Chapter 46: What Is a Dragon’s Pool and Tiger’s Den?

Within the Great Shang Dynasty,
the emperor was in high spirits, practically buzzing.

The ancient tribulation-stage body cultivator had already been thrown into prison, and the martial path that was fated to wreak havoc in the future was, for all practical purposes, dead on its feet.

You could say he’d picked up a colossal achievement while lying down.

Up to now, there had already been a few ancient cultivators waking from their slumber,
but this was the first time they’d actually caught a big fish at the tribulation stage.

Of course, to him, achievements were secondary. The key point…

Was that for the first time, he’d seen shock and admiration in the eyes of those sect masters and super-sect leaders.

That was what he craved most.

Every person likes to “reveal their holiness,” and he, as emperor, was no exception.

Showing off in front of his own ministers and people? Boring.
Showing off in front of the sects and super powers was easy to get suppressed—also boring.

Now that he finally had a chance to show off in front of the decision-makers of all the great sects, of course he was delighted.

Under his strict orders to investigate,
the entire chain of events was quickly pieced together.

In the end, everything pointed to one person—Xu Gu.

“Xu Gu first abducted all the famous chefs of Summer End City’s Zhao Gorge, enraging Patriarch Zhao.

“Then he advised White Sparrow Street’s deputy constable Li Shouhe to modify the martial arts manual, adding a prerequisite for cultivating it—severing one’s vital essence.

“This peerless open-scheme not only pushed the martial path toward decline, it also forced that ancient tribulation-stage body cultivator, lurking in the shadows and eyeing the world, to surface.

“He lured the tribulation-stage body cultivator to the enraged Patriarch Zhao, and without lifting a finger, resolved a world-shaking crisis.

“He even considered that, if this strategy were implemented in any other region, it would never pass, so he deliberately chose honest and straightforward Zhao Gorge, sacred land of body cultivation, as the place to set it in motion.

“Each step links to the next, layer upon layer of strategy.

“What he thought and planned… is almost exactly the same as what We had in mind.”

The Great Shang Emperor’s expression was aloof, with a faint trace of appreciation in his gaze, a “heroes think alike” look on his face as he addressed the ministers below:

“With such talent, is he not worthy to be Our National Preceptor?”

Just a moment ago, when he’d declared he wanted to appoint Xu Gu as National Preceptor, all the core cabinet ministers had stood up to oppose it.

It had nearly pissed him off.

With a talent like this at his side, advising him on everything, wouldn’t that mean he could show off his “sage-like brilliance” any time he wanted?

“Only then,” the Great Shang Emperor thought, already lost in pleasant fantasies, “would this life of Ours truly be colorful.”

Sadly, fantasies are sweet, reality is harsh.

“This matter is too serious. The position of National Preceptor is of utmost importance—it cannot be granted rashly.”

“If handled poorly, it will shake the very foundations of the state!”

“Furthermore, while this Xu Gu’s cunning may be almost immortal-like, the man himself is mysterious. We know very little about him. What if he harbors ill intent?”

“Even if we truly appoint him National Preceptor, those leaders of the great sects and super sects are sure to feel dissatisfied. They might demand their own candidates be made National Preceptor, Grand Preceptor, Mystic Preceptor, and so on. It would be terrible for unity.”

“Also, appointments to imperial office are clearly outlined in the law. Granting such a high rank on a whim would violate Great Shang’s statutes.”

The ministers rattled off arguments one after another.

The meaning was obvious: it still wouldn’t do.

The emperor’s face darkened. He was silent for a long time. The ministers below all held their breath, hearts pounding.

Then—

The emperor said coldly, impatiently,

“Then what about granting him the post of Visiting Swordbearer?”

Swordbearer had no official rank, but represented the emperor—similar to an imperial envoy—with the right to act first and report later.

Under normal circumstances, the position should’ve been extremely prestigious and powerful.

However, Great Shang was a nation founded on law. Even a Swordbearer, after acting first and reporting later, would be punished if he violated the law. There were no real privileges.

So in reality, his power was rather average. Within the bureaucracy he was a middling figure.

Even so, casually promising such a post to a young man barely out in the world still rubbed many the wrong way.

Especially when they didn’t even know his true identity yet.

They were just about to continue their remonstrations—

But at that moment, new information about Xu Gu’s background arrived.

“Xu Gu, disciple of a hidden sect. Due to the omen that ‘the demonic path shall rise,’ he foresaw that the world would soon fall into chaos and thus descended the mountain to save it. He is infiltrating the Demon Grotto together with the five true disciples of the Five Immortal Sects—Li Shaobai, Huan Caiyi, and the others. His identity is clean.”

