Chapter 100: Audience With The Emperor
This place was eerie and strange; what the naked eye saw might not be the true scene on the yellow mud ship.
Li Weiyi once again cast the Heavenly Eye mind technique. At the same time, all the gold veins on his body emerged, breaking through all illusions to reveal the truth.
In his vision, jade-white auspicious light rose up.
The underground river channel was still dry, but the yellow mud ship under his feet had turned into a spotless magic tool jade boat, over thirty meters long, with glistening treasure light enveloping the surrounding heaven and earth.
The jade boat was crystal clear and exquisitely structured, with countless magic tool scriptures floating inside.
“This… this is more like the sacred boat used by a governor-level figure. The decay of the yellow mud ship was just an illusion, not its true appearance. This sacred great boat must be of a very high level!”
Li Weiyi suppressed his inner astonishment and couldn’t help but think about that governor from a thousand years ago—what level had his cultivation realm reached?
Everything seen before was an illusion.
The true governor’s seal was not placed in a treasure box, but was as huge as a grinding mill, over two meters tall, placed at the bow, silently releasing majestic might.
The purple cordyceps was actually growing at the top of the governor’s seal, its medicinal flesh crystal clear and fragrant.
The magic energy between heaven and earth condensed into visible gaseous streams, continuously gathering toward the governor’s seal, then being absorbed by the cordyceps.
“Hiss!”
Li Weiyi swung his sword, cutting off a piece of medicinal flesh and handing it to Yin Twenty-Four: “Take it and give it to Yao Yin to consume!”
The ancient skeleton sitting on the ground next to the governor’s seal was startled awake. Its skull lifted, gazing at Li Weiyi ahead. Then, its bones creaked all over, and it slowly stood up.
Li Weiyi was so shocked his scalp nearly exploded, and he quickly retreated.
“As expected, it’s a ferocious thing.”
It was definitely this not-fully-dead skeleton that had lured him here.
The skeleton wearing a purple cloud dragon official robe did not show ferocity after standing, nor did it attack. Instead, it straightened its clothes on its own, lifted its official robe to cover its knees with both hands, and knelt respectfully toward Li Weiyi, proclaiming loudly: “Your minister, Yan Prefecture Governor Zhu Qin Feng, pays respects to the Son of Heaven.”
The skull thudded heavily against the ground.
His voice was slightly aged, but it didn’t come from the mouth—it seemed to emanate from inside the bones or from between heaven and earth.
If Yin Twenty-Four and Yao Yin weren’t still on the ship, Li Weiyi would really want to flee, unable to steady the sword in his hand. This withered bone with a terrifyingly grand origin had clearly mistaken him for someone else!
Yin Twenty-Four couldn’t see the true scene or hear the true voice, and was holding Yao Yin, feeding her precious medicine.
Li Weiyi slowly retreated toward them, holding his war sword in a defensive posture.
The skeleton kneeling on the ground raised its head and said with choked sorrow: “In the five-year great war, Yan Prefecture fell to the hands of departed spirits, darkness devouring light. Your minister led all soldiers and civilians to hold the prefectural city, fighting bitterly for another three years, but aid never came. The fifteen rescue teams sent out had no news.”
“Three years of siege, one hundred thirty-two battles large and small, the city exhausted of water and grain, the million soldiers and civilians reduced to eighty thousand.”
“Your minister is guilty! Your minister led the eighty thousand wounded and maimed to flee via the underground ancient river, abandoning the city, and all of Yan Prefecture fell… alas… woe…”
Li Weiyi felt the desolation and grief emanating from the skeleton, hearing the helplessness and pain in its tone.
Affected by its emotions, his fear lessened slightly. He calmed down and pondered why it had mistaken him for the Son of Heaven.
The Yan Prefecture Governor named Zhu Qin Feng undoubtedly regarded Zen Sea Observing Mist as the Son of Heaven in his heart.
Why did it think he was Zen Sea Observing Mist?
The skeleton kneeling on the ground continued: “Entering the underground ancient river, we were pursued and killed by the ash spirit army, fleeing to this place, where the eighty thousand soldiers and civilians died one after another. At the moment of your minister’s mortal wounding, he left a strand of mind here on the governor’s official robe, awaiting the Son of Heaven’s arrival to report everything, dying without regret.”
