The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 327: There is no distinction between education and discrimination
The next day, after breakfast and getting ready, Zhao Ti went to the place where the white fox was imprisoned.

Zhou Tong and Huang Tianbiao were waiting outside the door. When they saw him arrive, they hurriedly bowed.

Zhao Ti waved his hand, and Zhou Tong opened the door. He saw more than a dozen soldiers guarding the room. The white fox was hanging in mid-air, its body trembling and its teeth chattering.

Sensing someone entering, the white fox barely raised its head, its eyes half filled with resentment and half with pleading.

Zhao Ti glanced at it for a few moments, then said calmly, "What have you thought about it?"

Huang Tianbiao stood with his hands on his hips and asked, "Young master, do you want to beg for mercy, or do you want to be made into a fox fur rug?"

The white fox whimpered softly a few times: "You, you must first undo that spell..."

Before leaving last night, Zhao Ti injected several strands of Illusory Yin True Qi into its meridians. It was not fatal, but it was more unbearable than the Heavenly Mountain Life and Death Talisman.

“Who talks about conditions first? Quickly bow your head and submit, then beg the young master.” Huang Tianbiao said immediately upon seeing this.

The soldiers brought over a chair, and Zhao Ti sat down, slowly saying, "I am the butcher, and you are the fish. Even if you are a celestial being, don't you understand this principle?"

The white fox trembled violently, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Are there only those three questions?"

Zhao Ti nodded: "Just answer those three questions, and I will undo the spell on you so you won't be sad anymore."

"You...you won't let me leave here?" the white fox said.

"Have you gone mad from cultivating, you vixen? You actually want to leave? The young master's mercy in not killing you is already immense!" Huang Tianbiao said.

Zhao Ti, expressionless, crossed his arms and looked at the white fox: "If you want freedom, that's fine, but it's not enough to just answer these three questions. You must pledge allegiance and perform meritorious service. I will decide based on the magnitude of your merits."

The white fox trembled and gritted its teeth, saying, "Fine, fine, then I'll answer three questions for you first, and then you can undo the spells on me."

Huang Tianbiao said, "How dare you, you vixen, speak to the young master like that? Who are you, and who are you, young master? Why don't you address him as 'Great King'!"

The white fox glared at it angrily, then turned its head and said after a long while, "Please ask, Your Majesty."

Zhao Ti nodded: "I'll ask you, who instigated you to assassinate me?"

The white fox said in a low voice, "I have come here on the orders of the fairy fox."

"The destiny of a celestial fox?" Zhao Ti said, "We talked about celestial foxes last night. Which celestial fox? Is it the leader of the fox spirits of the grasslands?"

"How can the leader of the fox spirits be worthy of the name of the immortal fox? We immortals are merely adorned with the name of immortals, but we are not immortals in reality. The immortal fox is the true immortal, capable of summoning wind and rain, mastering magic, and being omnipotent."

“A true immortal?” Zhao Ti stroked his chin. “I once saw a statue in the headquarters of the Shamanism, carved with a nine-tailed fox. Is this the demon?”

"It's not a demon, it's a celestial fox, a deity who follows the ancestor of shamanism!" the white fox roared. "How do you know there's a celestial fox statue in the ancestral shamanic temple? When the Vatican infiltrated and set fire to the temple, was it you who led the men to do it? Blasphemy, you..."

"A deity?" Zhao Ti sneered, "If I call it a demon, then so be it. Where in this world do deities come from? Humans are the spirit of heaven and earth, and the master of heaven and earth is the human race. Humanity is the highest virtue, and may it prosper forever!"

"You, you..." The white fox was so angry that its white fur stood on end. It stammered, "Nonsense, nonsense! The ancestor said that there should be no discrimination in education. As long as one cultivates to the point of merit, one is a spirit of heaven and earth."

"Education for all?" Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. "That's nothing but a bunch of quackery."

The white fox gritted its teeth, but because it was too excited, the illusory Yin energy surged wildly within its body, and it was immediately in so much pain that it could not speak.

After a moment, Zhao Ti asked, "How did that fox demon know I was in Wulahai?"

"It was reported by the Southwest Route Pacification Office of the Liao Kingdom. The Liao court requested the order from the shamanistic religion, which was conveyed by the fairy fox." The white fox spoke with resentment, clearly annoyed by the word "demon fox" in Zhao Ti's words.

"Are you the only one they're sending?"

"I don't know how many they sent, but I didn't see any other immortals on the way."

Zhao Ti thought for a moment: "Where did all the beasts from the Black Mountain Weifu Military Command go, including the foxes, weasels, white foxes, and gray foxes?"

