One does not strike a smiling face.

The Gong Family Head understood this principle well. Although this was a place of utmost secrecy within a place of secrecy, since his foolish son had already invited the guest here, and she had sworn a solemn oath, he would grant his foolish son’s wish. After all, one could not let an outsider witness the heir of his family lose face!

The Gong Family Head touched the box in his sleeve pocket, his expression cold and stern — and absolutely, certainly not because the other party had given generously. Absolutely not!

What mattered most was that Lang Jiuchuan’s aura of righteousness and golden radiance — he had eyes to see, and those eyes burned with envy. If such a child were to become his Gong Family heir’s wife, and the next generation they produced together…

He could not think about it!

The Gong Family Head cast a bland sideways glance at Gong Tinglan, his gaze carrying a measure of bitter indignation at his son’s uselessness.

Gong Tinglan: “?”

What had he done wrong now? He had even let his father snatch away the chance to offer an apology — what more did the man want?

The Gong Family Head kept the corner of his eye trained on Lang Jiuchuan. Seeing that she had entered the stone chamber without glancing around curiously or probing about, he felt a quiet satisfaction and said: “Dingshen told me that you were once a disciple under the State Preceptor. I had always assumed the Sacred Woman of the Huguo Sect was his only personally trained disciple.”

“That is precisely where his brilliance lies. The disciple by name was A’Qing — from beginning to end, only one person held that title. The other remained hidden in the shadows. No matter where she ultimately went, no one would suspect a thing, because the disciple ‘A’Qing’ was still alive.”

Lang Jiuchuan said lightly: “Who would have imagined that the true A’Qing lay suppressed within the imperial mausoleum, her soul scattered to the winds?”

The Gong Family Head’s pupils contracted slightly. “You were truly…”

“The genuine article.” Lang Jiuchuan smiled faintly. “A lie this grand — even if I were skilled at fabrication, I would not dare concoct such a thing to deceive an elder like yourself. Moreover, the incident two years ago in Pan City, when the dragon vein formation ran wild and berserk — you must have heard of it.”

The Gong Family Head nodded. “Such a momentous event, of course I heard. The dragon vein turned and went on a rampage, its energy crashing about chaotically. The innocent people and living creatures of Pan City would have been buried in the disaster. Word was that the State Preceptor sent one of his Daoren disciples to suppress it, and afterward a living shrine was erected in that Daoren’s honor. That shrine was called…”

What was it called again?

The Gong Family Head furrowed his brow, trying to recall.

“The Lady Jiuchuan Temple.”

“Right, Jiuchuan…” The Gong Family Head’s voice cut off abruptly. He stared at Lang Jiuchuan in stunned horror, a terrible thought taking shape in his mind. “That shrine was built for you? But you had already…”

“In my previous life I was suppressed within the imperial mausoleum. If an unceasing flow of merit and devotional power were to fall upon me, and I were used as the core eye of the formation to nourish the dragon vein of Tantai’s imperial mausoleum, enriching the nation’s fortune — what do you think of such a scheme?”

The Gong Family Head drew a sharp breath and thundered: “Such an act violates all human ethics and defies the order of Heaven and Earth! It is no different from driving a living stake into the imperial mausoleum — no better than wicked demonic practices! But wait — two years ago — was it during the ghost month of the seventh lunar month in the height of summer?”

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Precisely. What have you recalled?”

The Gong Family Head reflected: “In the sixth month two years ago, I traveled to Kunlun Tianshan to visit a friend. He happened to be observing the stars and calculating the nation’s fortune. He said that the fortune of the Great Dan had begun to decline, reaching a state of fading and waning. Now, as you well know, dynasties rise and fall within three hundred years. The Great Dan had been founded for over two hundred years, so its fortune beginning to ebb was perfectly natural — none of us paid it particular mind.”

The cycle of dynastic change was the most ordinary thing in the world. He was merely curious: what capable individual would replace the Tantai clan and rise as the new ruler?

Gong Tinglan and Lang Jiuchuan exchanged a glance. “And then?”

“I spent a month in discourse with that friend on the Dao. When the seventh month arrived, he witnessed a sudden shift in the star trajectories and, driven by his own conviction, employed the Great Divination Technique to cast a hexagram. The result was…” The Gong Family Head’s expression turned sorrowful. “He said the nation’s fortune showed signs of reviving from near-extinction and flourishing once more, that a greatly accomplished cultivator who protected the nation had fallen. After speaking these words, within a single day, he too fell — he had glimpsed heavenly secrets and suffered the rebound.”

