The big black cat stretched, leapt up onto Prince Zhuang’s knees, and idly stepped all over him. Its extended claws pulled out threads of silk all over his brocade robe, and it got cat hair everywhere.

Prince Zhuang had no temper where the cat was concerned. Not only did he never get annoyed, he sometimes even casually rubbed the cat’s head and let it keep stepping.

But this time, for once, he wasn’t in the mood to play with the cat.

The chime clock struck three times, and there was a knock at the door from outside.

Prince Zhuang’s head darted up. “Bai Ling, enter.”

In answer, a piece of “paper” slipped through the crack in the door. The bolt didn’t move at all.

When the “paper” came into the room, it shook and expanded, landing on the ground as a rail-thin man. He was skinny and long-faced, with very regular features, but for no apparent reason, it was impossible to remember what he looked like. Even his eyes were somewhat lighter than usual.

He entered the room without a sound, more light-footed than a cat.

Bai Ling, the head of the Prince Zhuang Manor’s secret guard, was a cultivator.

The sort that hadn't used approved methods!

“Your Highness,” said Bai Ling.

Prince Zhuang waved a hand. “No need for such formality. How is it?”

Bai Ling answered, “The earthquake has stopped. Execution arrays were lying in wait at the seven Azure Dragon Towers—not a single one of the people who went to plunder the towers tonight escaped. Around the fifth watch of the night, the assistant commander of Heaven’s Design Pavilion returned to the city with his people…”

Prince Zhuang listened impatiently as he recounted these details, then simply interrupted him: “What about that walking calamity Xi Shiyong?”

Bai Ling said, “The Viscount is well. Set your mind at ease, Your Highness. He returned with the immortal envoy’s carriage.”

Prince Zhuang exhaled, his expression relaxing almost imperceptibly.

The chiming clock kept moving forward. He raised a coarse pottery cup and drank a mouthful of water. Then he was once again the unflappable third prince. “Very well—what, did he really leave the city on his own?”

“The immortal envoy’s cultivation is too high. I didn’t dare to approach,” Bai Ling said. “I’m not aware of the details of what happened, but the Viscount was sent back in Heaven’s Design Pavilion’s carriage, and the blue-robers at the Yongning Marquis Manor politely dispersed. This must not be a bad thing.”

Prince Zhuang coldly instructed, “Tell the porters and guards that if that brat dares to come again, no one is permitted to let him in. Tie him up and send him to the Marquis. He needs a few beatings, or he won’t learn.”

Laughter lines appeared at the corners of Bai Ling’s eyes. “Ah.”

Then Prince Zhuang continued: “Xuanyin’s immortal envoy has come? In previous years, there was news of the immortal envoy months in advance. Which family does this one belong to? Why has his identity been so strictly concealed?”

“He… Pardon the offense.” Bai Ling stepped forward and spoke a name into Prince Zhuang’s ear.

Hearing it, Prince Zhuang’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Him?”

“Yes,” Bai Ling said quietly. “An ascended spirit peak master coming down from the mountains might not happen once in a century. I don’t know the reason. Perhaps it has to do with this attack by haunts.”

Prince Zhuang patted the black cat, sending it off to play by itself. With his hands behind his back, he walked to the window.

In the courtyard, rain fell on the banana trees, landing on the leaves as droplets of mud, as if all the smoke and dust floating over Jinping was falling. Perhaps after this cleaning, tomorrow the fogs would disperse.

The foul black clouds created by mortals in the end fell back upon the mortal world.

There was one thing that others didn’t know, but of which the children of the imperial family were well aware—due to the incident of Lancang to the south, Great Wan’s Dragon Vein had once broken. Xuanyin’s Dignitary of Fate High Elder, the immortal Zhang Jue, had personally come to the mortal world to repair the Dragon Vein, restoring the country’s fortunes. This was the only “shed skin” immortal of Xuanyin who had publicly shown in his face in the mortal word in thousands of years.

The repaired Dragon Vein wasn’t as stable as the original one. It needed to be reinforced once every ten years. This was why Xuanyin sent their immortal envoys, who incidentally presided over the Grand Selection. Reinforcing the Dragon Vein required a suitable time and date, which was never the same day, so the date of the Grand Selection had become mysterious.

