Xi Lei and the others returned to the medical college sooner than Ling Yi. The difference was that the others walked back, but Bo Rui was carried back.

Da Lun gave Ling Yi a complicated look that contained the multitude of things he wanted to say but couldn’t.

“Bo Rui is in the emergency room. Do you want to see him?”

Ling Yi: “Did he get beaten up?”

“If being attacked by pheromones counts as being beaten, then yeah.”

Xi Lei disdained his roundabout words: “He was sent to the emergency room because he had a nose bleed and went into shock.”

Ling Yi was astonished: “You’re all fine, so why is he so ill?”

“Because he’s 94.33.” Oser’s voice was bone-chilling.

Ling Yi still didn’t understand: “Do you give everyone a code name?”

Oser smiled and said nothing.

Ling Yi pushed open the door of the emergency room just in time to see Bo Rui on a hospital bed slap himself hard.

“Pervert! He’s your own son, ah!”

Ling Yi: “……”

Bo Rui noticed someone coming inside. When he turned and saw that it was Ling Yi, he was so frightened that he fell to the floor.

“Y-y-you! Are you wearing the thing?”

Ling Yi helplessly lifted his hair to confirm: “I’ve already put it on, is that okay?”

Bo Rui appeared relieved, but not completely at ease, still watching him cautiously over the edge of the bed.

Ling Yi hadn’t expected to give this child such a psychological shadow, and had to patiently comfort him.

“I let it out on purpose today in order to escape. Normally, it’s not that intense. If you don’t believe me, ask Xi Lei.”

Xi Lei glanced at him, then glanced away.

Bo Rui actually understood: “Xi Lei says you’re a liar!”

Ling Yi: “……”

Da Lun stepped in to smooth things over: “Alright, stop arguing. We should sit down and let Ling Yi explain what’s going on.”

Ling Yi obediently found a seat and sat down. Bo Rui remained stubbornly crouched on the floor and refused to get up, and Xi Lei leaned against the far wall with his arms folded, seemingly unaffiliated with this tea party.

Ling Yi lowered his head and thought for a moment, then covered his face with his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Da Lun asked with concern. “Did we push you too hard?”

Ling Yi shook his head vigorously, sobbing into his palms: “Lu Hulun. It’s Lu Hulun who made me like this.”

Da Lun was about to touch his back to comfort him, but when he reached his hand out, he realized that it might not be appropriate and retracted it.

“It’s okay, take your time.”

Ling Yi paused briefly, then wiped his face and forced himself to be calm.

“The one who died in the execution van wasn’t me, but a substitute Lu Hulun found. The reason he found someone to replace me was that he didn’t want me to die so easily. He wanted me to die in agony like Lu Dawa, with my gland sliced to pieces.”

Bo Rui had been curled up in an aggrieved ball just moments before, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but jump up and curse.

Ling Yi waited patiently for him to finish greeting Lu Hulun’s eighteen generations of ancestors before continuing: “Fortunately, His Highness Oser arrived and rescued me, but my injuries were too severe. I only had two choices: death or a gland transplant.”

Bo Rui: “Of course you couldn’t die!”

“The medical college only had one artificial gland at the time, which was prepared for His Highness Oser’s Omega. It was extremely precious, yet His Highness Oser was willing to use it to save me. He even sent the best surgeons to perform the operation and spent a fortune on my treatment.”

The person leaning against the wall turned his head in disbelief.

“Shortly after the operation, Lu Hulun sent an assassin to sneak into the medical college and kill me. The situation was critical, and in order to protect me from the other Alphas, His Highness Oser had no choice but to mark me, as you can see now.”

These words once again touched upon painful memories, and Ling Yi covered his eyes, not wanting the others to see his vulnerable side.

Through the gaps between his fingers, he could see the look of disbelief on Xi Lei’s face, which was darker than the bottom of a pot. Ling Yi stuck his tongue out at him while the other two weren’t paying attention.

Da Lun had mixed feelings of sorrow and joy. The good news was that Ling Yi had survived, but the bad news was that just by listening to his narration, one could imagine how perilous his life was during that period.

“Why didn’t you tell us such an important thing earlier?”

“I hid it from you before because I wasn’t mentally prepared to face myself, and I worried that you would discriminate against me because of it.”

Da Lun’s heart broke: “How could that be?”

Bo Rui also shouted: “We’ve lived and eaten together for so many years. Don’t you know what kind of people we are?”

“I believe that the other students will accept you, so don’t let this weigh on you.”

Ling Yi wiped away nonexistent tears: “Thanks, you guys. I’ll try to accept my new identity. I don’t want to hide from it anymore.”

Xi Lei: “Heh.”

Bo Rui’s eyes flickered as if he had something else to say.

“I wanted to ask you, that is, the relationship between you and His Highness Oser…..is it based on gratitude?”

Ling Yi had already smelled a certain scent outside the door. Somebody couldn’t control his pheromones, and thus lacked the ability to hide and eavesdrop.

He lowered his head with reddened eyes: “No, it’s based on love.”

When he came out of the emergency room, Oser started to clap.

“Excellent! The film school has lost out on your extraordinary talent.”

Ling Yi calmly accepted the praise: “My goal is to bring hatred down on Lu Hulun. There’s no need for you to bring out the firepower. Since Bo Rui knows, soon everyone at the academy will know.”

He was very confident: “When it comes out that I’m still alive, this version of events will naturally spread. Even surnamed Lu won’t be able to dispute it, because lies based on truth are the hardest to distinguish.”

“Half true, half false. Was your closing remark the false half?”

Ling Yi smiled: “Guess.”

. . . . . .

A day later, Xi En, who had been in a coma for over half a month, finally woke up.

When Ling Yi received the news and rushed over, Xi En had been awake for most of the day and was even able to sit up.

“Uncle Xi En!” Ling Yi’s eyes reddened the moment he saw him. This time, he wasn’t acting.

Xi En saw his lips tremble, and reached his hands out unsteadily.

“Ling Yi, come here.”

Ling Yi rushed over and hugged him, all of the worries and fears of these past days spilling out to wet the fabric over Xi En’s chest.

“I almost thought I’d never see you again.”

Xi En patted him on the back: “I’m alright. You’re the one who suffered.”

After Ling Yi vented the grievances that had piled up over several months, he met Xi Lei’s gaze and immediately turned his head away to wipe away his tears.

A few tissues were handed to him. Ling Yi stared at Xi Lei in confusion, wondering why he was being so kind instead of laughing at him.

“I told Dad the whole story, so you don’t have to make up tales to deceive him.”

“You —!”

“Your acting skills were barely enough to fool those two idiots. Do you really believe Dad wouldn’t see through it?”

Ling Yi gritted his teeth, but in front of Xi En, he chose not to argue with his son.

“Uncle Xi En, don’t listen to his nonsense. Look, I’m fine now, aren’t I? Your injuries and the tumor in your head were all treated by people His Highness Oser hired. The same goes for Xi Lei. If it weren’t for His Highness Oser, he would have been captured and buried by Lu Hulun.”

Xi En nodded slowly: “You’re right. Once I’ve recovered a bit, I’ll have to thank His Highness Oser in person.”

“No need.”

A familiar voice sounded, and Oser himself appeared at the door. 

“I’m here. Just pretend you’ve already thanked me.”

Xi En recognized Oser and struggled to get up.

“Xi Lei, come help me up.”

Xi Lei was apprehensive: “Dad, you just woke up. Don’t force yourself. His Highness won’t blame you for not observing etiquette.”

“His Highness Oser saved our entire family. I should express my sincere gratitude to him…..hurry up and help me!”

Since Xi En insisted on getting up, Xi Lei and Ling Yi had no choice but to assist him. One on each side, they supported him over to Oser.

Facing Oser, Xi En bowed deeply.

“Your Highness saved my family. I sincerely express my gratitude to you.”

Oser: “There’s no need for such ceremony. I was just fulfilling Ling Yi’s request.”

He was caught off guard by pain blooming in his jaw. Xi En’s punch was weak and powerless, but he had actually hit the eldest prince’s noble face.

Ling Yi: “Uncle Xi En!”

Xi Lei: “Dad!”

After using all of his strength to throw one punch, Xi En was completely exhausted and slid straight down. If Ling Yi and Xi Lei hadn’t been holding him up, he would have fallen to the floor.

Everyone was shocked by this sudden development, including Oser, who wore a rare look of surprise on his face.

“The way your Xi family expresses gratitude is truly eye-opening.”

Xi Lei explained anxiously: “No, Your Highness! Dad…..his mind must not be clear after the surgery. He was just momentarily confused!”

“The last person who dared punch me in the face was Ling Yi. Between you and him, I can’t tell which is the real father-son pair.”

Oser rubbed the place he’d been hit: “But I do hope that the next person who takes action will understand the criminal sentence for attacking a member of the royal family.”

Xi En breathed for a long time before regaining enough strength to furiously scold His Highness Oser: “He’s only in his early twenties, in the prime of his life, with lots of youth ahead of him! You took advantage of his misfortune. How could you be so cruel…..”

“Uncle Xi En! Stop talking!”

Ling Yi feared that Oser would order Xi En, who had just returned from the dead, to be thrown in prison. He hurriedly pleaded: “Your Highness, Uncle Xi En has been very kind to me. Without him, I wouldn’t be alive today. He acted impulsively out of concern for me. Please forgive him this time!”

There was no emotion in Oser’s unfathomable eyes.

“Your pleading for him is much more sincere than when you pleaded on your own behalf.”

“As long as you forgive him, I’ll do anything!”

“Me too!” Xi Lei stepped forward. “Please, for the sake of his frail body, don’t pursue this matter. I’m willing to go to prison in his place!”

While holding Xi En up, they tried their best to shield him with their bodies against Oser’s anger.

Oser’s eyes swept over the three of them one by one.

“It’s not impossible for me to waive the punishment. You two go out first.”

Ling Yi couldn’t rest assured: “Your Highness, allow me to stay. I won’t talk.”

“What, are you worried that this half-dead fellow will jump up and punch me again, or that I’ll kill him with one punch?”

Xi En stopped Ling Yi: “This is great. I also want to speak with His Highness privately”

Ling Yi and Xi Lei were driven out, leaving only a high-handed prince and a weak patient in the ward.

“In consideration of your unhealed injuries, I’ll allow you to sit while we speak,” Oser said loftily.

Xi En fell to the edge of the bed. He tried to push himself up with one hand, but after several failed attempts, he was forced to give up. 

“Your Highness, do you understand Ling Yi? If not, then let me, as his parent, give you a brief introduction.”

“Ling Yi has been interested in beautiful, dainty Omegas since childhood. When I was cleaning his room once, I found those magazines under his bed that teenagers like. I didn’t say anything to him, because it’s normal for adolescents to be curious about the opposite sex.”

He paused for a long time before he was able to speak again.

“Later, when Ling Yi went to the military academy, I accidentally discovered the pages he saved in his phone. His favorite porn star was Meng Tian. Considering that he’s an adult, he should have freedom in this regard, and as long as he wasn’t discovered by the school, I let him do as he pleased. If Your Highness feels that I’ve failed to educate my son, I will readily accept criticism.”

Oser’s face didn’t look so good anymore.

“A person’s sexual characteristics can be changed, but their sexual preferences cannot. Your Highness is not Ling Yi’s type in terms of style, age, or sexual characteristics. Even if you force him to be with you, he will never truly fall in love with you, Your Highness.”

Oser held his forehead with one hand and let out a few sinister chuckles.

“I truly want to thank you for introducing me to so many unknown sides of Ling Yi. If your goal was to irritate me, then congratulations, you’ve succeeded……”

“…..Captain Xi En.”

---

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Chapter 30 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 32

Chu Jiubian could sense the omnipresent gazes before he even disembarked the carriage.

In a daze, he even felt as if he had returned to the modern era and was about to get out of a car and walk the red carpet.

As if he would be greeted by excited cheers from his fans outside, as well as blinding flashes from the media.

He lowered his eyes slightly, face devoid of any extraneous expression, and his demeanor became even more distant and aloof.

He hadn’t forgotten his persona – he had to be proud and indifferent.

The carriage slowly came to a stop, and Qin Chaoyang’s voice sounded from outside: “Young Master, we have arrived at the Treasure Pavilion.”

Chu Jiubian stood up, and Qin Chaoyang lifted the curtain at just the right moment.

The people all around no longer hid their gazes, and stared straight at him.

The black and gold curtain lifted, and a slender, pale hand reached out to rest lightly against the door. Then came the hem of a robe trimmed with crimson clouds, along with a black boot.

Long, silver-white hair slid down his shoulders as the young man bent down and stepped out of the carriage.

Once he stood in place, everyone noticed how tall the slender man was, even taller than Qin Chaoyang standing next to him.

Of course, the most eye-catching aspects were his strange head of hair and that face.

Lu Jinfeng crossed his arms and looked him over twice, then turned toward Xiao Yao beside him and asked: “How does this Jiu-gongzi’s appearance compare to that of the Xiao family daughters?”

“Each has their own merits.” Xiao Yao’s eyes gleamed brightly. “However, this Jiu-gongzi’s merits go far beyond just his appearance.”

Having said this, he paced toward Chu Jiubian.

Lu Jinfeng naturally followed suit, unwilling to be left behind.

Everyone had initially thought that Qin Xiao would come along to keep a close eye on Chu Jiubian in order to keep others from taking advantage of the situation.

Therefore, many people, including Xiao Yao, had wracked their brains to come up with a way to strike up a conversation with Chu Jiubian.

Unexpectedly, Qin Xiao had released this person so openly. Was he really that confident that Chu Jiubian wouldn’t be recruited by other forces, or had he made other preparations?

As for Qin Chaoyang accompanying Chu Jiubian, no one saw him as anything other than a servant.

When masters were talking, servants were not allowed to voice their thoughts; their presence or absence made no difference.

Chu Jiubian cast a cool gaze over the crowd. From their positions and expressions, he could pretty much determine who held higher status and who was just there to be part of the fun.

He looked unflinchingly at the people walking toward him.

The newcomers were a slender, effeminate man and a well-muscled man with a cold face. They were both dressed in top-quality fabrics, and the jade pendants hanging at their waists were obviously the best money could buy.

And the moment they arrived, others who were trying to get closer stopped in their tracks. Most of them chose to go into the Treasure Pavilion first, leaving only a handful of people standing outside.

If anyone could read Chu Jiubian’s thoughts, they would be surprised to find that everyone remaining outside the Treasure Pavilion were those he had previously determined to be of high status.

In a private room on the second floor facing the street, Wang Huanzhi, the head of the Langya Wang family, stood at the window. Dressed in white, his figure was as straight as bamboo as he looked down at the people below, gently fanning himself with the folding fan in his hand.

“Has Jiu-gongzi finally arrived?” An elderly man sitting at the table took a sip of tea, no trace of impatience to be seen.

Wang Huanzhi asked: “Does Xiansheng know who else is left downstairs?”

The old man named Wang Zhang – who was also Wang Huanzhi’s strategist – said indifferently: “Just some of the most powerful people in the capital.”

“Three ministers, five deputy ministers, two generals…..” Wang Huanzhi chuckled. “They all arrived rather quickly.”

“Is the patriarch not going down to meet that person?”

“He’s just a charlatan.” Wang Huanzhi turned and sat back down at the table. “My Wang family has been a family of upright officials for generations. To associate ourselves with such a person would surely make all the great scholars and Confucianists of the world laugh their heads off.”

The Langya Wang family was renowned for their literary pursuits, producing many great scholars and Confucianists. They had been at the center of power since the previous dynasty, with a prime minister for several terms, and holding more than a dozen minister and deputy minister positions. Their pupils and former officials were spread all throughout the Great Ning Dynasty, and they were the most well-regarded amongst the four great families.

Whenever members of the Wang family came up in conversation, even the most ignorant people offered them a little more respect.

Therefore, the Wang family was equivalent to the largest public opinion group in the Great Ning Dynasty. If they wanted to promote someone, they could even promote a pig.

Correspondingly, if they wanted to ruin someone, they could drown that person in their spittle.

So-called verbal and written attacks were the foundation of the Wang family’s existence.

Naturally, the Wang family was very concerned about their reputation. They always maintained a proper demeanor, exuding an air of superiority as if they were looking down on everyone around them.

The current head of the Wang family, Wang Huanzhi, was no exception.

Wang Zhang poured him a cup of tea and said in a warm tone: “Has the family head forgotten those two poems?”

Wang Huanzhi paused.

“That Jiu-gongzi is indeed a pretentious charlatan, but the poets behind him, Li Bai and Li Qingzhao, are two great talents.” Wang Zhang patiently persuaded him, “No one, including my Langya Wang clan, would ever accept such a person.”

Wang Huanzhi lightly stroked the rim of his teacup with his fingertips. After a moment of contemplation, he said: “Rest assured, Xiansheng. My Wang family would never stoop to the level of sycophants, but my good-for-nothing eldest son is someone who loves to go along with the crowd.”

He himself was unwilling to stoop to the level of befriending Chu Jiubian, but his eldest son was.

Since that child had already gone astray and embarrassed the Wang family more than once, what harm was there in losing face a few more times?

Seeing his reaction, Wang Zhang could only sigh. He didn’t attempt to persuade him any further.

That young master had long since lost his loyalty to Wang Huanzhi, the family head. Even if he did actually form a relationship with Chu Jiubian, it wasn’t certain that such a relationship would transfer over to Wang Huanzhi.

But Wang Huanzhi was used to this, and never took that child seriously.

