"You insolent wretch! Who gave you the right to speak here?" Qing Wang glared at him.
Li Changyan stiffened his neck. "Was anything Sun said untrue? I don't know how he fooled you, Grandfather, but I investigated everything about his time with the Gu Family. Just over a year ago, he didn't even dare step into the ring at their martial competition. After barely a year, do you really believe he's become a Grandmaster?"
Qing Wang harbored doubts himself, but the battle that day remained vivid in his mind. The oppressive presence of a Grandmaster, a sword flying in out of nowhere—everything indicated that Gu Yuanqing was a Grandmaster. He rose and roared, "Still spouting nonsense? On your knees!"
Li Changyan dropped to his knees, his eyes red. "I'll say it anyway! Even if he really is a Grandmaster, he keeps making excuses to avoid acting against inhuman monsters like the Crimson Dragon Cult. What kind of Grandmaster is that?"
Qing Wang seemed furious. He swept his long sleeve, unleashing invisible true qi. Li Changyan flew backward as though struck by a devastating blow, coughing up blood before he even hit the ground.
He slammed into the wall and tumbled to the floor in a wretched heap.
Prince Qing's face flushed with anger. "Go kneel outside! You are not to rise without my permission. If you spout any more nonsense, you can return to the Prince's Manor and spend three years in confinement!"
Li Changyan wiped the blood from his mouth and shot Gu Yuanqing a vicious glare. Then he rose, went outside, and dropped heavily to his knees.
Gu Yuanqing opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly glanced at Prince Qing and calmly took a sip of tea. Had this happened a few days earlier, he might truly have been fooled by the scene before him. But since his breakthrough in the mental state of Mountain Observation, as long as he was Within North Spring Mountain, his mind was a clear mirror reflecting all things. Prince Qing appeared furious, yet concealed other intentions. Perhaps this scene was precisely why he had brought Li Changyan here.
"That wretch has been spoiled since childhood. Arrogant, unruly, and utterly contemptuous of others. I'm sorry you had to witness this, Young Master Gu." Qing Wang sighed, seemingly disappointed that iron had failed to become steel.
Gu Yuanqing smiled faintly. "Despite his noble birth, your Sun retains an unspoiled heart. What is there to laugh at?"
A hint of a smile appeared on Prince Qing's face. "You flatter him, Young Master Gu. Enough about that wretch. I'll discipline him further once we return. As for the matter I mentioned earlier, what do you think...?"
Gu Yuanqing considered for a moment before slowly replying, "The Imperial Decree forbids me from leaving North Spring Mountain. If you can force them into Within North Spring Mountain, Your Highness, I will naturally take action."
Qing Wang studied Gu Yuanqing for a moment, then smiled. "Good. With your agreement to act, Young Master Gu, I can rest assured."
After some idle conversation, Prince Qing left with Li Changyan.
Li Changyan followed silently behind him. His anger had faded, leaving only apprehension.
The guards followed much farther behind.
"Do you know where you went wrong?"
"Sun should not have ignored your instructions and spoken without permission, Grandfather."
Qing Wang glanced back before saying slowly, "Wrong. Your mistake was being too weak."
Li Changyan stopped, stunned for a moment, then hurried to catch up. Unable to restrain himself, he asked again, "Grandfather, does Gu Yuanqing truly possess a Grandmaster's strength? How is that possible? In barely a year, even consuming heavenly materials and earthly treasures couldn't produce such progress."
Qing Wang was silent for a moment before answering, "I'm not certain either. That is why I want another look this time. If it is true, I will agree to His Majesty's proposal and help him secure the position of Heir Apparent."
"What? Grandfather, you mean to help Gu Yuanqing become Heir Apparent—" Li Changyan was aghast.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could we let an outsider rule the Li Family's realm?" Qing Wang glared at him.
"But you just said..." Meeting his grandfather's gaze, Li Changyan dared not continue.
Gu Yuanqing withdrew his attention. Qing Wang's words had confirmed what he had sensed.
Perhaps something really has gone wrong with the seal on the Demon Realm Passage, but it shouldn't be as serious as he claimed. Otherwise, I should already have noticed something different about these sect disciples on the mountain.
Still, it doesn't matter. If they can truly force those cult monsters onto North Spring Mountain, I won't mind killing them!
But what did Prince Qing mean by helping him secure the position of Heir Apparent? What does that have to do with whether I'm a Grandmaster?
Unable to make sense of it, Gu Yuanqing set the matter aside. He heard countless secrets through his daily Mountain Observation. If he investigated every one, there would never be enough hours in the day.
He called Feng Tao in to tidy the room, then closed his eyes and resumed cultivating.
His cultivation advanced a thousand miles a day. True qi surged through his meridians like mighty rivers, coursing through his major acupoints and becoming ever purer as the Profound Martial Secret Treasure tempered it.
Some of this pure true qi dispersed into his bones, sinews, and muscles, tempering them without pause.
Ordinary cultivators had to strike a balance between nurturing and increasing their true qi and tempering their bodies, but he had no such concerns.
