The Great Han Kingdom's special envoy had long since received an imperial edict from his own capital, ordering him to find a cultivator named Li Qiang. Once found, he had to keep him there and find every possible way to meet all his needs. No matter what, he had to invite him to visit the Great Han Kingdom's capital.
The edict had left the envoy utterly bewildered. He could not fathom just who this Li Qiang was. Only when he heard the rumors today did realization dawn: Li Qiang was the venerable Fu Chongbi's younger brother.
The envoy immediately reported the news to the palace through the royal voice-transmission array. Soon, the emperor issued an edict ordering him to pay his respects to Li Qiang at once, while also granting Li Qiang the Great Han Kingdom's title of First-Class Marquis of Valor and urging him to come to the capital for an imperial audience.
The envoy hurried to the Sacred King's residence and requested an audience with Li Qiang.
Li Qiang really had a headache now. Without having rendered any service at all, he had two countries competing to heap offices and titles upon him, and he simply did not know what to do. It was funny to think that his urge to flee now was almost the same as how he had felt after killing someone on Earth.
Although Li Qiang also wanted to go to the Great Han Kingdom and wait for Fu Shan to take him to Sealed Fate Planet, there were two things he had to finish first.
An idea flashed through Li Qiang's mind. He smiled. "Your Excellency, I have something to attend to in the Gusong Kingdom, and I may need your assistance. Would you...?"
The envoy hastily replied, "My lord marquis, I have been commanded to assist you with all my strength. Whatever you need, please give the word."
Delighted, Li Qiang said, "Excellent. Let me thank you in advance."
After seeing the envoy off, Li Qiang slapped his forehead hard. Mei Jingjing giggled. "Brother, you don't seem to want to be an official. Plenty of people envy you, you know."
Li Qiang smiled wryly. "Niuniu, don't tease your brother. This is driving me mad."
Toward evening, Cheng Zizhong arrived at the residence with an official. This official was also a cultivator from the Attendant Hall, specializing in gathering and analyzing intelligence. He held a second-rank official title, and his name was Tan Chigong.
Once they were seated, Li Qiang began asking detailed questions about relations between the two countries. He first gained a general understanding of the Litang Kingdom's economy, military, and relations between ruler and ministers. What interested him most was the Litang Kingdom's recent commercial situation, including fluctuations in prices, the number of traveling merchants, and spending among commoners. Though puzzled, Tan Chigong dared not neglect the matter. He immediately ordered his men to report upward, and a great quantity of intelligence was gathered at the residence through the royal voice-transmission array.
On Earth, Li Qiang had been a successful businessman. In just a few years, he had amassed assets worth over ten million. He had a habit of collecting and analyzing commercial information. In Earth's age of information explosion, information of every kind was as plentiful as hairs on an ox. One had to be skilled at sorting and summarizing that jumble of fish and dragons to uncover valuable business intelligence.
The intelligence Tan Chigong and Cheng Zizhong provided was detailed and accurate, giving Li Qiang the best possible foundation for logical deductions after he sorted and organized it. Listening to Li Qiang's analysis, Tan Chigong admired him enough to prostrate himself. For the first time, he learned that intelligence could be used this way.
Hou Pijing was also astonished. He had originally planned to use Li Qiang's dual status to put pressure on the Litang Kingdom's envoy; Li Qiang would effectively be a puppet. After hearing Li Qiang's comprehensive analysis of the situation, he knew he had underestimated him badly. Li Qiang could actually deduce the country's military operations from fluctuations in market prices and the volume of merchant activity in the Litang Kingdom. He truly had to see him in a new light.
Li Qiang's analysis concluded that the Litang Kingdom simply lacked the strength to wage this war. This carefully engineered situation was actually a deception, entirely serving the needs of the Litang Kingdom's internal power struggle. At the same time, there seemed to be some other purpose behind it, as though the Litang Kingdom wanted to obtain something. Exactly what that was, he could not determine.
Li Qiang felt he now held the strongest card in the negotiations, and his mood immediately relaxed considerably.
Li Qiang asked whether anyone had a different opinion. Tan Chigong said, "Your analysis is meticulous down to the smallest detail, my lord. I must seek your guidance more often in the future. I shall organize this information and report it to His Majesty immediately."
Since even Tan Chigong, who was responsible for intelligence, had no objections, the others had nothing to say either. Zhao Hao merely thought that if Li Qiang went into business in the Green Basin, probably no merchant could compete with him. He would surely sweep the board.
After seeing everyone off, Li Qiang and Hou Pijing went up to the terrace on the study's second floor. Neither of them needed to eat or sleep.
