Chapter 487 – A Return to the Jade Capital, Blossoms Bloom Twice - Part 3

Xie Yu felt something shift in the air. A strange unease crept up her spine, but she nodded slowly.

“Okay...”

Li Yuan said, “The land beneath our feet, there’s something wrong with it. The balance of Yin and Yang is changing.”

“I know.”

“The Immortals from the Eastern Sea want to accelerate that process. They’re growing impatient. So they’ve come down personally, helping great ghost domains swallow lesser ghost domains. Once that’s done, they’ll break through the Dragon Vein, removing the last obstacle to the Grand Union of Yin and Yang.”

“...”

“You’re smart. You can see what that means, can’t you?”

Li Yuan and Xie Yu’s eyes met. Both blinked in near-sync, like actors caught in an unscripted pause.

Xie Yu’s expression shifted, a flash of realization lighting up her face. “So you’re...an Immortal?”

Li Yuan blinked, then realized he had overestimated how much information she’d pieced together.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “But the one who destroyed your Xie Clan...probably was.”

“Why...?”

“Because he wanted to force your sister’s hand. To push her into exploiting the Grand Union of Yin and Yang, to seize more resources, train more powerhouses...so she could stand against the eight other provincial governors. It’s a game of balance. On one side, he uses the name of the eight governors to pressure her. On the other, he secretly aids her from the shadows.

“Slaughtering the Xie Clan wasn’t random. It was a calculated move. He wanted to shatter her reason and plunge her into grief and vengeance. Once she loses herself to that, she’ll stop at nothing to gain power. And when that happens...she’ll betray the Dragon Vein and join the Immortal Domain.

“Once she’s in, the Emperor follows. And as far as I know, Ji Hu is the only child left with pure imperial blood.”

“...” Xie Yu remained silent, slowly digesting his words.

“That tremor you felt earlier, from the west? That was me.” Li Yuan looked her in the eye and said calmly, “I...just killed an Immortal. I needed to know if I could. I wasn’t sure how strong they were, so I used him to test my hand. Now that I know I can kill one...we can head to the capital.”

His tone was as soft and careful as he could manage, as if trying not to break something fragile in her heart.

Xie Yu, for her part, was already stunned speechless. She stood there, trying to wrap her head around what she’d just heard—each sentence like a brick to the brain. Her world tilted on its axis.

Li Yuan waited, patiently.

Her expression twisted, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Her mind was clearly a tangled mess of emotions. Finally, she sniffed and muttered, “Are you just making fun of me?”

Li Yuan gave a helpless smile. “If I were mocking you, do you think I’d go through the trouble of changing into a clean white robe just to come back? I just...didn’t want to keep lying to you.”

“Then...who are you, really?” Xie Yu asked, voice trembling. “If you’re this powerful, why me? What am I to you? Just a pawn? Why would you...”

Her eyes turned red.

Li Yuan’s eyes reddened too. He murmured, “My blade...it’s gone. I’ll never be able to master it again.”

“Don’t talk about that! You liar!” she snapped, voice catching with fury.

She spun to leave, but he caught her hand and pulled her back.

The two of them fell into silence.

Li Yuan let out a long, weary sigh and said quietly, “I thought... you understood me.”

Xie Yu didn’t reply.

He slowly let go of her hand, raised the back of his own to wipe his eyes, then gave a bitter, self-mocking smile. “If my strength makes you hate me, then go.”

“...” Still, Xie Yu said nothing.

Li Yuan’s breathing grew heavier, rougher. “There’s always someone stronger. There’s always a higher sky. I only

seem

powerful to you right now! But in truth, I’m still weak! I have frustrations too. Pain. Struggles. I thought you, of all people, would understand. But to you, because I’m strong, it must mean I don’t suffer at all.”

He was angry now. Furious, even. He gasped for breath between each sentence.

For a long while, neither of them moved.

Then, gently, Xie Yu reached out and took his hand.

“I’m sorry... Husband,” she said softly.

“...” Li Yuan didn’t react.

She gave his hand another little tug.

He turned suddenly and pulled her into his arms, whispering, “I failed again.”

“It’s okay. Really, it’s okay. You

will

take up the blade again,” Xie Yu whispered. Her eyes fluttered closed, cheek resting against his chest. “Husband...want some noodles? I picked wild vegetables earlier today. I realized...the dirt’s not that dirty, actually.”

Then, without warning, she crouched down, scooped up a handful of earth, and smeared it across the front of Li Yuan’s pristine white robe. Her voice was tender, “Next time, don’t change just for me.”

Li Yuan looked down, wiped the dirt off with both hands, and then used his fingers to draw faint muddy lines across her snowy cheeks.

They both burst into laughter.

“I’m going to make noodles,” she said, skipping away.

Li Yuan, meanwhile, picked up a blade leaning beside the house and began to practice slowly.

But his strength was too great. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t control the delicate movements, and frustration soon crept onto his face.

