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

"Old Sect Master..."

Upon suddenly hearing these three words, the commander of the royal guards of the Lan Kingdom's palace was immediately lost in memories of the past.

Looking back, he recalled how, as a guard, he and the king before him studied under a master at the Wuji Sword Sect.

At that time, he once thought that he and the prince, who had not yet become the king, would stay in the Wuji Sword Sect together and spend their lives as disciples of the Sword Sect.

Little did anyone expect that a series of upheavals would later occur in the Kingdom of Lan. During the struggle for the throne, the other heirs either died or were crippled.

Instead, the prince, who was far from the center of power, became the only one qualified to inherit the throne.

By a twist of fate, His Highness the Prince became the King of Lan Kingdom, and he also became the Commander of the Lan Kingdom's Imperial Guard.

Several decades have passed in the blink of an eye. His Highness may not be considered a wise and virtuous ruler who appears only once in a thousand years, nor can he compare to the absolute emperors of other empires.

However, Your Highness has been diligent and conscientious, doing most of the things a monarch should do.

The monarch he served loved his people and never levied exorbitant taxes or imposed harsh punishments.

While studying at the Wuji Sword Sect, the monarch broadened his horizons, learned about the cutting-edge technologies of the Nine Domains, and deeply realized the importance of change.

Unlike Ying Kingdom, which closed itself off from the world, Lan Kingdom has been making efforts to communicate with the outside world for decades.

They established diplomatic relations with many powerful nations in the Chengtian Domain and sent documents to the Great Spirit Empire and the Great Time Empire in the Tianqi Domain.

They sent students to the Five Spirits Academy and dispatched delegations to Qing'an Prefecture to introduce more advanced technology and civilization into the Lan Kingdom.

Over the decades, the Lan Kingdom has flourished and its national strength has grown day by day. Now, among the small countries in the Chengtian Domain, it is one of the top.

The monarch possesses the cultivation level of the Qi Refining and Divine Transformation Realm and can live for two hundred years.

Barring any major unforeseen events, the Lan Kingdom is destined to become increasingly prosperous under the leadership of its monarch, eventually becoming one of the most powerful nations in the Chengtian Domain.

but……

The commander of the Imperial Guards never imagined that decades after they left the Wuji Sword Sect, everything would change.

The old sect leader, who used to wander around the sect and occasionally guide the younger generation, was actually defeated by a new force that appeared out of nowhere.

Moreover, this new force's methods are not benevolent; it has secretly controlled a group of powerful and influential people in the Lan Kingdom through some unpredictable means.

What's even more frightening is that this manipulation is not overt; without special observation methods and living with them day and night, it's almost impossible to notice these people.

If it weren't for the fact that the commander of the Imperial Guards and the emperor had been fortunate enough to gain the favor of the old sect leader and possessed a trace of the old sect leader's sword intent, they would probably have been controlled long ago and would never have had the chance to discover the truth that the powerful and influential were being controlled.

……

What truly terrified the commander of the Imperial Guards was not these overt matters.

No matter how powerful the enemy is, at most they will die. As the commander of the Imperial Guard of Lan Kingdom, and as the most trusted person of His Majesty the King, the commander of the Imperial Guard has the courage to fight to the last moment.

The king's kindness to him was immense, allowing him to rise from a commoner to his current position.

Even his sons held important positions in the kingdom.

A scholar will die for one who understands him.

The commander of the Imperial Guards felt that dying for the monarch was an honor.

Regarding the Reincarnation Pavilion, the Commander of the Imperial Guards stated...

Their Lan Kingdom may be weak, but in the Nine Domains, there are also powerful human forces such as the Great Spirit Empire, the Great Time Empire, the Four Symbols Mountain, and the Spirit Mountain Holy Land.

But... just a few nights ago, the commander of the Imperial Guards suddenly realized...

His wife and children also became members of the Reincarnation Pavilion.

Sitting opposite the old monarch who had shown him such great kindness, the commander of the Imperial Guards truly didn't know how to explain.

He explained the truth behind his promotion to steward of the Reincarnation Pavilion.

Ugh……

This is truly a terrible thing!

The Twelve Palaces of Reincarnation, any one of them, is countless times more powerful than the Nine Realms.

According to the commander of the Imperial Guards, even in the Immortal Realm, the Samsara Palace is one of the most powerful forces.

With such a powerful force descending upon the mortal realm, what can ordinary people use to resist?

Looking at it from another angle, this is not a tragedy at all, but an incredible opportunity!

If they simply give up their resistance and actively seek refuge in the Reincarnation Pavilion, who knows, the two of them, ruler and minister, might one day become immortals.

Why can't the old monarch understand this principle?

They actually thought of secretly informing the emperor of the Great Ling Empire; that was utterly foolish!

No! This absolutely won't do!

As the most trusted subordinate of the King of Lan Kingdom, the commander of the Imperial Guards stated that he had to make the King understand the reasons behind this.

The ethereal Five Elements True Lords are too far, far away from the mortal world; the Reincarnation Pavilion, which is right before their eyes, is their future!

As for how to get the king to think things through, the commander of the royal guards said that the palace dungeons were very useful.

Give him a day, and he'll surely change the king's mind!

……

"Your Majesty, I captured a spy from the Reincarnation Pavilion yesterday. He is currently imprisoned deep within the palace dungeon. What do you think?"

"A spy from the Reincarnation Pavilion? Is that really true?! Can the guards be trusted?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the guards were all carefully selected by your subordinates. They are all low-ranking soldiers. The Samsara Pavilion would never consider such insignificant people. I guarantee that none of them are from the Samsara Pavilion!"

"Excellent! Excellent! My dear minister, you truly are my capable assistant! Quickly take me to meet this spy from the Reincarnation Pavilion! I want to personally extract useful information from him so we can surrender to the Great Ling Empire as soon as possible!"

……

Tianming Domain, Wenhua Palace, a sacred place for literature and Taoism.

Today, Chu Yunyan is dressed in the style of a maid from the Great Empire, humming a tune that ordinary people cannot understand, as she walks through the bamboo forest.

Maid outfits, a category of clothing that seems out of place in the Nine Realms, are often criticized by old scholars.

The reason why this kind of "immoral" clothing became popular in the Nine Regions is thanks to the founder of the Great Shi Empire, the first regent, Emperor Gaozong Yelin.

It's hard to say what Emperor Gaozong was thinking when he ordered his subordinates to design such clothing hundreds of years ago.

Regardless, after the maid outfit was introduced, this style of dress quickly became popular in the Great Empire.

Centuries later, it still conforms to the mainstream aesthetics of the Great Empire and was widely used by aristocratic families for a long time, serving as the standard attire for maids in the Great Empire.

As time has passed, hundreds of years later, maid outfits have spread to the common people and become a popular style of clothing among the people of the Great Empire.

In other kingdoms of the Nine Realms, high-ranking officials and nobles often purchase maid outfits in bulk under the guise of learning from and adopting the advanced civilization of the Great Empire.