Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

"Even with your combined strength, you two Venerable Ones cannot defeat the patriarch of the Great Harmony Path?"

"We can't win. The young man in the main hall has a restrained Dao, his aura is perfectly integrated, and every move he makes is in harmony with heaven and earth. There are only a handful of people in the entire Nine Domains who can easily suppress him with such cultivation."

Deep within the magnificent palace, Mu Zhaoyang sat with two royal attendants, a pot of spiritual tea placed before them.

The three of them drank tea while watching the koi carp playing in the pond.

Upon hearing the two celestial beings give such high praise to Zhuang Sheng, a fleeting look of resentment and anger flashed in Mu Zhaoyang's eyes.

If he weren't so confident, he would have loved to capture Zhuang Sheng right now to demonstrate the power and prestige of the Great Ling Empire.

The Great Spirit Empire has been established for over four hundred years, and its unification has lasted for nearly three hundred years.

The empire possesses two continents, the Yin Yin Domain and the Starfall Domain, and is rooted in the most prosperous eastern region of the Apocalypse Domain.

The only neighboring country, the Great Time Empire, is also intertwined with the Great Spirit Empire.

The Empress of the Great Spirit Empire is a princess of the Bai family, while the Empress of the Great Time Empire is his aunt, Mu Zhaoyang.

If they didn't want to easily start a war and cause turmoil in the world, the Mu and Bai families could easily sweep away all other human kingdoms with their current strength.

The Great Ling Empire's powerful national strength brought unprecedented respect; the phrase "all nations pay tribute" best describes it.

In all these long years, this is the first time anyone has dared to commit such a blasphemous act against the Mu family.

People from the Mu family can die, but they shouldn't die in this way.

If Zhuang Sheng hadn't brought the matter to light, but instead handled it secretly, Mu Zhaoyang wouldn't have been too angry even if several more Longyue Marquises died.

If we bring the Marquis of Longyue and the other feudal lords back to Qing'an Prefecture, Mu Zhaoyang will sentence them to death as well.

He would simply give these feudal lords a more dignified death.

For the sake of the empire's future, this is only right and proper.

Mu Zhaoyang never intended to be a tyrannical ruler; what he wanted was to make the Great Ling Empire more prosperous and to ensure that the Mu family's rule would last forever.

The actions of Marquis Longyue and his ilk undoubtedly violated Mu Zhaoyang's taboos.

However, Zhuang Sheng conducted this trial publicly, allowing countless people to witness it and showing the world that even royalty has a despicable side and can be beheaded just like ordinary people.

This action completely ignited Mu Zhaoyang's anger.

In Mu Zhaoyang's eyes, Zhuang Sheng's actions were a slap in the face to the Mu family, an attempt to drag them down from their pedestal.

The right of kings is divinely ordained; how can the descendants of gods be easily sacrificed in blood?

Even if Zhuangzi was a terrestrial immortal and the founder of the Daoist school, he should never desecrate the dignity of the royal family.

Once a precedent is set, the consequences will be dire, and the Mu family's supreme position in the Great Ling Empire may be shaken as a result.

How can we tolerate such behavior?

"In your opinion, how do my grandfather, the Great Ancestor Mu Yong, compare to our patriarch?"

"If His Majesty the Great Ancestor had not yet gone into seclusion, His Majesty Mu Yong would certainly have been able to easily defeat Zhuang Sheng on the territory of the Great Ling Empire. But now, we are not sure either, and the outcome can only be described as fifty-fifty."

Seeing that Mu Zhaoyang was not in a good mood, the old-looking Wang Gongfeng reminded him.

"If you want to capture a terrestrial deity, even just trap him, you must be fully prepared and never give him a chance to escape."

Mu Zhaoyang nodded slightly. "I understand what the two elders have said. Let's be patient with him for now! In ten years at most, I will be able to ascend to the realm of a terrestrial immortal by taking advantage of the nation's fortune. Once I am fully prepared, I will definitely eradicate this root of trouble in one fell swoop!"

