Midnight.
A bright moon hung high; not a star was in sight.
Peaceful Palace, inner hall, within the curtains.
A tailless figure, as voluptuous as the moon, and a Nine-Tailed Fox silhouette, silver-white as snow, intertwined with Jiang Chen like two sides of the same body.
In his daze, Jiang Chen nearly thought three people were cultivating together.
When three walk together, one of them must be my wife.
Sure enough, this time, with his Myriad Phenomena Resonance showing small success, his divine sense was enough to see through illusions. He confirmed that he had not fallen for Thousand-Faced Fox's illusion—Thousand-Faced Fox had not even intended to deceive him.
This rather exceeded Jiang Chen's expectations.
He guessed that Thousand-Faced Fox might have sensed that his new ability was no empty boast, which was why she wanted to test it firsthand.
Jiang Chen had never imagined that the certain-death ending of his first simulation would, by a twist of fate, send him to the pinnacle of life.
At the same time, another even more shocking truth emerged—
What the novel said was true. The Empress Dowager was truly untouched!
Amid their lingering sweet nothings, Jiang Chen learned that Empress Dowager Mu Rong was not the biological mother of the current emperor, but his stepmother.
Because both her cultivation talent and beauty were exceptional, the late emperor, already on his last legs, had made her his final noble consort.
Yet before he could get down to business, the late emperor kicked the bucket.
Thus, Mu Rong had remained untouched. Of course, she was not yet the Empress Dowager then, merely an insignificant little figure.
The Crown Prince—now the emperor, Yu Wenshu—had only been eight when he ascended the throne.
Yu Wenshu, who possessed some talent, immersed himself in cultivation all day and never concerned himself with state affairs.
At the time, the women in the late emperor's harem had no cultivation, so the imperial relatives and eunuchs could only take turns controlling the young emperor.
During that period, Mu Rong cultivated diligently while secretly laying out her plans.
Finally, upon reaching Foundation Establishment Peak, Mu Rong stirred conflict between the imperial relatives and eunuchs through a series of measures. In one stroke, she seized real power and began ruling from behind the curtain as Empress Dowager.
At that time, Emperor Yu Wenshu had likewise cultivated to Foundation Establishment Peak, yet he was utterly no match for Mu Rong and could only be a puppet emperor.
Yu Wenshu, meanwhile, continuously rounded up Merfolk Women and used Merfolk Pearls to cultivate. Until twenty years ago, he unexpectedly succeeded in forming an infant, reclaiming imperial power in one move.
Yet he maintained the appearance of a mother-son relationship with Mu Rong, and neither side slaughtered the other.
As for when Thousand-Faced Fox had possessed the Empress Dowager, she did not mention a single word of it. She did not even mention the words Thousand-Faced Fox.
It was as though Empress Dowager Mu Rong was herself!
But during their dual cultivation, Jiang Chen had truly seen the fox shadow again and absorbed the fox demon's demonic qi, to the point that he had nearly believed three people were cultivating together.
Jiang Chen also discovered another fact: the Empress Dowager's actual cultivation was only Foundation Establishment Peak. Her Golden Core was an illusion.
After a night of cultivation, Jiang Chen's cultivation had not advanced a single inch.
Besides the fact that the Empress Dowager did not possess Golden Core cultivation, this was also related to the Five-Element Endowment of his dantian.
Fortunately, he had drawn in a great deal of demonic qi from the Empress Dowager and stored it within the Qi Sea Abyss.
Once he saved it to fuse human spirit and demonic qi, then used it to drive the Demi-Immortal's Book, advancing realms would be easy...
With that being the case, the untouched Empress Dowager was far too useful.
Jiang Chen had not advanced his own realm. Instead, during cultivation, he fed the Merfolk Pearl to the Empress Dowager.
Then, in the course of using the power of resonance, he cleared away the accumulated herbal impurities deep within her dantian.
This greatly improved the Empress Dowager's complexion. The exhaustion throughout her body dispersed, and even the fine lines at the corners of her eyes faded considerably.
When it was done, he did not brush off his robes and leave. Jiang Chen held the untouched Empress Dowager in his arms, savoring every detail of their cultivation as he quietly waited for the plot to end so he could clock out.
Yet the Empress Dowager reached out and pinched his chest, scolding him coyly:
"Where under heaven could there be a lecher with such gall as you!"
Jiang Chen's gaze was gentle and calm, the very image of a sage.
"After missing Senior Sister Liu, I did not want to miss the Empress Dowager again. Even if this is a dream, I will make that dream come true."
The Empress Dowager seemed to have heard another woman's name. Angrily, she turned her back to him and snorted coldly.
"Go on, then. Go find your Senior Sister Liu!"
Jiang Chen lifted the lotus basin and whispered into her ear:
"Senior Sister Liu is already dead. I will not let such a thing happen to you."
The Empress Dowager fell silent.
After a moment, she asked softly again:
"Who is this 'you' you speak of?"
Jiang Chen froze. Faced with such soul-searching interrogation, one careless answer could turn it into a fatal question.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"You are you."
Unexpectedly, the beauty in his arms asked again:
"Then what about you?"
"I am also me."
Thousand-Faced Fox had possessed the Empress Dowager's body.
And was Jiang Chen not likewise possessing the original owner's body?
Through a round of utterly unabashed philosophical questions and answers, Jiang Chen successfully avoided the soul-searching interrogation and escaped death.
He hurriedly changed the subject and asked the Empress Dowager:
"By the way, why would a cultivator like you involve yourself in the imperial palace and participate in Fireburn Kingdom's political struggles?"
