Li Qingxian added, "It would be inappropriate for me to buy Mr. Kusong’s Destiny Star, but you could ask him if he’s willing to let me resolve his Evil Star."
"Alright, I’ll go ask him right now."
Zhou Chunfeng went downstairs. A moment later, he returned with a soft sigh.
"What’s wrong?"
"He is truly Master Kusong, a man of immense character. He said that he has long known he carries an Evil Star and has had opportunities to neutralize it, but he chose not to," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Why?"
"He sees the Evil Star as a whetstone to temper himself," Zhou Chunfeng said.
Li Qingxian’s face showed his astonishment. Connecting this to his own experiences and his knowledge of Fate Skills, he was filled with a myriad of emotions.
"That’s Mr. Kusong for you—truly wiser and stronger with age. I’m impressed, truly impressed. To think my understanding of Fate Skills is inferior to that of a layman. Mr. Kusong is truly extraordinary. It seems I need to read more of Mr. Kusong’s and Chief Minister Zhao’s writings," Li Qingxian said, deeply impressed.
"Excellent. I’ll have someone gather their writings and send them to you," Zhou Chunfeng said, looking at Li Qingxian with a gratified expression.
The Literature Cultivation assembly ended, and on the second day, the Martial Cultivation assembly convened.
Unlike the orderly Literature Cultivation assembly, the Martial Cultivation assembly was chaos before it even began. The entire Wangjiang Pavilion had descended into a total mess.
The Literature Cultivators were divided into numerous factions, but they rarely argued openly.
The Martial Cultivators were different. They were a mix of major powers: the Old Nobility, the ancient nobility, the new emperor’s forces, powers from the Martial Arts World, the righteous path, the Green Forest, the military, and so on.
On top of that, most of them were old men, and the older they got, the more childish they became. They started arguing the moment they saw each other.
Wangjiang Pavilion quickly turned into a wet market, with Martial Cultivators from every faction yelling until they were red in the face.
Li Qingxian’s ears were ringing. He was dragged around by Zhou Chunfeng to greet everyone one by one.
Li Gangfeng had been one of the few Literature Cultivators that Martial Cultivators respected. Adding to that, Li Qingxian’s recent consecutive victories against the Demon Sect and the Ministry of Justice had made his reputation soar. He won the favor of many of the older Martial Cultivators, who praised him frequently and occasionally gave him greeting gifts.
Before long, Zhou Chunfeng led Li Qingxian to a table of people.
Li Qingxian glanced over and spotted a familiar face. The two of them gave a slight nod.
It was Wang Buku, the illegitimate son of the Rong Mansion, who had just been released from the Divine Capital Prefecture Magistrate’s Office.
Everyone at the table stood up one after another, while Zhou Chunfeng walked over to an old man who remained seated.
The old man sat in a mechanical wheelchair. He was emaciated, and his exposed skin was covered in red marks of varying shades, the scars only recently healed. His breathing was erratic, and he would gasp for air from time to time. Behind him stood a Middle-Grade middle-aged man who resembled him, occasionally placing a hand on his back to transfer True Essence to him.
"This is His Highness, the King of Jiangcheng," Zhou Chunfeng said.
Li Qingxian immediately recalled that this was the Upper-Grade Martial Cultivator who had escaped from the Celestial Prison a few days ago. He had been framed and tortured by the Demon Sect, but not only did he refuse to bow to them, he also endured for three years until he finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Now, the King of Jiangcheng’s name shook the world. Even many of the Upper-Grade Martial Cultivators who had once been his rivals came to visit and show their support.
"Qingxian greets Your Highness, the King of Jiangcheng." Li Qingxian bowed respectfully to the King of Jiangcheng, Wu Jiuhan.
A look of excitement appeared in the King of Jiangcheng’s eyes, and his breathing became chaotic. He then coughed lightly, and the person behind him hurriedly transferred True Essence into his back.
"Gangfeng’s son. Good. You have not brought shame to your father’s name. This old man holds Mr. Gangfeng in the highest regard, so seeing you has made me a little emotional." The King of Jiangcheng’s breath was extremely weak, his voice faint.
"This junior admires you as well," Li Qingxian said.
"I hear you know Buku?" the King of Jiangcheng asked in his faint voice.
"We’ve met a few times," Li Qingxian said with a small smile.
The King of Jiangcheng turned his head to look at Wang Buku, who was standing.
Wang Buku gave Li Qingxian a slight smile and said, "We’ve met three times. Once in Deceit Village, once at your birthday banquet, and once in the Ministry of Justice Prison. Three meetings, all of them rushed. Since we have some leisure today, allow me to introduce myself properly. I’m Wang Buku. ’Buku’ means ’not bitter.’ You know the saying, ’Recall bitterness to appreciate sweetness’? I’m the ’sweetness’ part."