The two worshippers raised their glasses simultaneously, expressing their agreement with Mu Zhaoyang's words.

"A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. The Third Prince, Prince Yuncheng, has a bloodline that has returned to its ancestral form, possessing a trace of the divine essence of the Great True Monarch. His talent is astonishing, and cultivation is as easy for him as eating and drinking."

With the guidance of His Majesty the Great Ancestor and myself, His Highness Yuncheng will surely ascend to the realm of a terrestrial immortal within twenty years.

"If the royal family gains another terrestrial immortal, our chances of victory will increase significantly."

As the topic shifted to his most prized son, Mu Zhaoyang smiled.

"Yun Cheng is exceptionally talented, ranking first among the younger generation of the royal families of both countries. The Empress was just telling me a few days ago that she hopes to send Yun Cheng to Shuzhou City to study under several elders of the Bai family for a period of time, so that he can master the essence of the Bai family's martial arts as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, the two worshippers burst into laughter.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

"Excellent! The Bai family is the number one cultivation family in the Nine Domains, boasting seven terrestrial immortals. Your Highness Yun Cheng cultivates two different cultivation methods simultaneously. If you could receive guidance from the seven terrestrial immortals of the Bai family, your cultivation would surely advance by leaps and bounds!"

Mu Zhaoyang nodded repeatedly and laughed heartily.

"My son Yuncheng possesses the qualities of a true immortal; the empire has nothing to worry about!"

……

Changzhou, the former residence of Zhuangzi.

After leaving Qing'an Prefecture, Zhuang Sheng did not go to the old site of Datong Academy immediately, but followed his memory and came to the front of this old house.

Over the centuries, the cottage has been renovated countless times, and its appearance and interior have undergone tremendous changes, making it unrecognizable from what it once was.

Even now, standing right in front of the hut, Zhuang Sheng felt completely unfamiliar with it.

The small house in front of him was completely different from what he remembered. If it weren't for the signboard at the entrance, he would have thought he had gone to the wrong place.

The plaque was small, with only one character on it, a character he wrote himself.

"Home"

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar plaque, and at the word "home" on it, Zhuang Sheng thought of Wan Shu, the student who had accompanied him throughout his life.

If Datong Academy belongs to every student of Datong Dao, then this small house in front of him belongs only to him and Wanshu.

This is where he and Wanshu once lived, and it was also the first place where the two of them, master and apprentice, settled down.

They spent their impoverished times and endured difficult years here.

It was also in this small house, under Wan Shu's care, that Zhuang Sheng wrote the later book of Great Harmony.

It hasn't been an easy journey.

Zhuang Sheng, who looked like a young boy, stood in front of the small house, looking up at the plaque above his head, motionless.

Zhuang Sheng remembered clearly that when he was about to die, Wan Shu made a request to him.

He wrote the inscription for this plaque, which reads "Home".

Scenes from the past flashed through Zhuang Sheng's mind.

Before the Great Dao was perfected, when he was just an ordinary innate martial artist, he and Wan Shu lived a very difficult life.

The two had no fixed abode, using the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed, living like wild men.

On cold winter days, the two hid in a dilapidated temple in the mountains and in a cold cave, keeping warm by burning firewood.

On a rainy night filled with torches, the two desperately fled, trying to escape the pursuit of the Great Qi Dynasty.

At that time, Wan Shu was still young and could not withstand such torment. She fell ill time and time again on the road of fleeing with him.

Even so, Wan Shu never complained.

Even though Zhuang Sheng mentioned more than once that he hoped Wan Shu would stay in a more comfortable and safer place, Wan Shu did not leave.

Young Wan Shu always stayed by Zhuang Sheng's side, traveling with him throughout Daqi, growing from a little girl into Zhuang Sheng's most capable assistant.