This is not how immortals cultivate

Chapter 385 Junior Brother, have you forgotten? Our Original Heart Path has always been like this.

Tai'an Prefecture, Imperial Palace.

Xiang Yuan teleported out of the space, found a small pavilion to sit down, pointed his fingers into a sword shape and pointed it in mid-air. Ripples spread from his fingertips, and he transmitted his voice to Liu Che from afar.

My senior brother has invited you; please come immediately.

The sun had set in the west, and it was already dark.

Xiang Yuan waited at the palace for half an hour before seeing Liu Che arrive late. The latter had changed into a dark brocade casual dress with dark gold patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs. The belt was tightly tied around his waist, and the hem of the dress hung down like iron, highlighting his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and his imposing figure, while also exuding an aura of majesty and dominance.

Judging from Xiang Yuan's own experience, since he had changed his clothes, he must have taken a shower as well.

"Junior brother, what is the purpose of bathing and changing clothes?"

Xiang Yuan wasn't embarrassed at all and took the initiative to ask directly, "Is it because you respect your senior brother and show him all the proper etiquette, or are you treating your senior brother like an envoy and putting on airs, deliberately delaying and leaving me hanging for half an hour?"

"Senior brother, please don't misunderstand. People are in high spirits when they are happy. I have been a bit unrestrained lately and I was afraid of offending you, so I took a bath and changed my clothes to calm my mind."

Liu Che laughed heartily and sat opposite Xiang Yuan: "It's definitely not because I mistook my senior brother for a Western Chu envoy and didn't want to meet him. I kept delaying until my senior brother realized he was making a fool of himself and would leave on his own."

"If you put it that way, then I'm relieved."

"..." x2
The two looked at each other and saw disdain in each other's eyes.

This is just how daily life is in the Benxindao (本心道) community; there's nothing strange about it.

Liu Che knew Xiang Yuan's purpose and didn't want to bring up the topic, so he spoke first: "A few months ago, I troubled you, Senior Brother, to escort Wen Ying. I didn't know that you were both a scholar and a warrior. Your poem 'Naturally the First-Class Among Flowers' on the border between our two countries greatly humiliated Western Chu and earned a great reputation for Northern Qi!"

When this was mentioned, Liu Che was speechless for a moment.

Princess Wenying, also known as Jiang Yingjun, seemed to have lost her soul after returning from Western Chu. She sighed and lamented every day, feeling depressed and unhappy.

When Empress Jiang Wang inquired, Jiang Yingjun said that ants were crawling on her body.

Jiang Wang was furious, thinking that Xiang Yuan had used some despicable means, and vowed to get justice for his younger sister. He then questioned the maids around Jiang Yingjun and finally understood the whole story.

Xiang Yuan didn't use despicable or vulgar methods; on the contrary, he was quite refined and elegant, reciting poetry.

It was only then that Jiang Wang realized that the rough man she had regarded as strong, powerful and spirited was actually so delicate in his thoughts that he could write beautiful and elegant poems, and that a few mediocre poems had made Jiang Yingjun completely infatuated.

In this way, Jiang Wang's so-called plan to sow discord immediately turned into him personally pushing his own little sister into a fire pit.

Q: Why did it turn out this way?

A: The Way of the Original Mind.

Look what your senior brother has done!

Jiang Wang was full of complaints and transferred her dissatisfaction to Liu Che. Her master, Miao Qiong, had been detained by the Benxin Dao and had become the sect's treasure known to everyone in Northern Qi. Her younger sister, Jiang Yingjun, had been bewitched by the Benxin Dao and spent her days gazing at the sky at a 45-degree angle, muttering about love and resentment, making her look like a resentful woman in her boudoir.

Then look at myself, bearing children for an outer disciple of the Benxin Dao sect.

This is outrageous! You can't just bully people like this!
Regardless of the cause and process, looking only at the result, Jiang Wang felt that he was being targeted by the Dao of the Heart, and for a while he didn't give Liu Che a good look.