After a brief silence, Li Qiang said, "Old brother, I plan to give up my office and leave once the negotiations with the Litang Kingdom are over. You won't blame me, will you?"
Hou Pijing gazed at the stars filling the sky and said quietly, "I know. True cultivators have no interest in fame, rank, wealth, or honors. But in another hundred years, I'll enter the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. If I can't cross that threshold, I'll never have another chance to look after my homeland. Brother, I don't have much family, and I regard you as the person closest to me. Don't give up your office. You can go wherever you like; I won't make you stay in the Gusong Kingdom forever. Just come back often to look in on it for me in the future. Will you?"
Hou Pijing's concern for his homeland moved Li Qiang deeply. "All right, I promise," he said. Then he asked, "Is the Tribulation Transcendence Realm very dangerous? I seem to remember Hua Meiniang saying on Mars that Brother Fu was approaching it too."
"Transcending tribulation is a cultivator's greatest hurdle. If a hundred cultivators reach the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, no more than thirty will make it through safely. Those who cross it can rise to another realm, reaching what's called the immortal cultivation realm. Those who fail are reduced to drifting ash and smoke. Not only their bodies but even their nascent souls disappear. It is death in the truest sense. And the Tribulation Transcendence Realm arrives naturally as one's cultivation deepens. Cultivators cannot control it themselves," Hou Pijing explained.
Li Qiang asked again, "Isn't there some other, safer way to transcend tribulation?"
"There are two ways that are slightly better." Hou Pijing held up two fingers. "The first is to find a way to undergo Liberation by Violence before reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, allowing the nascent soul to cultivate. The advantage is that you never have to worry about the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. The disadvantage is that without your physical body, you lose an enormous amount of strength and must rely on other cultivators to look after you. If a cultivator with evil intentions discovers you and refines you into a sinister weapon, you'll never be reborn for all eternity. The second way is to have other cultivation experts help you resist the tribulation together. This is an enormous help to the person transcending tribulation. The difficulty is that the cultivators helping will suffer severe damage to their vitality. Unless they're extremely close friends, they won't be willing to lend a hand. Besides, experts are hard to find!"
Hou Pijing sighed. "I've gone my own way all my life. I don't want to undergo Liberation by Violence, and I have no one to help me. Heh, that's why I need you to look after my homeland for me."
Seized by an impulse, Li Qiang said, "Old brother, when you reach the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, you must let me know. Let me do my part too."
Touched, Hou Pijing shook his head and thought, A hundred years will pass in a flash. Though Li Qiang wants to help, unfortunately he won't be able to reach the necessary level within a hundred years.
A question had lingered in Li Qiang's mind all along. "Old brother, when you fought the Gold Crystal Horn Beast last time, how could you grab it and leave it helpless, and even break off its horn with your bare hands? I didn't see you use any Law Treasure. How did you do that?"
Hou Pijing smiled. "I thought you were never going to ask. You couldn't hold back after all. To explain that, we have to start with the different schools of cultivation. There are countless schools, strange and varied, both righteous and evil. Take the Chongxuan Sect and my own Primordial Beginning Sect as an example. The Chongxuan Sect emphasizes artifact crafting, entering cultivation through crafting artifacts. It stresses working from the outside inward, using artifacts as a guide. You should have a deep understanding of that."
Recalling his experience refining several weapons in Hanlin City, Li Qiang nodded. "That's true. I only refined a few weapons, but I felt my cultivation grow considerably."
Hou Pijing said, "Exactly. That's the Chongxuan Sect's advantage. You can make divine weapons and keen blades while cultivating. The Primordial Beginning Sect's cultivation is completely different. We begin with martial arts, then step through the gates of cultivation. Our method has an advantage too: rather than relying on Law Treasures, we refine ourselves into Law Treasures. The drawback is that getting started is far too difficult."
Li Qiang pondered silently. The body itself is a Law Treasure? The body itself is a Law Treasure... Some idea seemed to circle through his mind, but he could not grasp it. Scratching his head, he asked, "Old brother, could you teach me martial arts?"
Hou Pijing fell silent. After a long while, he handed Li Qiang something shaped like a Jade Slip. "Very well. People of the Chongxuan Sect practice other disciplines alongside their own anyway. Take this. Whatever you can comprehend is yours. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to offer verbal guidance." Before Li Qiang could answer, white light flashed, and he vanished without a trace.
Li Qiang had been far too vague, leading Hou Pijing to believe he wanted to learn his sect's cultivation methods. This was a major taboo among cultivators. Fortunately, Hou Pijing did not care too much. He gave Li Qiang his sect's classic text, but that was as far as he could go. How to cultivate it would depend on Li Qiang himself.
