It Turns Out, They Are the Protagonists

Great Qian Dynasty.

Within the grand and imposing imperial palace, a rather ornate Daoist temple had been built, containing several alchemy furnaces and countless medicinal herbs.

Over the years, Imperial Advisor Gu Buxing, under the pretext of the emperor’s cultivation, had secretly amassed quite a hoard of medicinal ingredients.

This matter had caused much discussion among the court officials, as a large portion of the official silver meant for disaster relief and the spirit stones for cultivators were used by Gu Buxing for alchemy.

However, the current emperor, wholeheartedly devoted to cultivation, dismissed the objections of his court, turning a deaf ear to their dissenting voices. Every half month, he would send someone to deliver heavenly materials and earthly treasures gathered from across the Eastern Continent.

The old emperor was advanced in age, unable to step into the world of cultivation, and could only hope to extend his lifespan through alchemy.

Within the Daoist temple, a middle-aged man in Daoist robes sat cross-legged before a table, quietly reading the bamboo slips in his hand.

He looked like an ordinary person… or rather, he was indeed an ordinary person now.

A single grain of sand falling from the upper echelons of the cultivation world was a boulder to the lower-level cultivators below. The Jade Empress’s World-Purifying Green Lotus had sealed his cauldron, so Gu Buxing was currently no different from an ordinary person.

Even so, he was still strengthened by the Great Qian Dynasty’s national fortune and the faith of the people, ultimately not comparable to an ordinary person.

Imperial Advisor Gu Buxing.

This Imperial Advisor’s life, if not legendary, was at least far more extraordinary than most. He was orphaned at a young age, then adopted by a mysterious expert. As a child, Gu Buxing relied solely on brute force, completely ignorant of astrology.

Growing up, Gu Buxing was also a crude martial artist, sharing the same master as the current First Seat of Heavenly Secrets Peak.

His fellow disciples all thought he was an oddity. Their master was a master of destiny calculation, yet among the disciples he taught, there was actually someone who didn’t even understand astrology.

To embark on the path of Dao Integration as soon as possible, after his master’s passing, Gu Buxing parted ways with his fellow disciples. He reached Nascent Soul at the age of thirty, then came to the World Sea by chance.

There, he obtained a sliver of inheritance left by the Primordial Witch. From then on, Gu Buxing transformed from a martial artist, comprehending the art of destiny calculation.

Then, he chose the shortcut of becoming an ‘Imperial Advisor’.

For Gu Buxing, his pursuit from the very beginning was only one thing: Dao Integration. The identity of Great Qian Imperial Advisor was merely a tool to accelerate this process.

After all, cultivation required a large amount of resources. Joining an Ancient Family and being at their mercy was far less comfortable than being the Imperial Advisor.

And he had been to the Western Regions before and knew how to use the ‘faith of all beings’ to strengthen himself.

“Report—”

A black-clad spy quickly walked into the Daoist temple, knelt down on both knees, and presented several sealed letters.

Gu Buxing took the letters, opened them one by one, and scanned them.

The first letter was about the Jade Pool Holy Land. That holy land seemed to have discovered the movements within the Great Qian Dynasty and had secretly sent people to monitor the situation in advance.

The second letter was the reply from the Southern Wilderness. As expected, the Space God accepted this generous proposal.

The third letter came from Cloud Province. The Jade Empress’s dominance was suffocating. If there was a chance to weaken the Eastern Continent’s luck, Cloud Province was happy to help.

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

“Imperial Advisor is truly brilliant. The Jade Empress is too domineering. I thought the Sword Palace Master, after transcending, would contend with her, but I didn’t expect their relationship to be quite good… Other powers won’t be happy to see this.”

Opposite Gu Buxing, the old emperor, having just finished his breathing exercises, opened his eyes and spoke slowly.

“Transcendence and ascension, not only are they a threat and pressure to us, but also to other powers… If they have a chance to benefit from the situation, they naturally won’t let it go.”

Gu Buxing smiled: “However, they think they’re using us, but they don’t know… we’re actually using them.”

“Are you sure?” Although the old emperor was wholeheartedly devoted to cultivation, he wasn’t foolish. He knew that with Gu Buxing’s strength, finding a chance of survival in this struggle between several parties was extremely difficult.

“To be honest, I’m not sure about refining the national fortune.”

Gu Buxing gently stroked the bamboo slips on the table, then placed them before the old emperor.

“But using this opportunity to force the Jade Empress to remove the World-Purifying Green Lotus within my body, I have quite a bit of confidence in that.”

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

The Grand Eunuch beside him glanced at them, then immediately lowered his head respectfully.

…

The sun gradually shifted westward, painting the entire royal city in shades of orange and red.

Princess Yongning, dressed in a magnificent long dress, walked through the royal city. Her jade feet were delicate within her exquisite embroidered shoes, and her golden hair ornament swayed gently with her elegant steps.

She looked up at the plaque on the grand hall before her, three large chinese characters written on it “集贤阁”: Jixian Pavilion (Pavilion of Assembled Worthies).

Two guards were stationed at the entrance, guarding the library. Seeing the arrival of the eldest princess, they immediately straightened up and greeted her, “Princess Yongning, why are you here? Are there any books you want to read recently?”

The books in the Great Qian Dynasty included many ancient texts not found elsewhere. Many of these ancient texts were left behind after the fall of other dynasties.

Yongning had been interested in books since she was young. She was well-read, and in her spare time, she also read many ancient texts left behind. Because of this, she had a good relationship with the Pavilion Master of the Book Pavilion.

Princess Yongning shook her head with a smile: “Just taking a stroll, nothing to worry about.”

