Chapter 67: The Eye of the Dragon Capital
The mottled marks upon the city walls were remnants of past wars, the moss at the corners bore silent witness to the passage of years. Once, above the arched gate three fathoms high, the name Chang County was inscribed, but now, the characters read Tianyuan.
This was the original Chang County, the heart of Tianyuan.
Tianyuan’s territory began here, stretching outward from this point.
Fully armed Imperial Guards escorted them into the public office.
Tianyuan City forbade magical duels.
Though they had been forced to defend themselves, their justification had to be based on respect for the law.
The clerks in the public office scrupulously verified their identities.
In the end, they were temporarily detained.
They were lodged in separate chambers, protected by external formations.
Within the public office was a mortuary; after executions, corpses were dragged here for the coroners to study.
The coroner in the public office was a dream tapir.
Dream tapirs delight in devouring dreams, and can also create them.
“Master Tapir, could you help us determine how these people died?” The captain of the Imperial Guards spoke with great respect to the dream tapir.
The tapir glanced at the corpses covered in white cloth, its long snout swaying gently.
In an instant, it drew forth the spirits of the dead, weaving them into a dream, in which their lives and deaths unfolded.
These men, driven by greed, sought out several patrolling cultivators, knocked them unconscious with bribes, then seized the chance to murder and plunder—only to be killed in turn.
“Fortune and misfortune have no gates; it is man who summons them!”
The Imperial Guard captain watched the dream unfold, then drew forth a bronze mirror, imprinting the dream upon its surface.
“Master Tapir, please affix your seal!” He presented the mirror.
The tapir pressed its bovine hoof upon the mirror, leaving its mark.
With that, the captain went to find the official in charge of law within the public office.
This was a xiezhi.
The xiezhi took the captain’s bronze mirror, scrutinized the dream, and sensed the tapir’s mark. “Release them. Arrest those who must be arrested, execute those who must be executed.”
The captain acknowledged the order and turned to depart, when a voice rang out behind the xiezhi: “Bring that cultivator Xu Zhong here—I wish to see him.”
The captain glanced back. It was the sovereign of the Ancient Yue Kingdom, Feng Xun.
The captain hurriedly replied.
“Forget it, bring him to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion instead!”
…
The Drunken Immortal Pavilion was famed for its Immortal Wine, which had once intoxicated even immortals.
Rumor had it the pavilion was brought from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands to Yu Kingdom.
The captain led Xu Zhong all the way to the ninth floor of the pavilion.
Feng Xun awaited him, standing by the balustrade, gazing at the bustling street below.
The avenue teemed with people, vibrant and prosperous.
His realm had no mortals; only cultivators.
“The Ancient Yue Kingdom has perished. However similar its institutions may be, it is no longer the Ancient Yue Kingdom.” Feng Xun sighed. “What do you think?”
He turned to Xu Zhong.
“It’s been a while. Your cultivation seems to have advanced greatly.” When Feng Xun first met Xu Zhong, he had reached only the Five Luminaries stage; now, after three years, he had attained the Unity stage—an impressive pace.
“Your Majesty’s grace remains undiminished!” Xu Zhong cupped his hands in salute and took a seat.
Feng Xun seemed more human than when they last met.
“I wonder why Your Majesty has summoned me?” Xu Zhong looked at Feng Xun. “If it’s vengeance you seek, I can tell you the whereabouts of Bai Zhaojü and Jiang Xuanyi.”
“No need for that!” Feng Xun also sat. “When I first returned to the mortal world, I was influenced by the Plutonian gloom—my judgment clouded, my actions foolish. That is why I did what I did.”
Xu Zhong was surprised by this admission.
“Then why have you called me here?” Xu Zhong asked. “Is it to enlist me for some task?”
Before Feng Xun could answer, Xu Zhong continued, “I seek freedom and will not be bound by rules. Pursuing the Dao and immortality is truly my heart’s desire.”
“You are indeed carefree.” Feng Xun smiled faintly. “I have no intention of restricting you. I invited you here simply to reminisce.”
He slid a wooden box before Xu Zhong.
The box shimmered with golden light.
Upon opening it, a fragrant aroma swirled forth, lingering at the nose.
“Is this an eye?” Inside the box lay a solitary eye.
The eye was crystal clear, golden radiance flowing within.
“That is the True Eye of the Emperor of Dragon Capital,” Feng Xun declared.
Xu Zhong’s heart thudded—he wondered what Feng Xun meant by this.
“The Ancient Yue Emperor inherited the will of the Emperor of Dragon Capital, opening the heavens at the cost of his life. After his death, a strand of his true spirit endured, safeguarding Tianyuan City. With supreme creative power, he carved out this island amidst the endless sea, and I founded the Ancient Yue Kingdom upon it.”
“This eye is the manifestation of the Ancient Yue Emperor’s true spirit.”
Such were Feng Xun’s words.
“In time, as more land emerged from beneath the sea, the kingdom flourished.”
Feng Xun sighed, “But the credit is not mine; it all belongs to the Ancient Yue Emperor.”
“He died opening the heavens, but his will sustained the kingdom. Only through him could the Ancient Yue Kingdom prosper and grow.”
