The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

The Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

Ambergris incense was burning in the imperial study.

After reviewing the last stack of memorials, Zhou Qian put down his vermilion brush, leaned back on the dragon throne, and closed his eyes to rest.

Zhao Gao stood by the emperor's side, holding a whisk. The candlelight on the imperial desk flickered slightly, making the few strands of silver hair at the emperor's temples appear and disappear.

He waved for Zhao Gao to leave, and Zhao Gao bowed and left the imperial study, gently closing the door behind him.

The candlelight flickered suddenly.

It wasn't the wind; the doors and windows of the Imperial Study were all tightly shut.

Zhou Qian didn't open his eyes, but simply tapped his fingers lightly twice on the armrest of the dragon throne, his voice echoing in the empty imperial study: "You've come."

A person silently emerged from the shadows behind the screen.

He was an old eunuch, so old that it was impossible to tell how old he was.

His hair and eyebrows were all silver-white, almost transparent, and shimmered faintly in the candlelight.

The wrinkles on his face were layered upon layered, like the bark of an ancient tree, with countless years hidden in each fold.

His back was slightly hunched, and he held an ebony cane in his hand, the top of which was carved a dragon head with its eyes closed.

But when he looked up, his eyes were as clear as those of a twenty-year-old, without a trace of the turbidity of an old man.

He was wearing a faded gray eunuch's robe.

The hem of the robe was worn white, and the cuffs had several very fine patches, with dense stitches.

It's obvious that it was sewn on many years ago and has been worn ever since.

He did not kneel down to pay his respects as usual.

He simply bowed slightly, his movements slow, as slow as an old tree bending gently in the wind.

Zhou Qian stood up from the dragon throne and personally stepped forward to offer a helping hand, his tone filled with rare respect and emotion: "Eunuch Cao, there's no need for such formalities."

"I have been on the throne for nearly thirty years, and I can count the number of times I have seen you on one hand. Your sudden appearance today, is there something important?"

Eunuch Cao slowly straightened up, without answering, but first glanced at the stack of completed memorials on the imperial desk.

He glanced again at the palaces shrouded in moonlight outside the window, then turned to Zhou Qian, his voice hoarse and low: "This old servant has come today to say a few words to His Majesty."

"There are probably not many people in the court who still remember the burning of books and suppression of the Way by Emperor Taizu back then."

"This old servant only heard about it piecemeal from Emperor Dezong when I was serving him back then."

"These things have been weighing on my heart all these years, and I had planned to take them to my grave. But recently, a few things have made me think that the time may be coming."

Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to sit down on the chair next to him.

Eunuch Cao apologized and slowly sat down in the chair, placing his hands folded on the dragon head of his ebony cane.

His gaze passed over the imperial desk and landed on the "Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painting on the wall. He remained silent for a while before speaking again: "That was in the autumn of the twenty-first year of Emperor Dezong's reign. This old servant was still the Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs and accompanied Emperor Dezong to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to worship our ancestors."

"After the sacrificial ceremony, Emperor Dezong dismissed everyone and knelt alone before the memorial tablet of Emperor Taizu for a long time."

"When I came out, I noticed that Emperor Dezong's eyes were slightly red, so I mustered up my courage and asked, 'Why is Your Majesty so sad?'"

"Emperor Dezong was silent for a moment, then said to the old servant, 'Emperor Taizu was not buried in the imperial mausoleum, but rather on the dragon vein.'"

"When Emperor Dezong said this, he lowered his voice very much, as if he was afraid that something would hear him."

"This old servant doesn't understand the meaning of those words, and Emperor Dezong didn't say anything more, but this old servant has remembered them."

Zhou Qian's pupils contracted slightly.

Of course he knew about the dragon vein; it was the foundation upon which the Great Zhou Dynasty was founded.

When emperors ascended the throne, they would go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to worship, but no one ever dared to ask where the coffin of the founding emperor was buried.

The magnificent mausoleum of Emperor Taizu in the imperial mausoleum complex turned out to be just an empty tomb.

Emperor Taizu himself actually pressed his own flesh and blood onto the dragon vein of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Eunuch Cao lowered his head slightly and continued speaking in his hoarse and slow tone.

"At the end of the Great Qian Dynasty, there was more than one person above the ninth rank."

"The last emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty himself was a powerful figure who had reached the Tongtian Realm, and he also had two national advisors under his command who had also reached the Tongtian Realm."

"Emperor Taizu once fought three against one on the Battle of Zhuolu Plain for several days, and finally killed all three of them, but Emperor Taizu himself also suffered irreversible serious injuries."

"After that battle, Emperor Taizu knew that his lifespan was coming to an end, so he did three things before he died."

"The first thing is to collect and burn all the martial arts manuals and secret techniques in the world that record the realm above the ninth rank, along with the remaining martial arts classics of the Great Qian royal family and the cultivation methods privately kept by aristocratic families."

"The second thing is to use one's own cultivation level above the ninth rank as a guide to suppress the dragon vein of the Great Zhou Dynasty under one's own body."

"Dragon veins are the hub of the Qi and fortune of heaven and earth. Suppressing dragon veins means suppressing the martial arts Qi and fortune of the entire world."

"From then on, breaking through to the ninth rank or above not only required cultivation techniques and talent, but also the blessing of the world's fortune. However, the world's fortune was suppressed by the Great Ancestor himself, so no one could break through to the ninth rank anymore."

"Thirdly, the Great Ancestor transformed his life's cultivation into a chain, locking the connection between this world and a higher realm."

"This is the path to heaven, which was personally blocked by the founding emperor."

"From then on, the ninth rank became the limit for all martial artists in the world, and the realm above the ninth rank only existed in legends."

"Emperor Taizu used his own life to ensure the stability of the Great Three Hundred Years. He regarded himself as a nail, nailed to this land."

