Mo Huaiyuan didn't have time to answer, focusing all his attention on collecting the Heavenly Mirror Treasure Aspect Wheel. He emitted more and more immortal spiritual energy, Heavenly Mirror Treasure Aspect Wheel gradually shrank. He then shouted, "Chih!" A series of loud explosions rang out, and the Heavenly Mirror Treasure Aspect Wheel spun rapidly and flew up. Mo Huaiyuan rubbed his hands together, and a streak of colorful light scatters towards the treasure wheel.
With a loud crack, Mo Huaiyuan had already grasped the strange immortal artifact in his hand.
Li Qiang looked closely and saw that it was a palm-sized round wheel with a bright red Gemstone the size of a fingernail embedded in its center. Radial arcs on the silver surface extended to the rim, and the approximately one-centimeter-thick rim shimmered with iridescent light, making it appear exquisitely beautiful. Mo Huaiyuan, however, paid no attention to the precious wheel in his hand; his gaze remained fixed on the space below.
A beam of bluish light shone from where the treasure wheel had originally stood.
Li Qiang couldn't see what it was, but he knew it must be the Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror Mo Huaiyuan had mentioned earlier. Seeing that Mo Huaiyuan seemed a little nervous, Li Qiang's curiosity immediately swelled. "Brother, what's the use of this treasure mirror?"
He found it incredible that Mo Huaiyuan could show such nervousness; this so-called Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror was very mysterious and must be of great use to Mo Huaiyuan.
Mo Huaiyuan acted as if he hadn't heard Li Qiang's words. He put away the Heavenly Mirror Treasure Aspect Wheel, made a strange hand seal, and a wisp of colorful silk flew out from his hand, extending rapidly downwards.
He shouted, "Brother, grab my shoulder, let's get down!"
Li Qiang quickly hooked his arm around his shoulder. "Alright, bro, don't worry about me... let's get it first!"
Suddenly, darkness fell, with only the light from Li Qiang Billowing Essence Battle Armor flashing. Mo Huaiyuan plummeted rapidly, passing through countless illusions, when suddenly he heard a "whoosh" sound, and a bright light burst forth before his eyes, revealing a uniquely shaped cloud-shaped structure.
Mo Huaiyuan held a nine-sided cyan mirror in his hand, his face beaming with joy, and exclaimed repeatedly, "Good! Good! Good! I can finally get out of my current predicament, haha!"
Li Qiang looked around and saw that there were giant pillars that were faintly visible and light clouds floating around him. He knew that he had arrived at the center of the formation.
Mo Huaiyuan laughed and said, "Brother, you are a lucky man. I'm benefiting from your good fortune. Ever since I met you, I've had a string of good luck. I never knew there was such a treasure hidden in the formation. Hehe, with it, I can start all over again!"
Li Qiang asked in confusion, "Starting over? What does that mean?"
Mo Huaiyuan explained, "This treasure mirror is a gem somewhere between a celestial artifact and a divine artifact. I've heard of it for a long time, but I never expected to find it here. It's extremely useful for Loose Immortal. With its power, Loose Immortal can reincarnate and cultivate again, while retaining their original divine nature. Brother, do you think I wouldn't be happy?"
Li Qiang listened as if to a myth, and asked, "Brother, can cultivators also reincarnate?"
Mo Huaiyuan shook his head and said, "No, without the protection of Loose Immortal immortal's spiritual energy, we're doomed if we go in. It's said that these are instruments of torture that fell from the Immortal Realm, specifically used to punish immortals who violate the heavenly rules..."
Li Qiang suddenly realized and said, "Oh, so it's a torture device. But what use is it to you, brother?"
Mo Huaiyuan laughed and said, "I can reincarnate and cultivate again, thus escaping the fate of only being able to cultivate as a Loose Immortal. Because it can be controlled by itself, my spirit will not be obscured after reincarnation, and I can still cultivate. I need a good physical body."
Li Qiang found this utterly unbelievable and asked in bewilderment, "Is the physical body really that important?"