She then entered the Pavilion of Assembled Worthies, followed by her maid, her gaze casually sweeping over the antique bookshelves. Then, she casually asked, “Has anyone borrowed any books here recently?”

One of the guards behind her thought for a moment and said, “Consort Lin borrowed a book on female virtues a few days ago. Besides that, the two princes also borrowed a few books of poetry.”

“The Crown Prince also came before, but what he borrowed was…”

Before the guard could finish speaking, his companion nudged him with an elbow. He suddenly realized and quickly lowered his head: “This lowly one deserves death… This lowly one deserves death!”

“There are no outsiders here, you don’t need to be so formal. I won’t tell anyone about today’s matters.”

Princess Yongning said faintly, “Besides the Crown Prince, no one else has come?”

The current emperor had pills refined by Imperial Advisor Gu Buxing, so his lifespan far exceeded that of ordinary people. Although the Crown Prince was the heir apparent, the old emperor hadn’t shown any intention of abdicating. Being the Crown Prince or not made no difference.

Over time, the Crown Prince gradually became obsessed with beautiful women. The two guards just mentioned the Crown Prince borrowing books, which were probably related to that.

The two guards looked touched. Within the imperial palace, the servants preferred Princess Yongning. Many competed to serve in Yongning Palace, and the reason was that the eldest princess was approachable.

“And… the Imperial Advisor also came once.”

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

Princess Yongning became somewhat interested: “The Imperial Advisor rarely borrows books from the Pavilion of Assembled Worthies. What did he borrow?”

“I heard it was a bamboo slip passed down from long ago, recording some major events that shook the Nine Provinces in the past,” the guard said.

Sensing the interest in the eldest princess’s eyes, the guard asked tentatively, “If Your Highness is interested, this lowly one can bring it to you now? A copy of that bamboo slip happens to be in the Pavilion of Assembled Worthies.”

“Yes,” Princess Yongning smiled.

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

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

“Don’t tell anyone about today’s matters, just pretend I wasn’t here, understand?”

The two guards’ faces lit up with joy, and they hurriedly agreed.

Yongning turned and left the Pavilion of Assembled Worthies with the bamboo slip, then softly instructed the maid beside her, “Send someone to deliver this bamboo slip to the Two Polarities Sect tonight. Make sure it reaches Pavilion Master Yan within three days.”

“Besides that, have her relay a message to Mu Zhian.”

Princess Yongning said faintly, “Gu Buxing is building a Seven-Colored Altar.”

The maid looked at the eldest princess in shock. Even as the princess’s confidante, she couldn’t understand what her master was thinking at this moment.

The Imperial Advisor wanted to perform the ritual of refining the nation within the Great Qian Dynasty, converting the national fortune and the faith of all beings into his own power. This would undoubtedly damage the destiny of the Eastern Continent… Once discovered, the Great Qian Dynasty would face a catastrophic disaster.

The Ancient Families hadn’t touched this dynasty in the past, partly because there were powerful cultivators guarding the dynasty, strengthened by the national fortune, and partly because harming the Great Qian Dynasty would affect the entire Eastern Continent’s destiny.

Once the Great Qian Dynasty’s national fortune was damaged, the luck of the Eastern Continent cultivators would be more or less affected.

Under these circumstances, Gu Buxing still wanted to refine the national fortune for his own use… If he succeeded, he would be free from all restraints, and the cultivators wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

But if this matter was exposed in advance… it would bring about a catastrophic disaster.

“Princess—”

Yongning gently shook her head and said softly, “Do as I say.”

…

Three days later.

Mu Zhian arrived at the Book Pavilion as invited and met the Pavilion Master in an elegant courtyard behind it. She wore a plain, sleeveless ruqun(traditional Chinese dress), her appearance and attire giving off an intellectual and refined air.

If it were in modern times, Mu Zhian felt that with a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a stack of lesson plans, Yan Ruyu would be the perfect teacher.

After Yan Ruyu invited Mu Zhian to take a seat, he looked at this nominal ‘Master’ of his within the sect a few more times and said with a smile, “Pavilion Master’s complexion looks much better than before. It seems your cultivation has improved again?”

After pouring Mu Zhian a cup of tea, Yan Ruyu smiled and said, “The rules of heaven and earth are different now than before. In the past, the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth didn’t allow the existence of Soul Transformation Realm cultivators, so the cultivation speed was much slower, but now it’s completely different.”

Mu Zhian nodded. He couldn’t see through Yan Ruyu’s current realm at all. If she was at Nascent Soul Realm, with his Innate Spiritual Body, he could roughly judge her strength.

“I’m looking for you today because of a bamboo slip sent by Princess Yongning, and a message she asked me to relay to you.”

Yan Ruyu said concisely, “She asked me to tell you that Gu Buxing is building a Seven-Colored Altar.”

Mu Zhian took the bamboo slip, flipped through it, and asked doubtfully, “Seven-Colored Altar?”

His curiosity was piqued.

If he guessed correctly, since Gu Buxing had secretly contacted the Southern Wilderness and other places for help, he definitely wasn’t planning to sit still and wait for death. He would definitely find a way to fight for this last chance.

However, the Seven-Colored Altar was usually used for sacrificial rituals. What was Gu Buxing doing building an altar at this juncture?

Could it be that Gu Buxing held a grudge against him, and because he didn’t know how things would end, he planned to use a curse technique, trading his life for Mu Zhian’s?

This possibility wasn’t out of the question.

However, after his Dream Manipulation technique was easily dispelled last time, Gu Buxing should know this trick wouldn’t work.

That being the case, what could be related to the Seven-Colored Altar was probably connected to this jade slip sent by Princess Yongning.

…