Chu Qifeng of Heavenly Works Pavilion, Spiritual Master Ku Yu of Humility School, Du Qingteng of White Rock Workshop, and Zou Yunluan of Bamboo Mountain Workshop were once the four strongest grandmasters of the Chu Dynasty. They even represented an era. However, when facing Demon Consort Zhao who supposedly only knew seductive techniques, one of the four grandmasters, Spiritual Master Ku Yu, was instantly defeated, so easily that even the palace remained unscathed. The scene looked less severe than that of a fight between low level cultivators.

As one of the opponents, Spiritual Master Ku Yu knew better than anyone else the disparity in power between himself and Consort Zhao Xiang.

Consort Zhao Xiang’s punch hadn’t just destroyed his body, but also his Taoist heart.

“How is this possible?”

He asked dazedly when he heard Consort Zhao Xiang’s words.

“In the many years of the past, the strongest cultivators in the world never came from the Chu Dynasty. Using tools is the difference between being a human and an animal, but overeliance on material items is the greatest weakness of your generation of cultivators.”

Consort Zhao Xiang looked coolly at him and said softly, “Using objects beneficial to oneself is the correct path. That is the correct cultivation path. While this truth is easy to understand, and any cultivator of the Chu Dynasty understands, compared to the cultivators of the Qin and Zhao dynasties, you cultivators seem to lack a certain spirit from the start.”

If this was an ordinary time, Spiritual Master Ku Yu most likely would have sniffed at Consort Zhao Xiang’s words, and said that she was speaking nonsense. However, after seeing the other subdue him completely with a punch, he had a completely different understanding.

He grimaced. “This is the so-called ‘a truth easy to understand but hard to enact’?”

Consort Zhao Xiang smiled brightly and said, “Since you have seen my power today, you should have some confidence in my and the Chu Dynasty’s future.

Spiritual Master Ku Yu shook his head and whispered. “I still do not have confidence.”

Consort Zhao Xiang’s expression changed into a rare frosty one. She said in a slightly harsh voice, “My Chu will not have anyone stronger than me for a very long time. You have no confidence in me because of people from other dynasties? You are Chu, and you will listen to the opinions of foreigners?”

Spiritual Master Ku Yu took a deep breath.

This was the last breath he would take in this world, so the air that he breathed into his chest was exceptionally sweet.

Consort Zhao Xiang’s expression grew uglier.

She could see Spiritual Master Ku Yu’s intentions in seeking death, but even she could not stop a cultivator of his level from killing himself.

A soft explosion sounded in Spiritual Master Ku Yu’s heart meridian. Then, this Chu grandmaster’s head dropped as he died.

Consort Zhao Xiang clenched her fist hard before slowly relaxing.

A ruler-straight bolt of energy appeared in the air on top of her head and shot into the sky like smoke.

“Who could make people like you and Chu Qifeng believe that my king’s decision to make Li Lingjun the crown prince is wrong? That you will even die for this?”

She could not control her emotions as she looked at Spiritual Master Ku Yu’s corpse. She really could not understand.

The night passed, and the morning mists faded as a dim light silently landed from the clouds.

The Endless Palace was the name of a palace within the Changling inner palace. At the same time, it was a secret cultivation place that the empress had set up. The empress had come from the Ba Mountain Sword Field, and during the wars with the Han, Zhao, and Wei dynasties, she had already been a legendary cultivator. The cultivation place she had set up naturally possessed astounding means that other ordinary cultivation places did not have.

The half bird half fish steed of the master of Endless Palace, Pan Ruoye, was not an ordinary one. It had never appeared before in any cultivation records.

Even with the addition of Ding Ning and Fu Su, this half bird half fish steed was still extremely light as it flew, not even tired after its long flight.

High in the air, Mo Shoucheng released a presence to block the cold wind. Being high in the sky and on the ground were not much different, but when the steed finally landed, something also seemed to land inside Fu Su’s body. He made a decision, turning to look at Ding Ning and said softly in a guilty voice, “I must apologize to you. From the start, I purposefully concealed my identity.”

Ding Ning remained silent. He thought inside, if someone were to apologize, the first one should be him.

He had originally thought it would be easy to use the power of the empress to deal with Forefather Zhou. But the situation had turned complex with the appearance of the king of Chu, with him and Fu Su ending up in a truly dangerous situation.

“I know you must be very angry.” Fu Su became slightly nervous when he heard Ding Ning’s silence. He did not know what to say, stiffening on his spot.

