Corruption was mostly a matter of conspiracies and syndicates; digging deep and investigating strictly would inevitably implicate countless people. But He Lingchuan felt that National Preceptor Shuangye would not be toppled so easily.
"Furthermore, the Azure Palace has been closely watched by Zhaixing Tower lately," Fang Canran said with a smile. "Bai Ziqi is pursuing the case of the elixir of immortality, but so far with no progress, and the Heavenly Palace is deeply reluctant to let it go. At a time like this, the Azure Palace will surely rein in its actions."
He Lingchuan spoke from the heart. "Their adversary is too formidable."
They said the heavenly majesty was inscrutable; the Heavenly Palace represented the supreme will of this country. Whomever it watched, whomever it struck, that person had to prostrate themselves on the ground, utterly motionless.
Even someone as noble and exalted as a National Preceptor dared not cross it.
Against any other opponent, National Preceptor Qingyang would never have been suppressed so severely.
He raised his cup. "Come, let us drink."
Just as the last drop of mead in the urn was finished, Fang Canran took his leave. "I have been out for quite a while; it is time I returned."
He Lingchuan stood up as well. "You won't stay for dinner?"
"No, I just remembered there is urgent business at Dun Garden."
"Very well, I'll see you out, Mr. Fang."
Walking from the dock to the front gates, both men remained unusually silent.
Just then, Fu Shan returned to Pianxiang Villa. Seeing Fang Canran, he was taken aback. "Chief Manager Fang? What wind blows you to my doorstep?"
Fang Canran bowed to him. "Your Royal Highness. Young Master He reserved a rare treasure at Dun Garden, so I delivered it to him personally. It grows late, so I shall take my leave."
"Right, right, I won't see you off, then."
Fang Canran turned back to He Lingchuan with a smile. "Young Master He, until we meet again."
He Lingchuan raised a hand in farewell.
Until they met again? Naturally.
Fu Shan watched Fang Canran's carriage depart and asked He Lingchuan, "What did he give you?"
"Give?" He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. "He sold me a toy. Ridiculously expensive—nine thousand six hundred taels of silver!"
"What kind of thing?"
"A sealed dreamscape."
Fu Shan marveled, "A stingy miser like you would spend ten thousand taels on a toy?"
"I only asked about it. Who knew he actually had one, and even delivered it to my door in person? Could I say no?" He Lingchuan suddenly beamed with smiles and said to Fu Shan, "How about I resell it to you?"
"Do I look crazy? Why would I want that?" There had to be something fishy going on, but Fu Shan couldn't be bothered to pry. "Keep it for yourself. By the way, the Grass Sea event hosted by the Zhongsun family is taking place soon. The invitation was delivered to me, so I accepted on your behalf."
He Lingchuan clicked his tongue twice. "The Zhongsun clan is truly something. Zhongsun Mou's life and death are still unknown, yet they're in the mood to host events?"
"It's a Lingxu City tradition, held every two years, running for hundreds of years. Would they dare let the tradition end on their watch?" Fu Shan said darkly. "Compared to that, what kind of fart in the wind is Zhongsun Mou's life or death?"
He Lingchuan shrugged. "By the way, any progress on the case of inciting the prince?"
Fu Shan chuckled. "None, but I went to the Minister of Agriculture's residence again this afternoon and stayed there for four whole hours. Old Man Yao tried to slip away under the pretext of official business, but I grabbed him and held him right there."
"You took everyone with you?" There were hardly any Chiyan guards in the villa today; He Lingchuan could tell at a glance that Fu Shan had called out everyone.
This was Fu Shan's third visit to the Yao residence, wasn't it?
"Mm-hmm. Took them all to the Minister of Agriculture's estate. I sat inside sipping tea while they waited outside." The Chiyan guards all wore bright, polished armor, lacking only banners, pennants, gongs, and drums announcing that they had arrived at the Minister of Agriculture's gates.
The Yao residence was already one of Lingxu City's foremost aristocratic households, its gates normally bustling with visitors and carriages. Now, several dozen Chiyan guards blocked half the main entrance. Everyone saw it and understood what was happening.
The Chiyan Crown Prince had come to the Yao residence specifically to stir up trouble, creating buzz and hyping up his own notoriety.
Yet with the Demon Emperor tacitly permitting it, who else could utter a word of protest?
What was more, the people of Lingxu City thoroughly relished the spectacle. Many nobles and dignitaries even dispatched retainers to stake out Pianxiang Villa, waiting eagerly to see what outrageous antics the Chiyan Crown Prince would pull at the Yao residence next.
Word had it that Yao Xingning had already flown into a rage once, wanting to confront Fu Shan herself, only to be strictly contained and guarded by her father.
Her husband, Cen Boqing, had slaughtered demons to harvest their pearls in Chiyan and plotted against the Chiyan envoy; the Yao residence was already in a precarious position over the matter, and saddled with the suspicion of inciting a prince to arson and murder, the Minister of Agriculture was already stretched to his breaking point.
At a time like this, he had to keep a low profile and swallow whatever insults, taunts, or mockery the Chiyan Crown Prince threw at him, never letting his daughter provoke further trouble.
Fu Shan stretched languidly. "In seven or eight days, I'll go back to demand results from him again."
Rarely one to fuss, He Lingchuan offered a word of caution: "Be careful."
"Understood. I know what I'm doing."
After finishing dinner, He Lingchuan returned to his courtyard to practice martial arts.
Two consecutive eruptions of the Emperor's Flowing Dew had gradually revived the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, making his cultivation smoother. By now, his first dantian was essentially filled with liquefied true power, and he had begun to channel and fill his second dantian.
Even his Avatar Shadow Art had progressed: its duration had increased from twelve breaths to twenty breaths, and the avatar could now move up to twenty zhang away from his true body. Naturally, it consumed more true power, but for him now, the cost was easily manageable.
