As the Great Li Emperor stepped onto the highest step and crossed into the platform, his figure vanished instantly.

What was originally a stone ground the size of a farmer’s threshing floor, as seen from the position of Song Changjing and the two eunuchs, appeared empty and devoid of anything. However, from the perspective of the man in imperial robes standing within, it was a towering structure of over ten zhang, built not of wood like the buildings common in the Great Li capital, but of countless pieces of carved white jade. A plaque hung above the ground floor, bearing the three golden characters “White Jade City.”

The gates of the towering structure opened slowly on their own. The Great Li Emperor walked inside, where he saw a snow-white, lightning-wreathed greatsword suspended in the air. The entire floor was filled with wisps of roaming electricity. Ignoring the electric currents that pulsed with sharp sword intent, the Emperor strode forward, heading for the staircase. The electric currents parted and gave way, as if ministers were yielding to the Prime Minister.

The second floor mirrored the first, save that a flying sword hung in the center. Unlike the broad-bladed sword of the first floor, this one was a translucent, jade-green color, as slender as a willow leaf in early spring. The floor was filled with a gently flowing stream of emerald liquid.

The Great Li Emperor continued to ascend. At first glance, the third floor seemed unremarkable compared to the stunning sights of the lower two. There was no imposing flying sword suspended, nor any fantastic environment to nurture a sword. Yet the man in imperial robes, who had not paused before, stopped here for a moment, squinting and carefully scanning the room before saying with a soft chuckle, “Found you.” He walked to a nearby wall, leaned forward slightly, and saw a miniature flying sword, no bigger than an embroidery needle. Incredibly, this tiny sword even had a gray-white scabbard engraved with the characters “Pillar.”

This unassuming little thing had an extravagant name.

The fourth floor held a long, ancient sword covered in talismanic inscriptions, while the fifth floor contained a massive, almost unbelievable greatsword as tall as the Great Li man, inscribed with the characters “Mountain Queller.”

The Great Li Emperor ascended each floor in turn, finally stopping on the tenth. Inside stood an old man and two young individuals. The old man had dark, wrinkled skin and a tall frame. He wore a white robe and a tall crown, and his deep eyes pulsed with visible strands of violet energy.

Beside the old man stood a young boy and girl, none other than Song Jixin and his maid, Zhigui, from Mud Bottle Lane in Lizhu Grotto-Heaven. The boy was now a young nobleman adorned in luxurious robes, a figure of great sophistication in the Great Li court. His only flaw was a small, earth-yellow, four-legged lizard perched on his shoulder. However, upon closer inspection, a budding horn was visible on its forehead.

The girl, Zhigui, seemed to have grown taller since their time in Mud Bottle Lane, and her beauty had only increased. She radiated a brilliant aura, giving the impression of a long-awaited rain after a drought.

The old man stood by the tenth-floor window, pointing towards a certain area of the Great Li capital, instructing the boy. Noticing the arrival of the Great Li Emperor, the old man merely nodded in greeting. The Great Li Emperor paid it no mind and walked to Song Jixin, intending to pat the boy’s head, but the boy subtly turned aside, avoiding the touch. The Great Li Emperor’s expression remained unchanged as he withdrew his hand and asked with a smile, “Song Mu, you’ve been studying the art of Qi Observation with Master Lu for some time now. Have you discovered the location of the leyline node in our Great Li capital’s Mountain and River Array?”

The boy’s expression was cold, and his stiff tone revealed a sense of distance and estrangement. “Not yet.”

The crowned old man smiled and said, “The path of geomancy is not so easily mastered. However, Song Mu is already outstanding, in no way inferior to the young talents of other continents. Most importantly, Song Mu has great potential, because his mastery of arithmetic and deduction allows him to learn anything with twice the result. Master Luan, with his discerning eye, still praises Song Mu, calling him a ‘precious vessel.'”

The Great Li Emperor laughed heartily. “He is my son, after all.”

The maid Zhigui quietly took a few steps back, wrinkling her nose and sniffing.

The Great Li Emperor turned to her with a playful scolding. “You little thief, you’re truly impolite.”

The girl looked blank and innocent. The man pointed a finger at her, teasing, “What is borrowed must be returned; it makes borrowing again easier. Don’t just take without giving back, or I’ll send you back to that Dragon-Locking Well. Besides, the closest immortal sect to the capital, Evergreen Palace, has a well. I might just move you there.”

