Choice

With no more lingering worries, her resolve to go to Mount Qingyun grew even firmer.

The jade token gradually turned from cold to warm.

As if receiving some ethereal guidance, she pressed the jade token to her forehead, and a travel route inexplicably appeared in her mind.

She did not look back, her conviction in cultivation as steadfast as ever.

The Gu Manor grew more distant, until she had even left the borders of Great Yong.

The jade token in her pocket suddenly flew out, transforming into a line of cloud-white characters in mid-air:

Inner Disciple Promotion Competition: Choice - First Trial - Passed.

Before she could even grasp the meaning of these words, a swirling vortex of billowing clouds suddenly appeared before her.

Her steed carried her straight into the vortex.

“The Minister of Revenue is old and has submitted his resignation for the third time.

I pity his lifelong labor and approved it the day before yesterday.

Now that the position of Minister of Revenue is vacant, I wish to promote Sun Xin, the Left Vice Minister of Revenue, to succeed him. What do you all think?”

The Emperor finished speaking, and the court fell into a dead silence.

All the officials, including the official the Emperor wanted to promote, Left Vice Minister Sun Xin...

...all stole glances at the Regent, Gu Ningyun, who sat upon the third tier of steps, just below the Emperor’s left.

Seeing this, the veins on the Emperor’s temples throbbed.

He gritted his teeth, his fingers nearly crushing the dragon-horn of his throne.

“What does Minister Gu think?”

“Sun Xin has only been the Left Vice Minister for a year; he still has deficiencies. Yu Wanhai, the Governor of Nanyang, has been stationed away for ten years, and his annual assessments have been consistently outstanding. He is capable of such a heavy responsibility.”

As soon as she spoke, a group of officials chimed in. “We also believe that Lord Yu Wanhai is more suitable for the position of Minister of Revenue.”

The Emperor stared fixedly at the ministers below, his eyes nearly spitting fire.

He flicked his sleeves to leave, but an official reminded him, “Your Majesty, the position of Minister of Revenue cannot remain vacant for long. Please make a decision soon.”

Let him decide? Or let him follow the Regent’s decision!

Was this his empire, his court, or her empire, her court!

The frustration in the Emperor’s heart could not be released; he was nearly coughing up blood from rage.

The head eunuch beside him presented a brush dipped in ink. Gritting his teeth, the Emperor wrote the imperial edict.

The head eunuch watched him finish, then turned and gave a slight nod to Gu Ningyun.

The Emperor was too furious to stay seated and turned to leave the court immediately.

This time, no one stopped him.

Gu Ningyun tapped the armrest of her chair, and the eunuch shouted, “Court is adjourned—”

Gu Ningyun returned to the Regent’s Manor. A mountain of memorials had already piled up in her study.

She picked up a memorial and began her daily review.

The Emperor was incompetent and tyrannical, and the common people under his rule lived in misery; in some places, it had even reached the point where people were forced to trade their children for food.

It wasn’t until Gu Ningyun took the top spot in the imperial examinations, rising from the Hanlin Academy to local postings and then back to the capital, that she ascended to the position of Regent.

Bit by bit, she schemed to bring authority into her own hands.

Purging the court, rectifying officialdom, and implementing policy after policy—only then did the lives of the people significantly improve.

After finishing the memorials, she stood and walked to the bookshelf, intending to find a book to relax.

Amidst the vast collection of books, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed.

Following the direction of the light, a book appeared—《Cultivation》.

The book seemed like paper but wasn’t, like beast skin but wasn’t.

Gu Ningyun had read ten thousand volumes and collected many ancient texts, yet she had never seen a book like this.

She walked outside. “Has anyone entered the study?”

“Master, we have been guarding the entrance the entire time. Not even a fly has been allowed in.”

“Catch a mouse and bring it here. It must be alive.”

“Yes, Master.”

Only after testing with the mouse and finding nothing unusual did Gu Ningyun take down 《Cultivation》.

