Under Ding Yun's hands-off approach, Emperor Xuande's various schemes proceeded smoothly.
For instance, the supposed Buddhist and Taoist experts successively arrived in the capital.
For instance, items were stolen from Changan Palace.
For instance, rumors that Ding Yun was a fox spirit spread like wildfire.
Half a month later.
Within the newly constructed prince's mansion outside the palace, numerous esteemed Buddhist and Taoist masters gathered, staring blankly at the items Emperor Xuande had specifically sent over, stolen from Changan Palace.
"What does His Majesty intend by this?"
Among the pile of items were vines, a few scraps of cloth, traces of blood, and even dirt. They looked as if they had been dug out of a garbage heap.
Those individuals felt a sense of confusion.
If the Emperor wished to humiliate them, there was no need to resort to such measures.
"Please do not be alarmed, esteemed masters. Allow me to explain. These items were all obtained from Changan Palace through His Majesty's painstaking efforts. For example, these vines were grown by Immortal Master Jingci. From seed to maturity, it took less than half a moment, which is truly formidable!"
"The bloodstains and dirt are remnants of the process of body purification and marrow cleansing."
"His Majesty wishes for all of you to verify whether Immortal Master Jingci has truly achieved cultivation or if she is possessed by some demon or parasitic fox spirit, which has granted her special abilities."
The eunuch in charge of this matter quickly explained the cause and effect, and the purpose of summoning them.
As for whether demon-exorcising would be necessary later, that would depend on their capabilities.
"This..."
After hearing the eunuch's explanation, the Buddhist and Taoist masters remained perplexed. They had initially believed His Majesty might have been deceived by some audacious Taoist priest.
They were invited to expose the deception.
However, it now seemed His Majesty firmly believed in the opponent's special abilities, merely uncertain if she was truly cultivated or a monster. Yet, they knew their own limits; they possessed no immortal techniques or secret arts!
Therefore, after exchanging bewildered glances once more,
They naturally concluded that the Emperor had been deceived.
Although they did not understand the underlying principles, they were certain that gods, immortals, demons, and monsters simply did not exist in this world. Thus, someone immediately decided to comply with Emperor Xuande's wishes and declared that these items emanated demonic energy, and that Immortal Master Jingci had undoubtedly been possessed by a demon.
They stated they could go and exorcise the demon immediately.
Emperor Xuande had consistently suspected her of being a fox spirit. Therefore, they logically assumed this was an excuse fabricated by Emperor Xuande to deal with Immortal Master Jingci. Since the Emperor spoke of it, they naturally had to concur. Thus, as one person voiced this, all the other Buddhist and Taoist masters agreed.
They further declared their ability to handle the situation.
Upon the eunuch returning to the palace and relaying this to Emperor Xuande, the Emperor excitedly summoned all the Buddhist and Taoist masters into the palace. He instructed them to feign a visit to Changan Palace for philosophical discussions, and to seize the opportunity to deal with Jingci.
Simultaneously, he cautioned them not to harm Jingci's life.
They were to extract the method for immortality.
Then, he happily awaited the outcome.
At this juncture, Emperor Xuande's understanding and the Buddhist and Taoist masters' understanding were vastly different. Their perceptions diverged significantly.
Therefore, even upon entering Changan Palace, those so-called Buddhist and Taoist masters were somewhat confused, unable to comprehend what "immortality method" Emperor Xuande sought, or how he was so certain that this Immortal Master Jingci possessed it.
What if the method they extracted was incorrect?
Consequently, they entered Changan Palace in a state of bewilderment and were subsequently bound by Ding Yun's vines, flung out one by one. She declared that a group of individuals without any cultivation lacked the qualifications to discuss Tao with her.
As for the group of Buddhist and Taoist masters who were flung out,
Upon regaining their senses, they clung to the gates of Changan Palace, refusing to leave, crying and begging to be taken as disciples. They believed they had encountered a true immortal, and to leave now would be the act of utter fools. They had to stay, even if it meant death. To receive even a word or two of true teaching could set them on the path of cultivation.
This was something countless ancestors had sought in vain!
Emperor Xuande, who had been anticipating obtaining the method for immortality, was utterly stunned when the chief eunuch described the situation. He had believed the Buddhist and Taoist masters he invited were all cultivated individuals. However, based on current events, they were anything but cultivated; they were akin to swindlers.
None of them possessed any cultivation.
They had even mistaken his disgraced empress for a true immortal.
But if even these nationally renowned figures were frauds, where else could he find genuine, cultivated individuals to assist him?
