Record of the Grand Progenitor's Ascension to Immortality

As the night deepened, the lamps in the pavilion went out one by one, leaving only two dim yellow lanterns swaying in the wind before the entrance.

He had gone from a mountain king who rallied outlaws in the forests, ate great hunks of meat, and drank wine by the bowlful, to a household servant who guarded a home and whose very life and death lay in another's hands. The difference was indeed a little too great.

At least he was a servant of the prince's residence.

Having absorbed Lin Shou's memories, Chen Fan had a clearer understanding of his new identity.

The prince's personal guards were well treated, and martial artists in particular were held in high regard.

Not only did they have private quarters, but they also received a monthly allowance for cultivation. It wasn't much, but for an ordinary martial artist, it was a rare resource.

That was also why so many people of the martial world would sharpen their heads to a point trying to enter the service of great aristocratic clans.

Of course, all of this came with one condition.

The Great Shang Imperial Dynasty had issued a ban strictly forbidding great aristocratic clans, including princes and nobles, from keeping high-grade martial artists in their service.

Even in the illustrious Prince of Xiushan's Residence, the strongest fighter known to the public was only the Fifth Grade old chief steward, who was responsible solely for the prince's safety.

The night watch was tedious and long.

Chen Fan stood beneath the covered walkway, motionless as a stone statue.

He took the opportunity to familiarize himself with his new body, called Lin Shou, and the paltry bit of Ninth Grade internal force within it.

In one word: weak.

It was more than a little inferior to Black Wind Baleful Intent's Eighth Grade internal force.

Still, something was better than nothing.

The pavilion was deathly silent. From time to time, maids entered and left carrying basins of water, each with her head lowered and her footsteps hushed, afraid of disturbing the mistress inside, whom the prince had already cast aside.

Through the half-open lattice window, Chen Fan occasionally caught a glimpse of the consort.

She simply sat in silence before her dressing table for hours on end, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

Gone was the stubborn resolve to die rather than submit that she had shown on Black Wind Mountain, as well as the nobility befitting a prince's consort. All that remained was a deathly, ashen desolation.

Watching her, Chen Fan suddenly felt that this woman was indeed attractive.

Stripped of all her status and the halo around her, the woman truly had a unique charm, if he was being fair.

It was a charm acquired over years of pampered comfort, the wifely allure unique to a mature woman. Coupled now with her brokenness and despair, it made her all the more temptingly pitiable.

And most importantly, he hadn't noticed it before, but now he did.

The consort had a wifely allure that was very tempting.

A thought flashed through Chen Fan's mind without warning.

If I'd known she would end up like this, I should have just had her that day on the mountain. Her fate would have been the same either way, and I could have had some fun.

No sooner had the thought arisen than he forcibly snuffed it out.

How vile.

Chen Fan cursed himself inwardly.

He was no saint, but he still couldn't bring himself to take advantage of someone in distress and force himself on a drugged woman. That was his bottom line as a person.

He could discard these bodies at any time and swap one for another, but if he couldn't even hold on to his true self, how was he any different from a walking corpse?

He could drift with the current, but he couldn't lose his true self.

Someone finally came to relieve him in the latter half of the night.

Chen Fan followed Zhang Cheng through several covered walkways toward the courtyard where the prince's personal guards lived.

"Have you heard? They found out something about the library!"

"What was it?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! I heard it from a page who serves Chief Steward Wang. What was stolen was our Zheng Imperial Clan's Record of the Grand Progenitor's Ascension to Immortality!"

"What? You mean the legendary secret tome that records how the Grand Progenitor Emperor ascended in broad daylight and attained immortality?"

"That's the one! This is a matter of heaven-shaking importance! No wonder the prince has been in such a temper these past few days!"

As they passed a training ground, every word of the hushed conversation between several guards who had just come off duty and gathered there drifted into Chen Fan's ears.

The imperial clan's secret tome, the Record of the Grand Progenitor's Ascension to Immortality.