Mo Huaiyuan fiddled with the precious mirror in his hand. "The foundation and essence of cultivation is the physical body. If you don't have that... how much can you achieve? The owner of this place seems to be Loose Immortal. He must have immortal friends, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to obtain this treasure. Hehe, I didn't expect to get it so easily." His tone was full of satisfaction.
Li Qiang asked with some doubt, "What if something bad happens after reincarnation? Wouldn't that mean the end for everyone?"
Mo Huaiyuan laughed, "With you here, hehe, you'll be the one to guide me after my reincarnation... Brother, you won't refuse, will you?" He was cunning and calculating; he had started preparing for his reincarnation as soon as he got the treasure mirror.
Mo Huaiyuan chose Li Qiang as his guide without hesitation because he absolutely trusted Li Qiang's character, as evidenced by Li Qiang's unconditional help in finding the Sea Agate. Therefore, he decided that Li Qiang was the only one who could guide him, so that he could reincarnate with peace of mind.
Li Qiang was dumbfounded. "You... brother, you want me to guide you through the cultivation process again? This... that..."
Mo Huaiyuan asked with a smile, "You don't want to?"
Li Qiang suddenly burst into laughter. "Sigh... So I'm going to be your master? Oh dear... I'm so sorry, hahaha!"
Mo Huaiyuan was furious. He hadn't expected Li Qiang to think this way, and couldn't help but smile wryly, "You little rascal, you really know how to take advantage. Master it is then, as long as we can start over, it doesn't matter what you call me."
Li Qiang said with a grin, "Hey, just kidding. But how risky is this kind of reincarnation? And where can I find you, brother, after I'm reincarnated?"
Mo Huaiyuan laughed and said, "There's no rush now. I still have a lot of things to do. I'll come find you later, hehe. As for the risks, there are definitely some, but I'm confident I can get through this."
After a moment of contemplation, Mo Huaiyuan said, "Hmm, I must find a planet with very few cultivators."
Li Qiang immediately said, "Let's go to my home planet. There should be very few cultivators there. However, the teleportation array there has long been destroyed, and with my current strength, I can't go back."
Mo Huaiyuan was very interested and said, "I can set up a teleportation array. Okay! It's decided then."
Li Qiang immediately became excited. This way, he wouldn't have to wait until he reached the Body Integration Realm to go home, and he absolutely wouldn't miss such an opportunity. He hurriedly said, "Brother, when do you plan to start? Hehe, can you hurry up?"
Mo Huaiyuan looked at him strangely and said, "Brother, I'm not in a hurry, why are you? It's still early. Rushing into reincarnation will cause problems. I need to thoroughly understand the function of this immortal artifact, which will take at least several decades."
Although Li Qiang was a little disappointed, he thought that this was still much faster than him having to cultivate for several hundred more years to reach the Body Integration Realm.
Suddenly, the Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror in Mo Huaiyuan's hand trembled violently, shooting out seven beams of azure light in succession.
Mo Huaiyuan was shocked. He exhaled a breath of immortal energy onto the mirror and shouted, "Seal!" The Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror immediately lost its luster. Mo Huaiyuan put the mirror into his bracelet and sighed, "This has caused a lot of trouble. It was my carelessness."
Li Qiang asked, "What's wrong?"
"It seems there are still immortals lingering in this realm. The azure light emitted by the treasure mirror was a notification to its original owner to retrieve it, but I blocked it. So the Heavenly Mirror Treasure Aspect Wheel was used to suppress the Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror; I never imagined that. Let's pack our things quickly; the original owner of the treasure mirror will arrive soon."
Li Qiang suddenly realized, "So the reincarnated Loose Immortal from the Star Palace also stole the Heaven-Defying Treasure Mirror? Goodness, now we're the thieves."
On the cloud-shaped table were only a Jade Pupil Slip and a bracelet. Mo Huaiyuan formed a hand seal, and a wisp of green energy struck the cloud-shaped table. With a soft sound, the protective Law Treasure's restriction was immediately broken.
Mo Huaiyuan said, "Quick, grab them!" Li Qiang grabbed one in each hand.