In the last fight, he’d instinctively learned to compress his withered flame through breath control and release it in explosive bursts.

But that was all it was, a bigger flame.

A flame so violent and unstable that it couldn’t be restrained, refined, or wielded with finesse.

And if he couldn’t rein it in...what was his so-called

signature move

going to be from now on? Just breathing fire?

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next day.

Inside the mountain cave. Peng Mi stood before Li Yuan, reporting with respectful care.

“Senior, now that Wei Huosheng has vanished, the whole town is uneasy. If you’re planning anything, now might be the perfect moment to—”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Li Yuan interrupted him. “What about Bai Lianjue and Ying Zhuoyao?”

“Ying Zhuoyao hasn’t said anything, but I suspect she’s lingering near Ghost Lake. As for Bai Lianjue...she comes and goes like a ghost. She’s the type that, wherever she arrives, she takes over the local intelligence flow,” Peng Mi replied.

“So if I had to guess, she’s already assumed some kind of identity in a position where she can gather information safely. That said, she must know what happened in Bloomtown by now, and I imagine she’ll be contacting them soon.”

Li Yuan suddenly asked, “I heard that in the south, you people used

warm snow

to disperse the Sun and condense Yin. Who came up with that?”

Peng Mi replied without hesitation, “That was something devised by Bai Lianjue herself.”

Li Yuan blinked, surprised. That answer wasn’t what he’d expected. He closed his eyes slightly, thinking.

Peng Mi continued, “I don’t know her full background, but she’s extremely mysterious. Besides her mastery of seduction arts, she also controls many strange and unorthodox powers. The warm snow is only one of her creations.”

Li Yuan said, “Understood. When she returns, leave a note in the house. That’s all I need.”

He had no intention of setting time aside just to wait for Bai Lianjue.

For Li Yuan, the journey to the Jadel Capital could no longer wait.

He had no way of knowing whether third rank cultivators possessed some special method of transmitting messages over long distances.

If the one in the Jade Capital caught wind of Wei Huosheng’s fate and prepared every defense in advance, then the window of opportunity would slam shut.

Victory favors speed.

So he had no intention of playing games with disguises or sneaking in by joining merchant caravans.

That very afternoon, while eating lunch at home, Li Yuan casually tamed a few sparrows, scattering them into the nearby forests to serve as his eyes and ears. Then, with the Nine Provinces Provisional Patrol Token in hand, he teleported straight into the Jade Capital.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Phoenix Cry Hall, the residence of the Empress.

Even though it was midday, the place radiated an eerie, bone-deep chill.

Li Yuan transformed into a tiny flying insect, slipped in through a narrow crack in the window, and landed quietly in the shadows of a glazed rooftop tile. There, he expanded his perception, carefully observing his surroundings.

It didn’t take long for him to locate the former Empress, now the Empress Dowager.

In Clear Mind Hall, Xie Wei was furious.

The crisp clatter of shattered porcelain rang through the palace as dishes were hurled to the floor.

Her voice rang out in anger, “Kneel!”

Through the dense layers of trees and eaves, Li Yuan saw a large, awkward-looking boy kneel down before her.

“Hold out your hand!” she barked again.

The boy extended his hand.

Xie Wei picked up a wooden rod and struck him hard, several times. Then she asked coldly, “Will you do it again?”

The boy Ji Hu lifted his head stubbornly. “General Gao and Fish Guts are loyal souls. Why can’t I get close to them?”

Xie Wei sighed. “You’re still young. There are things you don’t understand.”

Ji Hu said nothing for a long moment. Then, quietly, he replied, “Hu’er understands now. Don’t be angry, Mother. It was my fault.”

Xie Wei said gently, “Go to the imperial study. Your tutor is waiting for you.”

“Yes, Mother.” Ji Hu stood. His left palm was red and slightly swollen, but his voice remained steady. “I will work hard to grow up quickly, so I can protect you.”

“Go...” Xie Wei’s tone softened.

Once the young emperor had left, the elegant and still-striking Empress Dowager rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes, as if trying to calm a storm of thoughts churning within her.

But just then, a strange phenomenon unfolded in the palace garden.

From the ground rose a figure, tall and imposing, wrapped in a flowing yellow robe, with a faint swirl of sand and dust circling his body. His entire presence radiated an aura far beyond that of ordinary mortals.

Hands clasped behind his back, he drifted forward directly toward the Clear Mind Hall. Floating beside him was 25k~561k.

Li Yuan’s gaze narrowed.

Without hesitation, he reappeared dozens of miles away in a desolate section of the Jade Capital.

With a single motion, he bent two trees into the shape of a doorway. Then, without a word, he summoned his towering golden avatar and placed his ghost hand upon the ground.

He had no intention of playing coy. Since the envoy from the Immortal Domain had presented himself so plainly, what need was there for convoluted schemes or elaborate plots?

The yellow-robed figure was already stepping into Clear Mind Hall.

The door lay just ahead.

And he stepped through.