Wang Zhang naturally didn’t believe that the young master would amount to much; he was only able to maintain his place in the family due to the old lady’s favor.

But the old lady was getting on in age, and once she passed away, the young master would have no one to rely on in this family and could have no influence on Wang Huanzhi.

At the thought of this, Wang Zhang relaxed. Since Wang Huanzhi was unwilling to befriend Chu Jiubian, they would first observe the outcome of the other powerful figures’ actions.

Downstairs, Qin Chaoyang whispered to Chu Jiubian: “Those two are Xiao Yao, the head of the Xiao family, and Lu Jinfeng, the head of the Lu family.”

So they were the heads of two of the four great families. No wonder the others wisely left first.

Chu Jiubian gazed indifferently at the two people who had approached him, as if he were truly an emotionless god looking down upon all living beings from on high.

Lu Jinfeng’s brow was furrowed, having formed a deep “川” shape over the years. His sharp eyes swept across Chu Jiubian’s face with an immense sense of pressure.

Xiao Yao, however, gave him a warm, genial smile and bowed to Chu Jiubian, saying: “You must be Jiu-gongzi, Chu Jiubian? I am Xiao Yao, or Xiao Zimei, the current head of the Lin’an Xiao family. I have long admired you, Young Master, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you today.”

Lu Jinfeng then cupped his hands in turn and said in a deep voice: “I am Lu Jinfeng, the current head of the Wuwei Lu family, courtesy name Liaoyuan. I have long admired you.”

Chu Jiubian nodded to the two of them in acknowledgement of their greetings.

He was a god, and had only been down on earth for a few days, so he naturally couldn’t act too much like a human.

But if necessary, he would learn such etiquette so that he wouldn’t feel too awkward or embarrassed when attending the morning court sessions.

His attitude just about threw the two people in front of him off balance.

Lu Jinfeng’s frown deepened, while Xiao Yao, after a moment of surprise, smiled again and said: “The auction must be about to begin. Young Master, please.”

Chu Jiubian smoothly stepped forward and walked ahead of the two.

Xiao Yao followed a step behind, then walked beside Chu Jiubian.

Lu Jinfeng didn’t follow, but instead remained where he was. Minister of Revenue Su Sheng, Minister of War Lu Youwei, and Deputy Minister of Works Xiao Wendao were watching, among others. They had originally intended to find an opportunity to speak with Chu Jiubian, but seeing that the other party hadn’t even given face to two family heads, they decided not to make fools of themselves.

“Gentlemen, how about we stop standing here like idiots?” Xiao Wendao gestured around the group.

“Please, Minister Xiao.” The others were courteous to each other as they entered the Treasure Pavilion.

They didn’t linger on the first floor, but ascended to the second.

Chu Jiubian was also led by Qin Chaoyang to the private box the hosts had prepared for Qin Xiao.

Xiao Yao’s private box was right next door. He smiled and said: “If the Young Master gets bored, he can come and find me at any time.”

Chu Jiubian nodded, and his expression seemed to soften considerably.

Xiao Yao’s smile deepened, and he only turned to leave after Chu Jiubian’s door closed.

“Young Master, the view from here is quite good. You can see all of the items up for auction onstage.” Qin Chaoyang wiped off the chair for him.

Chu Jiubian walked over and found that what was called a private box was actually just a railing half a person high facing the other stands.

It didn’t obstruct the view, but it also offered no privacy. Let alone talking, if one even flicked their hair in the private box, the people in other private boxes could see it clearly.

A pair of large mahogany chairs had been placed in front of the railing facing the stands. There was a small table between them, upon which were tea, snacks, and fruit.

Chu Jiubian took a seat on the left and looked at the private box directly opposite him.

Two people sat there: a middle-aged man in flowing white robes and an old, white-bearded man who looked more like a deity than Chu Jiubian did.

“Those two are Wang Huanzhi, the head of the Langya Wang family, and Wang Zhang, an elder and strategist of the clan,” Qin Chaoyang introduced in a low voice.

Chu Jiubian nodded, then looked over at the other private boxes.

The various nobles, officials, and ministers were almost all men, except for two adjacent rooms where women were seated.

A dozen or so ladies and young women were dressed in fine clothes, with thin veils covering the lower halves of their faces.

“Those are the young ladies and wives of various families, who came out with the lords and young masters to have fun.”

Confucianism flourished in the Great Ning Dynasty, and the concepts of the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Virtues, as well as male superiority, had long been deeply-engrained in the minds of the people.

In addition, with books such as <<Female Conduct>> and <<Admonitions for Women>> becoming mainstream, these young ladies and wives kept to themselves and their families, rarely venturing out. They would only attend flower-appreciation banquets or similar events organized by women, and seldom showed their faces in public.

They could only go out with the men in their families on occasions such as auctions and the Qixi Festival, and even then, they had to wear a veil.

Chu Jiubian didn’t look at the women for long, but he had a good eye and was adept at reading people.

Thus, with a quick glance, he remembered their features and figures, and could basically guess their personalities from the liveliness or gentleness of their eyes.

“When will Qin Xiao arrive?” Chu Jiubian asked.

“In an hour.”

This one hour was the chance Qin Xiao was giving others, including Chu Jiubian, to see whether he could be won over by someone else.

If Chu Jiubian truly was persuaded to someone’s side, Qin Xiao wouldn’t move against him tonight – but that may not be the case in the future.

After all, nobody understood Chu Jiubian’s abilities better than Qin Xiao. If such a person couldn’t be used by him, then he must not be allowed to remain.

Chu Jiubian was also very clear on this matter.

With most everyone present, the auction officially commenced.

This was not Chu Jiubian’s first time participating in an auction. In order to excel in the role of an auctioneer, he had even gone to learn how to do it and had observed dozens of auctions in person.

Watching this process that was nearly identical to modern procedures, he wasn’t interested at all.

Of course, this was also because the items up for auction were either paintings by some master, beautiful and exquisite jewelry, and a few so-called martial arts manuals or precious swords that could cut through iron like mud…..

Very few people participated in the bidding, and the selling prices were not very high. In two quarters of an hour, just little over twenty items had been auctioned off.

This was partly because of Chu Jiubian. Most people present today were here for him rather than to bid on anything, so they naturally had no interest in joining the crowd.

However, these people were biding their time, and aside from the two family heads at the beginning, no one came to strike up a conversation with him.

Chu Jiubian’s enthusiasm was waning. Since no one was coming to him, he might as well out to try his luck.

“I’m going out for a walk,” he said to Qin Chaoyang as he stood up. “No need for you to follow me.”

“Yes.” Qin Chaoyang obediently stayed in the private box.

The fact that no one was following him openly didn’t mean that they weren’t doing so in secret.

Chu Jiubian knew very well that even if Qin Chaoyang wasn’t with him, Qin Xiao’s secret guards were still around, so he would still be safe even if someone attacked him.

However, once Qin Chaoyang stopped following him, his goal of being alone became particularly clear.

The first person to spot him was Xiao Yao, who had been keeping an eye on the situation next door.

Chu Jiubian had only taken a few steps out of the private box when Xiao Yao followed him out and said with a look of pleasant surprise: “What a coincidence. Is the Young Master feeling bored too?”

“En,” Chu Jiubian replied.

Xiao Yao came up to his side and smiled: “The Young Master hasn’t been upstairs yet. Many scholars and gentlemen are there, as well as courtesans putting on performances. Would you like to go and have a look?”

It seemed the head of the Xiao family was making his move.

Chu Jiubian readily agreed: “Let’s go.”

Xiao Yao’s smile became more genuine as he led him up to the third floor.

The moment they stepped inside, they were greeted by the sound of string and woodwind instruments. Different from the two floors below, there were more private rooms with closed doors, from which zither music and lively conversations drifted out.

“I wonder if you have heard of Gongjin-xiansheng?” Xiao Yao asked.

“Is his surname Zhou?” Chu Jiubian asked subconsciously.

Xiao Yao shook his head: “His surname is Bai.”

Chu Jiubian had automatically thought of Zhou Gongjin from the Three Kingdoms period, but when he ran through the original text again in his mind, he couldn’t find mention of him. “Never heard of him,” he said.

Xiao Yao gave him a sideways glance, seemingly surprised that a dignified young master like Chu Jiubian would speak so bluntly.

However, taking into consideration that he might be from some reclusive family or power base, and was someone who rarely engaged in worldly affairs, it carried a sense of rustic charm.

In fact, Chu Jiubian was simply unaccustomed to how ancient people spoke, and would habitually use some more modern expressions.

However, his chosen identity was not from this world, so he simply declined to change his speaking patterns and spoke however he pleased.

Xiao Yao led him forward to the largest and most central private room: “This Gongjin-xiansheng came from Jiangnan two years ago. He was not yet twenty years old, but his literary talent was outstanding. Rumor has it that he could compose poetry at the age of three, debate the classics with great Confucian scholars by five, and was recommended for officialdom at ten. But he found the vicissitudes of officialdom restrictive, and resigned to wander freely.”

“He has been in the capital for two years now, and runs the Treasure Pavilion. When it comes to poetry, none of the so-called scholars and literary giants in the capital are a match for him; everyone says that he is the most valuable item in this Treasure Pavilion.”

Chu Jiubian nodded and said: “That is indeed impressive.”

He knew what Xiao Yao intended to do.

He wanted to know for himself whether this “immortal” had investment potential, and whether he was really backed by the so-called “Immortal Poet” and “Li Qingzhao.”

His other miracles were difficult to verify, but this one could be determined quickly and with little effort.

Xiao Yao was likely not the only one with this idea in mind. Other powerful figures had been observing without taking action, presumably waiting to see the results of this test.

All of these people were exceptionally shrewd.

However, could their knowledge of poetry compare to his?

Chu Jiubian’s gaze was deep and unfathomable.

Since it was like this, he was definitely about to reap another wave of Faith Points.

---

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Chapter 16 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 18

A light drizzle was falling when the morning court session ended.

Perhaps because ice had been left in his room all night, Bai Lihong had sneezed two or three times when he awoke that morning.

Qin Xiao worried that the child would catch a cold now that it was raining again, so he had him take a palanquin back to Yangxin Palace.

He himself stayed behind and spoke with Su Sheng and others about various matters, expressing that the national treasury would continue to be replenished and that he and His Majesty would gradually improve the lives of the common people.

He and these ministers, who outwardly appeared concerned for the country and its people, made sure to maintain a proper facade before parting ways.

This was the current situation in the Great Ning Dynasty. Regardless of what people really thought, a good reputation and the outward appearance of “a wise ruler and virtuous ministers” must be maintained.

After watching everyone leave, Qin Chaoyang finally spoke: “My Lord, the Imperial Decree has been passed down. Jiannan-wang will depart for Hexi Prefecture tomorrow.”

“Hm.” Qin Xiao took the umbrella from his hand and opened it, then stepped out of the main hall and descended the steps one by one.

Qin Chaoyang held his own umbrella as he followed behind him. He went on to say: “The Empress Dowager just paid a visit to the Young Master, and they discussed the auction. The Young Master was just about to come see you, presumably because he’s guessed that you’re using him.”

Qin Xiao paused in his steps.

Qin Chaoyang stopped as well, and followed Qin Xiao’s gaze when he saw him looking ahead.

Below the long steps, about a hundred meters away, stood none other than Chu Jiubian and Xiao Xiangzi. Speak of the devil.

Qin Xiao paused only briefly before continuing forward, swiftly descending the steps.

Looking on from afar, he saw the young man in dark blue brocade robes holding an oil paper umbrella. His long, silver-white hair was loose, and the slightly curled dark hair over his forehead created an odd and incongruous look that, combined with his delicate and beautiful face, gave him a detached beauty that seemed to belong to another world.

Qin Xiao walked unhurriedly toward the young man and said familiarly: “You wanted to see me again?”

He had played the role of a dandy for so many years, and it was easy for him to say something so flippant.

But because he spoke so naturally and had such a handsome face, his words didn’t seem offensive at all; on the contrary, they sounded flirtatious.

Someone else might feel ashamed or embarrassed, but this was Chu Jiubian.

As far back as he could remember, Chu Jiubian had never experienced any emotion similar to “embarrassment.”

“I thought you might not have brought an umbrella, so I came to pick you up.” Chu Jiubian looked up at the umbrella in his hand and said, “Now it seems I was overthinking it.”

“You weren’t overthinking it.” Without hesitation, Qin Xiao closed his umbrella and handed it to Qin Chaoyang behind him. 

Qin Chaoyang immediately took it, watching as his lord stepped under the young master’s umbrella and took the handle from the other’s hand.

Chu Jiubian naturally released his grip and began to move forward.

Xiao Xiangzi lagged a few steps behind, following the two along with Qin Chaoyang.

Looking up, he could see the two tall figures walking side by side. Both possessed an extraordinary bearing, but their temperaments were worlds apart.

How well-matched, Xiao Xiangzi thought.

Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao strolled leisurely along the long, secluded palace path. Chu Jiubian remained silent for some time, until he felt his left shoulder being soaked by the drizzle and turned his head to look.

Qin Xiao also noticed his wet shoulder, and immediately tilted the umbrella toward him.

Chu Jiubian chuckled softly and said: “Are you looking after me?”

“Of course,” said Qin Xiao. “The Young Master has helped me so much, it’s my duty to do what I can for you.”

Chu Jiubian sent him a glance and thought, You’d better remember what I’ve done for you.

Qin Xiao seemed to understand this look. A smile appeared in his eyes as he said: “Saltpeter is now under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court.”

“Oh.” Chu Jiubian pretended not to hear the meaning behind his words.

“The Young Master previously stated that there are other uses for saltpeter beyond just making ice.” Qin Xiao didn’t beat around the bush, saying directly: “The day after tomorrow, I’ll take you out of the palace. Teach me another method then, hm?”

Chu Jiubian stopped and turned to face him.

The two stood under the same umbrella, very close in proximity.

Chu Jiubian had to raise his chin slightly to meet Qin Xiao’s gaze. He stared unblinkingly at the man before him and asked: “If I don’t teach you, you won’t take me to the auction?”

This bastard was already willing to use him, and now he wanted to use this to make a deal with him?

Dream on!

Qin Xiao looked down at him. The umbrella still covered most of his head, but his own back was wet.

After a moment, Qin Xiao suddenly let out a soft laugh and lamented: “I really don’t like talking to intelligent people.”

Chu Jiubian had already guessed that he planned to use him as bait for those powerful and influential people in order to see what bargaining chips they had in their hands. It was no longer suitable to use the pretext of “leaving the palace” to obtain another method from Chu Jiubian.

“What do you want?” he asked.

Chu Jiubian: “I’m bored every day. How about you give me an official position?”

This was what Chu Jiubian had wanted from the very beginning.

The Imperial Court may currently appear calm on the surface, but undercurrents were already surging, and the political struggle among these powerful figures would soon reach a fever pitch.

Chu Jiubian couldn’t remain outside the vortex forever. He needed to step in and work with these powerful figures and Qin Xiao in order to keep abreast of the latest intelligence and political developments.

Otherwise, once Qin Xiao had suppressed and defeated these people, the conflict would shift toward Chu Jiubian.

Chu Jiubian now had the Mobei Army as his backup forces, and there would be other believers in the future, but this wasn’t enough to put him on equal footing with Qin Xiao.

He even required Qin Xiao’s permission to inquire about news from the outside world.

Thus, in order to protect himself, Chu Jiubian must possess status and power to rival Qin Xiao’s.

A few flashes of lightning streaked through the gloomy clouds, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.

The rain came down harder.

Chu Jiubian paid close attention to every change in Qin Xiao’s expression. He was actually very apprehensive.

This request seemed to reveal too much ambition, and it would be reasonable for Qin Xiao not to agree.

It seemed like an eternity, yet also like only a few breaths had passed before Qin Xiao nodded: “His Majesty happens to be lacking a teacher.”

“You want me to be the Imperial Preceptor?” Chu Jiubian was not very satisfied.

The Imperial Preceptor was said to be the emperor’s teacher, but in reality, with Qin Xiao being the Regent and the emperor’s maternal uncle, the young emperor rarely paid attention to his Imperial Preceptor.

Moreover, the Imperial Preceptor’s job was only to teach the emperor knowledge and etiquette. He could not attend court, and had no real power, and this would not improve Chu Jiubian’s current problem of being “blind and deaf” with no subordinates.

Qin Xiao knew he was dissatisfied by his frown, but rather than being angry, he smiled and said: “This lord was referring to the position of Grand Tutor, a first-rank official able to attend court and participate in government affairs. Is the Young Master satisfied?”

Chu Jiubian’s brow smoothed out.

It seemed Qin Xiao knew what he wanted.

“I really enjoy talking to intelligent people.” Chu Jiubian’s eyes sparkled, and his deliberately gentle tone seemed as if he was trying to tug on the other’s heartstrings.

Qin Xiao swept his rippling eyes over him and said meaningfully: “Then I trust that the Grand Tutor will consider His Majesty’s well-being in the future.”

He was isolated and helpless in the court, with almost no capable civil officials.

If Chu Jiubian could attend court, with his intelligence and abilities, he was certain to be a sharp blade in Qin Xiao’s hands.

But as of now, the direction this blade would point was unknown.

Qin Xiao was in no hurry. The day after tomorrow, he would know whose hands this blade would end up in.

Chu Jiubian understood his implied meaning. The other party’s offer of the Grand Tutor position seemed to show his sincerity, and he felt that he should reciprocate. He said: “Rest assured, Lord Ning-wang, His Majesty is clever and well-behaved, and I like him very much.”