A eunuch hurried into the inner cabinet, voice sharp as he reported:

“The reason he did not change his appearance during the incident at Zhao Gorge seems to have been to hint to the court that he wished for some kind of corresponding position, to facilitate his future work within the demonic path.”

“This…”

The ministers fell into thought.

Up above, the emperor let his gaze sweep over them, naturally intimidating, as if to say,

“Let’s see what excuse you have now.”

“His Majesty is wise!” the ministers said, bowing their heads.

Now that Xu Gu’s background was clean and his merits so outstanding, he certainly deserved a reward.

Moreover, the emperor had already retreated from appointing him National Preceptor down to appointing him Swordbearer—a huge concession.

If they kept blocking him at this point, they’d just be asking to get slapped.

“Then the audience is dismissed,” the Great Shang Emperor said with a cold snort, waving for the ministers to withdraw.

“Your Majesty is wise!”

The ministers bowed again, then took their leave.

Only once the hall was empty did his expression finally relax, the corners of his lips lifting.

“What, We can’t handle you lot?”

He had suggested “National Preceptor” in the first place just to bait the ministers into bargaining.

Appointing Xu Gu as Visiting Swordbearer had always been his real goal.

Then he turned to his favorite eunuch and said with a smile:

“When Beloved Minister Xu is in a position to come receive it, give him the appointment token. Tell him that We look forward to seeing him render great service for the world.”

He was already imagining the scenes of Xu Gu working under him in the future, helping him show off his brilliance again and again.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The favored eunuch bowed deeply.

…

Meanwhile—

Because the martial path had exploded into chaos, a gaping hole had opened in the control of grassroots underworld power.

Every demonic faction in the realm was overjoyed.

They had no idea why the martial world had suddenly descended into madness, but they weren’t stupid—they’d already started scrambling frantically to occupy that power vacuum, crushing the martial path’s living space while they were at it.

All of this took place under the watchful eyes of the righteous path and the court.

Every demon faction had orthodox and official spies embedded inside.

Once the demonic path took over grassroots underworld control, it actually became easier to manage.

After all, demon cultivators weren’t mortals, unlike martial artists—they weren’t protected by the law. When it came to investigating demonic factions, you didn’t need evidence. You only needed a list of names.

In Zhao Gorge—

Shi Shangpin and the other demon cultivators stood amidst heaps of martial artist corpses and severed heads, feet planted atop their skulls, blood-soaked swords in hand, faces wild with manic delight.

“Demon Envoy, did you see that?!

“We’ve taken over half the underworld of Summer End City’s Zhao Gorge. We haven’t let down your expectations when you stirred the entire martial world of Zhao Gorge for our sake!

“We may be bottom-rung demon cultivators, but we’re not willing to live as nobodies! Give us a bit more time, and we’ll definitely carve out a proper demonic career!

“By then, who in the world won’t know our names?!”

They were burning with hot blood, sure they had fulfilled the promise they’d once made to Xu Gu, spirits soaring and ambitions swelling. They ached to take another step up.

All this noise outside—Xu Gu naturally knew nothing about. Even if he did, he wouldn’t care much.

At that moment—

He was inside his cave dwelling.

After leaving the Alchemy Peak, his plan had been to head to the Scripture Pavilion to pick out a few demonic spells, so he could perform adequately at the Fallen Spirit Pool.

Then—

His Trait System suddenly popped up a notification.

[Life achievement completed: Establish an Alchemy Peak. Reward: three purple Trait Shards.]

Xu Gu didn’t hesitate in the slightest. Of course he went straight back to his cave to fuse them.

[Congratulations. You have obtained a purple Trait—Dragon’s Pool and Tiger’s Den.]

[Dragon’s Pool and Tiger’s Den: A dragon’s pool is always beside a tiger’s den.]

“Huh? A teleportation-type trait?”

Xu Gu thought for a bit and more or less guessed what it did.

Then his eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

A bold idea had just formed in his mind.

With that in mind, he rose and walked out of the cave, heading for the Scripture Pavilion.

“You actually came back alive? Where are you going now?”

The white fox, who had been resting in seclusion in his cave, sensed movement. When she saw it was Xu Gu, she was overjoyed, leaping onto his shoulder in a single bound. Then she asked curiously.

“To the Scripture Pavilion to learn a few spells,” Xu Gu said lightly.

“So I can go fishing.”

(End of this chapter)