After the Skyfall

Chapter 572 Illegitimate Son

Crown Prince Zhao Jing stood in front of the East Palace and looked at the Wuji Palace while thinking about the identity of Master Taiyi and his relationship with the current emperor.

He had an intuition telling him that this Master Taiyi had a close relationship with his father and they had known each other for a long time.

Otherwise, given my father's character, it would be impossible for him to be so rash as to confer the position of imperial teacher to an unknown hermit.

But despite this intuition, Zhao Jing could not find any evidence to prove that Master Taiyi and his father had known each other for a long time, because Zhao Jing, as the legitimate son, was born when his father was sixteen years old. At that time, his father was still the unpopular Eighth Prince. His mansion was shabby, and he had few guests. There were very few people he could get to know. He had met and known many people, but this Taoist was definitely not among them.

Zhao Jing frowned and thought deeply, but still had no clue.

"Your Highness, Master Taiyi was initially introduced by Prince Xin. Perhaps Your Highness should ask Prince Xin." An official nearby reminded in a low voice.

Prince Xin Zhao Rui?

Zhao Jing's expression moved slightly. Zhao Rui was his half-brother, and he was intelligent and talented. If he was not the eldest son, the position of crown prince would most likely have fallen on him. However, after his father ascended the throne, he was decisive. He made each of his brothers and sisters either kings or princesses, and sent them all away from the capital, thus preventing the eight princes from competing for the throne.

Therefore, his position as the crown prince is as stable as Mount Tai and cannot be shaken in the slightest.

Zhao Jing admired his father for this, as he eliminated some disputes at the root.

"As the eldest brother, I should indeed meet my younger brother." Zhao Jing retracted his gaze at this moment and no longer looked at Wuji Palace. Instead, he immediately asked someone to arrange a carriage and prepare to leave the palace.

Not long after.

The prince's carriage drove out of the palace and arrived in front of a mansion.

When Zhao Jing walked into the mansion, he saw Prince Xin Zhao Rui in a backyard.

At this moment, Zhao Rui seemed to have known that Zhao Jing would come to find him, so he prepared wine and food early and waited in the pavilion in the backyard.

"Brother, you're here." Zhao Rui smiled.

Zhao Jing said, "Fourth Brother, don't keep me in suspense. Who is that Taiyi Zhenren? Don't tell me you don't know him. A Taoist priest from the mountains was suddenly appointed as the Imperial Master. This matter has attracted the attention of Emperor Yin. The incense gods of the world have opinions about this. Father is not the kind of person who insists on doing things on his own. He must have a deep meaning for doing this. I guess Taiyi Zhenren's identity is very special, so I want to hear it from your own mouth."

He didn't beat around the bush, but asked straight to the point.

Because he is the crown prince, the future emperor, it's that simple, there is no need to be polite and hypocritical with Zhao Rui,

Zhao Rui said, "Brother, I have only known Master Taiyi for two or three days. He came here in a mysterious way and has extraordinary strength. When he was in Xinzhou City, he killed the Taiyue Mountain God, the Xinzhou City God, and the Zhongwu Marquis in one breath."

"I am not interested in these. No matter how powerful the cultivators are, they can never compete with the incense of the world and the emperors of all dynasties." Zhao Jing said seriously: "I just want to know the true identity of Taiyi Zhenren. He has the dragon and tiger aura that only the emperor has. Don't say you don't know this."

Zhao Rui said, "Dragon and tiger energy? I did hear the spirits in the mansion mention it before, but I don't know the identity of Master Taiyi. But I can be sure of one thing, Master Taiyi and my father must have known each other for a long time."

"You guess so too?"

Zhao Jing's heart sank. "I thought so before I came here, but this is what's strange. As the eldest son, I have a good memory of who my father had around me and who he had met. Even if I couldn't remember things when I was a child, the old people in the mansion must have some memories. But everything about this Master Taiyi is blank."

Zhao Rui smiled and said, "Brother, have you ever thought that my father knew Master Taiyi earlier than we thought, maybe."

"Maybe what?" Zhao Jing asked.

"Maybe you and I were not born at that time." Zhao Rui said as he picked up the wine glass, slowly poured a glass of wine, and then handed it to Zhao Jing.

Zhao Jing did not take the glass of wine, but his expression suddenly changed: "You mean, that Master Taiyi might be my father's illegitimate son? No, that's impossible."

The most likely, yet least likely possibility suddenly flashed through his mind.

"We can't rule out this answer. After all, Master Taiyi is also very young, and looks to be only in his early twenties, while my father is already thirty-eight years old. If we calculate their ages, they can match." Zhao Rui smiled and drank the wine in one gulp. "If Master Taiyi is my father's illegitimate son, then everything in front of us can be explained."

"Why did my father go against all odds and appoint Taiyi Zhenren as the state teacher, allowing him to enjoy the incense and offerings from all over the world? Why does Taiyi Zhenren have the aura of a dragon and a tiger? Why did my father bestow Wuji Palace on Taiyi Zhenren, and also gave him a Jinyiwei commander and a team of golden pupil guards?"

