Zhao ZongZheng and Zhang Qi waited for an entire fifteen minutes before the Regent finally showed up. His complexion didn’t look good, probably because he had been injured. When he saw the Emperor he didn’t kneel but only clasped his hands and bowed. He said, “There were some urgent matters in the Manor to take care off. Sorry to make the Emperor and the Court Preceptor wait.”

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Zhao ZongZheng was so angry his teeth itched. However on the surface he didn’t show anything and only waved his hands and said, “No matter, no matter. Zhen heard that Imperial uncle was injured in an assassination, so zhen and the Court Preceptor came to see you. Imperial uncle, how are you feeling?”

{T/N: “Zhen” is the term an Emperor uses to refer to himself. The royal “I” or “we”.}

“It’s only a minor outward injury, no matter.” Zhao Xuan sat below the Emperor and discussed the situation and his actions in the Imperial City. The meaning behind the rhetoric was clearly that he intended to eliminate all the dissidents and steal power. His intimidating aura made the young Emperor break out with cold sweat. The two people traded political barbs and words with hidden meanings. They also didn’t forget the Court Preceptor was present. One of them looked to him for help, and the other’s heart was filled with suspicion.

The Court Preceptor was holding a cup of hot tea and turning it in his hands. The steam rose up and covered the expression in his eyes. In an angle that nobody could see, his palm hidden in his billowing sleeve was flashing with light. Gradually from it emerged an eight-sided ying-yang array.

This was an investigative array. And it elicited a reaction. That meant there was a demon nearby in the manor.

How long since there had been a demon in the Imperial City? The Court Preceptor couldn’t even remember. Many years ago when his Master had taught him this array, he had once told him that if the array glowed with light, then that meant his opportunity had come and that he definitely couldn’t miss it.

Right now there wasn’t much magic in the world. It was incredibly difficult to cultivate. Although the Court Preceptor had had a brilliant spiritual root, however because there was hardly any magic in the world, he had cultivated for twenty years and still had not completed foundation level. And because of that he could only rely on stealing other people’s cultivation in order to more quickly advance himself. Almost all the cultivators in the Tian Yuan Country had already been murdered by him, however these people’s cultivation were even lower than his. Even though he absorbed their entire life’s cultivation, it could barely scratch the surface.

But a demon was different. A demon that could make a eight-sided trigram array light up was at least fifty years old. In addition they had a demon core. It could be used to increase the health of the body and the intelligence of the mind. The demon’s skin, bone and flesh could be used to make into magical pills or weapons. In the world there weren’t many cultivators and the number of demons was even less. The fact that he could run into one was an incredibly rare opportunity. The Court Preceptor definitely couldn’t miss it.

He narrowed his eyes and thought darkly. The Regent’s body was heavily coated with the demon’s aura. However this didn’t exist on the bodies of the servants. Thus it was clear that the demon and the Regent had an intimate connection, to the point where they could barely leave each other a step. Thus, he could basically confirm that this demon must be the Regent’s famous pet, the snow fox.

In the fox demon clan, those who had the most potential and attributes would have lighter colored fur. The most powerful demon would have the most pure colored fur. The color would usually correspond with the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth and be either yellow, green, blue, purple or brown. 

He had heard that the Regent’s beloved pet had was a completely snowy white color. That meant that this demon was the ten thousand in one pure yin body. This was above all of the five elements.

A pure yin body? That was a shame!

After thinking about it, the Court Preceptor internally shook his head. He was the opposite of the snow fox, he had a pure yang body. It was impossible for him to consume the fox’s demon core, otherwise the clash between their roots might even cause his death. He also hated demons and would definitely would not dual cultivate with one. However he didn’t want to let go of this opportunity.

Then, since he could not consume the other’s core then he could find a girl that had an appropriate spiritual root to consume the core. And then using the power of the demon core, he could turn her body into a suitable dual cultivation instrument. Then he could dual cultivate with her and be able to increase his cultivation that way.

The Court Preceptor’s eyes flashed with light. It was settled then.

