Su Yan and Guo Xiaodie wandered the Second Capital's palace grounds while Yuan Qi played ghost, wrapping himself around eunuchs' necks and whispering in their ears. Guo Xiaodie pulled blankets off sleeping concubines.
Su Yan ignored them. He searched for the Li family's Jade Capital dragon-seeking technique but found nothing.
The bell amused itself striking every palace bell it found. No sound carried across worlds.
*This palace is haunted tonight.*
At the Rongde Palace, Guo Xiaodie peeked inside, blushed furiously, and blocked Yuan Qi. "Don't go in. The Emperor and a consort are sleeping."
Yuan Qi paused. "Wait. Wasn't the Emperor wounded in the eastern palace?"
Guo Xiaodie peeked into the neighboring Xinde Palace, then retreated again. "Another Emperor here too."
Yuan Qi counted on his claws. "One wounded Emperor. Two Emperors sleeping with consorts. How many Emperors live in this palace?"
Guo Xiaodie's eyes widened. "Ghosts?"
Su Yan found the Qinghua Hall empty now. Pei Du and Li Huangshu had moved their confrontation elsewhere.
They passed the Lone Willow Tree. In the mortal world, it was enormous, roots drinking from execution grounds, branches heavy with decapitated heads. Headless ghosts perched like birds, facing the tree, whispering secrets.
"They feed the tree," Su Yan realized. "It cultivates through their resentment."
The Lone Willow was walking the path of incense divinity. With Lingyan Pavilion's heroes suppressing it, it couldn't grow dangerous. Yet.
Guo Yue finally opened the portal back. They stumbled into morning light. The storm had passed. Stars faded over a washed-clean sky.
Su Yan woke early and cultivated in the garden. Above him, a light-field of five or six mu spread across the sky, dao-seeds falling like luminous rain. He channeled the Grand Unity Daoyin Art, stirring his Mud Pill secret's power. Chaos seas rippled. A grotto-heaven manifested behind him, rooted in primal darkness, drinking power from the void.
His Jade Pool and Crimson Palace secrets were also open now. Without the Pei or Guo clan's supreme techniques, he couldn't fully harness them. But even their residual energy made his cultivation speed extraordinary.
*The Six Secrets are six portable blessed lands. Is this the true path of cultivation?*
The fog lifted from his mind. He saw it clearly now—two paths diverged. One took cultivation as root and the Six Secrets as fruit. The other took the Six Secrets as root and cultivation as nourishment.
Guo Tianxiong watched from nearby. "Good technique. Truly good."
Su Yan jumped. The old man was massive; Su Yan felt like a child beside him.
"Elder Guo, I'm not necessarily that ancient undying one. Call me Su Yan. Or King of Yao, if you prefer."
"Rules matter. Elder Xu, call me Little Guo."
Su Yan stared.
Guo Tianxiong pressed him about unifying different secrets. Su Yan explained his method—using the Grand Unity Daoyin Art as foundation, drawing from Mud Pill, Jade Pool, and Crimson Palace as nutrients.
"Did Zhou Qiyun cultivate the same way?"
"No. He took cultivation as root and the Six Secrets as fruit."
Guo Tianxiong sat on the ground and drew two diagrams in stone. One showed a human body with six grotto-heavens distributed around it. The other showed a tree bearing six fruits.
"Which is correct?"
Su Yan considered. "The fruit-path grants greater power faster. Strength, qi, spiritual sense, flesh—all can reach immortal levels quickly. The root-path requires step-by-step advancement."
Guo Tianxiong nodded. "Zhou Qiyun was a genius. He advanced fast. And he was eaten."
He frowned. "The problem is the fruit. Who harvests it? If you cultivate your whole life only for someone else to pluck the fruit—you're finished."
Su Yan's heart chilled. "Elder Guo, when you first inherited your clan's techniques, did you feel something watching you?"
Guo Tianxiong's face grayed. "Yes. When I first cultivated the Crimson Palace secret, I felt eyes on me. Lately, the feeling has grown stronger."
He laughed suddenly. "But my life is mine, not heaven's. If I won't submit to heaven, why submit to anyone? Elder Xu, your root-path gives me hope."
Su Yan was silent. Then he shook his head. "When I unconsciously activated the Mud Pill Inner-Realm cultivation method, I felt those eyes too."
Guo Tianxiong's smile froze. His heroic spirit drained away.
"You mean... the root-path is also harvested?"
Su Yan nodded slowly.
Guo Tianxiong slumped against the stone. "Then where is the vitality?"