He would first verbally express his opinion, and then prove it through his actions when meeting with others the next day.

In any case, he had never considered cooperating with other forces. In the end, he would remain standing at the side of Bai Lihong, the male protagonist of this world.

The young man’s stunning face reflected in Qin Xiao’s unfathomable eyes.

“Then this lord shall wait and see.”

*

*

The Yanmen Qiu family was the wealthiest of the four great families.

They had originally made their fortune outside Yanmen Pass by trading in salt, iron, and furs with the grassland tribes, and eventually controlled all of the border trade routes.

Later, when the Imperial Court tightened its control, they abandoned their aboveboard business and became more secretive, expanding their influence into the Central Plains region.

Their caravans now spread across most of the Great Ning Dynasty, and they were also deeply involved with forces in the jianghu.

Because of their trade, the Qiu family always managed to obtain rare and precious items.

In order to sell them at high prices, they opened the Treasure Pavilion in the capital, and an auction was held there every six months.

At present, the first biannual auction was set to begin.

Early on, the Qiu family had released the news that many of the treasures in this auction originated from the Western Regions and the Northern Territories, and were extremely rare in the Central Plains.

The capital city was never short of wealthy and powerful people, and they were all naturally abuzz with interest. Even merchants from the Jiangnan region had come to join in the fun.

On the day of the auction, starting in the afternoon, carriages of all kinds arrived one after another, each bearing the name of their respective families.

The Treasure Pavilion had three floors. The first floor was for ordinary wealthy merchants and officials of all ranks, while the private rooms on the second floor were reserved for the powerful and influential, those whom ordinary people might never have the chance to meet in their lifetimes.

The four great families, as well as officials of the first and second ranks, were basically all on this level.

The third floor above was reserved for the most beautiful and talented courtesans from the most famous pleasure houses and painted boats, who would serve tea and put on performances.

Therefore, many early arrivals would go straight to the third floor to browse, drink tea, and appreciate art.

More carriages arrived as evening drew near, and the flags adorning each one were enough to make one’s heart tremble.

When colleagues from the Imperial Court bumped into one another, they would greet each other and engage in lively conversation.

When Xiao Yao, the head of the Lin’an Xiao family, arrived, he happened to run into Lu Jinfeng, the head of the Wuwei Lu family. Both of them were only in their early thirties.

Xiao Yao was dressed in blue robes and had the appearance of a frail scholar, his temperament even somewhat effeminate.

Lu Jinfeng was dressed in long, dark robes. His face was cold and hard, and the robes were unable to hide his muscular physique. Of course, the most eye-catching thing was the longsword at his waist, which had taken countless lives.

Xiao Yao smiled and stepped forward with his hands cupped in greeting. He said: “Liaoyuan-xiong, it’s been a while. You look even more robust.”

“And you’ve become even more womanly,” Lu Jinfeng sneered.

Xiao Yao’s expression remained unchanged: “Who in the Great Ning Dynasty doesn’t know how beautiful the women in my family are? If I could be half as beautiful as them, I would be most pleased.”

Lu Jinfeng couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him.

Their entire family maintained their status by relying on the beauty of their women to curry favor with the wealthy and powerful, and were not at all ashamed of it.

To be on the safe side, the street had been cleared out today. Only people with connections in the capital were allowed in; ordinary people could only stand away from the street and watch the excitement from afar.

Normally, the street wasn’t so crowded when there was an auction, and people would come and go inside the Treasure Pavilion to exchange pleasantries.

But today, the area in front of the gate was extremely lively. Influential figures stood there in twos and threes, chatting as they glanced toward the end of the long street now and then, as if waiting for someone.

The setting sun cast a golden glow across the ground, and at last, a horse-drawn carriage slowly approached from the end of the long street.

The carriage was entirely black and gold, with a banner fluttering above it bearing the surname “Qin” in vibrant calligraphy.

This was the Qin family carriage.

To be more precise, it was Qin Xiao’s carriage.

Ongoing conversations gradually fell silent, and countless gazes focused on that one spot.

Everyone knew that Qin Xiao wasn’t the only one in the carriage; the renowned Jiu-gongzi of the capital city was there as well.

---

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Chapter 15 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 17

T/N: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! Here’s a holiday double update.

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[Friendly reminder: There will be intermittent light rain today. Please bring an umbrella when going out. (Rain will start in 20 minutes)]

Having regained a bit of freedom, Chu Jiubian planned to go out for a walk after breakfast and see if there was a chance to trick any palace servants into contributing some Faith Points. 

He was unsurprised to hear the System notification.

It was sweltering hot the day before, with clouds blazing red in the sky come evening, so it was normal for it to rain today. 

He glanced up at the sky.

It was usually cloudy for some time before it rained, but the weather in the Great Ning Dynasty was odd. It was obviously going to rain soon, but the sky was still clear.

This was a good thing for Chu Jiubian. It allowed him to keep up his act.

“Would the Young Master like to go for a walk?” Xiao Xiangzi asked considerately.

Chu Jiubian gave a hum, then said: “Bring an umbrella.”

Xiao Xiangzi immediately sent Xiao Jinzi to fetch an umbrella. Any hesitation would be disrespectful to this “god.”

The umbrellas prepared for the masters of each palace were exquisite, printed with elegant ink-wash landscape paintings. Perhaps because they were so delicate, they were relatively small and could only cover one person. Trying to squeeze two people under one would be a bit crowded.

Chu Jiubian told Xiao Xiangzi to take an extra oil paper umbrella.

This way, Chu Jiubian could just hold his own umbrella later rather than let Xiao Xiangzi get soaked trying to help him.

Xiao Xiangzi understood his motivations, and was deeply moved.

Their young master was really a very good person, and didn’t look down on servants like them at all.

The two of them left Yaotai Residence and walked unhurriedly toward the Imperial Gardens.

With such nice weather, all of the masters and servants in the palace would want to go there.

And where there were many people, there would be many believers.

Although Yaotai Residence was not large, its location was truly excellent, right next to Yangxin Palace. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the Imperial Gardens. This showed how favored Concubine Duan had been when Emperor Yingzong still lived.

After all, she had accompanied Yingzong and given birth to his eldest son. She was also taken under the wing of the Empress Dowager, so it was understandable that she would hold a higher status.

“Young Master,” Xiao Xiangzi said softly, “I hear that the ice is selling very well outside. The rich and powerful are scrambling to obtain it.”

Chu Jiubian maintained an aloof and noble demeanor, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help the way his lips curved up: “Did he ask you to tell me this?”

Xiao Xiangzi let out a mischievous laugh and said: “The Young Master is correct.”

Xiao Xiangzi had risen early in the morning and went to Yangxin Palace to pay his respects to his shifu. As it happened, he ran into Lord Ning-wang, who had come to attend morning court with His Majesty.

His Lordship had told Xiao Xiangzi to inform Chu Jiubian about the ice being sold outside the palace, and said that in the future, he could tell Chu Jiubian anything he wanted to know.

What Xiao Xiangzi knew was naturally nothing major, at most some rumors or gossip. Nothing worth telling Chu Jiubian.

But because of this, Xiao Xiangzi felt that what Shui Yun and Xiao Yinzi said the night before must be correct, that their lord treated their young master as someone special!

“What else did he tell you to say?” Chu Jiubian asked.

Xiao Xiangzi said honestly, “His Lordship said that I can tell the Young Master anything he wants to know from now on.”

Chu Jiubian hadn’t expected Qin Xiao to allow him such great convenience. It seemed that the ice was selling extremely well, and was perhaps even enough to complete the dam repairs.

His guess was right.

At the morning court session, without waiting for Minister of Works Xiao Wendao to urge him again, Qin Xiao took the initiative to give the order to commence dam repairs.

Minister of Revenue Su Sheng and Xiao Wendao both agreed.

Xiao Wendao bowed and said: “Your Majesty, this official has another matter to address.”

Bai Lihong’s childish voice rang out: “What matter?”

Qin Xiao had taught him that whenever a minister addressed him as “Your Majesty” and said they had a matter to report, he should respond with a word or two.

“In regard to the dam construction in Hexi Prefecture, it would be best to send a supervisor to personally oversee it. This way, the local people will no longer dare to act arbitrarily.”

Su Sheng retreated to the side and didn’t interrupt.

Bai Lihong said: “What does Lord Ning-wang think?”

The child’s voice was crisp and tender, and such words coming from him sounded strange and discordant. But everyone was used to hearing it now, and knew that this was Qin Xiao trying to save face for the young emperor.

“Your Majesty, this official also thinks that we should find a supervisor so as to prevent certain people from becoming greedy.”

Qin Xiao lowered his eyes to look at Xiao Wendao, saying meaningfully: “I believe Minister Xiao already has a candidate in mind. Shall we hear it?”

“This official dares not speak lightly.” Xiao Wendao, as usual, put on a show of being humble.

But just as he finished speaking, Qin Xiao smiled and said: “Since you won’t say it, I will.”

Xiao Wendao’s expression froze, and the looks on the others’ faces also varied.

Su Sheng lowered his head even more to hide the smile on his lips. Could it be that Minister Xiao was just meeting Qin Xiao for the first time?

The identity Qin Xiao had given himself was that of the most notorious dandy in the capital. Although he was pretending for the benefit of others, that rich young master temperament was the real deal.

Attempting to be modest with such a person was simply digging a hole to bury yourself.

However, Su Sheng and the Xiao family were on the same page regarding who to send to supervise the construction of the dam.

They both wanted Bai Lihai to take on this task.

Su Sheng was just wondering whether he should suggest Bai Lihai and get Xiao Wendao out of trouble, when Qin Xiao spoke again: “This lord recalls that Bai Lihai is sixteen years old this year, correct? It is time for him to get involved in government affairs. It isn’t appropriate to allow him to remain by the Empress Dowager’s side, so why not have him take on this mission and gain experience?”

Xiao Wendao and Su Sheng were both somewhat taken aback.

Especially Xiao Wendao, who had originally intended to suggest Bai Lihai for this task.

With him, the Minister of Works, giving the order and the Xiao family backing him, the people below would certainly not dare to engage in corruption as they had before. Bai Lihai would definitely complete this task brilliantly.

At that time, they could find some scholars and writers to create a few poems and essays praising him, and the reputation of Jiannan-wang would be established.

It was just that he hadn’t expected Qin Xiao to take the initiative to bring it up. Wasn’t he afraid of the credit falling to Jiannan-wang?

Qin Xiao was naturally aware of their plan, and just went along with it.

It didn’t matter who got the credit. In the end, it would be counted as the emperor’s achievement.

The most important thing at the moment was to repair the dams in Hexi Prefecture.

It was a rainy year. According to reports from his subordinates, the water levels in Hexi Prefecture had been rising, and the embankments had been in disrepair for many years. If there was more heavy rain, flooding was inevitable.

At that time, the thousands of people living along the river there would not only lose their land and food, but also their lives.

The Xiao family might find ways to make things difficult for him if he sent someone else, and the money wouldn’t reach its destination.

But if Bai Lihai went, with the Xiao family’s protection, everything would go much more smoothly.

It only took Su Sheng a moment’s thought to understand Qin Xiao’s actions.

He couldn’t help but lament to himself that Lord Ning-wang should not be underestimated.

*

*

Chu Jiubian and Xiao Xiangzi walked all the way to the Imperial Gardens.

Along the way, busy palace servants were surprised to see Xiao Xiangzi holding two umbrellas on such a sunny day.

Once the two walked away, the palace servants gathered to whisper amongst themselves.

It was no secret that Chu Jiubian had predicted the rainfall before. Such a miraculous story had spread quickly, and the mystery only grew.

But because they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, most people didn’t believe it.

Now, seeing that Chu Jiubian had brought an umbrella, they cleverly guessed that it might rain again.

“How is it possible?” A servant looked up at the sky in disbelief. “The sun is shining so brightly that I fear the rain will dry up before it even falls.”

“But wasn’t the rain a few days ago like this too, coming on fast and hard?”

“Okay, stop arguing. We can just wait and see if it really rains, right?”

Chu Jiubian deliberately made an appearance in front of more people so that they would notice the umbrellas in Xiao Xiangzi’s arms.

When the rain began to fall, his points would definitely go up.

He was in a good mood, and felt even more relaxed looking at the Imperial Gardens with its clusters of flowers, rockery, and green bamboo.

It was going to rain in three minutes, so Chu Jiubian took Xiao Xianzi to a pavilion to rest. It would be awesome to appreciate the gardens in the rain later with his points rapidly increasing.

Just as he was lost in thought, Xiao Xiangzi suddenly tugged at his sleeve and whispered: “Young Master, the Empress Dowager is here.”

Chu Jiubian glanced to the front left and saw a group of people coming down a small path.

The woman in the lead was wearing a slightly dark yellow palace dress, with emeralds and pearls hanging in her hair. She looked noble and elegant, with a benign countenance.

The novel’s description of the Empress Dowager immediately flashed through Chu Jiubian’s mind: an ambitious, ruthless politician.

In her life, she sought neither men nor money – only power.

To this end, she did not hesitate to kill her half-sister and nephew, or use benefits to get her own family and brothers on her hook.

What little affection and love she possessed was all given to Bai Lihai, whom she had raised with her own hands.

Chu Jiubian stood up for the sake of politeness and waited for the group to approach.

Matron Liu, supporting Xiao Ruohan’s arm, entered the pavilion. When she saw Chu Jiubian standing tall, she couldn’t help but scold: “Audacious commoner, how dare you not bow down to the Empress Dowager!”

Xiao Ruohan’s benevolent gaze fell upon Chu Jiubian, and she looked him up and down.

The young man stood with his hands behind his back, exuding a cool and aloof air. His light-hued eyes were seemingly devoid of emotion.

Xiao Ruohan had previously wondered what such an extraordinary person would look like, having only heard that he was very good-looking.

Seeing him now, he truly possessed a divine appearance.

Xiao Xiangzi raised his eyes to glare at Matron Liu, thinking to himself, Even our Lord and His Majesty have never made the Young Master kneel. Who do you think you are?

This was the first time Matron Liu had seen anyone show such disrespect to Xiao Ruohan. Even Qin Xiao had to bow and say “Greetings, Empress Dowager” when they met.

She started to say more, but Xiao Ruohan interrupted her: “It’s alright, young people have their own way of doing things. If he doesn’t want to kneel, then he shouldn’t kneel.”

She sat down on the stone bench and assumed the role of a host, smiling at Chu Jiubian: “Please sit.”

This person had clearly come here for him, and since Chu Jiubian wanted to know what she was up to, he sat.

Xiao Ruohan smiled at the sight of the two umbrellas on the table and asked: “Will it rain today?”

“En.” Chu Jiubian adopted a mysterious and inscrutable demeanor, his attitude as cool as could be.

“I’ve heard that Jiu-gongzi is able to predict the timing of rain. I wonder if I might have the honor of witnessing it today?”

The Empress Dowager’s entourage was quite large; even when she went out for a casual stroll, she was followed by more than twenty palace servants.

At present, those twenty-odd people were standing nearby and could hear what those in the pavilion were saying.

In Chu Jiubian’s eyes, that was a whopping ten to twenty Faith Points.

And why not take advantage of this opportunity to show off?

The System message stated that it would rain in about thirty seconds.

Chu Jiubian glanced at the young eunuch beside him and said: “Xiao Xiangzi, count to thirty.”

Xiao Xiangzi guessed that his young master was predicting the rainfall, and his heart pounded like a drum.

He had only ever seen the blocks of ice the young master had made before, and this was his first time witnessing one of his rainfall predictions.

Most importantly, the young master was involving him in the process!

Xiao Xiangzi was so excited that he couldn’t contain himself, and his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

At this moment, the Imperial Gardens fell completely silent. Everyone reflexively held their breath, and all that could be heard was Xiao Xiangzi’s shaky countdown.

As the countdown reached ten, the sky gradually darkened.

When it reached twenty, lightning flashed across the sky, trailed by thunder.

Then the countdown reached thirty, and a light drizzle began to fall.

Silence.

Chu Jiubian watched his Faith Value skyrocket and almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

He had recovered the 50 or so points he’d spent last night, and his total points once again exceeded 100, with his accumulated points reaching over 180.

With just over ten more points, he could recruit another Believer!

Inside the pavilion, Xiao Xiangzi stared in awe at the steady drizzle, the pounding of his heart unabated.

He felt that no one would be able to understand how he was feeling at that moment.

As he was counting down, the sky had darkened and the rain had begun to fall, as if he was the one controlling it.

He would never forget this feeling!

And the shock in the hearts of the others was no less than his.

Matron Liu couldn’t suppress the fright in her eyes, and Xiao Ruohan’s face was much paler than before. She clenched her hands tightly to just barely calm herself down.

“Jiu-gongzi’s skills are truly remarkable.” Her voice was slightly hoarse.

Chu Jiubian met her gaze and saw the burgeoning ambition and greed in her eyes.

She wanted him.

This wasn’t strange at all. She simply wanted Chu Jiubian as an ally to help her gain greater power and status.

At this moment, Chu Jiubian finally understood.

There must be quite a few people like her.

And they probably all wanted this “god” to themselves.

Xiao Ruohan forced herself to relax, and said gently: “The young master has been confined to the palace for several days now, and I imagine he must feel rather stifled. If you are willing, I can speak with Ning-wang and ask him to let you out to see the world.”

Chu Jiubian said mildly: “He won’t listen to you.”