With spiritual qi pooled within him, it was as though heavenly materials and earthly treasures and miraculous elixirs constantly sustained his body. His cultivation in the true martial realm was actually a little faster than it had been in the origin scholar realm.
Without his noticing, seven-colored radiance began flickering across the outer membrane of the Profound Martial Secret Treasure within him. The Mysterious Martial Secret Treasure was gradually undergoing Transformation into the Saint Martial Secret Treasure.
Around noon, true qi erupted around him, and the North Spring Mountain Phantom outside his body grew clearer.
He had quietly broken through to the true martial eighth layer.
He sat in silence, nurturing his cultivation and waiting for his realm to stabilize.
Feng Tao brought lunch. Seeing him like this, she quietly set it aside.
Sensing the aura of the true martial eighth layer, the old man's expression shifted uncertainly. He had never seen or even heard of anyone cultivating so quickly. It was simply inconceivable.
Only after sitting for four hours did Gu Yuanqing open his eyes. Taking his sword, he went to the cliff's edge to practice alone.
Sword Intent clung to the blade, condensed without dispersing. It no longer radiated power freely as it once had; his control over Sword Intent had reached another level.
As he practiced, he quickly adapted to the changes brought by his breakthrough, gradually turning his increased strength into combat power.
After dinner, Gu Yuanqing entered the Spiritual Mountain Trial. His breakthrough had rapidly narrowed the gap between him and the profound martial ninth layer. After fierce battles, his win rate was approaching seventy percent.
Mountain Observation, the Spiritual Mountain Trial, sword practice, cultivating his techniques, refining his cultivation methods, and reading in his spare time to broaden his knowledge—Gu Yuanqing felt that the days in the mountain flew by.
Five days passed in the blink of an eye, all without incident. Many sect disciples on North Spring Mountain seemed to have improved their cultivation.
More people arrived at North Spring Mountain, all wealthy and noble youths from the royal capital. Presumably, they had received word and wanted to use demonic qi to refine the qi of heavenly gang and earthly sha.
The mountain's courtyards were now fully occupied, and many people had even moved into the disciples' quarters.
Gu Yuanqing's perpetually empty little courtyard became conspicuous. Its location was excellent, embraced by the mountainside and offering an expansive view, yet no one ever entered or left it.
With Prince Qing presiding over the mountain, no one dared cause trouble, but everyone speculated about whom the courtyard belonged to.
Even Li Changyan, who knew the truth, dared not speak carelessly. Gu Yuanqing's presence concerned the Imperial Family's dignity. The emperor had confined him here, and he had now been moved to the rear mountain precisely to keep others from knowing.
Besides, he might be a Grandmaster. Without Prince Qing's permission, how could Li Changyan dare say anything?
That night, beneath the ground beside North Spring Mountain, there was a spacious cavern measuring more than a dozen zhang in both length and width.
Ancient stone slabs were covered in formation patterns, which had been traced over with spiritual ink prepared from cinnabar, chalcedony, and other rare treasures.
Nine Grandmaster Secret Artifacts were embedded in the Array Base. Nine high-level true martial Cultivators sat cross-legged upon it, activating the artifacts with their own true qi.
The vital energy of heaven and earth slowly gathered. Refined into pure vital energy by the formation, it passed gradually through the Heaven-Mending Formation into the seal farther below.
Beyond them were the sect and Imperial Court elites whose turn had come that day. They likewise sat cross-legged upon an enormous formation foundation, holding mysterious stones condensed from the qi of heavenly gang and earthly sha in both hands. Using the formation, they channeled the escaping demonic qi into the stones, stimulating and refining the qi of heavenly gang and earthly sha into wisps of energy that they absorbed into their bodies.
Farther out stood high-level true martial Cultivators. Some regulated their breathing with their eyes closed, while others released their auras to guard against attacks that might come at any moment.
Outside the cavern, the Divine Eagle Guard and Imperial Guard stood in dense ranks, all positioned according to the Divine Eagle Great Formation. Chen Chuanshan channeled qi into his eyes, which glimmered with an eerie light as he surveyed the surroundings.
Experts from the Demon Suppression Division lay concealed in all four directions. Prince Qing sat quietly upon an enormous boulder on North Spring Mountain. Behind him, Qin Hu stood straight, holding a sword in both hands.
Calling such an arrangement a heavenly net would hardly have been an exaggeration. Yet against the Crimson Dragon Cult, no one could afford the slightest carelessness.
It was already late at night. Many Imperial Guard soldiers could not suppress their yawns. Despite rotating shifts to rest, the continuous days of vigilance had left them mentally exhausted.
"Stay sharp, all of you! Only a few days left! If anyone slips up, military law will deal with them!" Chen Chuanshan shouted sternly.
Time trickled by. Heaven and earth lay utterly silent, as though another night would pass peacefully. Then, without warning, Chen Chuanshan clutched his throat within the formation. Blood sprayed between his fingers. His eyes bulged, and his mouth opened, but no words came out.
The soldiers nearby who witnessed this froze for a moment. Then, filled with shock and fury, they shouted, "Enemy attack!"
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