The formation suddenly began to rotate, Mo Huaiyuan exclaimed in surprise, "They couldn't have arrived so quickly... Who is it?"
Li Qiang's heart skipped a beat, and he called out, "It's a little Sea Demon, brother, let it in."
Mo Huaiyuan sighed, "If it weren't for the need to reincarnate and cultivate again... sigh, getting involved with immortals isn't fun." He turned the array around, and a beam of Blue Light rushed into Li Qiang's arms.
"We'd better get out of here quickly, or we'll be in big trouble if the immortals see us." He grabbed Li Qiang's arm and whispered, "Let's go!"
A faint white light flashed, and the two vanished without a trace.
A day later, a golden light descended upon the Cosmic Azure Field Grand Formation of the Star Palace. A hazy golden phantom wandered around the array for a long time before angrily saying, "You run fast! Hmph! We'll see!"
He pointed to the sky and shouted, "Chirp!" The sky seemed to be cleaved by a sharp axe, and a huge crack appeared with a loud rumble. The man flew out of the Star Palace and threw a ball of golden light into the crack.
A series of violent tremors resounded from underground, and the entire Star Palace collapsed with a deafening roar.
A flash of golden light, and the person vanished without a trace.
Mo Huaiyuan and Li Qiang, who were standing on a mountain peak not far away, clearly saw what had just happened; the place where the two were standing was completely invisible to Mo Huaiyuan.
Li Qiang clicked his tongue in amazement. "My goodness, is this what an immortal is? He's practically inhuman! He's so powerful. What a pity about this Star Palace; it was completely destroyed in one move." He shook his head and sighed, feeling a genuine fear of immortals for the first time.
Because Li Qiang insisted on seeing what the immortals looked like, Mo Huaiyuan had no choice but to set up an invisibility array on the mountain peak. He also had his own ideas: it would be good for Li Qiang to see the power of the immortals, so that he would not be careless in the future.
It seems the original owner of the Star Palace greatly offended that immortal. Judging from the golden light that immortal emitted when he left, he was extremely angry. It seems we must be more careful in the future.
Mo Huaiyuan asked, "Where are you planning to go, brother?"
Li Qiang pondered for a moment, deciding that he should first go to the capital of the Gusong Kingdom to find Zhao Hao and take everyone to the Ancient Sword Academy for cultivation. This would be a way to arrange the future of his brothers. He also wanted to find Yun Yu and see if they were still on Heavenly Court Star Heavenly Court Star. If they were, he wouldn't let them go so easily. So he said, "Brother, let's go to the capital of the Gusong Kingdom first."
Mo Huaiyuan nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go with you, brother. Which direction?"
Li Qiang laughed and said, "Don't rush, brother, put this on first. Hehe, you look absolutely stunning right now." He handed Mo Huaiyuan a set of clothes from the Gusong Kingdom, the kind of fine attire worn by noble young masters.
He took out a set for himself, dressed neatly, and laughed, "If my ability to mimic objects were truly superb, hehe, then I wouldn't need these worldly clothes at all."
"You're relying on the Star-Absorbing Sword to create objects. A truly advanced level of objectification can be used on anything, even conjure things out of thin air. You're still far from that level. However, this kind of thing isn't very meaningful; there's no need to pursue it excessively..."
Li Qiang chimed in, "Everything should prioritize Daoist techniques, brother, I understand."
Using Mo Huaiyuan 'Loose Immortal teleportation skills, the two flew over the capital of the Gusong Kingdom.
As dusk approached, the entire capital city appeared peaceful and serene under the afterglow. Wisps of smoke rose slowly into the air. Li Qiang smelled the aroma of cooking food and chuckled, "Looks like everyone's cooking dinner. Hehe, let's see what Zhao Hao and the others are doing."
Mo Huaiyuan asked curiously, "Who is Zhao Hao?"
Li Qiang laughed and said, "He's the first apprentice I took on. He owns a big jewelry store in the capital. Let's go bother him."
Mo Huaiyuan shook his head and said, "I haven't taken on any apprentices yet. Hehe, I've always been free to run around everywhere. Taking on apprentices would be a huge hassle."
