Plumdark leaned up against the railing of the pill workshop in Ningyan’s mansion, looking off at the planet in the distance. “Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity’s original imperial palace is now the location where all human ancestral sacrifices are offered. I can sense that the lamp… is there. In the depths of Planet Ancient Emperor.”

It was evening, and the cloud cover on the planet was the golden color of dusk. There were golden dragons drifting through the clouds, inhaling and exhaling flows of energy that were both holy and mysterious.

“I tried calling out to it, but it didn’t work. The lamp is protected by a very powerful warding spell that keeps it very firmly in place…. If I want to get it, I’ll have to go to the planet itself.

“Based on what I could sense, the sealing marks covering the planet consist of some that always existed, and some that were added in later generations. If I try to force my way in, it will cause a big scene. If I want to get it without anyone realizing it, I need to find an opportunity to get onto the planet unnoticed.”

Plumdark frowned. Opportunities like that weren’t exactly common. But what was of greater significance was the question of… what was the lamp doing on Planet Ancient Emperor? Plumdark looked at Xu Qing and refrained from asking that most pertinent of questions. She didn’t want him distracted by it.

Xu Qing was also looking thoughtfully at Planet Ancient Emperor. Plumdark had found the lamp, only for it to be located somewhere that was virtually impossible to reach. It was a far too sensitive and important place, and it was kept under tight guard. He literally couldn’t go there.

Taking into consideration all humans, there was only one person who could go to Planet Ancient Emperor. And that was the emperor. Only he could open the seals.

The reality was that Xu Qing had already started thinking about the things that Plumdark had held back from saying out loud. Someone had taken that lamp and placed it on Planet Ancient Emperor. It was a strange affair. If you analyzed the situation from the very beginning, there were many possibilities regarding who might have taken the lamp. But in the end, there was only one type of person who could have put it on Planet Ancient Emperor, and that was an emperor. Had an emperor taken the lamp? Perhaps not. But… it was definitely an emperor who put it on the planet. And asking the reigning emperor for the lamp obviously wasn’t an option.

After some thought, Xu Qing said, “Actually, there’s another person who can go to Planet Ancient Emperor.”

Plumdark turned to look at him.

“On the way here,” he continued, “Princess Anhai mentioned that there’s someone besides the emperor who can participate in the ancestral sacrifices. The crown prince. Except that there’s no crown prince right now. If there was, and that crown prince was willing to help, then we might have that chance to get onto the planet.”

Xu Qing looked away from the ancient planet.

Plumdark smiled. Turning to look in the direction of the mansion’s shrine hall, she softly said, “There’s a way to get onto the planet without causing a stir, but I need to make some preparations. As for your idea, if you’re thinking of trying to help Ningyan become the crown prince, that seems difficult. He’s a good kid, but an effort like that is nothing to take lightly.”

As for Ningyan, he had just finished a session of cultivation and was seated cross-legged in front of his mother’s portrait in the shrine hall. After resting for a bit, his eyes gleamed with determination, and he started another cultivation session. For him, the experience of seeking enlightenment on Planet Ancient Emperor had been an unforgettable experience. All his brothers and sisters had all benefited in some way, albeit not all of them got heavenly marquis legacies. In contrast, he hadn’t acquired anything. Although it seemed on the surface that he didn’t care about that, the reality was that he wasn’t willing to settle for nothing.

Seven days passed.

Getting the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp wasn’t something that would happen overnight. It required meticulous planning. Xu Qing even consulted the Captain about it. After all, given what Xu Qing knew about the Captain, it seemed highly likely that he was already working on a plan regarding the planet.

He was right. The Captain was very excited to hear about the situation, and in the end, he thumped his chest and said that he would definitely come up with a way to help.

Plumdark was working on her own idea, while Ningyan was focused more on cultivation than he ever had been. He spent just about every day in the shrine hall meditating.

After the enlightenment event on Planet Ancient Emperor, the imperial capital settled down.

The Nightshade war was going smoothly. The involvement of the Firemoon Darkheavens wasn’t as much of an obstacle to humankind as had previously been imagined. They seemed more interested in putting on a show of involvement, but were actually holding back to see how the humans would react.

Xu Qing had no idea how the emperor was dealing with the situation. Having handled all pressing matters, including stabilizing The Emperor’s Sword, he made the decision to go to the Imperial University. After all, he had come to the imperial capital with the necessary qualifications, and he was interested to see what kind of knowledge was available in Emperor Dark War’s Imperial University.

Xu Qing had always placed high value on knowledge. He was well aware that, compared to the collective knowledge of humankind, what he knew was a mere drop of water in the ocean. He wanted to learn more, and also wanted to see what sparks might fly when different schools of thought clashed.

It was early in the morning when Xu Qing arrived in the north of the imperial capital, where the Imperial University was located. The university was massive, almost like a city of its own, filled with numerous white towers. It was very clean and orderly, and there weren’t many people visible inside.

