"What happened with the Saint Heir?" Li Qingxian asked.
Xiaoya sighed. "Around noon, the Saint Heir suddenly screamed and started vomiting blood repeatedly. His wife desperately tried to save him, wailing inconsolably. We were all busy for a long time helping out."
"How is the Saint Heir?" Li Qingxian asked.
Xiaoya hesitated for a moment before saying, "The Saintess said you’re one of us, and you’re Lord Zhou’s nephew, so I won’t hide it from you. The Saint Heir was already seriously injured, but this time... it seems he’s suffering from a condition where his soul is detaching. I’m afraid his Spirit Platform has been injured."
"How could he get injured so suddenly? Did someone attack him in secret?" Li Qingxian asked.
Xiaoya lowered her voice. "The other disciples asked the same thing, but the Saint Heir’s wife said that wasn’t it. It’s just... she seems to think a woman was responsible."
"Why?"
"We all heard her cursing ’that bitch’ through gritted teeth, but we don’t know who she meant."
"It was probably a woman from the Demon Sect."
The two chatted for a while longer before Xiaoya left.
In a nearby courtyard stood an imposing three-story building.
In the master bedroom on the second floor, an ashen-faced, middle-aged man lay unconscious on a sea-blue bed. The strong, pungent smell of elixirs filled the room, so thick it was almost choking.
Beside the bed sat a middle-aged woman in a dark blue Daoist Robe.
The middle-aged woman wiped away her tears and whispered, "Ren, my love, this wasn’t our fault. It’s all because of that little bitch. We thought she was sure to be injured, giving you the perfect chance to use the Soul Control Technique on her. Who could have known it would call down the Divine Sky Celestial Thunder and destroy a wisp of your Divine Soul? Don’t you worry. I will find a way to steal that little bitch’s Magical Power Cultivation, and then I will kill her!"
The middle-aged woman sighed. Ever since Sect Leader Jiang Zhijian disappeared, the Celestial Cloud Sect had changed, and she and her husband had changed too.
「The next day.」
Li Qingxian woke up early and went into Jiang Youfei’s room.
Jiang Youfei lay in bed under a light, butter-yellow blanket, her head resting on a soft pillow embroidered with a pair of phoenixes. She looked frail and listless.
Li Qingxian spent his time alternating between teasing her and asking her about the principles of cultivation. The time flew by.
Though young, Jiang Youfei was a true cultivation prodigy. She was not only an expert in Daoist Skills but was also highly accomplished in areas like Fate Skills, Martial Cultivation, and Literature Cultivation.
In just a single day, she helped Li Qingxian establish a preliminary framework for his cultivation of Daoist Skills and Fate Skills.
From here, all he had to do was build upon this framework, and his power would grow at an incredible pace.
「On the morning of the third day.」
Jiang Youfei was already able to get out of bed and walk around. Li Qingxian said his goodbyes and returned to the Night Guard Office with Zhou Hen.
Halfway there, as they neared Chunfeng Inn, they ran into Zhou Chunfeng.
When Zhou Chunfeng saw that Li Qingxian was not only unharmed but also full of vigor, he said softly, "Good!"
With Zhou Chunfeng solicitously asking after his well-being, the three of them entered Chunfeng Inn.
Outside Chunfeng Inn, by the decorative rockery, a figure stepped onto the grass, watching the trio disappear amidst the red flowers and green trees.
Ye Han sighed and muttered, "If only I had been more ruthless back then..."
Ye Han recalled the days of easy laughter and conversation with Zhou Chunfeng. A sense of loss washed over him as he turned and walked away.
Outside Chunfeng Inn, a cool breeze rustled, making the banana leaves sway.
Inside Chunfeng Inn, Li Qingxian and Zhou Chunfeng sat down.
Zhou Chunfeng got straight to the point. "I truly underestimated you. To think that at such a young age, you could devise such a vicious scheme!"
Li Qingxian was about to praise himself, but something in Zhou Chunfeng’s tone gave him pause. "Uncle Zhou, which vicious scheme are you referring to?"
"You mean there’s more than one?" Zhou Chunfeng was exasperated.
"I honestly don’t know what you mean." ’Could he have found out that I snatched Ye Han’s destined opportunity?’ Li Qingxian thought.
