The Seven Absolutes Gu evolves

Before dawn, Emperor Yongxing got up and changed his clothes with the help of eunuchs. At this time, it was pitch black, but the palace was brightly lit with candles.

Zhao Xuanzhen, a eunuch who had served Emperor Yongxing since the time he was the Crown Prince, has now risen to the position of Grand Eunuch along with his master.

"Didn't Lin'an return to the palace last night?"

Emperor Yongxing spread his arms wide, turning himself into a clothes hanger so that the eunuchs could easily dress him in his imperial robes.

"This servant had someone keeping watch at the palace gates, and was to report immediately as soon as His Highness Lin'an returned to the palace. There's still no news; he must still be at the Bureau of Astronomy."

After Zhao Xuanzhen finished speaking, he noticed that Emperor Yongxing frowned slightly, and immediately added:

"His Highness Huaiqing hasn't returned either."

Emperor Yongxing's brows immediately relaxed, and he slowly nodded:

"It seems they're resting at the Bureau of Astronomy. Hmm, the wind was biting cold last night; the two princes are delicate and shouldn't travel back and forth, lest they catch a cold."

Having been together for over a decade, Zhao Xuanzhen had easily discerned His Majesty's concerns, which is why he added the line, "His Highness Huaiqing has not returned to the palace either," to reassure His Majesty.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Huaiqing hadn't returned to the palace, His Majesty was relieved and no longer worried that Prince Lin'an would be "bullied."

Zhao Xuanzhen, who was about the same age as Emperor Yongxing, hesitated for a moment and said:

"This servant knows that Your Majesty pities the people who have no charcoal in the dead of winter, but I would also like to ask Your Majesty not to forget to warm the hearts of the ladies as well."

Emperor Yongxing glanced at the eunuch in charge of the imperial seal and sneered:

"You scoundrel, how much silver did you take from the ladies?"

Zhao Xuanzhen answered truthfully:

"Five hundred taels have all been deposited into the imperial treasury."

In fact, Emperor Yongxing was not entirely inactive. Knowing that the national treasury was empty and lacked funds for disaster relief, he secretly devised many plans to amass wealth.

One of these methods involved using palace eunuchs to solicit bribes from ministers.

Unfortunately, he was just an emperor trainee with only a month of training. Compared to his predecessor who had been in the industry for forty years, his money-making methods were really immature.

Emperor Yongxing nodded in satisfaction before responding to Zhao Xuanzhen's words:

"Since my ascension to the throne, I have often been busy with official duties until late at night, and have even fallen asleep with my head on my desk. I am extremely overworked."

Zhao Xuanzhen then understood that His Majesty would not visit the concubines in the harem for some time, or even for a considerable period to come.

Emperor Yongxing suddenly sighed:

"If this matter fails, the Grand Secretary and his son-in-law will be implicated and bear the brunt of the criticism."

He planned to propose the donation at today's court assembly. Of course, this was not something the emperor would take the lead in, nor would it be done by the chief minister, but rather by Xu Xinnian, a junior compiler in the Hanlin Academy.

In return, he promised Chief Minister Wang that he would promote Xu Xinnian.

At the stroke of dawn, accompanied by the sound of drums, civil and military officials passed through the Meridian Gate and crossed the Golden Water Bridge in an orderly manner to attend the court assembly.

In the month since the new emperor ascended the throne, the most direct feeling among officials in the capital was:

When will the court assemblies end?

The court assembly was held at 5:00 AM. Officials residing in the imperial city only needed to leave their residences half an hour in advance.

However, some officials living in the inner city, far from the palace, had to get up at the beginning of the Yin hour (3 a. m.), which was a painful thing in the cold winter with the wind biting at their faces.

The frequency of court assemblies depended mainly on the emperor's attitude. For a Daoist master like Emperor Yuanjing, there might not be a court assembly even once every ten days or half a month.

At that time, the self-proclaimed national heroes among the officials in the capital privately cursed Emperor Yuanjing for neglecting his duties and clamored for "returning our court assemblies!"

Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he has held court every morning for a month straight.

Every time the officials in the capital painfully crawled out of bed and stepped out of their residences into the cold wind, they would think of the late emperor.

Xu Qi'an's biological clock also starts at 5 AM; the first thing he does upon waking is to close his eyes and sense the changes in the Qi within his Dantian.

"The increase in Qi brought about by dual cultivation has gradually weakened and tended to a relatively constant level."

"Hmm, that's understandable. The effects have always been so exaggerated. I cultivated with the Imperial Advisor for two years and ascended to immortality on the spot."

In just five days of dual cultivation with Luo Yuheng, he directly advanced from the Subordinate Third Rank to the middle stage of the third rank.

This is a path that an ordinary third-rank martial artist would take several years, or even more than a decade, to complete.

This shows how important the quality of a dao companion is. Luo Yuheng himself is a member of the Daoist School and is at the second-grade Tribulation Transcending stage.

Perhaps there is no other woman in the world who can make Xu Qi'an happy while his cultivation advances by leaps and bounds like she did.

Except for that overpowered flower goddess reincarnation.

Xu Qi'an yawned, sat up on the collapsed small couch, and looked around. The room was simply furnished. In Luo Yuheng's daily life, there was no concept of sleeping.

So the two of them slept on the couch she usually used for meditation.