“No need to worry, Young Master. Just give the nod, and I will help you.” Xiao Ruohan’s eyes gleamed with a sharp light. “The Yanmen Qiu family will be holding an auction in the evening the day after next. I participated once before I married, and it was incredibly lively. I’m certain that you will also find it entertaining, Young Master.”

*

*

As the Empress Dowager’s entourage slowly receded into the distance, Chu Jiubian’s eyes darkened slightly.

The day after tomorrow…..wasn’t that the day Qin Xiao had agreed to take him out of the palace?

Judging from Xiao Ruohan’s words, the auction must be a grand and solemn affair which nearly all of the powerful and influential people would attend, including the four great families.

If Chu Jiubian, the renowned “Jiu-gongzi” of the capital were to make an appearance, these people would surely flock to him.

And judging from Xiao Ruohan’s attitude toward him today, Chu Jiubian knew that there was nobody in the capital who didn’t wish to get on his good side; he was now an absolute hot commodity.

But because he had been imprisoned inside the palace by Qin Xiao, those outside were unable to contact him and could only attempt to get him out.

Qin Xiao must already know this, and even guessed that these people would use the auction to incite Chu Jiubian to leave the palace. So he had decided to play the good guy and personally take Chu Jiubian out.

That way, he could both curry favor with Chu Jiubian and see what benefits those outside would use to tempt him, while also probing their backgrounds.

This was killing two birds with one stone.

Chu Jiubian felt like he was being used again.

He was annoyed. Truly, incredibly annoyed.

Xiao Xiangzi had just realized that the Empress Dowager wanted to sow discord between Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao. Seeing that the expression on Chu Jiubian’s face wasn’t good, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

The young master wouldn’t have a fight with their lord because of this, would he?

He was just wondering whether he should try to persuade him when he heard Chu Jiubian say: “Xiao Xiangzi.”

“This servant is here.”

“Let’s go fetch Qin Xiao after court.” Chu Jiubian picked up an umbrella, opened it, and stepped out into the rain.

Xiao Xiangzi quickly opened his own umbrella and followed, a huge weight lifting from his heart.

It seemed that the young master wasn’t angry. On the contrary, he was worried that their lord hadn’t brought an umbrella and wanted to go and personally pick him up.

---

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Chapter 14 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 16

Chapter 50 – Fellow Disciples

Lu Chengye stroked the bow after wiping off the golden arrow. This Burning Sky Bow was the true treasure – the value of this heaven-grade magic weapon was thousands of times higher than that of an earth-grade magic weapon.

If this bow belonged to him…..as soon as Lu Chengye thought of taking the bow for himself, he recalled the twisted, hateful look on Xue Ren’s face when he told him to kill Cao Zirui.

He couldn’t help but shudder. Although this was a true treasure, if he tried to take it from Xue Ren, he would likely die without a burial place.

Xue Ren was cruel and ruthless, but he was also very patient and cautious. He was like a venomous snake waiting in the dark, waiting to bite once the victim was off guard. 

However wicked Lu Chengye was, he wasn’t stupid. He knew that he couldn’t fight against Xue Ren. So he put aside his greedy thoughts for the moment and focused on honestly completing the task assigned to him.

Xue Ren had already planned out Cao Zirui’s demise, deducing and calculating it step by step. But he still hadn’t foreseen the extent of his master’s partiality, which was so tilted that Xue Ren couldn’t even see the whole picture.

The Floating Island Secret Realm was not a very dangerous training expedition for Cao Zirui, who was already at Foundation Establishment. But his master still fretted over him, and gave Cao Zirui a defensive magic weapon that didn’t require much spiritual power to activate and could automatically protect its owner at a critical moment.

It was actually from Sect Leader Ji’s private collection, not the sect’s. The users of magic weapons were recorded in the Armory Pavilion, so Xue Ren knew that Cao Zirui carried several of them on him, including the Water Soul Bead that required active input of spiritual energy to activate. However, he was unaware of his master’s additions to Cao Zirui’s arsenal, and there were flaws in his murder plan because of this.

Cao Zirui managed to escape the first strike of the Burning Sky Bow.

However, Cao Zirui was completely unaware during his escape that the bell that seemed to be giving him warning was actually the key to Lu Chengye locating him in the dense jungle.

Although he couldn’t see Cao Zirui’s location, the bell in Lu Chengye’s hand, which was exactly the same as the one on Cao Zirui’s waist, was able to point him in the right direction. He shot the second arrow.

And Cao Zirui escaped again.

Although Lu Chengye was annoyed, he was also pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Fang Yang.

There would not be a third time. The second arrow missed its target because he’d shot from a distance without aiming well. This third arrow couldn’t miss at such a close distance, right? 

But it actually failed.

The Water Soul Bead was also an earth-grade magic weapon, and in terms of defensive capabilities, it was actually a little stronger than the private item given to him by Sect Leader Ji before.

Therefore, during the first attack, although the magic weapon had automatically blocked a fatal blow, Cao Zirui was still injured. 

But just now, when Cao Zirui activated the Water Soul Bead, he and Fang Yang had escaped injury while wrapped up inside it.

In fact, it stood to reason that under the attack of a heaven-grade magic weapon, Cao Zirui, whose cultivation level had fallen to the Qi Refining stage, should have absolutely no chance of survival unless he possessed another heaven-grade magic weapon.

However, as Xue Ren had said, Lu Chengye was not a strong enough bowman. He couldn’t even use the divine bow with his own spiritual power, and could only pull the bowstring with the earth-grade magic weapon, the Sun-Chasing Arrow.

The power of the two magic weapons, heaven-grade and earth-grade, did not become stronger when superimposed. Barely one tenth of the Burning Sky bow’s true power was able to be unleashed.

Even this one tenth was enough to leave Cao Zirui and Fang Yang with no ability to fight back, forcing them to flee for their lives.

As he watched the two run farther away, Lu Chengye just stood there leisurely, not in a rush to catch up.

Where could they go? As long as Cao Zirui didn’t remove the bell, he could hunt them down even if they ran to the ends of the earth.

In actuality, Cao Zirui may look impressive, but he was actually as stupid as Fang Yang. Even now, he didn’t know that the one who truly wanted him dead was his shixiong, who had gifted him the bell.

Sharpening the axe would not delay the cutting of the wood. Instead of rushing to catch up, it was better to prepare well first.

Lu Chengye took a few spirit stones out of his storage bag and, with great heartache, infused their spiritual power into the golden arrow.

There was no magic weapon in the world that didn’t require spiritual power to drive it. Whether it was Cao Zirui’s magic weapon that had blocked the first arrow for him, or the Sun-Chasing Arrow in Lu Chengye’s hand, they were able to stockpile spiritual power.

But magic weapons were not like the human body, which could actively absorb spiritual power. The spiritual power stored in the item would always deplete more and more as it was used. 

Likewise, its power dropped lower and lower.

Thus, the reason Cao Zirui and Fang Yang were safe and sound after being hit by the third arrow was not entirely due to the strong defensive capability of the Water Soul Bead, but also because the attack power of the Sun-Chasing Arrow had weakened.

The energy consumption of the magic bow was enormous, and there wasn’t enough spiritual power left in the Sun-Chasing Arrow to shoot it again. He needed to replenish the spiritual power of the magic weapon.

Of course, his own spiritual power wasn’t sufficient, so he had to use spirit stones.

Not just one or two, but hundreds.

After the energy in the spirit stones was completely absorbed by the Sun-Chasing Arrow, they became ordinary stones. Lu Chengye counted them out with an aching heart while absorbing their spiritual power.

He had suffered a huge loss, and squandered a year’s savings.

Forget it, forget it. Once Cao Zirui is dead, all the treasures in his bag will be mine, Lu Chengye thought to comfort himself.

When the Sun-Chasing arrow was filled with spiritual power, Lu Chengye took his first step in pursuit.

He traveled much faster than Fang Yang and Cao Zirui, because they had specifically escaped into the dense jungle to avoid his pursuit.

The dense vegetation obscured their vision and slowed them down, so Lu Chengye should also be unable to see them and be hindered by the branches growing across the ground.

They thought themselves clever.

But they were unaware that Lu Chengye didn’t need to have them in his sights at all. He didn’t enter the jungle, but instead went around through a clear area, and the distance between the two parties increasingly shrunk.

Fang Yang dragged Cao Zirui through the jungle. Although it had been Cao Zirui dragging him at the beginning, the other disciple had begun to lose strength after running for some time.

Fang Yang had only just started to flee, but Cao Zirui had been running for his life for some time now, and the wound on his shoulder had yet to stop bleeding.

Although his spiritual power didn’t drop any further, it showed no signs of recovery. He was lucky that his cultivation level had stopped at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

If he fell below the ninth level, he wouldn’t have been able to activate the Water Soul Bead. He and Fang Yang would have both died in the attack just now.

Cao Zirui’s body was getting weaker. Cold sweat soaked his collar, but he couldn’t stop, because stopping meant death.

Fang Yang knew this as well, so when he saw Cao Zirui’s increasingly pale face, he couldn’t do anything about it despite his anxiety.

He glanced back while running, but there was no sign of Lu Chengye. Had they lost him?

Fang Yang gradually slowed his pace, intending to give Cao Zirui a rest.

However, just as he was about to stop, Feng Ye warned him again from where he was dealing with the siege of monsters under the sea: “Don’t stop!”

Almost at the same moment, the bell began to ring again.

Fang Yang immediately turned his head and saw that dazzling stream of fire again! The flowing fire burned everything, immolating all of the branches that blocked its path.

How was this possible?! They had clearly left Lu Chengye far behind them, so how was he able to catch up and attack from the side?

Cao Zirui thought the same thing, but no matter how unbelievable it was, it was indeed happening.

Lu Chengye had actually circled around them and launched his attack.

This isn’t right. Does Lu Chengye have a method of tracking them? Feng Ye thought as he dodged the mouth of a fish that attempted to swallow him whole.

But before he could figure it out, the continuous attacks from the monsters interrupted his train of thought again.

The golden arrow struck again, and Cao Zirui reached into his storage bag once more. Under Fang Yang’s stunned gaze, he took out another dark blue bead that was exactly the same as the previously shattered Water Soul Bead.

Fang Yang: “……” How many did he have?

History repeated itself as an enlarged bubble once again protected the two disciples.

But this time, when the bubble burst, Cao Zirui clutched his chest and stumbled back. For some reason, it felt as if the power of the golden arrow had increased.

Although he had blocked it again, his chest ached from the shock, and a fishy sweetness crept up his throat. He did his best not to show it.

After the Water Soul Bead shattered, the golden arrow flew back to its owner’s hand to be prepared for the next shot.

Fang Yang didn’t dare remain here, and immediately grabbed Cao Zirui to escape again.

However, after dragging him forward just a couple of steps, Cao Zirui dropped to his knees in exhaustion. He really couldn’t run anymore.

The aftermath of the golden arrow had reflected back onto him. His hands and feet were numb from the shock, and he didn’t have the strength to run.

Seeing his pale face, Fang Yang also realized the extent of his weakness.

But they couldn’t stop here. Under Cao Zirui’s shocked gaze, Fang Yang gritted his teeth, squatted down, and hefted Cao Zirui onto his back.

Before Cao Zirui could react, Fang Yang had already set into motion. He began to run, but his speed wasn’t as fast as when he was unencumbered before.

Cao Zirui clutched Fang Yang’s shoulder with one hand, and couldn’t help but purse his lips and whisper in Fang Yang’s ear: “You don’t need to carry me…..”

Although it seemed that Fang Yang and Lu Chengye had some old grudges between them, Cao Zirui knew that Lu Chengye’s target was actually him. If he and Fang Yang were to separate, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that Lu Chengye would give up on Fang Yang and hunt Cao Zirui instead.

Fang Yang had gotten involved in this matter by happenstance. If not for Cao Zirui, he could have kept living well.

But Fang Yang’s reply was: “Ah? What are you talking about, ah?”

Cao Zirui thought he hadn’t heard his low voice, and started to repeat himself. 

But before he could finish speaking, Fang Yang interrupted him: “You saved me twice. If I don’t take you with me, wouldn’t that make me ungrateful? In that case, what would be the difference between me and Lu Chengye? It’s not worth being someone like him.”

Cao Zirui hesitated: “But…..”

Fang Yang said he’d saved him twice, but the danger he saved him from had been Cao Zirui’s own fault, so it really didn’t count at all.

“No buts,” Fang Yang cut in again. He secured Cao Zirui more tightly to his back and kept going: “We’re fellow disciples, aren’t we? Sect Leader Ji, your master, also said that we should help each other out.”

Fellow disciples…..Cao Zirui silently recited these two words, feeling that they were very complicated. A fellow disciple was hunting him down by all means, while another was protecting him at the risk of his own life.

Suddenly, he realized that the words “fellow disciples” weren’t that complicated , but human nature was.

“Cao Zirui,” Fang Yang suddenly called out.

“En?” Cao Zirui said with some confusion.

“My name is Fang Yang,” he said, introducing himself again.

“I know.” Cao Zirui didn’t understand. Hadn’t he already said his name?

Fang Yang grinned with a mouthful of white teeth and said: “You just met me today, but I’ve known about you for a long, long time.”

“We entered the mountain gates on the same day. Among the group of registered disciples, you were the one wearing the most conspicuous clothing.”

Cao Zirui thought over Fang Yang’s words. His family was well-off, and although his parents were mortals, his family was affluent and powerful.

When he joined Lingxiao Sword Sect, he had not yet changed into the sect’s black and white uniform. A farm boy like Fang Yang would naturally choose to wear ordinary coarse linen clothes, but he was wearing expensive silk, which was indeed very conspicuous. 

“The moment I saw you, I felt that you had a certain aura…..how should I put it…..like a crane standing in a flock of chickens? Yeah, a crane standing among chickens,” Fang Yang continued.

“I was right, you really are a long-legged crane. There were so many disciples, but you were the only one chosen by Sect Leader Ji and accepted as his personal disciple. I really envied you, ah,” Fang Yang lamented sincerely.

Cao Zirui was a little surprised. He was actually aware that many people envied him or were jealous of him. 

It had been like this since he was a child. With his family background, it would be strange if he didn’t attract the jealousy of others.

Perhaps influenced by the adults in their families, the other children always looked at him like this, sometimes accompanied by sour ridicule.

Children were sensitive. Once he realized he was being excluded, Cao Zirui no longer liked playing with others. And over time, he developed a cold face like an iceberg.

It was still the same when he joined the sect. Everyone envied his talent and status, but nobody was willing to admit their jealousy out loud.

They had clearly never spent time with Cao Zirui, but they had already made up their minds that he was different from them, this favored child of heaven who was high above everyone else and difficult to approach.

No one had ever frankly admitted their envy like Fang Yang just did, so Cao Zirui was very surprised.

Then Fang Yang continued: “You’re really amazing. Sect Leader Ji didn’t choose the wrong person. I watched your competition, and you are the well-deserved champion.”

Cao Zirui was a little embarrassed by the youth’s sincere praise, and his habitually expressionless face turned a little red.

“But,” Fang Yang said in a sonorous, powerful voice: “I will surpass you!”

This time, Cao Zirui was completely stunned by Fang Yang’s bold words.

“Cao Zirui, I will surpass you!” Fang Yang repeated loudly.

He was shouting it to Cao Zirui, but also to himself.

“So you can’t die before I defeat you.” Fang Yang exerted force where his hands clutched Cao Zirui’s knees, muttering again: “And I can’t die either.”

Cao Zirui realized that Fang Yang hadn’t said this because he had confidence, but because he wanted to cheer him up.

After a moment of silence, Cao Zirui replied. He wound his arm tightly around Fang Yang’s shoulders: “Fang Yang.”

It was his first time saying Fang Yang’s name.

He continued without waiting for a response: “We will definitely survive. But…..”

He smiled unconsciously, and the iceberg melted with it: “You want to surpass me, but it won’t be that easy.”

“Haha, just wait and see!” Fang Yang responded with an identical smile.

The two youths fled together with an arrow nocked to a bowstring behind them, ready to be fired again.

---

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Chapter 49 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 51

When Jiang Shuoye opened his eyes, he found himself once again surrounded by clouds and mist, his body plummeting downward.

Here we go again.

Unlike last time, Jiang Shuoye didn’t panic. Having gained experience, he was able to steady himself right away.

When he landed, he walked straight ahead as if following a familiar route.

He walked a little over ten steps before he saw the long table again, along with the hazy, towering silhouette shrouded in mist.

People often said that “what you think about during the day, you dream of at night.” Jiang Shuoye figured that since this place had been on his mind all day, he had found himself back here again in his dreams.

Since he was already here, he decided to make the best of it, and sat down on the only chair.

He looked up at the silhouette, his cool voice echoing: “Are you truly a god?”

Chu Jiubian lowered his eyes to look at him, and didn’t answer right away.

“You appeared in my dreams for a reason,” Jiang Shuoye continued. “As the old saying goes, ‘immortals come to teach in dreams.’ Are you here to teach me as well?”

His face was devoid of any frivolity, and his tone was even somewhat respectful.

This was Jiang Shuoye.

Even though he was of the opinion that it was a dream, he wouldn’t act rashly. The one-in-a-million possibility that the other party was really a god was always on his mind.

Of course, he had also learned his lesson after being bullied by Chu Jiubian once before.

Chu Jiubian was very pleased with his attitude.

After all, no one enjoyed being offended.

Feeling that he had pretended enough, Chu Jiubian said: “I know that you have been troubled by something recently, so I came to help you.”

