Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 670: Chapter 666: Nobility

Chu Zhiyuan closed his eyes and shook his head in secret.

This Third Brother of his was truly manipulative, playing with his mindset and inciting him to act recklessly.

If it were the original master, hearing such words would certainly unbalance his state of mind, distracting him from cultivation, and leading to potentially more extreme actions.

The original master always wanted to understand why the Emperor rejected him, treating him so harshly.

He even dared to suspect whether he was truly the Emperor’s son.

Now it was finally clear.

It was all because of his mother, the concubine.

This was something he never anticipated, especially considering the availability of Spirit Pills and Imperial Physicians when injured.

No matter how dire the situation, it shouldn’t have required his mother to sacrifice her life to save him.

So even after racking his brains, he never thought it was such an outrageous reason.

His thoughts were in disarray, unable to find calm, as the influence of the original master lingered.

The Second Prince, Chu Liyang, opened his eyes, glanced at the opposite Chu Zhiyuan, and smiled.

Chu Zhiyuan opened his eyes too, meeting his gaze.

He snorted, ”Third Brother, are you deliberately disrupting my cultivation? How malicious!”

Chu Liyang chuckled, ”It’s out of goodwill, to prevent you from remaining in the dark. Few in the world know this news, and those who do won’t tell you.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”I might have been better off not knowing.”

”If that’s how you feel, then it’s truly my fault. Actually, love and hate are often just a thought apart, a hair’s breadth away.”

”Let it be, Third Brother,” Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, ”The grudges of the past generation need not be mentioned, let them go. Anyway, I am going to the Phoenix Dynasty, and I fear I may never return in this lifetime.”

”Are you resigned, Ninth Brother? Just accepting fate without a fight?”

”I don’t think going there is so bad.”

”Hmmph, your current days may be hard, but they will be countless times better than future days in the Phoenix Dynasty.”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled without speaking, a skeptical look on his face.

Chu Liyang got up, sat before Chu Zhiyuan, only a mat apart, and said solemnly, ”Ninth Brother, perhaps you don’t truly understand the Phoenix Dynasty.”

”I do know a bit about the Phoenix Dynasty,” Chu Zhiyuan said.

”The information you have is from outside sources, you don’t know the real insider details.”

”What insider details?”

”Do you know the true origins of the Twelfth Princess?”

”It’s said she has excellent aptitude, already at the Ninth Transitions of Transformation Intent, just one step from Divinity Transformation?”

”Do you know why her aptitude is so excellent?”

”Good or bad aptitude often depends on luck, is there some inside story?”

”The Twelfth Princess’s mother is the Young Master of Yukunlun Palace, supposedly possessing a trace of Divine Race bloodline, and this Twelfth Prince presumably also has a trace of Divine Race bloodline.”

Chu Zhiyuan was puzzled, ”Yukunlun Palace?”

”Yukunlun Palace descend from heavenly beings, hidden in the world, known by very few.”

”Such noble bloodline, how could...?” Chu Zhiyuan was confused.

If indeed such a noble bloodline, they shouldn’t have chosen someone like himself as a Prince Consort.

Chu Liyang chuckled, ”Ninth Brother, don’t belittle yourself, after all, you are a Prince, the Ninth Prince of our Jade Dynasty!”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

No matter how dire his situation, he was still a Prince, a legitimate Prince.

Even though the Emperor rejected him and acted unfairly, the basic treatment remained.

He could earn a place in Yujing Cave Heaven and enter the Heavenly Intent Pavilion.

To outsiders, his lack of favor might seem a facade, when in fact, he was favored.

After all, attitude was one thing, actions another.

The Emperor’s words and actions seemed inconsistent.

Chu Liyang said, ”A Princess’s Prince Consort, however noble, can only be a Prince. Among the many Princesses of the Phoenix Dynasty, whose Prince Consort’s status is most noble? It is the Twelfth Princess.”

