Time flew.

In the blink of an eye, it was already five years after the appearance of the Vermilion Fruit in the Great Qian Ruins and the great battle between the paragons.

The impact of that battle had not subsided due to time. On the contrary, it grew even more intense!

The North Region was fueled with war!

Endless clashes broke out between vassal states along with invasions. With every year, a few dynasties disappeared!

The frequent wars caused countless lives to fall into distress, destitute and homeless with their families broken apart.

As for the Great Shang, Great You and Great Xia dynasties, they were coveting greedily at the sidelines because the Great Zhou Dynasty had no time to spare.

Now that Ji Yaoxue had ascended the throne and was a woman, the first in history, the imperial court was in a mess with troublemakers snaking out everywhere – chaos was starting to break out in the Great Zhou Dynasty!

It was thankful that the Great Zhou Dynasty had been built for 10,000 years and had a solid foundation, allowing it to control the situation for now.

However, throughout the capital, any sharp person could tell that if the situation continued to develop with its current trend, the Great Zhou Dynasty would meet with a calamity in less than a hundred years!

A single misstep might cause its 10,000 year old foundation to be destroyed overnight!

If any changes happened, that calamity might even be brought forward and could break out at any moment!

The Great Zhou Dynasty was in a precarious situation both internally and externally!

This was a great trial for the current Empress of Great Zhou, Ji Yaoxue.

No matter how much the North Region was riled up, there was a hidden place in the depths of the Great Qian Ruins that was isolated from the external world and its chaos.

Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley.

For the past five years…

Three monks, two young and one old, spent their days chanting sutras and paying their respects to Buddha in this unassuming old temple. A little fox stood guard by the side peacefully.

The backyard of the grand hall was the only place that had occasional sounds of chains rattling.

This morning, an elegant looking monk walked forth from the Sutra Chamber. He tidied his attire before opening the gates of the old temple to head out.

For the past five years…

He did the same on this day of every year.

The little monk within the old temple was already used to it, merely glancing up once before continuing to read his sutras.

Backyard of the grand hall.

The old monk had just paid his respects to a friend of the past before turning to look at the burly man who was lying down lazily in the cemetery, looking up at the sun.

Suddenly, he said, “Red-headed ghost, that lad’s Inner Core has already recovered so he doesn’t have to come back here anymore. He can now focus on chanting his sutras and paying respects to Buddha wholeheartedly to find a method to recover his Golden Core.”

“Ah?

The burly man was flustered when he heard that and jolted upright. He could not even be bothered about the old monk calling him a red-headed ghost as he yelled, “That won’t do! I’m not even taking up his daytime! He can follow you to study all the Buddhism stuff in the daytime but he has to come here and cultivate at night!”

“Furthermore, he has been comprehending sutras for the past five years without any reaction to his dantian. It might not work even if he spends another five years! If it was up to me, I’d say that learning from you guys of the Buddhist sects is just a waste of time!”

The old monk asked indifferently, “Is it not a waste of time for him to drink your blood?”

“Of course!”

The burly man declared proudly, “Apart from the fact that his Inner Core has recovered entirely after drinking my blood for five years, his physique now is even more frightening than it was five years ago! He can wallop all the Golden Cores out there!”

The old monk sneered coldly.

The burly man grumbled, “I don’t care, he just has to come over to my side to cultivate every night. It’s unknown whether or not his Golden Core recovers and even you have no idea about it. You can’t waste all his time on that.”

The old monk frowned and glared at the burly man deeply, asking, “You’ve got some other motives for being so concerned, right?”

“What other motives can I have?”

The burly man patted his chest and declared righteously, “That woman was my benefactor back then! I’m not an ingrate who doesn’t pay back for what I’ve received!”

Pausing for a moment, the burly man rolled his eyes, as though he recalled something, before rubbing his chin with an odd expression. “However, that lad has something in his body that I didn’t expect. Now that his Inner Core has already recovered, I can impart to him something special from tonight onwards, heh!”

“What?”

The old monk asked.

The burly man chuckled. “Just a little trick that’s insignificant.”

The old monk smiled and turned to leave.

He knew the burly man way too well.

The more the burly man emphasized on it being a little trick, the more it was far from simple.

…

Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley.

A young monk stood there dressed in gray monk robes. He had elegant features and pushed his palm against the ice-cold wall in front of him, twitching his ears as though he was listening for something.

“Zimo, I’m back.”

“Sight, Mr. Su hasn’t been in great shape these few years and his hair has turned white. In part, it’s because of your death. At the same time, it’s also because of the citizens of Yan Country.”

“I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s a truly wise ruler, unfortunately…”

The woman recounted everything that happened in the past year without any hurry, as though she was chatting with someone.

The young monk listened quietly.

Every single update on Mr. Su’s health would bring about a look of worry on his face.

Every interesting thing would bring forth a smile for him.

One was at the bottom and the other was at the top.

Although the two of them could not meet, it seemed like there was an invisible thread that connected every bit of joy, sadness, worry and happiness for them.

Unknowingly, it was already noon.

All of a sudden!

A series of gleeful laughs came from above the Dragon Burial Valley.

“Hahahaha!”

A man’s voice sounded. “Indeed, it’s the Empress of Great Zhou! What a coincidence! I’m Si Junyu of the Great Xia Dynasty! I’ve wanted to befriend you for the longest time, Fellow Daoist Yaoxue!”

“Oh, right. Jun Hao who died in your hands in the ancient battlefield was my elder brother.”

Si Junyu laughed. “I’ve got to thank you. Otherwise, with that brother of mine around, I wouldn’t have the chance to shine!”

“Empress, leave first!”

The strong, firm voice of a man sounded.

The young monk frowned slightly at the familiarity of that voice – it seemed to be the guard of the previous Emperor of Great Zhou, Perfected Lord Ming Ze.

The young monk was slightly relieved.

Nothing should happen with a Nascent Soul protecting the woman.

“Hmph! Run?”

Si Junyu sneered, “You guys won’t be able to escape today even if you’ve got wings!”

“Perfected Lord Ming Ze, it’s been a long time.”

“Ming Ze, you will die today!”

Immediately, two other voices sounded murderously.

Although he was not seeing it personally, the young monk had already guessed vaguely that Si Junyu seemed to have arrived with reinforcements. In fact, he prepared two Nascent Souls to deal with Perfected Lord Ming Ze!

True enough.

Si Junyu sneered coldly, “Fellow Daoist Yaoxue, you are truly careful to only bring one person with you so as to not attract attention. However…”

“Don’t forget, this is the Great Qian Ruins, a messy place that isn’t part of the territory of Great Zhou. It’s impossible for you to hide from avoiding attention completely!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!”

Si Junyu laughed. “Interesting. To think that the great Empress of Great Zhou would take such a huge risk to come here on this day every single year. Seems like you’ve got an uncanny relationship with that monster incarnate who died five years ago?”

“I heard that the monster incarnate’s elder brother went missing. He can’t be hidden away by you… right? Hahahaha!”

“What do you want?” The woman spoke and interrupted Si Junyu’s laughter.

Si Junyu retracted his smile and barked coldly. “Of course I want to solidify my ascension to the throne by retrieving your head!”

Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley.

The young monk’s gaze turned cold.