How Was That Any Different from Saying Nothing?

"How did your cultivation go today?"

As he spoke, Li Chen wiped the blood from the corner of Li Sining's mouth with his hand.

Especially when he wiped her lips, the bright red blood smeared across their rosy surface added a seductive touch, making her already exquisite features even more alluring.

They felt particularly nice, too-soft and springy.

"I only just started cultivating. I've only finished two meridians. It'll probably take lots more days to finish all twelve major meridians you told me about, big brother."

Li Sining pouted, clearly dissatisfied with her performance.

Only two in an entire morning-she might have found that unsatisfactory.

But if word got out, it would absolutely scare quite a few people to death.

Ordinary cultivators took a week to finish one meridian. Some even took a month each to strengthen their foundations, completing the process in exactly a year.

At the Meridian Opening Realm, faster was not necessarily better, but a speed like hers was genuinely frightening.

Li Chen thought it was fine. He could go even faster, anyway.

Yesterday, Li Chen had told Li Sining that cultivating the Eight Extraordinary Meridians was extremely important.

Once the twelve meridians within the human body were located and opened, they could accommodate heaven and earth origin power. Physical fitness would improve accordingly, with strength, speed, reflexes, and other attributes increasing to varying degrees.

Those with exceptional talent would also awaken special abilities.

Liu Hao had awakened the wind element and was highly accomplished in movement techniques and swordsmanship.

Wu Qi had awakened the unusual dark element. When he unleashed his power, dark energy appeared around his body. This power corroded his opponents, giving him an enormous advantage in prolonged battles.

What Xiao Ming had awakened was rarer: the fire element, something countless cultivators dreamed of, found in only one person in ten thousand.

Besides its tremendous combat power, the fire element was also the foremost requirement for becoming an alchemist.

On top of that, Xiao Ming had awakened the earth element. He generally used it to play the pig and eat the tiger, switching to the fire element to show off whenever he could not win.

The two abilities Li Chen had awakened were even more extraordinary, standing above all things. One was golden energy representing heavenly dao power-the will of the Heavenly Dao, containing boundless majesty and sanctity.

The other was violet energy, symbolizing imperial aura-the most exalted existence among all things, giving him the bearing of a sovereign reigning over the world at every moment.

That was why, when he unleashed his power, he could cause heaven and earth to resonate, making everyone feel as though he would live as long as heaven and earth and shine alongside the sun and moon.

Li Sining needed to finish cultivating all twelve major meridians before she could awaken a special ability.

However, Li Chen had just examined her meridians. Barring any surprises, hers should be the thunder element.

Awakenings within every element came in different grades. What sort of ability she awakened would depend on her fate.

After they chatted for a while, Li Sining, curious about cultivation, asked, "What realm comes after the Meridian Opening Realm, then? What can you do in it?"

Li Chen answered, "After the Meridian Opening Realm comes the Origin Condensation Realm. Once you reach it, you can store the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in your meridians, use the ability you've awakened, and strengthen your other meridians further."

"Then what realm comes after the Origin Condensation Realm? Does it have any special abilities?"

"After the Origin Condensation Realm comes the Primordial Spirit Realm. You can activate your primordial spirit."

The siblings chatted for a long time, mostly about cultivation.

Naturally, there was plenty of joking around along the way. Li Chen really had no expectations for Li Sining's cultivation; she could simply cultivate for fun.

It was not until the afternoon that Li Sining suddenly remembered something.

"Big brother, aren't you going on a date today?"

"What, can't I stay here and keep my little sister company?"

"Of course you can! Then you're mine today!"

Li Sining guessed some of the reasons, but she did not spoil the mood by mentioning them.

When Li Chen returned, he had received word that Chu Ruoyan had been summoned by the Empress Dowager.

Presumably, the Empress Dowager wanted to teach Chu Ruoyan some rules of the imperial harem and do a little brainwashing along the way.

After all, the Chu Lineage was a faction under the Empress Dowager, and Chu Ruoyan knew the Empress Dowager had given her this opportunity. Naturally, she would take some of her words to heart.