The white fox remained silent upon hearing this, while Huang Tianbiao shouted, "You ignorant mother fox! Now that you've spoken, there's no reason to only say half of it. Don't you want to relieve your pain?"

The white fox whispered, "They've all been recruited by the sect and sent to the north of the grasslands."

Zhao Ti frowned: "Send them to the north of the grasslands? What for?"

The white fox said, "The shamanic religion is holding a ceremony, and they've called for help."

"What kind of ritual? There are already so many followers of the shaman, why would he need to call on the fox, weasel, white shaman, willow, and ash shaman for help?" Zhao Ti asked in confusion.

“Ordinary believers don’t have magic. Only immortals possess magic. Rituals require the use of magic, so they are all summoned.”

What kind of ceremony was it?

"This... I don't know." The white fox closed its eyes.

"You are also a celestial being, so you must have been summoned before. How dare you say you were unaware of it?" Zhao Ti sneered, releasing his aura.

The pressure from the Great Free Heaven was extremely strong. Even though he was only at the twelfth level of the Xuanji Platform, a destructive aura immediately filled the room.

The white fox trembled, its eyes involuntarily opening as it looked at Zhao Ti with a shocked expression. "I... I only know that the ritual seemed to be about to awaken some being, but shortly after arriving in Khatun City, I received a decree from the Celestial Fox to head south. I know nothing else."

"Awaken some being?" Zhao Ti raised an eyebrow. "Is it some powerful demon?"

The white fox gritted its teeth and said, "It's a deity, a deity..."

Zhao Ti sneered: "What exactly is going on with the Great Grassland? Why does it possess such strange and powerful characteristics, unlike the outside world?"

"You... this wasn't one of the three questions you mentioned before," the white fox said, looking up in surprise.

"Just answer whatever the young master asks you. There's no room for you to bargain!" Huang Tianbiao shouted from the side.

“Since I know the grasslands are strange, and I want to ask you how you still possess the power of possession after leaving the grasslands, can you answer that question without explaining why the grasslands are so strange?” Zhao Ti said calmly. “This…” The white fox was stunned, and suddenly a look of pain appeared on its face: “I can’t say it. If I do, it will be a betrayal of the Great Grasslands.”

Huang Tianbiao chuckled and shouted, "What are you thinking, you vixen? You've already betrayed the grasslands!"

"Huh? What?" The white fox was stunned for a moment: "I've already betrayed the grasslands?"

"What you just said already constitutes betrayal!" Huang Tianbiao chuckled dryly. "You sly fox, you're a bit dim-witted. How could you cultivate into an immortal? It's so unfair! My ancestors have cultivated for generations, but not a single one of them has become an immortal. It seems the grasslands might as well have betrayed us!"

"I, I..." the white fox murmured to itself.

"Tell me, what exactly is the grassland all about, and where does that power that can be borrowed come from?" Zhao Ti asked.

"The power that the grassland can borrow is naturally inherent to the grassland itself. The grassland was created by the Shaman Heaven and contains infinite magical power. As long as a creature is born on the grassland and has achieved success in cultivation, it can borrow the power of the great grassland," the white fox said slowly.

“Even if the grasslands were created by the shamanic ancestor, how could they contain magical power?” Zhao Ti shook his head: “That’s impossible. How much magical power would such a vast grassland need to support so many living beings? Moreover, before the great changes in the world, magical power was extremely difficult to replenish. How come the grasslands haven’t dried up after so many years of consumption?”

"You, what do you know..." The white fox, thinking of his betrayal of the grassland, was filled with grief and fear. He stammered, "You have no idea how magical the grassland is. The grassland was created by the Shaman Heaven. The Shaman Heaven is omnipotent and has endowed the grassland with infinite power and endless magic."

Zhao Ti pondered and said, "This is simply hard to explain, unless... unless the grassland is not a grassland, but something else, otherwise, with the changing times, how could it not dry up and be exhausted?"

"How can a grassland not be a grassland?" The white fox looked at Zhao Ti in surprise upon hearing this.

Zhao Ti glanced at it: "Such a vast grassland, created by one person, is already a fantasy. Wouldn't that be creating something out of thin air? Even if it could be created, how could it contain any magical power? Unless the shaman ancestor was always at work..."

He paused here, frowning, "Unless the shamanic progenitor connected with the grasslands and poured his magic into them at all times, or... directly transformed into the grasslands and merged with them."

Upon hearing Zhao Ti's words, both White Fox and Huang Tianbiao were stunned. White Fox shrieked, "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

Huang Tianbiao stroked his beard: "What are you shouting for, young master? I think it's quite possible. This would explain where the magic of the grasslands comes from. It's actually the ancestor of shamans. Moreover, this also fits the legend of shamans managing the grasslands. They merge with the grasslands and become the grasslands. Aren't they the gods of the grasslands?"

