Chapter 46: Just Like the Old Days

Ignite the Star-迷 (Mí) Grass.

An exotic fragrance diffuses.

Inside the room, the palace maids and eunuchs are in a deep slumber.

"When you were born, I suggested strangling you. I could have done it myself, but unfortunately, she refused."

"I didn't expect you would still kill him..."

Giving birth without pregnancy, living by borrowing a womb—with such demonic methods in play, it was no longer surprising for a child to grow to the age of seven or eight in a single year.

It wasn't strange to Su Chen that Emperor Jianwu recognized him; he had likely exposed himself while assisting Consort Luo with childbirth.

"What does Your Majesty want with me? I have nothing to discuss with you."

Su Chen took a slight step back, maintaining a safe distance from Emperor Jianwu.

In the Imperial Palace, there were few things he truly feared, save for the white-robed man burning with the special Longevity Fire and this Great Demon who had lived for over three hundred years.

"I didn't want to kill her either. Unfortunately, to perform the Secret Art of the Spirit Fetus, the mother must be killed so that the power left behind by the previous incarnation can be reclaimed bit by bit."

"She must die."

Emperor Jianwu gazed deeply at Su Chen.

In this world, the only person who had managed to deceive and remain unreadable to a Grandmaster Great Demon like him was the Su Chen standing before him.

The 24th year of Tianwu, the 10th year of Jianwu—through two entire dynasties, he had failed to realize that such an expert was hidden within the Imperial Palace.

"I will make a deal with you."

"Ten years!"

"For these ten years, you shall take no side!"

"I will reclaim the throne! I will set everything back on its proper track!"

"The providence of Great Liang is useful to me. As long as I am on the throne, I will at least prevent the world from falling into chaos, and I will never sacrifice millions of lives to please demons..."

Emperor Jianwu toyed with a jade cup, his words concise and powerful.

Then, as if parting with an immense profit, he added

"As compensation, you may tour the Immortal Treasury..."

*Immortal Treasury? What is that?*

Su Chen felt a surge of doubt, but his expression remained impassive.

"You possess the 'Wind and Snow One Sword' technique, and you carry the scent of the Sword Fate Pages. I presume Chief Eunuch Bai Xuan brought you into his fold and told you everything before he died."

"As for the Immortal Treasury, I need not say more..."

Emperor Jianwu seemed certain that no one could refuse the Immortal Treasury.

However... *what exactly is the Immortal Treasury?!*

Regardless, taking no side incurred no loss. Had it not been for that night of torrential snow and the fact that he hadn't encountered the young Emperor, Su Chen's sword would likely have already cleaved through him.

"That is your business. It has nothing to do with me."

With that, Su Chen departed.

The Cold Palace returned to its tranquility.

Deep within the palace curtains, a figure approached.

Purple robes.

White hair, a youthful face.

It was none other than the other Purple-Robed First Chief Eunuch.

"Strange," Bai Mo frowned. "It feels as though he discovered me."

"Impossible," Emperor Jianwu growled lowly. "Your techniques originate from the Immortal Treasury. Forget the First Rank; even a Grandmaster would find it difficult to glimpse even a fraction of them. How could a mere Second Rank 'Viscera' practitioner like him detect you?"

"Perhaps it was just my illusion."

Despite saying so, Bai Mo knew clearly that Su Chen had indeed stared in his direction for a long time.

...

"The Sword Fate Pages."

"So it wasn't just a ridiculous dream."

In the pharmacy, Su Chen stood in the courtyard. He picked up an icicle, reminiscing about the single sword strike passed down by the white-robed sword immortal in his dream.

That strike possessed three variations.

*Bang!*

The icicle slashed like a sword.

*Boom!*

In an instant, thousands of icy sword shadows swept past.

The icicle shattered.

Even with only seventy percent of the first variation's essence, it was already no inferior to the thirty percent of the "Wind and Snow True Intent" that Su Chen currently mastered.

"Time to sleep."

Stretching his limbs, Su Chen went to bed.

However, for one person, this night would be sleepless.

Inside the Imperial Palace, in a dark hall, three towering, non-human figures stood with mouths full of blood. They were First Rank demons, currently tearing at and frantically struggling against a living person. Their fur stood on end as they let out beast-like roars, standing back-to-back in a state of extreme terror, ready for combat.

"It's happening again."

"It wasn't an illusion."

"There really is a human Grandmaster practitioner in the midst of 'Micro-entry' cultivation hidden in the palace..."

"It can't be Emperor Taizu of Liang. He is still sealed in the black coffin beneath the Imperial Tombs. Besides, he isn't even worthy of Micro-entry. Who could it be? Where did this Grandmaster come from..."