After saying the final words, cracking sounds rang out from the skeleton’s shoulders and neck bones simultaneously, and it completely slumped down, falling utterly silent.
“So he only had one strand of mind left here, waiting for the Son of Heaven in his heart.”
Li Weiyi’s fear completely vanished, filled with endless emotion, he stepped forward, unexpectedly feeling a bit of admiration in his heart.
It had given everything, yet Yan Prefecture still fell.
A thousand-year-old strand of mind, waiting only for its lord.
Only upon seeing its lord did it breathe its last.
Spirit Tablet Master had always been observing the outside world with mind power, his voice transmitting from the Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish: “If I haven’t guessed wrong, Zen Sea Observing Mist left something on you. So, Zhu Qin Feng mistook you for her.”
Li Weiyi nodded lightly, trying hard to recall every contact with Zen Sea Observing Mist, not missing any detail.
Even if left, it should be his own blood, absorbed by her.
“What could it be?” he muttered to himself.
Spirit Tablet Master said: “Zen Sea Observing Mist’s cultivation is far higher than ours, reaching a level we three cannot fathom. Her methods must be extremely secretive and profound. But she is currently very weak, while your cultivation is rapidly advancing, putting you ahead of her. Find her quickly and resolve the hidden danger.”
In Li Weiyi’s mind, images successively appeared: the red-clothed fairy on the tombstone, then the white bone demon in the tomb, and finally Qi Shanshan’s figure.
“She secretly tampered with my body.”
Facing a supreme existence like Zen Sea Observing Mist, Li Weiyi felt considerable pressure, viewing her as his greatest enemy. But now was clearly not the time to think about dealing with her.
Escaping was the urgent matter.
“I understand, it’s the official robe.”
Jar Master’s voice suddenly sounded, then continued: “Zhu Qin Feng’s strand of mind borrowed the magic energy in the cordyceps to activate the governor’s official robe, opening the purple mist passage to bring you here. I once served as a governor; even in dormancy, as long as the fire of mind inside hasn’t extinguished, the official robe can be used one or two more times.”
“Weiyi, put on the official robe and use mind power to check if Zhu Qin Feng’s residual fire of mind remains. If so, immediately urge it with magic energy.”
Li Weiyi withdrew the Heavenly Eye, the gold veins on his body dimming and extinguishing.
The dazzling magic tool jade boat underfoot instantly turned back into the yellow mud ship, making it hard to distinguish reality from illusion.
After bowing three times, Li Weiyi crouched down, quickly removing the purple official robe from the skeleton, racing against time, and shouted: “Take Yao Yin and get off the ship first, wait for me!”
Yin Twenty-Four didn’t understand but guessed Li Weiyi had found a way out, so she immediately picked up Yao Yin and jumped off the yellow mud ship.
Li Weiyi quickly donned the purple official robe.
Cloud dragon patterns embroidered on chest and back, wide sleeves adorned with silver clasps, a broad brocade belt at the waist studded with rare gemstones and jade pendants.
The official robe automatically adjusted to the wearer’s size, contracting and expanding.
“Swish!”
Li Weiyi donned the official hat, formed finger seals with both hands, releasing mind power spiritual light into the official robe.
Using mind power perception, the official robe’s interior appeared in his sea of consciousness as a vast, dark heaven and earth. In the darkness, Zhu Qin Feng’s scattered fires of mind were rapidly dissipating and extinguishing.
“Great! As long as these fires of mind power haven’t fully extinguished, the official robe can be activated once more.”
Li Weiyi jumped off the yellow mud ship, ignoring exposure risks, urging the spatial power of the Buddha’s sarira to store the entire ship into the blood mud space.
Yin Twenty-Four saw the yellow mud ship vanish into thin air, naturally stunned.
Li Weiyi shook both arms, all eight spring eyes in his body erupting with magic power, injecting into the official robe.
The vast heaven and earth inside the official robe was like a bottomless pit, impossible to fill.
Watching Zhu Qin Feng’s fires of mind rapidly extinguish, Li Weiyi grew anxious, sweat beading on his forehead, shouting: “What are you standing there for? Hurry and help, inject all your body’s magic energy into the official robe.”
Yin Twenty-Four came to her senses, wordlessly stepped forward, pressing her palm to Li Weiyi’s back, pouring in surging magic energy.