Those who didn’t know Wang Buku were taken aback, but Li Qingxian understood instantly. "Indeed," he said. "If it’s not bitter, then of course it must be sweet."
"I was at the Old Duke’s Mansion back when Buku was named," the King of Jiangcheng said with a sigh.
Seeing the sad look on the King of Jiangcheng’s face, and knowing his relationship with the Rong Mansion was deep, Li Qingxian suddenly grinned and said, "In that case, I’ll call you Wang Tiantian from now on."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"That’s a good one..." The King of Jiangcheng, who had been looking sad just a moment ago, laughed until he was out of breath. The man behind him continued to transfer True Qi while laughing along.
Wang Buku was completely dumbfounded. He had been introducing himself this way for years and had never met such a shameless rascal.
"No wonder Baige is always saying you’re never serious," Wang Buku said helplessly.
"You two met again?"
"We’re both acquainted with Qiu Ye from the Liuyang Prince Mansion. He came to visit me in prison with Qiu Ye that day, and we got to know each other after a while."
"Qiu Ye? We met once at Changg Mountain," Li Qingxian said.
"He’s always praising you. By the way, I’ve been wanting to thank you for saving my life and treat you to a meal, but you keep turning me down. Now that Grandpa Wu is here, you can’t refuse to give me face, can you?" Wang Buku said.
Li Qingxian glanced at the King of Jiangcheng and said with a sigh of resignation, "I might not give others face, but I can’t disrespect the King of Jiangcheng. Fine. You set the time and place."
"Tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow it is!" Li Qingxian agreed.
Wang Buku smiled and changed the subject. "But Grandpa Wu is the main character today. We can chat later."
The King of Jiangcheng smiled. "Chunfeng, you and I haven’t seen each other in days. Sit down with Qingxian and let’s chat."
Zhou Chunfeng glanced at the King of Jiangcheng and nodded. "This junior will be happy to oblige."
The two sat down, and the King of Jiangcheng immediately asked, "Qingxian, are you betrothed?"
Li Qingxian’s head immediately began to ache. The old Literature Cultivators yesterday and the old Martial Cultivators just now had asked him this question quite a bit. The status of being Gangfeng’s son and a Fate Master, while not on par with the great noble families, made him a very hot commodity.
Li Qingxian steeled himself. ’Sister Youfei, please don’t blame me. I just don’t want to be pestered about marriage.’ Then he said with a completely serious expression, "I have long admired Fairy Qingcheng, Jiangg Youfei. I once swore that I would marry no one else in this life."
Everyone was stunned, not expecting Li Qingxian to be so direct.
Wang Buku sighed softly. ’This kid really is more outrageous than Songg Baige.’
The King of Jiangcheng said with resignation, "Since you already have someone in your heart, it seems our Wu Family is not so fortunate. However, what about letting a daughter from one of our branch families become your concubine?"
Everyone’s eyes went wide, and they all fell silent.
It was normal for a girl from a common family to become a concubine for a great house, but for a woman from a Royal Mansion—even one from a branch family—it was very rare.
Li Qingxian laughed. "I’m still young. I’m already the junior one under Uncle Zhou’s care."
"You’re spouting nonsense all day!" Zhou Chunfeng chided with a laugh.
The King of Jiangcheng sighed softly and changed the subject.
After chatting at the King of Jiangcheng’s table for a good while, Zhou Chunfeng stood up and took Li Qingxian to meet the others.
Afterward, just like the day before, Li Qingxian used the Ten Directions Celestial Observation Technique.
The results this time were extremely similar to yesterday’s; on average, each person still had over five Diligent Study and Advancement Type Destiny Stars.
Even the youngest among them, Wang Buku, had two.
Li Qingxian took out yesterday’s records. Gazing at the densely packed list of Destiny Stars, he sighed softly.
’I originally thought that the greatest reward from these two assemblies would be the Destiny Stars, but now I understand that the insights into Fate Skills and Astrology are the most precious treasure.’
As Li Qingxian was pondering this, Zhou Chunfeng came in and began to question him again, his tone like that of an examiner.
Li Qingxian explained his insights one by one, and Zhou Chunfeng nodded repeatedly in approval.
Afterward, the two of them selected suitable candidates together.
When the Martial Cultivation assembly ended, Wang Buku, dead drunk, was sent to the King of Jiangcheng’s residence in the Divine Capital.
The next day, after waking up and meeting with the King of Jiangcheng, Wang Buku bought some food, and carrying the food box, he entered the Demon Hunting Bureau and stepped into Ye Han’s courtyard.