Zhang Gui was back.
The news spread through the court and the country at a terrifying speed.
After a three-year absence, the once-unrivaled Chief Eunuch had returned. He strode step by step into Jinluan Hall, carrying the head of the First-Grade Minor Grandmaster who had fled from the Xuanyang Sect in defeat.
Then, he strode into the Tianwu Tower and debated martial philosophy with the assembled First Grade guardians! He didn't give an inch!
A First-Grade Minor Grandmaster!
The world was in an uproar, completely shocked!
A First-Grade Minor Grandmaster at twenty-eight! What did that even mean? It meant he had a near-certain chance of one day peering into the Grandmaster Realm, a state that existed only in legends.
In an instant, the tides had turned. The court's nobles and powerful officials all sent requests for an audience with the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot.
The previous Purple-robed First Supervisor even retreated back to the Tianwu Tower!
「Soon.」
Emperor Jianwu personally decreed that Zhang Gui would once again take command of the Eastern Depot, appointing him the Great Liang's Purple-robed First Supervisor.
「In the Library Pavilion.」
Clad in a red robe that blazed like fire, Zhang Gui stood with his hands behind his back. His eyes were like deep pools, and a faint smile perpetually played on his lips as he watched Su Chen tending to the flowers and plants in the Library Pavilion.
"I did it."
"Purple-robed First Supervisor!"
"I never forgot my promise to you. If I became the Purple-robed First Supervisor, you would become the second Red Robe. You must be tired of the Library Pavilion by now. How about entering the Martial Pavilion to read the books there, as the second Red Robe?"
They had not seen each other in three years. Zhang Gui's hair had grayed prematurely, and his youthful appearance was long gone. His every move was filled with the unique majesty of someone in a high position.
"You've reached First Grade?"
"Logically speaking, that shouldn't be possible."
"Breaking through the Profound Gate from the Anger Gang Realm to generate True Essence isn't easy. Nor is refining the Internal Organs, breaking past your limits, and achieving a perfectly unified, Leakless state."
Su Chen finally stopped tending to the plants and looked at the greatly changed Zhang Gui, letting out a soft sigh.
In his eyes, Zhang Gui was completely Leakless, his aura concealed. He was already a Leakless Junior Grandmaster.
Moreover, the Anger Gang energy within him surged wildly, like a raging sea. He seemed ready to break through the Profound Gate at any moment and become a True Essence Minor Grandmaster.
At that point, he would be a Dual First Grade Grandmaster, a rarity in the world.
He could easily soar into the top three of the Martial Arts List, perhaps even taking the top spot.
Zhang Gui was only twenty-eight. He wasn't just in his prime; he was still young. He should have at least seventy-two years left to live.
However, in Su Chen's vision, the life force within Zhang Gui was like a flickering candle in the wind, on the verge of being extinguished.
He had three years left to live, at most.
"What have you done? Why is it like this?"
To this, Zhang Gui did not reply. He simply smiled at Su Chen, awaiting his answer.
Years ago, he was just a Green-robed Eunuch in the Martial Arts Bureau who had boasted that if he became the Purple-robed First Supervisor, he would surely grant Su Chen the position of the second Red Robe. Now, he had truly done it. Five years had passed, and he had come to fulfill his promise.
"Alright!"
"I'll go to the Martial Pavilion."
Hearing this, Zhang Gui nodded, turned with a smile, and left.
Su Chen knew. With only three years left to live, Zhang Gui would frantically complete his plan before his death. His hatred for the Great Liang hadn't diminished in the slightest, even after becoming the Purple-robed First Supervisor. Instead, it was like a blazing fire that had burned for five, ten, twenty years.
"Are you really going to rebel?"
"Many people in this world will die."
"Can't you just not rebel?"
Su Chen pleaded, looking at the figure in red who had returned as if marching to his own death.
At this, Zhang Gui stopped but did not turn around.
"Everyone thinks you, Su Chen, have benefited from my light. Little do they know, whether it was the chance to be noticed by Noble Consort Liang or my current cultivation as a First-Grade Minor Grandmaster, it was all given to me by you."
"That blade of grass gave me a new life. I owe you too much. I'll repay you in the next life!"
"But the blood debt of my clan must be repaid by someone!"
Zhang Gui left.
Su Chen knew the world was about to fall into chaos.
'Perhaps Emperor Jianwu is overjoyed to have the support of a First-Grade Minor Grandmaster at his side. With time, he could surely restore the imperial power of Great Liang to its peak. But he might not get the chance.'
