"Which princess?"
"Who else but Her Highness Miaoxuan, the Eldest Princess!"
"Is that true? You mustn't spread careless rumors about something like this."
"How would I dare make this up? A fellow soldier who came over for today's changing of the guard told me. If it were another princess, that would be one thing, but even with nine heads to spare, I wouldn't dare spread rumors about Her Highness the Eldest Princess."
Everyone knew that after Li Haotian, the Son of Heaven of the Great Qian Dynasty, ascended the throne, his severe injuries had never fully healed, leaving him with a lingering ailment. He had only one biological daughter; all his other children were adopted.
The Eldest Princess, Li Miaoxuan, had become a disciple of the Lingxu Sect Leader as a child. With the potential to become a Heavenly Human and a promising path to becoming a Grandmaster, many speculated that she might become the Great Qian Dynasty's first empress. Yet now she was about to marry!
"Do you know which nobleman was fortunate enough to win her hand?"
"They say he's from a collateral branch of the Li Family of the Great Qian Imperial Clan. His ancestor six generations back was also a prince."
Gu Yuanqing heard no more of what followed. The news of Li Miaoxuan's marriage had thrown his mind into turmoil.
She... was getting married?
Stunned, Gu Yuanqing fell into a daze. They had shared physical intimacy and spent a day together, and she had bestowed so many kindnesses upon him. Hearing such news so suddenly, he could hardly avoid a twinge of bitterness.
But she was wholly devoted to pursuing the Great Dao of immortality. She even told me to seek her out at the Lingxu Sect once I became a Grandmaster. How could news of her marriage arrive after just one day?
Gu Yuanqing could not understand it. Suddenly, the urge arose within him to enter Capital City and ask her what was going on.
But then he reconsidered. Leaving aside whether his cultivation was enough to let him descend the mountain and force his way into the Imperial Palace to see Li Miaoxuan, what right did he have to question her? Simply because they had shared one night of passion?
He took a deep breath and calmed himself, keeping his emotions from clouding his thoughts.
Li Miaoxuan was a Grandmaster. If she was unwilling, who could force her? There must be something here that I didn't know. Besides, when all was said and done, how much of a connection did she really have with me? It was merely guilt, admiration, and kindness intertwined.
As the sun rose little by little, Gu Yuanqing cast aside his distracting thoughts and immersed himself in Mountain Observation.
The Great Qian Imperial Palace.
Inside the main hall of the residence where Li Miaoxuan had once lived, in the Imperial Garden.
Li Haotian, the Son of Heaven of Great Qian, sat at the head of the hall. Xu Lianying and a wet nurse holding a three-month-old infant stood to one side.
A woman who bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Li Miaoxuan knelt below him. Dressed in palace attire and wearing gold ornaments in her hair, she kept her head lowered, not daring to look up.
"Remember this. From now on, your name is Li Miaoxuan, and you are the Eldest Princess of the Great Qian Dynasty. You have cultivated in the Lingxu Sect since childhood. Upon returning to the capital this time, you failed to break through to the next realm and damaged your foundation," Li Haotian said gravely.
"This servant understands."
"You should refer to yourself as my daughter."
"Your daughter understands."
"In ten months, you will give birth to a son. This will be him!" Li Haotian pointed at the infant in the wet nurse's arms.
The woman raised her head to glance at the child, then hurriedly lowered it again. "This servant... your daughter understands."
"You will guard this secret for the rest of your life. If it ever leaks out, not only you, but your parents, your clansmen, and everyone connected to you will die without a place to be buried!"
The woman trembled all over and knocked her forehead against the floor. "This servant will keep this matter strictly secret. I would never dare divulge even half a word."
Li Haotian nodded slightly, rose, and said evenly, "Old companion, I leave the rest to you. This concerns the honor of Great Qian. There can be no mistakes."
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. Nothing will go wrong. But I fear Your Majesty will have to personally give Prince Qing a few words of instruction."
In a courtyard residence with two successive courtyards on Imperial Dynasty East Street, visitors crowded the entrance, and distinguished guests filled every seat.