“No good, the governor’s official robe is dormant; my magic energy won’t go in,” she said.
“Then why can I?”
Li Weiyi muttered to himself suspiciously, thinking: “Could it be related to what Zen Sea Observing Mist left in my body?”
No time to think deeply, Li Weiyi executed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, pushing his eight internal spring eyes to the limit, his body fully illuminated by magic power, magic energy forming brilliant clouds swirling around him.
“His magic power and magic energy are really entering the governor’s official robe. Could he be Zen Sea Observing Mist’s descendant? But I’ve never heard she had a dao companion, how could she have descendants?” Yin Twenty-Four was puzzled.
“Boom!”
Strands of purple mist overflowed from the official robe, forming purple clouds.
Joy burst across Li Weiyi’s face as he shouted: “Follow me!”
Grabbing Yin Twenty-Four, the three vanished into the purple mist.
“Swish!”
In the next instant, the three returned to the pitch-black spider cave.
The sound of the underground blood river flowed in their ears.
Yin Twenty-Four took out a blood light gemstone, illuminating the surroundings, and let out a long breath: “Finally back! How did you do it? How did you know the governor’s official robe could bring us back? Why could your magic power activate it?”
Inside the official robe, Zhu Qin Feng’s fires of mind fully extinguished, and Li Weiyi’s magic power could no longer enter.
The purple mist enveloping the official robe rapidly dissipated.
Li Weiyi didn’t immediately answer Yin Twenty-Four’s questions but scanned the surroundings. The ash region had vanished without a trace, as if it never existed. If not for the governor’s official robe on him, he might doubt it all an illusion.
On the stone wall ahead was a face-sized cave.
Spider webs covered the area around the cave.
He sensed the Four-Winged Spider King’s aura fluctuations deep inside.
The Four-Winged Spider King had intelligence and, detecting the Five Seas Realm martial cultivator’s aura, hid inside, not daring to emerge.
Li Weiyi shook his head in disappointment. He had learned insect script from Spirit Tablet Master to subdue the Four-Winged Spider King for Senior Student Cai, but it wouldn’t show itself—fierce insects were also bullies afraid of the strong.
Riding the flatboat, propelled by Yin Twenty-Four’s magic energy, they returned upstream.
Exiting the spider cave, Li Weiyi had removed the official robe, folding it neatly, and said in a calm yet threatening tone: “Everything you saw today stays in your belly. If a third… fourth person knows, you understand the consequences.”
Yin Twenty-Four stood at the bow, frowning: “That’s all the threat you have? The secrets on you, if leaked, would stir a storm in the martial way world.”
“Go tell Hidden Lord and see! I guarantee I’ll live well, but you might not!” Li Weiyi added: “Not killing to silence isn’t mercy, but trust in you.”
Yin Twenty-Four’s heart rippled slightly, but she suppressed her upturned lips, saying solemnly: “I feel uneasy about this. It’s strange, especially that ash region not far away. It should be reported to Hidden Lord.”
Li Weiyi naturally didn’t believe his current cultivation, plus the official robe’s power, could cross vast underground spaces.
Thus agreeing, the ash region was likely nearby.
“Then we’ll craft a story, align our accounts, then tell Hidden Lord what we can.”
Li Weiyi, still wary of Yin Twenty-Four, added: “Hidden Lord was the last Jia Zi’s Hidden Person, and I am this Jia Zi’s Hidden Person. You must obey me, not him.”
Yin Twenty-Four rolled her eyes, wanting to say he wasn’t a Hidden Person yet.
Li Weiyi noticed Yao Yin’s eyeballs move under her eyelids, so he said: “Since you’re awake, stop pretending. We’ll three align accounts. You’re probably Yin Twenty-Six, and from now on, obey me. You know the fate of betraying a Hidden Person better than I.”
Yao Yin sat up, the ice cracks on her skin fully gone, restored to smooth luster. The cordyceps’ medicinal power indeed suppressed the ice soul cold qi in her. In a pleasant, beautiful voice: “Good, Yao Yin swears eternal loyalty to the Hidden Person lord.”
Li Weiyi nodded in satisfaction.
“Such great official prestige! No wonder they say, once you wear the official robe, you can never take it off for life!” Yin Twenty-Four said sarcastically.
