It turns out, they were the main characters.

His fellow disciples all thought he was an oddball, because their master was a master who could see through the secrets of heaven, yet one of his disciples didn't even understand astrology.

In order to embark on the path of Dao integration as soon as possible, Gu Boxing parted ways with his fellow disciples after his master passed away. At the age of thirty, he refined his spirit and returned to emptiness. Later, by chance, he came to the World Sea.

There, he obtained a trace of the legacy left by the primordial witch. From then on, Gu Boxing transformed from a martial artist and comprehended the method of divination.

Then, he chose the shortcut of becoming the "Imperial Advisor".

For Gu Boxing, his pursuit has always been singular: to attain the Dao. His status as the Grand Preceptor of the Great Qian Dynasty was merely a tool he used to accelerate this process.

After all, cultivation requires a lot of resources, and joining an ancient aristocratic family and being manipulated by others is far less comfortable than being the current imperial advisor.

Moreover, he had been to the Western Regions and knew how to use the 'power of the wishes of all beings' to bless himself.

"Report—"

In the distance, a black-clad spy strode into the Taoist temple, knelt down, and presented several secret letters.

Gu Boxing reached out and took the secret letters, opening them one by one and glancing at them.

The first secret letter was about the Yaochi Holy Land, which seemed to have discovered the movements within the Great Qian Dynasty and therefore secretly sent people to keep an eye on it.

The second secret letter concerned the response from the Southern Wilderness. As expected, the God of Space accepted this generous offer.

The third secret letter came from Yunzhou. The Azure Emperor's domineering power was suffocating. If Yunzhou could take this opportunity to suppress the fortune of Dongzhou, it would be happy to help.

The fourth and fifth secret letters came from the Western Regions and the Northern Territory, and their contents are self-evident.

"The Imperial Advisor is indeed a brilliant strategist. The Azure Emperor is too powerful. I thought that after the Sword Palace Master ascended to immortality, he would clash with her, but I didn't expect that the two of them seem to have a good relationship... Other forces would not want to see this scene."

Opposite Gu Boxing, the old emperor, who had just finished his breathing exercises, opened his eyes and slowly spoke.

"Ascension to immortality is not only a deterrent and a source of pressure for us, but also for other forces... If they have the opportunity to reap the benefits, they will naturally not let it go."

Gu Boxing smiled and said, "However, they think they are using us, but little do they know... we are the ones using them."

"Are you confident?" Although the old emperor was focused on cultivating the Dao, he was not stupid. He knew that with Gu Boxing's strength, it would be very difficult for him to find any hope of survival in this struggle between the various factions.

"To be honest, I don't have the ability to control the fate of the nation."

Gu Boxing gently stroked the bamboo slips on the table, then placed them in front of the old emperor.

"But there are quite a few opportunities to force the Azure Emperor to release the Pure Lotus within me."

The old emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly turned the bamboo slips on the table.

The head eunuch beside him glanced at it, then immediately lowered his head, showing utmost respect.

……

As the sun gradually moved westward, it bathed the entire royal city in a vibrant orange hue.

Princess Yongning, dressed in a magnificent long gown, walked through the royal city. Her delicate feet were adorned with exquisite embroidered shoes, and a golden hairpin swayed gently with her graceful steps.

She looked up at the plaque above the main hall, which displayed three large characters: Jixian Pavilion.

There were two guards at the entrance responsible for guarding the library. Upon seeing the princess's arrival, they immediately perked up and greeted her warmly: "Princess Yongning, what brings you here? Is there some book you'd like to read recently?"

The books in the Great Qian Dynasty contain a large number of ancient books that are not available outside the world. Many of these ancient books were left behind after the fall of other dynasties.

Yongning has always had a great interest in books. She has been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood and has read many ancient books in her spare time. It is precisely because of this that she has such a good relationship with the owner of the library.

Princess Yongning smiled and shook her head: "I just came in for a stroll because I had nothing else to do, you don't need to mind."

After she finished speaking, she walked into the Jixian Pavilion with her maid. Her gaze casually swept over the antique bookshelves, and then she asked casually, "Has anyone come here to borrow books recently?"

