Chapter 471 – Breeding Ghosts Like Gu, Eastern Sea’s Machinations, A Depressed Xie Yu, and Shadows Over the Jade Capital - Part 2

Li Yuan arrived early at Little Ink Mountain.

By then, Peng Mi and the others, more than ten of them, had already arrived and were hiding quietly in the shadows.

Li Yuan concealed his presence and, using his thousand-mile thread, discreetly attached the two ends of the threads to a pair of Lotus Cult disciples—one a burly Red Lotus Cult martial artist, the other a seductive White Lotus Cult enchantress.

He waited until midnight, then finally appeared.

Without alerting anyone on the mountain trail, Li Yuan led Peng Mi and his group safely away, guiding them all the way to the lower reaches of the Eternal Rest River.

“Further east from here is Stellar Sea Province,” Peng Mi said. “Once we reach that region, our Lotus Cult still has some influence. We may be able to receive reinforcements. Senior, thank you again for everything!”

The group bowed respectfully, their gratitude sincere. Then Peng Mi hesitated for a moment and suddenly added, “Senior, you have deep ties with our Lotus Cult. Now that we’re facing a great crisis...why not come with us to Swallowcloud Province?”

His eyes were bright, voice earnest. If this mysterious and powerful senior could be brought back to the Lotus Cult, it would dramatically improve their chances of survival.

Even if this

senior

ended up taking control of the cult, usurping its leadership, Peng Mi wouldn’t mind. That would still be better than walking blindly into the coming power struggles.

After all, even a dying camel was still bigger than a horse.

The Lotus Cult may be weakened, but there was still meat on its bones.

And besides, so far, only two of the four cult leaders had fallen—the Red Lotus Cult Leader, Peng Chao, and the Black Lotus Cult Leader, Peng Mingyi. The White Lotus Cult Leader, Bai Lianjue, and the Green Lotus Cult Leader, Ying Zhuoyao, were still alive.

The Lotus Cult still had a deep foundation, along with contingencies left behind from its golden days. If they could survive this crisis, just endure for a while, there was a real chance at rebuilding.

But neither Bai Lianjue nor Ying Zhuoyao were frontline fighters. That was the Lotus Cult’s fatal weakness.

If this senior were willing to come with him...

“Senior, please!” Peng Mi pleaded again, suddenly dropping to his knees, bowing low. “Please!”

The other disciples behind him followed suit and knelt with reverence.

Li Yuan gazed down at him for a moment, then said quietly, “You’re aware of the thousand-mile thread, aren’t you?”

Peng Mi froze, then nodded quickly. The thousand-mile thread was a rare ghost item once wielded by high-ranking members of the deceased Zhao Gutong’s now-defunct undying husk faction. It originated from Happyland Zoo in Silkfloss Province.

Li Yuan said calmly, “I have one of those threads. It’s already wrapped around

her

.”

With that, he raised his hand and pointed to a flirtatious-looking female disciple of the White Lotus Cult.

The woman blinked in surprise, then immediately adopted a look of delighted flattery. “My name is Bai Mei’er. Thank you for your trust, Senior.”

Li Yuan smiled. “It’s not about trust. I just need you to lead me to your cult’s stronghold when the time comes. That way, I won’t need to come looking.”

He paused for a beat, then added with a faint smirk, “Of course, if someone decides to

purify

you with enough fourth rank blood, and does it a few times over...who knows, maybe it’ll even wash me off.”

Peng Mi immediately stepped forward and said solemnly, “Senior, you worry too much! Having you with us is my greatest fortune! I swear on my life, I’ll keep her safe. Once we reach Red Cloud Mountain, you’ll be welcome any time.”

“It’d better be as you say.” Li Yuan said calmly. Then he waved them off. “Go.”

Peng Mi didn’t dare linger. He bowed once more, then quickly led his people away.

As they were leaving, Bai Mei’er looked back over her shoulder with smoldering eyes, her voice sweet and syrupy. “Senior... Mei’er will be waiting for you...”

Li Yuan nearly laughed out loud. She reminded him of another White Lotus Cult enchantress he’d met before—Bai Lingshui, one of their saintesses.

These White Lotus enchantresses were all the same, born flirts. Seduction wasn’t just second nature, it was muscle memory. Give them a petal and they’d bloom into a full performance. Occupational hazard, really.

He watched the remnants of the Lotus Cult fade into the distance, then cloaked himself once more and followed in secret, making sure they reached Stellar Sea Province without incident. Only after confirming they’d crossed into safe territory did he turn back.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Clear Mind Hall, Imperial Palace, Jade Capital.

A figure suddenly flickered into existence. Li Yuan had returned. But the moment he arrived, his expression shifted.

Something’s wrong. Someone’s been here.

His eyes swept over the area, lightning-quick. Sure enough, there were traces. It was faint, but unmistakable.

Long grass near the hidden chamber had been disturbed. Shallow, nearly invisible footprints marred the soil. Inside the hall, the chairs and tables were slightly off from their usual positions.

Tiny details, imperceptible to most, but to Li Yuan, they lit up like beacons.

His brow furrowed slightly.

In the next instant, his figure shimmered, morphing into a small flying insect. Activating Phantom Body, he zipped off toward Phoenix Cry Hall.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A short while later, he fluttered into the residence.

It was pitch-black inside. The Empress was not there.

He checked the imperial study, and other likely places, still no sign of Xie Wei.

So he returned to the Clear Mind Hall, entered the hidden chamber, and began contemplating how to channel heavenly thunder into a fourth rank breakthrough, something that had been on his mind for a while.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next morning.

