Chapter 1 Under the Old Tree

Yan Xiake stood beneath an old tree, his slightly tattered grey robe fluttering in the wind.

He watched quietly. Outside the City God Temple, messengers in dark green robes, carrying imperial decrees, constantly hurried to and fro.

There were countless City Gods in the world, but only one Capital City God.

While Yuanshen (Primordial Spirit) cultivators were powerful, it was not easy to suppress them, because the City God possessed a deep-rooted authority, and the people held him in awe.

However, time could change everything.

A hundred years was five generations in the Da Qing Dynasty. The batch of people who had once received the City God's favor, felt his kindness, and deeply revered him, their grandchildren were almost all dead.

After a century of isolation, the City God Temple had truly declined.

If not, how could the Tianyi (Heaven's Will) Zhenren (True Man) suppress the Capital City God in Kyoto?

"It's a pity that the old emperor doesn't know that the Tianyi Zhenren, a Yuanshen cultivator, has been refining pills for him for a hundred years, all for the sake of suppressing the Capital City God..."

Yan Xiake sighed deeply, lamenting human folly.

Along the way, through covert investigations, what he had seen was so shocking that he felt an intense killing intent toward the old emperor who had personally appointed him as Number One Scholar.

He knew clearly that he had no chance of contending against the Tianyi Sect on his own.

In recent months, he had come up with two methods. The first was to compete with the Tianyi Sect in the Rulai (Tathagata) Monastery, revealing the Tianyi Sect's evil deeds when all the sects in the world were present to witness.

But he was not a member of the Tianyi Sect, and the evidence he had was not enough to completely condemn them.

And the second was to kill the old emperor!

If the old emperor died, there would at least be a brief period of chaos, and the Capital City God would be free from restrictions. Even after a century of weakening, with his thousand-year prestige, he might be able to drive the Tianyi Zhenren out of Qingdu City.

At least, it wouldn't be worse than it was now.

He found it hard to imagine how terrifying a Yuanshen cultivator, like the City God requiring incense and faith, but without the City God's restrictions and possessing boundless supernatural powers, would be once he had no inhibitions.

But this was just his conjecture, and the difficulty lay in how he could assassinate the emperor!

Huff!

Yan Xiake exhaled a long breath, took out three incense sticks from his bosom, and with a slight flick, the tips were already lit.

"Yan Xiake from Qingyan Prefecture, having lived for several decades, as a son, I have not shamed my parents; as an official, I have not failed the people; traveling the world, I have not let down the common folk... Today, Yan is about to do something major!"

Yan Xiake faced the City God Temple and bowed slightly:

"Old City God, if you have a spirit, please lend me a hand!"

The surroundings were silent, without any reaction.

Yan Xiake stepped forward, knelt down on both knees, and bowed again: "Please, Old City God, lend me a hand!"

"Please, Old City God, lend me a hand!"

After three kowtows.

Yan Xiake felt the three incense sticks in his hand tremble slightly, and wisps of green smoke rose up, entering his mouth and nose.

He sensed it slightly, and saw three incense sticks flash before his eyes.

"Thank you, Old City God!"

Yan Xiake took a deep breath and stood up.

In the distance, the messengers came running, drawing their sabers and shouting, "His Majesty strictly forbids attacking licentious shrines! Disobeyers will be executed without mercy!"

These messengers stepped several zhang (a Chinese unit of length) in one stride, their steps steady, showing they were skilled fighters.

But how could they catch up with Yan Xiake?

He turned his body and disappeared into the crowd.

Qingdu City was still prosperous and lively, and people had long grown accustomed to the lightning and thunder that had flashed in the sky for months.

Yan Xiake walked through the crowd, and with his eyes slightly closed, he could see the three burning incense sticks, the three incense sticks of faith that the Qingdu City God, Qin Wuyi, had lent him.

'Using these three incense sticks, I can enter the palace and confront the old emperor...'

Looking at the three incense sticks, enlightenment arose in Yan Xiake's heart.

But he did not directly light the incense, but walked slowly along Qingdu's exceptionally wide avenue.

On the long street, hawkers were selling their wares, shouts came from the restaurants, and the crowd was noisy. On the avenue, there were those carrying sabers and swords, those in tattered clothes, those with sallow complexions, and those dressed in brocade.

Bang!

A child ran by, laughing, and accidentally bumped into Yan Xiake.

"Sir, I didn't do it on purpose."

The child saw Yan Xiake's burly figure and ugly, dark skin, and was immediately startled.

"Trying to steal from me?"

Yan Xiake glared, grabbed the child's arm, and snatched his purse from his hand.

"Ouch, he's hitting someone, bullying a child!"

The child cried out in pain.

The surrounding pedestrians were not stupid. Seeing Yan Xiake's tall stature and the purse in his hand, they knew what had happened.

Even if it wasn't, seeing how burly he was and the long sword on his back, he was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Although many people were watching, no one spoke up.

The child saw that this trick didn't work, and immediately pleaded softly, "Sir, please forgive me this time, I won't dare to do it again next time."

"Forgive you? You'll dare to do it again next time?!"

Yan Xiake laughed, and the surrounding onlookers also burst into laughter.

The child's face turned red: "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare next time."

Yan Xiake was too lazy to make things difficult for him. He had seen too many tragic things along the way, and these petty thefts no longer stirred any emotions in his heart.