One of the guards behind him thought for a moment and said, "A few days ago, Consort Lin borrowed a book about female virtues. In addition, two princes also borrowed several books of poetry."

"The Crown Prince came before, but he only borrowed those..."

Before the guard could finish speaking, he was gently nudged by his companion with his elbow. He suddenly realized what was happening and quickly lowered his head, saying, "I deserve to die... I deserve to die!"

"There is no one else here, so you don't need to be so reserved. I will not tell anyone else about what happened today."

Princess Yongning said calmly, "Besides the Crown Prince, has no one else come?"

The current emperor has elixirs refined by the imperial advisor Gu Boxing, which allows him to live far longer than ordinary people. Although the crown prince is the head of the Eastern Palace, his father has not shown any intention of abdicating, so there is no difference between the crown prince being the crown prince or not.

Over time, the crown prince gradually became obsessed with beautiful women. The two guards had just said that the crown prince had come to borrow books, which were probably also related to beautiful women.

The two guards were moved. In the palace, the servants all preferred Princess Yongning. Many people were eager to become servants in Yongning Palace. The reason for this was that the eldest princess was approachable.

"And... the Imperial Advisor also came once."

With Princess Yongning's words, the two guards no longer concealed anything and spoke again.

Princess Yongning became somewhat interested: "The Imperial Preceptor rarely borrowed books from the Jixian Pavilion in the past. What did he borrow?"

"I heard that these are bamboo slips that have been passed down for a long time, and they record some major events that shook the entire land in the past," the guard said.

Noticing the interest in the eldest princess's eyes, the guard tentatively asked, "If Your Highness is interested, may I go and bring it to you now? The sample of that bamboo slip is still in the Jixian Pavilion."

"Yes," Princess Yongning said with a smile.

After a short while, the guard presented the bamboo slip to Yongning.

Princess Yongning gestured to the maid beside her, who took out two bags of spirit stones and placed them in the hands of two guards.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened today. Just pretend I was never here, understand?"

The two guards looked delighted and quickly agreed.

Yongning turned and left Jixian Pavilion with the bamboo slips in her hand. She then quietly instructed the maid beside her, "Send someone to deliver these bamboo slips to Liangyi Sect tonight. Make sure they reach Pavilion Master Yan within three days."

"In addition, have her pass on a message to Mu Zhian."

Princess Yongning said calmly, "Gu Boxing is building a seven-colored altar."

The maid stared at the eldest princess in shock. Even though she was the princess's confidante, she couldn't quite understand what her mistress was thinking.

The Imperial Preceptor's desire to refine the land within the Great Qian Dynasty, transforming the nation's destiny and the will of all living beings into his own power, would undoubtedly harm the fate of the Eastern Continent... Once this becomes known, the Great Qian Dynasty will face annihilation.

In the past, the ancient aristocratic families had never touched this dynasty. On the one hand, the dynasty had powerful cultivators in charge and was blessed with good fortune. On the other hand, touching the Great Qian Dynasty would affect the fate of the entire Eastern Continent.

Once the fate of the Great Qian Dynasty is damaged, the fortunes of cultivators in the Eastern Continent will be affected to some extent.

Under these circumstances, Gu Boxing still wanted to use the nation's destiny for his own purposes... If he succeeded, he would be free to roam the world, and no cultivator could do anything about him.

But if things are exposed prematurely... then a tremendous catastrophe will ensue.

"Princess--"

Yongning shook his head gently and said softly, "Do as I say."

……

Three days later.

Mu Zhian was invited to the library. In a secluded garden not far behind, she met the library's owner, who was dressed in a plain-colored strapless ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and whose makeup and attire exuded a knowledgeable and intellectual air.

If this were in modern times, Mu Zhian would think that if Yan Ruyu wore black-rimmed glasses and was carrying lesson preparation documents, she would definitely look like a teacher.

After Yan Ruyu invited Mu Zhian to sit down, he took a few more glances at his nominal 'master' in the sect and said with a smile, "The Pavilion Master looks much better than before. It seems that you have made progress in your cultivation again?"

After pouring tea for Mu Zhian, Yan Ruyu smiled and said, "The rules of heaven and earth are different now than before. In the past, the spiritual energy in heaven and earth did not allow the existence of cultivators in the Enlightenment Realm, so the cultivation speed would be much slower. But now it is very different."

