Chapter Ninety-Three: Purple Mansion, Purple Mansion!

Not long after this incident, Xiao Yan appeared on Heavenly Pan Mountain and obtained a seed of strange flame from the forbidden land of ancient corpses.

It was the legendary demon fire of the mountain spirit, whose power was unfathomable. With it, he broke through to the middle stage of the Dao Body Realm in one stroke, and his name as a genius spread across the five nearby kingdoms.

Strangely enough, according to my information, that area was under the charge of Venerable Miao Dan. By all rights, she should not have failed to notice Xiao Yan sneaking around.

For several months after that, Xiao Yan was hunted relentlessly by the men of the Heaven-Observing Tower. He passed through life-and-death trials, and the last news of him placed him in the imperial capital of Great Yue.

It was said that he stole some treasure used in imperial sacrificial rites, and while pursued by a Golden Core cultivator, he broke through to the late stage of the Dao Body Realm. With the help of a spatial-transposition talisman, he escaped safely. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the extermination of Xiao Yan’s entire clan.

Now that I think of it, it is rather strange. Taking such a huge risk just to steal a ritual vessel used for the sacrifices in the capital makes no sense at all.

Chi Zhilong muttered to himself, and from the look on his face alone, there was not the slightest trace of sorrow for the deaths of ordinary people.

“Oh yes, what of the Empress Dowager of Great Yue? How is Lady Red Swan doing?”

Cao Chengyu’s question was a little odd, but Chi Zhilong did not think much of it. Since he was asked, he answered plainly and bluntly.

“The Empress Dowager seems to have been placed under house arrest by His Majesty. After all, she is his own mother, and her talent is also among the finest Great Yue has produced in the past three hundred years. Her life is not in danger, so there is no need to worry.”

“So that is how it is.”

He still remembered that before he left the Heaven-Observing Tower, he had once met a blind woman in the Misty Pavilion of the capital, and she had even gifted him a sound-based killing art.

Its rank, however, was not high, and he had not touched the Jade Pearl Zither in a very long time.

That year, he refined several magical tools with second-grade materials, raising their quality somewhat.

At the time, even with the backing of those rankings, he had doubted whether she truly cared for the common people.

But now, having fallen out with her own son, she did indeed possess something of a valiant woman’s bearing.

From this, one could infer that not all of the Great Yue imperial clan supported the so-called Transcendence Plan. There were likely quite a few hidden Golden Core cultivators within the royal house.

The only fear was that the emperor, Chi Jiuxiao, might not even spare his own ancestors, and simply have them all silently killed. That would be truly amusing.

Having gained some understanding of Great Yue’s situation, Cao Chengyu was somewhat tempted to go take a look. He might as well see whether he could find Xiao Yan too, since that fellow, as one of the “people involved,” would certainly know more than Chi Zhilong.

“Oh yes, there is one more thing. What is the attitude of the four Golden Core immortal clans in the capital?”

“The Golden Core immortal clans...”

Chi Zhilong hesitated for a moment, then said, “The Zhao family has fully sided with the emperor. The Wang family and the Luo family, both aligned with the Left Chancellor, are still wavering. Only the Ning family is in rather a bad position.”

“As a scholarly clan of the Confucian path, the Ning family has firmly opposed the Heaven-Observing Tower’s purge and wants to uncover the true culprits behind the massacre. The imperial house does not look kindly upon them.”

“I heard that when the family’s Golden Core ancestor investigated the matter, he was ambushed by three Golden Core cultivators working together. He suffered severe injuries and had to flee. He is still in seclusion at the ancestral residence recovering from his wounds.”

At those words, Cao Chengyu only felt a surge of anger rising in his chest.

He had originally thought that Ning Wenjun had a Golden Core ancestor backing her, and thus had nothing to fear. Who could have guessed that such a thing had happened?

As for the culprit, from the perspective of an onlooker, Cao Chengyu did not even need to think about it with his head—who else could have issued the order besides Emperor Chi Jiuxiao?

It was probably because Xiao Yan realized this that he stole some critical item from the capital.

With the three Golden Core cultivators of the Heaven-Observing Tower searching for him, his days could not be easy.

“Haah...”

Letting out a long breath to expel the bitterness in his chest, Cao Chengyu made a few promises, then returned to his own pavilion.

At this stage, Great Yue’s Transcendence Plan should have reached a crucial juncture. Lize Province and Luo Province had already been offered up in blood sacrifice.