"Brother Li, congratulations! From now on, we'll have to call you the Imperial Son-in-Law."
"And no ordinary Imperial Son-in-Law, either! His Majesty chose you personally. Princess Miaoxuan is His Majesty's only biological daughter. Perhaps she'll one day ascend the throne as empress. Then, Brother Li, you'll stand below one person and above ten thousand!"
Li Kangwen was flushed with drink. Never in his dreams had he imagined such good fortune would fall into his lap. This was Princess Miaoxuan, a heaven-favored prodigy, while he was merely an imperial clansman from the Li Family beyond the five degrees of mourning kinship. Beaming, he said, "Not at all, not at all. His Majesty simply thinks too highly of me."
At the foot of North Spring Mountain.
Chen Chuanshan stared blankly at the peak. He had guarded this place for a long time, yet today, North Spring Mountain suddenly felt unfamiliar. But when he looked closely, the mountain was still the same mountain.
Perhaps the only change was that the trees on the mountain seemed more luxuriant than in previous years, their leaves greener.
As he pondered this, a lieutenant under his command hurried over, dropped to one knee, and cupped his fist. "General, something has happened! Demonic qi is seeping out of the cavern. Three Soldiers guarding the site have died, and two others have had demonic qi enter their bodies. They've lost their minds and gone berserk."
"What?" Chen Chuanshan's expression instantly grew grave. Demonic qi leaking out meant something had gone wrong with the seal. If the seal shattered completely and the Demon Realm Passage opened wide, every living creature for hundreds of li around would become bloody fodder for demons.
Most critically, this place was only six hundred li from the royal capital!
Without wasting another word, he deployed his movement technique and raced toward the cavern.
At the summit, Gu Yuanqing had not noticed the commotion below. He was immersed in the Spiritual Mountain Trial.
Today, he seemed to have become a battle-crazed fiend. Whenever his mind recovered, he entered the trial again. In the span of a single day, he fought at least twenty opponents.
The Big Dipper Seven Swords, the Wind and Rain Sword Art, the Returning Wind Blowing Snow Sword Technique—he faced almost every sword technique.
These battles rapidly increased his experience, and his swordsmanship continued to improve. Empowered by his unrivaled comprehension and extraordinary Sword Dao talent, every sword stroke his opponents made, every application of their moves, became nourishment for his growth.
By evening, he could reliably suppress opponents at the True Martial Sixth Layer and exchange more than ten moves with those at the True Martial Seventh Layer.
When he emerged from the Spiritual Mountain Trial once more and took hold of the Kunwu Sword, Gu Yuanqing immediately sensed a difference from the day before.
After just a few light swings, the Kunwu Sword seemed no longer to be a sword, but an extension of his arm. It was a profound and mysterious sensation of the Sword Dao.
The middle-aged woman brought his meal. As Gu Yuanqing ate alone, he suddenly recalled the woman who had sat across from him two days before.
After a moment of silence, he picked up the wine jar beside him, poured a large bowlful, and tilted his head back to drink it down.
Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, Gu Yuanqing rested briefly, then took out the Kunwu Sword and began practicing in the Courtyard. Only this could keep his mind from wandering to other things.
Under the moonlight, sword shadows flickered, whipping up gust after gust of Gale that set the trees in the courtyard rustling. Suddenly, both Gu Yuanqing's footwork and sword technique changed. One moment he seemed to be ahead, the next he was behind—he had woven the Great Yi Illusionary Sky Steps into his swordsmanship.
Upon finishing a sequence, Gu Yuanqing stood in the courtyard with his sword in hand. The insights from all his battles that day flowed into his mind, becoming strand after strand of sword intent that gathered without cease. Nourished by them, his sword intent, previously only embryonic, grew wildly.
At last, as though breaking free of its shackles, sword qi surged into the sky!
Birds startled into flight, beasts cowered in fear, and even the chirping of insects in the mountain vanished in an instant.
The old man in the side courtyard abruptly turned his head, the shock in his heart written plainly across his face!
Before you continue