Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 96 A Monster Came from the Sky

Murong Zhen's plan to build a palace in Baozhou caused a great uproar in the court.

The Xiao Kingdom was originally founded by the Mohe people. In order to facilitate governance, it gradually became Sinicized, and even its court assemblies followed the example of the previous dynasty, which divided them into the New Year's Day and the Regular Day.

The regular court assembly usually ended before 9:00 AM, after which the ministers would return to their respective offices to do their work, with only some officials from the Ministry of Personnel and Hanlin scholars remaining to take turns on duty.

But today is different.

Or rather, these past few days have been somewhat unusual.

The court had been arguing for half a month over two issues: the construction of a temporary palace in Baozhou and the transfer of Heshilie to Baozhou to command the Shuntian Army.

Just a few days ago, several pedantic courtiers even signed a petition to remonstrate, arguing that Murong had been deceived by martial arts practitioners and that there were no immortals at all. They claimed that the so-called "one sword falling into two abysses" was an exaggeration by the favored minister Mu Feng, whose purpose was merely to "raise bandits to enhance his own prestige" and "seek fame and reputation"!

This gave Murong Zhen a real headache.

Because of his humble origins and mixed Mohe and Central Plains ancestry, Mu Feng was disliked by both sides and was always looked down upon by court officials. They even liked to impeach him to revive his resume whenever they had a chance.

Murong Zhen was originally in a semi-laissez-faire state regarding this situation—a knife only needs to be sharp, and a more intimidating reputation is actually more useful.

But at this time, based solely on Mu Feng's memorial, two major actions were taken that almost changed the political landscape of the court, which the court officials were naturally not happy about.

The Ministry of Revenue stubbornly refused to contribute a single penny, claiming they had no money.

Murong Zhen's mother, Empress Dowager Baishan, reprimanded him several times for indulging in pleasure because of the construction of the palace!
This back and forth continued until both imperial edicts were difficult to issue—after all, he wasn't truly willing to kill all his useful ministers just to do these two things, so he could only slowly stall and wait for the ministers sent to deliver the edicts to return before putting pressure on them.

But the arguments continued, and today they started arguing as early as the morning court session and didn't stop until almost noon.

Or perhaps these gossipy ministers had run out of things to say and were too hoarse to speak anymore.

In short, just as Murong Zhen waved his hand, preparing to leave the court session and put these two matters aside for "later discussion," a commotion suddenly arose outside the hall.

"This is outrageous! What kind of commotion is this!"

Murong Zhen was already annoyed, and now he felt even more murderous. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted angrily.

"Report——"

The guards at the gate scrambled into the hall, their faces filled with panic, and they could barely speak:

"From the sky, from the sky, a monster is coming!"

Murong Zhen laughed in anger upon hearing this: "Guards, drag him away and beat him—"

Before the words were finished, a resounding voice, as powerful as a booming bell, suddenly rang out from outside the hall:

"Ye Shuyun, a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect, has come on the orders of my master to bestow the immortal fruit. I humbly request Your Majesty to come out of the hall—"

Hearing this, Murong Zhen's face darkened, and his eyes filled with anger.

Since he ascended the throne, no one has ever spoken to him so graciously. Even the official letter from the Southern Chu Kingdom was polite and courteous. Yet this mere Jianghu force dares to use the word "bestow" upon him!
He even made me leave the palace!

Not only Murong Zhen, but the other ministers in the court were also in an uproar, grumbling and expressing their utter indignation, all with the expression of "a subject should die for his master's disgrace"—"Outrageous! Outrageous!"

"How dare you, you brat, insult my Emperor!"

"What...what do they take me for, the Great Xiao?!"

However, when Murong Zhen looked at Mu Feng, who didn't seem as surprised or angry as the others, her heart sank, and she immediately gave Mu Feng a wink.

Mu Feng, with a keen eye, cupped his hands in greeting, gathered his inner energy, and leaped out of the main hall in a few steps, searching around for the person who had spoken.