“Help me?” Jiang Shuoye’s troubles in recent days consisted of the Tatars harassing border towns, as well as his newly-trained cavalry.

The common people were going through hard times nowadays, and even the Imperial Court was in trouble after suffering the extravagant consumption of two emperors. The army was weak and depleted, and their allocated rations had been reduced year after year. As a result, the soldiers had difficulty getting enough to eat and drink, not to mention the increased number of war horses.

If this continued, Jiang Shuoye might have to send soldiers back home in order to avoid not being able to support them in the future.

But even so, he was determined to train a group of powerful light cavalry.

Plains were abundant in the Northern Desert, and the Tatars were adept horsemen. If the Mobei Army didn’t have its own cavalry, its combat effectiveness would be far inferior to that of the Tatars.

If actual war broke out, they would lose even more soldiers.

Thus, a cavalry must be trained.

But since ancient times, cavalry had always been the weakest point of the Central Plains people – because their soldiers were practically all commoners.

How many farmers had the opportunity to even see a horse?

Let alone ride one.

Because of this, the cavalrymen he was training now had all started from the simplest step of “mounting a horse,” and their progress was extremely slow.

Jiang Shuoye couldn’t help but frown at the thought of this.

He really was worrying himself to death, to the point that he even began to hope that a so-called god could help him find a solution. Would he be having such ridiculous dreams otherwise?

Chu Jiubian regarded the man in silence as he frowned and sighed, obviously lost in thought again.

Was this first Believer of his a little autistic, ah?

Chu Jiubian had to make some noise to jolt this person out of his thoughts.

Jiang Shuoye heard the crisp sound of jewelry colliding, and looked up at the silhouette of the High Priest.

“The biggest problem with the cavalry is that they can’t sit comfortably on horseback,” Chu Jiubian said in a serene tone. “Equipping the warhorses with these items will solve the problem.”

Jiang Shuoye discovered that a piece of thin paper had appeared out of thin air on the table in front of him.

He picked it up with a frown, and the first thing he noticed wasn’t the contents of the paper, but the “paper” itself.

This paper was white and smooth, hundreds or thousands of times better than the “Langya Gold paper” of the Great Ning Dynasty.

He couldn’t help but stroke it, thinking that such a magical thing could only appear in a dream.

Chu Jiubian watched quietly and didn’t rush him.

He had drawn the blueprints directly in his study, but when he touched that rough, yellowed paper, he’d felt that it wasn’t “magical” at all. Very uncool.

Thus, he’d bought a stack of pure white 4A paper from the System Mall, spending only 0.5 points in total. The System had also given him ten free gel pens as a gift.

So what Jiang Shuoye was seeing and touching now was high-quality paper that was only available in modern times.

Jiang Shuoye finally gave up studying the paper, and turned his attention to what was written on it.

At first, he didn’t understand where the stirrups and saddle went or how they were used.

But to the side was a drawing of a cavalryman equipped with these two tools. He was riding a horse, but under his hips was a saddle to fix his body in place, and further down were stirrups where he could rest his feet.

It only took a glance for Jiang Shuoye’s dark eyes to light up.

He sat up straighter and compared the tool blueprints to the cavalry drawing more closely.

This saddle could stabilize a cavalryman’s body and protect his hips and legs from being injured by all the jolting. And the stirrups not only made it easier to get on and off a horse, but also helped a person ride more steadily.

Most importantly, the cavalrymen could possibly use the stirrups to stand up while fighting the enemy.

Swinging a spear while seated was naturally not as comfortable and efficient as doing so while standing.

Jiang Shuoye’s breathing grew rapid, and he couldn’t help but look at the third tool – the horseshoe.

The hooves of warhorses suffered a certain degree of damage after training and galloping, but with the horseshoes, that damage would be greatly reduced.

Divine objects!

Calling these things divine objects was no exaggeration!

Jiang Shuoye thought to himself that, having reached the position of military commander at such a young age, he should be able to remain calm even in the face of disaster. But now, looking at these treasures, he was so excited that his hands were shaking.

He couldn’t imagine how much their combat effectiveness would improve if the Mobei Army’s horses and cavalry were equipped with these things.

Jiang Shuoye held the blueprints tightly, studying them over and over again. He even had a variety of cavalry tactics running through his mind.

Some formation strategies that he couldn’t even conceive of before seemed to be achievable with such equipment.

He very much wanted to make this equipment straightaway and begin training with it.

At this thought, he suddenly remembered where he was.

He abruptly stood from his chair and looked up at the huge silhouette of the High Priest, his eyes gleaming like torches.

“Jiang Shuoye would like to thank the High Priest for his assistance.” He took a few steps back as he spoke, then knelt straight on the ground and kowtowed three times in Chu Jiubian’s direction.

Chu Jiubian watched his Faith Value skyrocket by three points, and the corners of his lips curled up uncontrollably.

Well done, Xiao Jiang!

“No need for all that.” Chu Jiubian seemed as if he was just casually lending a hand, and his tone remained calm as he said: “These books are also for you.”

The three books he had purchased earlier immediately appeared on the table.

Jiang Shuoye quickly stood up again and walked over, holding the books carefully. When he saw that they actually contained methods to raise horses and train soldiers, his heart pounded like a drum and he started to kneel down and kowtow to Chu Jiubian again.

However, white mist swept over like a pair of hands and prevented him from kneeling any further.

“Thank you, High Priest.” Jiang Shuoye clasped his fist and said, “I cannot repay your great favor. If there is anything I can do for you, I will do my best until the day of my death.”

Chu Jiubian’s cool voice was unaffected as he said: “You only need to protect the common people of the Northern Desert.”

For now. In the future, he might actually need Jiang Shuoye to fight on his behalf.

But if at all possible, Chu Jiubian didn’t want that day to come.

The gratitude and admiration in Jiang Shuoye’s eyes practically overflowed. He could only clasp his fist and bow deeply: “This one thanks the High Priest on behalf of the common people and soldiers of the Northern Desert.”

Jiang Shuoye would be thankful to such a righteous and compassionate god and remember his kindness forever. 

Chu Jiubian smiled and reminded him: “Do you know that all of this equipment is made with iron?”

Iron was currently scarce in the Great Ning Dynasty. If Jiang Shuoye couldn’t find enough of it, Chu Jiubian wondered if he should buy some more books on “how to find ore,” or directly ask the System if there was some method to locate it.

But Jiang Shuoye said after hearing this: “To be honest, although my Jiang family has fallen on hard times, we do have an iron mine in the Northern Desert, which is sufficient to meet the needs of our cavalry.”

In fact, the iron mine was as big as a mountain, and half the weapons in the Mobei Army were obtained from there.

Otherwise, given the character of the Imperial Court, the Mobei Army would have run out of weapons long ago.

But the Imperial Court did not allow the private sale of ironware, and the Jiang family mine was kept secret. Were this not the case, Jiang Shuoye could have supported the Mobei Army solely through the sale of iron.

This was beyond Chu Jiubian’s expectations, and it saved him a lot of trouble.

He had explained everything that needed to be said and obtained his Faith Points, so Chu Jiubian said: “If there is nothing else, you may go.”

Jiang Shuoye hurriedly asked: “High Priest, will I be able to see you again in the future?”

“I will seek you out again.” After speaking, Chu Jiubian told the System to send Jiang Shuoye out of the Divine Realm.

Jiang Shuoye awoke from his dream and immediately sat up.

His gleaming eyes continued to sparkle in the darkness, lacking any trace of sleepiness.

When he dreamed before, he would forget everything soon after waking up. Now that he was awake, he wanted to draw all of the equipment blueprints right away before he forgot them.

However, he had forgotten the books given to him by the High Priest and didn’t know if he would have a chance to enter the dream again. If he did, he would definitely memorize the contents of those books.

He reached out to take the flint from under his pillow and light a fire, but before he could locate the flint, he brushed against something else first.

The sensation was familiar, just like the “magical paper” he had touched in his dream!

Jiang Shuoye’s heart beat like a drum as he continued to hurriedly grope around. After locating the flint, rather than getting out of the bed to look for tinder, he directly set his underclothes on fire and stared at his pillow under the light.

Three books lay neatly beside his patched straw pillow.

Along with the divine blueprints.

*

*

Yaotai Residence.

The main bedroom had long since fallen silent. Xiao Jinzi was currently on night watch, and was resting in the main room of the house.

However, the pavilion in the courtyard was bustling with activity at this time.

Xiao Yinzi’s eyes sparkled. He furtively motioned the other three closer and said in a low voice: “Do you know what I learned today?”

“What?” Shui Yun was somewhat confused.

Shui Qing said impatiently: “Hurry up and say it! Don’t keep us in suspense!”

Earlier today, Chu Jiubian had sighed in the courtyard and said that he missed Qin Xiao. Everyone was baffled, so Xiao Yinzi, who possessed the widest range of contacts, went to inquire.

“But it’s about our lord and the young master.” Xiao Yinzi cut himself off and looked around carefully.

There were only a few servants in this courtyard along with the young master, and many secret guards were hiding outside. It could be said that this was the safest place around aside from Yangxin Palace.

Xiao Yinzi dropped the suspense and said excitedly: “I asked the palace servants I’m familiar with, and they said that on the day of the coronation ceremony, the young master fell from the sky and landed directly in our lord’s arms!”

“And who is our lord? How could he take the initiative to hold someone? But he just went ahead and held our young master. Do you know what this means?”

“What?”

“This means that our young master is different from other people in his eyes!”

“I actually discovered this long ago!” Shui Qing said quickly. “Our lord really does treat the young master differently. In the past, our lord putting someone in prison would be a lifetime sentence, but our young master is the first person he’s released.”

“That’s right,” Xiao Yinzi responded at once. “So our lord definitely feels differently for our young master. Who knows, it might be as those people say, and the two of them are fated by heaven!”

Xiao Xiangzi frowned and said worriedly: “This only shows that our lord has feelings for the young master. But as for how the young master feels……”

Xiao Yinzi chuckled and pitched his voice even lower: “The young master is deeply in love with him! I found out everything. On the day the young master descended from the sky, he said in front of all of the civil and military officials that he was his love tribulation, and that he had come down to earth just for him!”

The three people gasped, and were speechless for a long time.

Xiao Xiangzi blinked, and asked after a moment of shock: “What’s a love tribulation?”

“This…..” Xiao Yinzi scratched his head. “Maybe it just means that the young master and our lord are in love.”

“In love?” Xiao Xiangzi asked, somewhat skeptical.

He had also observed the interactions between their lord and the young master, and felt that they were more unfamiliar than close.

Hearing soft sobbing sounds beside him, Xiao Xiangzi turned his head to find Shui Yun wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

“Shui Yun-jiejie, what’s wrong?” Xiao Xiangzi was bewildered.

Shui Yun looked at him with red eyes, tears streaming down her face: “Hong Xiang, you’re still young and can’t understand our lord’s mind, but I understand clearly.”

The other three were neither as old nor as mature as her, and they all listened intently to her words.

Shui Yun looked off into the distance, eyes full of sorrow as she said: “Flowers fall and water flows…..the young master copied that poem for our lord to hear.”

The three of them exchanged glances.

“Our young master is heartsick, ah.” Shui Yun couldn’t help but choke up.

Shui Qing quickly helped wipe away her tears.

Xiao Yinzi said anxiously: “Jiejie, don’t cry, tell us what’s wrong first.”

Shui Yun calmed down and said in a hoarse voice: “Our lord and our young master must share a fate cultivated over several lifetimes……”

*

*

There was a vat of ice in Chu Jiubian’s room, which Qin Xiao had delivered in the afternoon.

He slept well, mostly without dreaming, but someone residing in Cining Palace woke up three times that night.

When Empress Dowager Xiao Ruohan woke up for the third time, she simply got up and went to the courtyard.

Matron Liu helped her sit down on a bench, saying softly: “It’s very hot and stuffy today. I’ll send a message to our family tomorrow and ask the master to send more ice.”

Xiao Ruohan’s expression was unsightly.

The Xiao family could only use ice twice per day, but several barrels of ice had already been carried to Yangxin Palace and Yaotai Residence today, and the young emperor was even able to sleep soundly at night.

This was all the work of that Jiu-gongzi.

Xiao Yao, the head of the Xiao family and Xiao Ruohan’s younger brother, had sent a letter that evening telling her to find a way to get in touch with Chu Jiubian.

And if she could not, it would be good to find a way to get him out of the palace.

Right now, all of the major forces in the capital wanted to establish a relationship with Jiu-gongzi.

Xiao Ruohan’s eyes were filled with venom: “It seems I’ll really have to meet with this Jiu-gongzi tomorrow.”

---

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Chapter 13 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 15

The roar of engines filled the night sky as two heavyweight motorcycles sped along the mountain road, one in front and one behind.

Although Ling Yi hadn’t run this route in a few months, three years of competing had made him very familiar with the road conditions. He could tell when to slow down and when to turn just by muscle memory.

Lei Yue followed the other motorcycle closely, secretly apprehensive.

The long-haired rider’s driving style was shockingly familiar. The timing of acceleration and deceleration, and even the arc when he drifted around corners was exactly the same as he remembered.

In order to study Ling Yi’s driving habits, he had once installed a camera on his helmet and went back to study it frame by frame.

Presently, not only his driving habits, but even his profile from the back looked more and more familiar.

The idea of a ghost rider flashed through Lei Yue’s mind, and he shuddered, which almost caused his tires to slip.

There were always those midnight urban ghost stories, like the one where a driver who died in an accident on Banma Mountain turned into a ghost rider, and would take away his respected rivals in life.

Lei Yue had never believed in the supernatural, but there was a moment where he comforted himself that Ling Yi had not died in a race, and that even if his soul was still lingering, it should go to the Prime Minister rather than him.

In this single moment of distraction, he was left several meters behind the vehicle in front.

The two of them raced, equally skilled, with a difference of no more than a dozen centimeters. A sense of crisis arose in Lei Yue, and he had no idea whether the other party was a ghost or a human being. He pressed the accelerator all the way down, doing his utmost to close the gap.

Three drones followed the two of them to film from all angles, and the audience was able to watch the live broadcast on their phones.

When Lei Yue fell behind, the people from the Royal Academy were in all kinds of disbelief: “Is this fake? How can Lei-ge be so far behind? Could it be that Luban’s substitute is cheating?”

Upon seeing Lei Yue catch up, they cheered again: “I told you, Lei-ge might just be going easy on him because he’s a newcomer!”

“Pei!” Bo Rui said in disdain, “This is why I didn’t want to study at the Royal Academy. I can’t stand the attitudes of those nobles!”

Da Lun was more concerned about Ling Yi’s situation: “Ling Yi hasn’t touched a motorcycle in a long time. I hope he can get through the race safely and not get carried away.”

Bo Rui: “What are you worried for? Do you not believe in Ling Yi’s skills?”

“I’m worried about his health. We still don’t know why he’s staying at the medical college.”

He went to see Xi Lei, who gave him a two-word answer: “No comment.”

Another round of cheers came from the Royal Academy crowd. Lei Yue had not only caught up, but also passed him.

As an experienced driver, he was able to calmly overtake the other person despite being behind.

But this situation did not last long. The mysterious driver overtook again, giving everyone from the military academy the chance to gain back ground and cheer.

Like this, the two of them went back and forth, chasing each other, and cheers rose and fell in both camps.

“It’s almost time. Let’s go to the finish line and wait for them!”

Everyone took a shortcut to the foot of the mountain and waited at the finish line.

After waiting for around ten minutes, a roar came from the unseen distance. As the sound grew louder, two black forms appeared around the bend.

Bo Rui felt a sudden burst of energy: “Here they come!”

He repeated continuously, “Please, please, please, please.” Da Lun and Xi Lei also displayed varying degrees of nervousness, not daring to look away for even a second. 

The dark forms approached at lightning speed, nearing the end in the blink of an eye. Only then could everyone see clearly that the two motorcycles were racing side by side, almost evenly matched, sprinting toward the finish line at the same speed.

A gust of wind blew by, and the motorcycles roared away. No one could determine who had crossed the finish line first, so the outcome was in a state of suspension for a while.

The referee nervously reviewed the race video before announcing loudly: “The winner is – Luban Military Academy!”

Bo Rui held Da Lun in one arm and Xi Lei in the other, shouting and jumping up and down excitedly: “I told you he could do it!”

Da Lun breathed a sigh of relief: “I’m glad nothing happened.”

“Winning doesn’t mean you can touch me. Hands off.”

The mysterious long-haired rider returned victorious. Just as everyone started to rush forward, Lei Yue, who was trailing after him, jumped off his motorcycle and went straight to Ling Yi without even taking the time to prop up his vehicle.

Without a second thought, the three friends stood in front of Ling Yi.

“What are you doing? Are you a sore loser, ah?”

Lei Yue was very agitated, and tried to break through their blockade. He shouted to the person behind them: “Who are you? You’re Ling Yi, right?”

Bo Rui raised his chin: “Hey, you lost. Are you unwilling to admit that there’s someone at the military academy other than Ling Yi who you can’t beat?”

“It must be him! I wouldn’t mistake him for someone else!”

The long-haired driver stopped his vehicle and swung a leg gracefully over the back to get off, walking half a circle around the rear to face the front.

He raised his hands and cupped the sides of his helmet.

Lei Yue stared intently at him and stopped struggling, but the trio didn’t dare to let down their guard, and blocked him without giving an inch.

He slowly removed his helmet and shook his messy hair, which swaying dazzlingly silver under the moonlight.

Bo Rui gulped unconsciously.