It's dead now.

Luo Yuheng lay curled up asleep, covered by a wide robe, her jade-like body sprawled out.

After each dual cultivation session, she would use deep sleep to calm her karmic fire and transform her personality.

The robe belonged to Xu Qi'an. Last night, she didn't want to get her own robe dirty, so she used Xu Qi'an's robe as a blanket.

The robe wasn't very tight; the hem only covered her upper thighs, leaving her long, white legs exposed.

Luo Yuheng has a pair of long, irresistible legs. Xu Qi'an, as the beauty connoisseur of Great Feng, is most capable of appreciating the beauty of women.

The Imperial Advisor's legs were far superior to the stick-like legs of those young girls outside. They possessed the slenderness of a young girl, yet also the roundness of a mature woman, and a firm elasticity.

Ten years and I'll never get tired of it!

Xu Qi'an held Luo Yuheng in his arms, silently counting the time. At a certain moment, Luo Yuheng's thick eyelashes trembled, and then she opened her eyes.

Their eyes met, and she smiled sweetly.

Phew, it seems to be the "Joyful" personality. Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief.

If the evil personality were to wake up, Xu Qi'an would be prepared to keep her in bed for 24 hours straight.

Only in this way can we prevent the imperial advisor from doing heinous things, such as eating the lovely fish fry in his fishpond.

Luo Yuheng lay flat on his back, arms outstretched, stretching his waist.

Her fair body stretched out from under her robes, and when Xu Qi'an looked down, he saw half of her pert and round buttocks.

I haven't felt this relaxed in many years.

Luo Yuheng let out a satisfied sigh, her smile sweet, "Xu Lang, it's so good to have you."

"That's great, your society is even more entrenched now, that's great." Xu Qi'an remained expressionless on the surface, but inwardly he was crying and ranting like crazy.

The two quietly put on their clothes that had fallen to the ground, and leisurely ate breakfast. They didn't talk much during the meal, but the atmosphere was harmonious and their actions were in sync, like partners who had spent many years together.

After breakfast, Xu Qi'an felt somewhat relieved to see that Luo Yuheng didn't mention anything about what happened last night, as if he had forgotten about it.

I was just about to go home when I suddenly felt a pain and swelling in the back of my neck.

The Seven Deadly Gu is about to transform. He felt a surge of joy.

"Imperial Preceptor, I need a quiet room where I will not be disturbed."

Luo Yuheng nodded and smiled slightly, "Just go back to your room, no one will bother you."

The room she referred to was the quiet room where the two of them practiced their cultivation together.

This quiet courtyard rarely receives visitors; even the disciples of the temple won't come unless it's something important.

It was fine when Emperor Yuanjing was alive, but after his death, the place became increasingly quiet.

After Xu Qi'an entered the room, Luo Yuheng thoughtfully raised his palm and set up a protective barrier.

Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes, and adjusted his body to its best state to cope with the transformation of the Seven Deadly Gu.

Since its creation, the Seven Deadly Gu has been in a dormant state, remaining in the larval stage.

For more than a month, it has been residing in his body, becoming one with him, and nourished by his Qi and Blood. Finally, after making up for the shortcomings of lsp, it has grown.

"The next stage of the Seven Deadly Gu should grant me abilities no weaker than those of a fourth-rank Gu."

Xu Qi'an was somewhat expectant.

The Seven Deadly Gu in its larval stage made him invincible against fourth-rank Gu. Although he couldn't defeat them, he was more than capable of protecting himself.

Now that it has reached a preliminary stage of maturity, it should be able to raise its overall combat strength to the fourth rank.

In this way, it can complement his martial arts system.

"I wonder if the abilities of the seven great Gu worms will undergo any new changes."

He waited expectantly while feeling the changes in the back of his neck.

Time flew by, and a quarter of an hour later, he felt the flesh on the back of his neck being stretched out, forming a swollen lump.

Beneath the flesh and blood, unseen by the eye, the Seven Deadly Gu began to grow, its body becoming more slender and its limbs thicker, further burrowing into Xu Qi'an's flesh and spine.

This relationship, akin to that between a host and a parasite, creates a life community between humans and the Gu (a type of poisonous insect).

Xu Qi'an's powerful Primordial Spirit "witnessed" this scene.

"It's alright, not too painful, nowhere near as painful as when I first started parasitizing. I haven't received any feedback from evolution yet."

The moment this thought crossed Xu Qi'an's mind, his Primordial Spirit was pierced by a sudden force.

This power comes from the Seven Deadly Gu.

Suddenly, he had the illusion that his Primordial Spirit had been torn into countless fragments.

Consciousness floats in the boundless void, unable to find a place to land, unable to return to reality, and unable to sense the existence of the physical body.

This process lasted for an unknown period of time until he came into contact with some fragmented memories.

Memories that don't belong to him.

P. S.: Two things to note: First, this chapter is a bit short. I'll continue writing the next chapter, so I suggest reading it tomorrow, as I might not update until tomorrow morning.

Second, I just heard that someone is selling "Sister's" side stories, and that I can get a share of the money. Someone actually paid for them.

I've said before that the side stories are free, no charge whatsoever. Don't be fooled.

I also urge those who are selling side stories privately to stop this behavior; it's just bringing trouble to me.