"We have a solution: to separate the dragon vein from His Majesty. However, we don't yet have a clear idea of ​​how to do it," Li Changzhou said.

That's nonsense.

Even a slightly knowledgeable Taoist knows about this, but they just don't know how to do it.

But this was the first time the Jiajing Emperor had heard this claim.

Living in a feudal dynasty, with their magical powers suppressed by the dragon vein, how could a Taoist priest dare to say to the Jiajing Emperor, "Your Majesty, if you want to learn Taoism, you must not become an emperor or a member of the Zhu family."

That's one thing, but if a reckless cultivator comes along, he might just open his mouth.

Then the Jiajing Emperor would ask how to separate the dragon veins and how to be emperor while cultivating Taoism.

Can't do it? Deceiving the emperor means the extermination of nine generations—no, this is the Ming Dynasty, it means the extermination of ten generations.

Li Changzhou was not afraid.

Summoning wind and snow, soaring through the clouds and reaching the moon, capturing fire and turning it into a dragon, slaying evil dragons, and practicing breathing exercises—these seemingly useless actions have solidly earned the trust of the Jiajing Emperor.

Another point is that the Jiajing Emperor couldn't do anything about him.

At worst, you can just pack up and leave. If you want to look cool, you can recite a line from Du Fu's poem before you go: "The emperor calls, but I won't board the boat; I call myself a wine immortal."

Although he rarely drinks.

After chatting for a while, Li Changzhou took his leave and returned to the inner court to continue reading. He was pressed for time, and it would have been fine if he had talked to Yang Qinglan, but he didn't need to read the book.

After he left, the Jiajing Emperor prepared to continue his breathing exercises, but suddenly remembered something and had some food served.

While they were eating, a eunuch walked up to Huang Jin, who was serving him, and whispered a few words to him.

Before today, Emperor Jiajing couldn't hear what they were saying, but today he could vaguely hear a little bit.

He took a bite of the Ganoderma lucidum paste, glanced at the distance between himself and Huang Jin, and began to think about what Li Changzhou had said about the dragon vein.

He absolutely must have the empire.

What's the point of immortality if you don't have an empire?

The country doesn't represent the country itself, but rather status and power. He wants to be above everyone else, so that no one can stop him from becoming the world.

If that's not possible, what's the point of immortality?

But he could not accept the idea of ​​having a kingdom but not immortality!

I just hope Li Changzhou can come up with a way to have the best of both worlds.

After hearing the report, Huang Jin walked up to Emperor Jiajing, bringing him some vegetables from a distance, and said, "Your Majesty, Master Shao and Master Tao have arrived."

"Is the matter resolved?"

"Yes." Huang Jin hesitated for a moment, then said, "Many people have died in the harem. Empress Dowager Zhang, Consort Zhuang, Consort Chang, Consort Kang, Consort He, and Consort Li Jing have all passed away. More than three hundred eunuchs and palace maids have also died, along with some cats, dogs, and birds."

The Jiajing Emperor stopped chanting: "Snow Eyebrow (cat) and Lion Cat (cat)—"

"Both young masters are alright."

Emperor Jiajing put down his chopsticks, rinsed his mouth, wiped his lips, and leaned back: "Let Shao Yuanjie and the others in."

When Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen entered the warm pavilion, everything had already been tidied up, and nearly a hundred dishes, each of which had only been eaten a few times, had been removed.

"Your Majesty, the evil spirit has been slain by Master Tao," Shao Yuanjie said, bowing respectfully.

"The real person truly possesses supernatural powers!" Emperor Jiajing was delighted. Even though there were evil spirits causing trouble in the harem, he dared not go there.

Tao Zhongwen did indeed resolve this matter. Shao Yuanjie's health had been failing for a long time, and he should have died in 1539, but he managed to live until 1540 thanks to the dragon vein.

He intended for Tao Zhongwen to succeed him in the Jiajing Emperor's heart.

Just now in the harem, he lent the power of the dragon vein to Tao Zhongwen, allowing him to perform divination in the palace, find the true form of the zombie fungus, and destroy it directly.

Huang Jin sent eunuchs and palace maids to check on the situation in the inner palace to confirm whether the evil spirits had truly been eliminated.

The Jiajing Emperor was no longer concerned about this matter. After pondering for a while, he told Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen about Li Changzhou's statement on the dragon vein and asked for their opinions.

The two exchanged a glance.

"Your Majesty," Shao Yuanjie bowed, "this humble Taoist has something I wish to report to Your Majesty!"

"Please speak, sir."

"Your Majesty cannot cultivate the Dao because of the dragon vein, but the dragon vein is also a key to becoming an immortal!"

The Jiajing Emperor looked at him and slowly asked, "The key to becoming an immortal?"

"Yes! To become an immortal, one must have a dragon vein!" Shao Yuanjie said urgently. "These past few days, I have been investigating Li Changzhou's identity. A cultivator whose magical power is no less than mine and who is so young cannot be without a background. The claim that he is the successor of the Eastern King Duke is simply a lie!"

"Fake?"

"It's fake, I've checked."

"If it's fake, then who is he?"

Shao Yuanjie said, "In all the world, there are only a few people who possess such magical powers."

"Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng was lustful, Wu Cheng'en went to the Western Paradise to seek the Dao, the Goddess of Gusha was a woman, Li Shizhen was skilled in medicine but lacked magical power, and he was working in the Imperial Hospital, so it couldn't be him."

"Besides, there are some experts from the demonic sects and evil factions, but among them, only the Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress of the Divine Sect have such methods, and these two happen to be husband and wife!"

"The Heavenly Emperor and Empress..." Emperor Jiajing squinted his eyes slightly.

Outside the capital, the demonic sects and heretics lying in ambush all looked toward the capital. A golden dragon vein coiled above the Forbidden City, and under the vast dragon energy, they couldn't even breathe, let alone use their magic.

"Just now, Master Tao performed divination, and the divination results showed that those two people were indeed the Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress of the Divine Sect."

Emperor Jiajing looked at Tao Zhongwen.

Unlike Shao Yuanjie, Tao Zhongwen was not very talkative; he simply bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty!" Shao Yuanjie exclaimed, "Those two are only one step away from becoming immortals; they've come to seize the dragon vein!"

Emperor Jiajing recalled that Li Changzhou had indeed said that he was one step away from becoming an immortal.