This completely wronged Liu Che. When Miao Qiong was detained by Benxin Dao, he was not yet an outer disciple. Jiang Yingjun was bewitched by Xiang Yuan, and it was Jiang Wang who offered the plan. Even his status as an outer disciple of Benxin Dao was to repay the old Daoist Que Xin for saving the Northern Qi's Golden Dragon of Fortune.

Undeserved disaster (×)
Benxindao is still pursuing me (√)
Since falling into the hands of Benxindao, Liu Che had encountered no good fortune until the good news arrived: the emperor of Western Chu had died, the entire royal family had been wiped out, and there was no one to inherit the throne.

Le.JPG
As a result, for the past few days, Jiang Wang has been watching Liu Che grin with a dark face, one full of resentment and the other beaming with joy.

Just a few days after they were enjoying their good fortune, an envoy from Western Chu arrived.

It's still the original way of life!

Liu Che couldn't understand what terrible things the Northern Qi had done to have a prestigious sect like Benxin Dao within its borders.

“Junior brother, there’s no rush with poetry and songs. If you want to hear one, I’ll write one for you right now.”

Xiang Yuan cleared his throat, pointed to the chrysanthemums in the courtyard, raised his eyebrows and said, "When autumn comes on the ninth day of the ninth month, my flowers will bloom and all other flowers will wither. The fragrance will fill the air and the whole city will be adorned with golden armor."

Liu Che: (Benefit)
This poem was very unfriendly to the emperor. Liu Che was no fool; how could he not understand the meaning behind the poem? He immediately stood up and said, "Is my senior brother threatening me?"

"No, Junior Brother, have you forgotten? Our Original Heart Path has always been like this."

"..."

Liu Che's face turned pale and then flushed, and he was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

Xiang Yuan interacted with the emperor by reciting a rebellious poem, thus bridging the gap between them and his junior brother. He indicated that he was there today as the senior brother and that the words "persuader of Western Chu" should not be mentioned again.

Seeing Liu Che's face turn as black as the bottom of a pot, Xiang Yuan exclaimed that it was really fun. Sure enough, it was more interesting to mess around with his fellow disciples from the Benxin Dao sect.

The dim-witted master's insight is brilliant: if Liu Che were merely the emperor of Northern Qi, without the status of fellow disciples, it would be far too boring.

"Junior brother, you must have heard about the current situation of Western Chu."

Xiang Yuan got to the point, tapping his hand on the stone table: "I know you're very happy, Junior Brother, that the opportunity to expand your territory has arrived, but don't be too happy yet. Today it's the Xiao family, tomorrow it might be the Liu family. If the Xiao family can't defend against assassination, how can your Liu family?"

The meaning behind the words is very simple.

Liu Che could treat Lady Xiao as a shameless fool, after all, they really were silly, but he couldn't think of her as stupid. In this family, there were plenty of people who were quite foolish.

First came the Dragon-Locking Evil Formation, then the tragedy of the Western Chu royal family. The mastermind behind it all was intent on stirring up chaos in the world. If Liu Che was only focused on having fun, he would have fallen into their trap.

Even without Xiang Yuan's reminder, Liu Che already had these concerns.

While the mastermind's move certainly stirred up a storm in the world, it also made the Liu family of Tai'an and the Li family of Shangyuan tremble with fear, lest they close their eyes and never open them again.

But then again, if the emperor could tolerate it, could those below him, waiting to make their mark, also tolerate it?
Such immense wealth is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Liu Che sat down without saying a word, his face expressionless. As an emperor, he was experienced in giving people the cold shoulder, and he did not want to show his emotions. Xiang Yuan could hardly read between the lines, but he could see the clues from the changes in his expression.

Xiang Yuan remained calm. His half-hour of sitting had not been in vain; he already had a plan in mind: "Junior brother, I have come here not to ask about anything else, but to save the lives of more than a hundred members of your royal family!"

Liu Che's eyelids twitched.

Xiang Yuan took out a brocade pouch and pushed it in front of Liu Che: "The deaths of more than a hundred members of the Xiao royal family are very suspicious. I can tell you clearly that the means to kill them were not ordinary, and even the three realms could not do it."

