"Also..." Zhou Chunfeng’s brow furrowed and then slowly relaxed. "I will invite Youfei to stay in Jiangnan for a year and teach you some Thunder Skill."
Li Qingxian was overjoyed. "Uncle Zhou, you’ve finally come around? On my wedding day..."
Zhou Chunfeng cut him off with a glare as sharp as a knife. "Stop dreaming. The internal strife in the Celestial Cloud Sect hasn’t been settled. If they end up compromising internally, it’s highly likely they’ll push Youfei to take over as Acting Sect Leader."
"My wife, a Sect Leader... Not a bad thought," Li Qingxian said with a grin.
"You..." Zhou Chunfeng resisted the urge to hurl his inkstone at him. "I plan to seek the position of Magistrate in Lin’an for a term. For the next five years, I’ll be watching you. You will focus on your Cultivation for five years, no messing around. After those five years, once your foundation is solid, you can travel the world and broaden your horizons."
"I’ll listen to whatever you say, Uncle Zhou." ’I’ll just agree for now,’ Li Qingxian thought. ’Jiangnan alone is enough for five years of fun.’
"How are things with the Destiny Star for your second Life Land?" Zhou Chunfeng asked.
Li Qingxian said helplessly, "Don’t even ask. The ones for sale are either not available or ridiculously expensive, and they aren’t even that good."
"Are there any Destiny Stars you’re particularly interested in?"
Li Qingxian shook his head. "I haven’t done a wide-ranging search yet. If it really comes to it, I’ll deal with it when I get back to Jiangnan."
Zhou Chunfeng pondered for a moment before saying, "In a little while, I’ll find a way to arrange two gatherings, one for Literature Cultivators and one for Miscellaneous Cultivators. I’ll mainly invite those who are injured or elderly. You can go and Observe their Fate and Qi. Tell me which Destiny Stars you like, and I’ll swallow my pride and help you buy a few."
"Observing that many people will require building an Array with the Life Artifact, the Celestial Gazing Mirror, at its core to form the ’Ten Directions Celestial Observation Technique.’ I haven’t refined this Life Artifact, but I can buy one from Shen Xiaoyi or someone else. The Array isn’t difficult to set up, just expensive; it would cost at least one hundred thousand taels of silver each time. Moreover, my Cultivation is too low, so I’ll need the help of a Holy Decree Imperial Seal. It would be best if I could... borrow three complete sets of your Official Uniforms—the Court Attire, ceremonial robes, and public service robes—and I’ll also need your Official Seal," Li Qingxian said.
Zhou Chunfeng nodded. "Alright. We’ll both make preparations. The Cyan Cloud Examination starts in a month. It will take at least half a month to prepare for the two gatherings."
Li Qingxian asked, "If you gather so many people consecutively, won’t it arouse suspicion from those above?"
"I won’t be organizing it myself, merely participating. Besides, these people have long since withdrawn from political affairs and gather frequently anyway. Those above won’t pay it any mind," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Then I’ll contact Shen Xiaoyi when I get back."
"Are Holy Decrees or calligraphy from past Emperors or the Old Dynasty useful?"
"As long as it’s stamped with the Emperor’s Great Seal and is within five hundred years old, it’s useful," Li Qingxian said.
"What about the Jade Seal of the Realm and Golden Seal?" Zhou Chunfeng asked, staring into Li Qingxian’s eyes.
Li Qingxian was stunned. He hadn’t expected Zhou Chunfeng to go for something so big.
"All the Jade Seals of the Realm and Golden Seals used by Emperors are top-tier main materials for Life Artifacts. A Life Artifact refined from such an item has a formal name: ’Emperor’s Destiny Seal.’ A person can only possess one of any other Life Artifact, but legend says there’s no limit to how many Emperor’s Destiny Seals one can have. Across the world, all the major Fate Sects use Emperor’s Destiny Seals to anchor their Qi Fortune. It’s said the Celestial Fate Sect has an especially large number of them, with rumors claiming they’ve accumulated over a hundred over thousands of years, though who knows if that’s true."
"None from the current dynasty, but ones from the previous dynasty might be possible. What about a Marquis’s Golden Seal? I’ve heard many Fate Masters acquire them."
"To advance any Life Artifact to the Upper Grade, you must fuse it with a large amount of Life Materials. And a Marquis’s Golden Seal is the best Upper-Grade Life Material; a single one can substitute for all other materials. My current Life Artifacts are all Lower Grade. If I fused any one of them with a Marquis’s Golden Seal, it would skip the Middle Grade and advance directly to the Upper Grade. I wouldn’t be able to unleash its full power, but it would still be far, far more powerful than my current artifacts. But... can you really get one? It’s not something money can buy. The crucial point is that the Imperial Court forbids private transactions. Almost all Marquis’s Golden Seals are eventually reclaimed by the Imperial Court and melted down into the Mountain and River Cauldron."
