His Majesty is plotting a rebellion? Quickly, summon the Imperial Advisor!

Xu Bing teased the red-eyed black crow. Its large black feathers were jet black with smooth lines, possessing an indescribable beauty. Now, perched on Xu Bing's shoulder, it added a touch of mystery to Xu Bing.

"Xu Bing, so you knew about my scheme from the very beginning?" Ji Yuan gritted his teeth, his mood extremely bad.

Like an eggplant struck by frost, its energy and spirit suddenly wilted.

Nothing is more frustrating and annoying than freedom that slips through your fingers.

Ji Yuan experienced this several times.

"I know," Xu Bing answered truthfully. He tapped his finger lightly, and the red-eyed black crow disappeared into the night.

These actions made the two women turn pale and feel even more desperate.

Ji Yuan looked dejected, her eyes lowered, though bloodshot, there was no longer any anger in them.

The blow was probably too great for him to be angry.

"So, you deliberately sent Minister Song to see me, letting me build up hope little by little, until finally, you gave me despair?" Ji Yuan asked through gritted teeth.

Xu Bing could have arrested Song Si much earlier, but he didn't. He chose to let Song Si take care of him.

Arrange for the emperor and his minister to meet.

The purpose of doing this is self-evident; ultimately, it's aimed at Ji Yuan.

He had been watching all along, and not only controlled Ji Yuan's freedom, but also his emotions.

Ji Yuan felt a chill in her heart and a sense of powerlessness. The anger she had felt at the beginning had somehow dissipated.

Xu Bing's control over himself was deeper and more solid than he realized.

Both the invisible and the tangible cages have firmly locked me up.

Ji Yuan is a resilient woman, but this sudden change in circumstances really slapped her in the face.

Although she believes that she has taken Xu's illness seriously and even valued it to the highest degree.

But in the end, it turned out that the estimate was far too low.

Because of this series of events, when Ji Yuan faced Xu Bing, he felt as if the other party was shrouded in a thick layer of shadow, his palm enveloping him, unable to dodge or move, and he could only watch helplessly.

Xu Bing finished his tea, glanced at the teacup, and said no more of a boast to the two women, "You two sisters can chat slowly."

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve, and the golden edict rope, obeying his command, continued to move, wrapping around his elbows, wrists, and so on, becoming even tighter.

Song Si's face turned pale. She shook her head, but she could not resist. Xu Bing had sealed her cultivation, and the quality of the Golden Edict Rope was too high. She was helpless.

She could only watch helplessly as she gradually "moved closer" to Ji Yuan. Eventually, she was forced to sit cross-legged on the ground, just like Ji Yuan, and completely fell into someone's clutches.

They lost all ability to resist.

Xu Bing, with a rather perverse sense of humor, made the two women sit facing each other, looking at each other.

After doing all this, Xu Bing turned and left.

The two women looked towards the door, watching it slowly close, darkness driving the moonlight outside, and finally the sound of the door locking.

"Snapped."

The sound of the door lock clicking shut rang out.

The two women were disheartened and finally had no choice but to accept their current situation.

"Your Majesty..." Song Si's expression at this moment was beyond words, a mixture of embarrassment, suppressed anger, and shame.

The key point is that recently, whenever she took care of Ji Yuan's daily life, she felt sorry for Ji Yuan.

In the blink of an eye, I've become like that too.

"My dear minister, this is not your fault." Ji Yuan sighed heavily. "It was Xu's illness...it was him...too..."

After thinking for a moment, I realized I couldn't find any adjectives to use.

While Xu Bing was indeed cunning, using only "cunning" to describe him is clearly a very one-sided view.

Ji Yuan felt anger and resentment towards Xu Bing, but at some point, she also felt a touch of emotion, curiosity, and... infatuation with his appearance.

There was another kind of strange feeling... that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

of course.

At this moment, what she felt most was the helplessness of being unable to escape the Buddha's grasp. Sun Wukong somersaulted and landed in the Buddha's palm. Ji Yuan, on the other hand, struggled for a long time but could barely move even half a body.

But... I have a companion now? A stroke of luck amidst misfortune? ... Ji Yuan's mind wandered, her thoughts scattered.

