The middle-aged man thought in silence for a moment, then looked at the blue-robed Daoist across from him and asked, "The Great Xuan palace and the Azure Cloud Temple have always left each other in peace. Why would they move against Elder Sister?"
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist said nothing for a moment, then let out a sigh, "The matter touches on a very important secret of the Azure Cloud Temple, and someone who left the temple as many years ago as you have would not normally have the standing to know it."
"However, since this secret has somehow been leaked and the Great Xuan palace has already learned of it, there is no harm in telling you now."
As he said this, the blue-robed Daoist looked at the middle-aged man and then asked, "Are you aware of a sect within Great Li called the Azure Cloud Sect?"
The middle-aged man gave a nod, "I know of it, naturally. The Azure Cloud Sect is in Wan Province within Great Li. As far as I know, there appears to be a significant connection between it and the Azure Cloud Temple in Great Xuan."
"That is correct."
The blue-robed Daoist picked up the wine jar and took a swig, "The Azure Cloud Sect was founded a hundred years ago by one of the temple's most senior elders who returned to his homeland. And in less than a hundred years, that elder developed the Azure Cloud Sect into a highly esteemed martial sect in Wan Province."
At those words, the middle-aged man's expression shifted, "Could this matter be related to the Azure Cloud Sect?"
The blue-robed Daoist gave a slight nod, then looked at the middle-aged man and said, "Before coming to find you, I had already made a trip to the Azure Cloud Sect and met with that founding elder."
But before he could speak, the blue-robed Daoist said in a perfectly level tone, "You are probably wondering how I could possibly be meeting with an elder who founded the Azure Cloud Sect a hundred years ago."
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly and said nothing, clearly waiting for the blue-robed Daoist's explanation.
"That composure of yours is as unruffled as ever. But what I am about to tell you is no small thing. If it were to spread, the entire martial world would be thrown into bloodshed and turmoil. Even a Martial God would not be spared."
The blue-robed Daoist's expression was unreadable, tinged with both mockery and a note of gravity.
Then he fixed his gaze on the middle-aged man and said, "The reason I was able to meet the Azure Cloud Sect's founding elder is that he is still alive today, at the age of over two hundred and forty years. Over two hundred years old, and from what I saw, still in remarkably vigorous health."
At those words, the middle-aged man went momentarily still, then shook his head, "That is impossible. Throughout all of history, the longest anyone has lived is perhaps a hundred and twenty or thirty years at most. How could there be someone in this world living to over two hundred?"
"Remember, even the Tianqi Emperor, who spent his life pursuing immortality and searched every corner of the world and beyond, never found a method of extending life."
The corner of the blue-robed Daoist's mouth curved into a sardonic smile, "Because the Tianqi Emperor could not find a method of extending life, does that mean no one in the world ever could?"
"I will not hide it from you. The person who found such a method is that very founding elder of the Azure Cloud Sect."
Then the blue-robed Daoist explained, "Over a hundred years ago, while that founding elder of the Azure Cloud Sect was wandering through the martial world, he chanced upon a Daoist scripture called the Longevity Scripture."
"At the time, that elder was already the most powerful person in the temple, but he was also already old with little life remaining. And so he gambled, using the less than a year he had left to cultivate the Longevity Scripture."
"What he found was that the more he cultivated it, the younger he felt. In the end, he miraculously returned to the body of his youth."
"But this was all too extraordinary to explain, and so the elder quietly left the Azure Cloud Temple he had known all his life, changed his identity, and returned to his homeland to found the Azure Cloud Sect."
At those words, the middle-aged man's gaze fixed hard on the blue-robed Daoist, and a series of expressions moved across his face.
Even so, he did not speak, apparently wondering whether the blue-robed Daoist was making up a story.
"Is there truly a scripture or cultivation method capable of extending life by over a hundred years?"
Suddenly, the middle-aged man stood up, staring at the blue-robed Daoist across from him with an expression of complete seriousness.
"Naturally it is true. If you do not believe me, you can go and ask Elder Sister directly after she is rescued."
"You may not trust this poor Daoist, but surely you cannot distrust your own Elder Sister?"
The blue-robed Daoist looked at the middle-aged man calmly, but very quickly his expression darkened, and he gave a stern warning, "You may do as you please serving as a dog's leg for the Great Li court. But the matter of the Longevity Scripture, once you walk out of here today, you are absolutely not permitted to tell another person, and most especially not the Great Li emperor."
