Longevity Palace.
Blue incense smoke curled upward.
The faint sound of scripture recitation drifted out.
Wang Ye requested an audience with Emperor Jingtai. After a palace attendant announced him, he waited a long time before he was permitted to enter.
Emperor Jingtai, Li Xian, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in a dark blue Daoist robe, a scroll of Daoist scripture in his hand. He smiled when he saw Wang Ye enter.
"What brings you to see me, my minister? You need only consult the crown prince on affairs of state."
"Your Majesty..."
Wang Ye glanced around the hall. More than a dozen middle-aged and elderly Daoists were seated in meditation, refining their qi.
Emperor Jingtai said, "Speak freely, my minister."
Wang Ye bowed. "Your Majesty, two hours ago, a Daoist sword cultivator struck a hundred li southeast of the Capital, severing a mountain peak with a single stroke. True Person Wuchen said he was at least first grade."
"Oh? A first-grade sword cultivator is indeed an extraordinary master."
Emperor Jingtai put away his scripture, his expression growing a little more serious.
Great Qian was hailed as a divine dynasty and had no shortage of Upper Third Grade masters. Those who reached the first grade, however, were exceedingly rare, especially sword cultivators, who were renowned for their killing prowess.
Wang Ye continued, "Master Wuxiang used a secret art of karma to sense the lingering Sword Qi and judged that it came from an immortal sword."
"An immortal artifact!"
Emperor Jingtai's voice grew grave. "Is Master Wuxiang certain he was not mistaken?"
First-grade sword cultivators were rare throughout the world, but there were still a few within Great Qian, such as the ancestor cultivating in seclusion at the Luofu Sword Palace and the previous sect master of the Heaven-Connecting Sword Sect.
An immortal artifact was a supreme treasure beyond even the first-grade realm. Once unleashed at its full power, it could rival a true immortal or an Arhat.
Great Qian had ruled the Cloud Continent for fifteen hundred years, yet it possessed no immortal artifact to anchor the dynasty's destiny.
"The lingering Sword Qi contained an aura of pure yang. There is little chance of a mistake."
Wang Ye pointed a finger, and a screen of light appeared in the hall, displaying the severed peak.
Emperor Jingtai waved his hand, drawing a wisp of aura from the screen of light, and examined it carefully.
"It truly is an immortal sword! Chu Eunuch, go investigate this yourself. Remember, keep it quiet."
A figure emerged in a corner of the hall. It was Eunuch Chu, chief steward of the Palace Attendants Bureau, one of the four great immortal bureaus.
Of the four great immortal bureaus, the Demon-Slaying Bureau excelled in slaughter, the Dragon-Guarding Bureau was mysterious and unfathomable, and the Immortal Stipend Bureau had far-reaching connections. The Palace Attendants Bureau ranked neither high nor low, yet its very name could drain the color from people's faces.
"As you command."
The Eastern Palace.
The crown prince, serving as regent, was reviewing memorials.
Great Qian's territory was vast. Its sixteen provinces had once been dozens of kingdoms. Now under a single administration, the matters requiring review each day piled up like mountains.
A young eunuch entered through a side door and whispered a few words into the crown prince's ear.
Snap!
The crown prince's expression remained calm, but he crushed the shaft of his brush into two pieces.
"Summon Master Qin."
A short while later, Qin Hong, the Eastern Palace's lecturer, entered.
The crown prince dismissed the attendants. No longer able to contain himself, his face darkened like a sky packed with storm clouds.
"Master, Wang Ye, the minister of rites, went to see Father. Apparently, traces of an immortal sword have been found..."
Qin Hong sipped his tea unhurriedly, pausing slightly only when he heard mention of the immortal sword.
"Your Highness, there is no need to concern yourself with the immortal sword. Even setting aside whether it can be found, who could forcibly seize it from the first-grade sword cultivator who wields it?"
The crown prince said in a low voice, "Master, if we could recruit him..."
Qin Hong interrupted him. "Your Highness, you are already regent, with great power in your hands. You need do nothing. Simply wait."
"Wait?"
The crown prince's voice rose. "I have been crown prince for thirty years. Must I now spend another thirty as regent? Since Great Qian's Founding Emperor, has there ever been a crown prince who held that title for sixty years?"
"His Majesty possesses exceptional talent for the Martial Dao. He reached the third grade in ten years. The late emperor once praised him as the likeness of Emperor Guangming."
Qin Hong said, "His willingness to withdraw from court, devote himself to cultivation, and grant you the authority of regency already makes his intentions clear."
"I am no boy in my teens. I am already past sixty. Great power in my hands, overseeing the affairs of the realm-do you believe that yourself, Master?"
The crown prince stroked his graying hair. "Which matter at court is not under Father's control? I am nothing more than a tool. When I went to pay my respects a few days ago, my hair was white, while Father was hale and vigorous. One could hardly tell which of us was the father and which the son!"