"By the way, where's your incense burner?" Ji Yuan asked.

"It was snatched away by an eagle." Song Si felt Ji Yuan's gaze and even wanted to cover her face with her hands.

Only now did she realize how shameful it was to be seen like this.

Ji Yuan, on the other hand, understood this feeling and turned around to comfort him, saying, "My dear minister, you'll get used to it."

"We are both women, there's no need for this."

After saying that…

Her eyes flickered. "But even you've been arrested. The only one we can count on is Cui Chen."

……

In the bedroom.

Xu Bing played with the stove in his hand.

The furnace was no more than two fists wide, with dragon patterns carved on its surface. Its aura was perfectly natural. Xu Bing tapped it with his finger, and a crisp sound came out.

This incense burner was something Song Si always carried with him, but he didn't know what it was or what its purpose was. However, it looked quite extraordinary.

He put the items into his sleeve, and with a thought, he waved his sleeve, placing a few more scattered items on the table.

After killing Ziyun Xian, he looted a lot of spoils, but he was too busy to remember them.

Now that I think about it, it will naturally take some time to take stock.

There were three bags of different sizes in front of him: a quiver, a brocade pouch, and a Qiankun bag.

The storage containers used by Qi cultivators come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the most common is the Qiankun bag. It is usually tied to the waist or hidden in the chest or other locations.

The Qiankun Bag cannot hold another Qiankun Bag. But Xu Bing's sleeve Qiankun can hold anything; as long as there is enough space, it can fit anything.

However, it is worth mentioning that...

When using the "Sleeve Universe Technique" to store items like the "Universe Bag," which contain space, it appears to be just storing a "bag," but in reality, it is storing an entire space.

In other words, some high-quality Qiankun bags with more space than the sleeve pocket could not fit into Xu Bing's sleeve pocket.

Xu Bingxian examined the quiver, untied the gold rope tying it, and emptied out all its contents.

There were quite a few arrows, three in total: red, blue, and green, with a ferocious image of a demon printed on their shafts.

It looks a bit scary.

This item should have been Ziyun Xian's killing weapon, but he was corrupted by the Ziyun Bridge Technique, lost his composure, and was unable to use it.

These three arrows, though of extremely high quality, are still not considered top-grade. The difference between top-grade and not top-grade is subtle yet profound.

To put it simply, high-grade magical artifacts are bound to the soul and can be used even in the primordial realm.

However, ungraded magical artifacts can only be used in reality. This is an insurmountable gap.

Qi cultivators value capital and "collection," and the more ungraded magical artifacts they have, the better.

Xu Bingxin felt something and drew upon his own Great Dao capital.

[Capital of the Great Dao: 131]

After a long period of practice, even without a teacher, Xu Bing gained his own insights.

When they were cultivating on the mountain, their master often took them down to the city to watch the people doing business.

Ordinary people have their own business.

Even immortals have their own businesses.

Different paths lead to the same destination.

The journey from mortal to the realm of the lantern bearer is a journey from zero to one.

If we draw an analogy to the business of merchants in the mortal world, we can see it as raising enough capital to open a shop.

Or they might be selling pork, fish, books, or paintings.

This step is the smallest, yet it is precisely the most difficult. For some, it is so difficult that they may never be able to cross it in their entire lives, while for others, it is innate and as simple as drinking water.

The world is just so unfair.

The fundamental principle is both abstract and concrete.

In short, you can only do as much as you have money. A Qi cultivator with empty pockets, when he reaches a natural barrier, will only be able to build a dangerous bridge.

Or it simply can't be covered up.

The wealthy, however, not only want to build bridges, but they want the best of the best—wide bridges inlaid with magnificent jade stones and paved with exquisite stone slabs…

It's not just one person who can get through.

Do what you can afford.

"He really can't do anything without money." Xu Bing smiled bitterly, for the fundamentals of the Great Dao are mysterious and profound.

Even if Xu is ill, he doesn't know how to earn money, and his income is unstable.

After a pitiful month of practice, I only earned a little over a hundred yuan.

If other Qi cultivators were to find out what Xu Bing was thinking...

I fear that countless people have jumped off the summit of Da Xi City.