Starry Sky Professional

“Any secret realm might have guardians and realm spirits…”

“This Transcendence Secret Realm is so extraordinary that it can even move its entrance to evade the pursuit of Dao Lords and Dao Venerables, clearly indicating it's even more complex…”

Fang Xing was very calm, after all, he was just a cultivation avatar.

Moreover, now, through the Gate of Heavens, he could sever any connection with his main body. The worst outcome would just be death.

“Wrong time, wrong place, wrong person!”

A magnificent, vast voice resounded.

Wisps of cloud gathered, forming a peculiar face: “But… you still came in. This is the power of a Transcender!”

The face was clearly somewhat fearful.

To be able to forcibly ‘stuff’ someone into the Transcendence Secret Realm, it was hard to imagine how powerful the being behind Fang Xing was.

Perhaps, it had already surpassed the Transcender who originally arranged the inheritance!

“I apologize for the intrusion… I only wish to obtain a single Innate Spiritual Treasure.”

Fang Xing said politely.

“Just a single Innate Spiritual Treasure? You're really being polite… Ever since that cultivator took away the ‘Taiji Diagram,’ no one has ever been able to take an Innate Spiritual Treasure from this secret realm…”

The cloud face seemed to smile: “However, I am willing to give you this opportunity… Like all inheritors, to receive a gift, you must first undergo a trial.”

“Understood.”

Fang Xing nodded. His current avatar was a True Immortal Overlord, possessing the battle power of a First Step Dao Lord.

This was like the Scattered Man of Yiling challenging the Towering Steps he had set up. As long as the trial was designed for the Nascent Soul Realm, a Nascent Soul Overlord could definitely pass it.

And as long as it was a True Immortal trial, he would definitely be able to pass it!

At least, he was very confident!

“Heh heh…”

The realm spirit of the secret realm suddenly laughed: “Whether it's a mortal, a cultivator, a True Immortal, a Dao Lord, or a Dao Venerable… after entering the Transcendence Secret Realm, they all receive the same trial… My master doesn't care about aptitude, comprehension, or even luck and fate… He set up this secret realm solely to assess ‘Heart-Nature’!”

“Heart-Nature?”

Fang Xing was somewhat surprised: “How is that assessed?”

“It's very simple. Once you choose to enter the trial, I will seal your memories and cultivation, turning you into a mortal, and send you into a world… Then, everything depends on your free will.”

The realm spirit of the secret realm smiled: “Although your memories are sealed, your instincts and your Heart-Nature remain… That is the trial.”

Since all entrants would have their memories sealed, it didn't mind ‘leaking the questions.’

“Indeed an interesting trial.”

Fang Xing nodded.

“Come then.”

He nodded.

“Are you ready? Hmm… Failure in the trial won't result in death, but since you have such a strong backer who sent you in, they clearly have high hopes for you.”

The realm spirit of the secret realm nodded.

In an instant, Fang Xing disappeared.

Within the secret realm, it wouldn't care about a mere True Immortal Overlord, even a Fourth Step Dao Lord of the top-tier Great Dao, or even an Eternal existence.

Seizing a mere True Immortal was naturally a sure thing.

“But… could this one be the person Master has been waiting for?”

A hint of anticipation flickered in the realm spirit's eyes…

… …

Bang bang bang!

The nine-layered palace gates opened one after another.

The sound of the night watchman faintly carried over.

Great Qian, the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

“What… is the hour now?”

The Great Qian Crown Prince ‘Li Ru Bi’ asked.

“Reporting to Your Highness, it is the third watch…”

An old eunuch wearing a purple robe lowered his voice, seemingly unwilling to disturb the stillness of the night.

The palace maids and young eunuchs serving around him lowered their eyes and focused on their noses, seeming to completely blend into the walls and corners of the study.

They would only appear when the Crown Prince summoned them.

“The third watch already!”

Li Ru Bi put his hands behind his back, walked out of the study, and came outside.