"Your Highness, mind your words!"
Qin Hong waved a hand and laid down a soundproof barrier. Who knew how many eyes and ears the emperor had in the Eastern Palace?
"Rest assured, Your Highness. We need not act ourselves. We only need to wait for Eunuch Chu to find the immortal sword's trail. With His Majesty's temperament and intentions, a clash is inevitable. It will not be too late to recruit the cultivator then."
"Master, you are truly the pillar of my imperial rule!"
Qin Hong nodded slightly, pretending not to have heard him clearly.
Early morning.
Zhou Yi woke from a deep sleep and ate breakfast at the inn.
Steamed buns, porridge, and pickled vegetables were a far cry from the fish and meat in the Punishment Office, but Zhou Yi ate with a hearty appetite.
He chewed slowly and carefully. As soon as he swallowed, the Yellow Court Dao Scripture refined the food into nothingness, leaving no residue in his body.
Most cultivators abstained from ordinary grains to avoid polluting their innate bodies and having to spend time purging the impurities with magical power. Zhou Yi, however, could not bear to give up the warmth and bustle of mortal life.
The Yellow Court Dao Scripture had no special attributes such as freezing ice, raging fire, thunder, or fierce astral winds. Its sole distinguishing trait was that it circulated continuously on its own.
Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, Zhou Yi wiped his mouth and asked, "Innkeeper, where is the young waiter from yesterday?"
The innkeeper was tallying his accounts and answered without looking up, "He went out to see the lanterns last night. I don't know what happened, but he still hasn't returned."
Zhou Yi shook his head inwardly and asked no further questions.
He crossed half of South City and arrived at the Demon-Slaying Bureau's headquarters.
With his Ministry of Works token, he had his identity verified and returned to the Ministry of Works.
Zhang Cheng had not arrived yet, but Clerk Liu, the coroner, had already delivered a register listing the demon materials sent over from the Punishment Office the day before.
"Old Zhang went to the Spring Breeze Pavilion yesterday. I doubt he'll wake up today."
Clerk Liu chuckled. "With those old arms and legs, isn't he afraid he'll get tangled up in a heap of women and die?"
"A heap?"
Zhou Yi seized precisely on the key point. As for dying, that was impossible. He had never heard of a Spirit Refining master dying of exhaustion.
The two exchanged a glance as though each had found a kindred spirit, and the atmosphere suddenly grew cheerful.
The clerks from the other sections arrived one after another. They greeted Zhou Yi and chatted for a while before beginning to copy out the records.
Late in the afternoon, as evening approached, Zhang Cheng sauntered in to work.
Zhou Yi had already finished copying and organizing the records. Zhang Cheng flipped through a few pages, then delivered them to Chief Clerk Chen, taking the opportunity to offer a few words of praise for the Spring Breeze Pavilion's courtesan queen.
Chief Clerk Chen had once been a dashing man of letters himself and roundly scorned Zhang Cheng's taste.
On only his second day, Zhou Yi already clearly understood the difference between the Ministry of Works and the Punishment Office. Though both employed minor clerks outside the court's official ranks, it was roughly the difference between permanent employees and contract workers.
After a little over half a month, Zhou Yi had grown familiar with his colleagues and had even gone drinking with them several times.
Naturally, Zhou Yi was not the one settling the bills. Even the money for his room at the inn had been borrowed from Zhang Cheng. He was utterly penniless.
That day.
At last, the day for distributing monthly pay arrived.
The minor clerks who handled the work in the materials office held no official rank. Their salaries were not issued by the court but were handled by their own department.
Zhou Yi followed Zhang Cheng to see Administrator Bai and collect his clerk's pay.
"Old Zhang, here is yours: two defective pills, ten jin of inferior meat, and fifteen hundred coins."
Administrator Bai handed Zhang Cheng a package, then looked at Zhou Yi. "Thirteen days of work last month, counted as half a month. One defective pill, five jin of inferior meat, and five hundred coins."
"Thank you, Administrator Bai."
Zhou Yi accepted the money, a white porcelain bottle, and a strip of blackened meat.
They left the administrator's office.
Zhou Yi sniffed the meat and easily identified it as the viscera of a tiger demon.
He opened the porcelain bottle. Inside was a dark, dingy pill. From its scent, it seemed to be an Essence Qi Pill.
Essence Qi Pills were among the lowest-grade pills. Refined from the essence of demon flesh and blood, they replenished blood and qi. Ordinary people could take them to strengthen their bodies and invigorate their qi.
"No need to inspect them. The meat is good, and there's nothing wrong with the pills."
Zhang Cheng opened his porcelain bottle, poured out a pill, and tossed it straight into his mouth, chewing noisily.
"Doesn't taste quite as good as before."
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