Chapter 50: Is This Emperor Any Good?

“It really was thanks to you, Great Immortal, for fishing out a great talent. With a simple strategy, they subdued everyone in the court,” Emperor Li said with a smile.

Chen Xiyi recalled—fishing out a great talent? It probably meant the well-bred young woman Lü Xian. She surprisingly had three abilities, especially the last one, Good at Strategy. He guessed she was the one who came up with the plan.

Chen Xiyi didn’t feel much about it. It was just fishing out an NPC, nothing special.

“I see,” Chen Xiyi nodded and didn’t say more.

Seeing this, Emperor Li naturally picked up the conversation. “Great Immortal, I feel that lately my Nurturing Spirit has made no progress at all…”

Listening to Emperor Li, Chen Xiyi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. This was another situation where he had to bluff.

He had no choice but to listen carefully and then make up lies tailored to the situation. The lies couldn’t be made up randomly; otherwise, there might be holes in his story.

“It’s only been a few days, Your Majesty, and you already want to Attain the Dao? If it were that easy, wouldn’t everyone in the world be an immortal already?” Chen Xiyi retorted.

“But that Old Taoist Xuan Li only…”

Emperor Li tried to argue, but Chen Xiyi cut him off.

“Old Taoist Xuan Li served the Dao for years, dedicating his whole heart to the path of the Dao. That’s why he could develop sharpness. Do you have that kind of focus, Your Majesty?”

“Don’t think that because you’ve been eating Nourishing Spiritual Food for years, you can progress a thousand miles in a day. Nurturing Spirit is about the spirit, not just the nurturing.”

Chen Xiyi’s bluffing made Emperor Li fall into deep thought.

He kept reflecting and making assumptions, realizing he really wasn’t as dedicated as Old Taoist Xuan Li.

Emperor Li’s daily work wasn’t easy. He not only had to attend the morning court but also handle official duties, review memorials, manage major affairs, and so on. Every task was mentally draining. So, even if he carved out time for Nurturing Spirit and Attaining the Dao, he couldn’t possibly do it all day like Old Taoist Xuan Li.

Seeing Emperor Li deep in thought, Chen Xiyi accurately grasped his mindset and then continued, “Nourishing Spiritual Food is good, but it’s just part of the nurturing process. Eating more does help with Attaining the Dao, but it doesn’t help the sword spirit at all. If you want the sword spirit to be born, it needs you, not the Nourishing Spiritual Food.”

“If your heart isn’t pure, Nurturing Spirit to Attain the Dao will be very difficult.”

As Chen Xiyi kept bluffing, Emperor Li’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if he had broken through some kind of bottleneck.

Chen Xiyi understood that his bluffing had worked and that Emperor Li had probably made up some random things in his head.

“Thank you for your guidance, Great Immortal. Your words suddenly cleared things up for me,” Emperor Li said with a hint of gratitude.

“It’s nothing. The sooner you Attain the Dao, the sooner I can start making the Divine Soil Xirang,” Chen Xiyi replied calmly. He felt uncomfortable always putting on this act, but when he thought about the vast resources, he decided he had to get used to it. As a Player, immersing himself in the game was one way to play.

While the two were talking, Wang Li, Prince Zhuang, occasionally chimed in.

The conversation was quite harmonious. Chen Xiyi wasn’t a smooth talker or an old hand, but he knew his limits—what to say, what not to say, and when to stay quiet.

So, most of the time, Chen Xiyi played the role of a listener rather than chatting with them.

Fortunately, both Emperor Li and Wang Li seemed used to Chen Xiyi’s persona and didn’t force him to talk.

Chen Xiyi’s silence actually made his image seem even more profound and mysterious—well, mostly they just made assumptions about him.

But fishing out all kinds of random things really opened their eyes, especially Wang Li, who had no idea that so many items could be fished out of the small pond in the courtyard.

“Then I’ll take my leave and not disturb your fishing fun, Great Immortal,” Emperor Li said as he stood up.

As the Eunuch Official behind Emperor Li helped him up, the Eunuch Official suddenly pulled a dagger from his sleeve and thrust it straight toward Emperor Li’s back.

This happened too fast for anyone to react.

Jianghu probably noticed, but Jianghu didn’t care, since it was Emperor Li who was dying, not Chen Xiyi.

That stab was really tricky, hitting Emperor Li right in the heart. He wasn’t dead yet, but Chen Xiyi wondered if he should finish him off.

[Emperor Wang Sheng’s Health Points: 5%, Status: Near Death]

[Abilities]

[Omitted…]

If he finished him off, he could probably collect the emperor’s outfit. This made Chen Xiyi a little tempted.

But while he was thinking about it, everyone else rushed over and pinned down the Eunuch Official. The Eunuch Official just smiled scornfully, bit down on a poison capsule in his mouth, and swallowed it.

The scene became chaotic. Wang Li also reacted by then, quickly covering Emperor Li’s wound and saying anxiously, “Great Immortal, please use your Immortal Arts to save His Majesty…”

Chen Xiyi wanted to save him, but the problem was he didn’t have the ability.

He also knew that if Emperor Li died… Well, it didn’t seem to make much difference. Whoever became emperor would still have to give him resources. His original claim was about Immortality, and now he had enough power too. If a less clever emperor took over, wouldn’t he get even more resources?

Emperor Li was definitely smarter than Chen Xiyi. Chen Xiyi was just an ordinary person, while Emperor Li was a tough man who fought for the throne. Chen Xiyi only managed to bluff him because of the information gap. Without that, Chen Xiyi felt his own intelligence would probably get him played to death.

Still, if Emperor Li died here, it might cause him some trouble later.

But then again, maybe that trouble wasn’t such a big deal?

“This is his Tribulation. I cannot interfere. If I do, the Tribulation might grow and cause suffering for all living beings,” Chen Xiyi shook his head and said.

“This… Quick, call the imperial physicians! Hurry…” Wang Li was decisive. If Chen Xiyi wouldn’t save him, they had to rely on the imperial physicians.

‘Jianghu, hurry and steal the kill. Otherwise, his health bar will drop to zero. I’m counting on picking up an outfit. Be subtle and don’t let anyone notice,’ Chen Xiyi silently ordered Jianghu in his mind.

Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well benefit from it.

[Jianghu used Water Manipulation on Emperor Wang Sheng, dealing 5% Health Points damage]

[Jianghu killed Emperor Wang Sheng]

Jianghu used Water Manipulation to attack Emperor Li’s body subtly under his imperial robes, taking away his last 5% Health Points.

What came next was simple—he needed an excuse to collect Emperor Li’s body. Otherwise, killing him would have been for nothing, and he still wanted that emperor’s outfit.

He might not wear it, but it would be nice to collect. This was just making the most of a bad situation.