Li Qiang, having determined the direction, remembered the approximate location even though he had been away from the Gusong Kingdom for a long time. He pulled Mo Huaiyuan and slowly landed in a large courtyard, shouting, "Guests have arrived! Is the host home?"
The shouts immediately alerted the people inside, and a group of shop assistants and servants rushed out, yelling, "Who goes there? How dare you cause trouble in the jewelry store!"
Mo Huaiyuan chuckled and said, "Brother, did you come to the wrong door?"
Li Qiang laughed and said, "Of course they'd be nervous if we suddenly ended up in someone's backyard. This is a jewelry store, a place of great wealth, no strangers allowed." The two spoke as if no one else was around.
The waiters and servants, as if facing a formidable enemy, surrounded the two men. Someone announced, "The manager is here!"
Li Qiang laughed and said, "Where is Zhao Degui? Let me see!" He actually remembered Zhao Hao's son's name.
The person who came out was not Zhao Degui, but a young man in his early twenties, with a plump figure, a round face, and a big smile.
Li Qiang was slightly taken aback. This person looked familiar. He asked, "Hey, isn't this the courtyard of Zhao's Treasure Silver and Gold Jewelry Shop?"
The young shopkeeper nodded and said, "That's right, this is it... And you are?"
Li Qiang was a little confused, so he asked again, "Is Zhao Hao home?"
Seeing Li Qiang's stunned expression, Mo Huaiyuan almost burst out laughing.
The shopkeeper asked, "Who are you? My grandfather doesn't live here."
Li Qiang suddenly realized that this little guy was probably the child of Fatty Qi, the owner of the clothing store. He didn't expect him to be so big. When he was rescued in Hanlin City, the little guy was only about seven or eight years old. Li Qiang thought that perhaps the time on the two planets was very different.
He asked tentatively, "You don't recognize me? Think back, when you were little..."
The young shopkeeper opened his small eyes, his face full of confusion, and said, "I can't remember... you..."
"Who is it?" Another old man emerged from the room, with gray hair and a thin body.
Li Qiang exclaimed in surprise, " Zhao Degui?" He could hardly believe that Zhao Hao's son would look so old.
Zhao Degui scrutinized Li Qiang closely, then suddenly exclaimed, "It's you, sir! My goodness! So many years have passed, and you haven't changed a bit..." He hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
Li Qiang quickly helped him up, saying, "Hey, old monkey, don't try that on me. Where's your father?"
All the servants, waiters, and the manager in the courtyard knelt down and kowtowed.
Mo Huaiyuan watched with great interest. He hadn't seen so many people in a long time and found everything novel. He chuckled and said, "Are all these people your apprentice's family? Heh, quite a lot."
Zhao Degui said, "My father and the others were invited to the Sacred King's Residence. It was General Lin Fenghe who personally invited them. My father said he didn't want to offend him, so he went."
Li Qiang nodded and said, "Yes, I understand. Is this child Hanlin City...?"
Zhao Degui interrupted Li Qiang, saying, "Yes, his Zhao Qier now. Following your orders, we haven't dared to mistreat this child in the slightest." He seemed unwilling to bring up the tragic events in Hanlin City again.
Zhao Qier now knew who Li Qiang was, and he didn't say anything, only kowtowing repeatedly.
Li Qiang waved his hand and raised his hand, Zhao Qier was forcibly lifted up by a force and could no longer bow down.
Li Qiang nodded, handed Zhao Degui three Lesser Origin-Nurturing Pill, and said, "Old monkey, it's fate that we met. These three pills are for you, your wife, and Qier. I'm going back to the Sacred King's Residence now."
In fact, Zhao Hao had already given his son one pill, but he couldn't bear to use it and hid it away like a treasure.
Knowing the elixir's value, Zhao Degui quickly expressed his gratitude. Li Qiang nodded and smiled, and with a flash of white light, the two vanished without a trace.
The area in front of the Sacred King's Residence's Mansion was rather deserted, with four guards standing listlessly on duty. This time, Li Qiang did not fly directly into the mansion, but instead led Mo Huaiyuan toward the gate.
