Shi Feiyang, accompanied by Huo Wuhai, Deng Bagu, Zhu Changyuan, along with Ling Hun and his wife and two disciples, and Jiang Shu with his three apprentices, all left Yuan River in a hurry heading to Beijing.

Some matters still required cooperation from ordinary citizens, so they needed to speak with the Emperor.

They didn't land directly in the Forbidden City, but first arrived at Yuan Yang Palace.

Back in the days, Emperor Wanli had named him Master Yuan Yang of the Nine Heavens and had earmarked a generous amount from the private treasury to construct the Yuan Yang Palace. For many years, he had come to the palace to pray, hoping to see Shi Feiyang once more, but it never came to pass. Nevertheless, there were Taoists who maintained the facility and kept the incense burning all year round.

Shi Feiyang had never visited this place before. This time, leading his group who descended from the heavens, they landed directly in the courtyard inside the main gate, greatly startling the Taoists responsible for cleaning.

They had never seen Shi Feiyang, but witnessing their impressive arrival, they all exclaimed in amazement, "Master Yuan Yang has returned to the palace! Master Yuan Yang has returned to the palace!"

Jiang Shu, seeing this, asked, "Friend Shi, do you have a Daoist temple in the Capital as well? Could it be that the Emperor has also appointed you to an official post?"

An elderly Taoist with white-streaked hair and beard, surrounded by others, came forward to greet Shi Feiyang. He initially paused in surprise, then quickly knelt down, kowtowed, and shouted, "I greet the grand arrival of the Great Venerable to the palace!"

Yuan Yang Palace had a total of seven courtyards, complete with screen walls, archways, ornamental columns, a bell tower, and a drum tower. In the first main hall, known as Spirit Official Hall, sat Wang Lingguan in the center, flanked by Marshal Guan, Marshal Guan, Marshal Wen, and Marshal Zhao, the four great marshals.

Ling Hun joked, "Well, well, both Lord Guan and Zhao Gongming are guarding the gate for you!"

Shi Feiyang smiled and shook his head. Beyond that were Wenchang Hall, Medicine King Hall, Three Stars Hall, Four Saints Hall, and so forth. In the final, seventh courtyard, there was a statue of a young man wearing a green robe and a purple cloak, sitting on a cloud-shaped precious throne, his right hand supporting a treasure sword, and his left holding a Jade Ruler.

This was a likeness of Shi Feiyang, crafted with about seventy to eighty percent resemblance.

Amusingly, to Shi Feiyang's right was an old man in a red robe, wearing feathered attire and a star crown, holding a scroll of iron-bound books—clearly modeled after Zhu Zaiyu.

On Shi Feiyang's left was a young Daoist in a yellow robe, also in feathered attire and a star crown, holding an iron whip, standing in attendance. His facial features were clearly discernible—it was none other than Emperor Wanli, Zhu Yijun!

After Shi Feiyang had departed, Emperor Wanli missed him incessantly. Whenever there were natural disasters, health issues, or unresolved political problems, he would come to Yuan Yang Palace to burn incense and pray to Shi Feiyang, often muttering to himself and staying for half a day.

This situation worsened as the latter years of Emperor Wanli's health deteriorated.

He constantly prayed for Shi Feiyang, the State Preceptor, hoping to see him again and seek his help, but sadly, Shi Feiyang never appeared.

Later, he even sent people to find Zhu Zaiyu, to inquire about what Shi Feiyang had previously said. Zhu Zaiyu shared everything he could, and Emperor Wanli even summoned Zhu Zaiyu to the palace to ask him in person and inquire if Zhu Zaiyu possessed any Mana or if he could summon Shi Feiyang. Despite receiving negative answers, the Emperor still didn't give up and granted Zhu Zaiyu a mansion, moving him and his family to Beijing.

Emperor Wanli still harbored a sliver of hope that one day Shi Feiyang, who held Zhu Zaiyu in high regard, might show up.

Yet, after waiting year after year, he suddenly heard one day that Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu and his family had ascended, taking even the pet dogs with them! In haste, when he went to check, indeed only the bewildered servants were left.

Emperor Wanli was filled with regrets, not expecting that the Imperial Uncle actually had Mana and was a practitioner of the Immortal Path, inwardly blaming the Uncle for not teaching him the Immortal Law... He had people search everywhere but without success.

Although Emperor Wanli's health was initially manageable under Shi Feiyang's care, it was severely affected by the influence of Shi Feiyang and Zhu Zaiyu. He issued an imperial decree, seeking Daoist experts from all over to be invited to the court, to accompany the king and experience splendor. Under the promise of rich rewards, it attracted a large group of Taoists, all claiming to have Mana but were actually just performers of tricks.

Among them was a genuine Sword Immortal named Qi Zhang, who called himself Mysterious Transformation True Master, who demonstrated the Flying Sword Technique, traveling through Qingming, and could also cast spells that released a vast amount of black smoke, covering the skies and blanketing the entire Forbidden City, making it appear like the bottom of a pot.

Emperor Wanli found him unattractive, with fierce eyes, and his swordplay carried many eerie and sinister elements, unlike Shi Feiyang's sword light, which was multicolored, waving his hand to bring forth thousands of purple mists. This man did not carry the demeanor of an Immortal.

But desperate for Immortal Arts, "seeking them as if thirsty," he favored everything that came his way, awarded Qi Zhang a large mansion, gave him the title of True Master, and learned Immortal Law and Sword Control Techniques, also requesting him to refine an Immortal Pill that could prolong life.

Qi Zhang came here for enjoyment, daily commanding servants and entertaining himself with dozens of women, celebrating night after night.

He did indeed teach some spells to Emperor Wanli, but they were all unorthodox and indirect methods. Although Emperor Wanli was physically depleted in his younger years, and indulged in wine and women, these heterodox techniques sought quick achievements and instead accelerated the depletion of his essence, energy, and spirit. Although he managed to refine a flying sword in a few years, capable of slicing stone pillars from a hundred paces, coupled with some minor spells like invisibility, ascension, and cleaning, the deficiency within his body grew even more severe, leading to his untimely death.

His health continued to decline, making him rely on Qi Zhang to refine Immortal Pills for him to consume.

Qi Zhang's alchemy skills were limited; he required large quantities of gold, silver, ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, etc., to produce several batches of elixirs. Although Emperor Wanli felt vigorous shortly after ingestion, it actually hastened the reduction of his lifespan.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.