Chapter 15

At the Astrology Observatory of the imperial capital, Zhang Mu was holding a jar of wine. As he drank, he observed the stars at night.

He was an astrologer, and he had to observe the stars and fortune of the Wu Dynasty every day.

“The stars in the sky seem to be the same every day. I’m tired of looking at them.”

Zhang Mu took a sip of wine. At this moment, a dark red star suddenly streaked across the sky.

“That’s!”

Zhang Mu’s eyes widened.

“The Demon Emperor Jing Daotian has fallen!”

“What? Jing Daotian is dead?”

When this news was reported to the Empress, Empress Xia Zhuyuan was equally shocked, “How did he die? Where did he die? Can you see it through the stars?”

“Yes, I just performed divination. The Devil Emperor might have died in the north of the Wu Dynasty.”

“The North.”

The two of them looked in the direction of Guizu Mountain.

“Your Majesty, do you think it’s the doing of that senior?” Zhang Mu asked.

“Jing Daotian’s strength is terrifying. Wherever he has fought, there will definitely be residual power. We’ll know after we go and take a look,” Xia Zhuyuan suggested.

Soon, the two of them arrived at Guizu Mountain.

“There seems to be some terrifying sword intent left in this sky. A great battle must have taken place here!”

“There’s an extremely evil force in front of senior Chen’s courtyard. Could it be… The abyssal evil spawns! Oh my God, this power, it’s at least at the Lord level.”

“And here, at senior Chen’s door, the power of a quasi-celestial erupted!”

Xia Zhuyuan and Zhang Mu were dumbfounded.

What a terrifying battle this was.

One could only imagine how intense and dangerous the battle had been.

“Perhaps everything is part of senior Chen’s plan. Senior Chen’s target has never been the Devil Emperor Jing Daotian, but the abyssal evil spawns behind him, or even the evil Lord hiding in the Forbidden Endless Abyss!”

Zhang Mu guessed that senior Chen had a bigger plan and that their earlier speculations were just ignorant and narrow-minded.

“Since senior Chen has decided to fight the evil Lord of the Abyss,” Xia Zhuyuan said, “The Wu Dynasty can’t just stand by and watch. We have to follow senior’s steps so that we won’t be wasting senior’s efforts in nurturing us.”

Zhang Mu nodded, “That’s right. Senior Chen has helped us so many times. He must have made some arrangements. We may be insignificant pawns in senior Chen’s plan, but for senior Chen, we have to shine and display our greatest value.”

“For the sake of senior! From tomorrow onwards, let’s increase the intensity of the military training by ten times!”

“Everything is for the senior!”

With such a slogan, Xia Zhuyuan made a series of training arrangements for a strong army.

However, when she returned to her chamber, she was exhausted.

“Your Majesty, I’ve heard that the Devil Emperor is dead, but why do I feel that you’re not happy at all?” The Empress’s personal physician, Yan Jin, brewed a cup of tea for the Empress and asked curiously.

“Yan Jin, how many years have you been in the palace?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s trust, it’s been three years.”

“Do you know why I’ve always kept you by my side?”

“Your Majesty has always been busy with the affairs of the country and is exhausted. Your Majesty needs me to help Your Majesty recuperate. This is my duty and the reason why Your Majesty has kept me here.”

Yan Jin said slowly.

Her personality was just like her name, very rigorous.

“No, it’s for me to have someone to talk to,” Xia Zhuyuan sighed softly, “Everyone knows that I am the Empress, the proud daughter of heaven, but who knows the worries and unhappiness in my heart?”

“Is it because of that senior Chen you have been talking about?” Yan Jin asked.

“Yan Jin, you do know me well.”

“Since Your Majesty wishes to see him, why not do as you wish?”

“If there’s nothing special, what reason do I have to disturb him?”

“In my opinion, Your Majesty has fallen in love. Since that’s the case, why don’t you just confess to him and say that you like him?”

“No, no, I can’t possibly. Senior Chen is so high and mighty. If I say it, it’s blasphemy against him. You can’t tell anyone about this.”

“I understand.”

After leaving the Empress’s Yangxin Palace, Yan Jin let out a long sigh, “Sigh, I didn’t expect that the high and mighty Empress would fall in love as well. I wonder what kind of person the senior Chen she mentioned is. To think he’s able to make the Empress, who controls a country, miss him all day long.”

“Who is it?”

All of a sudden, Yan Jin threw a long dart toward the dark.

“Junior sister, it’s been a long time, and this is how you treat your senior brother?”

“Senior brother Chang Feng!”

Yan Jin’s face turned serious.

