"But it’s still very slim!" At the last sentence, Xiao Wuque shook his head.

"Having hope is better than having no hope at all!" Xiang Yuan grinned, his mood clearly much improved.

"That’s true enough!" Xiao Wuque nodded.

...

Imperial Palace.

Inside the imperial study.

At this moment the imperial study was suffused with warmth, faint wisps of smoke drifting through the air.

Just the scent of this smoke could soothe the Heart Spirit, easing pain from the body.

Cough, cough, cough—

All of a sudden.

The man on the dragon throne was seized by a bout of violent coughing.

He covered his mouth and nose, bending over again and again.

Each cough was harsher than the last.

Right now the man’s face was so gaunt his cheekbones stood out clearly, his eye sockets sunken, and as if smoked by fumes, there was a ring of pitch-black shadow around them.

Thump, thump, thump—

Just then.

The tightly shut doors of the imperial study suddenly sounded with a knock.

"Your Majesty!" A soft, low voice came from outside.

"What is it?" The man on the dragon throne pressed down his coughs and asked.

"Your Majesty, news has arrived from the Observatory!" The gentle voice sounded again outside.

At those words, the imperial study fell silent for two breaths.

"Come in and speak!" Then the voice of the Changning Emperor rang out.

"Yes!" came the reply from outside.

Then the doors of the imperial study were gently pushed open.

The door hinges turned without making the slightest sound.

A plump man in his fifties appeared before the Changning Emperor.

This man was the Chief Manager Hai, who had always served at the Changning Emperor’s side, overseeing all matters great and small around him.

"I greet Your Majesty!" Chief Manager Hai stepped over the threshold, not daring to raise his head to look upon the Changning Emperor’s face, bowing with his head lowered.

"No need to be so stiff!" The Changning Emperor waved a hand to Chief Manager Hai, then picked up the teacup before him and took a light sip.

As the tea slid into his stomach, his originally ruddy complexion became even more flushed.

Completely different from how he had been moments ago alone in the imperial study.

"Speak! What news did the Observatory send?" the Changning Emperor asked.

"In reply to Your Majesty, the Dongling Marquis has been cursed!" Chief Manager Hai said.

Cursed!!

At those two words, the Changning Emperor’s gaze abruptly sharpened, and the teacup he had just lifted suddenly shattered.

Scalding tea splashed in all directions, yet he seemed not to notice.

"Your Majesty!" Seeing this, Chief Manager Hai spoke up nervously.

"As expected, he’s been targeted as well!" Then he added, "Even I am helpless against it—how long can he possibly hold out?"

As his voice fell, the Changning Emperor let out a sigh, his expression complicated.

His heart was even more tangled.

Soon after, he gave a faint smile. "In a way, it’s for the best! I won’t have to worry about him becoming the second Martial Saint, nor will I need to lay traps for him and make Shiqi sad!"

"Your Majesty, that plan is to be abandoned then?" Chief Manager Hai asked softly.

"Abandoned!" The Changning Emperor shook his head. "Since he’s been curse-killed, he’s doomed to fall; in that case, there’s not the slightest possibility left, and there’s no need to plot against him. This way, Shiqi’s heart won’t grow cold either."

Speaking to this point, the Changning Emperor pondered for a moment.

Then he said again, "Chief Manager Hai!"

"Your servant is here!" Chief Manager Hai replied respectfully.

"Go to the inner treasury, take three stalks of Nine Revolutions Rejuvenation Grass to the National Master Mansion, have Miracle Doctor Wang go with them, and do everything possible to help him suppress the erosion of the Curse Power!"

"Yes!" Chief Manager Hai answered at once in a respectful tone, fully understanding.

Just then. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Outside the imperial study, hurried footsteps sounded, rushing closer from afar.

The Changning Emperor immediately raised his head to look toward the doorway.

Bang—

The doors that had only just been closed were suddenly shoved open by a great force, and a gust of cold wind poured into the room.

The Changning Emperor’s brows knit together.

But the instant he saw who it was, the anger on his face vanished, replaced by affection.

"So it’s Shiqi!" He spoke with a gentle smile.

His gaze then swept over the man behind Ji Mingyue.

"Greetings, Father Emperor!" Ji Minghao immediately cupped his hands toward the Changning Emperor.

"Father Emperor! Jiang Ning... has he really been cursed?" Ji Mingyue asked, on the verge of tears.

Hearing this, the Changning Emperor slowly nodded. "According to the information from the Observatory, that is indeed the case."

"Father, does he... does he still have any hope of living?" Ji Mingyue asked.

The Changning Emperor slowly shook his head. "I don’t know. He might be different from me. After all, someone like him bears great national destiny. With such fate upon him, disaster turns to blessing, misfortune to fortune. It’s not that easy for him to die."

"Father Emperor, stop lying to me!" Ji Mingyue shook her head, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Father Emperor, even you, with the destiny of a whole nation upon you, could not contend against a curse from the Immortal Dao, let alone him!"