It was an oblong object half a foot long and three fingers wide, smooth and lustrous as jade, with a simple, ancient shape. Li Qiang tried probing it with a little true essence and discovered that it was a Jade Pupil Slip recording the Primordial Beginning Sect's cultivation methods. His heart began pounding wildly. He had only wanted Hou Pijing to give him some pointers in martial arts, never expecting him to give him the Primordial Beginning Sect's cultivation classic.
The Jade Pupil Slip did not contain much. Compared with the Chongxuan Sect's Jade Pupil Slip Fu Shan had given him, it held only about a third as much material. Everything recorded inside concerned methods of cultivating the physical body and nascent soul. The method for laying the foundation was very simple: just one sitting posture, one walking posture, and one reclining posture, though the postures were rather peculiar.
Intrigued, Li Qiang memorized the three postures and the methods for circulating his power. By the time he put away the Jade Pupil Slip, the sky had turned fish-belly white. He stretched and strolled downstairs. The servants keeping night watch immediately came forward to pay their respects, and a group of palace maids poured in to wash, groom, and dress him. It made him extremely uneasy. He thought that he had to find a way to leave this place quickly. This was too uncomfortable.
Li Qiang had the residence's steward summon Zhao Hao and the others. "Let's go shopping today and have some fun." Shopping was Mei Jingjing's favorite activity. Cheering, she ran toward the main gate.
Once they reached the street, Li Qiang stopped the guards from following, and Zhao Hao led them onward.
In the early morning capital, the air was cool, and a thin mist shrouded their surroundings. The houses lining the streets were all two- or three-story wooden buildings with white walls and black tiles. The streets were empty, save for the occasional early riser emerging lazily to buy breakfast. Wisps of blue smoke were already rising from some chimneys, and a few morning-market shops had taken down their doorboards to begin the day's work.
For a moment, Li Qiang felt as though he had arrived in some old town in China. Zhao Hao smiled. "Master, it's still early. Let's find somewhere to have breakfast before going anywhere else."
Cheng Zizhong said, "I know a little shop that makes excellent meat buns. Just turn east along this street, and we'll be there."
The group rounded the corner and arrived at the bun shop. A banner jutted diagonally above its door, bearing three large characters: "True Grass Buns." Puzzled, Li Qiang asked, "Why give the shop such a strange name?"
Zhao Hao answered first. "True grass is a local specialty, a kind of fragrant herb. They line the steamer with it when steaming the buns, giving them a distinctive flavor. You'll understand once you try them, Master."
The shopkeeper came out to greet them with a cheerful smile. "Honored gentlemen, please take a seat upstairs!"
Piping-hot steamers were brought up, carrying a faint, fresh fragrance. When a steamer was opened, the buns inside were small, with skins so thin they were translucent. The broth inside was clearly visible, and palm-sized green leaves lined the bottoms of the buns. Li Qiang could not help exclaiming, "Wonderful! Crystal clear, delicate and exquisite. I can hardly believe buns can be made like this."
Zheng Peng said unhappily, "No good. Too small. Not enough to fill the gaps between my teeth. Hey, shopkeeper! Bring me some big meat buns!"
His shout startled Mei Jingjing so badly that her hand shook, dropping the bun held between her chopsticks onto the table. Planting her hands on her slender waist, she scolded, "Bad Heizi! Rotten Heizi! Are you trying to scare Niuniu to death?"
Zheng Peng muttered but dared not make another sound. When this little grandaunt lost her temper, even Li Qiang had to give her some ground.
Li Qiang tasted the buns, then put down his chopsticks and asked Cheng Zizhong, "Old scholar, what exactly does this Attendant Hall do?"
Cheng Zizhong smiled. "Even if you hadn't asked, my lord, I would have explained."
The Attendant Hall was a royal office established specifically for cultivators. Its main duties included defending the imperial household, protecting the emperor, serving as envoys abroad, and gathering intelligence. Another important duty was training and teaching the children of royalty and nobility, so the Attendant Hall also administered the capital's academies. The Gusong Kingdom's Attendant Hall had four academies in the capital: the Cultivation Academy, the Hanlin Academy, the Martial Reverence Academy, and the Imperial Academy.
Of these, the Cultivation Academy trained reserves for the Attendant Hall. Anyone with a clean family background and sufficient ability could apply for its entrance examination. It was an academy that considered only ability, not birth. The Hanlin Academy and Martial Reverence Academy admitted only the children of royalty and nobility. The Imperial Academy accepted the widest range of applicants. Children of officials and commoners alike could apply, as long as they had money.
