From inside the residence, four men emerged—three middle-aged and one elderly. The old man walked with a wooden cane that had a vine growing along it, which looked odd given that he carried himself with his back perfectly straight.
The middle-aged men followed behind the old man, and among them, one wore a large dark blue robe, his face well-kept, with a short beard, sharp eyebrows, and a long scar across his neck.
"Welcome, Fourth Prince, to our humble home," said the old man.
"No need for such a welcome, grandfather, uncles. I've come to talk today—nothing serious."
"Good, I'll hear what you have to say. Please, come in. We've prepared a very fine tea."
In a large hall, seven people sat talking among themselves. On one side, Xue Yanluo had not touched his tea and only spoke occasionally with the uncle beside him. Ruan Xueling stood behind him, posture perfect, waiting patiently.
That arrangement held for nearly two full hours until the others began leaving the hall one by one, leaving only Xue Yanluo, his maternal grandfather, and Ruan Xueling.
Yue Canghun finished his cup of tea and set it on the table. "Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"It will be a difficult road. Though we are not the wealthiest in the empire, your life will not be a poor one."
"Don't worry, grandfather. I've been preparing for a long time, and something happened recently that has given me great confidence."
Yue Canghun smiled at his grandson's confidence and rubbed the handle of his cane with his fingers. "We will support you in everything you ask. From this point on, your rise or fall is the same as our family's. We win together or we die together—either way, there will be no empire for this family if you lose."
Xue Yanluo's heart struck hard, pumping his blood with force, and he had to hold himself in check so nothing went wrong. For a moment his body gave an involuntary spasm—he had slowed his heartbeat so much that it stopped for a second without meaning to.
"Is the situation really that bad?"
Yue Canghun gripped his cane so hard it creaked under the pressure. That pulled him back, and he sighed. "You shouldn't worry about that—just focus on becoming the crown prince."
"Mm… Did my mother try to escape the imperial harem again?"
Yue Canghun tensed all at once and rubbed his temple. He drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. "Her son is nearly twenty years old, and she still behaves like a girl. Lucky that the emperor isn't concerned with that and doesn't punish her harshly."
Xue Yanluo smiled, looking up at the ceiling with half-closed eyes. Then the smile faded, and he lowered his head. This time I won't be able to see her either… he thought, deflated.
"If there's nothing else," he said, standing and waiting a few seconds, "then I'll be going." Xue Yanluo said his goodbyes to his grandfather and left with Ruan Xueling.
Outside, Ruan Xueling's steps were unhurried, her eyes on the sun sinking behind the mountains. She turned to Xue Yanluo and asked, "Does the sun still bother you? There's barely any left…"
"Yes, it's held a grudge ever since I beat it."
"Has it? When was that? Are you sure you didn't dream it?"
"You really have changed a lot since we were children."
"How?"
"Figure it out—I can't remember right now."
"You…" Ruan Xueling muttered, turning her head the other way.
Xue Yanluo looked up, and the moon was already at its peak, standing out from all the other lights in the sky. Two days had passed since his meeting with his grandfather, and now he lay in his hammock in the courtyard.
His old self could have fallen asleep right there, but now he'd probably wake up half-cooked, maybe worse—and he had no interest in that.
In his hand was an opaque bottle, cold to the touch and a blue-green color. He had already removed the small stopper sealing the liquid inside from the world and was shaking it gently.
Then he brought it to his lips and let the scarlet liquid flow through the opening into his mouth. He finished it in a matter of seconds and murmured, "Quite cold—and a little spicy again this time."
Behind him, Hua Zhenfeng stood looking up at the sky as well, trying to understand why his lord was so fond of watching it.
"How does your body feel after drinking the blood of that second realm cultivator?"
"Much better, my lord. By this morning I already had the physical strength of an Iron Foundation cultivator. A crystal has also formed inside my heart."
"Mm… Good. That means you can look for someone to turn to."
While watching the moon, he straightened and sat up in the hammock, closed his eyes, and looked inward toward his dantian. "So little…" he murmured when he opened his eyes. Searching his dantian, he found that the strand formed this time was insignificant—not even a tenth of what he had gained when he drank Bao Qingcao's blood during her turning.
Is it the transformation? That's the only difference between the two times. Does turning someone give you a significant boost in cultivation? He should tell the other two about this later, Xue Yanluo decided.
Though it would be better to feel it out first rather than state it as fact, since it might only happen to me… The crystal in my heart is far stronger than theirs at the same level… What a headache.
Since losing his ability to face the sun, he had begun to feel the elegance of the moon—a cool, calming sensation settling over him whenever he sat beneath its light.
In the morning, a large crowd came and stopped in front of his courtyard. Xue Yanluo broke into a cold sweat, and his legs wanted to turn and run, and after a silent struggle dragging them forward against their will, he reached the gate and stepped outside.
At the front of the crowd stood a senior eunuch, holding in his hand an imperial decree—golden paper, bound with a red cord.
Xue Yanluo dropped immediately to his knees.
The eunuch nodded at this and unrolled the decree. With that, everyone else nearby also knelt, eyes fixed on the ground.
"In accordance with the great will of His Majesty the Emperor, I have come to deliver his will. This decree is for the Fourth Prince. He is commanded to depart tomorrow with General Huo Yanming and the Fifth Prince to take part in the emergence of a secret realm at our empire's border with the Kingdom of Qi." The eunuch rolled the decree back up and stepped toward Xue Yanluo. "Receive the decree," he said, handing it over.
"This unworthy son receives His Majesty's will," he said as he rose, took the decree, and bowed toward the eunuch.