The distribution of gifts continued. And the source of it all, the elder Crown Prince in Wenhua Hall, pictured the recipients’ reactions, a detached smile playing on his lips. ’It won’t be long now,’ he thought. ’We’ll meet again, and everything will be completely different.’
He stood before the window, gazing in the direction of Qianqing Palace.
Over there, his imperial father was depleting his Vitality with harsh and potent medicines, struggling with exhaustion and anxiety. It wouldn’t be long before the Yang Meridian gave him a huge surprise.
’Xia Shengming, your Empire is being hollowed out from the inside, bit by bit, just waiting for the day I seize it and you are left utterly ruined and disgraced.’
’And the people you wronged all those years ago are taking back what’s theirs, bit by bit, along with the things that were once yours.’
’This revenge won’t end so easily. That would be letting you off far too lightly.’
Outside the window, the blood-red sunset dyed half the Imperial City a mournful, vibrant red.
The last vestiges of June’s summer heat seemed to be gradually burned away by the blood-red sunset.
A few days later, night fell like thick, viscous ink, so dark one could not see their hand in front of their face.
The suffocating heat that had built up during the day, rather than dissipating, was trapped by the heavy, dark clouds hanging in the air, brewing a torrential downpour.
Hundreds of miles northwest of White Jade City, a range of rolling brown mountains lay like a great beast, prone and slumbering.
This was Little Sumeru Mountain. The terrain was treacherous and the vegetation sparse, with many jagged, grotesque rocks jutting out from the earth. Numerous caves dotted the landscape, appearing all the more sinister in the dark of night.
Atop the mountain’s peak, temples and halls were built into the mountainside, rising in layer upon layer in a sprawling, unbroken complex.
Under the sparse starlight, the flying eaves and interlocking brackets formed a silent, majestic silhouette. This was none other than the Vajra Sect, one of the foremost Buddhist Sects in the Great Xia Dynasty—a behemoth presided over by a Super Grade Celestial Human.
Unlike the sweltering heat beyond the mountain, the night wind at the heights of Little Sumeru Mountain was biting cold. It carried the grating sound of sand and stone, causing the bronze bells hanging from the eaves to let out a monotonous, chilling CHIME.
Lights within the monastery were few and far between. Most of the monks’ dormitories were dark, their occupants long asleep. Only the Grand Hall and a few other important structures were still lit by ever-burning lamps. The scent of incense mingled with the mountain chill, pervading the empty courtyards and corridors.
Yet beneath this veneer of Buddhist tranquility, an undercurrent of ugliness, greed, and tyranny—things completely antithetical to compassion—surged with a force far beyond what any ordinary person could imagine.
Although the Vajra Sect bore the name of a Buddhist Sect, it had long since strayed from its founding principles and was a far cry from what it had been at its inception.
The sect’s members, from the Elders at the top to the common Martial Monks at the bottom, were mostly concerned with pursuing martial prowess and worldly gain, not the so-called path of tranquility and virtue.
They colluded with the nobility, acting as Guardians or handling dirty work for the Royal Family, Prince’s Mansions, and even wealthy merchants. In return, they collected exorbitant donations and thought nothing of committing murder or arson.
The monastery owned countless fields and businesses, its wealth rivaling that of a nation, and it had seized control of nearly all the surrounding land.
Worse still, the sect’s upper echelons indulged in worldly pleasures, secretly keeping mistresses and hoarding fine wines and rare curios. They had long since cast aside their monastic vows, giving them not a single thought.
More importantly, the Vajra Sect had once been closely allied with the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, and was one of his key factions.
Back when the Fifth Prince was in power, the Vajra Sect served as one of his most capable enforcers, carrying out no shortage of his dirty deeds. This included suppressing and persecuting the deposed Crown Prince’s faction, and they had even brutally harmed many experts from the Crown Prince’s Mansion.
Xia Wuyang remembered several officials and old subordinates of the Eastern Palace who had been loyal to him. Some had been forcibly "converted" and enslaved by the Vajra Sect. Others had their Martial Arts secretly crippled by its Guardians. Some had even mysteriously "passed into nirvana." The Vajra Sect was behind it all.