The secret of how the Grand Progenitor Emperor of Great Shang became an immortal.

Chen Fan's steps faltered almost imperceptibly.

So that was it.

The White Lotus Sect had gone to such lengths, abducting the consort and framing Black Wind Mountain, causing such a huge commotion, all for this.

A secret tome concerning immortal cultivation.

These waters ran far deeper than he had imagined.

And he was now at the very center of this enormous whirlpool.

A Ninth Grade martial artist, a mere personal guard of the prince's residence-one careless move, and he would be churned to pieces.

"What are you thinking about? Come on," Zhang Cheng urged.

Chen Fan came back to his senses and followed without a word.

The next day, as dawn was just beginning to break, Chen Fan was assigned to the pavilion again.

The atmosphere today was even more oppressive than yesterday.

Before long, a maid who had delivered breakfast came running out with a nearly untouched tray, her face full of distress.

"Something's wrong! The consort... the consort refuses to eat!"

When the stewarding matron in the courtyard heard this, she stamped her feet in anxiety.

"At a time like this, we can't afford anything else going wrong!"

Several matrons and maids rushed into the pavilion. Before long, the sound of plates shattering and the women's frightened pleas came from inside.

But it was all in vain.

The stewarding matron ran out, her forehead covered in sweat, and spotted Chen Fan and Zhang Cheng standing at the entrance.

Like a drowning person clutching at a straw, she rushed up to them in a few strides.

"The prince sent you to keep watch. If anything happens to the consort, you won't escape responsibility either!"

"Quick! Think of a way to persuade her!"

Zhang Cheng's face fell instantly.

Was she joking? Could servants like them interfere in the prince and consort's family affairs?

He was just about to make an excuse when the matron, without further ado, shoved Chen Fan forward.

"You! Yes, you! Get in there!"

The matron pointed at Chen Fan and said urgently, "You're new here, and the consort doesn't know you. Maybe... maybe she'll listen to you!"

Chen Fan stumbled from the shove, his face full of astonishment.

Just like that, the blame was dumped on my head?

"Matron, this is against the rules..."

"Rules, rules! Is this the time to worry about rules? If anything happens to the consort, we'll all lose our heads!"

The matron gave him no chance to refuse, pushing and shoving him toward the pavilion entrance.

Chen Fan was speechless.

He looked at the tightly shut door, then at the helpless servants around him who were treating him as their savior, and sighed inwardly.

Forget it. Whether I stretch out my neck or draw it back, the blade will fall all the same.

He straightened his robes, steeled himself, and walked to the door, then raised a hand and knocked.

"Your Highness, forgive the intrusion."

With that, he pushed the door open without waiting for a response.

A heavy smell of medicine mixed with the sour stench of spoiled food hit him in the face.

The room was in shambles.

Overturned trays and shards of broken porcelain littered the floor.

Li Rong'er, the Consort of the Prince of Xiushan, sat slumped in a daze against the side of the bed, clutching a sharp shard of porcelain tightly against her wrist.

She had been awake all night. Her eye sockets were sunken, and her once-plump cheeks had grown so gaunt that her face was scarcely recognizable.

Hearing the noise, she slowly raised her head. There was no emotion in her vacant eyes.

"Get out."

Her voice was as dry and raspy as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

Chen Fan didn't move.

He glanced at the mess on the floor, then finally rested his gaze on a food box that was still mostly intact.

He walked over, bent down to open it, and took out a steamed bun that was still faintly warm.

Then, holding the bun, he walked step by step toward the woman whose heart was set on death.

Li Rong'er watched him warily, tightening her grip on the porcelain shard.

Chen Fan stopped three paces in front of her. He offered no words of comfort, nor did he try to take the shard from her hand.

He simply held up the steamed bun and spoke in the most matter-of-fact tone.

"Your Highness, people are iron, and food is steel."

"Even if you're going to die, shouldn't you at least be a ghost who died with a full belly?"