Gong Tinglan frowned. “A great cultivator protecting the nation — what a coincidence. Would that not mean…”

“If you were lured into a trap in the seventh month, it corresponded precisely to the heavenly secrets my friend had glimpsed. With the great calamity that struck Pan City afterward, no one would have the slightest suspicion. But the truth was not that a great cultivator fell protecting the nation — you were planted as a living stake at the core eye of the formation within the imperial mausoleum, nourishing the nation’s fortune so that its already fading and waning fate could set sail once more.” The Gong Family Head’s emotions were deeply conflicted. He had not expected that fate would weave such a coincidence — that he had witnessed his friend fall, and what that death ultimately corresponded to, would land here on Lang Jiuchuan.

Lang Jiuchuan was equally surprised. “So the urgency in suppressing me was not entirely because I was growing too quickly. It was that the Great Dan’s national fortune was declining — that is why they could not wait any longer to put me to use.”

That explained it. They could have waited — waited until her accumulated merit was even more abundant before filling the mausoleum with her, which would have served their purposes far better. Yet they had moved after her Foundation Establishment. It was not that they feared her power advancing at a reckless pace — they simply had no choice.

Because the rise and fall of the nation’s fortune mattered more to him than anything else.

The Gong Family Head gazed steadily at her. Such an outstanding disciple — planted as a living stake deep within the imperial mausoleum, feeding and nourishing the fortune of the Great Dan. And yet, what had he done in secret all these years? Over these two centuries of survival, what other acts had he committed to enrage both gods and men?

Why specifically Lang Jiuchuan? Was it purely her fate’s configuration, or was she bearing some great fortune of her own?

The Gong Family Head’s eyes stirred with a welling brilliance. As the golden light radiating from Lang Jiuchuan’s body grew more and more intense, his eyes stung sharply and his face drained of color.

“Father!” Gong Tinglan called out sharply, stepping in front of Lang Jiuchuan. The spiritual energy at his fingertips condensed and sank into the Gong Family Head’s spiritual core.

The Gong Family Head stumbled slightly. He patted his son’s hand and steadied his own breath, then said to Lang Jiuchuan: “I did not intentionally try to peer into your essence — it is simply that the more I looked, the less I could see through, and instead I…”

He pressed down the surging qi and blood in his core energy center, inwardly shaken. He had nearly suffered a rebound.

Lang Jiuchuan took out a medicinal pellet and held it out to him. “This medicine can replenish your vital energy.”

The Gong Family Head caught the faint medicinal fragrance, swallowed the pellet, circulated his energy briefly to dissolve it, and felt the wondrous potency of the medicine spreading through him. He sighed: “Little Dao Friend, you are truly a person of extraordinary gifts — no wonder the State Preceptor would… I cannot see through the nature of your essence. It must be the will of Heaven. Only one who bears great fortune or great merit would prevent others from fully reading their fate and fortune. It is likely precisely because of this that the State Preceptor’s schemes against you have been so deep and far-reaching.”

“And yet we still cannot deduce exactly what he intends.” Gong Tinglan furrowed his brow. “Father, not knowing his aim leaves us passive — we can only be led around by the nose. I have already dispatched a number of Gong Family disciples to travel the land and investigate whether any families or individuals have suffered unusual disturbances in their fortune, but I fear it will be difficult to divine anything conclusive. Moreover, the State Preceptor’s mind and cultivation are both unfathomably deep. The Dao he has steadfastly upheld must mean his schemes were laid out long ago. We…”

“Dingshen — in the great Dao, Heaven’s divination accounts for forty-nine parts, but there is always one thread of opportunity left for our kind. The fact that we have become aware of the impending calamity for all living beings means that thread of opportunity has already fallen to us. If we wish to uphold the righteous path, then give everything we have — and as for the outcome, leave it to the will of Heaven.” The Gong Family Head spoke with grave solemnity. “Selling yourself short will not do, and haste leads to mistakes and misjudgments.”

“Your son has been instructed.”

The Gong Family Head then walked to the dust-sealed shelves inside the stone chamber, rummaged through them, and produced an even more ancient scroll. “Have a look at this — it is the ancestral history of the Tantai clan.”