There were two statues at the entrance. One depicted a tall old man in a scholar’s robe, the other was a short youngster in a simple hemp garment. The old man seemed ancient and wise, and he had his hands clasped in front of him. The youngster seemed lively but respectful, and was bowing at the waist. They seemed to be greeting each other.

It represented decorum shown between young and old, as well as the passing on of knowledge. The youngster bowed, and the old man clasped his hands, indicating that there was no difference in status between them, other than their age. It showed that there was no selfish clinging to legacy, and absolutely no sectarian differences. What was more, they were clearly wishing each other well.

The emperor himself had arranged for these statues to serve as the entrance to the Imperial University. Between them was a shimmering light that served as the main door leading inside.

Behind the door were the orderly white towers. There was a bustle of activity as people entered the door, including powerful and important people as well as coarse and ignoble individuals. It didn’t matter who anyone was, once they went through that door, they were the equal of everyone else. They were all students. Some people found ways to make sure others knew who they were. But overall, people in the Imperial University abided by the rules set forth by Emperor Dark War.

Xu Qing could sense that when he walked through the door. Walking through the door didn’t lead to the area of white towers that was visible in the imperial capital. Instead, it was a massive standalone dimension that was really like a huge city. The architectural style was the same, and there were many white towers of varying sizes. As it turned out, what was visible on the outside was actually a miniaturized projection of the real Imperial University.

There were many students inside, all of them dressed alike. They wore the same type of hemp garment worn by the statue of the youngster outside. All wore masks, which would change one’s voice and hide one’s true gender.

It was all controlled by the university itself. Even the auras were masked. And when one entered, it was by random teleportation that they went to a different location each time. As a result, it was impossible for people to determine the true identities of everyone else.1

Xu Qing materialized in the southwestern part of the Imperial University. As he walked through the crowds, he saw that some people made their way along in groups of between three to five. Others hurried on their way alone. Some people simply sat cross-legged in open areas, seemingly lost in thought.

The white towers were the different schools of thought that made up the Imperial University. The height of each individual tower corresponded to how many people were members of that specific school of thought. Some of the tallest towers had people streaming in and out constantly. There were other towers that most people walked past without even looking at.

In some cases, students would stand at the entrance of their own tower and try to get others to join them.

“Hey, you! Come check out our Spirit Forging School. The technique of spirit forging is all about the concept of the soul taking flight. Our fleshly bodies are mere vessels. Only by cultivating the soul to the highest level can we reach true transcendence and create heavenly daos.”

“Of all the schools of thought in the Imperial University, our Heavenly Person School is one of the most profound. There are three types of people: heavenly, earthly, and mortal. They correspond to three levels. If you come to the Heavenly Person School, you can transform from mortal to earthly, and then rise from earthly to heavenly. You can gain enlightenment of all living things and all types of plants and vegetation!”

“According to the old saying, there are a total of 3,000 daos, none of which are stronger or weaker than the others. Even though the dao of plants and vegetation is considered unorthodox, it can still be used to pluck stars. We welcome you to come learn about our Grand School of Plants and Vegetation!”

As Xu Qing walked along, he heard a cacophony of voices, and there were even some occasions in which people blocked his path to introduce their school of thought. There were some schools of thought who had philosophical differences with others, leading to spirited discussions.

At first, Xu Qing felt very out of place. He had never been anywhere like this. After a while, he decided to go into some of the towers. Though he didn’t officially join any of them, he was still able to study the information inside. They were like libraries, and the official members were also willing to answer any questions. 𝑓𝘦𝘦𝔀𝘯𝓋.𝘮

Xu Qing was immediately moved. Inside the Grand School of Plants and Vegetation, he saw information that he’d previously studied, but also some unique perspectives that were new to him. In the Spirit Forging School, he encountered some concepts about cultivation that he found very thought-provoking. There was one location called the Tamer School that was very unique. They focused on taming, not beasts, but rather, the destiny aura of nonhumans.

Xu Qing quickly came to realize that the Imperial University was a very interesting place deserving of a lot of respect. It was impossible to say whether the knowledge here would stand the test of time. But the sparks of information and inspiration were certainly driving innovation.

As he proceeded along and got familiar with the Imperial University, he eventually reached what was known as the biggest school of thought there. The God-Merging School. Roughly thirty percent of all students were members.

The school focused on transforming the body. The process involved taking flesh from godly entities and grafting it onto one’s own body. Then, after slowly getting used to the change, one could slowly learn to control the godliness. In the end, after all of one’s flesh was replaced with godly flesh, then mutagen… would no longer be harmful, and could be treated just like spirit energy.

The ultimate goal of this school was ‘god-merging.’ By merging with the flesh of gods, one could achieve godly ascension.

The schoolmaster was a very sophisticated middle-aged man who wore scholar robes that were different from the other students. Though his mask made it impossible to see his facial features, there was something very scholarly and refined about him.

By chance, when Xu Qing stopped in front of that school’s tower, the schoolmaster appeared.

Xu Qing stopped in place.

There was something about this person that reminded him of someone from Sea-Sealing County.