This read lasted half the night.

In the latter half of the night, she sat cross-legged, concentrating to sense the world according to the formulas in the book.

Before long, she saw eight-colored spots of light dancing around her.

The green spots of light spiraled into her body, settling in her dantian.

After meditating through the rest of the night, the green spots of light in her dantian finally gathered into a single strand.

Early the next morning, the growling of her stomach woke her from meditation.

The mortal realm is heavy with turbid qi, and spirit energy is sparse.

Once one enters the immortal gate, they must no longer be tainted by mortal karma.

If she wished to cultivate, she had to abandon her power.

Gu Ningyun opened her eyes, clutching the book, and made her decision in an instant.

People came and went from the Regent’s Manor’s study for seven days.

Seven days later, the Emperor issued a Decree of Self-Reproach, abdicated the throne to the fourteen-year-old Crown Princess, and appointed the Minister of Revenue to serve concurrently as the Imperial Preceptor.

The Regent dismissed the manor’s servants and secretly left the capital, her return date uncertain.

Gu Ningyun drove a carriage, heading toward the direction indicated in the book that led to the cultivation world.

With a determination that knew no turning back.

The book in her arms flashed with light, transforming into a line of cloud-white characters:

Inner Disciple Promotion Competition: Choice - Second Trial - Passed.

Gu Ningyun’s vision blurred, and the carriage was swallowed whole by a vortex.

“Low-grade five-element spirit root. Disqualified.”

Returning the spirit-testing stone that glowed with a faint five-colored light, Gu Ningyun turned and left the recruitment area of the immortal gate.

A low-grade five-element spirit root was the lowest tier of aptitude. Not only was each root only a hundredth the thickness of a single spirit root, but they also contained ninety percent impurities.

Let alone cultivating to a profound realm and becoming part of the sect’s combat strength...

...even basic qi induction would be difficult.

The Wushuang Sect was already the sect with the lowest recruitment threshold, and they wouldn’t take her. It was even less likely that other sects in the cultivation world would.

Gu Ningyun went down the mountain and arrived at a marketplace near the Wushuang Sect.

Cultivators came and went in the marketplace, while mortals bustled about outside it.

A single boundary at the entrance of the marketplace separated the world of immortals from the world of mortals.

A woman holding a young boy’s hand passed behind her.

“My son, a low-grade five-element spirit root has no hope for cultivation. It’s fine to be disqualified.”

“Just be a mortal and live a smooth, simple life. Isn’t that also good?”

The child’s response was muffled; Gu Ningyun didn’t hear it.

She watched the mother and son leave, then turned and stepped into the marketplace, walking in the opposite direction.

If one cannot enter a sect, does that truly mean they cannot cultivate?

With a low-grade five-element spirit root, is cultivation truly impossible?

If she hadn’t given her all, or even tried before giving up so easily, she wouldn't be Gu Ningyun.

In the marketplace, there were bookshops selling books on qi induction and even subsequent cultivation techniques.

Any random one was at a price she couldn’t afford.

Everything in the cultivation world had to be paid for with spirit stones. She was just a mortal with only copper coins and silver.

She turned and left the bookshop, searching shop by shop along the street.

When she was hungry or tired, she would return to the inns outside the marketplace run by mortals to rest.

She searched for a month, walking through every corner of the marketplace, but she couldn’t find a single shop willing to hire a six-year-old child like her.

Finally, she returned to the entrance of the marketplace and watched the children who guided cultivators for a single low-grade spirit stone a day.

Gu Ningyun decisively concluded that this job of receiving and attending to people suited her quite well. She would take it.

Having made her decision, she went outside to buy paper and a brush.

She stayed in the marketplace for another month, familiarizing herself with every nook and cranny and making detailed records.

Then, she turned her gaze once more toward the children waiting at the marketplace entrance to receive guests.

Every place has its own rules for survival.

If she were to join, she would be taking a share of their customers.