Within the Shouning Palace.

The Empress of the Great Qi sat upon the phoenix throne, her gaze deep and silent, radiating an aura of worldly authority.

Amidst the echoing footsteps, the Crown Prince arrived in haste, his face etched with concern: “Mother, why did you summon your son in such urgency?”

The attending palace maids lowered their eyes, their breaths barely perceptible, striving to minimize their presence.

The Empress’s gaze fell upon her son, who bowed with heartfelt sincerity, and she asked in a low voice: “Have you learned of He Zhen’s matter?”

Jiang Wuhua breathed a sigh of relief, then sighed again: “Your son has learned. It is said that He Zhen drove his carriage wildly through the marketplace, disturbing the populace, and was apprehended by the Patrol Office.”

The Empress of the Great Qi’s voice, naturally imposing, fell gently: “Knowing is enough. Do not do anything unnecessary.”

Jiang Wuhua observed her expression and said cautiously: “Our family’s servant exercised restraint and harmed no one, nor was the impact severe. Even if left unchecked, he wouldn’t face heavy punishment. But my cousin… will inevitably suffer a little.”

Empress He merely asked: “When you learned of this matter, what were you doing?”

Jiang Wuhua replied somewhat sheepishly: “Your son was cooking for Ning’er.”

Song Ning’er, the Crown Princess of the Great Qi, did not come from a prominent family, but was simply the daughter of an ordinary Ministry of Rites official. This marriage was personally arranged by Empress He back then, and Jiang Wuhua and the Crown Princess had always been deeply affectionate.

Empress He said: “You should cook well.”

Jiang Wuhua said: “This matter is truly trivial. It’s merely a matter of speaking a word.”

“You speak a word today, what about tomorrow?” Empress He’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, revealing her displeasure: “If the State Uncle’s manor truly had a sense of proportion, they wouldn’t do such a thing. Your uncle is ambitious but lacks skill, and your cousin is utterly clueless. Each time you speak a word, you give them a measure of audacity. Each time you shield them, eventually, you won’t be able to, and neither will I!”

Jiang Wuhua lowered his head: “Your son understands.”

Empress He raised her hand: “Return. Your uncle has come to the palace to bother me several times, and I have already refused him for you.”

Jiang Wuhua bowed respectfully. Before leaving, he paused: “Your son is not unaware of the dangers within. Your son is merely… afraid of causing Mother grief.”

“Wuhua, a mother’s heart can only be wounded by her own child. If you are free from worry, I am impervious to all poisons. If you…”

She did not finish. Only at this moment did her voice betray a hint of emotion.

But it quickly returned to its noble and graceful demeanor—

“Go down.”

“Your son takes his leave.”

Jiang Wuhua showed no emotion, merely bowed respectfully again, and then departed.

Among all the current Qi Emperor’s children, by any measure, he was not the most outstanding, nor was he the most favored by the Qi Emperor.

But he was certainly the one most free from fault.

In the Void Illusion Realm’s matching battles, the higher the ranking, the more difficult it is.

There would be no weakling able to fight their way to this point.

Moreover, those who could generally reach the top ten in the Inner Mansion realm, at the time of the Ascending Dragon realm, at least held the distinguished title of a Six Harmonies cultivator. After learning the benefits of a distinguished title, it was even less likely they wouldn’t strive their utmost to attain it.

But Jiang Wang continued to climb steadily.

That series of bloody battles in the Misty Realm made him extremely adaptable to this kind of sudden encounter combat. It goes without saying that if death here were true death, his pace of climbing the ranks would have been even faster.

After five exhilarating battles, the lofty voice finally announced—

Promoted, Inner Mansion realm ranking fifth.

Obtained the distinguished title: Void Five Elements Cultivator.

First achievement of this title, rewards: one thousand merit points, one thousand dharma points.

Maintaining this title, in the middle of each month, rewards: one hundred merit points, one hundred dharma points.

During the period of maintaining this title, the effect of the Dao Enlightenment Platform is increased by one layer.

The Void Illusion Realm is relatively stingy with rewards of merit and dharma points, instead encouraging cultivators to spar and battle more, investing a large amount of cultivation techniques and secret arts in the Dao Enlightenment Platform.

This is normal; the Void Illusion Realm itself grows through the collision of countless inspirations.

For Jiang Wang, “dharma” was harder to come by than “merit”. This was because he had initially inherited Zuo Guanglie’s blessed land, and thus had a fixed income of “merit” each month.

And in the matching battles on the Sword Discourse Stage, he won more than he lost, regularly gaining a good amount of “merit”.

For some other cultivators, however, this might not be the case.

For example, some scions from prominent families with ordinary talent but extremely good backgrounds could easily provide a large number of cultivation techniques and secret arts to contribute to the Dao Enlightenment Platform, thereby obtaining a large amount of “dharma”.

Relatively speaking, cultivators who possess both combat talent and the talent for creating Dao techniques are the most welcomed by the current rules of the Void Illusion Realm, and they can also navigate this world more easily.

Jiang Wang now has accumulated six thousand three hundred merit points and twenty-four thousand four hundred dharma points.

Upgrading from the third layer of the Dao Enlightenment Platform to the fourth layer requires one hundred thousand dharma points. However, because the monthly key was inherited from Zuo Guanglie, Jiang Wang only needs thirty thousand points to unlock the fourth layer of the Dao Enlightenment Platform.

He is still short of five thousand six hundred dharma points… a long way to go.

The ways to obtain dharma points are currently only by gaining distinguished titles and by contributing cultivation techniques and secret arts on the Dao Enlightenment Platform.

With Jiang Wang’s current resources, it is difficult to quickly unlock the fourth layer of the Dao Enlightenment Platform.

He is not in a hurry to immediately deduce and adapt the inscribed Dao techniques for the third Inner Mansion. He still wants to try and compete for the title of the first Inner Mansion of the Void first, so that the effect of the Dao Enlightenment Platform can be increased by another layer. If it proves difficult, he will then retreat and strengthen himself first.

However, before that, there is another question—

Overall, the reward for the Void Five Elements Cultivator title was not disappointing, but it also didn’t exceed expectations by much.

Did that reminder from Xu Zefu of the Void Sect, hoping he would quickly obtain the Void Five Elements Cultivator title, merely a simple expectation?

If it were only rewards of merit and dharma, and only a fixed enhancement effect for the Dao Enlightenment Platform, why the rush?

Perhaps it was because of Jiang Wang’s contemplation, or perhaps the matter itself simply required a certain reaction time. Just as Jiang Wang was pondering this question, the lofty voice sounded once again—

The Void Emissary has achieved the distinguished title Void Five Elements Cultivator and has obtained the qualification to enter the Primordial Chaos Space.

Primordial Chaos Space?!

Isn’t it supposed to be opened after a period of time?

While still in doubt, the blessed land where he was located quietly underwent a change.

Jiang Wang still did not know what a blessed land truly meant.

He had fallen all the way from the Dongzhen Ruins, dropping to his current rank of forty-third on Chicken Cage Mountain. Aside from the decrease in monthly merit production, he had not discovered any other differences.

Consistently, there was only one small space, quite similar to the mirror world one entered physically through the Rouge Mirror.

And only the Dao Enlightenment Platform, the Sword Discourse Stage, and the sundial phantom, these three things, could signify the difference.

At this moment, beyond these three consistent things, a fourth appeared—

It was an ancient and heavy stone door.