Each Grand Selection Year, the Dragon Vein was unusually weak. This was also the reason the haunts had chosen this time to run a risk.

Had “this individual” come down from the mountain this year because the haunts scheming against the Dragon Vein were particularly powerful, or… was Xuanyin hinting that the imperial star was fading, that the sovereign had transgressed, that even the Dragon Vein was unstable?

“Tell Wang Zixian that we’ll take no action at this time,” Prince Zhuang said after deliberating silently for a moment. “An ascended spirit is an ascended spirit, after all. Let’s not be too clever under this one’s nose.”

Bai Ling gave an affirmative, then said, “There is no clear information about this attack by haunts. The whole thing seems strange from beginning to end. I’ve heard that Heaven’s Design Pavilion wasn’t very polite to the young masters staying at their head office last night. I’m afraid there will be great changes to the Grand Selection roster. If the Viscount had the good fortune to make his name known to the immortal envoy, might…”

Prince Zhuang looked at him with no expression. Bai Ling immediately shut his mouth.

Prince Zhuang’s long sleeve swept over the window lattice. A silver inscription flashed on the wooden window frame.

This was a third-class inscription. Embedded in the wooden beam, it kept the room warm in winter and cool in summer with no need for coals or ice, and let it withstand three turns of the earth dragon. Even if outside the sky fell and the earth opened, as long as it wasn’t bad enough to bring down the Azure Dragon Towers, the prince’s manor would be invulnerable.

A half-immortal in the open-eyed stage couldn’t create an inscription. These inscriptions had to come from the hand of an immortal of the established foundation phase or beyond—in other words, a member Xuanyin’s inner sect.

According to the rules, only a Royal Prince or better, or a renderer of extraordinary service receiving special honors, was entitled to use a third-class inscription.

When the immortal sect occasionally bestowed a couple of inscriptions, it was the greatest honor of a mortal’s life.

But how distant the immortal sect was!

Even if you received a selection card and were permitted to enter the Latent Cultivation Temple to cultivate for a year, then were fortunate enough to open your spiritual eye, those who could enter the inner sect were still rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. There was one class every ten years, and it wasn’t certain that the inner sect would choose even one person per class.

The black cat jumped onto the windowsill, stuck up its big tail, and let out a long “meow” at its owner, shamelessly raising its head and demanding to be pet. The cat’s cry called Zhou Ying’s mind back. He once again restored the jade-like mildness to his face and calmly said, “Mr. Tanghua’s seventieth birthday is coming up. Prepare a generous gift and send someone to let Captain Zhao of Heaven’s Design Pavilion know. Tell him that the Viscount of Yongning is reckless and insolent, and we’re afraid of offending the immortal envoy’s eyes. If possible, could the Exalted please take a look, and, in case the immortal envoy should wish to make serious changes to the roster of chosen disciples, have the Viscount removed from the alternate list.”

A selection card from the Xuanyin Mountains could have all the children of nobility squabbling over it. This was Bai Ling’s first time hearing of someone taking a person off the list. He was astonished.

Prince Zhuang said quietly, “In Jinping, no matter what disaster may come, I can ward it off for him. If he enters the immortal sect, my reach truly won’t be long enough. I only have the one brother. If he had only…”

At this point, he realized that he had misspoken, starting from “only one brother”—where did that leave all the true offspring of imperial blood in the palace? Therefore he stopped speaking and swallowed the rest of his sentence, “if he had only been born ten years later”; he only paused, then continued: “One understands one’s own family. He has no natural talent, and the Marquis Manor isn’t struggling to feed him. There’s no need to seek this insupportable ‘great good fortune.’ My uncle understands perfectly. All you need to do is take care of it.”

Early the next morning, news of the entrance of the immortal envoy into the capital had indeed exploded.

At once there was an explanation for all the activity the night before—this was General Zhi!

When General Zhi came down to the mortal world, never mind Southern Sage Temple’s bells ringing and the Dragon Vein leaping, there would have been nothing surprising about the true dragons on the Nine Dragon Pillars in the palace turning into fried dough twists!

