Unsheathed

The grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism was about to draw to a close, and it was during this time that the emperor of the Azure Phoenix Nation secretly visited a summer palace located near the outskirts of the capital. An esteemed guest was going to visit him here, and even though Tang Li was an emperor in the mortal world, he still didn't dare to slight his guest.

This was because the guest was Jiang Mao, a highly respected old man from the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan. Not only was he an old immortal at the Upper Five Tiers much like a pillar for the Jiang Clan, but he was also a lofty teacher responsible for educating all of the descendants in the Jiang Clan.

Apart from Jiang Mao, there was also the direct disciple of the Jiang Clan who had married into Old Dragon City's Fu Clan and was returning to visit for the first time. Accompanying her was the old maidservant who had followed her to the Fu Clan, and it was rumored that she was a Nascent Tier sword cultivator with devastating destructive power.

There were two people walking alongside Tang Li, with one being Tang Chong, an old man from the royal family to whom he could temporarily hand power without needing to worry. In terms of seniority, Tang Chong could actually be regarded as Emperor Tang Li's uncle. In the past, he had exchanged many private letters with Assistant Minister Liu Jingting, and they had also engaged in many arguments with each other. In reality, Tang Li had read all of these letters.

The other person walking beside Tang Li was an old man with an aquiline nose. He was Zhou Lingzhi, the number one cultivator among all of the official immortals in the Azure Phoenix Nation. Many people had already forgotten about the elderly immortal's history as a vagrant cultivator in the past, and they only remembered the fact that he had already served three different emperors of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

Even though Zhou Lingzhi's reputation wasn't exactly good, Tang Li was an emperor who had grown up in the royal family and had his sights set on conquering the surrounding lands and having the Azure Phoenix Nation survive for tens of thousands of years. That being the case, it was only natural that he didn't care about the inconsequential complaints of other people.

Regardless of how coldly Emperor Tang Li treated the immortals from the mountains in the Azure Phoenix Nation, he had no option but to respectfully welcome the old immortal from the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan as a junior.

The two parties sat opposite each other.

It appeared as if they were purposely sitting like this so there wouldn't be any notion of host and guest. There definitely wouldn't be any notion of ruler and subjects either.

Jiang Mao didn't appear overbearing and egotistical as Tang Li had expected, and he instead spoke in a warm and genial manner.

Tang Li instructed an official from the Ministry of Rites to bring Jiang Mao a large stack of documents as well as some picture scrolls that were prints of stone tablets that had been created using immortal techniques. The external official was a proper-looking young man who was very articulate, and he recounted the process of the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism to Old Immortal Jiang Mao as the latter casually flicked through the documents and picture scrolls.