People came and went on Anxi Street, but Jin Zhu squatted on the ground, looked up, and stared intently at Chen Ji. “Do you know what it means for a cultivation manual to be delivered to Luocheng today?”

“What does it mean?”

Jin Zhu stated confidently, “For this cultivation manual to reach Luocheng within a day, it must have left the capital before sunset yesterday. It would have traveled through six post stations—Baoding, Hengshui, Handan, Hebi, Xinxiang, and Zhengxian—changing six warhorses along the way, without stopping for a moment. Do you know that even regular military dispatches don’t receive such an honor? The Inner Minister must have issued a verbal decree to mobilize so many warhorses from the post stations.”

Jin Zhu continued, “The person who delivered this cultivation manual is also extraordinary. It’s… well, I can’t tell you that. Boy, when you lived in the capital before, did you ever meet the Inner Minister?”

Chen Ji fell silent.

Chen Liqin had come to Luocheng in the autumn of the 25th year of Jianing. It was now the winter of the 31st year, meaning that six years ago, Chen Liqin’s entire family had lived in the capital. Chen Ji was unsure if he had ever met the Inner Minister and thus couldn’t answer casually.

Changing the subject, Chen Ji asked, “Lord Jin Zhu, why would the Inner Minister go to such great lengths to send a cultivation manual?”

Jin Zhu said with a smile, “Boy, you’ve caught the Inner Minister’s eye.”

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. “Is that good or bad?”

Jin Zhu stood up and patted his shoulder. “Good news, of course, it’s incredibly good news. As long as you can render meritorious service to the Inner Minister, he can make your wishes come true. Congratulations, from today onwards, you are truly a part of the Secret Service.”

Chen Ji asked curiously, “Lord Jin Zhu, what is the cultivation manual you obtained for me?”

Jin Zhu glanced at the pedestrians around them and whispered, “Come with me, this is not the place to talk.”

The two walked one after another through the crowds on Anxi Street and boarded a carriage waiting by the roadside.

Xifeng stood by the carriage, lowering the door and window curtains. The interior of the carriage was completely obscured, indicating extreme caution and solemnity.

Inside the carriage, Jin Zhu sat down. He mysteriously pulled out a black stone cylinder from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji. “What I obtained for you is the Mandala Secret Seal, the supreme technique of the Ning School of Esoteric Buddhism from the Southwest. It allows one to bind fierce spirits and hide them within oneself. Binding different spirits grants different abilities. I once saw a high monk bind an Avīci demon within himself, allowing him to fly, burrow, and become omnipotent.”

Chen Ji was puzzled. “Why would an Esoteric Buddhist technique be in the House of Relief?”

Jin Zhu chuckled. “This spirit-binding seal technique is the Ning School’s very lifeblood. Unless the Inner Minister had enormous leverage over them, how could they willingly offer it up?”

Chen Ji looked down. The black stone cylinder had a black wax seal, bearing the seal of the ‘House of Relief’.

Chen Ji raised his hand to break the wax seal, but Jin Zhu grabbed his wrist. “Wait, cultivation manuals are classified secrets of our Directorate of Ceremonial. According to regulations, recipients may only view them themselves and must burn them after reading. Don’t open it in front of me; it’s taboo.”

However, Chen Ji looked up and saw Jin Zhu staring intently at the stone cylinder in his hand. His gaze didn’t waver.

He pondered for a moment, then immediately broke the wax seal and tipped a paper scroll out of the cylinder.

Jin Zhu was surprised. “What are you doing?”

Chen Ji said, “Since this is the cultivation manual Lord Jin Zhu obtained for me, there’s no harm in letting you take a look.”

Jin Zhu asked doubtfully, “Don’t you know that cultivation manuals are supposed to be kept secret?”

“Lord Yun Yang once said so.”

“Then why are you letting me see it?”

Chen Ji smiled innocently. “You treat me with sincerity, so I’ll treat you with sincerity.”

Jin Zhu was lost in thought for a long time. “I used to suspect you many times before, but now that I think about it, I’m truly ashamed. Go on, take a look.”

Chen Ji slowly unrolled the paper scroll. After only a quick glance, he exclaimed in surprise, “Lord, what’s recorded on this scroll isn’t the Mandala Secret Seal!”

Jin Zhu was startled. He leaned his head over to look at the scroll and saw two large characters immediately catch his eye: “Zhe Yun.”

The next moment, he quickly recoiled and said, filled with uncertainty, “How could it be this cultivation manual?”

Chen Ji was puzzled. “What’s wrong, Lord?”

Jin Zhu lowered his head, his expression changing several times. When he looked up again, he said seriously, “I have not seen this cultivation manual of yours. I don’t know what’s inside, nor do I know its contents. If the Inner Minister asks, you absolutely must say exactly that.”

