Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Li Mu continued with his sweeping of the floors at the palace, feeling disappointed.

“Whatever…”

“Better not ask for too much.”

Also, he continued training at night.

“Congratulations to the host for checking in. Qi Gathering Pill rewarded.”

Days passed.

Li Mu began to get to know the place better.

The old court lady stayed by the concubine’s side day and night.

The concubine never came out of her room. Li Mu wondered if it was because she was sad or if that was just the way she was.

This “cold” palace was huge.

Except for her quarters, where he was forbidden to go, all the rest of the palace became Li Mu’s territory.

It wasn’t bad. It meant he could train in silence after sweeping up the palace every day.

However, three months later, his training hit a bottleneck.

Then, one night about two weeks later, he popped a Barrier Breaking Pill that took his training to new heights.

That pill had been one of the pills he’d acquired from continuously checking in during the past several months.

“I wonder how far my training has gone. How would my abilities compare to the members of the Imperial Horse Directorate?”

Li Mu shook his head as he thought about that.

“Now is not the time to pick fights. The outside world is dangerous, and it’s better to just stay quiet in the ‘cold’ palace.”

“Xiaolizi, clean up the compound well. Someone is paying us a visit tomorrow morning,” the old court lady called at his door.

“Someone? Isn’t this the ‘cold’ palace?” Li Mu asked, feeling curious.

He had found that the old court lady wasn’t difficult to get along with after being around her for months.

“The empress has pleaded for Concubine Jing, so the prince is being permitted to visit Concubine Jing.”

The only other person who the old court lady talked to was Li Mu, and so of course she was very eager to blabber away every time they talked.

Li Mu got to know a thing or two about the outside world because of that.

Concubine Jing had a son before she was condemned.

The prince was only two years old when his mother was condemned to the “cold” palace.

Her son had been raised by the empress ever since.

Seeing that the prince was now about to turn three years old, the empress was compassionate enough to worry that the prince wouldn’t be able to recognize his mother.

She also worried that Concubine Jing could fall ill due to worrying about the prince night and day.

For these reasons, she pleaded with the emperor, and the prince was permitted to visit his mother every month.

Li Mu swept the entire palace right away.

He even washed certain places repeatedly.

He wasn’t trying to curry favor with the prince. He just didn’t want his quiet life to be disturbed.

What happened next made a mockery of all his efforts.

A huge group of court ladies and eunuchs came to the “cold” palace at 9:00 a.m., before the prince’s visit, and cleaned the entire palace thoroughly.

“D*mn, I could have saved all my energy for something else if I’d known about this.”

He lamented having wasted his night for nothing when suddenly a group of guards walked into the palace.

“This kid is three years old, man! Is such an entourage really necessary?”

“The empress arrives!”

Li Mu, who was standing in the corner, quickly prostrated himself on the floor.

The empress then entered the palace with her entourage of court ladies and eunuchs.

Several eunuchs and guards then stood outside the palace.

“Why is the empress here?” He wondered about that before continuing his day of checking in.

He really didn’t care at all about who the visitor was, as it had little to do with him.

Ding! “Source Gathering Pill acquired. Ingestion will result in the acquisition of five years’ worth of powers.”

Huff~

“Finally, something to boost my powers.”

The entire “cold” palace was filled with eunuchs, court ladies, and guards. It was a bad time for ingesting a pill.

He began observing the guards and eunuchs out of boredom.

Quite a number of them were wearing purple robes.

Those eunuchs were the ones serving the emperor personally.

Swoop~

A eunuch wearing purple robes turned his gaze in Li Mu’s direction all of a sudden.

Pressure washed all over him.

He lowered his head right away.

“This is something dangerous.”

It took only a single peek for his cover to be busted.

He was able to read the air around that old eunuch.

That old eunuch was far more powerful than he was.

He then thought that he might be able to fight that old eunuch to a standstill if he were to ingest the Source Gathering Pill that night.

The royal palace was filled with formidable people everywhere.

“Best to be more careful from here on out.”

The Jingning Palace became silent again as soon as the empress left.

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Li Mu then returned to his check-ins out of boredom.

…

Autumn came two months later.

Coughs were heard all over the massive palace.

