Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

Five carriages lined up inside the city gate, their ruts pressing down on the fresh frost that had fallen the previous night.

Thirty strong men from Jiangning, all dressed in short blue cloth jackets and with knives at their waists, stood in two rows on either side of the carriage. It was just dawn, and the wind from the city gate was cold and harsh, whipping the horses' manes back.

Da Niu and Er Hu placed the door bolt horizontally on the roof of the carriage. The old door bolt, as thick as half an arm, had been brought from Xi Yun to Jiang Ning, and then carried onto the carriage from Jiang Ning.

Erhu patted the patina on the bolt: "Sir, this time when we go to the capital, will we be able to smash down the doors of those officials?"

Qian Duo squatted on the cart shaft counting boxes, not even looking up: "What's so special about the capital? A brick falling there could kill three third-rank officials. We're going there to risk our lives."

"Working desperately for the officials is a legitimate job, one that pays the government's salary!"

"Have you ever seen a high-ranking official in the capital go out with two big, clumsy guys following behind him carrying door bolts?"

Erhu thought for a moment, then said seriously, "What if the officials in the capital actually want this?"

Li Ping emerged from the city gate, with Su Wan following three steps behind. Gao Min chased after him, carrying a stack of notebooks she had copied overnight, and shoved them into Qian Duo's hands: "Don't drink cold water on the way. I've circled all those powerful figures in the capital in big red letters. Don't miss a single one; missing one could cost you your life."

Qian Duo took it, weighed it in his hand, and stuffed it into his pocket: "Mr. Gao, is this the Book of Life and Death that you've given me, or is it?"

"It's fate. Jiang Ning's life has been saved, but the life of the capital is something you'll have to earn yourselves."

Fang Cheng stood at the city gate, his gray robe clinging to his legs in the wind, and handed over a pot of wine.

Li Ping took it, uncorked it, and took a sip. It was spicy Jiangning clay pot liquor, so spicy it made his throat tighten.

"Those nobles in the capital can't stand this harsh, earthy taste. They're too delicate for that; they need soft water mixed with honey." He tucked the wine jug into his waistband.

"If anyone in the capital is blind, send a message," Fang Cheng said. "I've already had the remains of the mother formation retrieved. If it really comes to the point of overturning the table, I'll lead a group to dig up the ley lines in the capital."

Li Ping glanced at him.

Fang Cheng had said enough; the matter of the mother formation would remain a secret between the two of them from now on.

Pei Xing stood on the stone steps with the former officials of the prefectural governor's office, saying nothing, only bowing slightly. Qin Shoushan stepped forward and handed over a small cloth bag: "It's made of iron, good for self-defense on the road, good for hitting someone on the head."

Li Ping took it, weighed it in his hand, but didn't open it: "Old Qin, is that stove lit again? What's it burning this time?"

"It's open," Qin Shoushan said. "Before, that fire was used to burn the dead. From now on, it's only for blacksmiths who are still alive."

As the convoy drove out of the city gate, someone on the city wall shouted, "Take care, Lord Li!" The shouts quickly spread, one after another. Li Ping didn't turn around; he simply waved his hand.

From Xiyun County to here, after many twists and turns, it's a completely different chessboard.

After traveling for fourteen days, Li Ping's face grew paler and paler.

The soul power depleted by the broken seal couldn't be replenished in a day or two. He could manage during the day while traveling, but at night, his spiritual energy would swell after circulating in his dantian twice, and his eyelids felt heavier than city gates. Every day when they arrived at the post station, only after paying extra could they lay out the mattress, and Li Ping would already be collapsed and silent on the kang (heated brick bed).

Su Wan didn't ask, but every time he fell down, the pillow was already laid out.

Qian Duo wanted to complain, but Su Wan silenced him with a look. Privately, he leaned closer and asked, "Miss Su, does the master look like he's about to collapse?"

Su Wan only uttered one word: "Nurture."

It is indeed being raised

The Earthly Qi Guiding Technique had recognized its master. Without the thorn of "Mountain Twelve," the earth spirit warmed its meridians in concentric circles, spreading from the soles of the feet to the spine. The Qi Sea, depleted during the days of the broken seal, began to recover day by day.

When Li Ping woke up on the seventh day, he tried to regulate his Qi circulation. His spiritual energy completed a full cycle without stopping. He didn't know when he had crossed the hurdle of the third level of Qi Refining.

