Immortals and Demons Forever

Chapter 2: Family Destroyed, People Perished

Li Tian Realm, Kingdom of Heshuo, the Royal Palace. Candlelight shone brightly, and moonlight flooded the floor, making this not-too-large hall quite well-lit. Lying on the bed was a slender, delicate-featured youth. His face was deathly pale, and his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were enduring immense pain. His body trembled slightly from time to time, his jaw clenched tightly, yet he remained unconscious. Standing by the bed was a middle-aged man with graying temples and a dignified appearance; in his youth, he must have been a man who made beauties swoon. His face was weathered, and as he gazed at the youth on the bed, his eyes were filled with pity. The middle-aged man let out a heavy sigh, clenching his fist tighter and tighter, as if all the indignation he had harbored in his heart for many years were about to erupt at that very moment. “Your Majesty, please control your emotions! The new king of the Great Qi Kingdom has firmly established his rule. With a single edict, every neighboring small kingdom trembles in fear. You may choose not to comply, but the million subjects of Heshuo will likely perish along with you. I implore you to think this through!” Beside him stood a white-haired old man, a master of medicine and the finest physician in the small kingdom of Heshuo. And this man with silver-streaked hair was none other than the ruler of the nation—Su Qing. “I can’t even protect my beloved wife and son—how could I possibly have the time to worry about the million people here?” The middle-aged man glared at the white-haired elder. “Then does Your Majesty not care about the prince’s life or death either?” Just then, the young boy on the bed suddenly sat up, coughed up a mouthful of black blood with a “waah,” and slumped limply back down; his breathing soon began to steady. “Mu’er!” Su Qing hurriedly grasped his son’s hand. “Congratulations, Your Majesty! His Highness has expelled the poison from his body, and the next episode won’t occur for another three years. However, this is merely a temporary fix—it doesn’t address the root cause. If we cannot gather the necessary ingredients to suppress the poison within him within those three years, I fear… After all, Your Majesty is the ruler of a nation and can mobilize the entire kingdom’s resources, but the next three years…” The white-haired old man trailed off. “Uncle Zhu, let’s go over there to talk.” Seeing that his son had pulled through, Su Qing’s inner rage quickly subsided; he knew what the consequences of resistance would be. He wasn’t afraid of dying in battle, but what about Mu’er? His beloved wife, on her deathbed, had entrusted him to take good care of their child—he couldn’t let her down. Since resistance was impossible, he had no choice but to compromise. “Uncle Zhu, if this continues, Mu’er’s health will only grow weaker. Haven’t his Source Vessels been opened yet?” The Source Vessels are the foundation of martial arts training. The human body possesses the Eight Extraordinary Meridians; to condense a Seed of Source Power, at least five of these meridians must be opened. Once a Source Power Seed is condensed, one becomes a full-fledged Yuan Tu—the first step on the path to becoming a Source Master, and already considered among the elite among ordinary mortals with flesh-and-blood bodies. The white-haired elder shook his head and said, “His Highness is fourteen years old this year. His Majesty has spent fourteen years gathering all manner of rare treasures and natural treasures. In addition to suppressing the poison within his body, these have also been used to unblock his obstructed Source Meridians. So far, four have been opened, but this fifth one… it’s difficult!” “What makes it so difficult?” “Forcibly using medicinal elixirs to force open the fifth one isn’t difficult, but the problem is that, given His Highness’s current physical condition, the outcome is likely to be fatal. If we were to take that risk, our chances of success would be less than thirty percent.” “Less than thirty percent…” Su Qing murmured, his expression growing increasingly grim. “The official document from the Great Qi Kingdom will arrive tomorrow. The charges have already been finalized: they accuse me of secretly colluding with other nations to plot against the Great Qi Kingdom. They demand that I pay homage to the new ruler and, while I’m there, explain myself. There’s an eighty to ninety percent chance I won’t return from this journey. How could that wicked woman possibly spare me? This country might well be annexed by Great Qi before long. Once Mu’er is no longer the Crown Prince, if he still cannot cultivate and lacks the ability to defend himself, everyone will be able to bully and mock him. He won’t even be able to survive the next three years. Even if I entrust the child to you, the outcome will be the same. After I’m gone, what will become of him?” “Your Majesty, perhaps if you go to admit your mistake and beg for mercy…” “Have you forgotten what happened fourteen years ago, Uncle Zhu? Who was responsible for the death of my beloved wife? And how did my son fall so gravely ill and gradually become what he is today? It’s all her fault—it’s all her fault! She’s been waiting for the day her son becomes the ruler of the Great Qi Kingdom, and I’ll be the first one she won’t spare.” “Father, what exactly happened? Are you still going to keep this from me?” A weak voice suddenly rang out from the bedside. Both men froze, completely taken aback that he had already woken up. Su Qing strode over and stroked his son’s cheek. “Did you hear the entire conversation between me and Uncle Zhu just now?” The boy nodded, a determined gleam appearing in his eyes. “Please, Father, tell me the truth. I must know exactly how Mother died!” “All right. It’s time I told you,” Su Qing said after a moment’s silence. “This story goes back fourteen years—to the time when your mother was pregnant with you and about to give birth. The night before you were born, an extraordinary celestial phenomenon occurred: green clouds swirled, lightning split the sky, and torrential rain poured down. The entire city witnessed the green clouds coiling like a dragon, soaring straight up to the Nine Heavens. The rain and thunder that night were truly terrifying…” “I know what this celestial phenomenon signifies. My Su clan traces its origins back to the ancient era of immortals and demons. Our ancestors possessed the soul of the Azure Dragon within them, but as it was passed down through the generations, the source energy seed that nurtured the Azure Dragon’s soul gradually vanished. This celestial phenomenon foretells that the child soon to be born into our Su family will once again receive Heaven’s blessing and be granted a divine opportunity to alter the course of destiny. Mu’er, all of this was originally meant to be yours! But the very next day, when you were born, another unforeseen phenomenon occurred—” “What?” Su Mu could never have imagined that he was the Su clan’s once-in-a-century prodigy. “Toward evening on the second day, crimson clouds swirled in the sky, a red moon appeared, and the Nine Stars aligned. That night, the demon beasts in the vast mountains and forests beyond the city walls all went mad and launched a massive invasion into human territory. As the ruler of this nation, I had no choice but to lead the troops personally to repel the invasion. I was unable to stay by your mother’s side, so I entrusted Consort Yao with your care. By the time I had repelled the beasts and returned, your mother had given birth to you but died in childbirth, and Consort Yao had vanished without a trace.” “You were frail from the moment you were born, with a toxic stagnation in your body. Uncle Zhu discovered that someone had tampered with you; the maids who had cared for your mother either vanished suddenly or died violently. A month later, I learned by chance that the ruler of the Qi Kingdom had married a princess consort said to possess breathtaking beauty—and it turned out to be Consort Yao! She quickly gained his exclusive favor, ousted the Queen, and gave birth to a son. The ruler of the Qi Kingdom, who had once been a robust man, suddenly fell ill and could not recover, his condition growing increasingly critical day by day. Her child has now become the new ruler of the Qi Kingdom; the Soul of the Azure Dragon has awakened within him, making him the strongest warrior in the history of the Qi Kingdom! She no longer has any reservations.” “The Soul of the Azure Dragon?” Su Mu was completely stunned. How could his father’s concubine have married the King of the Qi Kingdom, and why had her child awakened the Soul of the Azure Dragon that belonged to his Su family?