The man in imperial robes’ playful words caused Zhigui’s face to turn pale. She quickly opened her small mouth and exhaled strands of golden energy. These faint auras, resembling miniature golden snakes, swiftly attached themselves to the dragon patterns on the man’s robes. Like fish in water, they frolicked merrily within the threads of the magnificent dragon robe, causing it to tremble slightly and shimmer with light. The seawater and mountain cliffs at the hem of the robe actually stirred with small splashes of water.

The Great Li Emperor chuckled. “So timid, why did you dare to lose your temper with Mister Qi so often?”

The girl’s face darkened as she moved to another window, her gaze travelling south, leaving the tower, the palace, the capital, trying to see her distant southern home.

She did not like it here, in this Great Li capital city called Rising Dragon City.

The Great Li Emperor suppressed his smile and asked the old man, “Is Master Luan truly confident in constructing a thirteenth floor to this White Jade City?”

The white-robed old man, radiating an ethereal aura, said in a deep voice, “If not, why would Luan Changye come to Great Li?”

The man nodded, resting his hands on the windowsill, looking out at the thriving capital city. He said with self-deprecation, “Although I am recognized as a frugal emperor, and many monarchs and emperors of Eastern Treasure Continent secretly mock me as a thrifty housewife, I am willing to spend everything in certain areas.”

The old man smiled knowingly and said with emotion, “Hundreds of years of diligent work, the income of the Lizhu Grotto-Heaven operated by the Great Li Song clan is now all invested in this White Jade City. If this is considered stingy, then the Eastern Treasure Continent will not find a second generous monarch.”

The Great Li Emperor asked, “Although it is very un-heroic, I still want to confirm with Master Lu one last time, as long as it is in the area north of Guanhai Academy on the Eastern Treasure Continent, against a tenth-floor cultivator who dares to oppose Great Li, this tower only needs to unleash ten swords, eleven swords for an eleventh-floor cultivator, and twelve swords for a twelfth-floor cultivator, all flying out of the tower, and can instantly kill them from thousands of miles away?!”

The old man surnamed Lu said with great spirit, “A mere Eastern Treasure Continent, there will be no exceptions!”
The old man added, “Judging by the aura, coupled with the gathered intelligence, that bamboo-hatted swordsman is definitely a Qi cultivator above the fifth floor of Jade Capital, most likely around the eleventh floor, and possibly even the twelfth. Ultimately, the distance is too great, and the person is deliberately concealing their aura. Whether it’s my astrological calculations or the long-range divine ability of ‘Rivers and Mountains in Hand,’ the picture remains somewhat blurred.”

The old man casually waved his sleeve and chuckled, “But let’s be clear, currently, Jade Capital has a total of twelve floors, each with a flying sword. Although they possess great power and are incredibly lethal, enough to deter Qi cultivators across an entire continent, each launch of a flying sword from the building is a massive drain. Even though Great Li just annexed the wealthy Northern Lu Clan Dynasty, if all twelve swords were unleashed at once, it would be impossible to repeat the feat for twenty years, unless His Majesty is willing to bear the cost of the flying swords being completely destroyed.”

The man in the imperial robe nodded, understanding the implications.

Suddenly, Song Jixin spoke up, “The Giant Luan hasn’t yet constructed the thirteenth floor of Jade Capital. What if the uninvited guest provoking Great Li is a cultivator in the thirteenth realm?”

The man in the imperial robe smiled without answering.

The old man surnamed Lu burst into laughter, gently explaining, “A thirteenth realm Qi cultivator? Even in the largest continent in the world, my home, such beings are as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon scales. Moreover…Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed. Let’s just say that even Ruan Qiong of the Wind and Snow Temple on the eleventh floor is already a figure great enough to establish a sect. The word ‘sect’ carries significant weight, only those cultivators above the fifth realm can be considered the head of a sect. Otherwise, it would be considered a violation of propriety, and those old fogeys in the Confucian school, who are so particular about rules, would be furious.”

The Emperor of Great Li slowly said, “Although Ruan Qiong has a somewhat unpleasant temper and is decisive in his actions, bordering on ruthless, which has already drawn much criticism from Great Li’s local immortals, his temperament suits Great Li’s taste very well. Naturally, I am willing to treat him with respect. Not only does Great Li welcome such cultivators, but I, as the ruler of Great Li, am even willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them. Besides, anyone who sits on the dragon throne understands the simple principle of ‘paying a high price for a horse’s bones’.”

