Stairway to the Immortal Kingdom [Positive, But Not Completely Positive!]

Early the next morning, Jiang Chen slowly opened his eyes.

The Empress Dowager had long since finished bathing and left the underground resting chamber. The two mermaid girls were staring at him wide-eyed, their curiosity plainly written on their faces.

In their eyes, Jiang Chen looked like a good person no matter how they looked at him, yet there was also something slightly wicked in his gaze.

Seeing Jiang Chen awake, the two mermaid girls hurriedly cried out:

"Benefactor, please let us go."

"We ran out of tears long ago... Other than when we hear a beast tamer's chanting, we truly can't cry."

Jiang Chen took a look. Even when they cried, not a single tear fell, making the sight rather cruel.

"Why did you leave the beast tamer?"

The two mermaid girls froze, wiping at their tears. Though there were no tears to wipe away, the motion was instinctive.

"How did you know we left on our own?

"The beast tamer was called Yun Lanzi. He used to be especially fierce, constantly making us cry through terrifying chants so he could obtain Merfolk Pearls.

"But starting one day this year, he actually began trying to cheer us up. He even told us to smile more.

"We thought he was probably fattening us up for slaughter. We were so frightened that we could neither eat nor sleep, and soon found a way to escape the Beast Taming Sect."

Jiang Chen thought, You two Qi Refining half-demons don't even have the intelligence of one person combined. How did you manage to escape?

He guessed it might have had something to do with the slave traders.

Or perhaps it was the beast tamer's scheme.

But... none of that mattered.

Since he had rescued the twin mermaid girls, they naturally had to help him cultivate. Otherwise, wouldn't he have saved them for nothing?

"Since you call me your benefactor, have you thought about repaying me?"

The two mermaid girls froze, not understanding.

"Do you want us to warm Benefactor's bed?"

Jiang Chen looked them over. Though the two mermaid girls were lovely, innocent, and adorable, they still fell somewhat short of the Empress Dowager in beauty. Besides, they were only at the Qi Refining realm. Cultivating with them would be pointless.

"I'll tell you a story. It's called Stairway to the Immortal Kingdom. Once upon a time, someone flew a sword into a sword calamity and lost his memory..."

Cry!

Cry, damn it!

Although the two mermaid girls listened intently and found the adapted story quite interesting, they still failed to shed a single tear.

Jiang Chen suddenly grabbed the two mermaid girls' hands.

He sent his resonant divine sense into their bodies.

Only then did he discover that the beast tamer had left a hidden tear-inducing restriction upon both their spines.

Judging from the restriction's strength, the beast tamer's cultivation was probably at late Foundation Establishment or Foundation Establishment Peak.

If he used Li Lingzhou's Pure Yang Sword Aura, he could easily remove the restriction.

But Jiang Chen worried that doing so would damage the mermaid girls' dantians. He could only employ the power of resonance, spending nearly half an hour before completely clearing the restriction from their spines.

The difficulty was no less than cultivating with the Empress Dowager.

Afterward, Jiang Chen continued telling Stairway to the Immortal Kingdom.

Very soon.

Sob, sob...

The two mermaid girls finally cried tears!

Even they themselves stopped crying in surprise.

There were not many tears, and the pearl-forming rate was not high, but Jiang Chen still collected six Merfolk Pearls of passable quality from them.

The two mermaid girls stared blankly at Jiang Chen and asked curiously:

"Did Benefactor and the Empress Dowager lock us up just for Merfolk Pearls?"

Of course, Jiang Chen had merely been conducting a test. Merfolk Pearls from Qi Refining cultivators could hardly help his cultivation anymore. He could only sell them for spirit stones, or give them to the Empress Dowager in exchange for some high-grade Demon Cores.

Jiang Chen shook his head, silently tucked the Merfolk Pearls into his waistband, and said with a straight face:

"No, it was to investigate the truth."

Besides, you haven't actually been locked up. You may move about freely within Peaceful Palace.

In any case, no one can see you. Just don't leave Spirit-Calming Garden."

As he spoke, Jiang Chen got out of the hot spring, stretched lazily, got dressed, washed up, and headed to Peaceful Palace.

He did not see the Empress Dowager.

Too lazy to ask the palace maids, he went to meditate in Spirit-Calming Garden.

At the beginning of summer, misty morning fog shrouded the flowers and grass, while brilliant dawn rays leaked golden light.

Beyond the palace walls, maids from other palaces poked their heads out to sneak glances at Jiang Chen, curious to see just how handsome the Empress Dowager's legendary imperial physician was...

He was very handsome, but not like the celestial immortal descended to earth they had imagined.

It seemed this man possessed genuine skill.

The maids of Peaceful Palace thought the same.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged by the pond, paying no attention to the palace maids' gazes.

As fish swam around him, he quietly opened the system panel to inspect his recent gains and the Butterfly Effect footage.

[Name]: Jiang Chen.

[Cultivation]: Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

[Money]: Low-grade spirit stones ×234.

