The Three Constellation Immortal Palace is a typical feudal dynasty. The Four Sects and Eight Provinces each hold their positions, while the twenty-eight constellations guard the world.
This system originated in the time of the Immortal Venerable, with the royal relatives guarding the nation’s borders in the east, west, south, and north. The Immortal Venerable personally led the Eight Domains Army Commanders to conquer and seize living space from the Demon Clan.
By the time of Emperor Wu, the Nine Provinces had been unified, and thus the Lords of the Eight Domains were tasked with defending the borders, while the Guardian Immortal Army fortified the frontier. The central heartland was renamed Si Li Capital, directly governed by the Three Constellations.
The ancient Four Sects countries from that time were gradually appeased and dissolved; State Governors acted as agents in politics. The Princes and Commandery Princes became honorary positions sustained by the royal family, with no real military or political power, merely wealthy and venerable figures. Whether one was trusted and employed or guarded and confined depended on one’s relationship with the Ziwei Constellation.
However, the situation in recent generations has been somewhat unique. At the end of Emperor Wu’s era, there was the Witchcraft Disaster and the case of the rebellious Prince Li, which caused infighting between father and son in the Immortal Palace and widespread strife within the Three Constellations.
This also involved the case of the Party Members, with the Demon Sect watching covetously. Thus, the calamity continues to this day, with officials and noble families still occasionally executed under the charge of being cronies of Prince Li.
Due to the entanglement of the Prince Li case, with some deposed, executed, or having committed suicide, Emperor Wu ended up with five sons dying one after another. Finally, the youngest son ascended the throne but soon passed away in the Ziwei Constellation without leaving an heir, almost causing the legitimate line to end.
Thus, the Ziwei Constellation selected an Emperor from the Four Great Sects to adopt as the model inheritor of the Emperor’s bloodline. The current Immortal Emperor was chosen from the Southern Sect Country. Therefore, according to seniority, the Southern Country Lord is nominally the ’uncle’ of the present Immortal Emperor, though the reality may be more complicated.
Rumor has it in the Jianghu that the bloodline relationships within the Immortal Palace’s royal clan are chaotic. To preserve the purity of the Emperor’s bloodline, awaken the celestial Emperor Blood, and avoid the innate defects of cousin marriages, the clan practices some form of intrafamily group marriage, not intermarrying with the noble families.
For instance, in the Southern Country royal family, eligible princely heirs and princesses go ’on visits’ to various Northwest East Sect countries as ’exchange students.’ The children born from these rotations undergo strict testing for bloodline purity, Immortal Bone, and Spirit Root. Only those with the highest blood purity and best talents can become princely heirs and princesses, raised by the concubines. Those with lower aptitude are given to palace maids and wet nurses to be raised, growing up to be servants in the Prince Mansion, kept for later use.
Bloodline-wise, the Southern Country Lord might actually be the biological father of the current Immortal Emperor, or perhaps an uncle, a grandfather, or...anyway, just a relative!
Of course, when selecting the Emperor back then, the Three Constellations actually considered that the North was already settled, and support from the Southern Country was essential in the subsequent campaign against the Demon Clan. Thus, they specially chose someone from this sect to inherit the throne.
It stands to reason that the current Immortal Emperor greatly trusts the Southern Country royal line, frequently bestowing rewards and land to the Southern Sect Country, and even dispatching the Guardian Immortal Army of the Immortal Palace to the Southern Border to help the Southern Country Lord expand territories.
However, due to internal strife within the Three Constellations, fighting over the Tiger Talisman and military power, the army’s mobilization is slow and not yet assembled. In exchange for the Southern Country’s burden of military expenses, the Three Constellations have exempted them from corvée taxes and allowed them to mint their own Divine Gang Coin, giving the clan a monopoly on the salt and iron business by special decree.
Thus, the Southern Country is now lightly taxed and without burdens, enjoying a period of prosperity and wealth.
Moreover, the hereditary Jiangdu Prefecture of the Southern Country is already a land of abundance, with convenient water transport in Yunmeng Swamp, connecting the water routes to the countries of Kun, Li, Xun, and Zhen, and directly reaching the Si Li Three Enclosures to the north.