"The Longevity Scripture was given to the Azure Cloud Temple by the Azure Cloud Sect's founding elder, and within the temple only this poor Daoist and Elder Sister, along with two of our Master Uncles, know of it."
"I have no wish, after resolving the matter with the Great Xuan palace, to then also have to deal with a Great Li emperor coveting the scripture, or for it to bring trouble upon the Azure Cloud Sect."
At those words, the middle-aged man shook his head, "Rest easy. I have not yet confirmed whether what you say is true, and naturally would not spread it around."
"And besides, a matter as significant as the Longevity Scripture is not something anyone would speak of lightly."
The blue-robed Daoist gave a nod, "I hope your words hold. If you let this out and bring disaster upon the temple, even at the cost of my own life, I will kill you."
The middle-aged man looked at the blue-robed Daoist, then shook his head slowly, "Elder Brother need not say this. Though I have been away from the Azure Cloud Temple for many years, I would never betray the temple."
He then considered for a moment, as though something had occurred to him, and suddenly looked at the blue-robed Daoist, "I have one question. Since Elder Brother has already gone to meet the Azure Cloud Sect's founding elder, did you ask him to act and help rescue Elder Sister?"
"That founding elder was already the most powerful person in the temple a hundred years ago. Now, a hundred years on, his martial cultivation has surely reached a level that is difficult to even imagine. With him acting, rescuing Elder Sister should be no trouble at all."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a quiet laugh, "That mind of yours is as calculating as ever. But on this particular point you have asked the right question."
Then the blue-robed Daoist gave the middle-aged man a long look, "There is one more thing about the Longevity Scripture that I forgot to mention."
"The Longevity Scripture places extremely demanding requirements on the cultivator. It cannot be practiced by anyone below the first rank of the Heaven-Human Realm. And while cultivating it can extend one's life, it comes with one very significant drawback."
At those words, the middle-aged man furrowed his brow, "What drawback?"
"Anyone who cultivates the Longevity Scripture will find their martial cultivation gradually fading and retreating. The Azure Cloud Sect's founding elder today has martial cultivation even below that of a Martial Dao Grand Master. How could I possibly ask him to act and rescue Elder Sister?"
The blue-robed Daoist shook his head, then looked at the middle-aged man, "Are you a little disappointed?"
"The Longevity Scripture trades martial cultivation for years of life. Anyone who obtains it would probably only be willing to abandon their lifetime of cultivation when their allotted years are nearly spent, in exchange for a hundred more years of continued existence."
At those words, the middle-aged man's eyes did flash with a moment of disappointment, but it faded quickly and he returned to his normal composure, "Nothing in the world is perfect. For many people, living a hundred years more would already be an extraordinary gift from heaven."
As he said this, the middle-aged man thought for a moment, then looked at the blue-robed Daoist and said, "Elder Sister has met with misfortune, and it is naturally my duty to lend my help without question."
"As for the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, I may actually be able to approach His Majesty and ask to borrow it. Given the years of trust between His Majesty and myself, he would not refuse me. Only..."
At that point, the middle-aged man stopped, and a look of difficulty appeared on his face.
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist stood up from his chair and said in a low voice, "Only what? If you are confident you can borrow the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, then go to the Great Li emperor and borrow it. You have been his errand boy for enough years. This is what you are owed."
The middle-aged man shook his head and let out a sigh, "It is not that. The trouble is... the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword has been lost."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist's expression went briefly blank, and when he processed what he had been told, he said in a low voice, "How is that possible? The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is Great Li's national divine weapon. How could the Great Li emperor possibly tolerate losing it? And if something so significant had happened, why is there not a single rumor of it anywhere in the martial world?"
As he said this, the blue-robed Daoist's gaze suddenly went cold, and he looked at the middle-aged man, "Or perhaps this is simply your excuse, and you never had any real intention of borrowing the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword to rescue Elder Sister."
At those words, the middle-aged man waved a hand, as though about to say something, but then stopped himself.
In the end he shook his head and said, "Elder Brother misunderstands me. Elder Sister's kindness to me is as weighty as a mountain. Even at the cost of my own life, I would find a way to rescue her."
"The trouble is the timing of Elder Brother's visit. If you had come to borrow the sword a little over a month ago, I could certainly have arranged it. But the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was seized about a month ago. It is genuinely lost."
The blue-robed Daoist's eyes fixed on the middle-aged man intently, and this time it was his turn to assess whether his junior brother, whom he had not seen in over ten years, was lying.
After a long while, the blue-robed Daoist finally withdrew his gaze and asked, "If you say the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is lost, you must have searched for it. Do you know how it was taken and who currently has it?"
