Immortality starts from the liver proficiency

Chapter 310 Heading to Yujing
Bi Yuan waved his hand: "Let's not talk about this for now."

"We will set off in three days. Li Haomiao's identity will be legitimate. You can lend him a hand then. Be careful in everything you do, and prioritize your life. Everything else is trivial."

Bi Yuan looked solemn. This was a test for Xu Yunfan, but he dared not be careless in the slightest. If Xu Yunfan really perished on Yujing Road, he would have nowhere to turn to for help.

Xu Yunfan nodded emphatically: "Yes, Master!"

He suddenly pressed the scroll heavily into Xu Yunfan's palm.

"The Great Zhou Imperial Examination is currently in its triennial phase, and the Jade Capital Road Examination has not yet concluded. You can take advantage of the Martial Arts Grand Ceremony to openly compete for the title of Martial Arts Champion, while secretly handling three important matters..."

A glint flashed in Xu Yunfan's eyes, and he instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Bi Yuan's words.

Yujing Road stands at the head of the six major roads of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Its core city, Yujing City, is the center of imperial power for a thousand years, a place where nine dragons reside and the world's fortunes converge like rivers flowing into the sea.

Within the majestic imperial city, the Purple Star shines day and night, the Vermilion Bird Avenue runs north to south, and the seventy-two wards correspond to the number of stars in the heavens. This magnificent city, which bears the destiny of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is gradually shrouded in twilight.

The empress who once suppressed all sides with an iron fist is now old and frail.

On the dragon bed deep in the palace, the empress's withered fingers still tightly gripped the Imperial Seal of the State, but her increasingly weak aura could not conceal her inner strength.

The backlash from the blood sacrifice she received from the people gradually led her to a tragic death.

The memorials presented concealed the glint of swords, the court assembly where the Nine Ministers discussed matters was shrouded in shadows of blades, and even the rustling of the armor of the imperial guards carried an eerie air.

All factions were like jackals smelling blood. Salt merchants and tycoons in Jiangnan secretly colluded, iron cavalry patrolled the borders in Yanbei, and even sorcerers from overseas islands sent envoys.

Although on the surface the various prefectures still maintained a state of submission, in reality they had long been divided into warlords. The Daoist sect of Jiannan Prefecture was aiming for Yujing, the Hu-Han allied forces of Yanbei Prefecture were preparing for war, and the weapon-making masters of Bailian Mountain Villa in Qingzhou were working day and night to produce weapons.

Everyone knows that whoever makes the first move in this grand game in Yujing City will hold the key to the tripartite balance of power in the world.

Although Jiannan Circuit is separated from Yujing Circuit by Jiangnan Circuit, its northwestern end borders Yujing Circuit, making it the perfect springboard for the Daoist sect to intervene in Yujing!
Yujing Road, Yujing Prefecture, Yujing City, deep within the Great Zhou Imperial Court, the Purple Extreme Palace.

The candlelight flickered inside the hall, but it couldn't dispel the heavy, gloomy atmosphere.

The lacquer on the gilded dragon pillars was already mottled, and the dark curtains hanging from the dome moved without wind, as if an unseen hand was manipulating them.

The Empress leaned against the dragon bed, her bright yellow robes loosely covering her withered, rotten body. The skin on her exposed wrists was wrinkled like tree bark, and bluish-purple veins twisted and grotesque beneath her pale skin.

Her eyelids drooped slightly, her eye sockets were deep, and her turbid pupils occasionally flashed with a chilling golden light. The unique "hidden spirit" of a Grandmaster of the Ninth Realm of Qi Refining revealed that this old empress was like a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.

"Your Majesty, the results of this year's imperial examinations have been announced as scheduled."

Pei Jian, the Vice Minister of Rites in charge of the imperial examinations, knelt at the foot of the jade steps, his forehead pressed against the cool jade bricks.

His voice was strained, and his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

This capable minister, who came from the Pei clan of Hedong in Yujing Road, didn't even have the courage to look up at the emperor's face at this moment.