He practiced his spear for nearly an hour, heat radiating from his whole body, yet he felt no fatigue. Lounging in the tree, the great tiger watched until its paws itched; leaping down in two bounds with a long roar, it pounced forward.
At once, tiger claws clashed against spear shadows, making quite a lively scene in his courtyard.
Jiao Yu usually seemed so lazy as to be boneless, never standing when he could lie down, but a single swipe from his paw easily unleashed three thousand jin of force, doubling when he was at full strength. What was more, he could strike with both paws, throwing eight claw strikes in a single second—to an outsider, it was nothing but a flurry of afterimages.
And after that, a person would probably be wiped out.
His physical strength was even greater than Uncle Da's, and both possessed the signature skill Tiger's Dread, an innate kingly aura that terrified other living creatures to the core.
A gardener who happened to walk past outside nearly had his heart leap out of his chest at the sudden roar, dropping the tools in his hands onto the ground.
Having spent so much time with the tiger, He Lingchuan was naturally unaffected by this aura, but Jiao Yu's strength and agility both surpassed Meng Shan's. He merely had fewer techniques—yet demons had always prioritized mastery over variety, and pushed to the peak, techniques would always return to raw simplicity.
The Tongxin Guards nearby were drawn over by the commotion. Watching for a while, their vision blurred with astonishment and they exchanged shaken glances.
Although it was merely sparring between man and tiger, this bout was already fiercer than He Lingchuan's courageous clash against Uncle Da at the ruins of Thousand Stars City. Uncle Da had cultivated a frost divine ability, but Jiao Yu was born with the natural ability to command wind. Consequently, though his build was larger than his father's, he was even lighter on his feet and more agile.
In the end, the tiger lunged at He Lingchuan with its maw wide open, and the latter raised his spear horizontally to block his front.
Jiao Yu clamped his fangs around the wooden spear shaft, and with a shake of his head, the wood snapped with a sharp crack.
He Lingchuan grabbed the tiger's head in a headlock and shouted, "Foul! That's a foul! I didn't even use Soaring Dragon!"
Jiao Yu sheathed his claws, and He Lingchuan switched to clamping down on the beast's shoulders.
Man and tiger wrestled for a long while until He Lingchuan was pushed back several steps, losing the contest.
Both collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted.
Jiao Yu lolled his tongue, panting harder than a hound.
Setting aside that final wrestling match, the tiger knew very well in his heart that he was no longer a match for He Lingchuan.
Alas.
Ever since the battle against Fan Sheng at the Lotus Palace, this envoy's cultivation seemed to have leaped forward once again.
He Lingchuan let his sweat cool for a bit before patting Jiao Yu on the forehead. "Come on, let's take a dip in the lake."
Once in the water, he lazily sprawled across the tiger's back.
When he finally climbed out of the lake, the tiger emerged and shook out its fur, cheerfully spraying water all over He Lingchuan's head and face.
"Damn it all!"
He Lingchuan returned to his room and changed into clean clothes. Seizing the moment, the mirror asked:
"Were you speaking in riddles with that man surnamed Fang earlier?"
"Yeah." He Lingchuan rubbed his hair with a towel. "He might have some connection to an old acquaintance I knew in the City of the Dead."
"An acquaintance of yours in the City of the Dead?" The mirror pondered for a moment. "Wait, wouldn't that have been more than a hundred years ago?"
He Lingchuan nodded.
The mirror understood. No wonder its master had probed so cautiously; human hearts were difficult enough to read across flesh and bone, let alone across more than a century of time.
He Lingchuan gulped down some hot water, reflecting on his afternoon conversation with Fang Canran.
Generally speaking, if a descendant did not align with their ancestor's ideals, they would not keep wearing an ancestral signet ring, nor would they remember the exact era it was forged so clearly—that was most likely the result of constant admonition from their elders.
Yet He Lingchuan still had no idea what Fang Canran himself thought.
The mirror asked, "If you aren't sure, why probe him?"
"Because I have to find a way to secure some help." He Lingchuan let out a long sigh. "My current situation is just too difficult."
As a complete outsider, his goal was too arduous, and his plan was too fraught. He desperately needed a capable helper who knew Lingxu City inside and out.
Yet whether Fang Canran was such a person, he had no confidence at all.
Ancestors were ancestors, and Fang Canran was Fang Canran. A person who inherited an ancestor's heirloom would not necessarily inherit that ancestor's dying wishes.
Time was the terminator of all convictions, after all.
If He Lingchuan made a misjudgment, what awaited him could be utter catastrophe.
"Let's observe a while longer. Today's contact was at least a good start."
He sat down to meditate and regulate his breath, concluding only four hours later.
He Lingchuan played his flute for a while before placing the small city sealed dreamscape Dun Garden had obtained for him beside his pillow, falling peacefully asleep.
...
The moment he entered Panlong City, he was standing beneath the Juluo tree.
Lush with verdant foliage and swaying gently in the wind, it had grown taller and straighter than any other street tree along the river.
He patted the trunk. "When will you sprout another golden leaf for me?"
The Juluo tree naturally paid him no heed.
Instead, the strange head up in the tree shouted, "Hey, hey! What are you chatting with a tree for? Where's my dreamscape?"
"You'll see it as soon as you go outside." He Lingchuan took it down from the branch and gave it a couple of shakes, noticing that it had grown lighter again.
No matter how elusive and free-roaming the strange head was in reality, within Panlong City it could only hang from the fork of the Juluo tree. If He Lingchuan didn't come take it down, it couldn't move at all.
"Why would anyone collect sealed dreamscapes?" He Lingchuan wondered aloud. "They aren't nightmares, after all."
Chapter 610