"Of course, I also hope that this speculation is false, but if it is true, then my brother's status as the eldest son will no longer exist, and I am afraid that the position of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace will also be..."

"Enough, fourth brother, you are instigating me. Do you want to use the national teacher's knife to kill me? It seems that you have not given up after being named Prince of Xin, and you still want to compete with me." Prince Zhao Jing is not a fool. Although he was shaken by these words, he would never believe Zhao Rui's one-sided words.

Zhao Rui said nothing, just drinking by himself: "In fact, I hope that this Taiyi Zhenren is really my father's illegitimate son. He has an extraordinary bearing and amazing abilities. Putting aside some personal factors, I still admire this Taiyi Zhenren very much. If he becomes the emperor in the future, I have nothing to say."

After saying this, he glanced at Zhao Jing. To be honest, he just didn't accept this prince.

What else was there besides being born a few years earlier than me? He was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and he only knew how to win over officials in the court and manage his cliques, all of which were inferior.

What we really need to do is to practice with our father, enhance our own strength, and then govern the country and conquer the world together, instead of being distracted and engaging in political schemes and intrigues.

Zhao Jing sneered and said, "Don't even think about it, Fourth Brother. Regardless of whether Master Taiyi is the illegitimate son of the Emperor, he has no way out since he was named the Imperial Master. He can only go down this path to the end. Either resign the position of Imperial Master and escape to the mountains, or be prepared to be killed by the gods of incense and worship in the world."

"This area of ​​incense is a forbidden area. Even my father doesn't dare to touch it. How can a powerless Taoist priest like him be qualified to do so?"

"That may not be the case." Zhao Rui shook his head slightly. "Brother, you have not seen the real Taiyi Taoist in action. He is truly a man of great power and invincible. I think that he and Father can really do something earth-shattering together. As a younger brother, I can only remind you that no matter what Father and Taiyi Taoist do, you should support them unconditionally."

"Support? Let's wait for Master Taiyi to pass these ten days first. The memorial from the underworld has been burned. Emperor Yin will definitely take action within these ten days." Crown Prince Zhao Jing snorted heavily. He was now a little confused about what Zhao Rui was thinking.

Is he really trying to sow discord, or is there some other ulterior motive?
But now it was already late at night.

Above the Wuji Palace, a ray of red light still rose into the sky, and at the same time a bright golden light shone down. The air filled with the aroma of incense, carrying countless spiritual energy of heaven and earth, gathered here.

Such a grand practice method made the incense gods from all over the capital city tremble with fear.

"Is that the Taiyi Master who was named the Imperial Master? What is he doing? How can he cast such a spell in the imperial palace? And this momentum has been going on for a whole day and night."

"Wang Qijun, the Northern Protector of the Nation, was killed by this person? There is actually a Taoist who can kill the Protector of the Nation. Is the world going to be in chaos?"

"If this person can secure the position of the Imperial Master, he will definitely be the nightmare of all the incense gods."

They talked a lot, but without exception they all felt a strong threat from Li Yi. If such an alien was not eradicated as soon as possible, he would definitely become a great enemy of the gods of incense and worship in the world in the future.

Immediately, these incense gods took action immediately. They could not wait until a certain night ten days later, and had to find a way to deal with this Taiyi Zhenren as soon as possible.

At the very least, this person should be stripped of his position as the national teacher and should not be allowed to enjoy the incense from all over the world.

Since ancient times, only emperors have been able to enjoy incense offerings while alive.

But it was difficult for an emperor to practice. Although he would turn into the Yin Emperor after his death, it was generally acceptable. But if a Taoist could also enjoy the incense of the people and practice through it, wouldn't that be digging up the roots of the incense god? No one could tolerate this.

However, these incense gods still underestimated Li Yi's speed of cultivation.

It was only the first night.

Li Yi's twelve acupoints were filled.

The second level of the Five Qi Realm is accomplished.

Feeling the surging magic power in his body and the increasingly powerful power of dragon and tiger, Li Yi suddenly felt heroic. He felt that he was many times stronger than before. With the help of the power of incense and the magic power of the twenty-four major acupoints, he could completely dominate the world and be unrivaled.

However, he did not become complacent with this.

Instead, he continued to attack the third level of the Five Qi Realm.

Open the liver and absorb wood energy.

If it succeeds, the energy of the fire in his heart, with the help of the wood energy, the power of his Wind Calling Skill will be increased several times. If combined with the power of incense, Li Yi's magic will be no less powerful than that of a master in the Three Flowers Realm in a battle.

really,

In the middle of the night.

A green beam of light descended from the sky and entered the Wuji Palace again.

In a moment, the beams sprouted, the old trees came into spring, and a vibrant vitality emanated.

However, when he reached the third level of the Five Qi Realm, his cultivation speed slowed down significantly.

Because there is no heart fire to refine real gold, and no kidney water to nourish the wood energy, the third level of the Five Qi Realm is a bottleneck for those who practice Taoism. There is no shortcut here, and one can only slowly practice on their own.

(End of this chapter)