Not only is rice cultivation abundant, but so are wheat, rice, fish, shrimp, and crabs. There is also ample cultivation of mulberry, hemp, tea, and bamboo. Consequently, the related industries, such as shipbuilding, fish processing, textiles, tea production, weaving, and pharmaceuticals, are leaders in their fields.
This has attracted a large number of wealthy merchants seeking the Southern Country Lord’s favor to transport military supplies in exchange for salt introduction, becoming special licensed salt merchants, bidding heavily to contract military needs, capitalizing on the convenience of the Southern Country’s waterways to manage transportation and trade, reaping enormous commercial monopoly profits and becoming prestigious and wealthy merchants, with mansions highly extravagant and competing in splendor.
The Southern Country Lord also profits from this, becoming the master behind these wealthy merchants, thus accumulating wealth to rival the nation, with his treasure warehouses and banks piled high, so much so that over forty storage houses for Divine Gang Coin couldn’t fit it all, and the strings tying the coins together rotted away.
"Jiangdu... there are so many people..."
Although Tie Dan had been to Lanling before, the Xiao Family was relatively frugal and modest, plain and simple, keeping good things hidden underwater, not showing their wealth. The city was mainly inhabited by family members, and it seemed not much different.
But Jiangdu Prefecture, this famous metropolis, gathered elites from agriculture, commerce, industry, academia; people from all walks of life were drawn here by the wealth, with countless cargo ships, and everywhere were travelers. Carriages, boats, horses, shoulder to shoulder, bustling with people; truly a magnificent scene of prosperity.
To be fair, if you were to say the Southern Country Lord was a good person, that’s definitely not the case. If you were to claim the grandeur of Jiangdu Prefecture was solely his doing, that’s also an exaggeration. It’s just a case of being in the right place at the right time; even pigs can fly when the wind blows...
"Junior Brother Zhou, look at this bracelet, don’t you think it’s pretty?"
After Tie Dan’s day and night treatment, Yao Honglei was revived.
Now her internal injuries had healed, and her appearance greatly improved; not only had her power recovered, but she had also retrieved her Storage Jade. After all, she had been famous on the Immortal Thief List for many years; understanding the cunning ways of having three nests for a rabbit. She had a temporary base in Jiangdu Prefecture.
So upon arriving in Jiangdu, they first visited Yao Honglei’s villa, exchanged the broken Immortal Jiang Zhusuo for other magic treasures, and she donned red robes.
Having vented her frustration, this woman’s temper improved significantly, her brows relaxed, and she smiled warmly, despite having a gauze scarf covering her face, each gesture and move exuding the charm of Immortal Jiang Ying, captivating the onlookers.
Yet she still wore Tie Dan’s clothing underneath, without mentioning its return. But as it was Mr. He Lin’s outfit, Tie Dan didn’t mind, still wearing his old green robe from the Sword Sect, glancing when hearing her voice.
"What’s so special about a bracelet; it’s just a circle. However, the gold one isn’t good; the black wood one suits you better."
Yao Honglei glanced at the black wood bracelet, blushed while holding it,
Tie Dan nodded,
"Indeed, dark as night; this way, you can hide the hair on your wrist, avoiding enemy notice, and unexpectedly turn it into a knife or sword to kill."
Yao Honglei was speechless,
"...Junior Brother, do you always speak like this? How would your Daoist companion respond to you?"
"I don’t have a Daoist companion."
Yao Honglei’s eyes lit up, laughing behind her hand,
"How can that be, Junior Brother, being so handsome and powerful; surely you have many admirers. How could you not have a Daoist companion?"
Tie Dan thought about it,
"I do have a few admirers and some soulmates, but not a single close Daoist companion."
Well, Zhen Baiyu isn’t worthy yet; if she can’t survive this deadly trial, then she isn’t qualified to be his Daoist companion either.
And Yao Honglei, delighted, bought that black wood bracelet and wore it on her wrist,
"Since you say so, I trust you."
Tie Dan said nothing, letting her hold his arm, akin to a couple, wandering through the crowd and circling the Southern Sect Royal Mansion, observing the mansion’s terrain.
