33: Fairyland (Please collect and read)

Chapter 33: Immortal Traces (Seeking Collections, Seeking Follow-ups)

Zheng Yi thought for a moment and directly spoke, "Minister Xu, a few months ago, Yang Xuansu plotted a rebellion and once enlisted a Cultivator named Fire Spirit Master. This person..."

"Your Majesty!"

Xu Mujun said, "This person has already been repelled by this official along with the military formation technique, suffering severe losses. Within a short time, he will not dare to enter our Great Yu Dynasty again."

"My meaning is, are there any other Cultivators in our Great Yu Dynasty?" Zheng Yi said, "If there are, they can completely be brought under the court's employ for the Hall of Offerings..."

"There are none."

Xu Mujun shook his head and said, "In Great Yu, it is impossible for Cultivators to exist."

Zheng Yi asked in surprise, "Why?"

Xu Mujun's expression became strange as he softly said, "Because the continent where our Great Yu is located is a land devoid of Qi, without the slightest bit of Spiritual Qi existing. It is impossible for Cultivators to stay here for long."

Zheng Yi's heart stirred, a land devoid of Qi?

"Then where are there Cultivators?"

"This official does not know either."

Xu Mujun said, "Your Majesty, the matter of cultivation is ethereal and untraceable. Having lived for so many years, this official has only ever seen Fire Spirit Master."

"Rumor has it that a great upheaval of heaven and earth occurred a thousand years ago, causing the Spiritual Qi—which is most crucial for Cultivators' cultivation—to recede, and countless Cultivators perished."

"Even if there are any now, most of them are hiding in secret places dragging out an ignoble existence. Why must Your Majesty bother seeking them out?"

"Also, Your Majesty."

Xu Mujun said solemnly, "The ancestral precepts of Great Yu dictate that no descendants of the Great Yu's Zheng family may cultivate!"

"I still hope Your Majesty will strictly abide by the Legacy precepts of Great Yu's successive ancestors!"

Looking at the solemn-faced Xu Mujun, Zheng Yi knew he could not get any more news from him and could only perfunctorily say, "We know, Minister Xu can rest assured."

"What We are worried about is that Fire Spirit Master was heavily injured and repelled by Minister Xu, yet he did not die."

"Before leaving, he once said he would return for revenge. What should happen if this person returns and the likes of us cannot resist?"

"That is why We thought of recruiting other Cultivators to resist Fire Spirit Master!"

Xu Mujun said, "Your Majesty can rest assured, Fire Spirit Master was heavily injured by this official and will be unable to recover in a short time."

"According to this official's guess, he will need at least three to five years to heal his injuries."

"Three to five years..." Zheng Yi frowned and said, "Then what about after three to five years?"

"After three to five years?"

Xu Mujun said coldly, "Then this official will continue to mobilize a large army to surround and kill this person!"

"Your Majesty, as far as this official knows, the competition among Cultivators is cruel, and assassinations and betrayals frequently occur."

"That Fire Spirit Master was deluded by Yang Xuansu to participate in the rebellion, and subsequently heavily injured by this official. It is inevitable that the news might leak out."

"There are quite a few experts who want to obtain cultivation opportunities and manuals; perhaps this person has already died at the hands of others!"

Zheng Yi frowned; he really disliked this feeling of handing his fate over to others.

Perhaps?

Or?

It was too vague.

What he wanted to do was to solve it once and for all, to pull out the weeds and root them out!

However, at this moment, he could only follow what Xu Mujun said: "Minister Xu's words are extremely right, We understand."

"In that case, this official will take his leave."

Xu Mujun took his leave and departed, but Zheng Yi murmured, "A land devoid of Qi? Having only ever seen Fire Spirit Master, so what?"

"No one can even think of disturbing Laozi's cultivation!"

"And regarding the threat of Fire Spirit Master, three to five years... I must think of a foolproof method!"

"Quickly, summon Consort Shu!"

Soon, Consort Shu, Yang Huan, walked in bringing two little girls.

One was over two years old, wearing special prison clothes, tied with two ponytail braids, carved in pink and jade, and extremely cute.

At this moment, she was pulling on her hemline, looking at the surroundings strangely.

The more than two months of prison life held no memories for her.

The other was still just an infant, being held in Yang Huan's arms and sleeping soundly.

Yang Huan had obviously cried; at this moment, her eye sockets were red, and she looked very pitiful.

"Your Majesty..."

Yang Huan gracefully knelt on the ground, and the little girl beside her also obediently knelt to the side.

"Sigh..."

Letting out a long breath, if it were possible, he would not want to execute so many people.

Especially when there were still children.

But the state laws are ruthless.

Imperial power is even more ruthless.

Since Yang Xuansu dared to rebel, he had to bear the consequences of failure.

"Rise."

"Understood."

Yang Huan pulled the little girl up and said, "Your Majesty, these two are this concubine's younger sisters. The two-year-and-one-month-old is called Yang Xueqing, and the nine-month-old is called Yang Xuening."

"They were both... born to this concubine's concubine-mother."

Born to a concubine-mother?

Then they were not legitimate daughters.

"You are very smart."

"Get up, you are pregnant, do not kneel for long. Grant a seat."

