"Elder Sister, you misunderstood me," said Noble Consort Zhuang. "I know you feel wronged after being scolded by the Empress Dowager, but there's no need to take it out on me."
"Announce the Empress Dowager's decree!"
Just then, Gui Mama stepped out from Tranquil Longevity Palace. "Consort Xian, Yun Yirou, ever since entering the palace, has upheld the virtues of gentleness, respect, thrift, and modesty. Her nature was pure and kind, her demeanor graceful and dignified. But beauty meets with misfortune. Due to a mishap during cultivation, Consort Xian succumbed to qi deviation and died. The Empress Dowager is deeply grieved. In memory of her past virtues and contributions, she is hereby posthumously promoted to Virtuous Consort Yun Yirou as recognition of her merit..."
"What?" Noble Consort Zhuang's eyes widened in shock. "Gui Mama, the Empress Dowager hasn't even fully investigated this matter. How can she so quickly decide that Consort Xian died from qi deviation?"
Gui Mama's eyes turned sharp as she stared at her coldly. "Noble Consort, are you questioning Her Majesty the Empress Dowager's decree?"
A chill rushed down Noble Consort Zhuang's spine as she snapped back to her senses. "I wouldn't dare. You've misunderstood me."
Her heart sank like a dark cloud pressing down.
The flicker of hope and satisfaction from earlier was doused like ice water dumped on her head, leaving only a cold dread behind.
This decree from the Empress Dowager was clearly siding with the Empress.
She had thought Consort Xian's death was a winning hand—one she could use to strike at the Empress. Even if she couldn't dethrone her, it would still ruin her reputation and shake the Emperor and Empress Dowager's favor.
Who would've thought the card would be burned before it was even played?
'Yun Yirou, you useless wretch. You couldn't even be useful in death.'
She cursed silently.
Soon after, Emperor Qian Yuan issued his imperial edict. Its content was almost identical to the Empress Dowager's decree.
Both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor had publicly and openly taken the Empress's side.
Consort Xian's death was officially settled.
One hour later, in Radiant Sunlight Hall—
"How could this happen?" Noble Consort Zhuang muttered, pacing in frustration. "The Empress Dowager used to treat the Empress so coldly. The Empress even dared to argue with her outright. How did she get the Empress Dowager to issue a decree like that?"
What she cared about wasn't Yun Yirou's death itself, but what the decree implied.
Was this a sign that the Empress Dowager's attitude toward the Empress and the Crown Prince was changing?
Would Yang Xiu lose the Empress Dowager's favor now?
"My Lady, perhaps you should take His Highness the Sixth Prince to visit Tranquil Longevity Palace and test the waters," her chief maid suggested.
"You're right," Noble Consort Zhuang agreed, already eager.
It was just before dinner. She brought Yang Xiu with her to pay respects at Tranquil Longevity Palace once again.
To her surprise, everything went smoothly.
The Empress Dowager didn't put on airs at all. She welcomed Noble Consort Zhuang and even invited Yang Xiu to dine with her.
During the meal, the Empress Dowager's affection toward Yang Xiu remained unchanged.
Seeing this, Noble Consort Zhuang finally felt the heavy stone in her chest drop.
As long as the Empress Dowager still loved Yang Xiu, nothing else mattered.
Late that night, Yang Cheng's heart surged with anticipation.
"Earth Spirit Divine Milk—claim it."
A small clump of milky white liquid appeared mid-air, amber in color.
It floated gently, sealed in air, with none of its aura leaking out.
Yang Cheng opened his mouth and inhaled. The liquid flowed right in.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, the white milk turned into a river of energy, surging wildly through his body.
Thankfully, Yang Cheng now possessed innate divine strength. His physical body was far stronger than normal people's. Plus, even though the Earth Spirit Divine Milk held massive power, its nature was relatively gentle.
Otherwise, the energy surge alone would have overwhelmed him.
The Great Divination Breathing Technique spun into high gear.
Within moments, the endless tide of energy was rapidly absorbed by Yang Cheng.
Luckily, the technique had hidden breathing powers. Otherwise, the burst of blood and qi would've triggered attention from everyone around.
