Li Changzhou, too lazy to bother with her, entered the side palace and changed into the purple robes and jade belt awarded by Jiajing.
Once clothed, his already otherworldly demeanor gained an added touch of worldly splendor.
Turquoise Pool's beautiful eyes twinkled as she smiled and praised, "Truly handsome."
It was completely unpredictable when she would get angry or when she wouldn't.
Not much later, Jiajing indeed sent someone to summon them, and they met with the two in the side palace.
Neither of them knew ancient etiquette—Turquoise Pool might, based on her impression from TV dramas, and casually bowed.
Whether it was correct or not, the Jiajing Emperor said nothing.
After being offered seats and exchanging pleasantries, Jiajing Emperor directly asked, "Daoists, I am devoted to cultivating the mysterious; is there a way?"
Li Changzhou laughed slightly, causing the heartbeats of the palace maids around him to quicken noticeably; he counterasked Jiajing Emperor, "Your Majesty, have you learned any methods?"
"Over the years, numerous Daoists have been by my side, but I have learned only two things: abstinence and Yin Yang Balancing," he replied.
"What is abstinence?" Li Changzhou asked.
Jiajing Emperor gave him a look, his expression slightly suspicious.
He didn't know about abstinence?
Indeed, he didn't know. Li Changzhou was the top scholar in liberal arts, but the official examination syllabus never included this term.
If it were any other Daoist who asked this, Jiajing Emperor would have immediately lost interest, but Li Changzhou carried himself with an air of ease, exhibiting a mastery of admitting what he knows and acknowledging what he doesn't, which mitigated Jiajing's internal disdain.
Most crucially, Li Changzhou had summoned a thunderstorm and snow the day before.
"The so-called abstinence involves constructing a Daoist altar, bathing and purifying oneself, and then praying to the Immortals while presenting green verses," the eunuch beside Jiajing Emperor explained.
"How long has Your Majesty been practicing abstinence?" Li Changzhou asked again.
"Since the third year of Jiajing," the eunuch replied again.
"Is it effective?"
"Sometimes it is effective, sometimes it isn't," the eunuch continued, with Jiajing Emperor remaining composed.
He allowed the eunuch to speak to test Li Changzhou's authenticity, ready to recover the situation if the eunuch spoke out of turn.
"Wrong," Li Changzhou said, "It isn't effective at all; so-called effectiveness is just coincidence."
Jiajing Emperor finally frowned slightly.
The eunuch paused for a moment, seeing that Jiajing Emperor still had no intention of speaking, he continued to ask, "May I inquire of Master Li, where is the error?"
"There are no Immortals in this world," Li Changzhou said.
"No Immortals?" The eunuch was shocked internally, not over the Immortals themselves, but fearing the Emperor might get angry.
Over the years, any official who persuaded the Emperor to disbelieve in Daoism faced minor demotions at best and imprisonment at worst, such was Jiajing's obsession with Daoism.
"Without Immortals, what use is there in praying to them?" Li Changzhou waved his sleeve.
The beautiful yet ethereal Turquoise Pool watched him with eyes full of admiration for his posture.
The eunuch glanced at Jiajing Emperor's expression before saying, "What about Yin Yang Balancing then?"
"Go on."
"Would Your Majesty care to accompany me on a trip?" Li Changzhou smiled.
"Where to?"
"The Moon."
"The Moon?!" Jiajing Emperor stood up.
"Seeing is believing," Li Changzhou also stood up, "Your Majesty, why not go and see if Chang'e is on the moon? If she is not, it naturally proves the ritual is fake."
As he spoke, he quickly stepped forward twice, not waiting for anyone to react, he had already grabbed the Jiajing Emperor's sleeve, staring at him with piercing eyes.
The eunuch hurried to stop him, the Imperial Guards outside the hall already had their hands on their sword hilts, ready to rush in and break Li Changzhou's legs upon a single command from the Jiajing Emperor.
Any Daoist in this situation would be dealt with.
Around the Jiajing Emperor, within a certain range, mana and Daoist skills, like superstitions, did not exist.
"Daoist master, Daoist master, let go quickly!" the eunuch could not pull Li Changzhou's hand away.
The Jiajing Emperor did not order the guards to come in; he felt that Li Changzhou's eyes were asking him like an immortal: Do you have the courage to become an immortal?