The Empress let out a soft, ambiguous laugh, her withered fingers tapping slowly on the armrest, her nails striking the sandalwood with a hollow "tap-tap" sound.

The sound was particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall, and Guo Lang, the Director of the Imperial Observatory who was standing to the side, trembled almost imperceptibly at the cuffs of his sleeves.

"The imperial examinations..."

The Empress finally spoke, her voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping, "Not bad, not bad."

She paused for a long time after each word, as if squeezing out a breath from the depths of her heart, "This time... there should be quite a few interesting ones." The eunuch Cao An, who was standing to the side, bowed and stepped forward, scooped a spoonful of medicine from the glass cup with a silver spoon, and carefully brought it to the Empress's lips.

The medicinal liquid was as red as blood, with a layer of eerie golden mist floating on its surface.

The empress suddenly raised her hand and knocked over the medicine cup. Cao An immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the steps and blood spurting out, but he dared not wipe it away.

"I haven't reached the point where I need you to feed me!"

The Empress suddenly sat up straight, and a cracking sound, as if bones were dislocating, suddenly burst from beneath her robes.

Golden light shone brightly from her deep-set eyes, and the air in the entire Ziji Palace instantly froze. Pei Jian and Guo Lang's robes fluttered without wind, as if they were forced to slide back half a foot by an invisible pressure.

But this power only lasted for a brief moment.

The empress coughed violently, and the black blood she coughed up splattered on the front of her dragon robe, like blooming ink plum blossoms.

Cao An scrambled over and brought over a golden basin to catch the blood foam. The basin immediately emitted a foul-smelling white smoke, and the blood even made the golden basin sizzle as it corroded.

After the blood sacrifice failed that day, the Heavenly Sword Dugu Jiu suddenly appeared and fought a fierce battle with her, causing her serious injuries.

The Empress couldn't help but recall the day Dugu Jiu swung his sword at her, and her heart still couldn't help but ripple with emotion.

The moment the blood sacrifice array collapsed that day, a hundred-foot-long sword mark suddenly exploded in the sky above Jade Capital City.

Dugu Jiu stood in mid-air, his long gray hair dancing wildly like mad snakes, and a sword intent that shook the mountains and rivers burst forth from his decaying body.

This earth-shattering battle, which seemed to end with the defeat of the Heavenly Sword, forced the already exhausted Empress to expend even more of the nation's fortune to suppress the rampant sword demon within her.

The fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty has come to an end due to her constant exploitation.

If we cannot seize this opportunity to revitalize our lives...

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health!"

Guo Lang suddenly kowtowed heavily, his official hat, made of black iron, striking the floor tiles and sparking. "Last night, I observed the stars. Although the Purple Palace Enclosure was dim, a strange star suddenly appeared in the Heavenly Market Enclosure, which corresponds precisely to this imperial examination..."

The empress wiped the blood from her lips with her sleeve, then suddenly grinned.

Her broken teeth were bluish-gray, but her gums were eerily bright red, like cinnabar. "Guo Aiqing is still as eloquent as ever."

She slowly leaned back against the dragon bed, her fingers unconsciously stroking a strangely shaped short staff beside the bed. It was a secret treasure made from the spine of some kind of demon beast, and the eye-shaped gem embedded in the staff head was turning slightly with her movements.

After the primordial spirits of heaven and earth were revived, spiritual energy rose from the earth's veins. Although it was thin, it still caused a few old objects in the Great Zhou Imperial Court to react.

"Do you really think I'm senile? Those who came to take the exam..."

She suddenly gasped for breath, a hissing sound coming from her chest like a broken bellows, “Salt smugglers from Jiangnan Road, bandits from Yanbei Road, blacksmiths from Qingzhou Bailian Manor… cough cough… even those island barbarians from the South China Sea have sent people!”

Pei Jian's official robe was already soaked through at the hem.

He knew, of course, how absurd the list of candidates for this imperial examination was. The "scholars" from Jiannan Road had calluses on their hands, and the "students" from Yanbei Road carried the distinctive muttony smell of the grassland people, not to mention those traveling wanderers with forged travel permits.

(End of this chapter)