Offending the Empress Dowager was extremely dangerous for anyone trying to get by in the imperial harem.

As for what Chu Ruoyan would decide afterward, Li Chen was not worried.

With some emotional groundwork laid, even if Chu Ruoyan followed the Empress Dowager's instructions in certain matters, she would only do so provided they did not harm Li Chen.

With some further training when the time came, she would become perfectly obedient.

From his first glimpse of Chu Ruoyan, Li Chen had determined that she was a young woman who had never been "trained," which was why he had spent a little time on her.

If she had been someone loyal to the Empress Dowager, sent straight over to fill out his harem, Li Chen would not have needed to be polite. He could simply enjoy himself.

Li Chen treated different people in different ways.

In truth, many people at court underestimated the power Li Chen now held.

Even without making any particular effort, he could obtain this information.

That was because, when the Previous Emperor was alive, these imperial guards and eunuchs had been absolutely loyal.

These men controlled all sorts of information channels.

Take Chief Eunuch Cui, for instance. Having served the Previous Emperor for decades, his strength and competence were naturally beyond reproach.

Then there was Li Sixing, commander of the Imperial Guard, a member of the imperial clan through and through. Betraying the emperor would do him no good.

If Li Chen had been an incapable puppet emperor, they would soon have sought refuge with the major court factions to protect themselves.

But with Li Chen as he was now, they naturally proclaimed loyalty to His Majesty as their sole principle.

Li Chen did not even need to give them a reminder. Just as they had served the Previous Emperor, they would report everything inside and outside the palace to him and perform their duties properly.

However powerful those court factions were, how could they have been more powerful than the Previous Emperor?

The art of ruling sought balance, but that did not mean an emperor had no need to hold power.

Of course, there were still some here who had already slipped beyond Li Chen's control.

But as long as they did not cause trouble and followed orders like Zhao Wenyuan and Guo Poyun, Li Chen really could not be bothered to deal with them.

That was the advantage of not hiding anything. He could lay his cards straight on the table: I'm in the Saint Realm. You decide what to do.

Li Chen had enjoyed a proper day of rest.

Perhaps even Li Chen himself had not realized that he was now like this world's greatest boss, the ultimate target so many people sought to defeat.

Meanwhile, Chu Ruoyan only returned to her family estate that evening.

Everyone in the Chu Lineage now believed the matter was settled. Their eldest young lady had won the emperor's favor and been summoned by the Empress Dowager. Surely her entry into the palace as a consort was nailed firmly to the board.

Even the current Empress Dowager's nephew had come that day to cultivate good relations with the Chu Lineage.

In the past, it had not been easy for the Chu Family Head to so much as meet him.

The Chu Lineage could also be considered one of the factions under the Empress Dowager's nephew, serving him.

Now he had come of his own accord instead. The Chu Family Head felt immensely honored and could finally straighten his back!

Happy as he was, the Chu Family Head still solemnly told his daughter that once she entered the palace, she must never cause trouble. She could not go wrong by listening to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager.

At that moment, Chu Ruoyan suddenly asked, "If His Majesty and the Empress Dowager say opposite things, whose words should I follow?"

The Chu Family Head froze on the spot. Then he stood, looked around, and only after making certain no one was nearby did he say, "Our Chu Lineage owes its firm footing in the Imperial Capital to the Empress Dowager's care. But His Majesty is extremely forceful now. Even Master Yu knelt and submitted to him."

Chu Ruoyan paused, then asked in confusion, "Father, how was that any different from saying nothing?"

Hearing that, the Chu Family Head felt his daughter still had too little experience. Was that not the answer?

Sometimes, speaking empty words was precisely how one avoided offending either side.

What did it mean for great wisdom to appear foolish? Was it not simply understanding everything while pretending to know nothing?

Then he asked Chu Ruoyan what she had thought upon seeing the Empress Dowager today, and whether the Empress Dowager had said anything.

The question left Chu Ruoyan completely bewildered, because the first thing she had felt upon seeing the Empress Dowager was the oppressive presence of two enormous mounds.

Huge! They were really so huge! I might not even be able to cup one with both hands!