Song Jixin persisted, stubbornly clinging to his concern, “What if it’s a thirteenth realm Qi cultivator?”

The old man in the tall hat shook his head with a smile.

The top two realms of the upper five realms have long been lost to history. Therefore, the thirteenth realm is simply the highest and most legendary realm in all the world.

It’s not found in any records of the mortal dynasties, and even the immortal families with the character “sect” in their names remain tight-lipped about it.

The old man surnamed Lu, because he hailed from one of the world’s top millennial clans, a prominent family from a great continent, and was once a promising young cultivator, was able to piece together some inside information from scattered remarks made by his elders. It should not be too far from the truth.

The Ascendant realm in the upper five realms is already the pinnacle of “Heaven and Earth.” Just like the tenth realm for pure martial artists is the true limit, with no traceable path forward. And once someone reaches this realm, they will be detected by the ethereal Heavenly Dao, deemed a great thief stealing the foundation of Heaven and Earth, and must be eliminated as quickly as possible, not tolerated by Heaven and Earth, leaving no place for cultivators of this realm to stand. Therefore, Qi cultivators in this realm are more reclusive than the gods and saints in the eyes of mortals, more so than those tenth realm cultivators. Otherwise, they will be forced to ascend.

As for where they ascend to, and how their physical bodies and souls are accommodated at that time, the old man surnamed Lu had no idea. He could only speculate that it might have some connection with the already collapsed Divine Path.

The Emperor of Great Li lowered his head slightly, looking at the young face that still retained some childishness, and asked, “What if?”

The boy nodded, “Yes!”

The Emperor of Great Li withdrew his gaze and smiled, “If you really jinx us with your crow’s tongue, it doesn’t matter.”

The boy chuckled without concealing his derision. The man in the imperial robe’s words meant nothing to him. Even though this man was the supreme ruler of the vast Great Li, the monarch of the largest dynasty in the northern Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, and was seen by countless people as an ambitious man with plans to move south, the boy, now on the path of cultivation, with two of the world’s top Qi cultivators at his side, had smoothly obtained a great opportunity from Jade Capital. Therefore, the boy was increasingly aware of the immense deterrent power of a thirteenth realm Qi cultivator on a nation or a sect.

The Emperor of Great Li’s gaze softened as he continued to stare at the boy, softly saying, “The emperors of Great Li throughout the generations have relied on this ‘what if’ to gradually rise from a vassal state of the former Lu Clan Dynasty to where we are today, not only annexing the Lu Clan Dynasty but also about to launch a full-scale attack on Great Sui, with a high chance of victory. Going forward, without any worries, we will truly move south, and in the early stages, it is destined to be a situation of overwhelming success. Therefore, I have never disliked the term ‘what if.’ I even constantly tell myself that a truly worthy emperor, praised as a brilliant and talented ruler in later history, is one who can break and crush those ‘what ifs’ that are beneficial to the enemy, one by one. At the very least, they must be able to withstand such ‘what ifs’.”

The man’s expression was calm, “Song Mu, this is the demeanor that a lord, the ruler of a nation, should have.”

The man finally smiled, “These principles, Song Yuzhang should have taught you earlier, but he didn’t dare to.”

The boy’s face darkened.

Ignoring the boy’s little grudge, the man looked up at the sky, “Jade Capital in the sky, twelve floors and five cities. I really want to know just how majestic that real Jade Capital in the sky is.”

The man bent his finger and lightly tapped the boy’s head. The boy was unable to dodge and felt somewhat resentful. The man laughed gleefully, not at all minding the presence of the two outsiders, and said bluntly, “Your mother favors your younger brother, but I favor you more. Even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, truly the most poisonous heart of a woman.”

The man was somewhat sentimental, muttering to himself, “Inferior purple steals the place of the true vermillion.”

The man then smiled broadly, “That Mister Qi, I am ashamed, Great Li has let him down, but it is good that you are his disciple.”

The boy held back for a long time, finally squeezing out a non sequitur, “You are the Emperor of Great Li, why don’t you refer to yourself as ‘We’?”

The man gently placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Great Li has been regarded as a land of barbarians for nearly a thousand years. I hope to use this to reflect on myself, so that I don’t forget this humiliation!”

The boy was stunned.

The man withdrew his hand, unable to suppress a smile, “I’m just kidding. I just think the term ‘We’ is unlucky.”
The old man with the tall hat suddenly exclaimed, “He’s here!”