There was a massive gap between the Houtian and Xiantian realms.
Normally, crossing that gap took years of steady effort, slowly building up one's foundation before finally breaking through.
But the energy within the Earth Spirit Divine Milk was simply too immense.
In just half an hour, the gap in Yang Cheng's cultivation was forcefully bridged.
The Houtian stage focused on refining the physical body and vital blood using the energy of heaven and earth. Once the blood and essence in the body reached their limit and couldn't be strengthened further, the next step was to refine essence into qi.
When the blood was refined into innate true qi, that marked the breakthrough into the Xiantian realm.
At that moment, a stream of black qi emerged from within Yang Cheng's blood.
That black stream was his innate true qi.
Yang Cheng was stunned.
Black true qi?
In his past life, even after cultivating for 500 years, he'd seen all kinds of true qi, but never black.
But then he remembered—the breathing technique he practiced was the Great Divination Breathing Technique. It could absorb any attribute, which also meant it had no attribute.
So his true qi being colorless, or in this case, black, actually made sense.
Still, that kind of true qi couldn't be shown to others.
The Great Divination Breathing Technique wasn't ordinary. For the top prodigies across the myriad realms in his past life, it was a legendary, long-lost breathing technique.
If word got out that he cultivated it, no one would be able to protect him.
Thankfully, Yang Cheng also trained in the Tai Sui Breathing Technique.
With a simple shift in thought, the black true qi quickly transformed into a light blue color.
That was the color of Tai Sui true qi.
Yang Cheng became even more aware of how absurdly powerful the Great Divination Breathing Technique was. It could absorb any type of spiritual energy and, now that he'd formed true qi, even freely convert it into other types.
And his breakthrough wasn't done yet.
At the early Xiantian stage, one usually had fewer than 100 strands of true qi.
Fifteen minutes later, Yang Cheng's true qi had already surpassed 100 strands.
By the time the sky turned pale with dawn, the energy from the Earth Spirit Divine Milk was finally used up.
Yang Cheng's total true qi had reached 1,000 strands.
That was the late Xiantian stage.
To reach the late Xiantian stage at just one year old would definitely shock the world if news spread.
But Yang Cheng had no interest in making headlines like that. It wouldn't do him any good.
He then muttered in his heart, "Divine Ability · Shrinking the Earth to an Inch, claim."
The timing of this reward couldn't have been better.
To use a divine ability, one needed to have true qi in their body.
If he hadn't reached the Xiantian realm, even if he'd obtained this divine ability, he wouldn't have been able to use it at all.
Yang Cheng was very curious about this divine ability. But to avoid alarming others, he suppressed his curiosity and didn't attempt to use it yet. He'd wait for the right opportunity to try it out later.
Even though he hadn't slept all night, thanks to stepping into the Xiantian realm, Yang Cheng felt energized and full of spirit.
Lying in bed was pointless. He simply got up.
He leapt out of the crib and started playing with a wooden sword.
"Your Highness, you're already awake?" a palace maid said as she heard the sound and hurried in.
"Ignore me."
Yang Cheng kept playing with the wooden sword.
Of course, in others' eyes, he was just a baby swinging a sword randomly, completely without form.
But in truth, he was quietly sensing his own innate Sword Intent.
Not long after, Yun Liyue got up as well.
She saw Yang Cheng lively and full of energy playing with the sword and smiled dotingly, choosing not to disturb him.
Only when breakfast was served did Yun Liyue scoop him up.
While the two were eating, a familiar figure arrived to see Yun Liyue.
It was none other than the Madam of Duke Wei.
Her face looked terrible, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Empress, how can you still eat?"
As soon as she entered, she lashed out without restraint.
Yun Liyue replied calmly, "Mother, I'm also heartbroken over my sister's death. But I believe that if she were watching from the heavens, she'd want us to keep living well."
"You… you'll be the death of me!"
The Madam of Duke Wei wept bitterly. "Empress, have you forgotten what you promised me yesterday?"
"Of course not."
Yun Liyue said, "I promised you I would protect my sister's consort rank no matter what. Now, not only has it been preserved, it has been elevated to Virtuous Consort. Mother, you should be pleased."