Bi Yuan waved his hand. "Let’s not talk about this for now."

"You will depart in three days. Li Haomiao’s identity is legitimate, so you will just need to lend him a hand. Above all, be careful and prioritize your own survival. Everything else is secondary."

Bi Yuan’s expression was grave. This was a test for Xu Yunfan, but he didn’t dare be the least bit careless. If Xu Yunfan truly fell in the Jade Capital Dao, he wouldn’t even know where to begin to cry.

Xu Yunfan nodded heavily. "Yes, Master!"

He suddenly pressed the scroll firmly into Xu Yunfan’s palm.

"The Great Zhou’s triennial Imperial Examinations are underway, and they haven’t been canceled in the Jade Capital Dao. You can use the opportunity of the martial arts competition. Publicly, you will be competing for the title of Martial Champion Scholar. Secretly, you must accomplish three important tasks..."

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes as he instantly grasped the deeper meaning behind Bi Yuan’s words.

The Jade Capital Dao reigned supreme over the Great Zhou Six Dao. Its core, Jade Capital City, was the thousand-year-old center of imperial power, a place where nine dragons coiled. The world’s Destiny converged here like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

Within the majestic Imperial City, the starlight of Ziwei Heaven shone day and night. Vermilion Bird Avenue ran from north to south, and the Seventy-Two Districts secretly corresponded to the number of the Stars of the Celestial Sphere. This great city, which carried the Destiny of the Great Zhou, was gradually being enveloped in a somber twilight.

The Empress who once suppressed all opposition with an iron fist was now in her twilight years, a candle flickering in the wind.

On the dragon throne in the depths of the palace, the Empress’s withered fingers still clutched the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, but her steadily weakening aura could not hide the truth of her condition.

The backlash from the blood sacrifice of her people was gradually leading her to a tragic end. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Gleams of blades were hidden in the presented memorials, shadows of swords flickered in the court assemblies of the Nine Ministers, and even the scraping of the Imperial Guards’ armor sounded sinister.

The various powers were like jackals that had scented blood. The great salt merchants of Jiangnan Dao conspired in secret, the iron cavalry of Yanbei Dao patrolled the borders, and even the esoteric masters from the Overseas Islands had dispatched envoys.

Although the various daos and states still maintained an appearance of submission on the surface, in reality, warlords had already carved up the land. The Taoist Sect of Jian Nan Dao had its sword pointed at Jade Capital, the Hu-Han Alliance Army of Yanbei Dao was sharpening its weapons and feeding its horses, and the Masters of Artifact Casting from Qingzhou’s Hundred Refinements Manor were forging weapons day and night.

Everyone knew that whoever could make the first move in Jade Capital City in this great game of chess would hold the key to a tripartite division of the world.

Although Jiangnan Dao separated Jian Nan Dao from the Jade Capital Dao, its northwestern tip bordered the Jade Capital Dao, providing the perfect springboard for the Taoist Sect to interfere in Jade Capital!

-----------------

「Jade Capital Dao, Yu Jing State, Jade Capital City. Deep within the Great Zhou Imperial Court, Purple Extreme Hall.」

The candlelight in the hall flickered, yet it could not dispel the heavy, twilight air.

The lacquer on the gilt Coiling Dragon Pillars was long-since mottled, and the black drapes hanging from the dome stirred without a wind, as if plucked by unseen hands.

The Empress reclined on the dragon throne. A bright yellow Imperial Robe hung loosely over her body, which was as withered as deadwood. The skin on her exposed wrist was wrinkled like bark, and purplish-blue veins coiled and twisted beneath her pale flesh.

Her eyelids drooped, her eye sockets were sunken, but a startling golden glint would occasionally flash through her murky pupils. This was the sign of "Hidden Divine Power," unique to a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, revealing that this dying Empress was like a dormant volcano, its lava ready to erupt at any moment.

"Your Majesty, this year’s Imperial Examinations list has been announced on schedule."

Pei Jian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in charge of the examinations, was prostrated at the foot of the jade steps, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold Cyan Jade Bricks.

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

This capable minister from the Hedong Pei Family of Jade Capital Dao didn’t even have the courage to glance up at the imperial visage.

An inscrutable chuckle rumbled in the Empress’s throat. Her gaunt fingers tapped slowly on the armrest, her nails striking the Agarwood with a hollow TUK-TUK sound.

