Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 871: An Act

Guan Shanhai’s voice reverberated throughout the entire imperial city, from aristocrats and ministers down to commoners. Upon hearing the name “Meng Junzi,” everyone shuddered involuntarily. Even children learning to read and write in private schools had heard of the name.

The Meng Family’s Old Ancestor had once contended for supremacy against the Jiang Family. Although the Jiang Family ultimately triumphed and established Great Xia, the Meng Family was unlike the vanquished clans of previous dynastic struggles that were purged and wiped out. On the contrary, the Meng Family had flourished, becoming the number one ancestral clan of Great Xia.

While this was in part due to the Jiang Family’s Old Ancestor cherishing past ties, more importantly, it was because the Meng Family held deep foundations.

The Meng Family originated from the Great Yu era, but at the time, they were merely an ordinary ancestral clan. The one who truly led the Meng Family to greatness and glory, amassing their rich heritage, was Meng Junzi, who became the family head toward the end of the Great Yu era.

“Fellow Daoist Guan, such intense hostility isn’t nice.” Meng Junzi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, emanating an upright and tranquil aura that dispelled the immortal’s oppressive pressure shrouding the imperial city.

“You really did become an immortal!” If Guan Shanhai had been skeptical before, Meng Junzi’s display now confirmed he was an immortal just like himself.

Meng Jungzi’s appearance shocked everyone, including Meng Jingzhou.

Meng Jingzhou stared wide-eyed at the old ancestor standing above him, his jaw dropping in astonishment. Wait, Old Ancestor, so you did become an immortal.

Man Gu was also quite taken aback. I have only been in the imperial city for two hours and have already encountered two immortals. I knew following Brother Lu and Brother Meng would broaden my horizons.

Meng Junzi had only made an appearance right after the founding of Great Xia. Since then, he had never been seen again. People speculated that after losing to Jiang Ping’an, he became disheartened and sealed himself away.

Guan Shanhai had thought the same. Jiang Ping’an and Meng Jungzi—these two prodigies from later generations are too brilliant to ignore. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have used my identity as Imperial Taixue Academy Dean to send a student to teach at the Meng Estate’s private school.

Back then, I had personally witnessed Meng Junzi seal himself and instruct his descendants to bury him within the Meng Estate’s mountain.

Now it seems that his self-sealing was an act performed for me.

Why would an immortal need to seal themselves?!

Guan Shanhai glared fixedly at Meng Junzi, trying to recall when Meng Junzi had become an immortal right under his nose and where the Immortal Ascension Tribulation had taken place.

Suddenly, he understood. Meng Junzi had already become an immortal a hundred thousand years ago.

“Back then, Wu Yao and I simultaneously achieved immortality at the nation-founding ceremony. You and Jiang Ping’an were the same, both attaining immortality during the final decisive battle!

“I never would have imagined; you never once employed your Dao Fruit’s power, continuously masquerading as a half-immortal. Such forbearance! Meng Junzi, I’ve truly underestimated you!”

Meng Junzi smiled. “Fishing requires patience, after all. See how we have a catch today?”

Guan Shanhai had always acted with utmost caution, avoiding combat whenever possible. Battles could be won or lost, but by not fighting, he would remain undefeated forever. That was why he had lured Jiang Ping’an away. Had he known that Meng Junzi was also an immortal, he would never have appeared in the imperial city.

As if he hadn’t heard Meng Junzi’s provocation, Guan Shanhai sneered. “When I ordered General Yu to intercept the immortal peach, you didn’t even show yourself, merely watching as the Xia Emperor passed away. Truly heartless.”

These were words meant to castigate Meng Junzi’s ulterior motives. Guan Shanhai deliberately brought this up, letting everyone in the imperial city hear it to send a clear message to Great Xia’s citizens: “Your so-called emperor is merely a tool pushed forward by immortals for schemes and machinations.”

This is something that can shake the Emperor’s standing in the people’s hearts!

