Plundering the Dao of the Immortal Journey

"One of the reasons I could break through the gates of heaven so quickly was because of this pill. It’s a pity that there aren’t many left, only three pills."

"I don’t have a use for it anymore. But Chu Xia, Liao Qing Ye and He Qing Qing can use it. Using too much would be a waste. A pill would be just right for each of them."

Yu Yun Jun revealed a smile and nodded her head, "You are extremely thoughtful with them. Sure, leave this matter to me."

Crown Prince Mansion

According to the customs of the dynasty, when a Prince turns fifteen years of age, the Emperor will decide his position of succession. The mansion of the Crown Prince was extremely majestic, and was modelled after the palace. It was filled with red pillars, and high and tall towers within the mansion. In the middle rested the main building, which was silver in colour.

The Crown Prince was extremely refined and had an elegant demeanor to him. However, he often kept to himself and thus his talents and charisma were hidden and shrouded by his reclusiveness. Today was a rare occasion with there were many people around. Streams of officials could be seen at the gates as they signed the guestbooks and offered gifts.

An official was just about to hand a slip of paper to the counter, indicating his details and his presence for this occasion when he heard the sound of hooves cluttering towards him. He hurriedly stepped aside and allowed the horse to ride by. He looked up and saw a powdered face eunuch jumping off the horse.

"His majesty, the Emperor’s has issued an edict!" The eunuch shouted loudly.

"Hurry! Inform the Prince his Highness!" The leader of the soldiers hurriedly shouted. Immediately someone started running into the court, to find the Crown Prince.

"Your highness, your highness, his majesty has sent an edict!" A eunuch had just reached the door to the room belonging to a beautiful lady.

"This little guy is extremely lucky!" The Crown Prince gently touched the cheek of the infant before him, smiling happily before turning to leave.

According to the rules of the dynasty, the bestowment of t.i.tle upon any princes would only take place after the infant has reached crossed the first year mark. The son of the Crown Prince was different. He was bestowed his t.i.tle only after being one month old.

According to the rules, a person would first be conferred the t.i.tle of a Civilian Prince. After some time, he would then be conferred the t.i.tle of Country Prince, Canton King before finally reaching the Emperor position if he was next in line of succession. A royalty must follow this ascend and cannot skip stages.

The powdered white face Eunuch read out the Imperial Edict before bestowing the t.i.tle upon the young Prince. A carved scepter made of topaz was given to the young infant Prince and caught the eye of the Crown Prince. This scepter was a bright yellow in colour and was a prominent item within the royal household, for it had been one of the Emperor’s favorite treasures.

"Thank you for your grace!"

The Crown Prince returned to his room, carrying the infant in his arms and returning him to his concubine. If Pei Zi Yun was around, he would recall that this was the lady he had met and rescued when he was last in the capital city.

The Crown Prince looked at his own son, being swaddled up in cloth and was full of love and endearment towards this little man. He extended a finger and teased him, "Little guy, your grandfather the Emperor really loves you. You’re only a month old and yet he’s already bestowed the t.i.tle of Civilian Prince upon you. Even I wasn’t as lucky as you when I was younger."

"You’re such a grown man, and yet are jealous of your own son. Take your hands away." The beautiful lady forced a laugh after seeing his reaction.

"Fine fine, I shan’t be jealous of him. I shan’t be jealous." The Crown Prince smiled at her.

"I’ve waited for so long, and now I’m finally a father. All this is thanks to you, for giving me an heir, and contributing greatly to my family." The Crown Prince squeezed the hand of the beautiful lady and continued, "The Emperor had already decreed that you shall be elevated to the rank of Royal Concubine. However, that isn’t even a big enough reward. I’ve already started chasing after the Imperial Court, demanding that they bestow a royal t.i.tle upon your father as well."

The rules of the dynasty dictates that the Crown Prince is allowed to have one wife, who shall be called the Royal Princess. He shall have two Royal Concubines and six Fair Concubines. When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, this Royal Concubine would be one of the most influential ladies in court. The Imperial Court doesn’t recognize the birth of the daughter as a Prince’s first child. Hence, even though the Prince had two daughters before the birth of his son, he considered the birth of his son to be his first child.

"Hm, that’s my duty." The Royal Concubine replied softly.

"Outstanding!" The Crown Prince praised the woman before him, looking at her lovingly as she looked down in respect. Seeing her this way, he couldn’t help but kissed her.

Only after some time did the Crown Prince release her from his embrace. The Royal Concubine had a bashful look on her face, which was blushing from shyness.

"Crown Prince, although our son has already crossed the first month of his life, we still have to remain careful."

"After I was pregnant with this child, I’ve been attacked several times. If it weren’t for the protection rendered to me, I’m afraid both our lives might have been taken away from you. Especially the attack on me last year, where my life was directly threatened by the a.s.sa.s.sins. Thankfully someone came to my rescue, if not, both of us would’ve died."

The Royal Concubine retreated into the embrace of the Crown Prince once more as she whispered softly. The infant could somehow tell that his mother was feeling afraid, probably from the tone in her voice, and started wailing.