Mu Zhian nodded. He couldn't see through Yan Ruyu's current realm at all. If it were someone at the Void Returning Realm who was similar to him, he could roughly judge their strength with his innate spiritual body.

"I've come to see you today because of a bamboo slip that Princess Yongning sent, and a message she asked me to deliver to you."

Yan Ruyu said succinctly, "She asked me to tell you that Gu Boxing is building a seven-colored altar."

Mu Zhian took the bamboo slip and flipped through it, then asked with doubt, "A seven-colored altar?"

He felt a surge of curiosity.

If I'm not mistaken, since Gu Boxing has secretly contacted the Southern Wilderness and other places for help, he certainly doesn't intend to sit idly by and wait for death. He will definitely try to seize this last chance.

However, the Seven-Colored Altar was originally used for sacrificial rites. Why would Gu Boxing build an altar at this critical juncture?

Could it be that Gu Boxing harbors resentment towards him and, unsure of the outcome, intends to use a curse to exchange one for one with him?

This is not impossible.

However, after the Dream Killing Technique was easily neutralized last time, Gu Boxing should have known that this move was useless.

Therefore, the connection between the seven-colored altar and the jade slip sent by Princess Yongning must be related to this.

……

"According to the bamboo slips, in the early ancient times, there was a being who was suspected to be a quasi-immortal. Her strength was so great that even the Heavenly Dao trembled. The Heavenly Dao almost broke the rules of heaven and earth to forcibly perish together with the quasi-immortal."

"However, the quasi-immortal, out of compassion for all living beings, did not want the struggle between Heaven and her to cause the devastation of the Nine Provinces. Therefore, she used the entire Nine Provinces as an array to seal her true body in a certain place in the Nine Provinces, and thus fell into a long slumber."

After bidding farewell to Yan Ruyu, Mu Zhian sat in the courtyard of Tianhe Garden and flipped through the bamboo slips, but found them somewhat absurd.

"Sister Mengrou, do you think the records on this are credible?" Mu Zhian collected his thoughts, threw the bamboo slip on the table, and then looked at Wei Mengrou beside him and asked.

Wei Mengrou gently shook her head: "I don't believe it."

She paused for a moment: "But I think Gu Boxing wouldn't build an altar for no reason, so it's better to be careful."

The seven-colored altar is generally used for sacrifices in the Nine Provinces, but some evil cultivators also use it to summon 'dead souls'.

Gu Boxing had previously used special magic to summon a wisp of the Primordial Witch's spirit.

"That's true... but there's something else I'm quite curious about."

Mu Zhian looked at the bamboo slips on the table and said softly, "Who exactly compiled this record? These bamboo slips are made of epochal bamboo, which will not decay even if preserved for ten thousand years... Therefore, the person who wrote this record must have been someone from at least tens of thousands of years ago."

Why did these bamboo slips eventually appear in the Great Qian Dynasty?

“The Great Qian Dynasty was built on the ruins of countless dynasties. These bamboo slips have been preserved in the libraries of those dynasties since the past. Because they are not easily damaged, it is not difficult to preserve them if you want to,” Wei Mengrou said calmly.

How does Sister Mengrou know so much… Mu Zhian glanced at Wei Mengrou, and when he noticed a glint of silver light in her beautiful eyes, he understood slightly: “Did the Love Devil tell you?”

Wei Mengrou gave a soft "hmm".

The Love-Lust Witch had just returned to her furnace two days ago, and immediately after her return, she merged with the consciousness of another Primordial Witch. The Primordial Witch's current strength is unfathomable, and she is even unrestrained by the rules of heaven and earth.

"So, the records in these bamboo slips might actually be true?"

Mu Zhian gazed at the bamboo slips, lost in thought.

"What's wrong? What's on your mind?"

As expected of the maid who had always been by Mu Zhi'an's side, Wei Mengrou knew what he was thinking when she saw that Mu Zhi'an was silent, so she immediately asked him.

"Sister Mengrou, do you feel that the records here are somewhat similar to some things we've heard before?" Mu Zhian suddenly asked softly.