For a moment, Emperor Xuande fell into a state of confusion.
He was unsure of his next course of action.
Finally, the chief eunuch suggested that it seemed the Eldest Princess had also begun cultivating. His Majesty might consider showing more care towards the Eldest Princess, strengthening their father-daughter bond, and perhaps finding a way to elicit some information from her.
To uncover some secrets of the immortality method.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuande regained his confidence in obtaining the method for immortality. He immediately had those useless Buddhist and Taoist masters, who had only brought him shame, driven out. He then began to alter his strategy.
He endeavored to be as good as possible to his eldest daughter, Princess Shunde, to subtly inquire about cultivation methods.
He did not exert much effort in this regard.
He successfully elicited information from Shunde.
However, the information he obtained was useless. Shunde clearly told him that she was able to cultivate because her mother had given her a Myriad Wood Spirit Seed and implanted it within her body. Therefore, the key issue remained with Ding Yun. Clearly, without the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed, they would likely be unable to cultivate at all.
After all these endeavors, Emperor Xuande was finally forced to abandon his previous fantasies. After much deliberation and hesitation,
Rarely, after several years, he personally stepped into Changan Palace once more. He intended to confront Ding Yun, to see what price he would have to pay to obtain the method for immortality.
As the Emperor of a nation,
He believed he could afford certain costs.
As long as he succeeded, he would obtain the method for immortality that even Emperors Qin and Han had pursued their entire lives without success. Such a beneficial outcome was not to be abandoned.
As long as the price was within his means,
He was willing to accept it.
***
In the inner hall of Changan Palace.
Ding Yun, without even offering tea, looked up and said directly:
"You've caused such a commotion for so long, and now you're finally willing to visit. What, are you still not giving up? I recall telling your mother that only my direct bloodline has the qualification to cultivate. Is it possible that you stubbornly refuse to believe this?"
"Yes, I do not believe.
I do not believe that cultivation can have such peculiar rules. Whatever you want, as long as I can afford it, I will give it to you. For example, I can enfeoff your maternal brothers as Marquises.
Even Dukes are not out of the question.
As long as you desire it, and it is within my power to grant, it can serve as the basis for our transaction!"
For his own objective, Emperor Xuande was willing to pay a heavy price, even offering the highest noble titles that could not be obtained without merit, such as Marquises and Dukes.
Higher than Duke would be positions like Prince of the Commandery.
Of course, this was not his bottom line; his bottom line was to grant him land and establish him as a King. However, without leaving room for negotiation, how could it be considered a transaction?
"You do not understand.
Let alone enfeoffing you as Duke, even if you gave me the throne, I could not enable you to cultivate. You should have already learned from Shunde that the core of my cultivation success lies in the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed. This seed can be considered an immortal object, or it could be deemed a demonic seed.
Once I refined it, it could only be used by me.
Shunde is of my closest bloodline, so she can barely use it. But if the bloodline were more distant, for example, if Shunde had another daughter, her daughter would also be unable to use it. Forcibly using it would only result in a monster that is neither human nor demon, or even death.
To put it more bluntly,
Even if I had a son, my son would also be unable to use the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed, because his bloodline is not as close to mine as a daughter's. Therefore, do not get your hopes up; you will never be able to embark on the path of cultivation."
"If you are insistent on trying the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed, I suppose I could give you some, but you must bear all the consequences yourself. That is all!"
To be honest, Ding Yun herself was curious to see what would happen to someone not of her close bloodline if they used the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed. However, she was truly unwilling.
But if Emperor Xuande insisted,
Giving him a few would be acceptable.
She surmised that even if he were to conduct an experiment, he would likely choose prisoners from the dungeons, thus not harming the innocent.
After speaking, Ding Yun casually produced several Myriad Wood Spirit Seeds she had condensed out of boredom and placed them directly into Emperor Xuande's palm.
"The method of use is simple: just eat it. If it were my first-generation female relative, after enduring some pain, she would be able to cultivate directly.
Others who eat it will become monsters.
You may consider it carefully. You may leave!"
Having said that, Ding Yun unceremoniously gestured with her hand.
Emperor Xuande deliberated with a mixture of hesitation and entanglement for a while. Ultimately, he decided to trust her for the moment. Gripping the Myriad Wood Spirit Seeds Ding Yun had given him tightly, he rose and swept out.
Upon returning, he immediately began his experiment.
There were not a few death-row inmates in the dungeons.
The results proved Ding Yun's words to be true and accurate.
