Chapter 706: No Way Forward

Qiu Jianhan was startled upon hearing the emperor's words. In his mind, he was rolling his eyes wildly even as his face was calm, without a sign of his repressed frustration.

'You're asking me? How would I know?'

'Besides, what's the use of following formal procedures?'

"What do you mean, Your Majesty? This old official does not understand. Please speak directly, Your Majesty," said Qiu Jianhan.

"Is Supreme Cloud set on killing him?" asked the emperor, "Is it possible to let him go?"

Qiu Jianhan was sweating. "How would this old official know of this?"

"Ask him about it for me," the emperor said vehemently.

Qiu Jianhan was flabbergasted. "Where- where would this old official go to ask?"

'Are you asking me? Then who am I supposed to ask? Don't you know that Supreme Cloud is always unpredictable? He is never to be found if he does not wish it, and you will only meet him if he wants to meet you!'

The Emperor stated, "Very well, it is decided. Go speak to him on my behalf. The second one has given up on everything. He has nothing else. Why must he be forced into the corner? Regardless, he is still of my blood."

Qiu Jianhan wanted to say more but His Majesty had begun to chase his guest away. "Go - go ahead. I know you have your way. I believe in you."

Qiu Jianhan was sent out of the palace in bewilderment.

How... How was he to go about this?

While the emperor did not frequently meet unreasonable officials, it was not entirely uncommon. It was not exactly rare either, like in the case of the Emperor of Yutang's three pillars of support. Qiu Jianhan, Leng Daoyin, and Fang Qingtian were exemplary images of incorrigible rogues, seasoned like pickles.

Therefore, the Emperor of Yutang was well equipped with tactics to tackle these rogues. More specifically, he was well versed in the ways of tackling his rogues!

What then was the most effective tactic in subduing rogues?

When rogues set out to do mischief, they were always on the lookout for advantages. When a rogue met another rogue, it would then be a contest of who was more aggressive.

His Majesty was all about 'I don't care' and 'What can you do if I'm being unreasonable?' now.

Qiu Jianhan was exhausted.

It was said that heroes could come from humble beginnings and rogues could be of any age. Now, Qiu Jianhan wanted very much to say that rogues were not limited to any particular status or class as well!

What should an official do when he faced an unreasonable and roguish emperor?

"Sigh..."

Qiu Jianhan felt like he had suddenly aged decades in this single afternoon. He returned home and kept on sighing, feeling the onset of crippling helpless.

Old Rogue Qiu was indeed at a loss now. He had the intention of going along with the order as a compromise, but could he actually go and ask? It was impossible!

He believed that the emperor must have already started to pay attention to his every movement during these delicate moments; he suspected that he would be watched even when he was answering nature's call, taking a shower or changing his clothes.

If he were to go to Yun Yang at this time, the only outcome would be the exposure of Yun Yang's secret identity. If Supreme Cloud's identity was exposed, Qiu Jianhan dared not even think of the consequences.

It was due to this point that other than sighing upon his arrival at home, he was utterly helpless, bereft of the ability to do anything more.

He also lamented inwardly, 'No matter how wise an emperor is, he's still blinded when it comes to matters concerning his bloodline. Does the Emperor of Yutang really not know the possible consequences that could erupt from the exposure of Supreme Cloud's identity?'

'He obviously knows this, but he has still chosen to force me to think of a way. He still chooses to believe that Supreme Cloud has the ability to face all sorts of dangers and challenges. He still prioritizes the life of his son... even when that son isn't worthy of such security!'

As an emperor, as a parent, he knew what was the right thing to do among a multitude of things, but he could not help being selfish! Subsequently, as an official, Old Rogue Qiu could only sigh helplessly, despite fully understanding the situation.

...

Compared to Old Marshal Qiu's helplessness, this period of relative lull was a rare moment for Yun Yang to seek reprieve. After the incident, everything was had ground to a halt. For the time being, he had nothing to do as peace was upon the nation. It was reinvigorating.

Thus, the only thing he could do to while away the time was to practice his skills in the Residence of Yun.

It was already a habit to train with Ji Lingxi daily, their practice sessions ranging from three to five times a day. Yun Yang's cultivation base improved day by day as did his Endless Divine Art; Emmie had even made its return to support him. However, all these were insignificant when compared to Ji Lingxi's improvement. Ji Lingxi did not even need the guarding red beam now. She could defeat Yun Yang with just her actual cultivation base.

In spite of this, Yun Yang was not dispirited. Each time he was defeated, he rested immediately to recover himself, during which he studied his styles and forms meticulously. Once he was sufficiently rested and he believed that he gained some form of improvement, he fought once again with Ji Lingxi.

Initially, Ji Lingxi was not too interested in such competition. After all, the differences between their capabilities were too great. Her cultivation base advanced in actual leaps and bounds, so no matter how flawless Yun Yang's techniques were, his defeat was expected since he was faced with an invincible force. Yet, she grew more passionate as time went on.

Ji Lingxi's cultivation base had grown so rapidly that her state of mind and practical combat skills were lagging far behind. While Yun Yang's attacks were weak, his recovery speed was amazing, making him a suitable sparring partner. It allowed Ji Lingxi to absorb the tremendous improvement as her own and fully utilize the cultivation base. In addition, she wanted to see how long her strange rapid growth of cultivation base would last, to see what stage it was going to grow to before it stopped.

Right now, Ji Lingxi could feel that her current cultivation base had very possibly exceeded the realm of Dao, yet, the cultivation realm that the world knew of stopped at the mere ninth level of Dao.

Such a realization was inadequate. Even when she knew that she had passed the limit of this world, how could she explore further? How should she go about it? What was her particular realm like?

There was no way forward.

Ji Lingxi knew nothing about it, nor did Yun Yang. In fact, no one in Residence of Yun had any knowledge regarding the issue, not Yun Xiaoyao, not Lao Mei, not Fang Mofei nor the rest.

Yun Yang had posed the question to the ten kings of the Concourse of the Underworld. The ten Yama Kings were clueless about this as well, but they had promised that they would ask on his behalf when their master came out from his seclusion. The profound question could probably only be answered by seniors and experts who were above the pinnacle state.

Subsequently, Yun Yang was not too concerned about it. In his view, Ling Xiaozui and the others would be back soon. They should have some ideas about states that were above the Dao realm.

In all honesty, this was a mind-boggling issue. It could possibly be the first time this had happened in this world. There may not have been a precedent where someone had broken through to the highest level a cultivator could achieve in this world without a clue as to how to move forward.

Although Ji Lingxi did not know what lay in store for her, nor did she know where her path would bring her, she had still embarked on her journey persistently... All things said and done, she was still advancing on this path at breakneck speed.

Such a cultivation mode was truly maddening!