Zhou Qian remained silent for a long time.

He had vaguely heard fragments of these things, but never had they been pieced together so completely as tonight.

He finally understood why successive emperors had kept the secrets of those above the ninth rank so closely guarded.

That's not a secret; it's a scar.

Emperor Taizu sacrificed his own life to secure the Zhou dynasty's rule.

The reason this empire has been able to remain stable for three hundred years is not because of any wise and powerful emperor.

He wasn't some unparalleled general of loyalty and bravery; it was Emperor Taizu who used his own flesh and blood to press down on the dragon vein.

The path to heaven was blocked by cultivation levels above the ninth rank, forcing everyone in the world to stop at the threshold of the ninth rank.

But the fact that Eunuch Cao suddenly appeared tonight was definitely not just to tell him a story from the past.

He turned his gaze from the "Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" painting to Eunuch Cao's clear eyes, which were not those of a centenarian, and asked in a deep voice, "Three hundred years have passed. Has the dragon vein been unable to be suppressed?"

After a long silence, Eunuch Cao slowly spoke, his voice even hoarser than before: "Your Majesty is wise."

"This old servant has lived for over a hundred years, far exceeding the lifespan limit of a ninth-rank literary cultivator."

"Does Your Majesty know why the lifespan limit for ninth-rank martial artists and scholars is one hundred years?"

"Because after the dragon vein was suppressed, the fortune of heaven and earth was locked, and everyone's cultivation was restricted to within the ninth rank. And for those within the ninth rank, the lifespan limit is one hundred years."

"This old servant should have died at the age of one hundred, but I did not. I have lived past one hundred and am still alive today."

"This in itself is a sign of the loosening of the natural order."

Zhou Qian tapped his fingers heavily on the armrest of the dragon throne, staring intently into Eunuch Cao's clear eyes: "You mean, the fortunes of heaven and earth have begun to shift, and the path to the ninth rank and above is reopening?"

"But I have never allowed anyone to touch the dragon vein, nor have I ever relaxed the ban on cultivation techniques above the ninth rank. How could the fortune suddenly be loosened?"

Eunuch Cao shook his head: "Your Majesty, the dragon vein is alive."

"It is not a stone, nor a mountain, but a torrent of destiny that has been surging beneath the land of Kyushu for hundreds of millions of years."

"No matter how strong Emperor Taizu's cultivation was, he was still just a human being."

"His ability to suppress the dragon vein single-handedly for three hundred years is an unprecedented miracle."

"But three hundred years have passed, and the ancestor's cultivation is gradually dissipating, while the power of the dragon vein is gradually recovering."

"The reason this old servant was able to live past a hundred years old is because the overflowing fortune during the revival of the dragon vein has allowed an old man like this to prolong his life."

"This old servant has come to see Your Majesty today to let you know that the dragon vein is loosening faster than this old servant expected."

"The fact that this old servant has lived to this day is proof enough."

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may wish to think about the young people who have broken through to higher realms in the court in the past two years."

"Su Shi went straight from the third rank to the seventh rank, Wang Anshi went to the third rank in three days, and Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui also went from the third rank to the fifth rank in just a few days."

"The speed at which these people broke through their cultivation levels would have been unheard of twenty years ago."

"It's not that they are more talented than their predecessors, but that the fortune of heaven and earth is loosening, making it easier to break through in cultivation than before."

Zhou Qian's fingers stopped on the armrest and he didn't tap again.

He certainly noticed these anomalies.

But he always thought it was because these young people were exceptionally talented, or because Kong Yan and Pei Du had taught them well.

Looking back now, it might not have been just about talent.

If the fortunes of heaven and earth are truly loosening, then the path above the ninth rank will eventually reopen.

At that time, a second and a third being above the ninth rank will appear in the world.

The reason why the Great Zhou Dynasty was able to maintain its rule for three hundred years was fundamentally based on the insurmountable ceiling of the Ninth Rank.

Once someone breaks through this ceiling, the imperial power's suppression of martial artists will completely disappear.

This was the deepest fear of the founding emperor, and the true meaning behind his three prohibitions before his death.

It was not to uphold the authority of the royal family, but to prevent the world from falling back into the chaos of the late Daqian era.

Zhou Qian stood up, walked to the window, and pushed open the carved wooden window.

A night breeze carrying the mist from Taiye Pond swept over him, causing the silver strands at his temples to flutter slightly.

He gazed out the window at the layers of palaces, at this land that the founding emperor had won with his life, and remained silent for a long time.

He finally turned around, his voice low and cold: "I understand. There are a few things I need to do immediately."

"First, starting today, under the pretext of clearing up backlogged old cases, the Ministry of Personnel will be ordered to review the promotion files of all officials of the fourth rank and above, and all those who have been promoted several ranks in a short period of time will be marked."

"Secondly, select a group of loyal fourth-rank or higher martial artists from the Imperial Guard and send them to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in batches. I want to test how much of the Dragon Vein's seal is left."

"Third, the Xunfeng Guard will strengthen its surveillance of the major clans, especially the Chen clan of Yingchuan, the Zheng clan of Xingyang, and the Lu clan of Fanyang."

"These families may possess records from the Great Qian Dynasty regarding ranks above the ninth grade."

"When Emperor Taizu burned books, he burned martial arts techniques, not history. I now need to know the detailed records of the end of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"What exactly happened in that battle? What is the principle behind the Great Ancestor's seal? And what would happen if the seal were to completely collapse?"

Eunuch Cao slowly stood up, leaning on his ebony cane, and bowed deeply to Zhou Qian.

A faint, gratified smile appeared on his old face as he said deeply, "This old servant has waited so many years, and finally, His Majesty has said these words. The spirit of the founding emperor can rest in peace now."