The palace doors slowly opened.
Seated on the dragon throne, wearing a yellow robe, a middle-aged man just over fifty slowly raised his eyes and looked toward the entrance.
The Son of Great Yu, Qi Ruiheng.
At the doorway, the first thing to enter the emperor’s view was a long shadow.
Then a white-haired old man in armor, a sword at his waist, stepped slowly into the hall.
With each step he took, the armor plates scraped and clinked.
Behind Li Chengyuan, eight armored guards carrying crossbows followed into the palace.
Li Chengyuan approached the dragon throne, then stopped several feet from Qi Ruiheng.
The warlord who had fought his whole life first fixed his gaze on the emperor seated before him.
Finally, Li Chengyuan sat down on the steps beside the dragon throne.
“Do you remember? Thirty years ago, I was here too, the first time I saw you.”
Li Chengyuan said slowly.
“How could I forget?”
Qi Ruiheng replied.
There was a trace of disdain in the tone of the Son of Great Yu.
Even now, in a situation completely controlled by Li Chengyuan and his subordinates, where he could only be at their mercy, that disdain remained.
Li Chengyuan showed no annoyance at the emperor’s attitude. He simply continued to watch Qi Ruiheng on the dragon throne with those calm, sharp eyes.
“Thirty years ago, I put you on the throne... If I had wanted you not to be emperor, I wouldn’t have needed to act now. I could have done it thirty years ago.”
Li Chengyuan’s voice was flat, devoid of emotion, merely recounting the past.
What he stated was the truth.
“Then why must you keep targeting me, the loyal minister who put you on the throne back then?”
Li Chengyuan continued.
“Loyal minister?”
Seated on the dragon throne, showing no trace of fear, Qi Ruiheng sneered twice, his gaze filled with viciousness and rage:
“Blacksmith Li, are you saying that through all these years you have never once had divided loyalties?”
Qi Ruiheng called Li Chengyuan “Blacksmith Li” because Li Chengyuan’s father had been a smith in Dongzhou Prefecture, and before Li Chengyuan enlisted he had apprenticed under his father. Officials who disliked Li Chengyuan often referred to him behind his back as “Blacksmith Li.”
It was a derogatory name.
“Of course not.”
Li Chengyuan answered calmly. He raised both hands to his sides and clasped his fists toward the sky:
“Li Chengyuan has given Great Yu countless merits in battle, dutifully training troops and commanding the army. Why would Your Majesty stain my name so?”
“Heh...”
Qi Ruiheng, who wore a stern expression, suddenly laughed:
“Heh, hahahahaha, hahahahahahaha!”
As if he had just heard the most absurd joke.
“Li Chengyuan, Li Chengyuan, do you really think I’m a fool? If you truly had no second thoughts at all, then why are you still holding tens of thousands of the Southern Court Army’s troops, all these thirty years without letting go?”
The three southern prefectures under the Southern Court totaled seven hundred thousand troops, all controlled by Li Chengyuan.
This had been the case since the day Qi Ruiheng ascended the throne thirty years ago.
“There are treacherous ministers corrupting the court. How could I relinquish military power and allow scoundrels to act?”
Li Chengyuan fired back loudly.
“What a corrupting of the court!”
Qi Ruiheng’s voice rose. He slammed his hand heavily on the dragon throne, glaring at Li Chengyuan.
“...”
Li Chengyuan fell silent, then averted his gaze.
He then turned and began to walk slowly toward the outside of the palace.
The eight armored guards who had been behind him did not retreat with him.
Instead, they surged forward, encircled the dragon throne where Qi Ruiheng sat, and removed the crossbows from their backs.
The sound of bowstrings being drawn taut rang out.
Hearing the noise from behind, Li Chengyuan looked up at the palace ceiling.
Why exactly could he not let go?
In his heart, he already had the answer.
The Great Yu dynasty, Year Thirty of Yuanyang; Emperor Qi Ruiheng fell dead under a storm of arrows.
In the same year, the Li Wei dynasty was established.
...
“Senior, these are three bottles of Marrow Cleansing Pills, thirty-six pills in all. They were refined by Qingjin Ravine’s Alchemy Hall of Wind Ravine Valley, and all are high-grade.”
In Yunxi Country, Jiangdu Prefecture, in the courtyard of the Listening to the Waves Pavilion south of the city.
Zhou Jinyun stood by a stone table and took three small celadon porcelain bottles from her Storage Treasure, placing them in front of Chen Yan.
The round trip had taken her almost a month.
That was even with her carrying an airborne spiritual instrument that allowed travel three thousand li a day.
The banks along the Mei River were simply too desolate.
So desolate that there were hardly any rogue cultivators.
“Marrow Cleansing Pills from Wind Ravine Valley?”
Chen Yan reached out and picked up one of the celadon bottles, examining it.
The bottle was indeed the kind Wind Ravine Valley used.
“Yes.”
Zhou Jinyun replied.
Obtaining pills from Wind Ravine Valley was not particularly shocking.
Since the days when Realman Bai Shang waged war and led Wind Ravine Valley to rapid expansion—and then fell like a shooting star, plunging the valley into decline—Wind Ravine Valley had shifted its approach and focused on building the sect’s foundation.
Among the Five Great Sects, whether in alchemy or artifact refinement, Wind Ravine Valley was indisputably first.
Their pills and lower-tier spiritual artifacts frequently appeared on the market, by design.
But Wind Ravine Valley’s pills were much more expensive than ordinary pills of the same type.
In Chen Yan’s era, eight thousand years later, a common bottle of Marrow Cleansing Pills from Wind Ravine Valley could sell for more than five high-grade spirit stones.
Their Qi Regulation Pills could easily fetch over twenty high-grade spirit stones.
As for these three bottles of high-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills Zhou Jinyun had brought, their price could only be higher.
“Little Su.”
Chen Yan called to Su Hongzhen at his side, then casually tossed the celadon bottle in his hand to Hongzhen.
Su Hongzhen caught it.
“After your next training session, take one of these Marrow Cleansing Pills. It will help your cultivation advance.”
Chen Yan said slowly.
“Well...”
Hongzhen turned his gaze to the other two celadon bottles on the stone table in front of Chen Yan.
He felt Chen Yan didn’t need them at all.
Besides, Hongzhen suspected his own talent wasn’t that great, so the pills should go to him.
“I’ll hold onto them for now.”
Chen Yan said lightly.
“Oh.”
Hearing that, Su Hongzhen nodded and obediently turned to continue his training.
Over nearly a month, Su Hongzhen had already successfully broken through to mid-stage Body Forging Realm, and his foundation was quite stable.