He had a full forehead, a face like jade, walked with the stride of a dragon and the steps of a tiger, and possessed an indescribable aura of majesty, like a dragon lurking in the abyss.

This was the future ruler of the Sixteen Prefectures of the Two Capitals, the heir apparent of Great Qian.

The Crown Prince came to a high platform and said: “I wish to be alone for a while, you need not follow…”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The palace maids carrying lanterns and the guards with swords bowed. Only the old eunuch held a pure white fox fur coat in his hands at some point: “Your Highness, the night is deep and the dew is heavy, please take care of your noble body…”

Li Ru Bi waved his hand, seemingly not taking it to heart.

‘Alas… Is His Highness worried because the Imperial Censor found fault today?’

The old eunuch looked at the Crown Prince's back and cursed in his heart: ‘When His Highness was in his prime, how would a mere Imperial Censor dare? It's all the fault of Prince Tai…’

… …

Whoosh whoosh!

A gentle breeze blew, and the ancient, unpolluted starry sky was brilliantly bright.

Li Ru Bi, or rather Fang Xing, exhaled a long breath: “Where have I been brought to?”

Clearly, his memories had not been sealed.

Perhaps this was because he was just an avatar, and still had the main consciousness of his main body.

And his main body had the protection of the Attribute Panel, completely unaffected by the secret realm's laws of sealing, and also had the connection of the Gate of Heavens, so it counted as ‘cheating.’

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“Cheating is good, I like using cheat codes when playing games the most.”

Fang Xing nodded to himself, sorting through ‘Li Ru Bi’s’ memories.

The Great Qian Dynasty had been established for less than thirty years. Its founder, Emperor Taizu, was none other than Li Rubi's father, Li Bianlong. This man was a remarkable figure, a veteran of countless battles. He once led four thousand iron cavalry to defeat the Xia King's sixty thousand strong army, single-handedly pacifying the chaotic world and establishing the dynasty... His literary and military achievements were both unparalleled. After establishing the nation, he reduced taxes and corvée, registered the population... At the founding of the dynasty, there were only over two million households, but now the population had grown to three million two hundred and seventy thousand households. Due to the era name being 'Jingde,' perhaps history books would record a 'Reign of Jingde'?

As for the Crown Prince 'Li Rubi,' he was the son of Li Bianlong and his principal wife. Li Bianlong had a harmonious relationship with his wife, and his rise to power was largely due to the help of her family. They had three sons and four daughters, but unfortunately, many died young, leaving only the youngest son, 'Li Rubi.' He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Wei in his youth and advanced to the position of Crown Prince upon reaching adulthood...

Li Rubi's childhood was quite pleasant. Not only were his parents loving and his brothers harmonious, but he himself was the Crown Prince, and his maternal family was quite powerful. Fortune tellers even said that he had an extremely noble countenance, possessing the bearing of a dragon and tiger, and the appearance of the sun and sky.

However, in the twentieth year of Jingde, the Empress died of illness. In the twenty-third year, the Crown Prince's maternal uncle, Duke Zhang Yang of Ying, the head of the military nobility, died from a recurrence of an old illness. The Crown Prince lost his wings and became dispirited...

As the Emperor's other sons, the Prince of Tai and the Prince of Kang, gradually came of age, rumors spread in the capital that the Emperor intended to replace the heir apparent. Panic gripped the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince once tried to be proactive and accomplish something, but the more he did, the more mistakes he made. He was even repeatedly impeached by censors, who accused him of 'improper behavior,' 'frivolous conduct,' and 'writing incorrect characters in memorials, suspected of disrespecting the sovereign and his father,' and so on...

As it stood now, the entire Eastern Palace appeared to be adorned with flowers, but in secret, it seemed to have already fallen into a dead end.

"Heh heh..."

After digesting the memories, Fang Xing glanced in the direction of the 'Qinzheng Hall' in the imperial palace and sneered. He naturally saw where the root of the problem lay.

Everything, everything, rested on the Emperor Li Bianlong himself. If the Emperor hadn't tacitly approved, how would his younger brothers dare to compete with the Crown Prince? How would mere censors dare to make trouble for the Crown Prince?