Chen Ji looked at the scroll in his hand. “What kind of cultivation manual could make Your Lordship so wary, as if facing a great enemy? Perhaps I shouldn’t cultivate this path after all.”

Jin Zhu’s expression showed struggle for a long time. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, “No, you must cultivate it. This path will do you no harm; it’s just related to a secret.”

“What secret?”

Jin Zhu said in a low voice, “Twelve years ago, the Qi family produced a young official named Qi Yunchang, who suddenly changed his name to Qi Zheyun at the age of nine. At twelve, he entered the Innate Realm; at sixteen, the Dao-Seeking Realm; and by twenty-one, he had touched the threshold of the Spirit Dao Realm. He seemed only one step away from the realm beyond the Azure Clouds. His invisible sword energy was divine and impossible to guard against.”

“Invisible sword energy?”

Chen Ji mused. This cultivation path seemed quite suitable for him.

He then asked, “Is this Qi Zheyun even more powerful than Tianma?”

Jin Zhu sighed with emotion. “In terms of strength, they were evenly matched, but in terms of potential, he was probably a cut above Tianma. Qi Zheyun joined the border army at sixteen. Within three years, he slew over ten great generals of the Jing Dynasty in battle. In the winter of the 17th year of Jianing, he led a cavalry force of three hundred deep into Jing territory, six hundred *li*, and captured the Marquis of Chicheng of the Jing Dynasty alive. Later, he was surrounded and pursued by Jing iron cavalry. Everyone thought he wouldn’t return, yet he led those three hundred riders on a long detour through Liaobei, finally fighting his way to Lushun and returning to the country by ship. For such merits, His Majesty bestowed upon him the rank of Third-Rank Dragon Tiger General and granted him special permission to wear his sword in court.”

Chen Ji asked curiously, “Where is this Qi Zheyun now?”

Inside the dim carriage, Jin Zhu looked strangely at Chen Ji opposite him. “He’s dead.”

Chen Ji was startled. “Dead?”

Jin Zhu continued, “Listen to me closely. This Qi Zheyun’s identity was extraordinary. When people visited the Qi family, they found that his parents revered him like a god. They didn’t even address each other as father, mother, or son. Later, when his father was drunk, he once said that Qi Zheyun was not a mortal but an immortal from the Forty-Ninth Heaven, hailing from Eastern Kunlun.”

Chen Ji’s expression settled. The Forty-Ninth Heaven, again the Forty-Ninth Heaven.

The Forty-Ninth Heaven was like the greatest secret in the mortal world, known only to a very few.

He had originally thought that a ‘dropped immortal’ like Xu Shu from the Imperial Observatory was a rare sight, appearing perhaps once in a hundred years. But he hadn’t expected that there would be more than one such immortal.

Counting Qi Zheyun, Xu Shu, and Chen Ji himself, there were already three individuals from the Forty-Ninth Heaven.

What exactly was this Forty-Ninth Heaven? And why had he himself come to the Ning Dynasty from there?

Chen Ji’s head began to ache from thinking. “Lord Jin Zhu, since Qi Zheyun was an immortal, how could he die?”

“When they come to the mortal realm, they become mortals. And all mortals are destined to die.”

Jin Zhu replied, “In the spring of the 21st year of Jianing, this Qi family official was ambushed and killed in Changping while returning to the capital from a border town to report on his duties.”

Chen Ji was puzzled. “He just died like that? Who did it?”

Jin Zhu looked down at the scroll in his hand. “What do you think?”

Chen Ji suddenly felt that this cultivation manual was a bit too hot to handle.

Since Qi Zheyun’s cultivation manual was in the hands of the Directorate of Ceremonial, it was naturally the Directorate of Ceremonial who was behind it.

But why would the Directorate of Ceremonial ambush a ‘dropped immortal’ from the Forty-Ninth Heaven? And why would the Inner Minister dare to impart this cultivation manual to him?

Wasn’t he afraid that Chen Ji would leak this matter?

Chen Ji was now full of questions, completely unable to understand.

He seemed to see a middle-aged man draped in a black python robe, sitting behind a dim desk, silently mocking him, like a seasoned grandmaster making an inscrutable chess move, forcing his opponent into endless, fruitless contemplation.

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, “Perhaps this isn’t Qi Zheyun’s cultivation manual at all, and it’s just a coincidence of names? Lord, take a look and confirm if it’s really Qi Zheyun’s from back then.”

Jin Zhu quickly shut his eyes. “Take it away, take it away! Don’t let me see it, don’t drag me into this!”

Chen Ji glanced at Jin Zhu, then simply unrolled the scroll and began to recite, “Before the Pure Purple Haze Void Emperor, the Great Dao Lord Wang Chenjun, leisurely resides in Ruizhu composing seven-character verses, scattering the five forms to transform into ten thousand spirits.”

Jin Zhu exclaimed, interrupting Chen Ji, his eyes wide. “Boy, are you trying to harm me?”