For a time, rumors in the streets shot up like bamboo shoots after the rain: there were those who said they had glimpsed auspicious clouds with their own eyes that night; there were those who said the immortal envoy’s carriage had passed their door and old stakes that had been dry for decades had sprouted buds; there were also those who said they had met the immortal envoy going incognito, and the breath of immortal air had cured their chronic diseases at once!

Locations where the immortal had been encountered included but were not limited to wonton stands, pastry stalls, tea shops, wine shops, tofu businesses… Evidently General Zhi not only cured all ills, he was also a glutton who had eaten his way through Jinping in a matter of days!

Amid all this teeming rumor, the inexplicable instability of the Dragon Vein was covered up, and Jinping City’s curfew was lifted without any explanation. The peaceful singing and dancing in the city fell back into rhythm with the rumbling steam engines outside the city.

Concerning the singing corpse at the pleasure boat ferry crossing, it was only said that he had been drugged by an enemy, and the House of Overflowing Splendor, inextricably linked to the murder, was completely shut down. The bustle of the Flower Viewing Festival seemed to have been nothing but was fireworks display.

A river of red fire at the start, but when the fire burned out, there was nothing but ash.

“Those who received the Flower Viewing Invitations didn’t dare to speak of it after they left,” Pang Jian said to Zhi Xiu, who was inspecting the list of provisional disciples. He deliberated for a moment, then asked, “Shishu, won’t it harm your reputation to let these people talk nonsense and spread rumors?”

That's right—of those rumors about eating at a hundred restaurants, more than half had been created by Zhi Jingzhai himself.

“It’s better than letting them talk about the Dragon Vein being unstable, anyway. Never mind that it would put the common people in a panic, it would be bad for His Majesty too,” Zhi Xiu said. “My reputation… What do I want with a reputation like a flawless jade? To drop it on the ground and listen to the crash?”

He held a small writing brush. As he spoke, he swept the shaft of the brush over each name on the list in turn. When he pointed at someone, that person’s face would automatically appear on the paper, along with a genealogical background and any history of wrongdoing.

Pang Jian glanced over and saw General Zhi’s brush shaft point at a “Zhao Wenhong.” Beside the name appeared a young man’s face with quite regular features. Under the picture small writing appeared, explaining that this person belonged to the main bloodline of the Ning’an Zhao family. It stated his age, who his parents were, which immortals belonged to which generations of the family, and so on.

Then there followed a final line: Got drunk and raped his younger half-sister by a concubine; she doesn’t dare to report it.

Pang Jian: “…”

What kind of scumbag was this?

General Zhi was a military man, but perhaps many years of cultivation had made his temper very mild. At first glance, he looked like an unremarkable scholar. This was completely at odds with both a legendary hero and an ascended spirit peak master of the immortal sect.

Only now did Pang Jian realize why ascended spirit cultivators had “attained the highest heaven.”

Commander Pang had been in Heaven’s Design Pavilion for most of a century. Excluding the years he had been in other parts of the country on official work and had been unable to return in time, he had received five or six immortal envoys—late phase established foundations, as well consummate established foundations. He had never seen methods like this.

All the deeds, good and evil, in a mortal’s lifetime, no matter how private, no matter how “kept between heaven and earth and yourself,” became transparent in front of General Zhi, if he only wanted to know about them.

It was as if he were the proverbial all-seeing “heaven” and “earth.”

Zhi Xiu struck off the name “Zhao Wenhong.” He asked, “Is there a member of the Zhao family in Heaven’s Design Pavilion?”

“There is,” said Pang Jian, ashamed on Zhao Yu's behalf. “I’ll let Zhao-shidi know and have him go home and deal with it.”

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, General Zhi had struck off nearly half the names on the list. “Is there a backup list?”

“Shishu.” Pang Jian, watching from the sidelines, had found the sight too shocking to behold. He couldn’t resist saying, “Doesn’t this feel… filthy?”

“Some of them really are disgraceful,” Zhi Xiu said very mildly, judging the matter as it stood. “I crossed off all the ones who were unsuitable. Fortunately, they’re all sons of the aristocracy. They won’t be hard to investigate or locate. Have whoever deals with these things handle each one.”