Li Mu frowned.

“I sure hope that something isn’t happening to Concubine Jing.”

“Xiaolizi, take this token and head to the Imperial Dispensary. Fetch some medicine for Concubine Jing’s cold.”

The old court lady threw a token to Li Mu as she walked through the compound.

“This is…”

“A token pass left behind by the empress, and no one will dare to cross her. Relax and get going already.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Li Mu took the token pass and bowed.

Finally, a chance to check out other places that weren’t the “cold” palace.

He was dumbstruck as soon as he walked outside.

“Where is the dispensary by the way?”

There was no one for him to ask.

“Whatever…”

“Let’s just see what happens.”

“I have the token pass, so I need to fear nothing.”

“Check in.”

Li Mu made sure to check in every time he walked past a new place.

“Successfully checked in at the Palace Horse Directorate. Shenfeng Footwork rewarded.”

“Successfully checked in at Jianzhang Palace. The Saint Spirit Sword Techniques rewarded.”

……

“Hey, you. What are you doing around here?”

A green-robed eunuch called out to Li Mu as he was engrossed with his check-ins.

“Sir, I’m from Jingning Palace, and I’m traveling on the empress’s orders to fetch some medicine from the Imperial Dispensary. I lost my way since I haven’t been around here for very long, so…”

Li Mu then handed him the token pass that the old court lady had given him.

“Oh, orders from the empress, eh? Right then, follow me.”

The old eunuch took a look at the token pass and returned it to him.

The old eunuch didn’t know if the empress was actually waiting for this gray-robed eunuch to finish his task, so the old eunuch didn’t find fault with him. The old eunuch walked with him for a bit before pointing him on his way and left.

Li Mu quickly found the dispensary from the green-robed eunuch’s directions.

“Who are you?”

“I’m here on the empress’s orders to fetch some medicines for a cold.” Li Mu bowed and handed over the token pass.

The inquirer took a look at the token and said, “Follow me.”

He then had Li Mu stand around and wait when they got inside.

“Imperial Dispensary. Check in.”

“Successfully checked in at the Imperial Dispensary. Minor Recovery Pill rewarded. Ingesting the Minor Recovery Pill will grant 30 years of powers.”

Li Mu then walked out of the Imperial Dispensary and returned to the Jingning Palace along the way he had come after getting the medicines.

His trip was a very smooth one since he’d had the token pass with him.

He handed the items to the old court lady and went back to his cleaning.

In a little while, he was called to test the medicine. Then, he returned to his room after confirming that he would no longer be disturbed.

Quite a day! He had gotten lots of rewards.

The Shenfeng Footwork was a set of movement techniques that was rarely found in this world.

The Saint Spirit Sword Techniques were a set of signature techniques of the Sword Saint, and there were four tiers to it.

The first stroke to the 18th stroke.

The moves were unflinching and unending and were also known as the emotion-filled strokes.

The 19th to the 22nd strokes…

These four moves were psychologically shocking and soul-crushing, being extremely brutal, and thus were known as the emotionless strokes.

The 23rd was the last move that the Sword Saint had created.

That was the move of will, which was capable of destroying the opponent’s will. It was a move that enabled one to level the place around them with a sword will alone, enabling one to kill without making a move.

The fourth tier was divided into the 23rd Stroke Devoid of Self and the World-ending 23rd Stroke, both of which had been created by Dugu Jian and Huangfu Jian, building on the foundations of the Sword Saint’s techniques.

Dugu Jian was also known as the reincarnation of the Sword Saint himself.

Li Mu suppressed his excitement and popped the pill.

He felt his feet getting lighter the very next day.

He subconsciously began to play with the moves of the Saint Spirit Sword Techniques, using the broom as he was sweeping.

He was of course doing all this in secret.

His level of powers at the moment would make it difficult for the concubine or the court lady to discover what he was doing.

He perked up his ears and listened.

He could hear two people breathing in the palace, one solid and one frail.

The frail breaths came from the concubine.

“Hold on. The breaths… D*mn it, the concubine has been poisoned. It’s a slow-acting one.”

Li Mu was shocked.

Someone had actually decided to poison the concubine despite the empress’s attention, and moreover, they had used a slow-acting poison.