[Items]:

Azure Mist Sect Disciple Sword ×1 (low spirit, slightly damaged);

Imperial Guards Greatsword ×1 (yellow grade);

Imperial Guards Steel Saber ×1 (low spirit);

Darksteel Sword ×1 (low spirit);

Fire-Spirit Darksteel Sword ×1 (low spirit);

Spine-Bound Soul-Shifter ×1 (low spirit, damaged);

Heavenly Demon Sect Demon Shrine ×1 (low demon, no demonic qi);

Foundation-Stabilizing Spirit-Nurturing Pill ×72 (low spirit);

Rapid Spirit-Healing Pellet ×5 (low spirit);

Merfolk Pearl ×6 (low demon);

There was also a large amount of spirit grain, spirit water, medicinal herbs... These things were of little use to Jiang Chen. It would be best to find time to sell them for spirit stones.

Jiang Chen looked at the artifacts. The old general's greatsword was actually a yellow-grade spirit sword!

Artifacts, pills, and cultivation techniques could be divided by grade into heaven, earth, black, and yellow. Above them was the divine grade, while below them came the unranked low-spirit grade, followed by ordinary-grade items.

[Skills]:

Basic Body Arts (ordinary grade): Supreme mastery.

Eight-Step Mad Blade (ordinary grade): Supreme mastery.

Basic Spirit Control (low spirit): Supreme mastery.

Demi-Immortal's Book (earth grade): Initial glimpse.

Myriad Phenomena Resonance (earth grade): Modest achievement.

The skill panel had been updated with grades.

Jiang Chen took a look. He had not expected Demi-Immortal's Book and Myriad Phenomena Resonance to be earth-grade cultivation techniques!

``` [Main Storyline]: Four rounds of main storyline simulation completed. No new main storyline has been discovered for the time being.

[Butterfly Effect]: You have two unviewed recordings.

The first was titled: Princess Ping'an and the Beast Tamer.

Its contents were that Princess Ping'an, who had been hunting in the imperial gardens, received a secret letter from the beast tamer.

The letter stated that the twin mermaid girls had been abducted, and their last known location appeared to be near Peaceful Palace.

That very morning, even the tear-inducing restriction had been severed.

"Near Peaceful Palace... Then it is very likely related to the Empress Dowager's new imperial physician."

"The old general was also killed at Flame Mountain. There was even a sword scar a hundred li long left in the sea of sand at the scene."

"It seems a powerful expert has intervened in our plan. You and I can only marry ahead of schedule."

Jiang Chen thought, The twin mermaid girls really were deliberately released by the beast tamer. The purpose was likely to use the old general's hand to deliver them to the emperor.

That meant the princess and the emperor were not on the same side.

The second recording was titled: The General's Death.

The emperor intended to handle Chen's death discreetly, attributing it to an accident. He guessed the old general had encountered a desert fire-locust beast swarm and had no intention of investigating further.

However, the old general's family repeatedly submitted reports and gathered evidence from the scene. They concluded that the old general's death had most likely been Li Lingzhou's doing, and asked the emperor to report the matter to the Prison Suppression Bureau of Xihe Prefecture.

After all, there was a sword scar stretching a hundred li through the sand at the scene, yet not the slightest trace of sword aura remained... This was extremely similar to the sword technique commonly used by Warden Li.

The emperor did not wish to offend Li Lingzhou, so he used his connections to ask people from the Prison Suppression Bureau to take Li Lingzhou back to Xihe Prefecture, lest she remain in Xiyang City and give others something to hold against her.

Before long, people from the Prison Suppression Bureau of Xihe Prefecture came for Li Lingzhou.

Inside Thousand-Gold Gambling House, Li Lingzhou was playing the final round at the gambling table. She was clearly about to lose, yet she dragged things out while looking for a way to turn things around.

Just then, people from the Prison Suppression Bureau arrived. She openly admitted that she had killed Chen because he had wanted to cheat her out of her spirit stones in a bet...

Everyone else at the gambling table trembled in terror.

Before the game had even ended, Li Lingzhou was taken away, successfully preserving the two hundred spirit stones she should have lost in the final round.

"Just as expected of you."

Jiang Chen thought.

After watching the two recordings, a palace maid outside the garden announced:

"Princess Ping'an is outside the garden and requests an audience with the Empress Dowager and the imperial physician."

Jiang Chen thought, This woman who colluded with the beast tamer is probably here to probe for information...

The Empress Dowager was not in the garden, so the palace maid could only report to Jiang Chen.

It seemed that before leaving, the Empress Dowager had made sure the palace maids understood his exceptional status within Peaceful Palace.

Jiang Chen slowly opened his eyes and said:

"Tell her the Empress Dowager is not in the palace."

The palace maid left the garden to relay the message, then quickly returned to report to Jiang Chen:

"Princess Ping'an requests an audience with the imperial physician."

See me?

Jiang Chen answered decisively.

"No."

Unexpectedly, Princess Ping'an leaped over the wall and entered. She clapped her hands, walked up to Jiang Chen, crouched down, and said with a smile:

"I've lived in the palace for so long, yet I've never seen an imperial physician this arrogant. It seems you really do have genuine skill."

My wife tested positive and is freezing all over. My child has an itchy throat and is coughing. Other than feeling sleepy, I have no symptoms yet. I spent most of today taking care of my wife and child, so there will only be two updates today.