”Third Brother, from what you say, I still have some use.” Chu Zhiyuan snorted.

Chu Liyang said, ”It’s said the Twelfth Princess is as beautiful as a fairy, with extraordinary aptitude, the most noble Princess of the Phoenix Dynasty, deeply loved by all the people of the Phoenix Dynasty. Imagine your situation if you went?”

”Would it be ’love the house and its crow’?”

”Haha... Ninth Brother, you do have a sense of humor!”

”Couldn’t it be so?” Chu Zhiyuan asked.

”If the Twelfth Princess were plain, that would be fine, a bit older, also fine. But she is as beautiful as a fairy, and at such a young age, the fairy of all young men in the Phoenix Dynasty, you would be seen as a defiler of the fairy, why would they treat you kindly?”

”After all, I am a Prince Consort, wouldn’t they dare not to act rashly?”

”What if someone challenges you openly, would you accept?”

”Naturally, I’d ignore it, there are guards after all.”

”What if it’s some Princely Heir, or Young Marquis?”

”I’d still ignore it.”

”Then you’d be called a coward by all, despised by everyone.”

”It seems indeed I’d have no good days,” Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”if I could become a Venerable, it should change, right?”

”Certainly,” Chu Liyang said, ”becoming a Venerable, naturally, makes you noble, but you cannot become a Venerable quickly, let alone in the Phoenix Dynasty.”

”Third Brother, how can you say that I can’t become a Venerable?”

”Once you go to the Phoenix Dynasty, you can no longer enter the Great Bright Peak, how can you cultivate to Divinity Transformation?”

”...”

”So, Ninth Brother, you must find a way to struggle, you cannot resign to fate.”

Chu Zhiyuan gave him a deep look and said slowly, ”Thank you, Third Brother, for your good intentions, I have my own plans.”

He pondered.

Why did Chu Liyang keep urging him not to resign, not to go to the Phoenix Dynasty?

There must be some interests at stake here.

His Third Brother was not purely well-meaning, truly cautioning him against jumping into the fire pit.

If he was such a kind person, he wouldn’t always be distant from other Princes, ostracized by all.

Not just because he was gloomy and dull, but because he was malicious.

As for the notion that once in the Phoenix Dynasty, he could not enter Great Bright Peak, that was unexpected.

This matter should be true.

In such case, he must quickly reach the Divinity Transformation Realm.

But reaching the Divinity Transformation Realm cannot be done in a short time.

Even if he exhaustively cultivated, encountering multiple fortuitous events, it would be impossible to achieve Divinity Transformation in such a short time.

The best option was to find a way to enter Great Bright Peak even in the Phoenix Dynasty.

...

At noon, he went to Diwu Academy to talk to Chu Honglin about his concerns.

”Then don’t rely on Great Bright Peak, cultivate by your own skill, progress will be slower, and it will take more time, that’s all.”

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, ”Uncle, it would be several times slower.”

For others, Great Bright Peak merely sped up cultivation.

But for him, the enhancement effect of Great Bright Peak was at least tenfold.

Chu Honglin was surprised, ”The impact is that significant?”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly.

Chu Honglin frowned, ”That impact is indeed significant, ... but outside the Imperial Palace, it’s indeed impossible to enter Great Bright Peak.”

It was a rule no one could change.

Chu Zhiyuan sighed, ”It seems I can only try to return as often as possible, to minimize the impact.”

He thought of an idea.

That was to use an Avatar.

If he placed his Avatar within Great Bright Peak, the sights of the Avatar would be his own, using the Avatar to perceive Great Bright Peak.

”That is the only way,” Chu Honglin nodded helplessly.

Later, Chu Zhiyuan asked Chu Honglin about the news he heard from Chu Liyang.

Chu Honglin’s face turned solemn.

Seeing his expression, Chu Zhiyuan knew that Chu Liyang’s words were probably true.

”Uncle, how did I get hurt back then, what kind of injury was it, was it truly the work of the Demon Clan?”