The blue-robed Daoist had asked this more as an afterthought, not really expecting any useful answer.
After all, if the middle-aged man knew who had the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, the Great Li emperor would surely have already sent experts to take it back long ago, and there would be no need for him to go to the trouble.
But at that moment, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then said, "To avoid Elder Brother thinking I am lying, the identity of the person who took the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is not actually something I cannot tell you."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist's gaze came to a halt, and he immediately asked with a furrowed brow, "Who? If you know who has the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, why have you not taken it back?"
The middle-aged man shook his head, "Not because we are unwilling, but because we cannot and dare not. Because... the one who took the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was His Highness the Eighth Prince."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist's expression went briefly blank, and then he looked at the middle-aged man for confirmation, "You are saying the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is currently in the Eighth Prince's hands?"
The middle-aged man gave a slow nod, "This was witnessed firsthand by the palace eunuch expert who guards the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword. A number of surviving remnants of the former Great Qi dynasty also made their move to seize the sword at the time, though obviously none of them were a match for the Eighth Prince, and so the sword ended up in his hands."
As he said this, the middle-aged man glanced at the blue-robed Daoist and continued, "However, according to what the Hidden Intelligence Bureau's agents have discovered, after obtaining the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, the Eighth Prince did not use it himself, but gave it to one of his subordinates."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist immediately furrowed his brow, "The Eighth Prince seized his own court's national divine weapon, and rather than using it himself, gave it away to a subordinate?"
The blue-robed Daoist was clearly struggling to understand Li Musheng's thinking. The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword was a famous divine weapon that ranked on the list of great weapons under heaven, something that countless martial world figures dreamed of possessing.
No matter how exceptional the man's martial cultivation, it was hard to imagine him showing such indifference to something like this that he would simply give it away.
At those words, the middle-aged man shook his head slowly, "That Eighth Prince's martial talent is utterly without precedent, and some of his ways of thinking are as untraceable as an antelope in the night, impossible to fathom."
As he said this, he looked at the blue-robed Daoist, "This matter is an absolute secret within the Great Li imperial family, and I should not by rights be telling Elder Brother any of it. But for Elder Sister's sake, I can make an exception just this once. I hope Elder Brother will not spread it."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist raised an eyebrow, and then seemed to understand what the middle-aged man was suggesting, and said with a look of suspicion, "You are not going to your Eighth Prince to get the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword back, but you are telling me all of this. Surely you do not want me to go and take it from him?"
The middle-aged man neither confirmed nor denied this, "Elder Brother misunderstands my meaning. I am not suggesting Elder Brother go and seize the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword. Given the Eighth Prince's martial strength, that would very likely get Elder Brother killed."
As he said this, the middle-aged man's eyes narrowed, "But since taking it by force is not an option, Elder Brother could consider approaching the Eighth Prince and asking to borrow the sword."
"Borrow it? I have no connection to the man whatsoever. Why would he be willing to lend the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword to me?"
The blue-robed Daoist momentarily felt his junior brother was talking nonsense.
But the middle-aged man waved a hand, "If Elder Brother goes to the Eighth Prince to borrow the sword, naturally something must be offered that appeals to him. If Elder Brother can bring a bargaining chip that genuinely interests the Eighth Prince, and given that he does not particularly value the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, there is perhaps a very good chance the loan could be arranged."
At those words, a gleam passed through the blue-robed Daoist's eyes, and he fell into a thoughtful expression, as though turning the middle-aged man's suggestion over in his mind.
After a moment, the blue-robed Daoist said slowly, "That is not without merit as a method. The trouble is I am not familiar with that Eighth Prince, so how would I know what to offer him to get his agreement?"
The middle-aged man glanced at the blue-robed Daoist and shook his head, "It does not matter. Elder Brother may not know the Eighth Prince, but Junior Brother has looked into everything about him and knows he has some particular interests."
"For instance, he is keenly interested in the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys and certain intangible things such as the divine beast Fire Qilin."
As he said this, the middle-aged man shifted his tone, "This need not concern Elder Brother further. As it happens, I know the whereabouts of something he is interested in, though given my own position I cannot approach him directly, and can only ask Elder Brother to step in and make a deal with the Eighth Prince to obtain the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword in exchange."
"And if at all possible, it would be best of all if Elder Brother could persuade the Eighth Prince to personally lend his assistance."
"Of course, that may be too much to hope for. If it cannot be done, there is no point forcing it."