Zheng Yi waved his hand, signaling the palace maids to come in and take the two little girls away.

"Now, tell Us what We want to know."

"Understood."

Yang Huan sat on the chair and said, "Your Majesty, this concubine did indeed obtain quite a bit of intelligence regarding Cultivators from her father."

Zheng Yi concisely said, "Speak."

"That Fire Spirit Master is the Vice Master of Fuyou House."

"His cultivation seems to be at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation."

Yang Huan said, "The headquarters of Fuyou House is within the territory of Yu Country to the southwest of our Great Yu, as far as ten thousand li away from our Great Yu."

"He also contacted the Fuyou House headquarters through Fuyou House's branch in our Great Yu, and only managed to enlist that Fire Spirit Master at a tremendous cost."

"Is there a way to contact Fuyou House?"

"There is. But Father said that Fuyou House seems very unwilling to cooperate with the imperial court and the imperial family."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Hearing Father say it, it seems that the imperial courts and imperial families of more than a dozen surrounding countries once offended Fuyou House. This concubine does not know the specific details."

"Are there any Cultivation Techniques?"

"None."

"Are there any news of other Cultivators?"

"None."

"Do you know if there are any places within our Great Yu territory where Cultivators are suspected to have appeared, or places where Cultivators gather?"

"This..."

Yang Huan thought for a moment and said, "Father once said that when the late emperor campaigned in South Yue, there were once South Yue mountain people who drove poisonous insects and poisonous mists to attack the large army, suspected to be Cultivators."

"I see, it is Nanyue County again."

Zheng Yi said, "Are there any more?"

"There are."

"Tell me in detail."

"According to what Father said, besides Nanyue County, it seems there is also news of Cultivators existing overseas. But overseas is truly too far away..."

Several hours later, Yang Huan left with the two little girls.

From now on, only the three of them would depend on each other for survival in the entire Yang family.

But Zheng Yi looked at Yang Huan's departing figure in silent speechlessness.

From Yang Xuansu's mouth, no exact news regarding the cultivation world was obtained.

But it undoubtedly also pointed out three directions.

First, Fuyou House.

That was the place where Fire Spirit Master originated, far away in Yu Country ten thousand li away.

That Yu Country was an island nation, with over a thousand islands of varying sizes within its territory.

Wanting to find the Fuyou House headquarters within Yu Country's territory was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.

However, this was also a lead.

Having a rift with the imperial court and imperial family, and unwilling to work for the imperial family and court?

That's simple, We can just send others to approach them.

Second, Nanyue County.

This place was a newly conquered region of the Great Yu Dynasty. To occupy this place, the Great Yu Dynasty had over a hundred thousand people die in battle.

During the fierce battles, South Yue people of Nanyue County drove poisonous insects and poisonous mists to harm people, causing quite a bit of trouble for the large army.

Until now, a portion of the Longxiang Army was still suppressing Nanyue County.

"Nanyue County is also possible; send the Jinyi Guard to check it out first."

"Right, do I not have the 《Eastern Cloud Spirit Insect Blood Sacrifice Technique》? I need to find spirit insects for a blood sacrifice. Gu insects... should also be considered spirit insects, right."

Zheng Yi's thoughts turned: "I can order the officials of Nanyue County and local noble families to offer high-quality Gu insects, and attempt to refine them through sacrifice."

"As for myself, I'd better obediently stay in the imperial palace."

And third, overseas.

Thinking of this, Zheng Yi slowly shook his head.

The scope of overseas was truly too vast; goodness knows how big this world was?

Moreover, the Great Yu Dynasty also had a maritime ban, with few large ships making long voyages.

Wanting to investigate overseas, one still had to build large ships and continuously dispatch the Jinyi Guard out to sea to investigate.

"Overseas, overseas... Besides ocean-going ships, there must also be... cannons!"

"Cannons...!"

Zheng Yi's eyes suddenly lit up: "If I had cannons, let me think about how gunpowder is made? It seemed like I learned it in junior high school?"

"One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal?"

"I must find people to research it..."

"If there are a large amount of cannons or explosives, perhaps it can also become a major Magic Treasure to resist Fire Spirit Master!"

"After all, Xu Mujun could heavily injure Fire Spirit Master with the assistance of a military formation, so large-scale, high-yield gunpowder and explosives can do it too!"

"Three paths... No, there is a fourth one!"

Zheng Yi suddenly said: "Whether it is Xu Mujun or Yang Xuansu, neither has absolute certainty to prove that the Great Yu Dynasty or other countries do not have the existence of Cultivators."

"As long as We issue an edict to recruit talents, exhaust the wealth of Great Yu to search, or completely unify the entire continent, We do not believe We cannot find the traces of Cultivators!"

"Whether it was Eastern Cloud Wind or Yang Xuansu, both mentioned other countries and other imperial families."

"Even the Great Yu Dynasty had the Eastern Cloud Wind family possessing an ancestral Legacy artifact, so the imperial families of other countries will inevitably have similar items."

"As long as they exist, they will definitely leave clues!"

"This... is my chance."

"Even if it is looking for a needle in a haystack, I will fish them all out!"

"Liu Chengen!"

"this servant is here."

"Accompany Us to the underground palace."

"Understood!"