Liu Che frowned, opened the brocade pouch, took out the slip of paper, and upon seeing the words 'Book of Life and Death,' his expression changed drastically.

"Do you understand now? Your life, Liu's, is in someone's hands!"

"Senior brother, don't make up stories to fool me. Although I don't understand the Book of Life and Death, I do know that it is hidden in the Netherworld. After Yan Xuanhe severed the heavens with his sword, the concept of Heaven and Netherworld disappeared in the Qianyuan Realm. Could the villains really create a Book of Life and Death out of thin air?" Liu Che stared at Xiang Yuan, wanting to obtain more information.

"Junior brother, stop glaring. The brocade pouch was given to us by our dim-witted master. He doesn't want to talk about it, and I don't know either."

Xiang Yuan shrugged: "However, my dim-witted master has told me how to break the curse. I happen to have some tricks up my sleeve, which can protect the Liu family and prevent your whole family from having their souls taken away by the Book of Life and Death."

"Senior brother, why are you only arriving now?"

Liu Che was overjoyed upon hearing this and rose to greet him respectfully. The smile on his face was even greater than when he saw the old Taoist priest with the missing heart break the Dragon-Locking Evil Formation.

Benxindao truly deserves to be called a prestigious and orthodox sect of Northern Qi, and is indeed the leader of the Dao!
"No wonder you're the emperor, you're too good at changing your tune..."

Xiang Yuan muttered to himself, tapping the table lightly with his fingertips: "Junior brother, I've been here for quite a while, and I haven't even had a sip of hot tea."

"Bring tea! Prepare a feast!"

The scene shifts to Xiang Yuan wolfing down his food, his ravenous appetite leaving Liu Che struggling to find a place to eat.

He was an emperor, after all; it was beneath him to pick up leftover vegetable scraps.

What? Why not eat meat porridge?
Hilarious! There's no meat left on the table, just bones.

Liu Che knew Xiang Yuan was doing it on purpose. He thought to himself that this wasn't the first time Xiang Yuan had acted so inhumanely. He put down his chopsticks, picked up his wine cup, took a small sip, and said casually, "With your abilities, Senior Brother, you're respected throughout the world. Yet, in this Western Chu, they can't even provide a decent meal." "Junior Brother is right," Xiang Yuan replied without looking up, "but now that I'm in Northern Qi, we'll be staring at each other all day. Can your body handle it?"

"..."

"Look, if it really happens, your body won't be able to handle it."

Xiang Yuan swept up the mess of cups and plates with a clatter, put down his chopsticks and said, "Don't say that your senior brother won't help you. As soon as I get the method to break the Book of Life and Death, I'll come to you first."

Liu Che remained silent for a moment, then slowly said, "If you have no requests, like when you first arrived in Northern Qi, coming alone for the Dragon-Locking Evil Formation, I will never forget your great kindness. But today you must have something to ask for. I am not very happy about this transaction."

"Even if we owe each other nothing, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"How can there be joy in a conflict of interests?"

"Junior brother, this is not right of you. I'm trying to talk to you nicely, why do you keep arguing?"

"Senior brother was in the wrong first. You are a cultivator from Northern Qi, yet you always side with Western Chu." Liu Che looked displeased, as if he had been bullied.

But I am a man of Chu!

Xiang Yuan muttered to himself, then said, "To be honest, junior brother, I'm also thinking of myself. You know, I'm engaged to the daughter of the Xiao family of the Zhao Prince's Mansion. My father-in-law might ascend to the throne and become the new emperor of Western Chu. If he becomes emperor, I can also benefit from it. At that time, I will have great power and be able to bully the people and cut off their heads whenever I want."

Upon hearing this important intelligence, Liu Che narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment before saying, "Senior brother is not one to covet power, there's no need to be so self-deprecating."

Liu Che didn't believe such nonsense. If Xiang Yuan really wanted to seize power, he could have come to Northern Qi directly, entered officialdom as a general, and reached the pinnacle of life without any effort.

