Chapter 30

Editor: Henyee Translations

Li Hong awakened from his cultivation, and upon opening his eyes, he saw his eldest brother staring intently at him.

“Fourth brother, how do you feel?”

Li Ye believed that a grandmaster would not stoop so low as to deceive him, yet the changes in Li Hong would determine the subsequent instructions.

“Very good!”

Since his youth, Li Hong had been practicing top-tier internal cultivation techniques, with martial arts experts refining his muscles and bones, and after consuming numerous elixirs, his physique and strength had greatly increased after a short period of spiritual energy nourishment and regulation.

“Once the senior saves you and takes you away, find a place to covertly cultivate and break through to the Innate level, then seek an opportunity to avenge our clansmen!”

Li Ye instructed, “If the Zhao family also has a grandmaster for protection, then you need not take the risk to seek revenge, change your name and identity instead, and carry on the Li family lineage.”

“Eldest brother!”

Although Li Hong was young, he understood the implication and couldn’t help but want to cry out loud.

“Men of the Li family can bleed, can die, but must never shed tears!”

Li Ye scolded Li Hong not to be cowardly and repeatedly instructed him to focus on his cultivation in the future, to be wary of the Jinyiwei, and to prioritize survival over revenge, among other things.

“Thank you, senior, for the grace of saving my life and passing on the cultivation technique. No matter whether the Li family prospers or declines, the descendants will respect you like parents and revere you like ancestors!” Li Ye, with his three younger brothers, kowtowed on the ground.

“There is no need for such a grand gesture.”

Zhou Yi asked, “When do you plan to rescue him from the prison?”

Li Ye replied, “Senior, please wait a few days. Once the Imperial Court issues the verdict, it is highly likely that it will involve stripping of rank and exile to the border. If bandits attack during the journey, you can take advantage of the chaos to rescue the fourth brother.”

Zhou Yi nodded slightly, agreeing that doing so would not attract attention and would thus make Li Hong’s covert cultivation much safer afterward.

“How can you be so sure the Imperial Court will decide on exile? To eradicate your family, the current ruler even sacrificed his own son!”

Li Ye said, “Emperor Hongchang is wholeheartedly striving to be a sage and illustrious monarch, to leave his name in history and will not want the infamy of mistreating a meritorious official. To spare the Li family’s lives will earn him the reputation of benevolence, and then he can quietly eradicate the family using bandits. It’s the best of both worlds!”

Zhou Yi said, “Putting aside the plight of the Li family, Emperor Hongchang is indeed a regent of revival!”

During Emperor Chongming’s reign, Fengyang Country nearly collapsed, with most of its territory falling into the hands of Great Yong and rebels.

In the eighteen years since Emperor Hongchang took the throne, he had managed to sweep away the decadence and restore the prosperity of the National Dynasty.

Li Wu contributed significantly to this, but warfare is not the only aspect of running a state. Emperor Hongchang’s effective handling of the mess left by Emperor Chongming proved him to be a truly capable and sovereign ruler.

“The Dog Emperor himself was nothing extraordinary, but his eye for people was incredibly accurate, with both Li Wu and Emperor Hongchang.”

Zhou Yi, remembering the arrangements Emperor Chongming had made on his deathbed, secretly developed Li Wu, schemed to death the Dragon Chancellor, and decreed that the third prince ascend the throne, calculating and orchestrating everything brilliantly.

“How has such a clever person become so engrossed in seeking the way of Immortal cultivation?”

“Senior…”

Seeing Zhou Yi’s change in expression, Li Ye thought there might have been an oversight and added, “If Emperor Hongchang sentences the Li family to beheading, then I must trouble the senior to rescue the fourth brother during the escort.”

“Why not in the prison?”

Currently, Zhou Yi was the most senior jailer in the prison, having outlasted three wardens, and it would be effortless to replace someone.

Li Ye said, “The four of us brothers are thorns in Emperor Hongchang’s side. Any mishap in the prison will surely implicate the officers and officials there, and so it would not be good if it affected the senior’s seclusion.”

Zhou Yi looked deeply at Li Ye for a moment and nodded his head, not saying much further.

Such a thoroughly perceptive person could thrive anywhere. It was a misfortune for him to have been born into the Li family.

…

What followed was indeed within Li Ye’s predictions.

The Imperial Court’s three judicial departments conducted a joint trial, and with the firm evidence of conspiracy, the verdict was quickly delivered.

The Crown Prince was stripped of his title and confined for life within the palace, never to leave, while the rest involved received punishments ranging from exile to beheading. Among these, the Li family, as major supporters of the conspiracy, were stripped of their dukedom, and the Nine Clans were sentenced to execution!

After hearing the verdict, Emperor Hongchang, lying on his sickbed, summoned the Grand Secretary, Zhang Zhengyang.