The man asked, “Facing encirclement, instead of fleeing, he’s charging straight at us?”

The old man’s mind reeled, his eyes widened as he gazed south out the window. His voice trembled as he said, “Tenth Realm, Eleventh Realm, Twelfth Realm! Already at the peak of the Twelfth Realm!”

The man remained calm, instructing the young man, “Song Mu, it’s your turn.”

Song Mu took a deep breath, turned to face the south, and formed hand seals. Gritting his teeth, he declared, “I, Song Mu, by the decree of the Emperor of Great Li, order you twelve guardian deities, protectors of the rivers and mountains, to receive the swords!”

A storm of energy surged through the Great Li capital. Instantly, sword energy erupted from the tall building, piercing the heavens.

A sword from the ground floor shot into the sky first, a flash of lightning ripping through the air. Countless people in the Great Li capital looked up in shock at the streak of lightning overhead.

Moments later, the second-floor sword followed.

Then the third from the third floor.

All the way up to the twelfth sword.

Half of the flying swords didn’t fly directly south to meet the enemy. Instead, they chose to detour towards the other three directions.

Moreover, as the swords left the high building, they became immensely large. After leaving the capital, they grew even larger. Even the small, willow-leaf-like sword within the building transformed into a massive, tens-of-feet-long sword after traveling a hundred miles from the Great Li capital.

With the twelve-story tower, a replica of the Celestial Jade Capital, as their starting point, deities in all directions obeyed the imperial decree, revealing their majestic divine forms. In the far south, atop the Southern Mountain of Great Li, a hundred-foot-tall golden deity stood on the summit, raising an arm high and shouting, “Southern Mountain receives the sword by decree!”

Across the Great Li territory, the other eleven mountain and river deities, manifesting their giant forms, caught the flying swords departing the high building. Then, they strode through the air, each step covering dozens of miles.

Without exception, all aimed their swords at the rainbow streak hurtling north.

The golden form of the Southern Mountain deity was the first to engage.

A deafening explosion.

Both the divine form and the flying sword shattered into pieces.

In the capital, an exclamation of surprise, filled with doubt and helplessness, echoed from the top floor of the Jade Capital.

The old man with the tall hat muttered, “Impossible, impossible…”

From the tenth floor, blood trickled from the corners of Song Mu’s mouth.

The Great Li Emperor frowned deeply.

Only the maidservant, Zhi Gui, leaned on the windowsill, looking around aimlessly, seemingly unconcerned.

The second golden deity shattered in the same manner.

Every so often, a thunderous sound reverberated throughout the Great Li territory.

The young man was a ghastly sight, bleeding from all seven orifices, his face contorted in pain, but he stubbornly maintained his resolve.

When the sixth explosion echoed in the distance…

The old man on the top floor said with a bitter smile, “I’m afraid of you now. Can’t I just give you way?”

The remaining six golden divine forms, originally lined up from north to south, began to shift to the sides, creating a path in the center.

Seeming to feel somewhat unsatisfied, the white rainbow momentarily paused. However, it quickly abandoned the idea of troubling the deities and continued straight ahead.

Finally, the figure plunged into the Great Li capital, landing below the high platform where the Jade Capital was concealed.

Song Changjing, a prince of the Great Li, was sweating, but he still stood before the descending man, blocking his path.

Soon, Song Changjing smiled. He felt that a fierce battle with this person, even if it meant death, would be a worthy end to his life!

In the plaza, a plain-looking man stood there. Comically, he wore bandages around his calves, typical for mountain trekking, and carried a broken green bamboo knife. The man glanced at the city walls, a puzzled expression on his face. He grunted and then turned his gaze to the prince, a martial artist of the Tenth Realm. He looked at Song Changjing and nodded slightly, revealing a hint of appreciation. Finally, he raised his head, looking towards the top of the mysterious high platform.

He discarded the bamboo knife, gently stomped his foot, and the Jade Capital on the high building was immediately forced to reveal its true form.

He drew another narrow saber, the Auspicious Talisman, from his waist, casually raising it, pointing the tip at the high building. He shouted, “Which of the five inside is the Great Li Emperor? I’m in a hurry, come out and kowtow to admit your mistakes! I’ll count to ten, ten!”

“One!”

The man, skipping from ten to one, abruptly swung his blade towards the high platform and the high building.