'Li Bianlong is extremely valiant. He raised an army at fifteen and pacified the world at twenty. He is intelligent and divine to the extreme... Now, at only forty-six, he diligently attends to state affairs every day, reviewing memorials until the middle of the night, and still finds time to favor the beauties in his harem. This year alone, he has given Li Rubi a younger brother and three younger sisters...'

'The Crown Prince is inherently a threat to the sovereign's power. Such a hale and hearty wise ruler still has grand ambitions to pursue, how can he tolerate the delegation of power?'

'Even if it is his son, he cannot tolerate it!'

'Moreover, the Crown Prince's maternal relatives were previously too powerful, secretly propping him up to fight against the Emperor with the nobility...'

'The more enlightened the ruler, the harder it is to be his crown prince, and the more likely he is to die!'

'How can there be a crown prince for forty years?'

'Uh... well, there certainly are, but their monarchies are constitutional, and the emperor's power is very small... completely different from the current feudal autocracy.'

'Li Rubi is only being warned now, which is already good. Things will only get worse and worse, to the point where he might even be deposed and reinstated like Emperor Kangxi's crown prince...'

'Perhaps even this kind of wise and martial ruler will become more and more senile as he gets older, and more and more difficult to serve... A slight dissatisfaction can lead to disaster!'

A cultivator nearing death might even turn into a 'Longevity Demon'!

It is even harder to imagine what an emperor with almost unlimited power in ancient times would be like before death.

'So... is this the test of my temperament? Is this it?'

'What should I do next?'

'If I indulge in wine and women, waiting for disaster to strike, I obviously won't get a good evaluation...'

'This secret realm seals memories, precisely to test whether the examinee acts according to instinct... and then test his temperament.'

'How to break this situation?'

Fang Xing pondered: 'If I want to do something, I must first understand what power I possess?'

'This world, um? This world... not only has no fluctuations of laws, but even repels the power of the Great Dao. Is it purely 'magicless'?'

'Although there are Taoists and monks, they don't have the slightest supernatural ability. Even brave soldiers in the army, if they are not wearing armor and are surrounded by several strong men wielding weapons, will fall on the spot...'

'Can't the power of the Great Dao change with the world? It can only be said that the means of the Transcendent are extraordinary, to the point that even a Dao Lord Realm, or even an Eternal Realm, can be imprisoned?'

Fang Xing felt a chill in his heart.

If he didn't have supernatural power, then the Emperor could easily crush him with righteousness, reputation, and even strength!

The strongest military power he held was only five teams of Eastern Palace guards, a mere two hundred and fifty people. Among them, who knows how many spies there are. Usually, they would do their best to protect the Crown Prince, but if you were to tell them to rebel, they would probably arrest the Crown Prince first!

'Then... I should act more submissively. Li Rubi and the Emperor still have some father-son affection. As long as I communicate with him, express my feelings, and then be willing to cut off my wings, and attack the interest groups such as the nobility, showing the aura of a wise ruler, and endure for ten or dozens of years, maybe I can successfully inherit the throne?'

After all, he had already recovered his memory, which was the biggest cheat.

Whether it's steelmaking or composting fertilizer, as long as it can develop productivity, there will be benefits to win over a group of people and be a 'virtuous crown prince.'

Li Bianlong is, after all, a founding emperor, with a heroic spirit. Among his sons, the Crown Prince is the strongest, and his succession is legitimate. Why can't he pass the throne to him?

'It's just that there are too many variables in ten or dozens of years, and a slight change could kill me!'

'I must be diligent and respectful, day after day, year after year. Isn't that annoying?'

'When the Emperor is old and seriously ill, if someone in the palace frames me or falsely conveys an imperial decree... they can easily put me to death. There are many such deaths in history...'

'Why... should I entrust my life and death to someone else's whim?'

'I don't care what kind of eternal emperor you are, if you threaten my safety, you must die!'