"Cooperate?"

Xiang Ji furrowed his brows and glanced at the young man. Regardless of his intentions, it was quite astonishing that this guy could get close to such a place without being discovered by Guiling.

After some thought, Xiang Ji decided to first see what the other party had in mind. "Go on, tell me."

Strangely, the young man still maintained his original posture, not saying a word, his smile on his face becoming somewhat stiff, with his eye corners twitching slightly.

"Um... Can you please remove this thing? It hurts..."

Yuan shook his hand, which had just caught the thin thread shot out by Guiling. The expression on his face twisted even more.

Huh?

It was at this moment that Xiang Ji noticed that Yuan's raised hand had not caught Guiling's thread between his fingers, but that thing had pierced through his palm and stopped there.

So... he was just forcefully pretending to be cool with a smile on his face without moving earlier? Damn idiot!

Xiang Ji suddenly felt insulted by his own intelligence. He had actually been somewhat intimidated by this guy acting cool a moment ago.

Guiling pulled back the thread with a tug, and immediately a howl came from outside the window.

"Ouch ouch ouch it's killing me! If I knew it would hurt this much, I wouldn't have moved earlier! Damn it, blood is gushing!"

This guy is just a clown!

When Yuan finally stopped the ghostly crying and wolf howling by holding his left hand over his right hand, Xiang Ji's patience was wearing thin. "Hey, you better get serious now. What did you mean by cooperation earlier?"

"What else could be there to visit His Highness the Second Prince at this hour? Of course, it's about the throne. I can help you seize the throne."

"Well, there are plenty of people who can help me. Since you stand before me, you should know who I am. The premise of cooperation is having conditions to cooperate. What makes you qualified to talk about 'cooperation' with me?"

Xiang Ji almost couldn't help but sneer. Such straightforward people were rare.

"Qualifications... Does Earth Immortal count?"

To Xiang Ji's provocative words, Yuan did not pay much attention. He casually raised the hand he had been covering before and made a light scratch in front of himself. Although nearly imperceptible, Guiling, also at the Earth Immortal level, saw a fleeting black void.

Space shattered, a genuine law.

"Your Highness, indeed."

"What... him?! An Earth Immortal?" This time it was the Second Prince's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Although there may be some exaggeration, he is definitely at the Holy Rank level," Yuan nodded.

Xiang Ji's mouth opened slightly, his expression quite colorful, but ultimately, he was there to contend for the throne, so at this critical moment, there was no room for hesitation. He just performed a grand gesture without hesitation.

"I apologize for my rudeness."

"Haha, no problem at all. I'm not one to care about face anyway," Yuan said as he leaned against the window frame, somersaulted into the room, clapped his hands, and continued, "So, shall we discuss the cooperation properly now? When I went to the northwest to see His Highness about that sister of his, I was chased into the grassland by her all the way. I hope Your Highness can be gentler."

"You... have met Xiang Ling?"

"Yes, after all, she is of Holy Rank. If she agrees to cooperate, she would be of great help. Unfortunately, she didn't accept my conditions." Yuan sighed, feeling that it was somewhat disrespectful to say such things in front of Xiang Ji, so he quickly added, "Of course, going to Xiang Ling was just a whim. I have made full preparations to cooperate with you, Your Highness Xiang Ji."

"Preparations... what do you mean?"

The more Xiang Ji listened, the more he felt confused, as if he had lost control of the situation.

"Of course, it's all in preparation for Your Highness Xiang Ji's ascension to the throne," Yuan rubbed his hands and said with a smile. "For example, is the Immortal-Extinguishing Powder effective? The Emperor has yet to wake up, and I have contributed greatly to that."

"Immortal-Extinguishing Powder?!" Xiang Ji's heart suddenly raced, unable to believe that Yuan knew about it! This was supposed to be known only to himself and Guilin.

It was probably on the eve of Milt's Martial Arts Festival when the troops from Gaixia set out for the West Land that Guilin obtained a potion from some immortal site.

Even with his proficiency in witchcraft, Guilin couldn't fully identify all the ingredients of the potion, but he could tell it was a dangerous poison.

