After the Great Dao Died

Outside the doors, the old eunuch still stood at the foot of the steps, his hands resting at his sides.

Inside the hall, however, all eyes had already gathered on the figure slowly walking out of the corridor.

Lin Longyue sat upright in her chair, a hint of pleasant surprise in her expression.

Chu Linzi’s fingers stopped twirling her Short Blade. County Princess Yunhe set down her osmanthus cake, her lazy demeanor fading slightly. Yang Zhuri narrowed his peach-blossom eyes, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Chen Lingxi and the vermilion doors.

Just as he had seen in the Thorough Awakening deduction, everything was unfolding step by step.

...

”Where is Young Master Chihu?”

...

”Throw him in prison for interrogation.”

...Chen Lingxi lowered his eyes. Between the index and middle fingers of his right hand, a tremendously fine, faint strand of spiritual qi quietly bloomed.

...

”Wait.”

”Have him enter the east hall of my palace.”

...

Everything was just as it had been in the Thorough Awakening deduction, with almost no discrepancy.

Chen Lingxi stepped into the hall. This time, however, things were different.

Because this time, as he entered the east hall, his back was perfectly straight and his hands were clasped behind him!

The doors to the east hall slowly closed behind him.

The smoke of ambergris incense flowed like a stream over the mutton-fat jade bricks, and the bean-sized blue flame in the bronze lamp cast a hazy glow over the hall.

The Crown Prince stood before a massive landscape painting with his hands behind his back, facing away from the door. His bright yellow brocade robe gleamed with a deep, dark luster in the candlelight.

And this time, Chen Lingxi did not wait for the Crown Prince to speak.

”From your spiritual qi, it isn’t hard to tell that you are a disciple of the Southern Heaven Region.”

His voice was not loud, but the moment the words ”Southern Heaven Region” fell, the Crown Prince’s pupils shrank. He whipped around, his gaze locking onto this ”beast fighter” standing with his hands behind his back!

This person saw through my background?

From start to finish, he had never actively circulated his spiritual qi in front of Chen Lingxi.

Not only that, but he had also concealed it with a qi-restraining method. Cultivators in the same realm might be able to tell he possessed spiritual qi, but they could never see through to its origins.

Yet this person before him had actually exposed his lineage with a single sentence.

This man... just what is his background? What is his cultivation level?

Right at this first exchange, a faint sense of dread actually rose in the Crown Prince’s heart.

His face remained perfectly calm as he gave a slight nod. ”You have... a good eye, fellow Daoist.”

Chen Lingxi took in his reaction, and the heavy stone hanging in his chest lowered slightly.

He said no more, only clasping his hands behind his back as he took a slow stroll through the east hall.

His pace was unhurried and his bearing relaxed, as if he were simply pacing around his own study.

”Speaking of the Southern Heaven Region,” he offered just as casually, ”I actually have some history with a certain senior from your sect.”

His gaze swept past the landscape painting on the wall, lingering on the distant mountains and nearby waters as if recalling a very distant memory.

”I once debated with him, and he demonstrated a reprimanding technique before me.”

At this point, he suddenly covered his mouth with his right fist and gave a light cough.

The cough was extremely soft, but the moment it landed, a thread-thin dragon’s roar slipped from his throat. Mingled in the trailing echo of the cough, it was faint, yet it transmitted clearly into the Crown Prince’s ears.

The Crown Prince’s expression changed instantly.

The dragon’s roar was faint and hardly overbearing, yet he was intimately familiar with it!

He had cultivated the Dragon Roar Technique for a long time; he couldn’t be more familiar with it.

This was clearly the method of the Dragon Roar Technique!

”The Dragon Roar Technique?” the Crown Prince blurted out.

Chen Lingxi lowered his fist and gently shook his head.

The motion was extremely slow, carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.

”That was roughly how it was executed,” he said in a normal tone. ”I only saw it once, so I don’t know if my deduction is accurate.”

The Crown Prince took a deep breath, the habitual calmness on his face finally showing a crack.

He deduced it to such a similar degree after only seeing it once?

Who on earth is this person?

The Crown Prince watched Chen Lingxi stroll through the east hall as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard, a sudden surge of astonishment rising within him.

Several breaths passed before he solemnly bowed to Chen Lingxi, a touch of genuine respect now present in his tone. ”To think a figure like you, Senior, would also come here to Seek Truth.”

Chen Lingxi took in the changes in the Crown Prince’s expression. He revealed nothing on his face, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He gave a deliberately profound laugh, the sound extremely soft.

”Seek Truth?” He repeated the two words and said no more. He merely cast his gaze toward the landscape painting on the wall, standing with his hands clasped behind him.

The Crown Prince took a deep breath, his expression growing even more respectful.

To be able to tell at a glance that he came from the Southern Heaven Region, and to easily deduce the Dragon Roar Technique he had cultivated bitterly for years—this person’s cultivation was unfathomably deep!

Immediately after, his eyes brightened slightly.

Meeting this mysterious figure might just be an opportunity!

Right now, my memories have yet to fully awaken in this place. If I can invite this person to be my Dao Protector, I’ll have another layer of reliance, giving me an even better chance to Seek Truth and reach the peak!