He made the excuse that he needed to go to the bathroom and wandered around the manor, however was unable to find the snow fox. So he used his blood to set an array down by the gate to the main courtyard of the Regent’s manor. As soon as the blood-red colored array was created, it flew into the wall and disappeared without a trace. A normal person would not be able to see it with their eyes. Once he had set the trap, he hurried back to the main hall and continued to chat with the Regent. And the hidden guard that had followed him the entire way also didn’t find his actions too strange, and just thought he had gone to the bathroom.

Zhao Xuan already felt very impatient. He made the excuse that his wound was serious and he needed to rest and sent these two people away. Then he asked the hidden guard, “Just now what did Zhang Qi get up to?” 

“Responding to your Lordship, he went to the bathroom then came back. Nothing else.” The hidden guard raised his hand and responded respectfully.

Zhao Xuan felt suspicious however he knew that the hidden guard wouldn’t lie to him. After sending him away he rushed back to the study to look for the little fox. But when he entered the main courtyard, he suddenly stopped. He stared at a nearby wall for a long time as though there was some kind of flower growing there.

His sixth sense told him that something wasn’t quite right there.

“Your Lordship, what are you looking at? Is it that the servants haven’t cleaned it properly?” Wang Bao asked.

“Look at that wall, does it look any different to this morning?”

“No ah. Aren’t walls all the same? However it does seem that this piece is a bit darker than the one next to it. Maybe it’s because of fire pit.”

Zhao Xuan glanced at Wang Bao with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes then continued on his way.

The Court Preceptor’s aura swirled around the Manor and several times came close to him. This made Zhou YunSheng’s fur all stand up on end. At this time he realized how considerate and thoughtful his lover was. The little toy tiger and the night bright pearl call came in handy. He could clutch one to help assuage his anxiety, the light from the one helped bolster his courage. He thought about back in the past when he didn’t fear heaven or earth, and even wanted to destroy the entire world. How could he have known that such a pitiful day as today would come. However the fear that a demon had towards a celestial master was ingrained into their bones, it wasn’t something that he could get rid of. In addition Zhang Qi’s body contained a strong killing aura. It was clear that he had killed countless cultivators and also demons before. It was really frightening.

In his past life at the time of Zhou YunSheng meeting Zhang Qi, he completely had no magic and was easily defeated by him and his demon core was dug out. From his stomach blood gushed out like crazy, and his soul suffered torturous pain. The memory of it was to this day etched into his mind. He wanted revenge but he knew that it wouldn’t be easy. A celestial master was a demon beast’s natural enemy. The number of demons who had escaped unscathed after encountering a celestial master was few and far in between. At least it had been this way in this non-magical era.

He felt more and more helpless. Zhou YunSheng pounced on the little tiger’s body and gnawed viciously, pretending that it was Zhang Qi’s body.

When Zhao Xuan came in he was just in time to hear the little fox make an angry “ao-wu” sound and saw that he was rolling around with the little tiger on the table. The appearance was very energetic and cute. Zhao Xuan let out a sigh of relief.

“Careful that you don’t roll off the table.” He hurried over and rescued the toy from the fox’s sharp teeth. He asked, “Are you still feeling scared?”

How could Zhou YunSheng admit that he had ever been scared? He pretended that he didn’t hear. His four claws grasped his lover’s clothes and climbed up bit by bit. As soon as he reached his collar he immediately burrowed inside. There was nowhere safer than being in his lover’s embrace.

“Not scared anymore it seems like.” Zhao Xuan patted his chest smiling as he walked out. He didn’t forget to remind Wang Bao to bring the toy tiger, night bright pearl, dried meat and other things to the bedroom.

That night, Zhao Xuan helped the little fox wash. He dried his fur then placed him inside a small sleeping bag.

He still had some court documents he needed to look over. He placed the little fox into his chest and walked towards the study room. As soon as he opened the door, suddenly his head felt heavy and strange. His consciousness also became confused and muddled. However this situation only went on for half a breath. Half a breath later, he opened his eyes wide. His dark eyes were filled with killing aura. He looked at all the guards that were slumped around the manor, asleep. He also saw the wall outside the courtyard which was flashing with a red-coloured array. He already knew who was up to these antics.

