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Perhaps influenced by nostalgia, the various cakes and snacks were far from as delicious as in the old days, with the only exception being the Spring Breeze Building.

"So many nobles have perished over the past century, yet you stand tall and unyielding. Indeed, you are deeply rooted!"

The end of the year came, and it was time to select the Oiran, causing Zhou Yi to linger and forget to leave.

The spies who secretly followed him reported back that the prominent families in the Capital were no longer interested in Zhou Yi, writing him off as a wastrel cloaked in his ancestors\' glory, unlikely to amount to anything in the future.

Rumor had it that Mr. Zhou was a regular patron of the Spring Breeze Building; thus, it must be his descendants.

The Wei Jun lineage of the Northern Border, part of the Da Qian Wei Ducal House, paid the closest attention. Upon learning of Zhou Yi\'s actions, the current Old Duke remained silent for a long while.

With a sigh, he lost the desire to meet Zhou Yi and ordered out of respect for his ancestors\' kindness,

"Remember to send a master to guard him; don\'t let anyone bully him!"

The Wei Ducal House was the top household in Da Qian and the only family in the Capital with a lineage of Immortal Dao. Merely hinting at their involvement completely quelled certain individuals\' ambitions.

Struggles in the dark, silent and breathless.

Zhou Yi paid no mind to these worldly matters, intentionally acting like a complete good-for-nothing to avoid others seeking his company, thus sparing himself from various troubles.

Having seen five emperors, he had witnessed enough of the Imperial Court\'s sordid affairs to have no interest in dealing with them.

Leaving the Spring Breeze Building, he looked up at the sun and faintly felt he had forgotten something.

"The Spirit Ginseng baby is not lost, the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe is still there, the Mountain and River Cauldron, the Bronze Mirror, the Jade Dew Art, the Spiritual Treasure Art... It seems I\'m not missing anything?"

He carefully checked his storage bag; all magic artifacts and spells were accounted for.

It wasn\'t until he saw an ox cart in the street, an old farmer leading a yellow ox and selling a cartload of firewood,

"Where\'s my ox!"

Suddenly realizing, Zhou Yi immediately channeled his Mana to sense the Blood Covenant, confirming that the yellow ox was still alive, and then remarked that the Soul Covenant was normal.

"As long as it\'s alive, I\'ll bring it back after Foundation Establishment."

Demons generally live to great ages, and even oxen, not renowned for their longevity, can live two to three hundred years once they\'ve reached the Qi Refinement Realm.

...

The twenty-fourth year of Emperor Chenglu.

Mid-January.

An eunuch from the Imperial Pensions Office came to the Spring Breeze Building, informing Zhou Yi to visit the palace.

"Finally, it has come."

Zhou Yi, ignoring the contemptuous look from the eunuch, followed him to the Imperial Palace, paid his respects to Emperor Chenglu, and boarded the carriage to the Imperial Clan\'s sacred grounds.

The guide was an old man in a blue robe with the Taoist name of Gu Yun, who seemed to be at the third level of Qi Refinement.

Additionally, there were more than ten guards and coachmen, all of whom were martial experts with significant achievements.

One carriage per person, apart from Zhou Yi, the rest were all children of the Imperial Clan.

The sacred grounds were an important foundation of the Imperial Clan. No matter who would ascend the throne and wield power in the future, they needed to have a good relationship with the Immortal Pensions Office, or rather, whoever gained its recognition greatly increased their chances of inheriting the throne.

Due to the randomness of the Spirit Root, Emperor Li Hong and his consort established a rule: those from the Royal Family with Spirit Roots would be considered genuine successors.

The practice was the same in the Great Chu Royal Family; that nation\'s Foundation Establishment cultivator, who had originally been a distant relative of the Chu family, became revered only because of his Spirit Root.

The emergence of the way of the Immortals would inevitably break the traditional distinction between legitimate and illegitimate lineage.

These children of the Royal Family certainly lacked Spirit Roots, for if they possessed them, they would have been sent for cultivation in the sacred grounds long ago.

This journey was for them to train in martial arts, assisted by elixirs, to advance far beyond the ordinary, in hopes of breaking through to the Innate realm.

For instance, Emperor Chenglu appeared to be in his thirties, but in reality, he was over fifty, a result of his martial successes when he was younger and his regular consumption of Spirit Pills after his ascension.

"The longer the Da Qian dynasty stands, the more stable the Li Imperial Clan becomes, and even if a few tyrants take the throne in succession, it would be hard for the populace to overthrow..."

As Zhou Yi looked at the scenery outside the window, his thoughts drifted.

Evening.

The guards set up camp and started cooking.

The children of the Royal Family ate from the communal pot with not a hint of arrogance or pride; they got along well with the guards and mingled freely. Perhaps advised by their families, they especially came over to greet Zhou Yi, their demeanor kind and as refreshing as a spring breeze.