“You do have some insight.” Zhao Ti nodded: “This is only one possibility. There are other possibilities as well. The grassland is definitely not what it looks like on the surface. There might be something else underneath.”

The white fox said, "You're talking nonsense. Shaman is in the sky, a god. He would never merge with the grasslands, much less be beneath them..."

Zhao Ti said, "Let's not talk about that. Tell me, after you left the grasslands, how were you still able to use the power of the grasslands to possess a human body?"

“I…” the white fox said, “I don’t know either. The fairy fox said that after the ritual was performed, the Great Grassland was connected. As long as I don’t go too far away from the Great Grassland, I can still use my magic power and it won’t be taken back by the grassland. But if I go too far away, it will be useless.”

"You can perform a ritual to communicate with the grasslands, and still use it if you're not too far away?" Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. "Is that even possible?"

The white fox whispered, "The grasslands are incredibly powerful; you can't even imagine it!"

“You vixen, how dare you speak to the young master like that? Why don’t you call him ‘King’?” Huang Tianbiao said.

"Hmph..." The white fox turned its head away upon hearing this, but the illusory Yin energy coursing through its body caused its teeth to chatter again: "Give me, untie this thing..."

"You sly fox, you still don't know your place. You're clearly begging the young master, how dare you act like this?" Huang Tianbiao scolded.

"Your Majesty, please remove the restraints from my body..." The white fox could no longer bear it and pleaded in a low voice.

Zhao Ti observed it for a few moments, then stepped forward and withdrew most of the Illusory Yin True Qi from its body, leaving only a wisp.

The white fox immediately felt a sense of relief and let out a long breath, but then angrily asked, "Why isn't it all off?"

Zhao Ti said calmly, "I'm leaving you a trace to remember: don't think about any nonsense about escaping. Stay here and await my orders."

"I... I've had my collarbone pierced, how can I escape..." the white fox said angrily, but as she spoke, her voice weakened, and her body twisted and wriggled a few times in mid-air.

"This is so itchy... Your Majesty, please untie it for me quickly." The white fox looked at Zhao Ti, her red eyes suddenly becoming watery, and her voice becoming shy.

"You vixen, you actually dare to bewitch the young master?" Huang Tianbiao shouted upon seeing this, "I think you've lost your mind. Who is the young master? Stop with your shameless tricks!"

Upon hearing this, the white fox immediately turned its head away in embarrassment, hiding its head under its armpits, causing the iron chains to rattle.

Zhao Ti glanced at the white fox twice without expression, then walked out the door.

He then held court in front of the army, summoned the generals, and briefly explained the matter. The generals were greatly alarmed upon hearing this, and Zhe Keshi asked, "Your Highness, if the demon can still possess people after leaving the grasslands, how should we deal with it?"

Zhao Ti frowned. This was indeed a problem, but judging from the current situation, it was unlikely that a deity would possess an ordinary military general to cause trouble.

There may not be many immortals on the grasslands, and according to the white fox, they have all been summoned to the city of Qadun by the shamanism to awaken some kind of existence. At most, only a handful can be separated.

Once discovered, they will be shot with crossbows, and even immortals will find it difficult to escape. Moreover, immortals cannot easily infiltrate the army, unlike some places in the city where security is lax. The army is strictly controlled and does not allow for stealthy searches.

Since immortals are cultivators, they would certainly not be willing to exchange their lives for those of ordinary soldiers, nor would they have any need to do so.

Moreover, it is uncertain whether those who cultivate themselves should be ashamed of indiscriminately killing innocent people, as this would blatantly affect the secular world and cause serious consequences.

After all, the people of Kunlun had said before that we should not interfere too much with worldly affairs. Otherwise, if the other side had fully participated in worldly conflicts when Emperor Taizu established the Song Dynasty, the court and the country would not have been so stable in recent years.

As for the immortals coming to assassinate him, there might be some other explanation, or it might not be an open and blatant killing, or it might just be something that he alone can bear due to karma.

Or perhaps the other party has somehow discovered that I am a cultivator, not of the secular world, and therefore has no scruples.

Zhao Ti said, "The army is on high alert, and so is the city. The grassland immortals are mostly targeting me, so there's no need to worry too much. If we kill them indiscriminately, they might not be able to bear the consequences."

One of the generals said, "Your Highness, since you are called immortals, then exchanging one for another would be a win for us."

Zhao Ti shook his head: "If we can avoid losses, we should. They may not dare to openly commit massacres, but we must guard against other means that could affect morale and influence the course of the war."

The generals nodded in agreement. Just then, a messenger entered and reported: "Your Highness, unusual activity has been detected on the opposite bank of the Yellow River to the east."

(End of this chapter)