At this time, the little fox jumped out from his chest and ran quickly out of the Regent’s  Manor towards the Court Preceptor’s Manor.

His eyes were still closed and his movements were unsteady, as though he was sleepwalking. It looked like this array was used to confuse people’s hearts. Zhao Xuan also didn’t stop the little fox. He followed him not far away. His martial arts was high and he easily entered the Court Preceptor’s Manor and came to a mystical looking courtyard with heavy fog around it.

The Court Preceptor who had a beautiful and evil appearance was at the moment standing in the middle of flashing with light array. When he saw his prey come, his red lips twitched upwards into a smile. His mood was good. He bent down and reached out his hand. He was plainly summoning the fox to jump into his palm. At this time the eight sided trigram that had been carved into his skin glowed with a blood-red light. If the little fox jumped up, the ending could not be imagined.

Seeing that the little fox was about to jump up, Zhao Xuan immediately showed himself and grabbed him back into his arms.

“Lord Regent, how come you’re not asleep? No, that’s not right? How were you able to enter my special barriers?” The Court Preceptor was filled with shock. He had already placed heavy seals and barriers around the entire manor. Unless this person’s cultivation was higher than his, then they definitely wouldn’t be able to enter. However the Regent was a normal human completely without cultivation.

Zhao Xuan placed the little fox carefully back into his sleeping bag and stuffed him back into his clothes. Then he walked over to a stone seat on one side and said down. He said coldly. “The Court Preceptor had better give this Lord a suitable explanation for enticing Li’Er to come here in the middle of the night. What are you intending on doing?”

Zhang Qi quickly calmed himself down. He thought, this fox is a demon. As long as I can explain properly, the Regent will definitely agree to let me kill him. Although he might need to share a few good things with him, however there should be enough to go around.

Oh well. To be able to find a pure yin fox was already a big opportunity. He couldn’t be too greedy. This was fate. Zhang Qi took a deep breath and said slowly, “Reporting to your Lordship, what you have in your arms is not an ordinary snow fox. He is a fox demon. Looking at his aura, he should have been cultivating for around fifty years already.”

“Fifty years? You’re saying Li’Er is already fifty years old?” Zhao Xuan couldn’t glancing down at the little fox’s body. “Fifty years and you’re still only half chi long. What do you eat normally?”

Lord Regent, you’ve seemed to have grasped the wrong point!

Zhang Qi’s mouth twitched a few times but he forced himself to continue explaining patiently, “Yes, he’s already fifty years old. However the lifespan of a demon beast is not the same as a normal animal. A fifty year old fox demon is still immature. Every day he will need to consume a large amount of yang energy to nurture his body and cultivate. Lord Regent, recently have you been feeling tired and powerless, have your arms and legs being feeling soft and have you had a headache? These are all the demon’s doing! If you continue associating with him, I’m afraid that your life will be in danger.”

At this time, Zhang Qi stared closely at the Regent with his sixth sense. A shocked look overcame him.

Only a few months ago this person fate thread clearly showed signs of being broken and coming to an end. But now looking at him, his entire body top to bottom shone with a eye-catching and dazzling light. One phrase that could describe it was “The Presence of an King-Emperor”, even the words “A God Come to Earth” was not an exaggeration. Previously today when he had visited the Regent, he had only been concerned about finding the demon beast and constructing the array, he had forgotten to use his heaven’s eye to gaze at his surroundings. He completely didn’t know about this. No wonder Zhao Xuan could enter the barrier around his courtyard easily, no wonder!

What did Zhao ZongZheng have to fight with against him with? Indeed, what did he (Zhang Qi) have to fight against him with!?

The Zhang Qi who was previously still sure of himself now broke out in cold sweat.

Zhao Xuan was not concerned with his change in mood. He lightly rubbed the little fox’s paws which were exposed on the outside. He asked, “What did you do to him?” It was as though there was a blade suspended above Zhang Qi’s neck, he felt as though if he so much as said one wrong world, his head would immediately fly off and his blood would spurt everywhere.

Cold air flowed through him all the way from his toes to the top of his head. Even his bones felt frozen.