"Who goes there? Stop! This is the Sacred King's Residence! Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach!" The four guards shouted as soon as they saw someone getting close.
Mo Huaiyuan laughed and said, "Brother, you've probably been back for a long time. It seems like nobody recognizes you."
Li Qiang smiled wryly, "Who knew time would pass so quickly? More than ten years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Sigh, I've been away from home for too long." He was lamenting that he had been away from Earth for too long, not that he was here.
The guards were a little confused by this, and one of them asked, "Excuse me... who are you?"
Li Qiang didn't want to waste any more words and raised his hand to shoot out a gold medal.
The guard took it, glanced at it, and trembled as if burned by the gold medal in his hand. He quickly gave a standard military salute. " Zhao Demin, fourth-class guard of the Prince's Palace, greets the General!" The other three guards were also startled and hurriedly saluted and announced their arrival.
Mo Huaiyuan exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, you're actually an official here? That's unbelievable. Ah, interesting, truly interesting."
Li Qiang said with a grin, "Just trying to make a living, no need to make a fuss." He was just making things up. If he hadn't promised his older brother Hou Pijing to take care of the Gusong Kingdom, he wouldn't have bothered coming back.
The gates of the mansion were wide open, and a large contingent of guards, stewards, managers, eunuchs, and palace maids came out to greet them.
The steward was the same one as before. He recognized Li Qiang at a glance and was filled with envy: this master hadn't aged a bit; he still looked the same as he had back then—young, dashing, and full of youthful vigor. He respectfully said, "Greetings, sir!"
Li Qiang asked, "Where is Zhao Hao?"
The steward bowed and replied, "Master Zhao has taken his men to the residence of General Lin Fenghe, who is serving the Emperor; they are not here."
Upon hearing this, Li Qiang angrily cursed, "Damn it, why are you running around everywhere...?"
Upon seeing Li Qiang's anger, the steward was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and said, "General Lin came to invite us personally, I..." Immediately, a whole group of people knelt on the ground.
Mo Huaiyuan laughed, "What a bunch of bootlickers! Brother, since they're not here, let's go."
Li Qiang sighed, "What a miserable life! I have to run around with them everywhere. Get up, all of you! I'm not scolding you, get up, get up!"
The steward said solicitously, "Sir, there are sedan chairs prepared in the manor. If you are going to General Lin's residence, please take one of the sedan chairs provided."
Li Qiang had never ridden in an official sedan chair before. "Hmm, alright, bring it out and let me see."
The head steward clapped his hands, and immediately a eunuch went down to relay the order. Before long, a large, privately owned sedan chair was carried out of the mansion.
Li Qiang was startled to see that there were sixteen sedan chair bearers. He guessed that this was probably the entourage of a prince.
Mo Huaiyuan said impatiently, "This thing is boring, let's go." He was starting to feel a bit tired of worldly things. This was understandable; after spending so many years in the Star Palace, he had become accustomed to the quiet life of being alone, and the novelty he felt when he first came out was fading rapidly.
"Brother, let's go into the mansion and rest first. Steward, send someone to inform Lin Fenghe to bring Zhao Hao and the others back to me." He was too lazy to run around anymore, so he decided to make do with resting at the Sacred King's Residence for a while and deal with everything else tomorrow.
However, he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. Zhao Hao shouldn't be so flamboyant. Had something happened in the Gusong Kingdom?
Immediately, a guard loudly agreed, mounted the horse led out by the eunuch, and rode away.
Li Qiang arranged for Mo Huaiyuan to meditate in the library, while he returned to the main hall to wait for Zhao Hao others. Instead of Zhao Hao, they were greeted by an imperial edict from the palace.
The contents of the imperial edict left Li Qiang completely bewildered. He had been inexplicably granted the title of Prince of Loyalty and Valor and was immediately summoned to the palace, told that the emperor wanted to see him in person. Li Qiang was utterly confused and kept wondering what was going on.
