion officer immediately perked up, and a few traces of confidence unconsciously appeared on his face.

A twelfth-rank pavilion officer was already the highest rank among pavilion officers.

"A twelfth-rank pavilion officer wants me, a Dao General, to go to him. Is that appropriate?" Tan Shuchang asked with a smile. Yet there was no change in his tone; it sounded like an offhand question.

"It is."

The pavilion officer gave Tan Shuchang an unexpected answer.

Tan Shuchang merely looked at him without speaking.

"You may not know this, sir. Although Pavilion Officer Zhou is twelfth-rank, Deputy Pavilion Master Yun Shoutian, Lord Yun, is Pavilion Officer Zhou's uncle!" Seeing Tan Shuchang's reaction, the pavilion officer immediately explained in a lowered voice.

"I see. Then tell Pavilion Officer Zhou that I will go later." Tan Shuchang's smile remained unchanged, and his tone was still mild.

"Thank you, sir!" The pavilion officer heaved a sigh of relief, unable to stop himself from secretly rejoicing. Fortunately, this newly appointed Sword Inspector Dao General had an easygoing temperament and was reasonable to speak with. Otherwise, even Deputy Pavilion Master Yun's face might not have been enough to suppress matters. To be honest, even he, Pavilion Officer Zhou's confidant, could not help feeling that his superior was a little too arrogant.

Although twelfth-rank pavilion officers stood only below Spirit Officers and Dao Generals within Heavenly Wonder Pavilion's hierarchy, there were only fourteen Spirit Officers and Dao Generals in total, while there were several hundred twelfth-rank pavilion officers!

However, after that pavilion officer left, Tan Shuchang did not go to the Artifact Pavilion to clear himself as he had said.

He first took out a sheet of specially made paper, then began to write.

What Tan Shuchang was writing was a letter of resignation.

He wrote—

"Since receiving Your Highness's imperial decree, this subject has been overwhelmed with gratitude for Your Highness's grace. Thus, day and night without rest, this subject hastened to Luo Province to assume office. Yet after arriving at Heavenly Wonder Pavilion, this subject learned only then of the difficulty of serving as an official. This subject has truly failed Your Highness's favor in recognizing my worth. The Ning family's power is immense, and they already possess the posture of covering the sky with one hand. This truly fills this subject with dread. This subject had only just assumed office when the pavilion officers assigned to this subject by the three deputy pavilion masters all turned out to be natives of the vicinity of West Isle City..."

Then Tan Shuchang added what he had heard from Qiu Junlin, and went on to mention how Artifact Pavilion officers could rely on family ties to make things difficult for him, and so on.

Finally, Tan Shuchang carefully checked it once. After confirming that the person described in the letter was completely useless, he submitted his resignation with peace of mind.

This type of paper was highly special. Only those at the rank of Spirit Officer or Dao General could receive it, and there was a limit on the quantity: one sheet a year, each side measuring one foot.

As long as Tan Shuchang wrote on this paper and circulated his cultivation for a moment, the words on it would instantly be transmitted to the imperial palace in Capital Prefecture.

Moreover, this method of transmitting information could block all prying eyes.

Other than the recipient, no third party could learn the contents of the letter.

Yet this limited distribution was not because making such paper was difficult. No matter how difficult it was, it would amount to nothing for a dynasty that ruled over most of Jia Five Realm.

The reason was entirely because, when it had first been introduced, too many people had used it to flatter their superiors.

There were even supposedly more outrageous cases, where people reported every gust of wind and drop of rain in their local area.

It made the emperor of that generation grit his teeth in fury.

Thus, this special paper was restricted afterward.

However, if one paid out of pocket and the letter was not being sent to the imperial palace, there were no restrictions. One only needed to leave one's real information when making the purchase, then one could buy as much as one wanted.

As for what it was used for afterward, even if someone used it in the latrine, no one would care.

Just as Tan Shuchang sent his resignation letter to the imperial palace in Capital Prefecture, someone delivered another letter to him.

The messenger was Qiu Junlin's attendant servant.

The youth who had somehow cultivated a low-grade technique into seven or eight years of cultivation.

"Who sent this to me?" Tan Shuchang looked at the envelope, only to find that not even the recipient's name was written on it.

"Sir, I do not know who she is." The youth shook his head.

Tan Shuchang was not surprised. After all, this was a world where cultivation existed, and concealing one's face was no difficult task. So he asked, "Can you tell me how you received this letter?"

"When I went to pay respects at my younger sister's grave, I happened to meet someone who once saved my life. She asked me to deliver it to you, sir." The youth roughly described what had happened.

Naturally, Tan Shuchang could glean no useful information from this. He carefully inspected the letter, and only after confirming there were no special methods attached to it did he open it with ease.

The moment he saw its contents, surprise appeared in Tan Shuchang's eyes.

This letter described Sword Disciple Mountain's Righteous Path Grand Plan in exceptional detail. It mentioned that Sword Disciple Mountain had begun preparing for this Righteous Path Grand Plan a hundred years ago, and had drawn in many top-tier powers. Among them were quite a few figures of the evil path who had already lived for over a century even at that time.

The letter also directly pointed out—the Righteous Path Grand Plan was far from as simple as it appeared. For it to unite both the righteous and evil paths, it could only be connected to the disappearance of the myths of Jia Five Realm three hundred years ago.

"You want to avenge yourself with your own hands?" Tan Shuchang put away the letter and asked the youth this.

His status was already not low. As Qiu Junlin's attendant servant, so long as Qiu Junlin did not fall, it was even possible for this youth to enter the imperial court and become an official someday. Yet he still clung to a low-grade technique, cultivating it bitterly for seven or eight years.

Coupled with the two things he had just mentioned—being saved by someone, and visiting his younger sister's grave—it would be stranger than ghosts if he did not bear a blood-deep hatred.

"Sir..." The youth was instantly startled. He seemed shocked that Tan Shuchang knew of this matter, for he had never told anyone about his past.

Of course, the Qiu family had likely investigated his background thoroughly, but presumably they would not have told Tan Shuchang about it.

"This is a superior canonical technique, the Sevenfold Demon Body Scripture, as payment for bringing me the letter. Mm, it also contains some of my cultivation notes, enough to help you get started."

Tan Shuchang took out a jade slip and gave it a light toss. It landed steadily in the youth's arms.

"Thank you, sir, for the grace of bestowing this technique!" The youth's eyes instantly reddened as he dropped to his knees. Let alone a superior canonical technique, even an ordinary superior technique was something beyond his reach.

Unless one day he could enter the imperial court as an official and devote ten years of service to a cultivation sect, only then might he have a chance of obtaining one.

Superior techniques had always been monopolized.

"If I do not die in the future, I will surely..." The youth wanted to say something to express his gratitude to Tan Shuchang, but before he could finish, Tan Shuchang interrupted him.

"You do not need to thank me. This is what you deserve. And if you truly want to thank me, then if you cause trouble someday, it will be enough if you do not give my name."