Zhang Qi swallowed with difficulty and said in a hoarse voice, “Res-responding to your Lordship. It’s just a confusion array. It won’t harm the snow fox in any way. By the time the sun rises tomorrow morning, the effect of the array will naturally vanish.”

Right now his head was full of sweat all his clothes were wet. He completely lost the appearance of a lofty celestial master. However he didn’t want to give up and asked probingly, “Lord Regent, a demon is still a demon after all. Even if he looks snowy white and cute, he will still hurt humans. Why don’t you give him to this minister to take care of. This minister won’t kill him. I will just strip him of his cultivation and set him free in the mountains.” Actually was clear that the Regent’s royal purple aura and body was something that no demon could hurt. Not just a demon, but even then destiny probably had to bend to the Regent.

{T/N: Purple aura/body, this is a special strong magical presence/aura/body that some royalty are supposed to have which makes them pretty much impervious to harm from evil. Shows they’re blessed by the Heavens or something. Sounds cooler in Chinese but I’m not 100% how to translate it.}

Zhao Xuan smiled faintly and didn’t speak. He stood up and walked out of the courtyard. When he passed Zhang Qi he suddenly grabbed his left hand. He flipped his palm upwards. Carved into the flesh was the array which because of the fox demon’s presence still glowed with a red light and heat. He was able to sense that this array was definitely not something which arose from a proper cultivation school. It was a devil cultivation method that could directly steal someone’s cultivation or life.

Zhang Qi was stared by him until all his hair stood on end. He used force to try and retract his left hand however discovered that right now even his fingertips couldn’t move. He could only kneel and beg, “This minister knows his mistake. In the future I won’t ever harbor any thoughts towards the snow fox. This minister beg the Regent to be merciful and forgive this minister this time.”

Zhao Xuan laughed coldly. “The Court Preceptor behaves as though he is lofty, above material things, and has no wants or desires. Turns out you’re just a greedy junior who’s  scared of death. However that’s not strange. A person who subsists by stealing other people’s cultivation and lives, of course would feel death. Don’t worry, this Regent won’t kill you.”

Zhang Qi didn’t even have time to let out a breath of relief when the a knife appeared into the Regent’s hand. He cut Zhang Qi’s left palm and forcibly dug out his bone bead that contained all his life’s cultivation. He used a cloth to wrap it up then left the courtyard.

Zhang Qi rolled around the ground in pain and yelled loudly. However because the barrier prevented people from coming inside, his servants could only walk around in a panic on the outside and couldn’t get in. After a while he fainted from the pain. It wasn’t until three days later when the barrier finally stopped working that people were finally able to discover that the Court Preceptor’s left hand had already rotted away to white bone. They had to amputate it off, otherwise he would die.

Each generation of Court Preceptor’s secrets were hidden inside their left hand.

Every time the previous generation of Court Preceptor would die, they would dig out their bone bead and use a spell to place it into their successor’s palm. After obtaining it they would be able to steal other people or demon’s cultivation and use to strengthen their bodies. This was a secret that only the Court Preceptor and the Emperor knew. After all some of the power they stole would be given to the Emperor so as to help protect him and give him a longer life.

When Zhao ZongZheng heard that the Court Preceptor had become disabled he was incredibly shocked and angry. He asked him several times who had done it however did not obtain an answer from the Court Preceptor. If the Regent wanted to take someone’s life. it was as easy to him as blinking. He didn’t even fear the destiny of heaven, so how could a mere cultivator enter his eye? The Court Preceptor didn’t dare to anger him. After being pressed by the Emperor he panicked, packed up his things and hurriedly left the Imperial City under the cover of night. Quickly he vanished without a trace.

Before leaving the Court Preceptor had left arrays around his manor. If normal people went in they would either become disorientated before becoming crazy, or they would be trapped by “ghost hit wall” {T/N: Basically get trapped in a nightmarish alternate dimension} and wouldn’t be able to come out for several days and nights. So no one dared to go there  and after a while it became a wild and abandoned placed that was said to be haunted. Every time it was mentioned the faces of the people who lived in the imperial city would change.

Thus, through a series of strange fate and misadventure, OuYang MingYue’s most mysterious and powerful man was gotten rid of without her even having met him.