"Use the power of national destiny?" Provincial Governor Lü was taken aback when he heard the request.
"Is that not allowed?"
"No, no, no, of course it is."
The Five Great Immortal Sects and the imperial court shared an orthodox alliance; there was no substantive superior-subordinate relationship between them.
One hundred thousand years ago, Heavenly Venerable Guiyuan, the founding patriarch of the Dao Seeking Sect, established the Five Great Immortal Sects alongside four others and formed an alliance covenant with Great Xia. The terms encompassed law enforcement authority, oversight powers, tax exemptions, and more.
Among them was the provision that the masters of the immortal sects were permitted to use the power of national destiny.
It was precisely because Qiu Jin'an knew the contents of the alliance covenant that he had made the request.
Provincial Governor Lü did not know the details of the covenant himself, but before taking office as the provincial governor of Huangzhou, Emperor Xia had personally put him through an emergency briefing, during which the Emperor had told him that the immortal sect masters could draw upon the power of national destiny.
When it came to understanding the power of national destiny, Qiu Jin'an was actually the more familiar of the two.
"Given Sect Master Qiu's peerless cultivation, I wonder what sort of matter you encountered to end up being cursed?" Provincial Governor Lü asked curiously.
Qiu Jin'an sighed and said with bitter vehemence, "It is a long story, and quite the coincidence. That day, I crossed paths with this boy from the Meng family. Driven by pressing circumstances, the two of us ventured deep into a demonic lair, intent on eradicating evil and restoring peace and prosperity to the realm. Alas, the lair was the headquarters of the demonic path, teeming with top masters. Even I found myself at a disadvantage in the fight.
"What is more, two fists can hardly match four hands; my solitary strength had its limits while the demonic path held tremendous sway. In the midst of the battle, they cast a curse upon both me and this Meng boy!"
"So that's how it was! Demonic cultivators truly are detestable!" Provincial Governor Lü exclaimed in realization, indignant on Qiu Jin'an's behalf. "May I ask which of the Three Great Demonic Cults Sect Master Qiu ventured into?"
Qiu Jin'an shook his head, unwilling to go into detail, and Provincial Governor Lü tactfully refrained from probing further.
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou wore bizarre expressions, but said nothing.
"Sect Master Qiu is so impressive, charging into a demonic cult all by himself!" Man Gu clenched his fist. The thought of Sect Master Qiu purging a demonic lair through sheer individual strength seemed undeniably cool!
When Qiu Jin'an had infiltrated the Dao Seeking Sect, Man Gu was still undergoing his coming-of-age ceremony on the wasteland, completely unaware of what had actually transpired back then.
"Using the power of national destiny is fine, but I've only just gained access to it, so I'm not very practiced in wielding it yet."
"No matter. It doesn't require a complicated process—just give the two of us a rinse with the power of national destiny."
"Very well then," Provincial Governor Lü readily agreed.
The power of national destiny was a matter of top secrecy, so Provincial Governor Lü had only the two unlucky souls, Qiu Jin'an and Meng Jingzhou, follow him, leaving Lu Yang, Man Gu, and Zhao Po waiting where they were.
After such a rapid sequence of events, all three were somewhat exhausted. What had started out as simply helping to deal with a drowned ghost had spiraled increasingly out of control—first an ancient cultivator dispersing cultivation to start anew, then a Great Yu Body Integration expert attacking, then Qiu Jin'an stepping in to save the day, and so forth.
"Who could have imagined Senior Brother Huang Ming was actually an ancient Body Integration cultivator cultivating anew!" Zhao Po gave a wry smile. He had always wanted to exchange cultivation insights with Huang Ming, who had treated him with cold indifference. Before, he hadn't understood why; now he finally did—they simply were not people of the same world.
"Judging by Huang Ming's methods, he must have been highly proficient in corpse-driving arts even before dispersing his cultivation to start anew," Lu Yang analyzed. Perhaps that was why Huang Ming had chosen the Corpse Driving Sect in the first place.
This was hardly surprising; the history of corpse-driving arts could be traced back to antiquity, so it was perfectly normal for a Great Yu cultivator to be skilled in them.