Ling Yi sent Lei Yue a nonchalant look. The latter stood there in a daze, as if he had been cursed to turn to stone under the moonlight.

“Look carefully. Am I the old friend you think I am?”

The stone statue being questioned offered no answer at all.

The corners of Ling Yi’s mouth curled up sarcastically. Another completely blind straight man.

It was no surprise that even guys who hung out with him all the time, like Xi Lei and Bo Rui, were confused. So how could Lei Yue, someone who had only seen his face a few times, recognize him in the dim illumination of night?

Ling Yi: “Let’s go.”

“Don’t go anywhere!” Someone came out of the crowd of Royal Academy spectators and pointed a finger at Ling Yi. “He was able to beat Lei-ge because he took banned drugs before the race!”

Bo Rui retorted: “You Royal Academy people have no shame. You’re slandering him just because you can’t compete with us?”

“I saw it with my own eyes!” The man then pointed at Xi Lei. “He’s the one who gave him the drugs!”

Ling Yi was shocked, and Xi Lei was even visibly nervous.

They weren’t afraid of the students present, but that Oser’s people mixed in with them would go back and report to him.

Their nervousness seemed like guilt to the others, apparently confirming that they had something to hide.

“If you have nothing to hide, will you allow us to search you?”

Da Lun: “It’s illegal for a person without authority to conduct a body search.”

“Then there must be something fishy!”

“Be quiet!” Lei Yue finally came out of his petrified state. “There’s no need to come up with excuses. I’m just not as skilled as the opponent. A loss is a loss.”

“But I really did see it!”

Lei Yue handed his helmet to Ling Yi with both hands: “I accept the loss of our wager.”

The Royal Academy crowd erupted.

“Lei-ge! Are you really not going to ride motorcycles anymore?”

“The one who made the bet with you was Ling Yi, not this guy!”

“You’re the Royal Academy’s top rider. If you quit, who will face our challengers in the future?”

Ling Yi just wanted to leave quickly and avoid causing more trouble.

However, events went against his wishes. A police cruiser with its lights flashing drove over, and a policeman got out.

“Residents reported that someone was speeding here. Was it you?”

The person who had accused Ling Yi felt a surge of righteousness when he saw the policeman: “Officer, I need to make a report. Someone here is taking illegal drugs!”

Drug use was a much more serious offense than speeding, and the officer immediately became alert: “Who is it?”

Ling Yi was pointed at for the second time: “Him! If you don’t believe me, you can search him!”

The policeman walked toward Ling Yi, who unconsciously took a step back.

“You! Show me your ID.”

Ling Yi forced himself to remain calm: “I don’t have it.”

“You didn’t bring your ID card or driver’s license?”

Bo Rui cut in: “He’s a student at our Luban Military Academy!”

“A student ID will work too!”

“I left it at school.”

The policeman clipped his walkie-talkie to his chest and said: “I’ve met many people like you. Time for a body search.”

Xi Lei stood in front of him: “You can’t!”

“Who are you?”

The informant: “They’re in cahoots!”

The policeman: “One at a time. I’ll search him first, then you.”

When Ling Yi saw him take a step closer, he righteously refused: “You can’t search me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m an Omega.”

Everyone gasped.

“According to the law, Alpha officers cannot conduct body searches on Omegas.”

Bo Rui stammered: “It-it’s no good to come up with such a lie. That’s easily disproven.”

The policeman looked him up and down doubtfully.

“You say you’re an Omega, but you won’t show me your ID. How can I believe you? Unless you can prove it.”

“Okay, ah.”

Ling Yi touched his ear and pulled off the ear cuff before Xi Lei could speak up to stop him.

The strong scent of Omega pheromones wafted into the air. Xi Lei covered his mouth and nose, unable to believe that he was intentionally stimulating the overflow of pheromones.

The Alphas present were drawn in by the unusually sweet scent, and couldn’t help but suck in deep breaths.

However, after taking several deep breaths, their expressions changed one after another. Those with strong mental strength wrinkled their faces, while those with weak mental strength rushed to the side of the road and leaned against trees, retching repeatedly.

The pheromone concentration continued to soar, and Xi Lei squeezed out two words between his teeth: “You’re……crazy!”

Bo Rui and Da Lun were greatly stimulated, and for a moment, they couldn’t tell if Oser’s pheromones or Ling Yi’s transformation into an Omega shocked them the most.

A heavyweight motorcycle drove up behind Ling Yi: “Get on!”

Ling Yi jumped onto the back of the seat and put on the helmet Lei Yue handed to him. Then the driver stepped on the accelerator and sped off with Ling Yi in tow.

The policeman stumbled after them for a few steps, then grabbed his walkie-talkie: “Intercept a black motorcycle in the vicinity of Banma Mountain, licence plate number…..”

Ling Yi sat behind Lei Yue as sirens blared behind them.

The motorcycle wove skillfully through traffic, leaving the sirens in the dust.

“Why did you take me away? Don’t you think I took illegal drugs too?”

“No.” Lei Yue’s calm voice drifted back to him along with the sound of the wind. “I don’t know who you are, but I can guess your reason for doing that.”

“What reason?”

“When you took off the suppression cuff, your classmates looked more surprised than anyone else. Even they didn’t know you were an Omega.”

Lei Yue made a sharp turn to shake off an oncoming police car.

“You concealed your secondary gender characteristics in order to attend the military academy, right? What you took before the race wasn’t a drug, but an inhibitor.”

Ling Yi: What can be done? There’s not a single flaw in his story.

“If you’re taking an inhibitor, that means you’ll soon be entering your heat…..if you continued to stay around all those Alphas, you would have been in danger.”

“Do you enjoy reading fictional novels?”

The motorcycle’s stable body shook slightly.

Lei Yue couldn’t help but think, how big is this Omega’s emotional resilience?

“You still have a mind to care about other people’s interests and hobbies at a time like this?”

“No, I’m just caring about you.” What the hell is going on in this guy’s head?

The motorcycle tilted even more violently, almost tipping over.

“Your driving wasn’t this bad before.”

“I’ve n-never given someone a ride before.”

“I’m your first?”

Sirens could no longer be heard anywhere in the vicinity, and Lei Yue temporarily slowed down as they entered a safe area.

“Do you want me to take you back to school?”

Lei Yue had made up his mind that if it was inconvenient for this person to go back to the school, he would provide him a place to stay.

Ling Yi casually pointed ahead: “This place is good.”

Lei Yue had just parked the motorcycle when identical cars drove in from all directions, completely encircling them.

The one parked closest to them stood out from the crowd.

Lei Yue glanced around nervously and found that escape would be impossible.

Ling Yi unhurriedly dismounted, remaining calm in the face of this situation.

“Although your guess was completely wrong, I’m still very grateful for your help in getting away from the traffic police. It would have been really troublesome if I’d been caught.”

He took a few steps, then turned around and tossed something to Lei Yue.

Lei Yue caught it instinctively – it was his own helmet.

“Oh, by the way, I’ll give this back to you.”

“But this is —”

“I’m not interested in your childish wager. Don’t you like motorcycles? If you like them, ride them more often, because you might be forced to give them up one day. Giving up something you can have is the most foolish thing to do.”

Lei Yue watched the figure with long, fluttering hair walk toward the nearby extended-cab vehicle, leaving the unforgettable scent of sweet pheromones lingering in the air.

Guard Captain Tang De got out of the passenger seat and personally opened the door. The Crown Prince of the empire stepped out of the vehicle with his ever-elegant demeanor.

Lei Yue shuddered as he finally realized who the Alpha pheromones on this Omega belonged to.

Ling Yi got into the car. Oser looked at Lei Yue for a moment with a half-smile on his face, then returned to the vehicle as well.

Lei Yue’s body tensed up again. He had read a strong threat in His Highness Oser’s eyes.

The vehicles blocking the area quickly withdrew.

The scenery outside the windows began to recede, and Oser moved closer to Ling Yi, pretending to take a deep sniff.

“Your scent is so strong. You seem to be quite charming, hm?”

“I was just using Your Highness’s pheromones to scare people. This is called taking advantage of your power to commit violence.”

He thought of Lei Yue, who had been left behind: “If we leave like this, will that person be tracked down by the police?”

Oser said meaningfully: “Those able to study at the Royal Academy have their own connections. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Ling Yi let out a deep, nasal scoff.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s because of the connections of the privileged class that there are victims like me.”

“The world is inherently unfair.”

Oser lifted a strand of silver hair from his shoulder. Even though he knew it was fake, he couldn’t let it go.

“Long hair suits you very well. Keep it.”

Ling Yi turned his head to look out the window: “Teacher Tony cut it short himself, and now he wants it to grow long again. He’s truly fickle.”

---

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Chapter 29 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 31

“The High Priest,” Jiang Shuoye whispered softly.

Why did this seem to carry a sinister aura? If he really was a god, then he must be a “ghost god.”

Jiang Shuoye was usually either training or on his way to training, with little time to rest or let his thoughts wander. 

But now, in his dreams, his thoughts had free rein and were in a state of chaos.

From his high seat, Chu Jiubian knew that this man didn’t believe him or take him seriously.

He chuckled softly.

The entire space suddenly shook, and a thunderous sound jolted Jiang Shuoye from his thoughts.

Jiang Shuoye’s eyes turned fierce and he immediately stood up from his chair.

And the moment he stood, the ground beneath his feet collapsed.

Fortunately, his qigong and reaction speed were excellent, so he stepped onto the back of the chair and pushed off it to fly upward.

And raised his fist to attack Chu Jiubian’s silhouette.

Even if this was a dream, even if he was as small as an ant before this so-called god, there was absolutely no reason to let himself be subjugated.

A low laugh came from the mist, and Jiang Shuoye’s body froze, as if all of his strength had been drained away in an instant.

He was horrified, and a feeling of panicked powerlessness he had never felt before came over him.

He was unable to defeat this High Priest.

No, it should be said that he and the other party weren’t in the same league at all.

He was like a young child who wasn’t even able to crawl!

He was defenseless in front of this person. What a nightmare.

He had best wake up quickly.

Jiang Shuoye experienced the strong urge to wake up. But at the same time, he was so exhausted that he couldn’t even mobilize his internal strength, and his qigong lost its power.

Thus, he fell from a great height just like an ordinary person with no internal strength.

The rush of wind penetrated his ears, and the pure white space in front of him was once again wreathed in clouds and mist.

The last thing he saw was the towering silhouette of the High Priest, who seemed to be looking down at him.

Jiang Shuoye’s pupils immediately constricted.

And in the next moment, he opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

He gasped for breath, chest rising and falling rapidly. The despair of being on the verge of death and the fear of facing the unknown had his nerves going haywire.

However, as a battle-hardened soldier, Jiang Shuoye had the remarkable ability to self-regulate.

It only took two deep breaths for him to recover from that “nightmare.”

He subconsciously looked in the direction he had inspected before going to sleep, but there was still nobody there. He no longer felt any eyes on him.

His throat was dry, and rolled up and down as he swallowed. 

He got out of bed and walked to the table. Drinking half of the remaining water made him feel a little better.

But his brow was furrowed, and he didn’t look completely at ease.

The “dream” just now had been so real that he couldn’t distinguish it from reality. He’d even had the illusion that he would really die there.

Was it really a dream?

But if it wasn’t a dream, then what was it?

Jiang Shuoye was cautious by nature. He didn’t believe in the supernatural, but he wouldn’t rashly eliminate any possibilities.

It seemed he would need to investigate the people and goings-on around him. Perhaps someone had done something to him.

Inside the Divine Realm.

Chu Jiubian gazed at the empty table, lost in thought.

He had wanted to prove his abilities to Jiang Shuoye just now, not throw him to his death. But before he could use the white mist to catch that person, he had vanished.

The System informed him that he had left the Divine Realm due to waking up.

That meant that the Divine Realm was actually a higher form of dream, though it was more logical than dreams and had Chu Jiubian as its only master.

However, the Divine Realm still retained the characteristics of a “dream,” and events such as falling from a height or being near death may cause someone inside it to wake up prematurely.

[Don’t worry, Host. Once your Believers accept your identity as a “god,” they will no longer voluntarily leave the Divine Realm.]

Chu Jiubian nodded.

He understood this.

If Believers accepted that he was a god, they would become his absolute supporters and naturally obey most of his commands.

If he told them to leave, then they would leave, and if he didn’t give them permission, they wouldn’t leave at will. 

So in the end, he still needed to play the role of a god well enough that his Believers would obey him.

But Jiang Shuoye currently had no faith in him, and even felt that his recent experience was merely a dream.

This wasn’t going to work.

Of course, if Chu Jiubian pulled him into the Divine Realm several times in a row, perhaps he would believe that he had supernatural powers.

But rather than believing he was a god, taking into account Jiang Shuoye’s personality and mode of thinking, he would more than likely view him as a “monster.”

And as a god, just being feared by his Believers was not sufficient.

Chu Jiubian should also provide something accordingly for his Believers, so that they would both respect and love him.

It was the same principle. If he wanted to establish cooperation, he would have to find out what the other party needed.

After all, the relationship between Chu Jiubian and his Believers was actually based on cooperation.

He needed Believers to be his power in case of an emergency, and they wouldn’t obey him for no reason – they must receive some benefits.

The art of managing people involved the carrot-and-stick approach. It couldn’t be simpler.

And now that Chu Jiubian had given Jiang Shuoye the stick, it was time to give him the carrot.

“System, can you check on what Jiang Shuoye is doing?”

[Host, please purchase the permanent “Card Visibility” function. After a successful purchase, Host can view the current status of bound Believers through their card at any time.]

Chu Jiubian: “How many points is it?”

[Answering Host, only 20 Faith Points are required. Would you like to purchase it?]

This feature was very practical, and he would definitely use it many times in the future.

So Chu Jiubian didn’t hesitate, saying decisively: “Purchase it.”

After 20 Faith Points were deducted, the character card belonging to Jiang Shuoye appeared in front of Chu Jiubian once more.

When the card enlarged and expanded, the image was no longer of the monotonous tent, but a desert covered in yellow sand.

Jiang Shuoye stood there with his arms folded, his cool gaze fixed on the cavalry formation in front of him. 

The cavalry phalanx, with fifty men in each column, consisted of tall horses and armored soldiers, and at first glance looked quite organized.

The officer in the lead shouted a command, and the entire phalanx took off into the distance.

The formation barely held together at first, and fell into disorder within just a few steps.

The horses were disobedient, and the soldiers panicked. They clamped their legs tightly around the horses’ bellies, but some were still thrown off.

It was difficult to march with such troops, much less pick up a spear to kill the enemy.

Jiang Shuoye’s already sullen expression darkened considerably.

Chu Jiubian watched on with amusement.

If he were to ask what Jiang Shuoye desired most right now, wouldn’t it be a trained team of cavalrymen?

It was currently the season of lush grass and birds flying freely through the sky, and nomadic peoples like the Tatars were at their strongest. They would likely take this opportunity to harass the border and steal food and supplies for the winter. 

Only by becoming stronger and more courageous could the Mobei Army stationed at the border intimidate the enemy.

Chu Jiubian shifted his gaze from Jiang Shuoye to the scattered group of cavalrymen who had returned.

All iron was used to make weapons at this time in the Great Ning Dynasty, and no one had studied its other applications.

Therefore, things like horseshoes to protect horses’ hooves, and stirrups and saddles to improve combat effectiveness had not yet appeared.

If the war horses were equipped with these, the strength of the cavalry would be greatly improved.

“System,” Chu Jiubian asked, “If I draw some blueprints, can I send them to Jiang Shuoye?”

[They can be sent, but Host must give them to a Believer within the Divine Realm.]

“Then how do I bring blueprints into the Divine Realm?”

When he entered the Divine Realm just now, the only things he brought with him were the clothes on his back.

[Host, please spend 30 Faith Points to permanently enable the trading function within the Divine Realm. Once the function is activated, Host and Believers will be able to conduct two-way transactions. Host can directly bring items outside the System into the Divine Realm, and Believers may also bring objects with Host’s consent.]

Chu Jiubian: “…..”

He only had so few points in total. He needed more, more!

Points should be saved and spent only when necessary. This transaction feature must be enabled.

But 30 points was really expensive.

Chu Jiubian haggled with the System. The semi-intelligent AI seemed to not know how to react to this, and paused for some time before returning to normal: [Transaction concluded. 28 Faith Points deducted. Host’s Divine Realm trading function has been enabled.]

Chu Jiubian had originally bargained for 26 points.

But 28 was 28. He had at least saved two points.

After leaving the Divine Realm, the first thing he would do was draw out the blueprints. When Jiang Shuoye fell asleep that night, he would then take him to the Divine Realm and hand the blueprints to him.

Chu Jiubian gave it some thought and opened the System Mall again.

He found [Summary of Contemporary Military Training Methods] along with a hodgepodge of military strategies in the military section, and [Guide to Livestock Breeding] under another category.

Helping Jiang Shuoye was equivalent to improving his own armed forces, so when Chu Jiubian spent six points to buy these books…..

Okay, it was still a little painful.

But he had already bought them, and couldn’t return them.

He already had the integrated contents of the books in his mind.

He even felt like he could go directly to the battlefield and lead troops, or deliver newborn livestock such as horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and more.

But what was that saying? If you can’t lead a team, you can only work yourself to death.

All he needed to do was play the part of the “High Priest” well, and leave the rest to his Believers.

“System, I can also give these books to Jiang Shuoye, right?” Chu Jiubian asked again worriedly. If he couldn’t, he would have to have Jiang Shuoye complete his education in the Divine Realm before sending him out.

