Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Taiyuan Left Guard, Commander's Office.

"Duan Chaoyong truly lives up to his father's reputation as a prized disciple. So what if the emperor summoned Prince Ying to the capital to assist the crown prince? He still started taking the 'red lead' elixir."

Li Dali was in a pretty good mood.

News came back from Ordos that the Jinang, a 30,000-household "Jinong" clan of the Right Wing of Mongolia, had also taken the "elixir" we offered.

They changed the name to "Dragon and Tiger Golden Elixir" to avoid any association with Duan Chaoyong.

"This Zhao Xixian is truly a lucky charm for our Maitreya Sect."

Sitting at the head of the table was Zhang Yin, the third-rank commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, though that was just his current name.

In his early years, he joined the Maitreya sect, a branch of the White Lotus sect, under the name Li Fuda. Together with Wang Liang, Li Yue, and others, he launched a rebellion against the Ming Dynasty in the name of the Maitreya sect.

Lacking experience in their first rebellion, they were suppressed by the Ming army in less than two months.

After the defeat, he mingled among the soldiers and was imprisoned as an ordinary prisoner.

He escaped from prison at night, relying on his superb martial arts skills.

In the following years, he changed his name to Li Wu and secretly gathered the remaining members of the Maitreya Sect who had escaped capture, rebuilt the Maitreya Sect headquarters, and appointed himself as the sect leader.

After several years of recuperation and building up strength, they once again raised an army in rebellion.

Having learned from his previous failure, this time he appointed his eldest disciple, Shao Jinlu, as king, while he himself commanded from behind the scenes, and they successively captured several county towns.

However, under the Ming army's encirclement and suppression, they still did not last a year.

Shao Jinlu was defeated in Luochuan and died fighting his way out. His head was sent to the capital.

But he was prepared this time, and quietly left the camp before the Maitreya rebels were surrounded.

Using a pre-prepared false identity, he became an officer in the Taiyuan Left Guard under the name Zhang Yin.

After years of maneuvering, he has now taken up the position of Commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard.

Meanwhile, in recent years, he also chose a steep cliff in Pingding Prefecture, which is under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, and rebuilt the Maitreya Sect's headquarters once again.

He originally had several children, but most of them died in the first two rebellions. Now, only Li Dali is still alive.

At this time, although he was still the leader of the Maitreya sect, most of the sect's affairs had been handed over to his son, who was the left protector.

Of course, in public, Li Dali was just a staff member of the Taiyuan Left Guard and had no blood relation to Zhang Yin, the commander.

"Zhao Xixian is indeed a very talented person. In the two years since he joined our school, he has helped my son manage the school affairs in an orderly manner."

Li Dali nodded.

"Not only that, he also had the audacity to devise a grand plan to simultaneously infiltrate the Ming imperial family and the right-wing Mongol 'Jinong'."

When we raised an army to rebel against the Yuan dynasty, Han Shantong, Liu Futong, Peng Yingyu, and Xu Shouhui were all our predecessors.

After Zhu Chongba murdered the young master and seized the throne, he immediately labeled our sect as a "heretical and righteous art."

For over a hundred years, our sect has remained hidden underground, and the slightest sign of it would invite suppression by the Ming army.

My father twice launched rebellions against the Ming Dynasty, but both times he failed.

Zhao Xixian's words make a lot of sense. The Ming court is powerful, and if we confront them head-on, we have no chance of winning.

Instead of doing that, it would be better to infiltrate from within and then provoke the Mongols, causing them to constantly clash.

My father worked hard in Taiyuan for more than 20 years and rose to the position of Commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard. Our sect is no longer the rabble it once was.

If we wanted to, we could take Taiyuan City at any time.

I have access to the top-level secrets of both sides, which I can make good use of to weaken the Ming court while secretly growing stronger.

The son believed that when his father raised an army against the Ming Dynasty for the third time, he would be able to capture the capital with overwhelming force and establish a new dynasty.

"Great news! Although Zhao Xixian appears respectful in front of you and me, father and son, he is by no means a kind man or woman."

He only joined my teaching team two years ago, so I can't say I know him well at all, and he won't truly be of one mind with the Li family.

Zhang Yin stroked his beard.

"I've seen too many talented and ambitious people over the years. They won't be content to remain subservient to others forever."

We should use such people, but we must also be wary of them!

What has Zhao Xixian been doing all this time?

"The people at the Pingding Prefecture headquarters secretly informed the son that ever since his father passed on that secret manual to Zhao Xixian, he has been practicing in seclusion every day after finishing his miscellaneous duties at the headquarters."

Li Dali laughed.

"If he knew that the manual wasn't actually the martial arts you practiced, Father, but a secret passed down by the successive leaders of the Maitreya Sect, I wonder what he would think?"

"Although that manual wasn't passed down from me, it is indeed a profound martial art."

Zhang Yin looked at his son.

"The master who created this martial art was a top expert during the Northern Song Dynasty. He once single-handedly stormed into our sect's headquarters, killed more than ten experts, and escaped unscathed."

Later, the then-leader Fang personally led dozens of experts from the sect to ambush this person on a dark and stormy night, and finally killed him at a great cost.

This secret manual was found in a very hidden room in this master's house.

After obtaining this manual, all the leaders of the sect, including your father and I, have tried to practice it.

Unfortunately, no one can master it.

Dali, I started teaching you martial arts when you were six or seven years old. You should know very well that it is extremely difficult to develop a sense of qi. Many people get stuck at this hurdle and never get past it in their entire lives.

Over the decades, I have taken on no fewer than a hundred personal disciples, but only a handful have managed to cultivate the ability to sense Qi.

"My son understands how difficult it is to cultivate internal energy."

Li Dali recalled his painful experiences in his youth.

"My son practices the martial arts that I taught the secrets of the past leaders, and with my father's constant practice to help him, it took him six whole years to find the feeling of Qi."

"That's right. All martial arts that can cultivate internal energy require extremely high talent."

Zhang Yin nodded.

Even with guidance from renowned teachers, only one in ten can ultimately develop a sense of Qi.

But the nameless martial art I passed on to Zhao Xixian is an exception among exceptions.

This martial art has a very peculiar feature: it is extremely easy to learn.

Almost everyone who practices it can quickly develop a sense of Qi!

"Ah, such a divine skill manual, how could Father so easily pass it on to Zhao Xixian?"

Li Dali was greatly surprised.

"Li Tong has never been able to develop a sense of qi. Why doesn't his father let him practice this martial art?"

"Because once you've mastered even a trace of internal energy in this martial art, you can't progress any further!"

Zhang Yin burst into laughter.

"As you know, the trace of Qi you just cultivated is completely useless except for being faintly felt within your own body."

But this feeling was very deceptive. No matter which master in the sect with internal strength Zhao Xixian asked, he would get the same answer.

That's the feeling you get when you first develop a sense of Qi.

Who among masters with internal strength doesn't know how difficult it is to cultivate a sense of qi?

He developed a sense of qi in just a few months after receiving the secret manual, and people would only praise him as a martial arts genius.

Having witnessed the skills of a master of internal energy, Zhao Xixian greatly admired the ability to cultivate one's own internal strength.

As long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will devote a lot of energy to training.

Naturally, this left them with no time to build their own influence within the sect.