A white robe arrived with a violent gust.

Master Chu paced back and forth, feeling for the first time that the Imperial Palace possessed the peril of a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

"This isn't what was agreed upon! Five hundred thousand lives and three First Rank supporters were promised, but no one said we might have to face a Grandmaster!"

The three towering, man-eating demons, with their blood-red vertical pupils, stared fixedly at the white-robed man.

"What do you want?"

"There's a Grandmaster on the other side! I'm going to need more money!"

The next day, at dawn.

Su Chen, the "Micro-entry Grandmaster," stretched and sat in a lounge chair warming himself by the fire. He spoke with gentle persuasion to Xiao Xuanzi, who was newly rekindled with fighting spirit.

"How many times have I told you? We are just ordinary eunuchs. In this palace, we just need to live our own lives well."

"So what if one becomes a Chief Eunuch? They'll just be dismissed by the Emperor and kicked out of the Imperial City anyway. We are just ordinary eunuchs; we can't withstand any storms. A single Captain of the Imperial Guard could beat the two of us until we're wailing..."

"You're young and strong, so it's fine. But with my old bones and limbs, I expect if a Captain punched me, I'd be on my knees begging him not to let me die..."

Xiao Xuanzi had heard these words so many times over the past year that his ears were practically calloused.

But this time, Xiao Xuanzi listened with extraordinary seriousness. He stood beside Su Chen, brewing tea for him as if this were their final meeting.

He nodded.

"Master, everything you say is right."

"In these past two days, I have thought about it, and I finally understand. This world is unjust, and someone must shatter it!"

"I want to cultivate! To be the one who shatters this injustice!"

"Master, I'm sorry, but I must leave you. I am going to the West Depot. Only there can I travel the world and have the chance to see the cultivation methods of the realm..."

With a determined gaze, Xiao Xuanzi knelt and kowtowed heavily to Su Chen.

Looking at the light in Xiao Xuanzi's eyes, Su Chen felt a sense of déjà vu.

For a moment, he seemed to see a high-spirited man in green robes telling him: *One day, when you don the purple robes, you shall wear the Red Python Robe.*

The Red Python Robe was the highest rank of the red robes.

He also seemed to see a once-cautious man in blue robes erupting with passion, kneeling and saying: *Please, Master Su, elevate me!*

"You are just an ordinary eunuch. You don't need to carry these burdens..."

Before Su Chen could finish, Xiao Xuanzi kowtowed heavily once more, hoisted his packed belongings, and stepped out the door.

"Master Xu."

"I want to become the second Chief Eunuch. I want to try to change this world. It might be ridiculous, but I still want to try..."

"Before my youthful spirit dissipates, before I become numb and indifferent..."

"If I stay in the deep palace, I might still be Xiao Xuanzi, but I will no longer be Ye Xuan!"

Xiao Xuanzi left.

The pharmacy felt somewhat empty.

Su Chen reverted to being alone.

"Is this what you wanted to see? Letting him join the West Depot to travel the world and change this unjust era... he will die..." Su Chen sighed softly.

A slender hand took the place of the former Xiao Xuanzi, skillfully pouring tea, brewing water, and adding coal for Su Chen.

At the same time, a voice rang out.

"This is his heart's desire. I am merely giving him a chance."

"Besides..."

"The 'Godfather' of the past and the 'me' of the present—are we not both walking the paths of our heart's desires, without regret even in death?"

"Perhaps a hundred or a thousand years from now, he truly achieves great cultivation, slashes through the injustices of this world, and seeks welfare for the common people, fulfilling his youthful ambition!"

"It's different! He is different from all of you! His ambition is too grand. He is too ordinary; he will die!" Su Chen sighed.

"To die within the spirit of youth, to die following one's heart's desire on the path beneath one's feet... perhaps for broken beings like us, it is not an unpleasant thing."

"I do not care about his life or death."

"I only care that the one standing by Master Su's side, brewing tea and boiling water, is still my little Hanzi."

In the pharmacy, Su Han, dressed in a magnificent red python robe with a Chief Eunuch's jade pendant at his waist—the formidable leader of the West Depot, a titan among eunuchs, and the pinnacle of power in Great Liang—stood like a mere servant. He poured and served tea to Su Chen, standing respectfully, exactly as he had when they first met ten years ago.

Back then, he was a lowly eunuch who had just made a mistake, holding a food box with a handprint still visible on his face, kowtowing before him.

"Kid Xu Xiaohan greets his Godfather."