[Yes, Host. Tradeable items in the Divine Realm include those purchased in the System Mall. According to your needs, the text of books produced by the System can be changed into words and expressions in line with the current times, making it easier to understand.]

Chu Jiubian was thoroughly relieved. After choosing to change the text of the books, he closed the image on Jiang Shuoye’s card and then exited the Divine Realm.

Coincidentally, the moment he opened his eyes, he heard Xiao Xiangzi softly calling out to him from outside the bedroom that lunch was ready.

Chu Jiubian got up and walked out.

After eating, he asked Xiao Xiangzi to grind ink, then hid in his study to draw the blueprints and place them into the Space.

Everything was ready. He just needed to wait until nighttime to enter the Divine Realm again.

*

*

Splendid Plaza.

The most prosperous area in the capital was the Western Market, where there were many shops, including restaurants, theaters, rouge pavilions, food vendors……everything one could think of.

Most of those who came here to shop were the dignitaries and wealthy people of the capital. Ordinary people would at most come here to set up a stall, but they had no purchasing power.

Without exception, all of these shops along the street belonged to the capital’s influential officials.

A rouge shop may be owned by a noble lady or a theater run by a young master, but behind each of them was a colossus.

However, when it came to the two shops with the best locations, they were naturally the restaurant owned by the emperor and an establishment called the Hundred Treasure House. 

It went without saying that both the decorations and food at the restaurant were top notch.

On the other hand, the Hundred Treasure House sold various spoils of war from during the reign of Emperor Wuzong, and had a very high sales rate.

There had been no new items in the shop for a long time, but servants and maids would still go there from time to time and purchase things in order to support the Imperial business.

That evening, the sun set in the west.

As usual, servants of Minister of War Lu Youwei entered the shop and asked the shopkeeper what small items he had for sale.

Their family’s lord had ordered that they frequent this establishment twice per month, and make some purchases so that other officials could see how much respect their Lu family had for the Imperial family.

After all, as direct descendents of the Wuwei Lu family, every word and action from the elders represented the whole.

The manager of Hundred Treasure House was named Qin Su, and had been assigned to the shop by the late Empress Qin Feng five years prior.

Five years was enough time for him to recognize all of the store’s regular customers, as well as who would come on which day.

Today, the servants of the Minister of War would make an appearance.

“Liu-xiaoge, here is what you wanted.” Qin Su personally packed up everything for the servant. His slightly rotund figure and round cheeks made him appear particularly friendly when he smiled.

This servant very much liked the shopkeeper calling him Liu-xiaoge, as if he was truly a member of the Liu family. He raised his chin a little higher.

“Thanks.” He picked up his things. “I’ll be leaving now. See you later, Boss.”

“Xiaoge, wait.” Qin Su stopped him and said with a smile, “I have something new here, and you’re the first person I thought of. Do you want to see it?”

“Oh?” the servant asked, his interest piqued. “What is it?”

Qin Su’s eyes narrowed in a smile, and he kept him in suspense: “Xiaoge, did you notice anything different when you came into my shop today?”

“You know what, there is something different,” said the servant. “It’s scorching hot today, and my master’s room is humid even with two barrels of ice, but your shop is a little cool.”

As he spoke, he felt again that the room was indeed cool, a bit like the rainy day some time ago when his master put ice in the house.

“You guessed it, Xiaoge!” Qin Su glanced around furtively.

Business wasn’t good to begin with, and people were reluctant to go out in this heat, so the shop was even more deserted. Apart from the young man in front of him, there was nobody else in the shop aside from the shopkeeper and a few workers.

This secretive look made the servant even more curious: “What on earth is it? Boss, please don’t keep me in suspense.”

Qin Su walked out from behind the counter and extended a hand, saying: “Xiaoge, please come with me.”

Then he led him toward a corner of the shop. 

Rows of shelves obscured much of the view.

As the servant followed the shopkeeper around several rows of shelves, he didn’t know if it was his illusion, but the room seemed to become cooler the farther he went inside.

Qin Su finally came to a stop and said: “Please have a look.”

The servant looked in the direction of his pointing finger.

He saw a medium-sized water barrel placed in the corner, filled with something crystal-clear. There was a slight chill in the air.

The servant stood there in a daze, barely able to maintain his grip on his purchases.

This….this was…..ice?

It was actually ice!

The news that the “Hundred Treasure House” sold ice soon spread. And the price was neither high nor low, not so high that people would not find it cost-effective, nor so low that it wasn’t profitable.

Minister of War Lu Youwei, hands behind his back, circled twice around the large tub of ice in the middle of his study. He couldn’t help but stroke his half-length beard and lament: “That Qin Xiao…..he really did find a way out of this situation.”

Strategist Lu Quan held a string of lustrous beads in his hand, his slanted eyes gleaming: “The news just arrived from the palace this morning. Ning-wang came up with a countermeasure this afternoon.”

He went to the basin and reached out to touch the clear ice, saying in a weighty voice: “That Jiu-gongzi is truly exceptional.”

After all of the forces decided to maneuver behind the scenes, they simply had their spies go and investigate the news about the Hundred Treasure House and Qin Xiao in an open and aboveboard manner, so the news that all of the saltpeter in the Imperial Hospital had been sent to the Hundred Treasure House could not be concealed at all.

That morning, no one had known what the saltpeter would be used for. They were only aware that after the court session, both Qin Xiao and Bai Lihong had gone to Yaotai Residence.

They stayed there for over and hour, and when they left, they were accompanied by two of Yaotai Residence’s palace servants.

Subsequently, Qin Xiao sent people to buy saltpeter from all of the pharmacies in the capital and bring it to the palace, and the government then posted a notice that private individuals were no longer allowed to buy and sell saltpeter.

Only Bai Lihong’s newly-appointed ninth-rank official dubbed the “Saltpeter Officer” could open saltpeter purchasing offices in the capital and elsewhere.

When the common people collected saltpeter, they were able to bring it to the saltpeter office and sell it at a slightly higher price than before.

As soon as the news came out, those in the capital and even in the surrounding prefectures began to collect saltpeter, thinking that it would at least bring in enough to supplement their family’s income.

Lu Youwei’s people reported that the newly-appointed Saltpeter Officer had set up a purchasing office in the capital just this afternoon, and many people had already sold the saltpeter they had gathered in exchange for copper coins.

Many in the surrounding prefectures had already heard the news due to the people who were specially sent to disseminate the message to more distant places. It wouldn’t be long before the whole of the Great Ning Dynasty knew that “saltpeter could be sold to the government for money.”

Everyone had already witnessed Qin Xiao’s swift and decisive actions on the day of the palace coup.

Therefore, they became even more curious about what use for saltpeter had made Qin Xiao so assertive.

The spies in the palace attempted to find answers, but were unable to get close to Yangxin Palace.

From then until the evening, the news of the Hundred Treasure House selling ice spread, and everyone finally understood what was going on.

This saltpeter was likely being used to make ice.

Before this, nobody had known that something like ice could be created artificially. It was simply inconceivable.

But now that this ice was clearly placed before their eyes, they had no choice but to believe it.

In any case, Lu Youwei and Lu Quan believed it. The vat of ice in front of them had been brought back from the Hundred Treasure House by a servant.

There had been three full vats of ice in the Hundred Treasure House, but only one was sold to the Lu family. The other two remained in the store, waiting for others to see them when they heard the news and rushed over.

Those who wanted ice could order it from the Hundred Treasure House.

And this applied to every household.

The Hundred Treasure House would deliver the ice at dawn the next day. According to the news, they had earned several hundred taels of silver just by selling ice this one night.

“I fear this saltpeter has more uses than just making ice,” Lu Quan said.

If it was solely used to make ice, Qin Xiao wouldn’t have purchased it on such a grand scale.

He had made large-scale acquisitions and even created a designated official position for this purpose. It was obvious that he was planning to have a long-term source of income, but ice wasn’t exactly in demand after the dog days of summer.

“What else can saltpeter be used for?” His brow furrowed.

Lu Youwei: “No matter what it can be used for, it must be the work of that Jiu-gongzi.”

“He definitely has more abilities than just this,” Lu Quan said worriedly. “And the mysterious force behind him should not be underestimated.”

If Qin Xiao were to use the other party, the consequences would be disastrous.

Lu Youwei’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked in the direction of the palace: “If such a person cannot be used by my Lu family…..”

Lu Quan frowned in thought, then said: “My Lord, Jiu-gongzi is currently trapped within the palace and can only have dealings with Ning-wang. If we can find a way to make Ning-wang bring him out of the palace, we will have a chance to approach him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t our people report that Jiu-gongzi left Yaotai Residence this afternoon?”

Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao had a deal, so in the afternoon, Chu Jiubian walked around to familiarize himself with the eastern palace, but didn’t enter the harem.

Many people caught sight of him during this trip, and now all of the forces in the capital knew that he had “regained his freedom.”

“Isn’t the Qiu family holding an auction in three days?”

Lu Quan said with a smile: “If we can have someone inform Jiu-gongzi, he might be interested.”

“Regardless of whether or not he’s interested, he can’t come out unless Qin Xiao allows him to.”

And who wasn’t aware that Chu Jiubian was under house arrest in the palace?

Lu Quan was unconcerned: “He was able to get Ning-wang to release him from prison and give him some freedom within the palace. This man is definitely not a simple person.”

Therefore, as long as he desired it, he was absolutely capable of getting Qin Xiao to let him out of the palace.

Chu Jiubian had no idea that he was being targeted by various groups of people. As soon as night fell, he eagerly washed up and went to bed, then entered the Divine Realm with the horseshoe, saddle, and stirrup blueprints 

He waited until midnight, when Jiang Shuoye finally fell asleep.

And then he immediately dragged him into the Divine Realm.

---

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Chapter 12 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 14

Qin Xiao?

That was undoubtedly Qin Xiao.

Chu Jiubian read it again and found that it was indeed the person he knew. This was really strange.

According to the System’s explanation of the Divine Realm’s functions, Qin Xiao would not affect the completion of the System’s tasks, nor could he be a heinous criminal, otherwise the System wouldn’t have included him in its selection range.

But the System marked him as “not recommended.” Why was that?

Was it because Qin Xiao was the villain?

Chu Jiubian still hadn’t figured out the System’s purpose and origins, so he was unable to guess the motives behind its behavior.

But even without the System’s warning, he would never choose Qin Xiao as a Believer.

Because he was 100% certain that no matter how well he disguised himself, Qin Xiao would be able to guess his identity in an instant.

After all, Chu Jiubian was the only one who had been behaving strangely around the other party recently, so it wouldn’t be difficult for him to guess. 

Thus, it was very likely that as soon as he dragged Qin Xiao in, the man would kill him right after.

The losses outweighed the gains.

“System,” Chu Jiubian asked, “If I don’t choose a certain person this time, will I have the opportunity to choose them in the future?”

[Yes, Host. Keywords in the card library can be drawn repeatedly.]

[For example, you chose the “Armed Forces” card this time, and you will have a chance to draw this card again in the future. The “Reserved Believer” identity cards associated with this keyword will also appear when the keyword card is drawn.]

So he would have the opportunity to draw these people again in the future.

He tried to suppress his excitement.

Chu Jiubian stared at Qin Xiao’s card. Only when he possessed the strength to have an equal dialogue with Qin Xiao would he bring him into the Divine Realm and show him his ability as the “one true god.”

He would make this Lord Ning-wang willingly submit to him.

But that was for another time.

Right now, Chu Jiubian still needed to recruit an armed force to serve him, as well as a commander who was absolutely loyal to him.

He no longer hesitated, tapping the third card with his fingertip.

The other three cards immediately dissipated into white mist, and this card alone floated in front of Chu Jiubian and enlarged to the size of a computer screen.

The words on the card spread out like an ink painting, gradually dispersing, and were replaced by a brand new image.

This image was a simple tent that looked about the size of Chu Jiubian’s current bedroom.

However, the decorations and furnishings in this tent were extremely crude in comparison. It could be said to be “penniless and destitute,” with only a bed and a dining table set, as well as a wooden rack with silver-white armor hanging on it.

This was obviously the tent of Jiang Shuoye, Commander of the Mobei Army.

The tent door was pushed open from outside, and Chu Jiubian looked intently.

Sunlight shone through the door and cast a shadow over the new arrival, making it impossible for Chu Jiubian to glimpse his face. He could only see that he was tall, with a straight back and shoulders broader than those of the average person.

The figure walked through the door and closed it behind him. Then he went straight to the table, picked up the teapot, and poured most of the liquid inside straight into his mouth from the spout.

When he put down the teapot, Chu Jiubian got a clear look at his face and was briefly surprised. He hadn’t expected him to be so handsome.

However, his facial features were not as fair as Qin Xiao’s, but rather a rough and rugged sort of handsome. If Qin Xiao was a wolf adept at disguising himself and lying in wait, then this man was a placid lion.

There was a deep, sharp scar the length of a thumb cutting through the left side of his forehead, and the bisected eyebrow lent him a dangerous aura.

One could tell at first glance that he was a skilled fighter, as well as the sort of commander who was brave, resourceful, steady, and cautious.

The more Chu Jiubian studied him, the more satisfied he became.

The young commander in the image wiped the liquid from the corners of his lips and paced toward the bed. It seemed he intended to take a nap.

However, after taking just two steps, he paused and looked elsewhere in the tent.

There was nothing there, but he kept feeling like there was someone watching him.

Chu Jiubian met Jiang Shuoye’s gaze through the image on the card. He raised an eyebrow slightly.

It was undeniable that the surge of killing intent from the other party made Chu Jiubian’s scalp tingle.

But that was all.

When he realized this, Chu Jiubian’s heart sank.

This was the great commander who fought on the battlefield and had killed countless people, but he found that the sense of peril this man brought to him was far less than that of Qin Xiao.

This was certainly not because Jiang Shuoye was weak, but because Qin Xiao was an even more terrifying person.

This isn’t a good thing, thought Chu Jiubian.

Jiang Shuoye looked around the tent carefully, and after making sure that there was really nobody there, he walked hesitantly to the bed and sat down.

This person was too alert. If he wanted to pull him into the Divine Realm, he must do it when the other party was asleep or in a state of empty-mindedness.

In order to avoid wasting time, Chu Jiubian told the System to turn off the screen.

If the cautious Jiang Shuoye continued to sense these prying eyes, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep.

So Chu Jiubian would just wait for the System to summon him in.

Inside the tent, Jiang Shuoye no longer felt that he was being watched, so he took off his shoes and lay down in bed. He didn’t even change out of his dirty clothes after training for half a day, and just closed his eyes to sleep.

Perhaps because the Tatars had been active at the border recently and his newly-trained cavalry was so disappointing, he was in a state of tense paranoia. 

He rubbed his stiff brow and exhaled slowly.

After a while, he seemed to fall asleep in a daze.

But in the next moment, he felt as if he was pinned under the gaze of some huge monster. Instinctive fear washed over him, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

White mist dominated his field of vision, dotted with drifting golden lights.

Before he could react to the new location, a strong sense of weightlessness came over him and he plummeted downward.

He immediately used his internal strength to adjust his posture at the moment of impact, landing with one knee bent to disperse the force of the fall.

He stood up at once, muscles tense and hands clenched into fists, and stared ahead with sharp eyes.

White mist still surged in front of him, and he knew that that terrifying pressure came from within it.

What was going on?

Where was he?

What lay ahead?

Jiang Shuoye’s breathing was long and steady. Although his mind was abound with suspicion, there were no signs of panic on his face.

Suddenly, he heard a long, ethereal cry. He raised his eyes at once to see some kind of bird flap its wings in the clouds above his head, then vanish in an instant.

Jiang Shuoye’s heart skipped a beat.

He vigilantly scanned the unending mist around him, cautiously treading forward step by step.

The mist seemed to go on forever, but after a few steps, he smelled the refreshing fragrance of plum blossoms and the mist receded substantially.

Whereas he was previously only able to see the ground beneath his feet, he could now see two steps away.

After walking like this for more than ten steps, the mist before him dissipated almost completely, and was replaced by a pure white space more than ten times the size of the military training grounds.

This square space extended into the white mist in all directions. Two thick, straight coiled dragon pillars stood to either side, extending upward with no end in sight.

In the middle of the space was a white jade table about six meters long.

There was only one chair at this table, its back facing away from him.

This was a dream.

Jiang Shuoye understood that only a dream could be this absurd and inexplicable, although this dream felt particularly real.

His tense form relaxed somewhat, but he was still instinctively alert to possible movement around him, and naturally did not ignore the terrifying pressure in front of him.

But because he knew this was a dream, he finally lost his initial wariness and was in a state to analyze the scene before him.

He supposed the table and chair had been prepared for him. Was he dreaming of having a feast?

Jiang Shuoye was not a person who cared much about what he ate, and really didn’t expect to dream about such a strange table.

How puzzling.

He went to the table and curiously touched the back of the chair.

It was smooth to the touch, made of higher quality jade than he had ever seen.

He took another careful look and found marks on the table and chair that appeared to be ancient characters or some kind of totems, but there was no trace of them being artificially carved – they appeared to have grown like this naturally.

Such magic was worthy of a dream.

Jiang Shuoye took a seat on the chair, placed his arms on the armrests, and looked straight ahead.

A dozen feet ahead, red plum blossoms faintly dotted a screen of mist that was much like a gauze curtain. A breeze carried their sweet fragrance to him.

What lay ahead?

He frowned slightly, and decided to take a closer look.