This great general also gifted her a fragrant princess—no ordinary princess, but the empress's younger sister. They were now fellow disciples and brothers-in-law; you called me junior brother, and I called you brother-in-law—a double blessing, making them truly family. It was far more enjoyable than being someone's son-in-law in Western Chu.

"..."

I talk to you about the common people, and you talk to me about sectarianism; I talk to you about personal interests, and you talk to me about morality and ethics. What's the point of talking to you then?

That's how emperors are; they always maintain the upper hand. If they can't win an argument, they'll switch to another one. If you don't follow their lead, they'll make you switch to another one in your next life.

Xiang Yuan sighed: "Junior brother, when two countries fight, there will inevitably be bloodshed and scheming. It is not advisable. I know that expanding territory and making great contributions will last for generations. I don't have that kind of influence. I can't persuade you with just reason. So I'm making a fair deal to ensure the safety of your family."

So, does that mean I'll be able to pass?
Whether he could pass the test or not was another matter; the lives of his entire family were at stake. Liu Che could not refuse this deal, but whenever he thought of his senior brother being used by Western Chu while he alone had no use for him, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

The domineering CEO gets bullied; the experience is extremely poor.

Liu Che took a deep breath and said to Xiang Yuan, "Senior Brother's deal is very reasonable, and the Liu family can hardly refuse it. But... what about the people below? Northern Qi is not just the royal family. If the Liu family wants to suppress them, they will inevitably have to pay a heavy price."

"Junior brother, speak your mind."

"Senior brother owes me a favor. If anything happens in the future, you must agree, whether you like it or not!" Liu Che said resolutely.

Xiang Yuan's expression was strange: "Junior brother, you should know that if you have a favor to ask, I generally won't refuse..."

"Just tell me if it's okay or not!"

"Well, it's not impossible."

"That's fine then."

Liu Che picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp: "Since my senior brother has agreed, then this matter will be done as you say. Northern Qi will not make any major moves within three months. Even if there is unrest on the border, it will have nothing to do with the Liu family!"

Xiang Yuan's eyes twitched, and he found it hard to swallow his wine. His intuition told him that owing Benxindao a favor was definitely not a good thing, and it might just be another big pitfall.

"Senior brother?"

"I'll drink it now!"

Xiang Yuan downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, feeling deeply moved by how much he had sacrificed for the common people.

It was agreed that if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up, but when trouble came, these tall ones would run away a thousand miles away, leaving notes for their disciples to handle. It's just...

Oh, this has been the case throughout history and across the world. The disciple leads the charge; this is truly the work of a righteous master!
After the discussion, Xiang Yuan didn't delay. He told Liu Che to stay put and not move, and then he rushed straight to the Yellow Springs Road in the Southern Frontier.

Bai Wuyan's method of teleporting space is indeed very effective. Previously, when teleporting to distant places, she had to stop two or three times to confirm the direction. Now, she can teleport anywhere she wants in one step, making time management much more convenient.

As soon as Xiang Yuan entered the Yellow Springs Path headquarters, several inner disciples fled at the mere sight of him. At first, he didn't take it seriously, assuming that Left Envoy Xiang Wentian was quite prestigious within the sect. It wasn't until he was intercepted by Zuo Lengxie halfway through that he realized the other party had been waiting for him all along.

"Your Excellencies, what kind of strange wind blew you here today, bringing you right before me?" Xiang Yuan asked in surprise.

"Left Envoy, the Emperor of Western Chu is dead!" Zuo Lengxie's expression was solemn; he had no time for joking with Xiang Yuan.

"I know."

Xiang Yuan nodded, and when Zuo Lengxie handed him a gold-embossed visiting card, he curiously took it, glanced at it, and clicked his tongue in amazement, saying, "They're really quick. The emperor's death hasn't even been confirmed yet, and these people can't hold back."

The visiting card came from the Prince Jing's residence, from Prince Jing, Xiao Ning.