"Very well!" the Jiajing Emperor said, "Daoist master, take me to the moon to have a look!"
"Your Majesty—" the eunuch was so scared that he almost knelt down.
What moon? Who could reach the moon? That was Heaven, only immortals could ascend there!
"Ha ha!" Li Changzhou laughed loudly, "To become an immortal, no rituals are needed, no Yin Yang Balancing is required, only the correct method and a heart courageous and diligent, the day of Your Majesty becoming an immortal is just before your eyes!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty." Turquoise Pool stood up, smiling and bowed ceremoniously.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations!" The previously crying eunuch, regardless of truth or falsity, knelt down first before speaking.
"Daoist master, how do we get to the moon?" the Jiajing Emperor did not immerse himself in flattery.
Li Changzhou glanced at Turquoise Pool, who smiled slightly, and a cloud descended from the sky, landing in front of the side hall entrance.
"Your Majesty, follow me!" Ignoring the exclamations of the palace maids and eunuchs, disregarding the guards' attempts to stop them, disregarding the Jiajing Emperor's last-minute hesitation, Li Changzhou pulled the Jiajing Emperor towards the auspicious cloud.
Upon entering a certain range, the auspicious cloud did not disappear; the skill indeed was effective.
"Your Majesty, please step onto the auspicious cloud," Li Changzhou said with a smile.
The eunuchs, palace maids, and Imperial Guard all trembled, incredulously watching the white cloud before them.
The Jiajing Emperor cautiously lifted his foot and stepped on it.
It was soft, but solid!
The Jiajing Emperor's heart raced; ever since he ascended the throne, he had been fascinated by Daoism. Eighteen years had passed, he had seen countless mystical events, watched true Daoist masters call the wind and summon the rain, but when it came to him, despite constructing numerous Daoist palaces and writing countless parchments, he achieved nothing.
But now, he had stepped onto an auspicious cloud!
"Your Majesty, hold tight, let us see if Chang'e is really there!"
The auspicious cloud soared, carrying Jiajing Emperor, Li Changzhou, and Turquoise Pool, heading towards a sky filled with dark clouds, snow falling.
"Your Majesty, it's cold up here, bring a cloak! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
The Jiajing Emperor looked down to see Huang Jin holding a cloak and cloak, clutching the hem of his clothes, running wildly across a snowy-white palace square, shouting loudly, and in a blink of an eye, he turned into a small dark dot amidst the vast white.
He looked around; the falling snow was dense, the Forbidden City, the capital, everything was below his eyes.
Cold wind brushed his face, snowflakes drifting, the yellow tiles, red walls, houses, and bridges below passed by in continuity, and in an instant, they were soaring up the clouds.
The sky was azure blue, the sunshine brilliant, and the sea of clouds churned.
"Ha ha ha ha!" the Jiajing Emperor laughed heartily, feeling a broadness in his chest, finally possessing the demeanor of an Emperor who conquers the Four Seas.
No, it was the carefree wandering of an immortal throughout the Four Seas!
Li Changzhou stood aside, his clothes fluttering as if a divine being, he laughingly said, "Your Majesty, the moon is still far from us, we need to increase our speed now."
Without waiting for the Jiajing Emperor to react, the auspicious cloud beneath their feet whizzed out, pulling a long streak of white cloud spray behind it.
The Jiajing Emperor closed his eyes tightly, not knowing how long had passed, the speed finally slowed down.
"Your Majesty, we have arrived,"
The Jiajing Emperor slowly opened his eyes, only to see a barren landscape, pockmarked and a mix of brown and gray earth spreading endlessly.
"Where is this?" he looked around
Li Changzhou had spent half of January traveling back and forth to the moon, to fulfill Yang Qinglan and Li Qianxia's dream of lunar exploration, he developed the "Ability" bubble based on "Thai Fighting Fish · Oxygen Bubble," allowing free movement on the moon.
Within the bubble, you could breathe freely for a short time and were unaffected by radiation or lunar dust.
"This is the moon, there—" Li Changzhou pointed towards the sky, where a blue, glass-like planet Earth hung, "Your Majesty, please look, that's Shen Zhou right there."
The Jiajing Emperor gazed at the blue bead, unable to snap back to reality for a long time.
On the last day of 1539, the Lunar New Year's Eve, the Jiajing Emperor's worldview was shattered.