If life were only like our first meeting.
It spoke of all the joys and sorrows of the mortal world.
Those who listened found it tragic and beautiful, yet Chen Jinyu grew ever calmer.
Several decades had passed in an instant. Splendor and flourishing blossoms had all been illusions, merely waiting for this day of reunion.
"You haven't changed at all."
"Neither have you."
Zhou Yi walked closer and compared their heights. The little girl of those days had only reached his shoulder; even now, she was still the same.
Chen Jinyu covered her face. Her voice was vigorous and steady. "Being able to see you once before I die means I won't die with regrets."
With a flick of Zhou Yi's hand, a crystal-clear jade-green pearl appeared in his palm, filled with a swirling mist.
"The Condensing Jade Bead. Swallow it, and I'll protect you while you refine it. It can extend your lifespan by several decades."
This precious pearl was an heirloom treasure of the imperial family. Zhou Yi had only obtained it after agreeing to Emperor Li Yu's request to eliminate King Zhenbei.
Prince Guangyang, one of the Eight Great Kings, was merely a parasite of Great Jing. He only knew how to bleed the soldiers dry and would not damage the foundations of Great Jing's rule.
King Zhenbei, who guarded the Northern Frontier, had already become a regional warlord. He had even colluded with foreign tribes, plotting to cede territory and proclaim himself emperor. He had long surpassed Emperor Li Yu's limits of tolerance.
The Condensing Jade Bead was the essence of jade, formed by gathering Earth Elemental Spiritual Energy.
Consuming it could condense an acquired Earth Spiritual Root. Extending one's lifespan was merely one of its effects.
Its value was no less than the thousand-year-old Wood Heart Zhou Yi had consumed.
"Take it back. I can't accept something so precious."
Chen Jinyu shook her head. "There's no point in living alone. Why force myself to endure?"
Zhou Yi sighed. How could he not know what Chen Jinyu wanted? Yet he could give her anything except a lifetime together.
"I've met Zhou Nian. He's doing well, and he'll surely surpass me in the future."
Zhou Yi placed the Condensing Jade Bead on the table and changed the subject. "Perhaps you should watch him grow up and become a great figure who shakes the world."
"So what?"
Chen Jinyu snorted coldly. "I've already met one great figure and suffered heartbreak once. Nian'er will surely inherit the family business someday. Unless I die, I'll never let him cultivate immortality or study the Dao!"
Her words were filled with deep resentment toward cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao.
"Why must you be like this... I thought that after leading the Immortal Wine House to this point, you had found something to anchor your heart."
Zhou Yi could see that Zhou Nian possessed innate Dao bones and was a true Cultivation Seed. He was still young and could obey Chen Jinyu for now, but once he set foot on the immortal path, that might not remain so.
Chen Jinyu did not argue. The Immortal Wine House had become famous throughout the realm for its distilled liquor, then continued expanding through acquisitions until it had become wealthier than any other.
Zhou Yi deserved half the credit, but Chen Jinyu's contributions were equally indispensable.
The enterprise she had struggled for all her life—if she said it mattered less than Zhou Yi, even she would not believe it.
The Chen Family of Jiangnan was not the Zhou Family of Jiangnan.
This Chen was not the Chen of the Golden Saber Sect. It was Chen Jinyu's Chen!
They looked at one another without speaking, leaving only silence.
Each had their own goals, but their paths differed, and they could not work together.
The affection of old remained, but it was no longer everything.
Zhou Yi broke the silence first. "Before entering seclusion, I asked Senior Brother Yan Chixia to look after the Immortal Wine House. Do you know where he is now?"
Pu Du Ci Hang was drawing ever closer. Zhou Yi's odds of victory alone were extremely low, and he urgently needed Yan Chixia's help.
Yan Chixia hated evil with a passion. If he learned that Great Jing's Imperial Preceptor was a transformed demon, he would certainly slay demons and exorcise evil.
This was what sustained Yan Chixia's cultivation: to kill every Demonic Monster and Ghost beneath the heavens and forge a bright and clear world!
Chen Jinyu thought for a moment before speaking slowly. "About forty years ago, rumors spread through the martial world that you had been gravely injured beyond recovery. Some people could not resist trying to swallow up the Immortal Wine House. At the critical moment, Daoist Yan appeared, saving the Chen Family from disaster. He guided us in martial arts for several months, then went northwest to eliminate demons."
"Twenty years ago, Daoist Yan returned badly wounded. Fortunately, he had good luck and found a thousand-year-old spirit ginseng. After recovering for several years, he went to the northern desert again to track demons."
"The last time I saw Daoist Yan was in the autumn before last. He came from Qingcheng Mountain and passed through Jiangsu and Zhejiang on his way to Laoshan to visit an old friend."
Zhou Yi had only asked casually, yet he had truly obtained news of Yan Chixia.
"Knowing my senior brother's temperament, fifty years ago he only drove that family away, didn't he? Do you need me to act?"