Zhou Yi never frowned upon hypocrisy; it was far more comfortable than arrogance or mockery.

Night had fallen.

Zhou Yi meditated in the carriage, sipping on Crimson Flame Wine from time to time to restore the mana within his body.

At the Qi Refinement Realm\'s thirteenth layer, he was out of sync with the mundane world. Relying on his own to maintain it, his mana had dissipated quite a bit over the past year.

"At this rate, in about seven or eight years, I\'ll fall to the twelfth layer. After reaching Foundation Establishment, I must find a secret technique to lock in my Spirit Root. If there\'s danger, hide among the common folks for decades!"

"Endure until the crisis passes, the enemies are dead, and then I can return to continue my cultivation!"

As Zhou Yi pondered, a voice suddenly came from outside the carriage.

"Brother Shen, are you there?"

"I\'m not!"

Zhou Yi recognized the voice; it was the ninth son of Emperor Chenglu, named Li Xun.

"Hahaha!"

Li Xun, easily amused, let out a string of laughter. He cheekily poked his head through the carriage window, "You\'re clearly here... Indeed drinking, can you spare your little brother a cup?"

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, "A prince of high stature, stooping so low for a drink?"

"In this world, only beauties and fine wine should never be let down!"

Li Xun stretched his arm through the window already holding a vessel, a rough porcelain bowl used by the guards for eating, which could hold at least half a jin.

Zhou Yi shifted slightly, and the Crimson Flame Wine turned into a hundred-year-old Pear Blossom White, with which he filled a bowl for Li Xun.

"Thank you, Brother Shen!"

Perhaps fearing spilling the wine or perhaps longing to drink with someone, Li Xun clung to the carriage window and drank an entire jar with Zhou Yi.

The relations between people can sometimes be quite odd.

Zhou Yi found this fellow quite agreeable, and Li Xun, thinking to mooch off some wine, had rapidly advanced their relationship in just three or four days\' time.

With the Royal Family\'s spirit land drawing near, some matters no longer needed to be concealed.

Li Xun revealed the origin of the spirit land, which was not related to the former dynasty as rumored, but discovered by the Sage Emperor and Sage Empress as they pursued the trace of a female ghost, arriving at her place of cultivation, which turned out to be a rare natural spirit land.

"A female ghost!"

Zhou Yi\'s thoughts stirred and he asked, "Then how did the rumor about the former dynasty come about?"

Li Xun replied, "People had explored the spirit land before and found ceremonial dragon robes and thrones from the previous dynasty, as well as other royal articles, hence the rumor."

"That might not necessarily be a rumor!"

Zhou Yi speculated that the female ghost was likely Huang Yuniang.

"The priority is to establish the foundation first. Afterwards, I can investigate the Imperial Mausoleum on Mountain of Eternal Life. Even if there are large mechanisms inside, they shouldn\'t harm a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Four days later.

The caravan traveled over three hundred li southeast from the Da Qian Capital, finally reaching the destination at the edge of a cold pond.

Zhou Yi got off the carriage, his eyes sparking with spirit as he surveyed the terrain.

The cold pond was about four or five acres in size, surrounded by three peaks, windless and lacking water outlets—by feng shui it was considered a sinister place of Yin Sha. Now, three nearby peaks had been converted into military camps, hosting tens of thousands of elite soldiers, guarded even more tightly than the Imperial Mausoleum.

Gu Yun handed out a talisman to each person, "This is a water-avoidance charm, it allows you to walk underwater,"

The Imperial Clan\'s children turned the charm over in their hands, smiling and asking Gu Yun how to use it, obviously looking forward to the trip to the spirit land.

Zhou Yi circulated his mana and checked the water-avoidance charm for any anomalies, also feigning curiosity.

"Just activate it with Inner Qi."

Gu Yun was the first to use the water-avoidance charm, wrapping himself in a faint blue glow, he stepped into the cold pond.

The clothes did not wet upon touching water, and they did not sink into the mud at the bottom. The water slowly submerged his head.

With the Royal Family\'s children following Gu Yun\'s example, they walked on the bottom of the cold pond, with Zhou Yi trailing at the back, they proceeded for roughly half an hour.

A trench appeared ahead, Gu Yun led everyone to jump in, arriving in front of a stone wall.

Gu Yun formed a spell with his hands, rays of light fell down, and then he directly collided with the stone wall, disappearing into it.

"Quite a cunning Illusion Array, if there\'s no method to break it, this would just be a solid stone wall."

Zhou Yi approached the stone wall, which felt like passing through a layer of water curtain. The view changed from clear pond water to a dim stone cavern, and he immediately sensed the rich Water Spirit Qi.

"Nature\'s miraculous workmanship beyond imagination, who could have anticipated that beneath this cold pond lies a hidden natural spirit land!"