Lianshan Xin gave it some very serious thought before asking, "Then if I marry the princess first and kill her afterward, can I break through three major realms in succession and ascend to the heavens in a single bound?"
Qi Shiyun's brain overloaded.
When people were truly rendered speechless, they really would laugh. Qi Shiyun found that this was precisely what happened to her in the end.
She wasn't sure whether she was laughing out of exasperation or amusement. In short, her laugh was utterly helpless. "In the future, don't get clever like that in front of others. It's an easy way to get yourself killed."
"So you think my idea is possible, Tanhua Qi?"
Qi Shiyun rolled her eyes at him. "If you want to die, you're welcome to try. Slaying a princess in secret might still be covered up. Marrying her first and then killing her—does your clan of nine generations mean so little to you?"
"Fair point."
Lianshan Xin also felt that marrying a princess first only to kill her afterward was simply far too challenging.
For safety's sake, choosing one or the other—marrying the princess or slaying her—was better.
That depended on what Qi Wenbin dug up on his end.
And whether his own guess was correct.
"Tanhua Qi, is there any other intelligence regarding the princess? With only our current information, finding her will likely be difficult."
Qi Shiyun pondered for a moment before revealing a secret: "His Majesty has never spoken of it publicly, but my Master once told me privately that in his youth, His Majesty once seduced an enchantress from the Demon Cult."
"Wait, who seduced whom?"
Lianshan Xin thought his ears were playing tricks on him.
Qi Shiyun emphasized, "His Majesty seduced the Demon Cult enchantress."
Lianshan Xin: "...His Majesty was quite the wild one."
Qi Shiyun shrugged. "When His Majesty was young, he was a dissolute, unscholarly prince. Back then, no one thought highly of him, and he had no interest in the succession struggle at first. Instead, he yearned for the freedom of the jianghu, so he took an assumed name and wandered the jianghu for many years. Many of the great figures throughout the jianghu today had ties with His Majesty back then, including numerous holy maidens and heroic women."
Lianshan Xin was at a loss for words. "His Majesty really... played quite wild."
Qi Shiyun said, "Youthful wildness is a good thing. Master said that His Majesty took in all the sights and pleasures under heaven when he was young, so after ascending the throne, he could devote his whole heart to affairs of state. That is why Great Yu has flourished day by day. Experiencing it all in one's youth is far better than indulging in women in middle or old age. It is a blessing for both the realm and its people."
Lianshan Xin mulled it over and nodded slowly. "Though that sounds like whitewashing His Majesty, it actually makes a lot of sense."
"Of course it makes sense. Fame must come early, and youth should be brazen. Our age is meant for running wild, causing trouble, and throwing our weight around. If you're still acting like that twenty years from now, you'll be a laughingstock courting your own doom. Lianshan Xin, cherish the time we have now. When the young make mistakes, many great figures will simply laugh it off."
Rookie perks?
Lianshan Xin glanced at Qi Shiyun, realizing that this might be an unspoken consensus among the power players of this world: be lenient with the young, let them run wild first, while the old fossils watch from the sidelines.
Otherwise, no matter how gifted Qi Shiyun was, she shouldn't have dared to step on the Crown Prince's face to rise to prominence. That bordered on high treason.
From the look of it, even Shenjing—where social hierarchy should have been strictest—had an atmosphere far more open than he had imagined.
It had the spirit of the flourishing Tang Dynasty from his previous life.
Only profound confidence could foster such tolerance.
"Do you have any other questions?"
Lianshan Xin knew that by asking this, Qi Shiyun meant that she wanted to leave.
So Lianshan Xin shook his head. "None for now. I'll continue meditating to stabilize my realm. Go ahead with whatever you need to attend to, Tanhua Qi."
Qi Shiyun explained, "Your successive breakthroughs across two realms just now benefited me as well. I need to enter closed-door cultivation for half a shichen to stabilize my realm as well."
"The effect is that noticeable?" Lianshan Xin was somewhat surprised.
Qi Shiyun painted a tempting picture for Lianshan Xin. "That is why our lineage produces prodigies so easily, with cultivation speeds that look down on all our peers. Once you enter the Grandmaster realm, you too will enjoy such cultivation benefits."
