Chapter 111: Chapter 105: The Path of Longevity Is All in the Pill

Night fell.

Prince Jin’s Mansion was brightly lit.

Lei Meng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, repeatedly instructing the ten Level C Experts and two Level B Experts from the Endless Pavilion:

“All of you are elites under His Highness’s command and have contributed greatly. However, tonight’s mission is crucial and unlike any you’ve undertaken before. I expect you to treat it with the utmost seriousness!”

“Tributor Lei, may we ask what you require of us?”

Lei Meng smiled faintly. “Infiltrate Prince Zhuang’s Mansion.”

“Prince Zhuang’s Mansion?”

Hearing this, everyone’s eyelids twitched.

They naturally knew who Prince Zhuang was—the current Fourth Prince, Lu Guangren.

Infiltrating Prince Zhuang’s Mansion would be fraught with danger.

How could the mansion of a current prince not have a Middle Fifth Grade expert guarding it?

Seeing their expressions, Lei Meng tutted. “What’s there to be nervous about? I’m not asking you to fight. You must be careful not to expose your identities, or it’s a dead end for you.”

“Besides, with two Level B Experts by your side, what do you have to fear?”

He pointed to the two men beside him.

“Let me introduce them. These are two of Prince Jin’s B-Grade Tributors, Grandmaster Yu and Elder Dong. They are a peak Grandmaster and a Creation Realm expert, respectively.”

From within the crowd, Lu Mingyuan glanced at the two men.

Understanding dawned on him.

’A Level B Expert must be at least above the Grandmaster realm to qualify. Their status is quite high, earning them the title of Tributor.’

’At the very least, that Grandmaster Yu is no match for me. Still, a peak Grandmaster who has opened 512 apertures is on the same level as Huo Hongling. If my true self were here, I could kill him in a single blow.’

’Only that white-bearded Daoist in the black robe is a bit more formidable—an Eighth Realm Qi Cultivator, at the Creation Realm.’

Seeing that two B-Grade Tributors would be accompanying them, the crowd finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“If there’s an emergency, use the Jade Tokens in your hands to make contact. On the way, you are to follow Elder Dong’s commands. He will inform you of the specific details.”

With a final word of caution from Tributor Lei, the group set off.

Led by the white-bearded Daoist in the black robe, the group left Prince Jin’s Mansion in batches, heading for Prince Zhuang’s Mansion.

On the road.

The group Lu Mingyuan was assigned to happened to include two others from the final selection.

He remembered one was Wu Shangzhen from Danyang Mountain, and the other was Hu Susu from Qingqiu Temple.

“Young Master, we meet again.”

Hu Susu was dressed in a simple white silk skirt. Her arms were slender and fair, her chest full and prominent, the valley between her breasts a flash of white. With a faint smile, her foxy eyes unintentionally exuded a charm that was like the world’s most potent aphrodisiac.

Unfortunately for her, it had no effect on him.

Nearby, the High Crown Daoist, Wu Shangzhen, also seemed unaffected, muttering something under his breath.

Lu Mingyuan could clearly hear him chanting a spell.

It was obviously something like a Calm Heart Spell.

But he was different. Protected by his Zen Heart, he was completely unfazed.

“Can you rein in your Divine Techniques?”

Lu Mingyuan warned in an icy tone.

“I was born with a naturally alluring body, I can’t help it,” Hu Susu said, her eyes glistening with moisture. She looked utterly innocent and pitiable.

Wu Shangzhen glanced at the two beside him, his expression indifferent. In a rare moment of speech, he said, “Let’s get this straight. If we run into danger, I won’t save you, and you don’t need to save me. We are each responsible for our own lives.”

“How could you be so heartless, Daoist brother?” Hu Susu pouted coquettishly.

Wu Shangzhen ignored her, closing his eyes to meditate as he continued on their way, still chanting his spell.

Lu Mingyuan noted his extraordinary bearing. Activating Recognizing People, he suddenly detected a surge of purple qi around the top of the man’s skull. He was clearly no ordinary Qi Cultivator.

’With that appearance, he must be from a famous and powerful sect.’

’I wonder why he joined the Second Prince’s faction.’

Seeing that both men were ignoring her, Hu Susu could only shut her mouth and mutter to herself.

Her eyes darted about restlessly, and it was impossible to tell what she was plotting.

…

「Prince Zhuang’s Mansion」

The splendid moonlight shone down through the mansion’s skylights, blanketing everything in silence.

The inner courtyard was incredibly spacious. Through a long, railed corridor, maids flanked a circular archway—all of them young women, merely fourteen or fifteen years old.