As soon as he stepped out from under the eaves and looked up, Mu Feng's eyes almost popped out of their sockets!

In the distance, above the bright sun and clusters of white clouds, a reddish-orange fox stood proudly on the horizon, its posture haughty and otherworldly. On its back sat a noble man whose eyes were blindfolded with a white ribbon.

The man was dressed in a white robe with red silk trim, and he was carrying two simple bamboo baskets. His appearance was not clearly visible, but he exuded an air of nobility.

The man sitting on the red fox is none other than Ye Shuyun, who is wearing the [Cloud Flame Immortal Robe]!
Having apparently recognized Mu Feng, Ye Shuyun tilted her head slightly and said politely yet distantly, "It's been a month since we last met, Master Mu, you still have the same charm."

Ye Shuyun's words carried spiritual power, falling from the sky and echoing throughout the imperial city. Not only Mu Feng heard them, but also the court officials and Murong Zhen in the hall.

At this moment, everyone in the hall fell silent, straining their ears to listen to the outside world, afraid of missing a single word.

Mu Feng had already heard the man in the sky call himself Ye Shuyun, and now that he saw him with his eyes covered, he naturally confirmed the man's identity.

So, he smiled wryly, cupped his hands in greeting, and sighed, "It was a real pity that I didn't get to see Young Master Ye Qi, who had become famous at such a young age, at the Sword Forging Manor. I never expected to see him again today, and Young Master Ye Qi has actually become a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect. Truly, life is unpredictable and unpredictable!"

"Now I serve by the side of the immortals, exhausting my true energy in pursuit of the glorious path to immortality. My previous fame is like fleeting clouds to me, and can no longer be taken seriously."

Ye Shuyun smiled and nodded, explaining a few things before continuing with the main topic: "However, to be honest, Master Mu, since I am a newly initiated disciple with the weakest cultivation, I was sent here to run errands and gain experience. Please excuse my poor performance."

Because Mu Feng had left Baishi Mountain in a hurry, he didn't know much about cultivating immortality. When he heard Ye Shuyun say that if he wanted to cultivate immortality, he had to first dissipate his true energy, he was quite surprised: "Dissipate true energy? Cultivating immortality... requires dissipating true energy?"

Ye Shuyun replied, "Martial arts and immortality are different paths and cannot lead to the same destination. One can only choose one of the two. Therefore, to cultivate immortality, one must give up martial arts and even refine one's true qi meridians in order to have any chance."

Mu Feng's initial desire to cultivate immortality was only "one or two possibilities" upon hearing "refining the true qi meridians," and he instantly calmed down.

He spent most of his life cultivating to the Grandmaster level. If he were to start all over again, he would probably die before he could even glimpse the path to immortality.

"Sigh," Mu Feng sighed, realizing that Ye Shuyun was actually very easy to talk to and not the person everyone had imagined who had come to "crash the party." Helplessly, he tentatively asked, "Young Master Ye's arrival in such a manner is truly unexpected. We don't know how to deal with it!"

Ye Shuyun smiled slightly: "I am only here on the orders of my master to return the gift of the immortal peaches. My master has already received the gift from His Majesty of Xiao Kingdom. As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate, hence my trip."

Upon hearing Ye Shuyun's words "return gift," Mu Feng's forehead instantly broke out in a fine layer of sweat.

He dared not act on his own initiative, so he could only cup his hands again and say, "Please wait a moment, Young Master Ye. I will go to His Majesty to report first."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shuyun smiled gently again: "Master Mu, please go ahead."

After saying that, he rubbed the head of the fox he was sitting on, bent down, and leaned close to its ear, as if saying something.

The image for the top-grade wood-seeking branch in Chapter 88 has been uploaded. If you want to see it, try exiting and re-entering the game to refresh the page; it should appear then.
Just between you and me, this thing is really useful!
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(End of this chapter)