In the bustling Jia District of the Inner City of the Imperial Capital, there stood a pavilion complex covering several hundred acres.
The Drunken Flower Tower.
It was divided into the Twelve Jade Maidens’ Districts, each offering exceptionally special services. As long as one had enough gold and silver, one could et all sorts of won here.
At night, it beca a veritable city of no night, a place where n would linger and forget to return ho.
Even during the day, the Drunken Flower Tower was packed with people.
At this mont, deep within an estate inside the Drunken Flower Tower, people in uniform robes were gathered in a courtyard.
In the center of a lake, a giant white lotus, visible to the naked eye, was in bloom. The people gazed at the sacred white lotus with yearning in their eyes; even the water of the small lake was snow-white.
Besides these people in white lotus robes, there were also many mbers of the nobility and scions of noble families, all dressed in brocade and jade belts, their expressions fearful.
A middle-aged man with a weathered but kind and benevolent face stood there. He was dressed in spotless white robes, and his graying hair only added to his amiable appearance.
"Is it not good to have nothing?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.
"It is precisely because people have too many attachnts—such as status, power, and material desires—that they beco lost on the path of the great Dao. If you can let go of everything, you can maintain your Daoxin, and your cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds, allowing you to go further."
"To realize selflessness is the highest realm of the wise; to ta one’s own heart is the highest realm of discipline."
His voice carried a bewitching tone, causing the scions of the nobility and noble families to nod their heads dazedly from ti to ti.
"Lord Duanmu is right."
Just as the middle-aged man was brainwashing the people before him, a sect mber at his side suddenly interrupted, sending him a voice transmission.
"Sect Leader, recently, the Court’s Bright Lamp Bureau has been appearing frequently near our strongholds."
Duanmu Lian stopped what he was doing, had a trusted subordinate continue the sermon, and walked into a nearby pavilion.
He frowned at his subordinate and asked, "Haven’t I told you? Be careful of Great Yan’s internal spies when you’re recruiting people. At the sa ti, you must not provoke the Great Yan Court. Our only target is the Endless Pavilion in the Imperial Capital. Infiltrating the Imperial Capital’s underworld is a secondary objective. If we can control a few high-ranking Court officials and extract so intelligence, that would be acceptable as well."
"Sect Leader, soone must have exposed our movents to Great Yan," the disciple in the white lotus robe sighed. "In just a single day, three of the properties we acquired have been targeted by the Bright Lamp Bureau. Luo Ying’s whereabouts are now unknown."
Duanmu Lian sat in the main hall, staring at the sect mber kneeling below him. A ruthless expression appeared on his forrly amiable face. "What did you say? Luo Ying is gone without a trace too? She was the last of Prince Jin’s remnants we hadn’t dealt with. Who else could possibly help her? If Prince Jin could beco the lord of this Imperial Capital City’s underworld, why can’t I?"
The sect mber kneeling below said in a trembling voice, "There... there must be... so power secretly protecting... Luo Ying and her forces."
Duanmu Lian said in a low voice, "The Corpse-Driving Elder has Elder Du of the Endless Pavilion tied down. What other expert could silently kill two Martial Venerables and three Nascent Soul Great Cultivators in a row?"
The Corpse-Driving Elder was the Sect Master of the Corpse-Driving Sect from the Yin Mountain Ancient Land on the border of the Great Sui Dynasty. He had mastered the ancient Corpse-Driving Technique and was also an Honored Guest Elder of the White Lotus Ancient Sect.
If the Drunken Flower Tower didn’t need soone to hold down the fort, and with the White Lotus Ancient Sect having just established a foothold in the Imperial Capital, Duanmu Lian would have already rushed to the Imperial Palace himself. ’He desperately wanted to know what kind of dragon’s lair or tiger’s den it truly was.’
’Could he gain control of enough people to manipulate the Great Yan Court?’
’Emulate National Preceptor Xun Yu and control the entire Dynasty.’
This was his ultimate ambition.
Just then, Duanmu Lian sensed a powerful aura fluctuate as it entered the Drunken Flower Tower, making the entire estate feel colder and more sinister.
’The Corpse-Driving Elder is back!’
The frost on Duanmu Lian’s face lted away, replaced by a look of joy. With a flicker of his body, he vanished from his seat.
In the center of the Drunken Flower Tower was a blood-red lake.
At this mont, a dark black coffin was floating on the water’s surface.
Strange, ghostly script flowed across the coffin’s surface. Each character emitted a frigid, yin aura, so cold that an average Middle Fifth Grade Cultivator would be frozen stiff just by standing on the lake’s shore.
The Corpse-Driving Elder stood beside the coffin.
Duanmu Lian appeared on the shore of the Blood Lake. Noticing that sothing was wrong with the Corpse-Driving Elder’s condition, he said in surprise, "Elder, are you injured?"
A vast and distant voice ca from the Corpse-Driving Elder’s mouth. "The Thousand chanism Rakshasa, Zhong Yuli, is truly worthy of his reputation as a top expert who has dominated an era. He’s a mber of the Great Yan Dynasty’s Dragon Guardian Pavilion. Though he only just broke through to the Half-Step Human Immortal realm, his combat power is already no less than my own. I had to sacrifice several of my ancient corpses just to escape."
"A Half-Step Human Immortal?"
Duanmu Lian’s face was filled with utter astonishnt.
The Thirteenth Realm for Qi Cultivators is known as the Human Immortal Realm, the first of the Upper Three Grades.
A Qi Cultivator who reaches this realm has achieved Refining Spirit Perfection, condensed the Three Flowers at the Crown, and passed the Thunder Tribulation. They can be considered figures on par with Earth Immortals. Although they cannot compare to the True Immortals of the Middle Ages, they are still top-tier Great Powers in the Central Plains World.
The Dao Alliance would be scrambling to recruit any top expert at the Human Immortal Realm.
Even soone with just one foot in this realm could sweep away any Middle Fifth Grade Cultivator.
"You encountered an Imperial Expert?"
Duanmu Lian also realized the gravity of the situation.
The Corpse-Driving Elder nodded. "The Thousand chanism Rakshasa beca famous five hundred years ago. His Innate Treasure, the Thousand chanism Umbrella, is a Secret Treasure of the Mo Family. This man is nicknad the Jade-faced Rakshasa; he appears handso and refined on the surface, but his thods are ruthless, like a Hell Rakshasa. I was originally hunting Elder Du when I ran into this beast halfway. I burned a hundred years of my lifespan and lost three of my trump-card ancient corpses just to barely make it back."
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