"I will work hard."
Lianshan Xin was genuinely envious.
Though he knew Qi Shiyun was dangling a carrot, even if only a tenth of it was real, it would be enough to make his mouth water.
...
Half a shichen later.
Lianshan Xin left the cultivation chamber.
The official start of classes at Bailudong Academy was tomorrow.
He intended to head home to see Qi Wenbin, and most importantly, meet with Dai Yueying once more.
Once he secured everything on the home front, he could focus on his studies at Bailudong Academy.
Qi Wenbin gave him a surprise.
"That woman is truly extraordinary. She gave me the slip."
"She shook off your tail? As far as I know, Dai Yueying is only a Meridian Connectivity realm martial artist, while you, Brother Qi, are a peak Qi Condensation, half-step True Intent martial artist skilled in shadowing and surveillance. You couldn't keep eyes on her?"
Qi Wenbin blushed. "That's why I'm saying Dai Yueying is extraordinary. She is very likely a Demon Cult fiend."
If Dai Yueying wasn't a Demon Cult fiend, then something was wrong with his competence.
Qi Wenbin could not accept that.
More importantly, he truly had discovered something suspicious.
"My lord, although I lost Dai Yueying, I came away with an unexpected harvest. You gave me her home address, so I checked her residence out, and sure enough, I uncovered some clues."
Qi Wenbin pulled a laughing Maitreya Buddha statue from his robes.
Beside them, Du Jiu's face shifted abruptly upon seeing it. "A Maitreya Buddha statue? Recovered from the Dai household?"
"Yes."
"A Demon Cult fiend indeed," Du Jiu said grimly.
"A single Maitreya Buddha statue is enough to confirm she's a Demon Cult fiend?" Lianshan Xin questioned.
Du Jiu explained, "My lord has only recently joined the Nine Heavens, so there are matters you do not yet fully understand. The slogan championed by the Demon Cult today is 'Maitreya descends, the Bright King appears.' The Demon Cult proclaims that the Maitreya Buddha will descend to the mortal world, and the 'Bright King' will lead the common people to overthrow our dynasty's rule. As for the current Demon Cult Leader, upon reaching the Dharma Idol realm, he condensed the Great Peacock Bright King dharma idol, and across the jianghu he is known as the 'Bright King.'"
The Dharma Idol realm was the seventh realm of martial arts, and the threshold for Heavenly Rankings grandmasters.
Above the seventh realm, there were further distinctions, but ordinary people collectively referred to it as the Immortal realm, where cultivators rarely set foot in the mortal world.
The Dharma Idol realm was essentially the pinnacle for martial artists in the mortal realm.
Barring any surprises, "Heavenly Sword" was also in this realm.
Hearing Du Jiu's explanation, Lianshan Xin understood the symbolic meaning of the Maitreya Buddha statue, but still felt it was somewhat circumstantial. "As far as I know, the imperial court hasn't publicly banned the veneration of Maitreya Buddha. Wouldn't it be considered normal for some Buddhists to venerate Maitreya in private?"
Qi Wenbin shook his head. "The imperial court hasn't publicly banned Maitreya Buddha because the Buddhist sect would not agree to it. The court even considered eradicating Buddhism over this at one point. However, back during the succession struggle, the Daoist sect bet on the wrong horse, while the Buddhist sect had forged good ties with His Majesty before he ascended the throne. Thus, a new balance was reached. But covertly, the court has continuously cracked down on the worship of Maitreya. In all the major temples, statues of Maitreya and incense offered to him are kept to a bare minimum. Anyone who venerates Maitreya becomes a prime target of investigation."
Du Jiu added, "Within the Demon Cult itself, statues of the Great Peacock Bright King are far more prevalent. However, cultists dispatched outside to blend in dare not carry statues of the Great Peacock Bright King, which would easily expose them. Instead, they prefer to venerate Maitreya Buddha, whose worship has not been banned out in the open by the imperial court."
Lianshan Xin grew thoughtful.
Master Dai, a cultist as well?
Were there really so many Demon Cult fiends around him?
Chapter 27