"Hm, I’ve conducted my own investigation into this matter. I’m afraid my own good brothers were behind this attack. As for the swordsman who saved and protected you, I’ve discovered his ident.i.ty as well. He’s Ying Prefecture’s Top Scorer, Pei Zi Yun."

"So it’s him, he rescued my precious boy. We should reward him generously." The Royal Concubine replied.

The eyes of the Crown Prince lit up, and bore an uncanny resemblance to his father, the Emperor when he was younger. His eyes were deep and black. At this point he looked extremely happy and nodded his head enthusiastically, "When someone does good, he must be rewarded. Likewise when someone’s committed a crime, he has to be punished accordingly."

"Within this place, there are several spies and people unloyal to me, I would clear them all out. Initially, the child was still in your womb, and I didn’t dare to kill anyone, for fear of divine retribution. Now that the child has crossed his first month, I should do what needs to be done."

Although the words of the Crown Prince seemed simple enough, it carried a tone of justice and righteousness.

The Crown Prince turned to his table, and started writing furiously on a piece of paper. When he reached the name of Pei Zi Yun, he paused. "Pei Zi Yun is such a talented individual. He’d written the policy of exterminating the pirates, and composed numerous works of perfection. Even my father the Emperor has praised his works. It’s such a pity that he’s joined a Daoist sect. If only I could recruit him as my right hand man."

The Crown Prince then turned around and looked at his concubine before speaking, "I won’t speak of country’s matters in front of you."

Hearing the Crown Prince speak, the Royal Concubine laughed out before sinking deep into thought, "I’ve also heard that Daoist can be conferred t.i.tles as well. They can be bestowed the t.i.tle of Dao Masters and True Sovereigns. Your highness can just award him the t.i.tle of Dao Master and consider it his reward."

The Crown Prince seemed to hesitate for some time before finally speaking out, "This man saved my son and you. It’s right that we should confer him the t.i.tle of Dao Master."

"But the Imperial Court has it own rules as well. Unless a Daoist is the Sect Leader of his Sect, he cannot be conferred the t.i.tle of Dao Master. Likewise, unless a Daoist had contributed greatly to the nation, he would not be ent.i.tled to receive the True Sovereign t.i.tle. Since he’s a Daoist, we cannot elevate him to the status of a high ranking official. How about this, we confer a t.i.tle on his parents. That’s more suitable than directly conferring the t.i.tle upon him."

The Crown Prince had pondered over this matter for some time before eventually speaking out. He felt that Pei Zi Yun’s act of protection was equivalent to protecting the Emperor himself. Naturally he should be inclined to receive the personal t.i.tle of Dao Master, or even True Sovereign. However, having been the Crown Prince for many years, he knew deep down that he was not the Emperor yet, and should not act like the Emperor until his time.

The Royal Concubine then replied, "This shall be decided by the Crown Prince, how can this humble subject know much of this matter?"

The Crown Prince then broke out into a smile, as he filled out the namelist to completion.

Dark Altar Sect, Monastery

Xie Cheng Dong hurriedly reached before dashing straight into the monastery. When he entered he saw the blind Daoist on the ground. He looked extremely pathetic and horrific. His entire body had a shroud of black ma.s.s over him, and even bore a strong pungent stink of death.

"Young Master, the thunders and lightnings were plenty yesterday and they a.s.saulted the monastery. The Dao Leader had been struck by the lightning and became like this." The leader of the guard stepped forward and spoke out.

"What?" Xie Cheng Dong heard this and his face fell. He then asked coldly, "Why didn’t anyone report this matter to me yesterday?"

The leader then started trembling violently as he replied, "Young Master, that was the wish of the blind Daoist. He said not to look for you. We remember Young Master had ordered all of us to obey the wishes of the Daoist. Hence, we didn’t dare to defy his orders."

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Xie Cheng Dong scolded his fiercely. All of a sudden, he heard a whimper. The blind Daoist had awoken from his slumber. He stirred for some time, trying to get to his feet but failed. He then whispered, "Is that Young Master Xie who has come?"

His voice had turned extremely hoa.r.s.e.

"All of you, leave now." Xie Cheng Dong hurriedly instructed after seeing the blind Daoist had awoken. The guards all left the room hastily.

Xie Cheng Dong then softened his face as the blind Daoist breathed raggedly. "Has Young Master come because of the matter regarding Pei Zi Yun and my disciple?"

"I had a premonition yesterday before everything. I could sense that my disciple Shi Mu Zhong had been coerced by Pei Zi Yun into revealing the truth. My disciple divulged the details of us plundering the wills of heaven. Pei Zi Yun is a product of the backlash of heaven, a product meant to punish us. Once my disciple revealed this to him, I suffered the wrath of heaven instantly. It was as if plundering the will of heaven wasn’t insulting enough for them, my disciple had to speak of it to someone else, further inciting their wrath. If it weren’t for the protection of the Patriarchs and Paradise, I would not have a single vital sign left here today." The blind Daoist spoke raggedly.