Ding Ning looked up at his nervous features and said, “You do not have to apologize because I never asked about your identity.”

Fu Su stilled, and did not understand the meaning in his words.

Ding Ning continued calmly. “I never look at people’s identity when making friends.”

Fu Su reacted. He looked with delight at Ding Ning and said, “You really do not care?”

Ding Ning frowned slightly. “As long as you do not care.”

Fu Su understood Ding Ning’s meaning and nodded emphatically. “We will be the same as before.”

Hearing the conversation of the two youths, Mo Shoucheng smiled slightly. In his view, this was naturally a very childish conversation. How could a child of an emperor, especially the future crown prince of the Qin Dynasty, have a true friend in the future?

High in the mountains, the wind was even colder. When people had high status, they would not have friends. This could not be avoided.

It was possible to see Deer Mountain clearly by now. Looking at Deer Mountain which did not seem outstanding compared to the surrounding mountains, Fu Su couldn’t help but turn to ask Mo Shoucheng, his mood light. “Principal Mo, what are we going to do now?”

Mo Shoucheng was the teacher of the Holy One, and was also the principal of the school responsible for teaching imperial members. However, in these recent years, other than Emperor Yuanwu, the empress, Huang Zhenwei and a rare few, not many were able to meet him. As a result, being called Principal Mo was a novel experience to him.

This kind of title made him feel that he was slightly younger, reminiscent of the old days.

He smiled in pleasure and said kindly, “We are going to ascend a mountain, but not Deer Mountain.”

Fu Su stilled. He could not understand Mo Shoucheng’s meaning. Even if they were going to ascend another mountain, why would they land below the mountains and not fly up?

Mo Shoucheng looked at Ding Ning and said warmly, “That day, in the heavy snow, you and Xue Wangxu walked into my sight and I had some understanding of you. From the start, Wang Taixu valued you because you possessed astounding judgement. Can you guess what Palace Master Pan and I will do next?”

Ding Ning thought for a moment and did not waste words. He said, “The Holy One is going to ascend Deer Mountain in person and so other people do not have to consider the matters on Deer Mountain, they just have to make sure there are no outside influences.”

A hint of emotion appeared in Mo Shoucheng’s eyes. He said slowly, “Later, when the four rulers meet on Deer Mountain, Deer Mountain will be sealed by the armies and cultivators of the dynasties. At the time, the closest distance to the peak of Deer Mountain will be the peaks of these various mountains.”

Fu Su seemed to understand slightly and said in surprise, “You mean, when the conference starts, people may fly over the peaks?”

“This is an unprecedented conference, anything is possible.” Mo Shoucheng looked at him and said, “But true experts need only a perfect opportunity. They do not need to fly over. They only have to make sure their power is enough to be near the peak of Deer Mountain at the right time..”

Fu Su had completely understood, he said, “So the surroundings of Deer Mountain… any of the mountains near the peak of Deer Mountain will be taken over by powerful cultivators. You need to pick a mountain you can ascend.”

“There are many grandmasters in the world. Who dares to think they are invincible? Also, Palace Master Pan and I have yet to reach realm eight. Even if we work together against the king of Chu, we will not have absolute victory. How can we guarantee that we can ascend any mountain we want?”

Mo Shoucheng nodded. His gaze was on the silent peaks in the distance. “Naturally, we have to find a mountain we can ascend.”

The morning light was dim as the dew on the grass reflected a glowing light. Mo Shoucheng and Pan Ruoye slowly walked to the base of a mountain.

Without any change in presence, the dew on the grass at the base of the mountain all fell off the tips of the grass at the same time.

Each dewdrop was minuscule. Usually, when dew like this fell off, it would not make any sound.

But when the dew drops on all the grass tips fell at the same time, it created an unimaginable presence. The air boomed, and an invisible wave formed in the forest, so enormous it could not be imagined.

After the previous question, Fu Su knew that there would be astoundingly powerful grandmasters within these calm peaks, but when he sensed this kind of presence, his face still drained of blood and grew whiter.

Ding Ning narrowed his eyes slightly. He was certain this mountain was one that Mo Shoucheng and Pan Ruoye could not get. He knew that Mo Shoucheng and Pan Ruoye wanted to use the smallest of costs so they could fight at full power during the Deer Mountain Conference.

The moment he thought this, Mo Shoucheng and Pan Ruoye had stopped and walked towards another mountain peak.

Translator Ramblings: I’m not sure how great this philosophy of “over-reliance on seal weapons” makes the Chu weaker than Qin comparing how much the Qin has been shown to rely on … their swords.