"Every country on Heavenly Court Star has an Attendant Hall," Cheng Zizhong added.
"Old scholar, which academy did you graduate from?" Li Qiang asked curiously.
Cheng Zizhong said, "I earned my provincial graduate status through the Imperial Academy in the bingzi year. The following year, I passed the metropolitan examination as the seventy-third ranked graduate in the second class." He sounded rather proud.
Zhao Hao said, "That's quite an achievement, old scholar. Very few students from the Imperial Academy earn provincial graduate status, and even fewer pass the metropolitan examination. Your learning must be outstanding."
Cheng Zizhong replied modestly, "You flatter me. It was merely a fortunate coincidence."
"You and Feng Kaiyun, the prefect of Hanlin City, are both metropolitan graduates. Why did you go to work as his adviser?" Li Qiang asked in puzzlement.
Cheng Zizhong said, "I am His Majesty's Wind-Patrolling Envoy. Assessing officials is one of my duties."
Li Qiang understood. So the emperor had planted quite a few secret agents too.
Mei Jingjing clapped her little hands and called, "Niuniu's full! Old scholar, you know the capital best. Take us somewhere fun."
Cheng Zizhong smiled. "Let's go to Temple Street Junction first. There are plenty of merchants and shops there. At noon, we can go to the White Alum Pavilion, the capital's largest restaurant. What do you think, Lord Li?"
Before Li Qiang could answer, Mei Jingjing cried, "Great! Let's look at the shops first."
Zhao Hao left a piece of broken silver, and everyone rose to head for Temple Street Junction.
Temple Street Junction was the most prosperous part of the Gusong Kingdom's capital, crowded with merchants and lined with shops. Though Li Qiang was a little surprised, he had seen places ten times as bustling. Cheng Zizhong and Zhao Hao were well traveled and found nothing remarkable about it. Mei Jingjing's home was in the Litang Kingdom's capital, and she too had seen equally prosperous places. Zheng Peng was different. Since coming out of his mother's womb, he had never seen anywhere so lively. His large head swung left and right like a pellet drum, and everything he saw was a novelty.
As the morning wore on, Temple Street Junction began to fill with people.
Clang, clang, clang-a gong sounded from an open space at a street corner. Zhao Hao said, "It might be street performers beating a gong. Shall we take a look?"
Zheng Peng blurted out, "Let's go!" and ran over with long strides.
Cheng Zizhong said, "It doesn't sound like street performers. Let's see." The others followed slowly behind.
When they drew closer, they saw that it was indeed not a street performance. Someone was being sold.
He was a middle-aged man with a thin frame and a weary face, a straw marker tucked into his hair. Two burly men stood behind him. One was beating a small gong vigorously, while the other gripped the middle-aged man's collar and shouted, "One man, willingly selling himself to pay his gambling debts! Going cheap, just ten taels of silver! Speak up if you want to buy!"
Someone nearby said, "Isn't that the second son of the Qi family? What a sin. Gambled away his entire fortune, sold his wife and children, and now he's selling himself too."
Someone else said, "Serves him right! Who told him to gamble?"
The crowd grew larger, but everyone merely watched the spectacle, and no one offered to buy. Seeing no bids, the two burly men shouted a while longer, growing increasingly angry. They began beating the middle-aged man with a flurry of blows. He merely covered his head, whimpering something unintelligible. Mei Jingjing could not bear to watch. The girl had been a bandit and had something of a domineering streak. She drew a whip from her storage belt and flicked it through the air. Crack! The whip rang out sharply.
Both burly men started at the sound. Looking up, they saw a pretty young girl holding a coiled white, supple whip, glaring angrily at them.
One of the men laughed and cursed, "Damn it, you gave me a fright! What, want to buy a man to take home and play with? Ten taels of silver and he's yours! Hahaha!"
The other man groaned inwardly, silently cursing his companion over and over. You've been getting by in the capital for so long, and you still can't read the situation. If this little girl dares to step forward, either she's formidable herself or she has an expert backing her. He had guessed correctly. Unfortunately, the girl had both.
Crack! The whip lashed the man across the face. Mei Jingjing's Shadow Pattern Whip was a treasured whip; even Li Qiang had not figured out how it had been made.
She had not even used true essence power, yet that ordinary lash sent pain into the man's marrow. He howled, "You little bitch! You fucking slut, you dare hit me?! I'll fuck you to death! Third Brother, help me grab this whore!"
Hearing his vile curses, Li Qiang walked forward.