The emperor’s obsession with the pursuit of immortality grew ever more severe. He often lost his temper in court, and officials were dismissed at the slightest provocation, causing unrest and anxiety among the ministers.

Time flew by.

The fourteenth year of Kaiyuan.

Fourteen-year-old William Carter was already nearly 1.7 meters tall, with handsome features. His long hair was casually tied behind his head with a straw rope, revealing his forehead, and his temples brushed his shoulders. His appearance was outstanding within Longqi Temple, and many female disciples secretly admired him, but he was devoted only to his training.

According to the rules of Longqi Temple, if one wished to start a family, they had to leave the temple and descend the mountain.

That year, in summer.

On the bell tower, David Brooks sat on the ground, wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face full of worry, and said, “Changsheng, aren’t you hot? Why don’t you stay inside to escape the heat?”

William Carter was meditating on the railing, looking as if he might fall at any moment, but he was as steady as a mountain. With his eyes closed, he replied, “A calm mind keeps you cool.”

“You, you, you’re becoming more and more like Reverend Mason.”

David Brooks sighed, then began to complain: “His Majesty the Emperor is getting more and more muddle-headed. He’s actually having people dig a canal, running from the north all the way to the south, reaching the sea. This isn’t something that can be finished in ten or twenty years. I heard he just wants to make it easier to transport elixirs—utterly absurd, completely ridiculous!”

William Carter opened his eyes, his expression odd.

A canal?

Isn’t this what Yang Guang did in Chinese history?

The more David Brooks spoke, the angrier he became. Building a canal would consume enormous manpower, resources, and money. Not only would the national treasury be strained, but the people would also suffer.

“If this goes on, there’ll be war again, attacking neighboring dynasties. Alas, the golden age is gone.”

David Brooks spoke with deep concern for the country and the people, and William Carter found it hard to offer any comfort.

Judging by the situation, if the Jing Dynasty really fell into chaos, even Longqi Temple wouldn’t be safe.

William Carter felt a sense of urgency. Although his true energy had already far surpassed Reverend Mason, he had many enemies.

He had to hurry and master the fourth level of the Daoist Natural Arts!

David Brooks left after talking for an hour; he really couldn’t take it anymore and was about to faint from the heat.

William Carter watched him go and noticed that David Brooks was starting to stoop a little.

Truly, time spares no one.

Although William Carter was only fourteen, counting his previous and current lives, he was over forty, and had always been sensitive to the passage of time.

His body was in its youthful prime, so he couldn’t help but feel that a day on the mountain was like a year in the world below.

A month later.

Senior brother James Thompson came to William Carter and asked if he was willing to go down the mountain for training.

William Carter refused outright.

Another deadly trap?

James Thompson left disappointed; after all, going down the mountain couldn’t be forced.

Three days later, James Thompson led fifteen disciples down the mountain, the youngest of whom was thirteen.

William Carter kept waiting for a prompt.

Sure enough.

At noon the next day, a line of text appeared before his eyes:

[In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan, a spy tried to persuade your senior brother to lure you down the mountain. You refused, thus avoiding a deadly disaster and received a survival reward—miscellaneous art ‘Calligraphy of Time’.]

Calligraphy?

William Carter was disappointed. It seemed the size of the calamity determined the size of the reward.

In his spare time, he had already fully mastered the alchemy technique he’d obtained earlier, but unfortunately, he had no cauldron to refine pills.

Calligraphy wasn’t bad either. Longqi Temple often hosted high officials and noble guests who came to recite poetry and enjoy themselves. The temple had plenty of scholarly supplies, all gifts from guests.

Cultivating one’s mind in leisure wasn’t a bad thing.

After all, life here was really dull except for training.

That very day, William Carter asked for brush, ink, and paper, and practiced calligraphy in his room, thinking about the matter of the spy as he wrote.

This was already the second time. There was a way to find the spy—after all, both times someone had tried to persuade William Carter to go down the mountain. He only needed to ask his senior and second senior brothers to compare notes.

At night, Stephen Reed returned to the room. He had just washed his feet and was sitting on the bed, wiping his feet with a cloth as he said, “Senior brother Changsheng, tomorrow His Majesty the Emperor is coming to Longqi Temple. Do you want to go have a look? That’s the current sovereign—one may never see him in a lifetime.”

Hearing this, William Carter’s right hand trembled slightly. He calmly asked, “What’s so interesting about the emperor? Does he have more than one mouth?”

Stephen Reed laughed and said, “Don’t say that, or you’ll get in trouble if word gets out. Since you don’t want to go, then don’t.”

William Carter raised his hand, admiring his own calligraphy, and smiled, “It’s not that I don’t want to go. I just have nothing else to do anyway.”

On the white paper, he had written three characters.

Not a gentleman!

……

At noon the next day, William Carter walked along the stone path between the courtyards. He had just finished practicing his techniques and was preparing to go see his imperial father.

Even from a hundred paces away, he could already hear his fellow disciples talking.

“So that’s the emperor? He really is wise and mighty!”

“Yes, I heard the emperor has cultivated true dragon energy, like a dragon in the world.”

“I’m curious whether the emperor has found the elixir of immortality.”

“Don’t say such things. If someone hears, you could be beheaded.”

The closer William Carter got to the Mingxin Hall, the less he heard, until soon he could make out the conversation between the emperor Samuel Carter and Reverend Mason.

The two reminisced about the glorious years, mostly Samuel Carter speaking with emotion, while Reverend Mason responded calmly and lightly.

Outside the courtyard near Mingxin Hall, golden-armored guards stood watch, and idle people were not allowed to approach.