They were lining up, entering one by one with curious expressions, only to emerge with faces full of shame and indignation.

In the main hall of the residence, a massive, antique Alchemy Furnace was placed. A great fire blazed within it, emitting waves of medicinal fragrance, while the surrounding bookshelves were in disarray.

A slender man in a formal Daoist Robe, his long hair tied up in a crown, sat beside the Alchemy Furnace and poured the entire contents of a porcelain bottle of Pill Blood into it.

He then sat down, closed his eyes to meditate, and began forming seals for a Taoist Technique.

After forty-nine breaths,

The slender man opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them for an instant. He opened the furnace to retrieve the Pill, and a strange, dense aroma filled the air.

A translucent, vermilion Elixir slowly rose into the air.

He snatched it in his hand, his expression ecstatic, his beard trembling.

“Hahaha! I’ve succeeded!”

“The Sixth-Turn Yang Supplement Pill is finally complete!”

“Congratulations, Your Highness. You are one step closer to longevity.”

A Daoist in a brown robe standing beside him bowed his hands slightly and gave a small smile.

The slender man no longer hesitated. He swallowed the vermilion Elixir in one gulp and began to circulate the Taoist Qi in his body.

But in just a moment, the aura around his body surged dramatically.

Yet the slender man cursed aloud:

“Just half a step away! I’m just half a step away from breaking through to the Eighth Realm!”

The brown-robed Daoist bowed his hands slightly. “There is nothing wrong with the Yin Yang Replenishing Method. It’s just that this Palace Blood didn’t come from a Cultivator, so its effects are limited.”

This man was the current Fourth Prince; they couldn’t afford to offend him.

Lu Guangren calmed himself and said coldly, “Then go and get some.”

“Has the new batch of women arrived?”

“Reporting to Your Highness, they have.”

The brown-robed Daoist knew that this prince wasn’t passionate about the throne. Instead, he was fervent about longevity and Cultivation.

He frequently used the Yin Yang Replenishing Method to greatly enhance his Cultivation, thereby extending his lifespan.

“Bring them in at once!”

“Yes!”

“But… are you sure we don’t need to negotiate with the Taoist Sect?”

“Just keep them on the hook. Tell them to prepare more Spirit Medicine and that they won’t be forgotten when it comes to future benefits. For now, we’ll watch the tigers fight from the mountain. No need to bother them.”

After the brown-robed Daoist had left,

“The Path of Longevity is found within the Pill.”

Lu Guangren murmured to himself, then snorted. “The throne? Celestial Mandate? Longevity is the only true path. Everything else is just an illusion. Once my Cultivation reaches five hundred years, even the Great Yan Empire might not exist anymore.”

「Meanwhile」

Lu Mingyuan had already regrouped with the two B-Grade Tributors.

To his surprise, the gates of Prince Zhuang’s Mansion were wide open, as if welcoming them.

’Weren’t we supposed to be infiltrating? This doesn’t feel like it’s following the script.’

He had thought they were supposed to sneak in.

The leading white-bearded Daoist in the black robe smiled and bowed his hands toward the brown-robed Daoist at the mansion gate. “It’s been a while, Fellow Daoist Cui.”

“The quality of this batch of women is not bad, is it?”

The brown-robed Daoist looked at the large group of women behind him, very satisfied. Not only that, but their Cultivation was not weak; they were all Cultivators.

“Acceptable. You’ve handled this well.”

Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan finally understood.

’So they’re using the pretense of human trafficking to get inside the Prince’s Mansion?’

’What does the Fourth Prince want with so many women?’

’Could it be that he’s like the Fifth Prince, fond of his nightly torture sessions?’

Lu Mingyuan couldn’t figure it out for the moment.

Most of the C-Grade Tributors who followed were women. He, Wu Shangzhen, and a few other men stood to the side like guards.

The brown-robed Daoist stepped forward personally and took out several pairs of manacles, on which the faint Golden Light of a Talisman flickered.

After watching the people from the Endless Pavilion being led away in the Talisman-inscribed shackles, the leader, Elder Dong, slowly sent a mental transmission:

“You few, wait for the signal. Remain stationed around the Prince’s Mansion. When you see the Jade Token flash, it will be time to strike.”

Hearing the words “time to strike,” Lu Mingyuan felt like he had been deceived again.

Nevertheless, he scanned the surroundings of Prince Zhuang’s Mansion and found them to be terrifyingly gloomy, as if hiding some unspeakable secret.

All he could do was wait silently for the dead of night.

…

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