“Oh my, don’t look at me like that. It’s like you wished you could skin me alive. I came here today to send you a message. The Holy Land has already found your tracks and will send experts to kill you soon. If you’re smart enough to hand over the Holy Land’s treasure, you might be able to live. If you don’t know what’s good for you, not only you but the entire Wu Dynasty might be buried with you!” The man cackled.

Yan Jin’s expression turned ugly.

She did not doubt the man’s words at all.

This was because she had another identity besides being the Empress’s personal physician.

The holy maiden of the Medicine God Valley!

However, three years ago, internal strife had happened in the Medicine God Valley and the holy leader had changed. She had no choice but to steal two of the Holy Land’s inherited supreme treasures and left. She then hid in the Wu Dynasty for three years.

She didn’t expect that she would still be discovered!

“I won’t go back with you, and I won’t hand over the holy artifact. Tell the people of the Holy Land that if they want to kill me, they can come to Guizu Mountain!” Yan Jin answered with an unrelenting attitude.

That’s right, she had said Guizu Mountain.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry. The only person who can save me now is the expert that you’ve always talked about,” Yan Jin felt guilty, but she had no other choice.

In the night, she took off her palace uniform, revealing her moon-white clothes.

Taking advantage of the night, she headed toward Guizu Mountain.

The Holy Land had already found out about her whereabouts.

The only person who could save her now was the man who was revered by the Empress as a Celestial God. Yan Jin knew many of his deeds because she provided her service to the Empress right by the latter’s side. She knew about the Empress’s schedule, her thoughts, and the changes in her body.

She knew that every time the Empress met that expert, she would be happy for a long time.

She also knew that during the Empress’s period, that expert had given the Empress some brown sugar water.

On top of that, she knew that the Empress missed the expert so much that she would be envious of Nightingale for getting a box of spiritual herbs from him.

It could be said that there was a complicated relationship between the Empress and that expert, and she shouldn’t have gotten involved.

But now, the people from the Medicine God Valley had found her.

In the moment of life and death, she had to think for herself.

As such, she was sorry, Her Majesty!

That night, Yan Jin left the palace.

…

In Guizu Mountain, the fog was thick, and hundreds of birds were chirping.

With his hands behind his back, Patriarch Dugu landed at the foot of the mountain.

In an instant, he turned into a kind-looking old man.

A few days ago, one of the Dugu clan’s cloud boats had crashed, and a few of the potential talents in the clan had sent out a message before they died.

“There’s an expert in the mountain!”

Patriarch Dugu paid special attention to it.

“Although I’ve become a celestial, Celestial Gods are also divided into realms. Among the Celestial Gods, the Dao Entry realm is just a mortal celestial. Only by reaching above the Profound Comprehension realm is one a true celestial. However, from the Dao Entry realm to the Profound Comprehension realm, it takes one thousand years of cultivation or obtaining a celestial fortune by responding to the Heavenly Dao. When I woke up from my secluded cultivation, the Wu Dynasty was in danger and it was my celestial fortune, but it was cut off by someone.”

He had to take revenge.

At the same time, the news of the Devil Emperor’s death at Guizu Mountain had already spread, so he had no choice but to be cautious.

The Dao Entry realm was merely the lowest realm of Celestial Gods. In the ranks of Celestial Gods, they were like ants.

Such celestials were just lowly ones.

This was the greatest feeling Patriarch Dugu had felt after becoming a celestial.

Above was the Heavenly Dao, and below was the mortals. The will of the Heavenly Dao and the resentment of mortals could have an impact on celestials who were in the Dao Entry realm.

Therefore, he had to be careful.

As such, he had transformed into a mortal old man to find out what was going on with the expert in the mountain.

Just as he was walking up the mountain, he suddenly saw a white-robed woman also going up the mountain.

Seeing him, the woman in white smiled and said, “Old man, you’re also going up the mountain.”

“Yes. Little girl, why are you going up the mountain?” Dugu Sheng smiled.

“I heard that there’s an expert on the mountain, so I’m going to pay him a visit,” Yan Jin smiled. She could tell that the old man had an extraordinary aura and knew that the other party was no ordinary person, so her attitude was more amiable.

“May I know why you are going up the mountain, grandpa?”

“Just like you, I’m going to visit the expert in the mountain!” Dugu Sheng smiled.

In his heart, he was thinking, if the other party was really an expert, then so be it.

If the other party wasn’t, he would have him killed in minutes.

“We’re heading in the same direction. Why don’t we go together? The mountain road is dangerous, so we can look out for each other.”

Yan Jin smiled. She wanted to use this extraordinary old man to test the expert.

If the other party was really an expert, then so be it. If not, then she couldn’t waste her time.

“Very well, we’ll do as you say,” Dugu Sheng chuckled.

Thus, two people with different thoughts, needs, genders, and ages formed a strange combination just like that.

They headed up the mountain.