Meng Junzi was not at all anxious, remaining leisurely as ever. “And how can you be certain that the Xia Emperor truly died?

“Or rather, was the Xia Emperor’s lifespan truly nearing its end?”

~~~

“What do you mean by ‘play-acting?’ The Xia Emperor didn’t die of old age? Is there still time to deliver the immortal peach now?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was still not fully awake and continued to yawn, her eyes bleary. “Immortal peach? Didn’t Lass Yun say she only found one? Who knows where the World Natural Spiritual Root ran off to? It’s really good stuff, Xiao Yangzi; you should eat it. After all, the Xia Emperor’s depleted lifespan was just an act.”

“An act?”

Lu Yang was flabbergasted. He had thought the “play-acting” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy mentioned referred to the Xia Emperor’s passing. But from the sound of it, even the problem with the Xia Emperor’s lifespan was all an act?!

Hearing Lu Yang’s raised pitch, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy finally became awake and added, “If he were about to die soon, why would this immortal make him Prime Minister?”

“Immortal Fairy, you knew from the start that the Xia Emperor’s limited lifespan was an act?”

“Not exactly from the start. It was during those three months when this immortal was the acting sect leader, preparing for the Dao-Seeking Sect’s 120,000-year celebration. Didn’t we go to the imperial palace for a meeting and meet the Xia Emperor then? That was when this immortal realized he was putting on an act.”

“But wasn’t that the first meeting?!”

This was something even Yun Zhi hadn’t anticipated. The Xia Emperor’s act could fool Lu Yang, fool the world, and fool Guan Shanhai, but it couldn’t fool the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, who possessed the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and commanded authority over life and death.

Lu Yang recalled something.

Initially, it was Big Senior Sister who told the Immortal Fairy and me that the Xia Emperor’s time was nearly spent and asked the Immortal Fairy if there were any lifespan-extending immortal items. The Immortal Fairy said she could give the Xia Emperor an Everlasting Incipient Dao Fruit and make him the Fourth-in-Command. Only after Big Senior Sister rejected this proposal did the Immortal Fairy mention the immortal peach.

And ever since the Immortal Fairy went to the imperial palace and saw the Xia Emperor, she never again brought up the matter of making him the Fourth-in-Command.

On top of that, after she defeated the four great immortal sect leaders in the imperial palace, she even proposed challenging the Xia Emperor. If the Xia Emperor’s lifespan had really been limited at the time, the Immortal Fairy wouldn’t have done that.

Lu Yang figured it out. From the very beginning, this entire matter had been a trap laid for Guan Shanhai.

No wonder Big Senior Sister hadn’t delivered the immortal peach directly to the imperial palace but had Man Gu pass it to me. She had never intended for the Xia Emperor to consume the immortal peach to extend his life.

If the Xia Emperor had extended his lifespan, the national fortune would have remained within him, and Guan Shanhai wouldn’t have revealed himself.

The purpose of the immortal peach was to make Guan Shanhai intercept it, thereby convincing him that the Xia Emperor was truly at death’s door.

~~~

Guan Shanhai’s expression was so dark that it seemed water could drip from it.

He hadn’t expected everything to be false.

He had been closely monitoring the Xia Emperor’s movements recently, even observing him up close as Dean Qi, yet he hadn’t detected that the Xia Emperor was putting on an act. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Guan Shanhai was a suspicious person by nature, but the recent changes in the imperial city did make it seem like the Xia Emperor was dying. First, the Xia Emperor had the First Imperial Prince handle state affairs and test his capabilities. However, the First Imperial Prince was unwilling to inherit the throne, so the Xia Emperor eliminated the Fourth Imperial Prince and the Fifth Imperial Prince in succession, forcing the First Imperial Prince to succeed the throne.

“Well, well, well. I, Guan, have spent my whole life scheming against others, yet I was schemed against by a bunch of juniors!”