The prisoner who consumed the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed, after a period of painful struggle, ultimately had his body transform into a tree trunk, his hair into fine leaves, becoming a tree with a human face. When the branches of the tree were cut, it would bleed red and green fluids.
And it would emit painful screams.
This was because the transformation was not yet complete. If one were to cut it after some time, it would bleed green.
Furthermore, the treeman could speak.
However, it could not move.
Cultivation was entirely impossible.
But the effect of extending lifespan was present. As long as it was not cut down, it could theoretically live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Absolutely no problem.
After all, trees naturally have long lifespans.
Yet, even at this point, Emperor Xuande remained unwilling to give up. He still suspected that Ding Yun had deliberately done this to make him abandon the idea of cultivation.
Therefore, he soon did something else: he summoned Hu Shanwei and forced Hu Shanwei to swallow a Myriad Wood Spirit Seed. He wanted to know if the seeds Ding Yun gave him were inherently flawed, only turning people into monstrous treemen, or if Ding Yun's words were indeed true, that only women closely related to her bloodline could avoid becoming monsters after consuming the Myriad Wood Spirit Seed.
And embark on the path of cultivation.
The result was, as expected, beyond doubt. After enduring some pain, Hu Shanwei's hair began to resemble that of Princess Shunde, and she embarked on the path of cultivation.
Only then did Emperor Xuande finally give up completely.
He became utterly despondent, even feeling a sense of despair.
After several months of颓废, he reluctantly accepted the reality and resumed his good relationship with his daughter, Princess Shunde. Since he himself could not cultivate,
He would have to rely on others to help him extend his lifespan.
Ding Yun was clearly not a hopeful prospect.
Hu Shanwei's situation was also uncertain.
Only his daughter was truly his own, his biological daughter.
As long as their relationship was maintained, he believed his daughter would not bear to see him die prematurely. At that time, she would do her utmost to help him extend his lifespan.
From then on, Shunde instantly became the most favored princess in the court, surpassing even his two current princes. Emperor Xuande not only did not force her to find a consort but also added numerous honorary titles as prefixes and granted her substantial fiefs.
Princesses rarely had fiefs after the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, this could be considered a mark of favor.
Although it was not the establishment of a King, her treatment definitely surpassed that of many princes, earning the envy of countless people.
Ding Yun did not obstruct this either.
After all, it was not a bad thing.
Several years later, Ding Yun's younger daughter, Princess Yongqing, also embarked on the path of cultivation due to envy of her elder sister. Moreover, after they achieved cultivation, they were unwilling to remain in the palace or the princess's mansion. They directly refined a clone to remain behind.
Their main bodies, however, joined hands and roamed the world.
Seeing their carefree existence, Ding Yun soon chose to leave a clone residing in Changan Palace as well. Her main body departed the palace and roamed the world, traveling by Kun in the morning and chasing the sun at night, exploring the heavens at dawn and pursuing the rosy clouds at dusk.
She even developed many new abilities in her leisure time, such as weaving cloud robes from colorful clouds, refining golden needles with sunlight, and embroidering moonlight-colored brocade with lunar essence.
Occasionally, she would even directly enter space.
Absorbing infinite sunlight to enhance her cultivation.
And collecting space radiation to modify species.
In short, as Ding Yun's imagination continuously expanded and she diligently practiced, she increasingly felt the immense potential of her current cultivation path. Later, to further experiment with her fantastical ideas, and fearing that the special products of her peculiar notions might damage the planet's environment, even causing irreversible consequences.
She ultimately constructed a large base on the far side of the moon. All her research results were stored within this base. This way, even if something went wrong, it would only affect the moon, with minimal impact on the living planet.
Later, when her cultivation reached its peak and her body began to transform into the form of the Fusang Divine Tree, she could directly travel by light into the sun. Bathed in the true fire of the sun, she gathered various rare resources found only within the sun. She then directly refined a small sun and placed it in her lunar base, transforming the base into a life-sustaining base.
This endowed it with a complete ecological cycle.
Finally, she experienced the feeling of being a creator.
This sense of freedom, of casually creating beings and capturing stars and moons, was incredibly wonderful. So wonderful that Ding Yun directly copied all her memories and emotions.
And transmitted them to the clone in Changan Palace.
Her main body, however, never returned. She resided in space, sometimes dwelling on the moon as the moon goddess Chang'e, sometimes flying to the sun to enjoy the treatment of the sun god Xi He. Occasionally, she would visit other planets to collect special materials. While her living conditions were not luxurious, Ding Yun was undeniably happy.
If not for the fear of having too great an impact on the future,
She would have wanted to create intelligent races for amusement.