He let go of the child, allowing him to slip away. With a flip of his hand, he held several colorful purses in his hand.

"There's at least one tael of silver in each!"

Yan Xiake weighed them and smiled: "Just enough for me to have a meal with wine!"

He took out some silver, discarded the purses, and walked straight into the nearest restaurant, saying loudly:

"Waiter, get me one tael of silver's worth of wine, and two jin (a Chinese unit of weight) of snacks!"

The restaurant was crowded, but the efficiency was quite high.

Soon, a large table of food and wine was placed in front of Yan Xiake.

"The food is barely passable, and the wine is acceptable! It's not a complete disgrace!"

Yan Xiake patted his stomach. The first incense stick had already turned into green smoke and disappeared.

He was curious as to how the Capital City God would help him, but he calmed down, ate and drank non-stop.

By the time Yan Xiake had eaten and drunk his fill, there was not a single grain of rice left on the table.

At this time, an unremarkable, expressionless middle-aged man walked over and sat opposite Yan Xiake.

The man sized up Yan Xiake a few times, and said expressionlessly:

"Come with me, my master wants to see you!"

Yan Xiake was a little drunk, and slammed the table:

"Lead the way!"

The man's face darkened, but he did not lose his temper. He stood up silently and walked towards the door.

Yan Xiake staggered behind him, following the man through several streets to a plain little courtyard.

In the courtyard, several sturdy masked men stood with swords and sabers, and a mysterious man wrapped up so that only his eyes were visible stood with his hands down. Under an old tree in the courtyard, on a stone chair, sat a dignified old man.

The old man was about sixty years old. Although he was wearing ordinary clothes, he could not hide his noble aura.

The old man looked at Yan Xiake and nodded slightly:

"As expected of a Number One Scholar in both civil and military affairs, truly a heroic demeanor!"

He seemed to know something.

Yan Xiake's eyes narrowed slightly, and he recognized who the old man was.

It was none other than the current Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince who had outlived his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, was now over sixty years old, and was said to be nearing the end of his life.

This Crown Prince was said to have opened his eyes as the Crown Prince, and now, he had been the Crown Prince for more than sixty years.

"All of you, leave!"

The old man waved his hand.

The others hesitated, but did not dare to disobey, and bowed and retreated.

Only the mysterious man completely shrouded in black remained motionless.

Yan Xiake did not care, and sat directly opposite the Crown Prince, sitting with his legs spread wide, and said, "I want to enter the palace!"

He was too lazy to care whether the person in front of him was the Crown Prince, whether he had other purposes, or whether he was being used.

What he wanted to do was very simple.

To seek justice for the countless wronged souls who had died in its stomach!

"Straightforward."

The old man was slightly stunned, and said solemnly:

"Although the palace is heavily guarded, it is easy to enter, but there are still experts from the Tianyi Sect inside, so you must be careful."

The two did not exchange too much.

The old man took out a map and pointed out which direction to enter at what time at night.

Afterwards, Yan Xiake cupped his fist and left gracefully.

The old man returned the salute slightly, watched him leave, and could not help but sigh:

"Truly a hero!"

In more than a hundred years, many people had discovered the truth about the pill refining, but few had dared to take action, and now, there was not even one.

Seeing Yan Xiake, ripples arose in his heart.

"It's a pity, he will probably die and fail."

The mysterious man sighed softly, and the black clothes he was wearing slowly disappeared, revealing a tall, square-browed, wide-eyed monk.

"Trying might not succeed, but without trying, you will never succeed! The old thing has lived for too long, he eats the flesh and blood of a hundred people every day, and exchanges blood with the direct descendants of the imperial family every year. One hundred and twenty years, one hundred and twenty years!"

The Crown Prince's face was cold and hard, filled with intense hatred:

"Such a great evil demon is actually called a Saintly Emperor of the Ages, ridiculous, ridiculous!"

The monk stopped speaking, but a trace of pity arose in his heart.

This Crown Prince was simply a stud left behind by the old emperor, for the sake of prolonging his life. One direct descendant every year, for one hundred and twenty years. Even though it was six generations, each generation had to have twenty people become the old emperor's 'blood bags'!

How could he not hate?

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and the night was gradually falling.

Yan Xiake did not know where he had found a pot of wine, and leaned against the eaves of a tall building ten miles outside the palace, drinking and waiting.

The wine was strong, and the fire in his heart was high.

Thousands upon thousands of people.

Who were their parents, their children, their loved ones, their pillars of support?

They might die sooner or later, but they could not be used as pills, with their skin, bones, flesh and blood, and souls eaten!

Clang~

At some point, the wine pot fell to the ground.

Yan Xiake floated away, and as the night fell, mixed with the breeze, he was suddenly several li (a Chinese unit of distance) away. In less than a moment, he had sneaked into the palace.

He had already entered the Wen Yang (Nurturing) stage. Although he had not yet achieved his natal destiny, a wall could not stop him.

Especially since this was a blind spot in the patrol.

Under the cover of night, Yan Chixia moved through the palaces, and the green smoke from the second incense stick fluttered and enveloped him.

Several powerful divine senses that swept over him did not seem to notice him.

Soon, he gradually approached the harem behind the main hall in the center of the palace, which was brightly lit.

Dimly, through the dim light, he saw the old emperor in a palace.

"Who?!"