The words of Lord Chongwu were shocking, even the usually calm Fang Yuan was taken aback.
As the ruler of a state, Lord Chongwu, who had once held immense power and a formidable reputation, had actually become a mortal for many years?
And his cultivation was only recently restored?
"The royal family of Yan is this powerful, and they can still poison the spiritual energy?" Fang Yuan asked.
Lord Chongwu glanced at Fang Yuan and realized that he was indeed a smart person, quick to understand.
He continued, "The Yan Kingdom has a history of eight thousand years since its founding. Do you know how many emperors have ruled in these eight thousand years?"
Fang Yuan shook his head. He was just a poor country boy, how would he know such things?
"Seven," Lord Chongwu answered.
"Ah... so these emperors can casually live for over a thousand years?" Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows.
Now he finally understood the earlier words of Grandpa Qin, "A hundred years old is the age to strive for."
It was not just the age to strive—it was the age to still be able to suckle!
"Exactly." Lord Chongwu nodded.
"Even I have lived for over six hundred years, while the average lifespan of ordinary commoners is only around sixty years. For the lower classes, the upper echelons of Yan Kingdom have become as distant as gods."
"And since they're like gods, it's normal for them to have some mysterious means!"
"According to my investigation, throughout these eight thousand years, the royal family must have used some extremely powerful methods to gradually refine the spiritual energy of the Yan Kingdom, adding some strange supernatural powers to it."
"As long as one cultivates in this land, that mysterious supernatural power will enter your body and merge with every part of you."
"This is indeed no different from poisoning; the only difference is that this poison is colorless and tasteless, and it doesn't act up in normal times. The deeper your cultivation, the deeper the poison..."
"Until..."
"Until they feel they can no longer control you?"
"That's about the gist of it." Lord Chongwu nodded, a trace of sorrow inevitably showing in his eyes.
For a martial artist, the greatest support was their cultivation.
But now, with that cultivation completely under control by others, what could they do?
Even Lord Chongwu, once the ruler of the world, was now nothing more than a somewhat fierce dog in front of the royal family of Yan.
Lord Chongwu continued, "At first, when I felt my cultivation slowly retreating, I was terrified and confused, thinking that there had been a mistake in my training."
"But gradually, I realized that this wasn't due to my own fault but came from an external force. I also discovered that throughout the history of the Yan Kingdom, I'm not the only one who has encountered such an issue."
"Thus, I, along with my brothers in arms, kept investigating the matter."
"Eventually, after paying some price, we finally discovered some clues, but that was all."
Lord Chongwu spoke as if it were nothing, but Fang Yuan could imagine how brutal it must have been.
This man had lived for over six hundred years and had a renowned reputation. Someone like him should have been surrounded by talented disciples and many friends.
But now, the closest person to him was just a hundred-year-old doorman.
His old friends had probably all died or betrayed him.
"This is truly a ruthless move, cutting the roots!" Fang Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. He had thought that monopolizing martial arts techniques was the limit, but he hadn't expected it to be taken this far!
This way, the royal family of Yan could indeed ensure their dynasty's eternal stability. At least, the possibility of internal rebellion would be almost nonexistent.
"Since that's the case, why not just go abroad?" Fang Yuan casually said.
Upon hearing this, Lord Chongwu's expression suddenly turned serious.
"What nonsense are you talking about? No matter how many difficulties lie ahead, we can never betray our country and side with foreign enemies!"
Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows. Right, this was his oversight.
Unlike Fang Yuan, who was a transmigrator and had little attachment to the Yan Kingdom, Lord Chongwu was different. He might have dissatisfaction with the royal family of Yan, but he considered himself a citizen of Yan and would never betray his country.
Lord Chongwu sighed again. "Moreover, what you can think of, the royal family of Yan has already thought of. They have countermeasures in place."
"Besides, how good can other countries be? It's just exchanging one prison for another."
"So, you established the Celestial Heroes Camp and are looking for talented cultivators because of this?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Exactly." Lord Chongwu nodded. "By chance, I was reading ancient historical records and found that there are certain people who can avoid being controlled by this royal family secret technique."
"These people, to some extent, carry the national fortune of Yan. With the country's fortune looking after them, their cultivation talent far exceeds that of others, and they will be fortunate throughout their lives."
Fang Yuan immediately remembered Ye Chuan's identity: [National Fortune Host].
So Ye Chuan wasn't the child of fate in this world, but at most, he was the child of fate for the Yan Kingdom. And from Lord Chongwu's words, it seemed there were other such "National Fortune Hosts" besides him.
It seemed that Lord Chongwu really did harbor rebellious intentions...
Unfortunately, he didn't know how much of Chongwu's plan the royal family of Yan was already aware of.
After all, he had someone planted by the royal family as a guard beside him.
"Fang Yuan, I thought your cultivation talent was so extraordinary that you also carried the national fortune, but I found that you don't."
Lord Chongwu said with a sigh, "I never expected that you could even sense the anomaly in the spiritual energy..."
In the past, others couldn't see through Lord Chongwu, but now he couldn't see through a young man.
"Perhaps it's because I have extraordinary talent." Fang Yuan responded, not lingering on the subject.
"Teacher, please pass on to me the cultivation methods of the Fifth Realm, and also tell me the methods for the subsequent realms."
Now that he knew the situation, he no longer had any doubts.
This mysterious power in the spiritual energy was bad, not good, and it must be removed. He didn't want to be a dog for the royal family of Yan.
"Alright..." Lord Chongwu nodded, unable to suppress a sigh. He wasn't surprised by Fang Yuan's decision.
Yes, what else could he do now that he knew the truth?
Was he supposed to give up cultivation and stop at the Fourth Realm?
For a martial artist who sought power, that was obviously impossible, especially with Fang Yuan's terrifying cultivation talent. How could he possibly be content with this?
Even knowing it was a pit, he would have to jump into it.
At this moment, Lord Chongwu seemed to sense something suddenly. His brows furrowed, and he closed his eyes.
Whoosh!
A white afterimage burst from Lord Chongwu's body, shooting out of the hall at lightning speed, heading straight for the sky!
The next moment, a leisurely, contented voice of a young man echoed throughout the entire Jianghai Palace:
"Lord Chongwu, it's been a while!"