"The real question is how many ancient cultivators have dispersed their cultivation to start anew. Just because Huang Ming has only reached the Golden Core stage doesn't mean other ancient cultivators are also only at the Golden Core stage!" Lu Yang said gravely. This was different from dealing with a demonic cult. A demonic cult had low- and mid-tier cultivators that could serve as points of entry. Ancient cultivators were another matter entirely: their baseline had been the Body Integration stage, with an upper limit no one knew, making them far harder to deal with.
"They merely dispersed their cultivation to start anew; not a single one of them ever achieved immortality. How disgraceful." As an immortal, the Immortal Fairy held nothing but utter contempt for these fellows who restarted their cultivation.
"Hm? Fairy, what are you watching?" Lu Yang noticed that the Immortal Fairy was lying prone on the bed, staring intently at the projection screen by the head of the bed.
The figures on the light screen were very familiar: Provincial Governor Lü, Qiu Jin'an, and Meng Jingzhou, who had just departed.
"I've never seen how the power of national destiny is used, so I'm taking a look."
"Scoot over, let me watch too." Curious as well, Lu Yang asked the Immortal Fairy to make room and sprawled out beside her to watch.
The chamber controlling the power of national destiny was sealed under layers of restrictions, and the power of national destiny itself inherently blocked eavesdropping and peeping—even a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator could not penetrate it. However, such barriers were nowhere near enough before the Immortal Fairy, the foremost of the Five Ancient Celestials.
Unless an immortal from the imperial court were personally overseeing the power of national destiny, no one else could prevent the Immortal Fairy from peeking.
On the light screen, Provincial Governor Lü led the two into a stone secret chamber.
The chamber was completely airtight, without the slightest gap. Rather than being constructed from stacked stone blocks, it looked as though it had been hollowed out from a single gigantic boulder.
Within the secret chamber lay a small pool. The pool was empty, containing nothing at all except a square depression situated dead center. Holding the Great Seal of Huangzhou, Provincial Governor Lü pressed the seal into the indentation.
A substance resembling both light and water suddenly emerged, forming wisps and ribbons that filled the depression.
"I see. So this stuff is the power of national destiny."
Seeing that Lu Yang still looked somewhat confused, the Immortal Fairy explained, "From the very beginning, the power of national destiny has suffused every inch of Great Xia's land, existing in an invisible and imperceptible state. The Great Seal of Huangzhou is the key that can bring the power of national destiny from an imperceptible state into a perceptible one.
"The Great Seal of Huangzhou is a supreme treasure bound to its master; only Provincial Governor Lü can wield it.
"As for its might, probably because it only represents the national destiny of a single province, it isn't particularly strong. But if the national destiny of all seventeen provinces were brought together, the power would be quite formidable. It seems the immortals of the Great Xia imperial court do have a bit of skill.
"Of course, it is only a bit of skill—still nowhere near the level of this Immortal."
On the other side, Meng Jingzhou was seeing the power of national destiny up close for the first time, sensing that hope for resolving the karmic backlash was finally within reach.
"Should we jump straight in?"
Qiu Jin'an nipped Meng Jingzhou's suicidal impulse in the bud. "If you were at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, you might have a chance of surviving if you jumped in."
Meng Jingzhou considered that although he was an illustrious Golden Core powerhouse, there was still a bit of a gap between him and Tribulation Transcendence, so he decided against jumping in for now.
An arm-thick stream of the power of national destiny flew out under Provincial Governor Lü's mobilization.
Wielding the power of national destiny with unpracticed movements, Provincial Governor Lü repeatedly suppressed its inherent corrosive quality, pointed two fingers toward Qiu Jin'an and Meng Jingzhou, and uttered a soft "Go." The stream of power surged forth and washed over the two of them.
"That feels amazing!" Meng Jingzhou blurted out in surprise. It felt even better than the first time he had ever absorbed spiritual energy.
A pink mist drifted out, quickly absorbed and dissolved by the power of national destiny until it vanished into nothingness.
With the curse that had weighed on his heart for days finally gone, Qiu Jin'an also felt thoroughly refreshed and invigorated.
"Phew—delightful!
"The curse has finally vanished! Time to celebrate at a brothel! Brother Lü, where's the best brothel in your Hanshui City?"
Provincial Governor Lü: "..."
Is it really appropriate to ask me a question like that?
"There used to be a zoo that was the best brothel around, but it's currently suspended and undergoing rectification."
Chapter 434