Following the Queen Mother's panicked retreat, she sought out King Li Zheng to lodge a bitter grievance.

To her profound shock, Li Zheng offered no sanctuary. Instead, he subjected her to a torrential reprimand, outright accusing her of tormenting the Ninth Princess.

Subsequently, Li Zheng issued an imperial decree completely abolishing Li Ling'er's tutelage in the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Only the essential morning recitations were preserved; beyond that, her time was wholly her own.

The crushing boulder lifted from Li Ling'er's spirit, and she threw herself into play with wild abandon.

Day after day, she shadowed Xu Changshou, her voice a constant chirp of "Brother Changshou this" and "Brother Changshou that." It was evident she had firmly anchored him as her closest mortal confidant.

Moments of tranquility, however, are fleeting in the mortal dust.

In the blink of an eye, half a month slipped past.

King Li Zheng arrived personally to inform Xu Changshou that the grand ancestral rites would commence at dawn.

The next day.

A sprawling, majestic procession-led by Li Xiaoxian and Li Zheng, with Li Ling'er in tow-marched toward the Eastern Imperial Mausoleum.

The grand entourage soon halted before the imposing gates of the royal ancestral hall.

Upon reaching the threshold, Li Xiaoxian gestured for Li Zheng to escort Li Ling'er inside.

According to ancient imperial dogma, female descendants of the Li Clan were strictly barred from polluting the ancestral hall. Yet, having Awakened an Exceptional Spirit Root, Li Ling'er had fundamentally transcended her mortal constraints. For the ensuing centuries, the prosperity of the Li Dynasty would undeniably hinge upon her existence.

Under the weight of such karma, permitting her entry was a pragmatic necessity-a calculated move to ensure she never forgot the scent of the Li Clan's incense.

As the king and princess crossed the threshold, Li Xiaoxian turned toward Xu Changshou, cupping his fists with an apologetic smile. "Junior Brother Xu, I ask for your leniency. The Li Clan ancestral hall has never permitted the entry of those outside the bloodline, thus..."

Xu Changshou offered an understanding smile. "It is of no consequence. I shall await your return out here."

Adjacent to the grand hall stood an unassuming side pavilion. Pointing toward it, Li Xiaoxian suggested, "Junior Brother Xu, the courtyard is clamorous. Please, rest within that side hall. Once the rites are concluded, we shall depart as one."

"Very well," Xu Changshou nodded in agreement.

"Junior Brother Xu, please follow me."

Li Xiaoxian escorted him into the dim pavilion before taking his leave to join the main ceremony next door.

Xu Changshou was left entirely alone within the quiet confines of the side hall.

Sweeping his gaze across the room, his eyes fell upon a seated golden idol. The sculpted visage bore a striking seventy-to-eighty percent resemblance to King Li Zheng. Nestled directly beneath the idol rested a somber wooden tablet.

A single line of fine calligraphy was etched into the wood: Tomb of My Late Father, Li Xiaoming.

Reading the inscription, Xu Changshou instantly deduced the truth: this was a shrine erected by Li Zheng to honor his deceased father, making the golden idol a direct representation of the late patriarch.

A faint thread of suspicion coiled in Xu Changshou's mind. If the grand ancestral hall stood mere steps away, why was the memorial tablet of Li Zheng's own father sequestered in this isolated side pavilion?

Trivial mortal politics. What does the karma of the Li Clan have to do with me?

Shaking his head dismissively, Xu Changshou seated himself cross-legged upon a woven prayer mat, closing his eyes to cycle his Spiritual Qi.

Yet, the instant his eyelids shut, an unnatural chill washed over him. He distinctly felt the heavy, suffocating weight of a gaze boring into his flesh.

The sensation was visceral, akin to an array of rusted needles pressing against his spine.

His eyes snapped open. Immediately, the oppressive sensation vanished without a trace.

It was as if the phantom scrutiny had been nothing but a fleeting illusion bred of mortal fatigue.

He meticulously swept his gaze across the hall once more, his eyes lingering on every fixture: the golden idol, the lacquered offering table, the wooden tablet, the scattered cushions.

Nothing betrayed the slightest anomaly.

Steeling his Dao heart, Xu Changshou exhaled slowly and once again closed his eyes to meditate.

The exact moment darkness claimed his vision, that suffocating gaze locked onto him again.

Hiss-

A sheen of cold sweat erupted across Xu Changshou's brow. It felt as though a primordial, venomous serpent had coiled itself around his neck, preparing to strike.