Chen Jinyu's willow brows rose sharply. The life-and-death crisis back then had left an extremely deep impression on her.
"That family had committed every kind of evil. They brought in bandits and mountain brigands, and their entire household was wiped out..."
Zhou Yi was stunned. A trace of regret suddenly rose in his heart. Had he been wrong to provoke a woman back then?
"Then that's good. I'm going to Laoshan to find Senior Brother Chixia. If anything happens in the future, send word to the capital. The three things I promised you still stand."
Chen Jinyu raised a brow. "You're driving me away? This is Great Jing's capital. Crown Prince Li Zhu is your disciple, and the Chen Family has already placed all its chips on him."
"Don't grow too close to the Crown Prince. The capital is a place of trouble. Leave as soon as possible."
As Zhou Yi spoke, his voice had already faded into the distance. "In this world, there are only families that endure for a thousand years. Where are there dynasties that last a thousand years?"
Chen Jinyu stared blankly in the direction Zhou Yi had vanished.
She had waited sixty-two years. They had met once, truly only once, for less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
"My wish has been fulfilled. From now on, I am only the head of the Chen Family..."
Partings and reunions in the mortal world were ordinary things...
Zhou Yi did not head directly to Laoshan.
At the beginning of the year, when the position of Grand Tutor had been contested, Xuan Qing Zi of White Crane Temple had been a disciple of Laoshan.
Zhou Yi had disrupted the Magical Combat and ultimately secured the position of Grand Tutor, making himself a thorn in the eyes of both Buddhist and Daoist sects.
This trip to Laoshan would not be peaceful.
He first went to see his disciple Li Zhu. As for King Zhenbei, his disciple should bear the burden of the task.
Li Zhu had changed again since before. An invisible aura surrounded him as he walked, intimidating the hearts of others.
"Master, King Zhenbei's line has held the frontier for generations. The Imperial Guard only has five thousand men. Isn't this too hasty?"
Li Zhu hesitated. "Besides, the Imperial Guard Directorate has discovered that King Zhenbei is connected to foreign tribes. What if the Northern Frontier falls into chaos..."
"These five thousand soldiers are no longer ordinary men. Any one of them, placed in the martial world, would be a body-refinement expert."
Zhou Yi provoked him. "If you still can't win with that, then Great Jing is truly beyond hope. You'd better start planning your escape early."
Whenever Great Jing Court's safety was involved, Li Zhu found it difficult to remain calm.
"Rest assured, Master. This disciple will lead the troops to punish King Zhenbei at once. I will not return until the Northern Frontier is pacified!"
With that, Li Zhu turned and left.
A moment later, orderly shouts rose from the military camp.
The five thousand Imperial Guards usually underwent all manner of training, already beyond the limits the human body could endure.
Now the results of that training became apparent. In no more than the time it took to burn an incense stick, they had set out for the Northern Frontier.
Zhou Yi remained in the command tent for a long time, until Li Zhu led the army away.
"He has condensed a thread of Dragon Qi. After pacifying King Zhenbei, he will at least become a hidden dragon... He seeks righteousness and receives righteousness. As his master, I'm helping him as well..."
Zhou Yi said to the shadow in the corner, "Yang Bai, go to the Northern Frontier. You must ensure the Crown Prince's safety and prevent King Zhenbei from assassinating him."
Yang Bai emerged from the shadows and bowed.
"Ancestor, King Zhenbei claims to have one hundred thousand elite troops. If we attack with five thousand men and the battle goes poorly?"
"Then we replace the Crown Prince. Li Yu doesn't want to take risks himself, and he has more than a dozen sons anyway!"
Zhou Yi said, "Whatever a person gains, they must pay an equal price for it. Everyone, including you and me."
"This subordinate understands."
Yang Bai's expression did not change, but a chill ran through his heart, and his fear of Zhou Yi deepened.
With all matters settled, Zhou Yi directly used an Escape Art and headed southeast from the capital.
The Five Elements Escape Technique was an innate talent of spirit corpses and consumed very little True Essence. The distance of eighteen hundred li took only a day and a night.
He toured the capital at dawn and reached the vast sea by dusk.
Laoshan stood on the shore of the East Sea.
Zhou Yi went directly to the prefectural magistrate's hall and revealed his identity as Grand Tutor.
The prefectural magistrate, Yu Shijie, was a clever man. He immediately issued orders, and the constables of Spring Prefecture's eighteen counties began searching for Yan Chixia.
Yan Chixia's appearance was exceptionally distinctive. Anyone who saw him would remember him.
Sure enough, news arrived on the third day. Someone had recently seen Yan Chixia on Taiqing Peak of Laoshan.
"Taiqing Peak..."
Zhou Yi used an Escape Art and flew straight up Taiqing Peak.
From afar, he saw a stretch of pavilions and palaces. It was Laoshan's sacred ground of Daoist arts.
Taiqing Palace.
Before you continue