"Before the Cyan Cloud Examination, I will give you a Marquis’s Golden Seal!"
Li Qingxian’s mouth hung open as he stared at Zhou Chunfeng in disbelief. This was something that could no longer be measured in money.
If you used other Life Materials to upgrade a Life Artifact, you would need to reach the Middle and Upper Grades yourself. But with a Marquis’s Golden Seal, you don’t need anything; you can just fuse and absorb it directly.
He had previously suspected that the reason Shen Xiaoyi was so powerful was that she likely possessed one or even several such Life Artifacts that had been upgraded with a Marquis’s Golden Seal.
"Uncle Zhou, I’m so moved I could cry," Li Qingxian said, looking at Zhou Chunfeng, a little dazed.
Seeing Li Qingxian’s strange expression, Zhou Chunfeng smiled faintly, brightening the entire room.
"I will do my best to get it. If I fall short at the last moment, don’t blame me," Zhou Chunfeng said.
Li Qingxian laughed. "It’s alright, it’s alright. The thought alone makes me happy. Besides, even if you can’t get a Marquis’s Golden Seal, you can definitely get your hands on plenty of Holy Decrees and imperially bestowed calligraphy."
Zhou Chunfeng smiled. "It’s just a matter of writing a few more pieces of calligraphy."
Li Qingxian had a sudden realization. "You’re going to trade your own calligraphy and paintings for Holy Decrees and imperially bestowed calligraphy?"
Zhou Chunfeng nodded.
Li Qingxian’s expression turned strange. Recalling Emperor Taining’s rather ordinary-looking brush calligraphy, he lowered his voice and said, "Aren’t you getting the short end of the stick?"
Zhou Chunfeng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Stop talking nonsense. It’s because I want to study the calligraphy of past Emperors, Hanlin Editors, and master calligraphers, and it wouldn’t be right to just take them, so I use my own work to trade. I’ve done this before. For those I’m not close with, it’s fine if they don’t want to trade. But for those who owe me a favor, if they won’t trade, I’ll just borrow them for you to use and return later. As for a Martial Artist brute like Zhangg Fugui, what’s he doing keeping Holy Decrees and calligraphy? It’s better to give them to you so they can be put to good use."
"Uncle Zhou, you’re brilliant! Thank you for your hard work. I’ll ask Jingg Guan later where I can buy these things," Li Qingxian said.
At the mention of Jingg Guan’s name, a flicker appeared in Zhou Chunfeng’s eyes. "Don’t busy yourself with other matters these days. Just focus on finding ways to practice and use the Ten Directions Celestial Observation Technique. The rest is not important. Since you’re participating in the Eighth-Grade Cyan Cloud Examination, you should seize the title of Daoist Cultivator Cyan Cloud Aoshou. It’s a pity that in the Cyan Cloud Examination, only the first place of the Seventh and Fourth Grades are called Champion Scholar. If you don’t participate in the Seventh-Grade Cyan Cloud Examination, I’m afraid you’ll have reached the Sixth Grade in five years, and you’ll lose your chance to become the Seventh-Grade Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar."
Li Qingxian said, "That’s true. At my Cultivation speed, I might even reach Fifth Grade in five years. This Cyan Cloud Examination is only held in the Divine Capital, and I don’t want to come back. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I’m Fourth Grade to return to the Divine Capital and win the Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar title."
"He who becomes the Champion Scholar is blessed with great Qi Fortune," Zhou Chunfeng said, giving Li Qingxian a deep look.
A thought flickered in Li Qingxian’s mind, but he quickly suppressed it. "Uncle Zhou, if this year’s Cyan Cloud Examination were ordinary, without all those Seventh-Grade Great Cultivators joining, I would definitely compete for the title of Seventh-Grade Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar. If for no other reason than to make you happy, I would dare to fight for it. But... the Celestial Fate Sect is up to no good, and with Great Cultivators participating this time, who knows what kind of chaos will erupt in that Myriad Phenomena Cyan Cloud Examination?"
Zhou Chunfeng nodded. "Your worries are not without reason. Ten years ago, out of five thousand Seventh-Grade participants, only one thousand survived. The world was shaken, and countless people hated the Celestial Fate Sect to the bone. However, most of the one thousand who survived went on to achieve great things, and instead felt they had received a favor from the Celestial Fate Sect. Later, I spoke with some Fate Master friends, and they said the Celestial Fate Sect hadn’t killed indiscriminately; an accident had occurred midway through. However, one thing is certain: the Celestial Fate Sect intentionally cultivated the Killing King back then."