บท 21: The Emperor's Decisiveness
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
The reputation of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra was not as great as the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, the Nine Yin Sutra, or the Nine Yang Sutra. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, this martial art, which originally came from the Western Regions Esoteric Buddhism, was not considered a top-notch one.
But the fact was, the power of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra had been seriously underestimated!
This martial art was extremely difficult to practice. It did not require one to preserve one's natural yang energy by forcing one to maintain his virginity like the Tiangang Pure Boy Sutra. However, the training duration one had to go through was extremely long. Following the promotion of each level, the duration one would need to cultivate would further increase. Furthermore, when one reached the ninth stage, one would even have to face a natural tribulation, which had a high possibility of causing one to experience Qi deviation.
Once one passed one's heart demon and reached the 10th level, one would then be comparable to the strength of a grade-9 great grandmaster!
And the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra had a total of 13 stages!
It was said that with each stage, one would gain the power of one dragon and one elephant. After reaching the 10th stage, one would have the strength of 10 dragons and 10 elephants!
Of course, it was actually impossible to have the power of a dragon elephant. However, at that stage, every move one made had at least the power of a thousand jin, which was immensely powerful.
If one managed to train themselves to the 13th stage, what terrifying strength could they have?
Lin Ping was not sure whether those who had managed to do so could break through grade-9 and reach the realm of the Mythical Pugilist stage, but at least one could be certain that if the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra could be cultivated to the 13th stage, one would be able to dominate everyone among the grade-9 great grandmasters!
It was a pity that throughout the ages, no one had ever been able to complete such a feat!
Few could even cultivate it to the 10th stage throughout history.
However, Lin Ping had heard that the northern barbarians had an elder who was extremely talented. He had broken through the ninth stage, where he overcame his heart demon, and entered the 10th stage many years ago.
After successfully checking in, many mysteries and difficulties in the cultivation of the "Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra" entered Lin Ping's mind.
Within a day.
Lin Ping had already cultivated this technique to the sixth stage, and he had still yet to experience a bottleneck.
But after all, this martial art was known for taking a long time. Even if Lin Ping was not afraid of bottlenecks or the heart demon in the cultivation process, he would still have to take about a year to cultivate to the 13th stage!
The time he had to take was too long.
One must know that Lin Ping took merely half a month to become fully proficient in using the "Return of the Ten Thousand Swords".
…
In the blink of an eye, a few days passed by.
Lin Ping's attainments in the "Return of the Ten Thousand Swords" were getting deeper and deeper, and he was close to reaching the realm of major perfection in it. Lin Ping was very happy to feel that his strength had once again improved.
However, inside the imperial palace, things were getting bleaker and bleaker.
This had something to do with the two "masters" in the palace, namely the Emperor and the Empress, who were both in a bad mood recently.
The Emperor was very angry because the imperial court was not making much progress in recruiting grade-9 great grandmasters as the time before the barbarian envoys entered the capital got closer and closer.
The Empress was in a bad mood as she had lost the favor of the Emperor because of Chun Fei's exposure of her misdeeds in the past. As she was unable to execute Chun Fei, she had nowhere to vent the anger in her heart, causing her to become more agitated as the days passed.
All of a sudden, the palace was full of various rumors. Everyone became extremely cautious when doing things in fear of being punished severely if they made a mistake.
However, Lin Ping neither knew of such things nor took notice of it. He continued silently cultivating and checking in.
One day, when Lin Ping returned from doing a check-in and walked to the entrance of the cold palace, he suddenly frowned. This was because today's cold palace was different from usual. There were actually two teams of eunuchs and palace maids standing at the door.
After a while, Lin Ping realized what was going on.
The Emperor, who was wearing a golden dragon robe, was walking out with a cold face. Anger was evident in his eyes, but it was otherwise being suppressed.
There was no need to think of what had happened.
These days, the Emperor was constantly probing Changmen Palace, sending all kinds of food and supplies here, and even sending new palace maids and eunuchs to wait on Chun Fei. He wanted to show that he was starting to favor Chun Fei and hoped that she could forget the old hatred, so as to win over the mysterious grade-9 great grandmaster behind her.
However, it was a pity that Chun Fei did not know of the Emperor's true intentions and was even confused as to why the Emperor had suddenly changed his attitude towards her.
However, she had a strong personality.
If the Emperor refused to re-investigate the grievances of her sister Li Guifei's death and make sure that the Empress who was the mastermind behind the scenes got the punishment she deserved, she would not change her attitude towards him.
All the food and supplies were returned to where they came from, and those that couldn't be returned were thrown away.