Chen Ji chuckled. “Lord Jin Zhu, you and I are now in the same boat, so what’s this talk of harm? Besides, this might not even be Qi Zheyun’s cultivation manual. If he was ambushed and killed, how could his cultivation manual be revealed to his enemies?”

Jin Zhu glanced at him, then said bitterly, “Have you forgotten Meng Ji? I’m telling you, this matter is deeply involved. There must be an even bigger secret within it. How strange! I clearly requested the Mandala Secret Seal for you, so why would the Inner Minister give you this thing?”

Chen Ji held up the scroll. “May I ask, Lord, what is the grade of this cultivation manual? Is it A-grade?”

Jin Zhu waved his hand. “A, B, C, D—those are our mortal classifications. Who has the right to grade a cultivation manual of a ‘dropped immortal’ from the Forty-Ninth Heaven? Boy, take care of yourself.”

With that said, he ushered Chen Ji out of the carriage, called Xifeng, and sped away.

It was noon. The cold winter wind blew against Chen Ji’s face, sobering him up somewhat.

The Secret Service was like an abyss. An unseen hand seemed to be pulling him into the swirling icy depths beneath it.

Chen Ji tightened his collar, returned to the entrance of the Taiping Medical Clinic, took a deep breath, rubbed his cheeks, and said with a smile, “I’m back.”

Behind the counter, only Liu Quxing sat, dozing with his chin propped on his hand.

He heard Chen Ji’s voice, instantly jolted awake, stood up, and said angrily, “What are you shouting about…?”

Chen Ji looked around and asked curiously, “Where are Master and Senior Brother She?”

“Master and She Dengke went to the Prince’s Residence for a house call. Apparently, the Prince supervises the brick kilns every day and caught a cold.”

Liu Quxing pointed to the backyard. “Your meal is on the kitchen stove. I hid four slices of cured meat under your rice, otherwise, that brat She Dengke would have gobbled it all up.”

Chen Ji chuckled happily. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

He went to the back kitchen, took a few hurried bites, then quietly returned to the apprentice dormitory, closing the door softly, and once again pulled the paper scroll from his sleeve.

He quietly gazed at the scriptures on the scroll, but didn’t know how to begin cultivating.

Should he just chant ceaselessly like a young monk?

“Before the Pure Purple Haze Void Emperor, the Great Dao Lord Wang Chenjun, leisurely resides in Ruizhu composing seven-character verses, scattering the five forms to transform into ten thousand spirits. This is the Inner Chapter of the Yellow Court Scripture, where the lute heart dances in three folds with the embryonic immortal, and nine energies brightly emerge from the heavens, where the spirit-covered child generates purple smoke. This is the Jade Scripture, which can be meticulously studied; chant it ten thousand times to ascend to the Three Heavens.”

“Wait!”

“Chant it ten thousand times to ascend to the Three Heavens.? The answer is right there in the riddle…”

Chen Ji sat cross-legged on the bed, chanting it over and over. The entire text consisted of two hundred and thirty-nine lines, totaling one thousand six hundred and seventy-three characters. It took half an incense stick’s time to read through the whole thing.

He silently read for a moment. The instant he finished reading the first time, he suddenly felt a wisp of purple energy appear in his body, circulating through his blood.

Chen Ji murmured, “So magical?”

However, no sooner had he spoken than the resplendent sword energy within him, nourished by the sun, actually pursued the wisp of purple energy and shattered it with a single strike.

Chen Ji’s pupils constricted slightly. Ever since he confirmed Jin Zhu was betting on him, he couldn’t hide his sword energy or cease cultivating it. Who would have thought that at this critical moment, his sword energy would cause trouble?

Could it be that different cultivation paths repel each other?

No, try again.

At this very moment, inside a carriage heading east, Jin Zhu’s bones suddenly crackled all over, as if he had just stretched after waking up, feeling completely unblocked. Though his cultivation didn’t increase much, he could genuinely feel it.

Jin Zhu was startled at first, then became ecstatic. “Chen Ji has started cultivating? He entered the path so quickly…”

He had waited for this moment for too long.

He had painstakingly confirmed Chen Ji’s identity and gone to great lengths, even fawning over the Inner Minister, to obtain this cultivation manual. All this was so that after Chen Ji began cultivating, the cultivation could feed back to him, allowing him to regain the Dao-Seeking Realm sooner.

But then…

Jin Zhu suddenly let out a cry of agony, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

A piercing pain surged through his heart, as if his ribs were being ripped out one by one.

He was all too familiar with this kind of pain. It was clearly a sign of his cultivation falling.

Jin Zhu gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, “What’s going on? Chen Ji clearly just stepped into the cultivation path, so why did he retreat?”

Before the pain had fully subsided, another series of crackling sounds emanated from his body. Jin Zhu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but his expression changed again. “Wait, that boy Chen Ji, surely not… Oh!”