Chapter 96 - 77: He’s My Dearest Family, My Flesh and Blood Brother (Part 2)

Chapter 96: Chapter 77: He’s My Dearest Family, My Flesh and Blood Brother (Part 2)

On two of those occasions, someone had colluded with rogue factions to assassinate a Prince. In the end, everyone behind the plot was dragged out, and not even a dog from the involved sects and families survived.

Another time, all ten members of a mansion had their cultivation crippled, and their names are still carved on the Imperial Clan Court’s pillar of shame.

It was an amulet.

It was also a death warrant.

Before making a final decision, many would rather die than crush their Peace Jade.

Zhao Yong believed that Zhao Ci wouldn’t dare to crush it easily either.

But if Zhao Ci did crush it, and the investigation led back to him, he would be exiled, even as a Prince.

"Of course, I’m aware!"

The Demon Sect elder was growing impatient with his caution. "Our operation this time will not trigger the Peace Jade, nor will it place Your Highness in an untenable position. Your Highness might as well listen to our plan..."

He then laid out their plan in detail.

As Zhao Yong listened, his knitted brow slowly relaxed. He had to admit, the Demon Sect’s methods were truly ingenious. According to their plan, he really wouldn’t be implicated. He would even be positioned as a victim himself.

He wouldn’t have to do anything difficult. He just had to go about his business and cooperate when needed.

The Demon Sect elder asked, "What does Your Highness think?"

"Excellent!"

Zhao Yong nodded slightly but then continued, "However, I want to know why your sect wants to kill Zhao Ci."

The Demon Sect elder shook his head. "No comment. Your Highness need only know that Zhao Ci’s death is beneficial for both of us!"

Zhao Yong’s brow furrowed, his expression showing his displeasure.

But he glanced at the Shadow, who remained expressionless.

He felt a little helpless. Since this old man from the Demon Sect could propose such a thing in his presence, it meant the Crown Prince had tacitly approved everything.

The Crown Prince probably didn’t know why the Demon Sect wanted to kill Zhao Ci either.

The Crown Prince... just wanted Zhao Ci dead.

’It makes sense, really.’

’Zhao Ci’s recent performance has been too outrageous. He might as well have tattooed his and his mother’s ambitions on his face.’

’Now that the Demon Sect is here to do the dirty work, why not let them?’

’But...’

Zhao Yong was a bit puzzled. Killing Zhao Ci would indeed clear away many obstacles in the competition between mansions.

But in his opinion, the results were far from significant enough to make the Crown Prince lower himself to cooperate with the Demon Sect.

The biggest impact Zhao Ci had made came from the Pill Workshop. The price drop of the Qi Cultivation Pill was putting immense pressure on both the Feng and Zhu clans.

’But getting rid of the Xingyu Pill Association isn’t something that can be accomplished just by getting rid of Zhao Ci!’

’Is the entire Xingyu Pill Association going to be paralyzed if they just kill Zhao Ci?’

’Are you kidding me?’

’Getting rid of Zhu Li would be more effective than getting rid of Zhao Ci!’

’What on earth is the Crown Prince thinking?’

Seeing him silent for a long time, the Demon Sect elder asked with a smile, "Does this mean Your Highness agrees?"

Zhao Yong was getting agitated. "Since the Crown Prince has no objections, what reason do I have to disagree? Your Excellency should just make your preparations. When the time comes, I will certainly cooperate!"

"Then we’ll be troubling Your Highness!"

The Demon Sect elder gave a sinister laugh, turned, and walked toward the door. But before he even left the room, his figure rapidly faded and vanished.

Zhao Yong’s expression was grave. Just from that little trick alone, this old man from the Demon Sect was definitely an expert.

As expected of the Demon Sect, which once stirred up storms in Lingge. Even after nearly twenty years of silence, they still had such powerful experts.

"Your Highness, I’ll take my leave as well."

Shadow cupped his hands and prepared to leave, but he paused before turning. "Your Highness! The Crown Prince has a message for me to relay to you. You and his mother’s clan are both from the Zhu Clan. In the future, you will surely be his right and left arms. You will prosper together and fall together. He would harm anyone before he would harm you!"

After speaking, without waiting for Zhao Yong’s reaction, he pushed open the door and disappeared into the night.

Zhao Yong’s brow furrowed slightly as he stood rooted to the spot for a long time.

