Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

 "We will do our best to serve the Lords," the five men replied in unison once again.

The soft, feminine voice from within responded, "Enough! If there's nothing of great importance, don't bother us with your matters. We need to focus on our cultivation."

After that, five white pills flew out from the palace, landing gently in front of the five men.

"Yes!" the men replied, taking the pills with reverence and slowly retreating toward the secret passage. As the five men departed, two figures inside the palace resumed their conversation, but at that moment, a kind of barrier was formed, making their words inaudible to those outside.

"Fourth Brother, why did you give them that kind of medicine again? Didn't our masters say that the medicine you made, while it can increase a mortal's power, greatly damages their body? Every pill shortens their lifespan by ten years," one of the voices, clearly displeased, asked.

"Third Brother, they all think that those are real spiritual pills, but they don't know that the real pills are so powerful even the four of us have only taken them once. Did you not see how excited they were when they received the pills? With the increased power, they can do more for us. Do you really think they are doing it for us? They only want more power for themselves. Isn't that exactly how we manipulated them in the past? If you want, you could ask the masters to remove the restrictions on us, and then we could go down the mountain. We wouldn't need those eunuchs to do our bidding anymore. The world would be ours to control."

"I dare not ask the masters. They would never agree," the third voice replied.

"Exactly. I don't care how long those eunuchs live. As long as they can do things for us and help us find what we want, it will be worth it. That thing must be of great help to the masters' research. Once we present it to them, as long as they're pleased, they might even take us to the Immortal Realm. By then, the four of us could become immortals!"

"Haha! No wonder Big Brother and Second Brother support you. Fourth Brother, you're truly clever, thinking so far ahead."

"Haha!" The group of five in white clothing were seated together in a remote palace, having just descended from Long Mountain. Their faces were filled with joy as each of them held a pill in their hands like a precious treasure. The pills were about the size of quail eggs, and their color resembled pearls.

The man with thin eyebrows and a single eye spoke first, "To make our job easier, the last time the Lords granted us a pill to increase our power by thirty years. I thought that such a powerful elixir was hard to come by, but now they've given us five more pills, each increasing our power by another thirty years. I can't even imagine how strong the Lords must be, and how powerful their masters are."

The man with a horse face laughed, "Heh heh! Didn't the royal dispatch say it clearly? The Lords and the Immortal Lords are already immortals. The Immortal Lords helped Emperor Chen Yuan conquer the world more than 150 years ago, and the Lords became their disciples a hundred years ago. Do you really think their voices sound like those of people over a hundred years old?"

The man who had lost an ear said, "If only we could join the Immortal Lords' sect! We could live for hundreds, even thousands of years, and wander the world without worrying about aging."

Zhang He, who had been speaking earlier, turned to the man with one ear and said, "Don't dream about it. We are eunuchs, not people who can become immortals. If the Lords had that intention, they would have accepted us long ago. We might as well enjoy the remaining decades we have. But if we do well for the Lords, maybe one day they'll give us a longevity pill, and we could live for another hundred or two hundred years. That's not impossible."

The man with a wide forehead and short chin excitedly added, "Exactly! What Zhang Lao said makes sense. If the Lords have pills to increase our power, they must also have pills for longevity."

The men exchanged gleeful expressions, each filled with a sense of eager anticipation for what the future might bring.

"If we really live a few more decades, hahaha! Then we can enjoy the wealth and glory of the palace even more!" The man with a single eye and thin eyebrows pretended to wipe away his tearless eyes and said, "Poor Hong Liu won't be able to enjoy that. It's all the fault of the damn Liu family. If we don't destroy them, I, Fu Chunshi, will not be a man. Why don't we just send the army to wipe out the Liu family and the other families? Why do we have to dirty our hands?"

Zhang He shook his head helplessly and explained, "Xiaochun, you're over-simplifying things. Everything we do for the Lords must be as discreet as possible. If that thing is exposed, it will inevitably attract more martial artists and forces. Moreover, if we use the military, the Liu family will rebel. Even if we can destroy them, how many people in the world will turn against the court? How many can we kill? While we've already stripped the emperor of his power, he still has the ability to protect us. If we were exposed to the world and became everyone's target, the world would not tolerate us. The more crucial point is that once chaos spreads, if things go wrong, do you think the Lords will still keep us around? You must understand, the Lords gave us our power, they trained us, but they can also easily kill us and train a new group of people to do their bidding."

Zhang He took a sip of tea before continuing, "That's why we can only use the people we have at our disposal. Local officials might cooperate with us, but we can't deceive the common people. The Liu family and other families are still protected by the legacy of the former emperor. If it weren't for the local officials cooperating with us and our spies and the Imperial Guard sealing the news, we would have had countless problems with the common folk the last time we destroyed the Wang family. Looking back, Hong Liu was right to suggest we deal with the Wang family first. Now, except for our spies, the rest of the world is completely in the dark about what's happening."

The man with a horse face added, "Once we digest the spiritual pills and our strength increases, we'll lead our forces and destroy the Liu family. Once the Liu family is gone, the other two families will be no threat."

Zhang He nodded, "Xiaoma, two things: First, order our spies and the Imperial Guard to keep a closer watch on the Liu family and the other two families. Report immediately if there's any sign of movement. Second, confirm whether Hong Liu and his people are dead, or if they've been captured by the Liu family. Also, find out if the thing we want is in their hands, how much the Liu family knows about the Wang family's destruction, and how much they know about us."

"Got it! I'll handle it right away," replied the man with a horse face.

"And immediately order the Imperial Forest Army to come and protect us. Once we exit the palace, we can formulate a more detailed plan."

A storm was about to descend upon the Liu family.

It was still early, just past the rooster's crow, when Yan Huo rose. To be precise, he hadn't slept all night. Yan Huo had been thinking about the meeting with his family, especially with his father. Would it be a quarrel? A fight? Would they yell, scold, or even lash out? Would there be anger, violence, or death? The more he thought about it, the more amused he became. He had once thought he no longer cared about these matters, but it seemed he still couldn't stop worrying about it.