On the tenth day, he could count the exact points where the earth element flowed through his meridians, even with his eyes closed.

Five floors

The foundation built up in the three years before the seal was broken was all regained after recognizing the Lord.

One night, Li Ping woke up in the middle of the night to find the light still on. Su Wan was sitting by the window, wiping her sword. Hearing the noise, she didn't turn her head.

"Close your eyes"

The sword light flickered under the lamplight, then dimmed again, and neither of them spoke again.

On the fourteenth day, the official road left Jiangbei Prefecture and entered the capital region. The road narrowed and the trees became denser. Ahead, two mountains flanked a ravine, which was a perfect place to slaughter a fat sheep.

Qian Duo was the first to sense something was wrong and pulled on the reins: "Sir, there are no birds landing in the woods ahead."

Before the words were even finished, seven logs rolled out from the mouth of the ditch, blocking the road. Twenty or so men rose from the bushes, their swords gleaming.

The one-eyed man glanced at the convoy—five large trucks, quite a few people, but all dressed in drab clothes, not like someone important. He spat, stood in the middle of the road, and planted his knife tip in the ground.

"I will clear this mountain, I will plant this tree."

"You're kidding me!" Li Ping leaned halfway out of the car, his face still showing signs of sleepiness. "If you're going to rob someone, then rob them, don't put on an act."

The one-eyed man hesitated, then swallowed his words: "...Enough nonsense! Hand over the silver, and I guarantee you won't die!"

"What's the rush?" Li Ping got out of the car, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Perfect timing. My bones are about to fall apart from sleeping so much. Let me loosen them up for you guys."

He pressed one hand to the ground.

The spiritual energy within his dantian, which had been pent up for fourteen days, finally found an outlet, sinking into the ground through his palm. A massive earthen wall, two zhang high, suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the ditch entrance and trapping the crossbeam and about twenty men inside.

Before the mud wall could stop, it exploded with a crash, sending rubble raining down on the one-eyed man. He had just gotten to his feet when a falling rock slammed him back to the ground, his knife flying two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) away.

In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a group of people lay prone at the mouth of the ditch.

Su Wan reined in his horse and stood by the roadside, sword still sheathed, looking at the earthen wall and nodding slightly.

The Jiang brothers stared in disbelief. Erhu, having raised the door bolt halfway, couldn't find a place to land, and after a long pause, finally managed to stammer, "Sir... what kind of magic trick are you performing?"

"I already knew how," Li Ping said, patting the dirt off his hands. "I was on a dog leash the other day, so I couldn't exert any strength."

Qian Duo leaned closer, clicking his tongue repeatedly: "Sir, your ability to turn over like a dragon in the ground is far more impressive than when you were in Jiangning!"

Li Ping flexed his wrists: "Only when the chain breaks will the earth's energy obey."

Qian Duo looked at the earthen wall again: "Sir, if you have this ability, why didn't you use it sooner? Were you deliberately trying to make me wet my pants in fear the whole way?"

"I already used it. What am I supposed to find amusing about you wetting your pants along the way?"

The one-eyed boy lay groaning at the foot of the earthen wall. Li Ping walked over and squatted down: "Is this ditch yours?"

"That's perfect," Li Ping stood up, patted his knees, and said, "Go back and tell your chieftain that you can steal other cars on the Gyeonggi Road, but not the Li family's cars from Jiangning."

"What would happen if we robbed them?"

"Nothing will happen," Li Ping said. "It's just that this place will have to be renamed Juehu Gully from now on."

As the convoy rounded the earthen wall, Li Ping mounted his horse and glanced back at the road they had come from.

Jiang Ning was long gone, but the words "Take care" from the city wall still echoed in his ears, along with the half-finished pot of earthenware at his waist.

The debts that couldn't be taken with us were all left in Jiangning.

Qian Duo asked from the carriage shaft, "Sir, are we really not going back to Jiangning this time? I still have several uncollectible debts on my account book."

"Why think about it?" Li Ping withdrew his gaze. "The debts in Jiangning have already been settled, and the debts in the capital have been paid off."

He squeezed the horse's belly.

"Earn money one by one, and calculate the principal and interest clearly."

The official road ahead bends past the foot of the mountain and disappears from sight; the morning light shines from behind, casting long, long shadows.

When the towering, sky-obscuring city wall finally came into view, Li Ping reined in his horse and narrowed his eyes slightly.