After asking around, Li Yuan finally learned where the Empress had gone.

Xie Wei had taken the Crown Prince to Gold Peak Mountain for a ceremony. But during the ritual, a massive earthquake had struck the area. The tremors were severe. Many of the accompanying guards were crushed to death, and numerous local villagers were trapped under rubble.

For Xie Wei, this was a disaster in more ways than one. First a public ritual to honor the Heavens, then an earthquake right after? It couldn’t look worse.

Given all the talk in court and among the people about the

Demon Empress

secretly running the show, this incident might as well have been divine confirmation of her supposed guilt.

Li Yuan didn’t believe in heavenly omens, but the common folk certainly did.

Still, he decided to leave that situation alone for the moment.

Instead, he turned his focus toward a plan, heading deep into the mountains to perform a life-shortening weapon forging session, hoping it would draw thunder from the heavens. His goal was to merge his body with the thunder and test the limits of a direct breakthrough.

The palace may have lacked many things, but hidden resources were not one of them. Blood gold, even blood crystal marrow—rare and precious materials—were all tucked away in secret vaults. As the Emperor, he had no shortage of such supplies.

In fact, these hidden stockpiles far exceeded anything the Tang Sect of Cloudpeak Province had ever offered him.

But before he set off, there was one thing he still needed to do, figure out who exactly had infiltrated the Clear Mind Hall.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

That night.

Li Yuan transformed into a small insect and nestled beneath a glazed roof tile on the Clear Mind Hall, silently monitoring the area with his senses.

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

At the stroke of midnight, two shadows flickered out from the darkness like phantoms. Silent and swift, they evaded the guards with practiced ease and arrived at the rear of the hall.

Without hesitation, they headed straight for the Clear Mind Hall.

They searched it thoroughly, then approached the hidden chamber.

Pressing their ears to the iron door, they listened intently for any sound inside.

After a moment, the two shadows stepped apart slightly, and a whisper of conversation drifted into the night.

“I’ve already been here twice. There’s no one in the Clear Mind Hall, and there’s been no movement from the chamber. Could it be the Son of Heaven is already dead? And this whole show’s just the Demon Empress playing tricks?

“We both know how bizarre and unpredictable ghost items can be. If the Demon Empress had someone impersonate the Emperor and took him out for a stroll...itwouldn’t be surprising at all.”

“But if the Emperor’s cultivation is highly advanced and mysterious, maybe that’s why there’s no sound.”

“Then let’s open the door. That’ll tell us everything we need to know. The Demon Empress has finally left the palace for once, and even Gao Kaiping went with her. Opportunities like this don’t come often.”

“If the Emperor’s really inside and weak from illness, then this is our chance to rescue him. Or, well...

liberate

him from her control.”

The two exchanged a look and prepared to make their move.

But Li Yuan had no intention of letting them disrupt his retreat.

With a flick of his hand, a transparent, rippling blade qi shimmered into existence and slashed silently through the air toward the intruders.

He’d calibrated the strength precisely. He wasn’t aiming to kill, just to send a message.

But to these two, mere fifth rank martial artists, even a casual swipe from Li Yuan felt like the heavens crashing down.

As the pressure bore down on them, inescapable and overwhelming, their faces paled in unison. Both raised their arms in desperation to block the incoming strike.

It was like toddlers trying to hold back a falling mountain.

Predictably...it failed.

Boom! Boom!

Two muffled explosions rang out.

Both their arms exploded from the shoulders down, reduced to clouds of bloody mist.

They were stunned, utterly shocked, but the blade qi stopped just as suddenly as it had appeared.

They spun around, eyes wide, scanning the dense trees and towering palace walls.

No sign of anyone.

Then, from somewhere above, a sharp voice rang out, “His Majesty is under this servant’s watch. Outsiders are not to meddle.”

The two froze again.

There was someone

that

powerful hiding in the deep palace?

One of them immediately bowed deeply and said, “This junior has overstepped. I’ll take my leave at once.”

The other added quickly, “Thank you, Senior, for your mercy. I-I'll never come back.”

With that, the two fled in haste.

The voice, of course, had come from Li Yuan.

After they left, he quietly reverted to insect form and followed them, flitting silently behind as they slipped through a barely noticeable secret passage out of the palace. They darted across a small grove north of the imperial grounds.

Just as Li Yuan was about to keep tracking them, his instincts suddenly screamed danger.

A gaze. Indescribable. Elusive yet suffocating.

Something, or someone, was watching the area he occupied. Though the gaze hadn’t quite locked onto him—still just a mosquito, barely worth noticing—Li Yuan knew one thing for sure.

If he went a step further, he

would

be discovered.

Li Yuan’s heart gave an involuntary jolt.

He was currently in his third rank Heaven Soul state, overlaid with a fifth rank Phantom Body skill, a level of concealment so deep that not even someone like Gao Kaiping could detect him.

In the past, this state would’ve been considered untouchable, an absolute stealth. But now... someone had sensed him. And not just sensed him, but from such a distance? Was the Jade Capital truly

this

full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers?

Without hesitation, Li Yuan halted mid-flight and began to slowly retreat.

But that gaze...it was still sweeping the area.

He picked up speed, retreating swiftly until he was well beyond the range of that eerie perception, and finally made his way back to the Clear Mind Hall.

There, he sat quietly in the secret chamber, a deep contemplation flickering in his eyes.

There was no question. Those intruders, who had tried to force their way into the chamber to

rescue

the Emperor, had to be connected to the other eight provincial governors.

But the one who had sensed him...who was that?