The new and old hatreds were engraved upon his very bones. He hadn’t made a move against them before simply because his list of enemies was long, and he just hadn’t gotten around to them yet.
Now, however, the Divine Capture Sect had mobilized its clandestine network of informants in the Jianghu. Combining their findings with intelligence from a few special channels, they had finally traced a lead to the Vajra Sect and, in the process, stumbled upon a piece of news that greatly intrigued Xia Wuyang.
According to reliable intelligence, about half a month ago, a team led by several Vajra Sect Elders had been exploring the ruins of an ancient battlefield in the far west. There, by a stroke of luck, they managed to snatch a Dragon Blood Fruit from a pack of warring Demon Beasts.
The fruit was a Low Level Spirit Treasure, and an exceptional one at that.
Legend had it that the fruit grew on a unique species of vine suffused with the aura of an ancient true dragon. It was said to flower once every six hundred years, and take another six hundred years to bear fruit.
The fruit was fiery red and heart-shaped, containing a vast and domineering Dragon Blood Essence Qi. To a Body Refining Martial Artist, it was an unparalleled treasure—the kind one could only stumble upon by chance, never find by seeking.
Consuming a single fruit could not only dramatically strengthen one’s Qi Blood and refine their tendons, bones, and skin, but it could also save them decades of arduous training. It even offered the chance to condense a faint trace of dragon’s blood aura within the body, which would be of immense benefit to their future Body Refining.
For Xia Wuyang, who was in the process of stabilizing and enhancing his Dragon and Tiger Golden Bell Body, the allure of such a treasure was undeniable. It was precisely what he needed.
Conventional cultivation was certainly the safer path, but with the help of this fruit, his Body Refining Cultivation was certain to ascend to a new level. The power of his Dragon and Tiger Golden Bell Body would increase correspondingly, saving him an untold amount of time and effort.
’Vajra Sect... Dragon Blood Fruit... A heaven-sent opportunity!’
In the Practice Room of Wenhua Hall, Xia Wuyang read the final confirmation sent by Zheng Zhicang via a Secret Technique. A cold light flared in his eyes. ’So, the path of enemies is truly narrow. Since our paths have crossed, it’s the perfect time for me to settle this score.’
He made his decision instantly, without a shred of hesitation.
That night, after entertaining several peerless beauties, Xia Wuyang slipped out of the Practice Room.
A figure cloaked in midnight black melted into the night as he left Wenhua Hall, shooting toward the northwest like an arrow from a bow.
He rode no horse, took no carriage. His speed far surpassed that of any ordinary mount or vehicle.
His base speed was 500 kilometers per hour. His custom-made Spiritual Technique, the Dragon and Phoenix Body Technique, could multiply that speed by nearly five, while his Gentle Wind Boots could multiply it by four. That was a nearly twenty-fold increase.
Then there was the two-fold increase from his Companion Talent, Light as a Feather. That brought the total increase to forty times.
Five hundred kilometers per hour multiplied by forty was twenty thousand kilometers per hour. This was the speed of a True Monarch; in his past life, few man-made technologies could have kept pace.
To him, a distance of several hundred kilometers was nothing more than a journey of a few minutes.
Xia Wuyang pushed his speed to the absolute limit. The surging Qi Blood of his Dragon and Tiger Golden Bell Body granted him terrifying explosive power and endurance, while the True Qi from his River Scripture made his body incredibly light. He skimmed silently across the ground, a feat made even easier with the aid of his various Spiritual Skills, Spiritual Techniques, and Spiritual Artifacts.
He moved like a Ghost Shadow in the dead of night, scaling city walls, flitting across wastelands, and leaping over rivers, leaving main roads, villages, and towns far behind him.
A journey of hundreds of miles might take a mortal several days to complete. But for Xia Wuyang, moving at full speed, it would not even take the time needed to drink a cup of tea.

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