Only when his legs began to ache did he finally snap back to his senses.

"The Demon Sect..."

His tone was mocking.

He opened a drawer.

Took out a book.

Picked up a brush.

And put ink to paper.

He added a new entry in the book: *Aside from Father Emperor, I can’t completely trust anyone. Zhao Yong, you must remember, your goal is not to become someone’s right-hand man, but to become the son that makes Father Emperor proudest.*

...

「The next day.」

「Early morning.」

Zhao Ci stretched languidly, then sat up cross-legged on his bed. While his body was still untainted by the mundane qi of food and drink, he first circulated his Emperor’s Extreme Body Refining Technique for a few cycles.

He was starting to understand those fitness fanatics.

This feeling of burgeoning vitality within his body was truly hard to resist.

This was especially true for a method like the Emperor’s Extreme Body Refining Technique, which specialized in cultivating the physical body. It was orthodox and gentle, yet profound and powerful. The Five Elements Qi within the body became harmonious and balanced, building the strongest possible foundation.

’That’s right.’

’Although the Zhao Clan primarily cultivates the Gold and Earth Divine Treasures, the Emperor’s Extreme Body Refining Technique has no elemental alignment. This means one must switch to a different Cultivation Technique when cultivating the Second Divine Treasure, making it much more difficult to open than for those whose Physical Cultivation Techniques are inherently aligned from the start.’

’But the resulting physical body is the real deal. A strong foundation in the internal organs makes it easier to accept Cultivation Techniques of other attributes.’

’At most, the cultivation of the Second and Third Divine Treasures is a period of relative weakness. But after that, the path is wide open all the way to the heavens. This is why the Zhao Clan has produced more top-tier experts than any of the Merit Clans.’

’Perhaps this was one of the reasons why, out of the eight great families back then, the Zhao Clan was the one to become emperors.’

"However..."

Zhao Ci stretched again. "This so-called period of weakness is all relative!"

He had fully experienced the benefits of the Harmony Realm. The sheer power and purity of the True Qi he had cultivated were simply beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.

He was even confident that in the subsequent Muscle and Bone Refining stage, he could forge at least Second-Grade Tendons and Bones without the aid of any elixirs.

With the addition of the Celestial Demon Body Refining Secret Technique, their strength could rival First-Grade.

At that point, it was almost guaranteed that he could condense a Celestial Grade Divine Pattern.

A Celestial Grade physical body, even without opening the Second Divine Treasure, could pose a significant threat to an expert at the Divine Treasure Second Layer.

There were precedents for this.

Of course, if he could get his hands on some supplementary elixirs, he definitely should.

After all, who would settle for Second-Grade if they could achieve First-Grade?

"I need to figure out a way to get some Top-Grade Elixirs."

Zhao Ci quickly washed up, changed into a fresh set of clothes, shoveled down some breakfast, and then planted himself in the courtyard.

Before long, he saw Xiang Yunzhan arrive with a group of young men from the Xiang Family, all here to distill wine.

’Foreman Number Two has arrived!’

’Not just Foreman Number Two.’

’He’s also my free coach!’

"Old Uncle!"

Zhao Ci went up to greet him with a wide grin.

Xiang Yunzhan shot him a look, told the young men to get to distilling the wine, then sized Zhao Ci up.

The brawny, imposing man actually looked a little resentful. "You little brat, you really stole the show yesterday!"

"Not at all, not at all!"

Zhao Ci said with a humble smile, "That bit of spotlight was nothing. Given how outstanding I am, there’ll be even bigger moments waiting for me in the future!"

Xiang Yunzhan: "???"

He sputtered for a good while, completely at a loss for how to respond to what the little bastard had just said.

How could this kid say something so shameless in such a humble tone?

He rubbed his head and said helplessly, "But your strategy really wasn’t bad. You used just a few Qi Cultivation Pills to recruit some decent Mansion Officials. If you train them well, they’ll amount to something sooner or later."

Zhao Ci nodded in deep agreement. "Isn’t that the truth? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have thought of handing them over to you for training!"

"The hell you say?"

Xiang Yunzhan froze. "Hand them to me for training? I’ve been retired from the army for so long... Even the young lads from the Xiang Family have to beg and plead for a bit of guidance, and you, with a single sentence, expect me to come over and train your Mansion Officials?"

Zhao Ci said, full of confidence, "Yup!"

Xiang Yunzhan: "???"