In his letter of invitation, Prince Jing, Xiao Ning, spoke earnestly, claiming to admire Huang Quan Dao's unwavering commitment to righteousness, having endured years of injustice without wavering in his resolve, and finally having his name cleared. However, prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain, heavy, stubborn, and incomprehensible; the world still holds a prejudice against Huang Quan Dao.

King Jing, Xiao Ning, was deeply saddened. Not wanting good people to bleed and weep, he offered his meager wealth to help Huangquan Dao regain its reputation throughout the world.

"What a righteous heart!"

Xiang Yuan closed the visiting card and gave Zuo Lengxie a half-smile: "If it weren't for the fact that you and I are the Left and Right Envoys and know the Yellow Springs Path inside and out, we would really think the Yellow Springs Path is a prestigious and righteous sect just by looking at this visiting card."

Stop talking like that, that's you!
Zuo Lengxie was quite dissatisfied with Xiang Yuan's statement. It was true that Huangquan Dao was a heretical and evil sect in the past, but things are different now. It has been almost a year since they turned over a new leaf. As the Left Envoy of Huangquan, Xiang Yuan should not continue to act as an old demon.

"Your Excellencies, King Jing wants to win us over. What do you think?"

Xiang Yuan didn't know much about this Prince Jing. Judging from the words in the visiting card, Prince Jing was quite wealthy and had a lot of confidence in the Prince Jing's mansion. He was probably just a puppet supported by the mastermind behind the scenes.

Let me mark this down first.

"Prince Jing is the top imperial merchant of the Xiao family in the capital, and he often does business with Wangjian Manor. The two are very close..."

Zuo Lengxie spoke for a while, but seeing that Xiang Yuan had no interest, he skipped over it and said directly, "Huangquan Dao will not interfere in matters of the court, not in the past, and not in the future!"

Hearing Zuo Lengxie's straightforwardness, Xiang Yuan blinked and said, "Uh, actually I'm very close to the Zhao Prince's family. I'm his son-in-law. Do you know Zhao Prince Xiao Yan? He has a son named Xiao Qian, who is a promising talent."

Zuo Lengxie's face darkened, and he remained silent, staring intently at Xiang Yuan.

"Enough, enough. It's really inconvenient for the Yellow Springs Path to get involved in the messy affairs of the court, especially now that it involves the change of dynasties. If we're not careful, the Yellow Springs Path will be labeled as a heretical sect by the authorities again." Xiang Yuan shook his head. He hadn't made any contributions to the Yellow Springs Path, so it was really inappropriate to bind the Yellow Springs Path to the Zhaowang Mansion.

Hearing this, Zuo Lengxie's expression softened considerably, though his tone remained grave: "Envoy Zuo, your position within the sect is too high. Whatever you do, in the eyes of outsiders, you represent the Yellow Springs Path. As the son-in-law of the Prince Zhao's mansion, I cannot stop you, but I urge you... to restrain yourself. The Yellow Springs Path has not come easily to where it is today."

By the end, it was almost a plea.

This was the first time Zuo Lengxie had yielded to Xiang Yuan; he hadn't bowed his head when they were shouting for a fight before.

Seeing this, Xiang Yuan nodded: "Rest assured, Left and Right Envoys, I will not act in my capacity as the Left Envoy of the Yellow Springs. You can trust my words; I will never put the Yellow Springs Path in danger."

Zuo Lengxie's expression finally softened. He had a naturally sinister and fierce face, so he wasn't exactly handsome.

Seeing Xiang Yuan's hurried steps, and then looking in the direction Xiang Yuan was heading: "Is the Left Envoy here to pay his respects to the Holy Maiden again?"

"Yes, let's borrow its magic weapon to give the Prince Zhao's mansion more leverage to become emperor."

"..."

Zuo Lengxie stared in disbelief. This was your promise? This was your guarantee?
Not content with just the Left Envoy of the Underworld, they also dragged in the Holy Maiden of the Underworld...

Well, so the guy surnamed Xiang didn't hear a single word of his hard-won words!

(End of this chapter)