This was no illusion. A cultivator at the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Condensation did not suffer from mortal hallucinations.

If mere mortals possessed intuition, the premonitions of a cultivator were absolute. Xu Changshou was utterly certain: there was an entity sharing this space.

But what is it?

Xu Changshou's eyes shot open, every nerve in his body drawn as tight as a bowstring. He subjected the room to a second, ruthless inspection.

The cushions, the altar, the scattered offerings, the wooden tablet.

They remained entirely mundane.

Could it be... the idol itself?

Xu Changshou jerked his gaze upward, locking eyes with the golden statue. In that fraction of a second, he swore he witnessed a flash of purest, unadulterated malice writhe within the idol's painted pupils.

He blinked hard and stared intently at the golden visage, but the anomaly had vanished. The painted eyes were dead and inanimate once more.

Something profound and twisted is lurking within that gold.

Xu Changshou finalized his hypothesis, though he forcefully restrained his Divine Sense, terrified that probing the idol would trigger a lethal trap.

Retreat!

He shot to his feet. Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing was the absolute best.

Whatever was inside the golden idol, it had nothing to do with him anyway.

"Jie jie jie, Fellow Daoist, since you are already here, why the rush to leave!"

A sinister voice suddenly echoed through the room.

"Who is it?"

Xu Changshou shuddered violently. With a single thought, a Soul-Catching Talisman appeared in his hand.

The voice confirmed Xu Changshou's suspicions. There really was something here, most likely a spirit entity.

A spirit entity, meaning a soul body.

As far as Xu Changshou knew, spirit entities existed in three different forms.

The first was when a Foundation Establishment cultivator was killed, allowing their spirit entity to escape.

Only the spirit entities of Foundation Establishment cultivators could flee. If it were a Qi Condensation cultivator, their spirit entity would immediately perish the moment their physical body died.

However, the spirit entity of a Foundation Establishment cultivator could not exist for too long. It had to quickly find a physical body for Body Seizing. Otherwise, it would naturally dissipate and shatter before long.

The second type consisted of wandering ghosts and wild spirits that had not reincarnated.

However, the second type was far too weak. They lacked the ability to speak and did not dare to show themselves during the day.

This spirit entity was likely not the second type.

There was a third kind of spirit entity, known as an Evil Spirit. This type of spirit entity was originally a cultivator whose lifespan had run out and was on the verge of death.

In order to extend their lives, they did not hesitate to practice evil arts, using heaven-defying methods to barely survive.

After their physical bodies perished, these spirit entities would exist in the form of Evil Spirits.

The price of living was exceedingly terrifying. They needed to devour living souls to feed themselves in order to achieve the effect of extending their lives.

These Evil Spirits also possessed a chance to cultivate anew, which was also Body Seizing.

"Body Seizing?"

Xu Changshou seemed to have thought of something.

From the very beginning when Li Daotu asked him to escort the Exceptional Spirit Root, he had suspected that Li Daotu possessed ulterior motives.

Given his cultivation and strength, escorting the Exceptional Spirit Root back to the sect was not a good choice at all. He could have entirely chosen a more powerful Senior Brother to come instead.

It was only at this moment that Xu Changshou finally understood why Li Daotu did not let those Senior Brothers come.

Among those Senior Brothers of Green Ink Peak, even the youngest, Yang Bailao, was already over fifty years old. They were fundamentally unsuited to be targets for Body Seizing.

The only one on Green Ink Peak who seemed suitable as a target for Body Seizing was him. Only he was in the prime of his youth.

Of course, this was only Xu Changshou's suspicion. Perhaps, Li Daotu knew nothing about this matter.

However, the likelihood of Li Daotu not knowing was extremely low. After all, if this golden idol was Li Zheng's father, then it was simultaneously Li Daotu's biological son.

Suddenly.

A cloud of black mist blocked Xu Changshou's path. The mist squirmed ceaselessly, revealing the outline of a face. Where the pupils should be, there was an endless, malevolent gleam.

"Little friend, let this old man eat you! Jie jie jie, by eating you, this old man can once again walk the path of Cultivation."

Whoosh-

The moment those words were spoken, the black mist lunged directly at Xu Changshou.

Its speed was so terrifyingly fast that Xu Changshou simply had no time to react.

Immediately following that, the black mist bored straight into the center of Xu Changshou's brow.

"Ah!"

Xu Changshou let out an agonized cry. At the same time, his pupils flickered, alternating between lucid clarity and savage malevolence.

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