“The Li family has great merits for the National Dynasty. Even if Li Qing has betrayed me, I cannot betray him. Change the sentence from execution of the Nine Clans to exile, and ensure that there are no interruptions to the Li family’s lineage!”

This declaration spread throughout the Imperial Court, with the officials loudly praising the Emperor’s mercy!

When the common people in the marketplaces learned of this, they had to admit that the current Emperor was a benevolent sovereign who remembered old loyalties.

In the third month of the same year.

Under the escort of the Imperial Guard, 137 members of the Li family were transported in prison carts toward the Northern Border.

Zhou Yi had already asked for leave half a month in advance, with the reason being visiting friends in the martial world, and his return date was indefinite.

Warden Liu, being understanding and reasonable, approved the leave, earnestly telling him that his salary and share of the profits would be kept for him, and no matter how long he was away, to remember to come back.

“`

After all, it’s hard to find masters in this world who don’t vie for power and profit!

Mountain of Eternal Life.

The tomb of Emperor Chongming.

Zhou Yi’s mana penetrated the soil, gently tapping the tomb’s apex, but he heard no response after a long wait.

“Could something have happened to Huang Yuniang?”

“Emperor Chongming, that cur, held sway over a nation, collecting all sorts of treasures in the name of the birthday tribute. He might have possessed true Immortal Laws, with Blood Refinement of Spiritual Weapons being one of them!”

“Sending Huang Yuniang rashly into this tomb was somewhat imprudent!”

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment before leaving the Mountain of Eternal Life, with no intention of trying to enter the tomb.

Many methods related to cultivation were rumored among the common folk, and if there were formations and prohibitions inside the tomb, a moment of carelessness could lead to death and obliteration of the dao.

“I shall come back to investigate after furthering my cultivation!”

…

Zhou Yi bought a horse and headed north along the official road.

Leaving the bounds of the Divine Capital for the first time in more than twenty years, he widely opened his heart to the sights and fellow travelers along the way.

The sages once said, “Read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles!”

Sheltering in a desolate temple from rain, he shared a few ghost stories by the campfire with a merchant he happened upon, who, despite being scared sleepless, kept urging him to continue the tales.

He also encountered gallant heroes of the rivers and lakes, who would fight to the death at the slightest provocation.

Amidst flashes of blades and swords, Zhou Yi cheered loudly and even generously rewarded them with a piece of silver.

The result was that both heroes, failing to appreciate the gesture, banded together and came at him.

“Would Zhou stoop to valuing bravery over sense?”

Zhou Yi cried out and then fled in a desperate hurry.

He also met a dashing and unusual woman of the martial world, who fell for him at first sight, declaring that she would marry no other but him.

Zhou Yi always heard Old Bai boast about how carefree the men and women of the rivers and lakes were, and he wanted to experience it for himself. However, as he followed the woman to a certain residence, no sooner had they arrived and before anything could happen, seven or eight burly men with dark hair leaped out.

“Hands up… pah, this is a stick-up!”

“Old Bai has led me astray!”

Zhou Yi sighed deeply, with no choice but to kill all the robbers.

On his journey, Zhou Yi never neglected his goal, always keeping an eye on the Jinyiwei troops trailing one or two miles behind him.

“We’re nearing the Serpentine Mountain!”

Zhou Yi flicked his reins, and the horse’s hooves galloped, with the mountain range coming into view at the end of the plains.

He rode swiftly on, covering another twenty-odd miles.

The mountains ahead were clear to see, twisting and coiling like a giant green python, spanning the sky.

Serpentine Mountain!

This expansive mountain range had only one path slicing through it, leading to the borders of the Northern Border.

Fengyang Country regarded Serpentine Mountain as a natural barrier, so much so that even in the late period of Emperor Chongming’s reign, the Great Yong army failed to breach it.

“With many mountains and deep forests, it’s the perfect place to silence someone! If Emperor Hongchang doesn’t make a move soon, there are quite a few of Li Wu’s proteges among the army of the Northern Border…”

Zhou Yi tied his horse at the mountain’s foot, slapped a Featherweight Talisman on himself, and soared towards the Serpentine Mountain.

As light as goose down, he lightly touched the ground and sprang into the air, crossing over a dozen yards before gently descending.

“Qinggong, combined with talisman spells, already possesses a third of the magic of flying!”

About an hour later.

Zhou Yi ascended to Nameless Peak and looked out far and wide.

Mountains stretched like the sea, the setting sun like blood.

The mountain wind swept through the forest, with undulating verdant waves, the momentum grand and majestic.

An eagle soared above, while a tiger’s roar echoed through the mountains.

Zhou Yi looked down at the mountain road below, with the Jinyiwei and the prison cart stretching a mile or two, faintly hearing the sound of weeping.

“Such a scene, to kill and stain with blood would be far from beautiful!”