The sound was piercing in the deathly silent hall. Standing to the side, Guo Lang, the Supervisor of the Astronomical Bureau, felt the cuff of his sleeve tremble almost imperceptibly.

"The Imperial Examinations..."

The Empress finally spoke, her voice as hoarse as sandpaper. "Good, good."

She paused for a long time between each word, as if squeezing the sound from the depths of her lungs. "This time... there should be quite a few interesting ones."

Standing in attendance, the Chief Eunuch Cao An bowed and stepped forward. He used a Silver Spoon to ladle out some medicinal liquid from a Glazed Cup and carefully brought it to the Empress’s lips.

The concoction was as scarlet as blood, with a bizarre golden mist floating on its surface.

The Empress suddenly raised a hand and knocked the cup over. Cao An immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to wipe away the blood that blossomed on his forehead as it struck the steps.

"I am not so far gone that I need you to spoon-feed me!"

The Empress abruptly sat up straight, and a sudden CRACK of shifting bones erupted from beneath her Imperial Robe.

The golden light in her sunken eye sockets flared. The air in the entire Purple Extreme Hall instantly froze. Pei Jian’s and Guo Lang’s robes billowed without a wind, forced back half a foot by an invisible pressure.

But this imposing display lasted for only a brief moment.

The Empress began to cough violently, splattering black blood on the front of her Dragon Robe like blooming ink plums.

Cao An scrambled over, holding up a golden basin to catch the bloody phlegm. A foul-smelling white smoke immediately rose from the basin, and the blood actually corroded the gold with a SIZZLING sound.

After the blood sacrifice failed that day, Celestial Sword Dugu Jiu had suddenly appeared and battled her fiercely, leaving her with considerable injuries.

The Empress couldn’t help but think back to the day Dugu Jiu had brandished his sword at her, and ripples of unease still spread through her heart.

The moment the blood sacrifice’s Grand Array had shattered that day, a hundred-zhang-long sword gash had suddenly ripped open the sky above Jade Capital City.

Dugu Jiu had stood upon the air, his greyish-white hair dancing like wild snakes. A Sword Intent powerful enough to make mountains and rivers tremble had erupted from his decaying body.

That world-shaking battle had seemingly ended with the Celestial Sword’s defeat and retreat, but it had forced the Empress, already an extinguished lamp, to expend even more of the nation’s Destiny to suppress the sword qi raging within her.

Under her constant exploitation, the Destiny of the Great Zhou had reached its end.

’If I can’t use this opportunity to regain my Vitality...’

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

Guo Lang suddenly kowtowed heavily, his Official Hat, forged from Profound Iron, striking sparks against the floor tiles. "Your subject observed the stars last night. Although Ziwei Heaven is dim, a strange star has risen in the Celestial Market Wall, which corresponds to this year’s Imperial Examinations..."

The Empress wiped the blood from her lips with her sleeve and suddenly grinned.

Her broken teeth were a grayish-blue, but her gums were a bizarre, vivid red like Cinnabar. "Guo Aiqing, you still have such a silver tongue."

She slowly leaned back on the dragon throne, her fingers unconsciously caressing a strangely shaped short staff by her side. It was a Secret Treasure forged from the spine of some Demon Beast, and the eyeball-shaped gem embedded in its head swiveled slightly with her movements.

After the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit reawakened, Spiritual Qi began to rise from the Earth Veins. Though it was faint, it had finally caused a few of the old artifacts within the Great Zhou Imperial Court to react.

"Do you all really think I’ve gone senile? Those who’ve come for the examinations..."

She suddenly began to gasp for breath, a ragged sound like a broken bellows coming from her chest. "The Salt Smugglers from Jiangnan Dao, the Horse Bandits from Yanbei Dao, the Artifact Forgers from Qingzhou’s Hundred Refinements Manor... COUGH COUGH... even those island barbarians from the South Sea have sent people!"

The hem of Pei Jian’s official robe was completely soaked.

Of course, he knew how absurd the roster of candidates for this year’s examinations was. The "Scholar" from Jian Nan Dao had thick calluses between his thumb and forefinger, the "scholar" from Yanbei Dao carried the unique scent of sheep characteristic of steppe dwellers, to say nothing of the Mortal Wanderers with their forged travel permits.