But just as he was about to get up, a strong gust of wind blew past.

He subconsciously raised an arm to block it, and when he looked up again, he found that the white mist in front of him seemed to have thinned.

And it grew thinner the higher it went.

Jiang Shuoye slowly raised his head toward the mist curtain, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.

Within the hazy white mist were huge, leisurely floating golden silhouettes, much like…..dragons.

And beneath those silhouettes was the faint appearance of a huge figure, like the most magnificent statue in the temple.

But unlike a solemn and dignified Buddha statue, the one before him was not in a meditative pose. Instead, it sat on a chair with its legs crossed, its posture languid as it leaned its face on one hand.

The figure seemed to sense Jiang Shuoye’s gaze, and slowly sat up straight.

And as the other party moved, crisp sounds like that of jewelry clacking together filled the air.

It seemed that this was the source of the sense of oppression.

Even though he knew it was a dream, Jiang Shuoye still instinctively tensed up. But rather than immediately standing up to go on the defensive, he instead asked: “Who is responsible for this?”

After a moment of silence, the statue seemed to chuckle.

Then came the cool, somewhat indolent voice of a young man. There was a smile in his voice as he said: “Welcome to my Divine Realm.”

Jiang Shuoye regarded the figure with a frown.

What was a Divine Realm?

“Who are you?” he asked.

Chu Jiubian lowered his eyes toward the man in front of the long table. His gaze was not directed toward Chu Jiubian, but at the towering projection he had created above his head.

Were Jiang Shuoye to see the entire picture at this moment, he would find that Chu Jiubian was shorter than him – but the giant projection looked much more like a god.

Chu Jiubian tapped the armrest with his fingertips and said: “I am a god.”

All these years of acting had not been in vain. It was a piece of cake to alter his voice slightly.

His excellent delivery skills made these lines, which even he felt were immature and embarrassing, seem convincing rather than awkward.

As Jiang Shuoye stared up at him, his tense body completely relaxed.

This dream was getting increasingly ridiculous. He should be able to wake up soon.

In this relaxed state, he was no longer as aloof and reticent as he was in the military camp, and instead became more talkative. He asked: “Then which god are you?”

He himself did not believe in gods, but he had heard of some of them and wondered which one this dream person might be.

Chu Jiubian had already considered this question.

He couldn’t just impersonate a legendary deity, so he could only invent a new one.

He would rely on his believers to gather information and build up his power base, and associate himself with the identity of “Chu Jiubian,” which he must designate as a higher authority than his own in the Divine Realm. This way, when his followers found out that everything he did in the Divine Realm was for the purpose of helping “Chu Jiubian,” they would experience a sudden sense of enlightenment.

In other words, he must slowly reveal the fact that he, in the Divine Realm, actually obeyed, believed in, and even fanatically loved “Chu Jiubian.” This would solidify his believers’ devotion to him. 

The “one true god” could only be “Chu Jiubian.”

In this way, even if the System no longer existed, he could still use his identity as Chu Jiubian to inherit these believers from the Divine Realm and continue to have their obedience. After all, he was a higher authority than this “god” in the Divine Realm.

So after much thought, he came up with an identity that was particularly suitable.

Chu Jiubian’s voice was cool and leisurely, echoing throughout the vast space.

“You can call me —”

“The High Priest.”

---

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Chapter 11 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 13

Chapter 49 – Burning Sky

His field of vision was wreathed in scorching golden red. The high-temperature flames had yet to touch his skin, but his hair smoldered slightly under the incoming flames, and he could detect a faint burning smell.

Time passed both quickly and slowly.

It only took a breath of time for the released arrow to reach the fleeing Fang Yang.

And as the golden arrow closed the last meter of distance between them, time seemed to slow before Fang Yang’s eyes.

He had always heard that people saw a revolving lantern of events before death. And when he found himself in such a life-or-death situation, Fang Yang realized it was true.

During this short moment, he had many thoughts. Survival instinct stimulated his body’s potential to the extreme, and his mind became unusually clear. His heart beat like a drum in his ears, and he thought many times faster than usual.

He quickly thought up several methods of escape, but they were all dead ends.

With his own abilities alone, he was completely unable to withstand this golden arrow of unknown origins.

I’m dead, Fang Yang thought.

Clutching Cao Zirui’s hand in his left palm, he didn’t forget this fellow disciple whom he had spoken with for the first time today.

And his right hand unconsciously moved to his chest, gripping the piece of bamboo around his neck.

He didn’t even have a magic weapon, let alone something that could resist this indestructible fire. This single piece of bamboo was his last hope.

In his mind, he called out to the man whose name he still didn’t know. Emotions could not be hidden in one’s spiritual consciousness, unlike in normal conversations where one could maintain a veneer of calm.

The sea of consciousness was the concrete product of a person’s inner world, and the voice therein would reflect the owner’s truest feelings.

His dying cry contained no meaningful words – it was just a prolonged, wavering scream of terror.

This scream was like a heavy hammer slamming into Feng Ye’s mind, which was connected to Fang Yang through his sea of consciousness.

In an instant, thousands of thoughts rushed through his mind like a mighty river.

He was three hundred meters away from land, but the distance between him and Fang Yang was much more than that. Because Fang Yang was not directly above him, but on the western side of the floating island, and the straight-line distance between them was four or five li away.

With such a long distance between them, it would be impossible for him to reach Fang Yang before the golden arrow was shot, even without the obstruction of the monsters around him.

But even if he couldn’t make it in time, Feng Ye was not completely helpless.

It was only that…..he would inevitably have to reveal his true strength.

He had kept his identity hidden up to this point in order to investigate Jianmu as thoroughly as possible without alerting the enemy.

He had no idea who was working behind the scenes, and similarly, the other party was unaware that he had discovered them. It was a delicate balance.

Once that balance was broken and he was the first to be exposed, the subsequent situation would only become increasingly unfavorable for him.

And it would be all for the sake of a human he had only known for a month. Was it worth it?

Before he could come to a decision, the problem solved itself.

On land, the high-speed rotating arrow cut through the air, a tail of flames burning along its trajectory.

Unstoppable, the tip of the arrow drew closer and closer.

The heat burned his skin, and Fang Yang couldn’t help but close his eyes. He finally realized that all of his struggles had been in vain. He even gave up running, and just waited for the flames to consume him.

He had given up, but Cao Zirui had not. He stopped alongside Fang Yang, but not to wait for death.

He turned around and watched the golden arrow intently.

At the same time, he raised his right hand that he had just taken out of the storage bag and suddenly opened his clenched fist, revealing a palm full of spiritual power that was about to activate a magic weapon.

This magic weapon was a blue bead. Just as the golden arrow was about to reach the two of them, vast spiritual power suddenly surged from the bead.

The spiritual power gathered into a spherical shape much like a giant bubble, wrapping Fang Yang and Cao Zirui inside it.

This bubble looked as if it would burst if prodded, but miraculously, it was able to block the golden arrow.

The expected burning agony did not come. Fang Yang opened his eyes with some confusion to see Cao Zirui holding a blue bead to block the golden arrow.

The golden arrow was still spinning rapidly, and flames flowed along its shaft to the bubble, exploding the moment they made contact. The stream of fire erupted into a three-meter-high wall of flames, and the bubble within it was on the verge of collapse.

But it didn’t collapse in the end. The two were at a stalemate for several breaths, the surface of the bubble so full of cracks that it wouldn’t be able to withstand another attack.

But the speed of the golden arrow’s rotation was getting slower and slower, and the unbridled flames were extinguished.

With a clang, the golden arrow fell to the ground.

The bubble burst at the same time, and the dark blue bead in Cao Zirui’s hand also shattered into countless tiny pieces.

Cao Zirui tossed the broken magic weapon away without any regret, and yanked at Fang Yang, who was staring at him in amazement: “Let’s go!”

Fang Yang finally snapped back to his senses and immediately took advantage of Lu Chengye’s delayed reaction to his failed attack, fleeing with Cao Zirui.

As they ran, he couldn’t help but ask: “How did you still have a magic weapon?”

Cao Zirui tilted his head in confusion: “When did I say I didn’t have a magic weapon?”

Fang Yang: “…..”

It seemed he had never said that.

But Fang Yang had thought he didn’t have one.

Otherwise, why could Cao Zirui be in such a miserable state? If he had this kind of self-defense weapon, why hadn’t he taken it out earlier? If Fang Yang hadn’t rushed to help Cao Zirui when Lu Chengye fired the previous arrow, he would have long been dead.

At the critical moment between life and death, there was no point in keeping anything in reserve, right?

Therefore, in Fang Yang’s mind, Cao Zirui didn’t have anything that could protect him.

Cao Zirui took in Fang Yang’s puzzled expression, and could somewhat guess the reason. He explained: “I’ve been poisoned, and my spiritual power is draining away. That Water Soul Bead takes a lot of spiritual power to activate, and I didn’t have enough power to activate it before.”

So that’s how it is, Fang Yang and Feng Ye far away under the deep sea suddenly realized.

Although the time Fang Yang managed to delay didn’t allow Feng Ye to reach land, it had allowed Cao Zirui to recover some of his spiritual power and successfully activate the Water Soul Bead, thus shielding them from doom.

But it was only able to block an attack one time. The two of them ran with no reservations, speeding across nearly a hundred meters in just a few seconds.

Lu Chengye, who had been certain of his success, stood in place as he realized – I failed again!

Damn it!

How many magic weapons did Cao Zirui have?!

He couldn’t help but grit his teeth in jealousy at the thought. As a brand new, penniless disciple, he’d had to rely on himself for everything, but Cao Zirui possessed countless spirit stones and magical instruments bestowed upon him by his master. There was no telling how many times wealthier he was than Lu Chengye.

He was originally only following Xue Ren’s orders to kill Cao Zirui, but after such a comparison, he was so jealous that he wanted to kill Cao Zirui at once and snatch all of his magic weapons.

He raised his hand slightly, and the golden arrow on the ground flew up again at his command, returning squarely to his palm.

Lu Chengye reached up to brush dust off the arrow with some distress. This arrow was indeed just as Feng Ye had thought, an ordinary earth-grade magic weapon.

Even though Lu Chengye had been kicked off the ring by Feng Ye in an extremely undignified manner after winning the championship, he still had the right to receive an earth-grade magic weapon.

This golden arrow was the weapon he had received from the Armory Pavilion. In fact, he had not originally planned to choose the golden arrow. As a sword cultivator, he had chosen a spiritual sword that was the highest quality in offense and defense. 

However, Xue Ren suddenly found him and revealed the fact that Lu Chengye had poisoned Fang Yang.

Lu Chengye was shocked, and denied it repeatedly.

But Xue Ren was resolute, pressing on to tell him step by step where exactly he had been before and after the poisoning.

The evidence was irrefutable. Lu Chengye was unable to deny it. Lingxiao Sword Sect had always strictly prohibited conflict between fellow disciples, let alone such a despicable act as poisoning. 

He would definitely be expelled from the sect once this matter was exposed, which was a result he absolutely didn’t want to experience.

Lu Chengye reacted very quickly and knelt down before Xue Ren, tearfully explaining that he had been momentarily blinded by greed, and had no intention of hurting his fellow disciple.

But Xue Ren had sneered: “You still want to quibble now? Don’t you know it’s a crime to poison a fellow disciple? Do you think this is an issue punishable by expulsion from the sect? According to the sect’s rules, you must also abandon your cultivation and cut off your path to immortality!”

From a cultivator who could call the wind and rain to a mortal who could only toil in the fields? Lu Chengye’s face paled in fright at this horrible thought.

With trembling lips, he offered bribes to Xue Ren, saying that he was willing to give up all of his property if Xue Ren would let him off.

However, as soon as he said this, he recalled that he possessed so few spirit stones that Xue Ren probably wouldn’t even spare them a glance. The most valuable thing he had was the earth-grade magic weapon he had yet to select, and he immediately promised it to Xue Ren as well.

Xue Ren shook his head, unmoved.

It’s over, Lu Chengye thought despairingly.

Unexpectedly, Xue Ren changed tacks: “I can help you keep this secret. I don’t want anything from you, not spirit stones or an earth-grade magic weapon.”

He looked down at Lu Chengye kneeling before him and gave a faint smile, telling him enticingly: “Instead, I’ll give you a magic weapon. All I need is for you to do me an insignificant little favor.”

Lu Chengye raised his head blankly to meet Xue Ren’s eyes, which contained no smile at all – only a cold, restrained killing intent.

His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly realized that this was Xue Ren’s true purpose. Xue Ren had exposed the poisoning not for the sake of justice, but to use it as leverage to make Lu Chengye obey his orders. And this so-called insignificant little favor was bound to be not very little at all.

But what did it matter that he realized this? He had no choice.

This was why Xue Ren had approached him. He had no other choice but to agree.

Although he had mentally prepared himself, Lu Chengye was still inevitably shocked when he heard what Xue Ren intended to do: “You want me to kill your shidi, Cao Zirui?”

Xue Ren glared at him in dissatisfaction, saying threateningly: “What? You’re unwilling?”

Lu Chengye cringed under Xue Ren’s glare and explained: “N-not unwilling, but Cao Zirui is at Foundation Establishment. And you saw how he took first in the Foundation Establishment competition. His strength is unfathomable! How can a Qi Refining disciple like me kill him?”

“Heh heh.” Xue Ren chuckled and said with a hint of ridicule: “Haven’t you figured out the solution?”

“What solution?” Lu Chengye was mystified by Xue Ren’s words.

Xue Ren suddenly took a light yellow flower out of his sleeve. 

A Blazing Sun Flower.

Lu Chengye looked from the flower to Xue Ren’s affirmative gaze and came to an understanding.

He intended to use the same old trick and poison Cao Zirui just like Lu Chengye had poisoned Fang Yang.

However…..although this plan sounded feasible, it actually wasn’t.

Cao Zirui was different from Fang Yang. That fool Fang Yang had many flaws and was totally defenseless. It had been very easy to find an opportunity to poison him. But Cao Zirui was the sect leader’s personal disciple, and had lived on the peak of the mountain for a long time. Lu Chengye had never met him, so how would he be able to poison him?

Xue Ren reminded him impatiently: “The Floating Island Secret Realm.”

Given his master’s partiality, if Cao Zirui suffered a disaster, it would be investigated in impeccable detail.

Even if Xue Ren was careful and didn’t carry it out personally, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be any holes in the plan.

Therefore, in order to be absolutely certain, it would be better if Cao Zirui’s master never got the chance to see his body.

The Floating Island Secret Realm was the best location to take action.

And this secret realm had always been rife with danger, so Cao Zirui’s death there could only be considered an accident. If the sect leader was unresigned, he would still have to wait another ten years after the Floating Island Secret Realm closed.

Ten years later, both the evidence and the remains would be long gone.

Dead men told no tales.

Thus, any action must be reserved for the Floating Island Secret Realm.

Xue Ren observed Lu Chengye’s expression. Seeing that he’d gotten the gist of it, he continued: “The starting location in the Floating Island Secret Realm is completely random, but I’m giving you a bell. You can find his location using the bell, make up an excuse to follow him, and find an opportunity to poison him.”

The effects of the Blazing Sun Flower manifested very quickly. Within an hour of consuming it, spiritual energy would begin depleting. Therefore, the poison could not be administered too early, or Cao Zirui would be in trouble before even entering the secret realm, and his master would definitely find out.

Xue Ren had already planned out the entire process of this murder. He had considered it for a long time, and only went to seek out Lu Chengye when he was certain that there were no weak points.

At this point, he pontificated on the plan he had long been brewing: “After poisoning him, wait patiently for the right time to act. When his cultivation begins to decline, that is when you will take action.”

Having said that, Xue Ren took a simple-looking wooden bow from his storage bag.

He gently stroked the bright red totem on the bow with his fingers, his voice full of affection: “I just obtained this bow not long ago. Do you know what it is?”

Lu Chengye shook his head.

Xue Ren sneered, explaining to him with a hint of contempt: “A hundred years ago, Yinglong cut down Jianmu in the Eastern Sea. The giant tree collapsed, and heavenly fire fell from the sky, spreading across three thousand li. It lasted for three days.”

“Before the heavenly fire was completely extinguished, someone used it as a catalyst and combined it with thousand-year-old locust wood, as well as several cold, yin-based things such as the Snowy Mountain Ice Soul. This was able to suppress the destructive heavenly fire, sealing it inside the wood to form this indomitable bow.”

Xue Ren whispered its name: “This is a heaven-grade magic weapon – Burning Sky.”

Lu Chengye was stunned when he heard this, and also couldn’t help but reach out greedily, wanting to touch this incredibly rare heaven-grade weapon that could only be heard of in legends. 

Xue Ren glared at him in disgust, and the contempt in his eyes obviously said: Are you worthy enough to touch this divine bow?

Lu Chengye awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Unexpectedly, after such a display of contempt, Xue Ren actually handed the Burning Sky Bow over to him: “Your cultivation level isn’t sufficient to use this divine bow, but our sect’s Armory Pavilion happens to have an earth-grade magic weapon that does not require spiritual power – the Sun-Chasing Arrow. Use your championship reward to obtain this earth-grade magic weapon. This way, although you’re unable to unleash the full power of the divine bow, it will be enough to deal with him. When the time is right, you will…..”

Xue Ren leaned down slightly toward where Xue Ren was kneeling on the floor, whispering in his ear: “…..kill him!”

He ground these words between his teeth as he spoke them, revealing a festering hatred, as if he wanted to eat the victim alive.

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Chapter 48 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 50