Hearing the blind Daoist’s words, Xie Cheng Dong seemed to plunge deep into thought, "I received the news today that Pei Zi Yun managed to become a Yin Master yesterday. Not only did he kill Song Zhi, he killed Shi Mu Zhong as well. Qin Gao and the rest of my men from Ying Prefecture have been completely wiped out as well."

The blind Daoist started coughing violently.

"This man is truly my greatest enemy, and I have to be rid of him. How do you think I should handle him?" Xie Cheng Dong was unrelenting, and seemed to be heavy hearted after this entire disturbance. He didn’t look at the blind Daoist as he asked him.

The blind Daoist thought for a long time before coughing again. He paused for several seconds, allowing himself to be composed before replying, "He has already attained Yin Master status. We have to obstruct his path forward, and not allow him to advance further."

"An Earth Immortal’s foundation and basis resides in Paradise. If he doesn’t have Paradise, he cannot become an Earth Immortal."

"We can sow discord between the sect, exterminate all of them, or invade and conquer their paradise. Doing any of these would ruin Pei Zi Yun’s progress. Especially since Pei Zi Yun had used Free Cloud Sect’s techniques to reach Yin Master. This acts as a sort of permanent seal on him. Which other sect would accept him if Free Cloud Sect is destroyed? That is not a sort of biaseness against other sects, but the reality of the situation, for other sect’s would rather train a person from scratch and be pure than to have other sect’s techniques among their disciples."

"Besides, with other Dao arts, he would not be able to fit into other sect’s Paradise as well."

"However, sowing discord, killing the entire sect and invading them are extremely difficult to do. Especially since Free Cloud Sect’s Patriarch have received the status of True Sovereigns and have taken a huge increase in power. They’re very difficult to handle at this point."

"You’re right, it’s not easy!" Xie Cheng Dong started laughing, his face remained composed. "However, it’s not that difficult to deal with them."

"Our sect has been around for very long, and we have enough energy to swallow all the sects under the heaven. What is Free Cloud Sect? Once our sect starts paying attention to them with the intention of annexing them as first priority, a mere Free Cloud Sect would be powerless. So what if they are True Sovereigns? They would be like mantis trying to stop a chariot, to overestimate their abilities."

The blind Daoist coughed before replying, "Young Master, we can sow discord within the sect as well, and attack them from within the sect before taking over them. Since Pei Zi Yun is progressing so quickly, we have to stop him as soon as possible."

When Xie Cheng Dong heard this he smiled. He then changed his tone, "However, we cannot be too anxious about this. Do you know that King Lu has been enraged?"

"King Lu’s angry?" The blind Daoist didn’t understand.

Xie Cheng Dong eyed the blind Daoist and thought to himself. "So there’s somethings that you’re unaware of." All of a sudden, it almost felt like a huge burden has been lifted from within his heart. He then laughed, "I followed your instructions and started collaborating with King Lu a long time ago. All these years, I’ve helped him out considerably."

"Actually, the people which I planted across all eighteen prefectures were not planted for my agenda. Instead, they were planted for King Lu."

"Pei Zi Yun had killed off the people planted in Ying Prefecture. Not only did he cross me, he offended King Lu as well."

"However, King Lu was a magnanimous person, and admires people with talent and skills. According to what I know, he was extremely fond of Pei Zi Yun, and held him in high regard. He might even have let him off for what he had done within Ying Prefecture. However, he finally crossed him by rescuing the Crown Prince’s concubine. She even gave birth to an heir for him at last."

"The Emperor was very fond of the Crown Prince, everyone knows this. Then why did he a.s.sign so much power and influence to King Lu over the Crown Prince? The reason was because the Crown Prince had no heir to his name, and King Lu already has three sons which can continue his legacy and his name in future."

"Now that the Crown Prince has a son, the Emperor’s att.i.tude towards him might take a turn for the better. It can be said that Pei Zi Yun had inadvertently sidelined King Lu and ruined his plans."

"Tell me, what do you think King Lu will do?"

Hearing Xie Cheng Dong’s words which penetrated deeply into his heart, the blind Daoist felt a sudden and intense fear well up within his heart. After a long time, he sighed, "Hearing Young Master speak this way, you sound like you’ve been educated in such matters for decades."

"Mister, what can I do to save you?" Xie Cheng Dong’s eyes shifted as he looked up the blind Daoist.

The blind Daoist forced a bitter laugh, "Young Master, I am beyond saving. I only have a few more years left to live. At this point it’s about preserving my life. I shall not be able to live long, I just wish to eventually see Young Master become an Immortal. Cough cough."

When Xie Cheng Dong heard this he paused for some time before letting out a huge sigh. "You should recuperate and recover properly. I shall send some people to deliver pills to you, please use them for your health."

Xie Cheng Dong then left the room and walked out of the mountain. The minute he left, he instructed all the guards, "Do not allow anyone to disturb mister’s rest. Should anything happen, inform me immediately."

"Yes, Young Master." The guards outsider acknowledged loudly.

Within the monastery, the only sounds that could be heard were the ragged coughing of the blind Daoist and his ragged breathing. As soon as the door closed, the entire monastery was thrown into pitch black darkness.