At this time, the two used a blinding technique and Qi Concealing Technique; Jiangdu Prefecture was already crowded, and martial masters were abundant within the royal mansion, not lacking cultivators. Thus, they drew no attention. They circled around without rousing the Demon Palace’s attention and even had time to blend in with the crowd, eventually reaching the riverside to enjoy the scenery; witnessing the confluence and flow of rivers, the endless sails, white herons soaring, and the Demon Palace executions.
Well, executions in the literal sense.
On a sandbank in the river, the Southern Country King Banner stood tall, whipping in the river breeze.
A group of Golden Core Martial Guards drew their bows and prepared crossbows, vigilantly preventing any ships from approaching the shore.
On the white sandy shore, the Six Gates’ tribute was pressing a group of prisoners, bound in five flowers and pierced through the scapula with Drilling Heart Nails, skinned and drawn, ready for beheading on the ground.
"The time of noon has arrived! Execute!"
"Swish, swish, swish!"
With a flash of cold light, the blade swung, and a wave of heads fell to the ground. Then, mages came forth to pinch formulas and chant spells, sealing the heads with talismans and placing them in lime boxes for soul-suppression. The corpses soon decomposed into blood and pus, cleansed with black dog blood, and washed into the river, leaving no traces in the mortal world.
Tie Dan looked at those cultivators executed wave after wave, then observed Yao Honglei’s lack of reaction, estimating that they probably weren’t her fellow Daoists.
Yao Honglei leaned over, rubbing Tie Dan’s arm,
"Demon Sect remnants."
Tie Dan was curious,
"You have connections with the Demon Sect too?"
Yao Honglei nodded,
"I’ve collaborated with them a few times; after all, my enemies are Luofu Mountain, and the only ones daring enough to clash with them are probably the Demon Sect.
But don’t worry, I didn’t join them; after all, I’m a disciple of the Mystic Sect. Moreover, their Holy Daughter is wary of me..."
"Holy Daughter..."
Tie Dan’s eyes twinkled, eyeing her,
"I heard in the Demon Sect, the Venerable Dharma Kings are divided east, west, south, and north. Could it be that there are also multiple Holy Daughters?"
Yao Honglei assumed this Junior Brother Zhou was a newcomer, inexperienced with the Demon Sect, and guided him,
"There is only one True Saintess, but since she hasn’t awakened, each branch of the Divine Sect, under the command of each Dharma King, raise several candidates known as Candidacy Saintesses, serving as vessels for the Saintess’s reincarnation.
The cultists of the Demon Sect in Jiangdu here were initially under the control of the Wisdom Dharma King among the Four Great Dharma Kings. However, years ago, when the Demon Palace gathered its army across the border intending to head south to Li Country for demon extermination, the Three Constellations kept withholding the Tiger Talisman due to power struggles. Hence, the army, with nothing to do, casually eradicated the Wisdom Dharma King’s lair.
During that great battle, Yunmeng flooded, drowning thousands of acres of fertile fields and killing hundreds of thousands of commoners. The Demon Sect, outnumbered, saw the eradication of the Wisdom Dharma King and his family, and the cult members have since vanished, going underground. I only heard rumors of a Holy Daughter still in charge, but all past connections are severed."
The past being past, it seemed this local Holy Daughter wasn’t Baiyu then...
Yet, the Demon Palace’s actions were outlandish, to think they’d casually eradicate the Wisdom Dharma King like that, can you believe it?
Why are they always so formidable in such inexplicable scenarios...
Yao Honglei shook her head and said,
"In fact, the major case from ten years ago shocked the world, especially with the revelation that the Prince Li’s advisor, Lu Yi, was actually a clone of the Wisdom Dharma King, further sparking the Witchcraft Disaster. The Jiangdu Lu Family was annihilated back then, so how many Demon Sect remnants could remain?
This is just the Demon Palace routinely eliminating dissidents; Mixed Cultivators unwilling to become their dogs, yet lacking the capability of the Three Great Sects to protect themselves, have no other fate than death.
Let’s return and plan how to attack the royal mansion."

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