His mind made up, he bowed to Chen Lingxi once more and said respectfully, ”This junior is Ying Chi! I would not dare presume upon Senior’s actions, but I make bold to invite you. If Senior is willing, you might visit the capital as a guest. This junior would be happy to play the host.”

He spoke with utmost sincerity, making no effort to hide the recruiting intent in his tone.

Chen Lingxi’s expression did not change.

Go to the Crown Prince’s estate?

He hadn’t forgotten that he was a fake. If he really spent his days staying in the Crown Prince’s estate, there would be too many flaws. His words, actions, demeanor, the depth of his cultivation, the extent of his knowledge—he could give himself away at any turn.

Once exposed, he would undoubtedly die.

He shook his head slightly, his tone remaining composed. ”I will wait a little longer. Perhaps then I will come to the capital and take a look.”

A flash of disappointment crossed the Crown Prince’s eyes upon hearing this, but he did not dare to urge further. Then, his gaze flickered, as if he wanted to ask something.

Right at that moment, Chen Lingxi suddenly pinched his fingers, his thumb tapping rapidly against the joints of his index and middle fingers, as if calculating something.

His brows furrowed slightly, a fleeting trace of solemnity flashing through his eyes.

Seeing him like this, the Crown Prince’s heart tightened, but he didn’t dare to speak and interrupt.

A few breaths later, Chen Lingxi lowered his hand and shook his head slightly, seemingly withdrawing his mind from some profound calculation.

He turned around and looked at the Crown Prince, his tone placid. ”In that case, we will meet again.”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince hurriedly said, ”This junior will see Senior out.”

Chen Lingxi shook his head. ”Act as you normally would, lest others find any clues.”

The Crown Prince stopped in his tracks, standing with his hands at his sides before the landscape painting.

Chen Lingxi turned and walked toward the hall doors.

After two steps, he suddenly looked back, his gaze falling on the Crown Prince. The look was not sharp, yet it made the Crown Prince’s heart jolt.

”That great medicine of the Lin family is of decent quality,” Chen Lingxi said, his tone as casual as an offhand remark. ”You may cultivate it further. I will not interfere.”

He paused, his gaze darkening slightly.

”It is just that I do not like being spied upon.”

The Crown Prince shuddered and bowed his head in acknowledgment, thinking to himself, It seems none of my little schemes in Yuanjiang Prefecture have escaped this senior’s eyes, yet I was entirely ignorant of his existence.

Growing even more fearful of asking questions, he merely bowed his head lower. Only when he heard the sound of the hall doors opening and closing did he slowly straighten up.

The east hall returned to silence.

—

Chen Lingxi walked out of the east hall and passed through the corridor.

The gazes of everyone in the Main Hall gathered on him again. Looking neither left nor right, he walked straight to Lin Longyue’s side and stood with his hands resting by his sides.

Lin Longyue glanced at him but asked nothing.

...

The old eunuch walked out from beside the curtain and bowed slightly to Lin Longyue. The words he spoke were largely identical to the Thorough Awakening deduction.

...

The carriage wound its way down the mountain road.

Inside the cabin, Lin Longyue sat opposite him, resting with her eyes closed, her breathing steady.

Chen Lingxi leaned against the wall of the carriage. Pushing aside a corner of the curtain, he looked out at the gradually darkening mountain scenery.

His heart was still pounding. He didn’t know if he had managed to bluff the Crown Prince.

Those words and that demeanor were all things he had mulled over repeatedly in his mind.

He had only studied the Dragon Roar Technique for half a shichen. He could barely manage a superficially similar dragon’s roar; it couldn’t be called truly reaching the entry level of the technique.

Even the name ”Southern Heaven Region” was something he had coaxed out of the Crown Prince.

As for that finger-pinching calculation and the ”great medicine of the Lin family,” those were completely improvised on the spot.

Every step had been a walk on a blade’s edge; a single misstep would have doomed him beyond redemption.

The carriage passed the checkpoint at the foot of Mangyang Mountain and rolled onto the official road leading to Yuanjiang Prefecture.

Large expanses of farmland flanked the official road, their pitch-black outlines the only thing visible in the night.

In the distance, the lights of the city walls gradually flickered on in the darkness, resembling a string of stars scattered across the ground.

The carriage entered the city gates, passed through the long streets, and drove through the side gate of the Baosu Marquis Residence’s West Courtyard.

Lin Longyue opened her eyes and glanced at him. With a simple ”Get some rest,” she took Liu Que and headed toward the main courtyard.

In the shadows of the side gate, Chen Lingxi let out a long breath of stale air.

The night wind blew in from the gardens, carrying the lingering scent of gardenias on the verge of wilting.

He stood there for a moment. Only when the rumbling of the carriage had completely faded into the depths of the night did he turn and walk toward his own small courtyard.

In the end, he had survived a calamity.

He pushed open the courtyard gate. The moonlight fell right upon the old locust tree in the yard, its lush branches and leaves rustling in the night breeze.

He walked over to the locust tree and slowly sat down with his back against the trunk.

The thread of azure qi in his dantian circulated slowly, smoothing out his days of tightly wound nerves bit by bit.

A disaster had struck out of nowhere, but he had survived it after all.

And I’ve reaped quite a harvest!

Chen Lingxi sank his consciousness into his Divine Chamber, where a musk-deer skin pouch was currently suspended in the thick mist.