Behind her, Ji Minghao watched Ji Mingyue’s figure trembling slightly in front of him, and could not help but sigh softly in his heart.

"Father Emperor, I want to go see him!" Ji Mingyue said.

"Very well." The Changning Emperor nodded, not refusing her.

Then he looked toward Chief Manager Hai. "Remember to take three stalks of Nine Revolutions Rejuvenation Grass over there."

"Yes, Holy Emperor!" Chief Manager Hai once again replied respectfully.

...

National Master Mansion.

Sensing Xiao Wuque’s arrival, Jiang Ning also walked to the front courtyard gate.

Qinghe opened the tightly closed gate of the National Master Mansion, and Xiao Wuque and Xiang Yuan appeared in Jiang Ning’s line of sight.

Jiang Ning’s gaze immediately fell upon the two of them.

At the same time—

Xiao Wuque and Xiang Yuan’s gazes also landed on Jiang Ning at the first instant.

"Greetings, Master Xiao, greetings, Martial King!" Jiang Ning cupped his hands at once.

"No need to be so formal," Xiao Wuque said.

As he spoke, his eyes still did not leave Jiang Ning.

At this moment, Xiang Yuan took the lead, stepping over the threshold first and entering the residence.

"Kid, how are you holding up now?" Xiang Yuan hammered Jiang Ning’s chest with his fist.

Jiang Ning’s body trembled slightly at once, then he retreated half a step, after which he revealed a smile.

"Nothing serious."

"Nothing serious?" Xiang Yuan frowned. "I can already feel the Curse Power spreading inside your body!"

Just then—

Xiao Wuque’s lips moved slightly. No sound came from his mouth, but a voice rang out by Jiang Ning’s ear on its own.

"Why did you disperse the barrier of your domain and allow the Curse Power to corrode your organs?"

Hearing Xiao Wuque’s voice in his ear, Jiang Ning immediately raised his head, shifting his gaze from Xiang Yuan to Xiao Wuque.

Then he smiled, without saying more.

From that one sentence, he knew that Xiao Wuque had already seen through his having stepped into First-grade earlier, only he had never pointed it out.

Not until today, not until this moment, did he voice his doubt because Jiang Ning was letting the Curse Power within his body run unchecked.

Seeing Jiang Ning’s smile, Xiao Wuque’s heart gave a jolt, and the look he cast at Jiang Ning turned thoughtful.

"You two, why don’t we go inside and sit down? We can just have dinner together," Jiang Ning said.

"All right." Xiao Wuque nodded at once, knowing the gate of the National Master Mansion was not the place to talk.

There are many methods in this world to secretly spy on this place.

Especially today, with Jiang Ning cursed and falling into the same situation as the Changning Emperor. Now that the news is spreading, countless gazes are bound to converge on the National Master Mansion.

...

They passed through the front courtyard.

Just as the few of them sat down—

Liuu Wanwan, Hong Mian, and Lv Yi came over carrying bowls, chopsticks, and wine.

"Kid, why don’t I feel any sense of you having formed your own domain?" Coming in together with Jiang Ning, Xiang Yuan’s perception was not as keen as Xiao Wuque’s, but he had also noticed that Jiang Ning did not give him the feeling of having formed his own small world, his own domain.

Jiang Ning said, "If it were someone else asking this, I would choose to lie. But since the Martial King is asking, I can only say: I’m playing weak."

"Playing weak?" Xiang Yuan was stunned.

"Mm." Jiang Ning nodded. "These past days, I’ve been too high-profile and have already drawn the gaze of the whole world. Precisely because of that, this calamity came. And it came at just the right time—just in time to make the world’s attention shift away from me."

At this moment, upon hearing Jiang Ning’s words, Xiao Wuque suddenly felt enlightened.

"So it is. Exactly the same as what I was just guessing in my heart."

At the same time, Xiang Yuan also understood.

A hint of delight surfaced in his expression.

"Kid, if you’re doing this... could it be that this curse can’t threaten you?"

Jiang Ning shook his head. "I can resist it, but I have no way to resolve it. It’s just that if I go all out now to resist the corrosion of the Curse Power, it’ll inevitably push the enemy hiding in the dark to pay a greater price to strengthen this curse, and then I’ll be in even more trouble."

"Besides, I’m afraid in the coming days others will come to test my condition as well."

Hearing Jiang Ning’s words, Xiao Wuque immediately nodded in agreement.

"You’re doing exactly the right thing. With the current state of the world and the environment, plus the fact that Martial Arts Strongmen have such powerful bodies, to kill one through a curse requires a very high price."

"We still don’t know who struck at you, but since they achieved their aim, they definitely won’t want to pay an even greater price."

"Right now you should indeed allow the Curse Power to erode you for a short while, to numb the enemy secretly watching."

Hearing Xiao Wuque’s words, Jiang Ning also nodded.

"That’s exactly what I was thinking."