How does this concern me? Xu Zhong wondered.
“Civilization gathered like a canopy, national fortune blazing like oil over fire, rising unceasingly, with literary brilliance blossoming everywhere—this land thrived.”
Feng Xun’s tone shifted. “Yet the spiritual essence within this eye is steadily dissipating. One day, it may vanish altogether.”
That essence was the golden radiance within the eye.
“I wonder, if the essence is lost, what purpose can this eye still serve for the kingdom and Tianyuan City?”
Xu Zhong sensed something amiss.
“Perhaps, it will become just an ordinary eye once more.”
“What would I do then?”
Suddenly, his gaze was filled with murderous intent.
When his eyes swept over Xu Zhong, Xu Zhong felt chills down his spine.
“I saw it!” Feng Xun said expressionlessly. “In those final moments, he infused his essence into your body.”
Xu Zhong’s heart nearly leapt into his throat.
He gripped his treasured gourd, nerves taut, though he knew that before Feng Xun, all his efforts would be futile.
“I lack the ability to govern the Ancient Yue Kingdom,” Feng Xun murmured. “The old kingdom fell in my hands; I do not wish for the new one to perish likewise.”
He grinned fiercely. “If the present prosperity stems from the emperor’s essence, then replenishing it should ensure the kingdom’s perpetual flourishing.”
Xu Zhong jumped up, activating his treasured gourd.
The Cloud-Swallowing Sword flew forth, its sword light following.
The Great River sword intent surged forth, both real and illusory.
“It’s useless!” Feng Xun rose, extending a finger.
Two sword beams shattered beneath his touch.
That forefinger pressed to Xu Zhong’s brow, stopping there, not penetrating further.
“Do you feel fear?” Feng Xun laughed suddenly. “When such thoughts arose in me, I too was terrified.”
He withdrew his finger.
“Past failures made me doubt reality, tainting my mirror heart with dust, even birthing my inner demon.”
“To sever this demon, I must confront it.” Feng Xun said, “Now I have faced it and triumphed.”
“If you had not defeated your inner demon, would I have died by your finger?” Xu Zhong asked.
“No,” came a voice—from the xiezhi, appearing from who knows where.
“If he could not master his inner demon, I would stop him and subdue him!”
The xiezhi handled its God-Beating Whip.
That whip could separate spirit from flesh in a single strike; another would scatter the soul into its component parts; yet another would disperse the spirit altogether.
“Isn’t that a bit extreme?” Feng Xun remarked ruefully.
“Didn’t you request it yourself?”
The two men and the beast sat around the round table.
“So this eye truly is the Ancient Yue Emperor’s relic?” Xu Zhong asked.
“Yes.” Feng Xun used his magic, instantly activating the lingering aura within the eye.
The emperor’s presence filled the room.
For a moment, Tianyuan City echoed with its resonance.
Imperial fortune surged to the eye.
Feng Xun withdrew his spell, and the eye lost its magic.
“How could the Ancient Yue Emperor be left with only an eye?” Xu Zhong was baffled.
He imagined the emperor had been devoured by the Thunder Ancestor.
Thunder Ancestor—at the very thought, thunder rang within Xu Zhong’s mind palace, as if celestial lightning descended into his brain.
It was the Five Elements Thunder Tribulation.
Then, in the next instant, the divine beasts atop the pillars of his mind palace seemed to come alive, roaring deafeningly.
Their roars shattered the celestial thunder within his mind.
Xu Zhong was left with lingering fear.
Feng Xun and the xiezhi seemed unaware of anything amiss.
Without comparison, there could be no proof.
Xu Zhong’s inspiration struck; he dipped tea and wrote “Thunder Ancestor” upon the table.
Feng Xun read it first.
Immediately, he was struck as if by lightning, collapsing rigidly from his chair.
The xiezhi, startled, quickly wiped away the words and revived Feng Xun.
“What happened?” Feng Xun felt his head splitting. He recalled the celestial thunder, “Why did a bolt of Supreme Purity Divine Thunder descend as disaster?”
“Could it be…”
He thought of those words.
“The Ancient Yue Emperor died—slain by that one!” Xu Zhong explained. “The world we inhabit is the domain of that being.”
He dared not utter the Thunder Ancestor’s name aloud.
In the transformed realm of the Thunder Ancestor’s cave heaven, its will had not fully dispersed; calling its name could summon calamity.
Xu Zhong then recounted the origins and aftermath of the Ancient Yue’s opening of the heavens.
Feng Xun was silent for a long time.
“So much happened.” His expression shifted. “Then, by cultivating his power, each of us became his yang aspect?”
Xu Zhong nodded. “Thus, to escape his control, we must first cultivate our yin aspect. Otherwise, we will repeat the emperor’s fate.”
“How does one cultivate the yin aspect?” Feng Xun inquired.
Xu Zhong shared his understanding.
Feng Xun discussed it with the xiezhi, finally concluding, “To cultivate the yin aspect, we must retrain in the Five Luminaries and Unity stages.”
“But if we retrain, will that one seize the opportunity to descend and harvest us?” Feng Xun hesitated.