'No one could have imagined that the Purple-robed First Supervisor, the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot who was supposedly devoted to the imperial throne, was the one rebel who most wanted to see the Great Liang dynasty vanish into smoke.'
Xu Xiaohan approached, looking somewhat terrified.
"Master Su, Godfather, he..."
He was afraid of being purged.
After all, his hands were stained with the blood of his former sworn brothers. He had betrayed Zhang Gui, selling out both the Eastern Depot and the Martial Arts Bureau to Emperor Jianwu as a stepping stone for his own advancement.
"The Eastern Depot and the Martial Arts Bureau are no longer important."
"Don't worry."
"You're still Vice Chief Steward Xu."
「The next day.」
The transfer order arrived.
By Emperor Jianwu's sacred decree: Chu Shanhe, the first Red Robe and Chief Steward of the Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower, had passed away peacefully from old age the previous night. Su Chen, the sixth Red Robe Chief Steward, was to be stationed at the Martial Pavilion to watch over the classic texts.
'So his name was Chu Shanhe?'
Su Chen took up his new post.
He gathered his things from the Library Pavilion, mainly making sure to bring the Thousand-year-old Ginseng King, and hastily assumed his new duties.
The Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower was located in the very heart of the Imperial Palace, next to the Tianwu Tower—the core of the core. The other four Chief Stewards in the palace, who had previously looked down on Su Chen, now sent requests for an audience, all wanting to get on his good side for the sake of the Purple-robed First Supervisor, Zhang Gui.
In response to this, Su Chen didn't spare them a single glance.
He spent all his days engrossed in the cultivation manuals within the Martial Pavilion.
The Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower had twelve floors.
The top three floors held records of even the legendary Grandmasters. Unfortunately, these floors were protected by an Ancient Technique that only a Grandmaster could pass, and Great Liang had not had a Grandmaster for a long time.
'These nine floors are more than enough for me to read.'
Su Chen became a shut-in, spending his days and nights poring over the texts in the Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower.
Spring passed and autumn came.
Year after year.
In the Seventh Year of Jianwu, the final year of Zhang Gui's life, Emperor Jianwu was overjoyed. Two First-Grade Minor Grandmasters, whose reputations in the Jianghu were in tatters and who were being hunted by two major sects, had come to seek refuge with the Court. The Emperor was so pleased he declared a great amnesty across the land.
In that year, the Court's prestige was at its zenith. Emperor Jianwu himself showed signs of rivaling the achievements of the Grand Ancestor who founded the dynasty.
The court was filled with countless Civil and Military Officials.
Furthermore, the Court commanded an army of three hundred thousand elite soldiers!
Seven years prior, the Northern Garrison Marquis, who had dominated the north and carved out his own kingdom, was also forced into a dead end. He had long since been annihilated, perishing in the northern Royal City, his bloodline scattered and lost.
That night, Emperor Jianwu held a feast for his officials. He wrote a wild poem, comparing his own achievements to those of the Grand Ancestor.
「On the ninth floor of the Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower.」
Su Chen put down the book in his hands and rubbed his slightly throbbing temples. The Thousand-Year-Old Ginseng Whisker in his mouth had been completely refined by him.
His Qi and blood surged, a rolling, blood-red flame coiling like a dragon!
The gilding of his steel-like sinews and iron bones had reached ninety-nine percent completion!
'Rushing Thunder Body Tempering.'
As he performed a set of fist techniques, dense, rolling thunderclaps erupted. Ninety-nine booms exploded in a single instant. The terrifying roar of thunder could be heard for ten li around, causing people to look up in astonishment at the clear, moonlit sky.
He had reached Perfection in the Fourth Grade Bone Marrow Realm.
At that moment, the gilded bones now pervaded his entire body; the final trace of gold had been filled in.
BOOM!
At the same time.
Across the Nine Commanderies of the Great Liang, countless refugees brandished their hoes and charged the prefectural and county offices.
The two major sects of the Jianghu unleashed their hidden reserves: four First-Grade Minor Grandmasters.
A total of seven First Grade figures gathered at the Tianwu Tower.
The man in the lead stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes as deep as pools and glinting with a cold light. His purple robe whipped violently in the wind. His voice, mighty as thunder shaking the nine heavens, echoed throughout the entire Imperial Palace.
"The Purple-robed First Supervisor, Zhang Gui, invites the Emperor to meet his death!"
That night, the entire world rose in rebellion.