As he spoke, he looked up. His long phoenix eyes were like a two calm lakes, reflecting the beautiful and the ugly without judgment, neither shocked nor angry. Looking into them for a while made you calm down along with him.

Pang Jian was silent for a moment. “Yes, my colleagues ought to have an alternate list ready. Allow me to go look, shishu.”

Soon, Zhao Yu presented the alternate name list. He didn’t dare to say much, only went home, dejected, to deal with his family’s unworthy descendant.

Zhi Xiu crossed out and pointed. Soon he had put together a final list of thirty people and gave it to Pang Jian. “No need to look further. These will do for this year.”

Hardly had he spoken than a blue-clotheser came in and said, “Shishu, commander, those evil cultivators who launched a sneak attack against the Azure Dragon Towers all killed themselves after being captured. Of the ones at the Blissful Village, those that didn’t die on the scene couldn’t endure a single soul-searching. We only managed to get fragments in questioning. These people normally use immortal tools made of reincarnation wood to transmit messages. They don’t use their real names when they communicate. They call the evil god they worship Tai Sui. The circumstances have been written up. Please take a look, shishu.”

Zhi Xiu said “good work” and took the report. He flipped through it carefully. “This was the result of my negligence. I didn’t expect this evil cultivator to be a consummate ascended spirit. I caused all of you alarm.”

Pang Jian asked, “Shishu, aren’t there very few evil cultivators who can pass the established foundation boundary? How could there be an ascended spirit evil cultivator? Also…”

“Well?”

Pang Jian hesitated, wondering whether what he was going to say would be too arrogant, but the look in General Zhi’s eyes gave you the feeling that you could say anything in front of him, that he could pardon anything, so he couldn’t resist saying, “I think that that evil cultivator was a little weak—of course, even if I had craned my neck until it broke, I still wouldn’t have been able to see the dust under his heels, but… I just think that he doesn’t… doesn’t quite match my idea of a near-shed skin.”

He waited for Zhi Xiu to laugh, but General Zhi didn’t laugh. Seeming to take his words very seriously, he reflected for a moment, then nodded and said, “Indeed. There are many riddles about this person, and the sect’s information is currently limited. But all of you can set your minds at ease. This kind of evil cultivator may not be encountered once in a thousand years, and their arrival is always preceded by great events. The sect will know ahead of time.”

Pang Jian could tell at once that Zhi Xiu didn’t want to say anything more about it. He knew that there were a great many taboos within the sect. What your elders didn’t tell you, you couldn’t just inquire into. So he tactfully shut his mouth and didn’t ask again.

Zhi Xiu meanwhile scrutinized him smilingly and said, “Wenchang, if I saw right in the Blissful Village woods that day, then your spiritual bones are already complete. You’ve fashioned your Way of the Heart, haven’t you? Since you’re at the consummate stage, do you want to go a step further?”

Pang Jian’s eyes opened wide. He licked his lips involuntarily.

Zhi Xiu said, “An established foundation has to enter the inner sect. While I don’t take disciples, I can still help you get a reception order.”

Reaching the established foundation boundary means truly throwing off the mortal dust and becoming immortal. No cultivator could be unmoved. This was what countless walkers in the mortal world longed for but couldn’t attain.

Pang Jian was human too.

But while he opened his mouth and an obvious struggle appeared on his face, he still swallowed his words. Meeting Zhi Xiu’s mild gaze, he lowered his head. “Shishu, entering the inner sect…means I won’t be a walker in the mortal world anymore.”

“Naturally,” Zhi Xiu said. “Those are the rules.”

Hearing this, Pang Jian didn’t speak for a long moment. General Zhi seemed to have infinite patience and didn’t rush him.

Finally, Pang Jian said, almost solemnly, “Thank you, shishu. When I entered Heaven’s Design Pavilion, I didn’t wish to go far along the path of cultivation. I only wanted to pick up some skills and be a watchdog for the mortal world, protect the peace. To ascend to the immortal sect and never again leave the mountains… I just think… I just think…”

Zhi Xiu laughed. “That you would be betraying something.”