The palace maids and eunuchs sent here were not even allowed to enter the doors and step into the cold palace.
Her attitude was firm!
Finally, as the time for the envoys to enter the capital was getting closer and closer, the Emperor couldn't hold back anymore and no longer cared about his own face and dignity. He personally came to the cold palace to find Chun Fei, hoping that she could forget the past and reconcile with him.
It was a pity that the Emperor was also sent off by Chun Fei after he did not accept her suggestion to punish the Empress.
He had already taken the initiative to personally visit her and lower his status. Yet, he was still rejected! One could imagine how angry the Emperor was now. If it were not for the mysterious grade-9 great grandmaster, the Emperor would definitely vent his anger out on her!
"Back to the Emperor's palace!"
A shrill voice sounded. It was none other than Little Guizi, who was following the Emperor.
The two rows of palace maids and eunuchs immediately moved.
Facing the departing team, Lin Ping did not show any change in expressions. He slightly bowed and stood at the side of the road.
When Little Guizi saw him, his eyes changed slightly, and he winked towards him, to which Lin Ping responded with a smile.
It was hard to think that the greedy Little Guizi who had lived in the same room as him and liked gambling could climb to this point and become the Emperor's most-favored eunuch. His status was not lower than any of the chiefs of the 24 government offices.
Of course, Lin Ping did not envy what he had.
Not to mention being the eunuch most-favored by the Emperor, even if he was given the position of the Eastern Depot Superintendent, Lin Ping would not feel anything.
No matter how high one climbed and no matter how one had control over the life and death of others, was there any meaning in being a eunuch?
What was more, Lin Ping had no interest in the struggle for power at all.
It was good to be a sweeping eunuch, checking in and cultivating routinely.
After the team of eunuchs and palace maids disappeared together with the Emperor, Lin Ping turned around and went back.
…
…
"We shall not head back to the Imperial Study Room. Let's go to the Empress's palace!"
Halfway through his journey, the Emperor suddenly changed his mind and walked towards the Changchun Palace.
It was still acceptable for his trip to the cold palace to have been fruitless. However, he had to confirm the arrival of Shi Chengtian, the Invincible Iron Fist.
There were only five days left before the barbarian envoys reached the capital.
While walking, the Emperor looked sideways towards Little Guizi and asked, "Who was the little eunuch just now?"
"Responding to Your Majesty, that person's name is Little Linzi. He is the sweeping eunuch of the Changmen Palace," Little Guizi replied.
"The sweeping eunuch of the Changmen Palace?" The Emperor nodded thoughtfully and continued to ask, "Do you know him?"
"Yes. About eight years ago, Little Linzi lived in the same room as me before going to the Changmen Palace. We were very good friends. However, after he was sent to the cold palace, we had lost contact and no longer talked to each other anymore," Xiao Guizi answered truthfully.
He was not surprised that the Emperor noticed the eye contact between him and Lin Ping.
His Majesty was always meticulous. In this huge palace, there were few things that could be hidden from him.
"Swept the floor in Changmen Palace for eight years?" The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Little Guizi, I shall give you a task. Since this
Upon hearing this, Xiao Guizi felt a little uncomfortable and asked probingly, "What if… Little Linzi is not a smart person?"
The Emperor's voice became colder and said, "Don't touch him for now then. After the barbarian envoys leave, we will settle everything together."
Little Guizi's heart trembled.
He had been with the Emperor for many years and naturally knew what "settle" meant.
It seemed that the grade-9 great grandmaster in the Changmen Palace could no longer remain "hidden".
After the external worries regarding the barbarian envoys were resolved, it would be time to calm the internal worries.
Soon.
When they arrived at the Changchun Palace, the Empress hurriedly came out to greet the Emperor with some anxiety. She didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing for the Emperor to have come over.
Unexpectedly, after she met with the Emperor, he didn't beat around the bush and said straightforwardly, "In two days, let Shi Chengtian appear in the capital and promise to fight against the barbarian envoys. If you can't do it, you will no longer remain as the Empress.
"If you can do it, I promise to never take away your position as the Empress. And, after the barbarian envoys leave, I will allow you to do anything you want to the Changmen Palace.
"Of course, the prerequisite is that you can deal with the grade-9 great grandmaster hidden there."
When the Empress heard his words, she immediately raised her head with eyes filled with surprise. She then quickly said, "I shall obey your orders, Your Majesty! Within two days, my brother will definitely invite Senior Shi Chengtian to the capital!"
-- ได้รับของขวัญแล้ว