“...”
After leaving the town at the foot of the mountain, Su Yueli walked along the official road, pondering her subsequent plans.
To truly roam the world without restraint, the Thirteenth Realm was certainly powerful, but if she could break through to the Fourteenth Realm, no place in this world could stop her.
After all, in the current cultivation world, the so-called Fifteenth Realm had not appeared for ten thousand years. The last person to reach it had ascended to the Heavenly Realm ten millennia ago.
In the world today, the number of powerhouses in the Fourteenth Realm could be counted on one hand; that was already the absolute limit of this world.
However, she was tempering a Ji Dao physical body. After stepping into the Flawless Realm, the amount of blood qi required by her body was as vast as the ocean and as deep as an abyss. Ordinary cultivation pills or martial artist medicinal materials had no effect on her at all.
She had heard that there was a Grade Eight Alchemist in the imperial city of the Great Li Dynasty. She planned to try her luck and see if that person could refine pills that nourished extreme blood qi.
With that thought, Su Yueli headed all the way east.
Half a day later, she passed through the territory of the Blue Moon Sect.
Su Yueli stood atop a lonely peak several miles away, gazing at the mountain gate of the Blue Moon Sect from afar. Various sword lights rose and fell before the gate, and disciples hurried in and out, looking very busy.
She watched for a while but did not see Shen Huai'an, Shen Qing'an's younger brother who had become the Young Sect Master.
However, among the figures of the busy disciples, she noticed a somewhat familiar silhouette. Even though many years had passed and the once impulsive youth had become a steady middle-aged man, Su Yueli recognized him at a glance.
It was Qi Feng.
Back in the mortal world, he had been a friend she occasionally interacted with. He had even specially taken missions from the sect to provide Su Yueli with some of the resources she needed. He was a warm-hearted young man.
However, they had separated due to circumstances and had never met again. A century had passed, and the faces of many people in her memory had long since blurred. Her ability to recognize Qi Feng at a glance was not because of a deep friendship between them.
It was entirely because, over these long years, almost all of her friends had died out.
Su Yueli shook her head, withdrew her gaze, and continued walking toward the imperial city.
At the same time, in front of the Blue Moon Sect’s mountain gate, Qi Feng, who was currently assigning tasks, suddenly felt something. He abruptly turned his head to look at the lonely peak outside the sect, his expression somewhat strange.
A junior brother beside him leaned in and asked, “Senior Brother, what’s wrong?”
Qi Feng scratched his head, his tone a bit confused. “Strange, it felt like someone was watching me from a distance just now...”
The disciple laughed upon hearing this. “Senior Brother, your senses must be playing tricks on you. This is our Blue Moon Sect’s mountain gate, and the sect-protecting array is always active. Who could possibly peek at you from afar?”
“Besides, with your current cultivation, Senior Brother, if someone were truly spying on you, you would have been alerted long ago.”
Qi Feng thought about it and felt it made sense. He nodded and said, “Perhaps my senses were mistaken.” Having said that, he thought no more of it and turned to lead the disciples up the mountain.
Two days later, Su Yueli arrived at the Great Li Imperial City. This magnificent city, where mortals and cultivators intersected, was as bustling and prosperous as ever.
The towering city walls rose from the ground, and the city gates were crowded with carriages and horses. The sounds of street vendors and galloping hooves intertwined, making it even grander than it had been a hundred years ago.
Su Yueli walked along the wide bluestone street, looking at the prosperous mortal world before her eyes, her thoughts drifting slightly. Recalling the past, she had once participated in a mortal Martial Arts Tournament here and had squeezed into a corner of the crowd to watch the high and mighty geniuses of the immortal path hold the Immortal Path Tournament.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. Lin Ye, whom she had met at the Martial Arts Tournament back then... was probably already dead. After all, the lifespan of a mortal was too short to withstand such a long passage of time.
Revisiting the old haunts, she found that the places were the same, but the faces had changed. Su Yueli shook her head, suppressing the sentimentality in her mind, and walked straight toward the palace.
With her current peak Thirteenth Realm Flawless body, very few people in this world could stop her. It wasn't that she couldn't fight Thirteenth Realm cultivators; even against Fourteenth Realm powerhouses, she had the capital to hold her own.
If she could avoid meaningless battles, she naturally did not want to resort to violence. However, she also did not want to go through the slow procedures and waste time to gather clues as she had done back then.
The palace gates were right before her, heavily guarded by the Imperial Guards. Su Yueli let out a breath and leaped inside from the side.
She stepped into the palace, yet not a single person detected her presence. Her physical body was Flawless, and her blood qi was completely sealed deep within her bone marrow. In the eyes of these ordinary guards, she was like an invisible breeze.
Su Yueli began to wander aimlessly through the Great Li imperial palace. Looking at the familiar vermilion palace walls and the carved beams and painted rafters, she could not help but feel a bit dazed.
She remembered that when she first arrived in the imperial city, she was just a minor martial artist with an uncertain future. Every step she took near this palace had to be cautious, for fear of offending some high-ranking immortal master or noble.
Now, walking through these palace courtyards again was like strolling through her own backyard. The restraint and trepidation she had felt back then were long gone.
As she walked and turned past a stone bridge, a figure clad in golden armor suddenly stopped in his tracks ahead of her. Su Yueli could sense that the other party's strength was roughly around the Eleventh Realm.
The golden-armored cultivator stared at Su Yueli, who was dressed in light blue robes, as if facing a formidable enemy. He had no idea when this woman had walked here!
If not for a very faint resonance from the palace's grand array, he would not have noticed someone standing in front of him at all!
“Who are you?!” The golden-armored cultivator’s voice was heavy. “To trespass into the depths of the palace without a summons—how on earth did you get in?”
Su Yueli stopped walking, her expression calm. She did not answer who she was, only saying, “I am here to find someone.”
The golden-armored cultivator frowned deeply, his hand tightening slightly on his sword hilt. He said in a low voice, “His Majesty is not in the palace right now. If you have business, you can follow the rules and file a report. Trespassing like this is quite a slight to our Great Li government.”
Upon hearing this, Su Yueli shook her head. “I am not looking for your emperor. I am here to find the Grade Eight Alchemist.”
The golden-armored cultivator was stunned for a moment, a flash of bewilderment appearing in his eyes. “You are looking for Master Yun?”
Su Yueli was not sure what the other party's name was, only that they were a Grade Eight Alchemist, so she nodded. “It should be him.”
The golden-armored cultivator glanced at her, well aware that the strength of the woman before him was unfathomable. If they truly fought, he would have no chance of winning.
He immediately spoke up, “Master Yun’s status is venerable. If you wish to see him, I must first go and report. You must wait here.”
Su Yueli felt a bit helpless but could only agree. “Very well.”
Although she still had to wait for a while, at least she didn't have to follow procedures everywhere to hunt for clues, which saved a lot of trouble. This was the palace, after all; since the other party was being polite, she was willing to follow the rules slightly.
The golden-armored cultivator did not dare to delay. After cupping his fists and excusing himself, his figure quickly flew toward the depths of the palace.
He did not keep Su Yueli waiting for long. In just a short while, the golden-armored cultivator returned. His expression was now a few degrees more respectful than before as he bowed slightly.
“Master Yun invites you. Please follow me.”
Rate on N.U.