After analyzing a sample, Guilin confirmed that the potion rendered the victim unconscious with a slow and lethal effect that gradually drained away their life force without any obvious signs.

At that time, Xiang Ji was worried about his younger brother gaining favor with the Emperor, so he made a ruthless decision to have Guilin administer the potion to the Emperor.

An additional surprise was the name "Immortal-Extinguishing Powder." Legends spoke of a poison that could kill true immortals, but it was actually a generic term for top-notch poisons. There were still many fake poisons carrying the same name in the world of cultivation, but the true Immortal-Extinguishing Powders were likely only held by the ancient sects that inherited relics from the immortal realm.

"So, even the Emperor's death by such means befits his status, but... you too have a wolf's nature, Your Highness Xiang Ji," Yuan sighed. "I initially thought the Imperial family's lack of familial love was just a saying, but to see it in action is truly admirable. Only individuals like that can achieve great things."

Although spoken in admiration, Xiang Ji couldn't help but detect a hint of sarcasm in Yuan's words.

"Was it you who left that potion there?"

"Well... in a sense, yes. But it's a bit more complicated than what Your Highness may imagine," Yuan said.

Poisoning the Emperor wasn't as simple as it seemed. Even if the Immortal-Extinguishing Powder posed a challenge to modern medicine, the karmic threads above could still lead to a solution found by a skilled diviner like Xing Jian.

Likewise, to erase any trace of being involved in this matter and to avoid provoking Xing Jian as a formidable enemy, Yuan had to rack his brains to remove the karmic threads from the Immortal-Extinguishing Powder.

Fortunately, he was a kind of bug-like existence. After some effort, he successfully infused the Immortal-Extinguishing Powder with his own karma and circulated it a few times, leaving it in that immortal site.

"You're quite audacious..."

"Stop it, Your Highness. Let's not use such harsh language. After all, you administered the poison; I'm just a seller of arms. And you must admit, an Immortal-Extinguishing Powder that even Xing Jian and the Imperial Physician can't cure is quite useful, isn't it?"

Xiang Ji fell silent.

"And also, your dear sister may be occupied in the Northwest for some time, but I've done everything in my power to delay her."

"You mean the steppe tribes?" He had always found it suspicious that the steppe tribes suddenly sent a hundred thousand cavalry to invade. Was this guy meddling in the situation?

But hadn't the steppe tribes been eliminated already?

"Yeah, the steppe tribes are indeed not very reliable."

Yuan nodded in agreement, but his smile gradually faded. "So I still have a trick up my sleeve. If I'm lucky, His Highness Xiang Ji might just lose a competitor forever."

How is that possible?!

Xiang Ji looked at Yuan with an incredulous expression. He knew his sister's abilities very well, and the term "Land Immortal" said a lot. Could what this guy was saying... actually be true?

Before the morning sun cast its first rays on the city walls of Yanmen Pass, the entire fortress was bustling with activity.

A caravan in the fortress was loading up with valuable gifts specific to the border regions, as part of a ceremonial gesture. What other gifts...

Wedding... cough! Engagement, engagement.

They all seemed somewhat similar...

Military drills and new recruits' training tasks were being carried out simultaneously, everything was in perfect order. And the princess, who oversaw all this, was now standing on the parade ground watching as heavy lacquered wooden boxes were being loaded onto the carts.

At that moment, she caught a glimpse of the rising sun out of the corner of her eye.

"What is that?"

"What on earth?!"

When Tiran, who rushed out of the fortress building to the parade ground upon receiving the news, saw the object in the sky, he too was momentarily stunned.

Just five minutes ago, he was playing Landlord in his room, and now he was already here; the princess indicated that she couldn't handle it.

Didn't they just fight yesterday? Why was this happening again!

However, this time, the enemy was not a dense array of steppe cavalry, but the person casting a shadow in the fortress with his back to the sun.

White wings flapped in the air, a face familiar to Tiran.

"Little Feizi?"

No, wait, that's the Holy Spirit that has taken over her body.

But what is that guy trying to do? And what is that hessian sack he's holding onto, like a cosplay Santa Claus?