Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 601 Han Cen's Guidance! The First Prince!

Before the fat deacon could respond, Han Cen half-pulled, half-dragged Chen Fan out of the Hall of Official Affairs, through the side door of the Hall of Worship, and straight into a secluded stone alley outside the hall.

At the end of the alley, there was an inconspicuous little tavern. Its storefront was so simple that it looked like a place where a wandering monk would stay. Pushing open the half-closed wooden door, you would find only two old wooden tables and a few benches inside. The air was filled with the sour smell of cheap spirit wine.

Han Cen was clearly a regular here. He greeted the shopkeeper and then led Chen Fan to sit down at a table in the corner.

"This is a place I usually come to after my shift. It's quiet, undisturbed, and the wine isn't expensive."

Han Cen took a pot of cloudy wine and two rough porcelain bowls from the shopkeeper, poured one for Chen Fan, and the murky wine swayed slightly in the bowl, reflecting the dim yellow lamp above his head.

After doing all this, he looked up at Chen Fan again and sighed, "Elder Chen, thankfully I caught up in time. If I had been a step later, would you have drawn your sword in the hall?"

Chen Fan didn't reply, but simply picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

The liquor was spicy and rough as it went down his throat, far inferior to Qin Zhan's strong liquor, but at this moment he needed this spiciness to suppress the surging cold in his chest.

Han Cen didn't mind his silence. He took a sip of wine, put down his bowl, and lowered his voice, saying, "I know you're angry. To be honest, in all my years in the Hall of Offerings, this is the first time I've seen a Gold Medal Offering Master so openly harassed. That fat steward is just a lowly official in the Core Formation stage. If he didn't have anyone backing him up, he wouldn't dare to speak to a Gold Medal Offering Master like that even if he had a hundred lives."

He leaned forward slightly, his voice lowering even further: "It's the Fourth Prince. I've inquired privately, and the Fourth Prince has made arrangements in the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, and the Imperial Palace's administrative hall, to obstruct all matters concerning you. The rule you encountered today—that you can only receive one mission a month—is indeed an old rule of the Imperial Palace, but that rule only applies to those below the silver rank; gold rank officials are never subject to this restriction. That fat steward deliberately used the old rule to obstruct you; it was clearly instigated by the Fourth Prince."

Chen Fan paused slightly in the hand holding the wine bowl, then resumed his normal motion.

He drank the turbid wine in the bowl in one gulp, and when he put the bowl down, the force was neither too light nor too heavy, and the bowl collided with the table with a dull thud.

Zhao Yu!

It's Zhao Yu again!

They publicly mocked his background at the post station, complained to the king about him and made things difficult for him, and now they're sabotaging his only important teleportation array.

Chen Fan couldn't remember the last time he wanted to kill someone with his own hands!

He didn't have this feeling when he killed Wang Teng in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons; that was just about eliminating the root of the problem.

But at this moment, he truly had murderous intent.

"Why would he do that?" Chen Fan's voice remained calm.

"It's simple," Han Cen said with a wry smile. "You ignored him twice in public at the post station, and then turned all his mockery into a joke by winning first place twice in the selection of the stone tablet. The Fourth Prince is a man of extreme temperament and holds grudges. He lost face so badly in front of the entire court. If he doesn't get his revenge tenfold, he's not Zhao Yu. More importantly, you have no connections. You're an outsider from Dayu, with no backing in the Zhao court and no background in the Hall of Worship. Who else would he target if not you?"

He picked up the wine jug and refilled Chen Fan's cup, then poured himself a bowl, took a sip, and continued, "Chen Gongfeng, I am several hundred years older than you and have spent most of my life in the Zhao Kingdom's officialdom. Some of what I need to say may be unpleasant, but since you almost drew your sword in the court today, I have to speak up. What you need to do now is not confront him head-on. No matter how arrogant the Fourth Prince is, he is still the King's own son. If you lay a hand on him, you will create a huge hole, and no one can protect you then. But you are not without options. Just like in the mortal court, the princes in Zhao Kingdom are never a united front. The Fourth Prince has people he fears and enemies he cannot bring down."

Chen Fan's hand, holding the wine cup, froze in mid-air. He looked up and asked, "What does Elder Han mean?"

"The First Prince, Zhao Yan." Han Cen's tone was even more solemn as he uttered these four words. "The First Prince is the eldest son of the King. Although he is not favored, he has a group of veteran officials who secretly support him because his mother comes from the Jiang family, the oldest and most prestigious family in Zhao. More importantly, he is one of the candidates for the next King. According to the ancestral system of Zhao, the throne is passed down only to the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Although the First Prince has repeatedly offended the King due to his upright nature and is therefore not favored, his position as Crown Prince has not been revoked. Because of this, the Fourth Prince has regarded him as a thorn in his side for many years, and the two have never stopped their open and covert struggles in court. Many officials, including some top-ranking officials, choose sides. The Fourth Prince has his own people, and the First Prince has his own as well."

Han Cen put down his wine bowl, his gaze falling on Chen Fan's face, his tone now more sincere and heartfelt:

"Elder Ouyang and I have discussed this privately, and we both feel that the First Prince might be more willing to protect you. Firstly, you are a top-ranked Gold Medal Instructor in both alchemy and formation, and your strength is undeniable. Secondly, the Fourth Prince has already been openly making things difficult for you; your very existence is a thorn in his side, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Thirdly, the First Prince is always sincere and honest, unlike the Fourth Prince who bullies others with his power, and he has a good reputation in the Instructor's Hall. If you are willing, I can act as a go-between for you to meet the First Prince. As for whether he will accept you after the meeting, that depends on your own abilities."

Chen Fan held the wine bowl and remained silent for a long time.

He doesn't want to take sides.

Chen Fan traveled from the sealed land to the Zhao Kingdom, hiding, enduring, and concealing himself at every step, never truly relying on any power.

He never took sides in the Great Abyss Palace, nor in the Sealed Land, nor did he truly pledge allegiance to the royal family during the reign of Yu the Great.

All he wanted was to obtain the offering token, use the teleportation array, and leave Tiannanxing.

However, reality has repeatedly shown Chen Fan that in this land where the strong are respected yet human relationships are deeply intertwined, a person without any backing is not even qualified to follow the rules.

Qin Zhan is right, cultivating immortality is no different from cultivating in the mortal world.

He had spent over sixty years in the Da Yuan Imperial Palace, thinking that once he left that cage, the world would be his oyster, only to find that he had simply been placed in an even bigger cage.

Unless he becomes so powerful that no one dares to give him a hard time, it will be the same no matter where he goes.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan doesn't have that kind of strength yet.

He needs time.

And time is precisely what Zhao Yu is stealing from him bit by bit.

"Thank you for your trouble, Elder Han." Chen Fan finally spoke, downing the bowl of turbid wine in one gulp, and cupped his hands in greeting. "I will keep this in mind and will not cause you any trouble, Elder."