Holding Jiang Chen's hand, the Empress Dowager asked in return:
"Aren't you participating now as well?
Who would have thought you would use your Qi Refinement body to run into the desert and snatch Merfolk Pearls from merchants.
You... what have you deduced?"
Heh, and you still say you are not Thousand-Faced Fox!
Jiang Chen flatly denied it:
"No. I merely happened to pass by and drew my blade to aid those in need. The spoils were only incidental. It is a pity that those two Twin Mermaids were taken by Chen and then given to His Majesty."
The Empress Dowager fiercely pinched the flesh of Jiang Chen's thigh.
"What His Majesty? You are his stepfather now."
"..."
Jiang Chen was speechless. He was practically becoming the Supreme Emperor.
"Stop changing the subject. Why are you involved in palace intrigue?"
The Empress Dowager suddenly turned around and stared at Jiang Chen.
"I am waiting for an opportunity to appear. I cannot know the details, but I am certain it is connected to something."
"What thing?"
"Dragon Bone."
The plot came to an abrupt halt.
Jiang Chen's vision went dark, and his consciousness instantly returned to Flame Mountain's summit. He slapped his thigh sharply.
"I cultivated for too long and actually delayed the real business!"
But on careful recollection... cultivation was still more enjoyable.
Jiang Chen particularly liked the process of this simulation.
Though Chen had nearly killed him, he had ultimately, by a twist of fate, gotten the real business done.
However, there were two problems with the ending:
First, he had missed out on the two Merfolk Women.
Second, he had exposed his identity before Chen, which would very likely indirectly expose the Empress Dowager's ambitions.
For the second simulation, Jiang Chen changed his route and decided to continue from the first simulation, making corrections.
[Beginning the second simulation!]
Jiang Chen once again appeared inside the Sandworm.
Step by step, he talked the merchant into avoiding the black-clothed men.
After the black-clothed men had completely departed, Jiang Chen also gained part of the merchant's trust.
He then said that there was an Imperial Guards outpost nearby, and that the Sandworm should move in the opposite direction, away from it.
After weighing the pros and cons, the merchant temporarily believed Jiang Chen, though he remained vigilant at all times.
Jiang Chen led the underground Sandworm to his home ground—
Flame Mountain.
A hundred zhang underground, inside the Artificial Sandworm.
"We are here. It is safe for the moment."
Jiang Chen took out a cracked Foundation Establishment Sandworm core and the remaining six Qi Refinement worm cores, saying:
"I have one Foundation Establishment worm core and six Qi Refinement worm cores here. Adding the two lives I saved for you, how about trading me your two Merfolk Women and twenty Merfolk Pearls?"
"You may, but you must tell me why a Qi Refinement cultivator like you could suddenly appear here."
"..."
History was always astonishingly similar.
Even though Jiang Chen had changed locations and the timing was not exactly the same, when he made the same trade proposal, the merchant's response was word for word identical.
As though it had been copied and pasted from another spacetime.
But the battle that followed went slightly awry.
This place was far from the underground outpost where Chen was stationed, and Jiang Chen had assumed it would not draw Chen's attention.
Unexpectedly, because they had traveled several hundred li farther this time, the merchant was even more wary of him.
As a result, Jiang Chen's sneak attack failed. His sword did not pierce through the merchant's brain.
Instead, one slash lifted off his skullcap.
The fight dragged on.
The two exchanged move for move, battling from underground to the surface, then from the surface back underground.
In the end, Jiang Chen still successfully killed the greedy merchant and seized his Storage Ring and spoils.
However, because he had fought the merchant for too long, Chen still arrived, along with another black-clothed man at Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
More precisely, another black-clothed man patrolling nearby arrived first, then sent a message for the old general to come personally.
Once again.
The old general dragged the entire Artificial Sandworm from hundreds of zhang beneath the desert up to the surface.
The Sandworm's shell shattered, and the five walls of the wooden house scattered in all directions.
On the wooden floor lay the merchant's corpse, scattered flesh and blood, the two Merfolk Women in their water tank, and Jiang Chen leisurely drinking tea...
A startled expression appeared on the old general's face. With one hand resting on his heavy sword, he asked:
"Who are you?"
"Who I am is unimportant. What matters is that I killed a merchant who trafficked merfolk slaves—an act of righteousness... Chen, you have no reason to destroy my Sandworm wooden vessel, do you?"
"You, a mere Qi Refinement cultivator, killed a Foundation Establishment merchant?"
Hearing the same doubt once more, Jiang Chen gave a different answer.
He set down his tea cup and slowly rose to his feet before suddenly drawing his sword.
"Not only can I kill a Foundation Establishment merchant, I can also kill a Golden Core Realm general!"
The moment he finished speaking, his figure flashed, and his sword slashed toward Chen.
Chen thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Looking closer, that sword strike was indeed somewhat extraordinary. But for Jiang Chen to get close to him was simply a fantasy...
Much less injure him.
Unhurriedly, he raised his hand. Golden Core Realm spiritual pressure gathered in his palm as he struck toward Jiang Chen.
This palm strike was enough to kill Jiang Chen in an instant.
And so...
Sword-Qi Domain activated!
Winds and clouds surged. Boundless, ethereal Sword Qi suddenly gathered upon Jiang Chen's blade.
This had indeed been Jiang Chen's tactic.
But he had not expected it to be realized in this manner.
Still in midair and before he could react, he cleaved apart Chen's palm force with a single slash.
And cleaved Chen himself apart as well!
His two deeply sunken eyes abruptly froze. The views reflected in his left and right pupils split farther and farther apart, until they lost focus.
"You..."
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