At a loss, Pang Jian said, “Well… I mean… that is…”

“Don’t be embarrassed.” Zhi Xiu waved a hand. A trace of longing appeared on his face. “You’re a lot like an old friend of mine. Let’s do this. I’ll leave you the reception order, and when you want to enter the inner sect, send word to me.”

Pang Jian, confused and disoriented, thought, What did I ever do to deserve that?

So he became even more ill at ease.

Just then, fortunately, another blue-rober ran in. “Shishu, commander, there’s another thing. How should we handle that ‘earworm’?”

Pang Jian felt that his savior had arrived. He nearly wrenched his head off. “What ‘earworm’?”

“Ah,” said Zhi Xiu, pausing, “I’d forgotten about it. Is it still alive?”

After a moment, Pang Jian saw the little monster that had led Xi Ping into the depths of the Blissful Village.

At first glance, this little monster was an ordinary child, with a big head and scrawny neck, trembling as he was brought to Heaven’s Design Pavilion’s head office. From far away, he saw Zhi Xiu in his jade stamp-green robe and drew back desperately, like a frightened cub.

Pang Jian pried open his mouth and looked into the little monster’s mouth, full of sharp teeth, like a bed of nails. He exclaimed in surprise. “This is an ‘earworm half-puppet’?”

Pregnant women were the most easily impacted by haunts. Where haunts had spent time, children in the area were often born with deformities. Poor families couldn’t look after them, so they had to abandon them. There were evil cultivators who would collect these deformed children and use evil arts to turn them into something that was half-human and half-puppet; they would extend their lifespans and keep them as slaves and pets. The euphemistic name for this was an ‘earworm,’ after the insect said to take in other insects’ young.

“He seems to be a little scared of me.” Zhi Xiu didn’t approach. He said to Pang Jian, “Do you have a spiritual stone? Give him one to eat.”

Pang Jian gave an all right and took out a blue jade spiritual stone bead the size of a pinky fingernail. As soon as he took it out, the little monster grabbed it impatiently and swallowed greedily.

“He’s starving. I wonder how long it’s been since he was last fed.” Zhi Xiu sighed. “Earworm half-puppets aren’t living people. They can’t eat or drink and have to survive on spiritual stones—was this one created by one of the evil cultivators?”

“Yes,” the reporting blue-rober said, “his owner died in the Blissful Village woods.”

“He has to eat spiritual stones? Why not simply live off gold?” Pang Jian said in horror. “Anyway, a haunt made him. Let’s dispose of him.”

The little earworm hadn’t expected him to be even more ruthless. He ducked behind the blue-rober in fear.

“Wenchang, don’t tease him. A half-puppet may not have the intelligence of a normal child due to the arts used to create him, but he still understands some human speech,” General Zhi Xiu said. “Good and evil have nothing to do with an ignorant little thing like this. I’ll take him to the Latent Cultivation Temple and see whether one of the wealthy disciples would be willing to take him in.”

“On that subject,” Pang Jian said as though “suddenly remembering something” while he flipped through the list of remaining provisional disciples, “Huh? Why wasn’t that Xi Shiyong on the alternate list?”

“You mean that young fellow from the Blissful Village… the one just as reckless as you?”

“He’s the Viscount of Yongning, nephew of the Imperial Consort in the palace. His full name is Xi Ping. Reasonably speaking, he ought to…” Affecting total indifference, Pang Jian said, “Hey, that’s strange. Maybe it's because the Xi family is small. My subordinates must have overlooked him.”

Zhi Xiu smiled. He knew that Pang Jian was doing this on purpose and didn’t expose his act. He wrote Xi Ping’s name on the paper, and Young Master Xi’s striking face appeared.

Xi Ping’s “offenses” were simply too numerous to record: on such a month and day, acting in collusion with such and such individuals, beat up the Vice-Minister of War’s son for the sake of an actress; on such a month and day, while drunk, scolded the madam of Fragrant Spring House until she cried; on such a month and day, fed such a person’s horse a laxative; on such a month and day, bullied the cat at Prince Zhuang Manor and chased it up a tree…

Pang Jian: “…”

This brat was truly a hidden treasure. So diverting.

Zhi Xiu laughed and added Xi Ping’s name to the end of the list. “Let’s add him, then.”