The remaining five provinces were likely being obstructed by Xiao Yan and could not proceed for the time being. He needed to break through as soon as possible and make a trip to Great Yue. Ideally, he would first bring Ning Wenjun and Luo Yuzhu out of there.

Once they were out of danger, he could decide how best to resolve the matter according to the situation.

With his mind made up, Cao Chengyu quickly entered a state of cultivation, preparing to break through to the Violet Mansion Realm in one stroke and enter the stage where his true battle strength would undergo transformation.

Though the Dao Body Realm and the Violet Mansion Realm were separated by only one step, the difference in combat power was as though divided by a chasm.

If the Nourishing Qi stage was the level of mortal martial artists, then the Spirit Refinement Realm already possessed extraordinary abilities.

The Dao Body Realm was even the foundation of the immortal path. One’s magic power began its first transformation, with the power to drive talismans and dispel evil miasma, to form weapons from thought, and to command thunder with a shout.

Upon reaching the Violet Mansion Realm, the sea of consciousness opened, the soul grew abundant in power, and magic power underwent a second transformation. With a wave of the hand, a cultivator could flatten mountains and fill rivers, pull down cities and smash strongholds, truly possessing the ability to alter heaven and earth.

Even the level of life would soar in a single leap, with a lifespan of five hundred years. Such a person could indeed be called one who had attained the Dao.

Cao Chengyu had long yearned for such a realm.

After three days of consolidation and buildup, five-colored magic power gathered within his dantian, and he activated the breakthrough method from the Yellow Court Scripture.

It condensed continuously, compressed continuously, and finally collapsed into a single point.

As if the universe itself had been born, the mist-like magic power underwent a transformation in material form, shifting from vapor to liquid.

The vast reservoir of magic power converged into a five-colored lake, each distinct and clear. Above it, the five-element patterns corresponding to the spirits of the five internal organs appeared upon the lake’s surface, automatically drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Once enough had gathered, corresponding droplets of magic power condensed from the base of those patterns and flowed into the lake, forming a specialized production line.

The second transformation of magic power was complete.

Next came the sea of consciousness, the forging of the foundation of the Violet Mansion.

As for soul power, Cao Chengyu had swallowed no small number of Heavenly Demon Pills, and his strength was exceedingly abundant. On top of that, there was the embryonic form of an auspicious phenomenon nurtured by his perfected Five-Element Wheel-Returning Body.

It took almost no effort at all.

Five flames manifested within the sea of consciousness: gold, green, blue, red, and brown, forming a turning wheel.

Two rings of black and white divine light, one above and one below, appeared of their own accord like a pedestal supporting the five-colored fire.

The gray mist representing soul power was continuously tempered by the flames, slowly solidifying into gleaming black-jade floor tiles.

Once all the gray mist had been refined away, an open and spacious foundation for the Violet Mansion, like a great plaza, appeared within Cao Chengyu’s sea of consciousness.

The first transformation of the soul was also complete.

Cao Chengyu suddenly let out a long howl. Soul and magic power fused within his body, circulating through the meridians of the great cycle. The unfamiliar force born from the merging of the two powers, like the source of life itself, washed and refined his flesh while transforming his soul.

An invisible sound of breakthrough rippled outward.

Flesh, bones, and even spirit underwent a complete metamorphosis, and under the nourishment of that merged power, his very level of existence rose.

Inside the quiet chamber, Cao Chengyu opened his eyes.

The aura of the Violet Mansion flashed and vanished in an instant.

After he fully circulated the Lock Body and Quiet Breath Art, it slowly settled down again, stabilizing at the appearance of the middle stage of the Dao Body Realm.

From this day forth, Cao Chengyu was a Violet Mansion cultivator. He could now be called a Daoist, and choose his own honorific.

Unfortunately, the unfamiliar power formed by the fusion of soul and magic power, after helping him complete that leap in life, split apart on its own.

It was said that such fused power was the normal state of a great cultivator only after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage; not even a Golden Core cultivator could truly command it.

A cultivator could only feel it for that single instant of breakthrough.

After reaching the Violet Mansion Realm, one continued to accumulate magic power in the dantian until it surged like the sea. The Violet Mansion within the sea of consciousness must also continue to be built until it truly became a palace.

That process was the path of cultivation for the Violet Mansion Realm.