Due to Hou's instructions, he had no choice but to change into the princely robes that had been sent to him and enter the palace with a large entourage of guards. Before leaving, he instructed the chief steward to have Zhao Hao wait for him at his residence if he returned.
Li Qiang was dressed in an apricot-yellow robe with a jade belt around his waist, decorated with dragon patterns, and thick-soled satin boots. This was the kind of clothing only a prince could wear, but he didn't know how to walk properly, especially the jade belt around his waist, which was troublesome and he had to hold it up with his hand from time to time.
Two eunuchs helped him into the sedan chair. He thought to himself that something big must have happened in the palace.
Sixteen sedan chair bearers steadily carried the sedan chair, while eight guards with swords rode tall horses, fully armored and holding sword hilts, leading the way. Eight eunuchs followed on each side of the sedan chair, carrying ox-horn lanterns. Behind the sedan chair followed a group of more than thirty guards from the Prince's Palace. The group headed towards the palace in a grand procession.
As darkness fell completely, Li Qiang felt somewhat uneasy sitting in the sedan chair. Suddenly, he heard a guard shout, "Hey, you in front! Get out of the way!"
Another guard called out, "Stop!" The sedan chair paused slightly and came to a stop.
Li Qiang suddenly felt a Sha Qi approaching. Now a seasoned expert, he immediately sensed a cultivator on each of his left and right sides, and another in front of him. He could clearly know their locations without even looking.
The opponent attacked with lightning speed, two silver beams shooting in from opposite directions. The guards in front had just drawn their swords when countless green beams scattered before their eyes. The two guards at the front let out desperate screams. In that instant, the entire street suddenly lit up, and everyone saw that the surroundings were filled with Jingjing starlight, shimmering with a soft and beautiful radiance. It was the manifestation of Li Qiang's Star-Absorbing Sword. The starlight not only protected the entire team but also trapped the three attackers.
The three men couldn't even move, let alone launch a sneak attack; they immediately realized that their opponent was someone they simply couldn't defeat.
Li Qiang didn't want to kill anyone. He shouted in a deep voice, "Go back and tell your master that if he wants to die, he should find a well and jump in. That would be a quick death. Don't mess with me! Do you understand? Get out!" He didn't even get out of the sedan chair, yet he had already terrified the three of them. Especially the last word, "get out," which completely threw them into disarray.
The starlight that filled the street suddenly vanished. The three people fled silently in three different directions.
A guard came forward to apologize, but Li Qiang said calmly, "Ignore them, let's go!"
They soon arrived at the inner city of the palace, where Li Qiang discovered that the entire perimeter of the palace was guarded by imperial guards, with sentries every three steps and patrols every five steps. The security was tight and the checks were very thorough. Even their group was frequently stopped and questioned, which gave one a glimpse into what the scene inside the palace must have been like.
Li Qiang concluded that this matter was definitely not trivial.
Upon arriving at the palace gates, Li Qiang found people already waiting. He alighted from the sedan chair and exclaimed in surprise, " Zhao Hao, Fenghe, what brings you here?"
Lin Fenghe fully armed, holding the Crystal Origin Bow given to him by Li Qiang. Zhao Hao, standing beside him, was surprisingly clad in battle armor. Seeing Li Qiang alight from his sedan chair, the two rushed forward simultaneously. One cried out, "This humble official, General Lin Fenghe, pays respects to Your Highness!" The other exclaimed, "Master, disciple pays respects to Master!"
Li Qiang laughed and said, " Fenghe, you son of a bitch, you've only been an official for two days, why are you spouting such official jargon? My arrival as a prince is completely out of the blue, hehe, don't take it seriously, get up."
Lin Fenghe smiled awkwardly, moved closer to Li Qiang, and whispered, "His Majesty is in grave danger. Please, Your Highness, lend a helping hand no matter what. We can't find the Holy Prince... Alas, the capital is in a state of panic. Fortunately, we met Master Zhao, who said the Prince will return soon. We've been waiting for over ten days..."
Li Qiang asked, "What's wrong with the Emperor? What do you mean by 'on the verge of death'? Explain clearly."