Zhou Chunfeng said, "At first, you were reluctant to help Youfei. I suspect you’d already guessed the Demon Sect had infiltrated the Divine Capital Bureau and was monitoring our every move. That’s why you trapped Ye Han here that day, to make the Demon Sect suspect he was the one colluding with us to have you impersonate Lü Ren. But your plan was more intricate than that. Ye Han couldn’t visit his mother’s grave that day, so he went alone early the next morning. This coincided with the time you were impersonating Lü Ren, making the Demon Sect even more suspicious of him."
Li Qingxian was exasperated. "Since when am I that brilliant? If I could really scheme to that level, I’d be proclaiming myself the greatest strategist in all of Qi Country."
"Really?"
"If I had planned it all, you think I wouldn’t be taking every opportunity to brag about it?"
"That’s a fair point..." Zhou Chunfeng nodded. "I forgot one thing—you don’t know much about the Demon Sect. Never mind that. You’ve Entered Grade? Stand up, let me see!"
Li Qingxian stood and circulated his Magical Power. A unique energy flowed through his body. His green robes seemed to swell as if stirred by a gentle breeze, and he radiated an ethereal, otherworldly aura.
"Good! Good! Good!" The rims of Zhou Chunfeng’s eyes turned red, standing out against his fair, jade-like complexion. "Brother Gangfeng’s spirit in the heavens must be so proud!"
Zhou Chunfeng’s salt-and-pepper hair seemed to tremble at the roots.
"This is all thanks to your help, Uncle Zhou. Youfei and I have already decided that once she’s recovered, we’ll come and thank you together. Asking a Second-Grade Official for help... that’s an enormous favor."
"Mr. Wu owed me a favor from years ago. I never had a use for it, so using it on you two was perfect. By the way, although Cao Ming already submitted a report, it’s missing the details. Tell me what happened, start from the Divine Sky Thunder Seed."
As Zhou Chunfeng spoke, he waved his sleeve. The doors and windows shut, and a strange power enveloped the room.
Li Qingxian had no choice but to explain everything in detail, though he made sure to omit critical information like the Celestial Destiny Instrument.
As for what happened during the battle outside the city, Li Qingxian held almost nothing back; if he didn’t tell him, Jiang Youfei would.
When he heard that Li Qingxian had actually obtained the Spiritual Eye Sees Dragon, Zhou Chunfeng was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. He sternly warned Li Qingxian that this was a secret he must never reveal.
Zhou Hen, however, sighed to himself. In all his years of following Mr. Zhou, he had never seen him so delighted.
After Li Qingxian finished, Zhou Chunfeng’s expression turned serious. "In the end, you were just lucky. Do you think experts of the Upper Three Grades die that easily? Those four from the Demon Sect knew Jiang Youfei was a skilled fighter but naive about the world, so they were hiding their true strength. Even if Youfei had activated the Thunder Light Fire Rune Seal at the cost of her life, she might not have been able to kill them. Fortunately, you managed to summon a remnant shadow of the Ancient Thunder City, which amplified the Divine Sky Celestial Thunder to the Super Grade. That’s the only reason it instantly suppressed their Three Flowers at the Top. If the Divine Sky Celestial Thunder had been even a fraction weaker, those four Third-Grade experts would have needed only an instant to activate a Demonic Skill or Treasure and escape."
"I thought the Demon Sect was weak..." Li Qingxian said.
Zhou Chunfeng shook his head. "The gap between the Upper Three Grades and the Middle-Third Grade is almost unimaginable. Youfei is the personal disciple of a Sect Leader from a major Daoist Sect. She possesses the Translucent Sword Body and a First-Grade Magical Treasure. On top of that, she’s had a fateful celestial encounter, giving her extraordinary luck. That’s the only reason she could resist them. A common Fourth-Grade cultivator wouldn’t last three moves against them."
"What about you? You’re also a Senior Fourth Grade," Li Qingxian asked curiously.
Zhou Chunfeng thought for a moment. "Without my Righteous Sword, I’m no match for a Third-Grade expert. With it, I can slay one!"
"Lord Zhou is very strong," Zhou Hen added, a rare interjection from him.
"I’m impressed!" Li Qingxian said. "But I’ve heard that the longer the Righteous Sword is nurtured in the Middle Dantian, the more powerful it becomes. After being used, its power drops dramatically and it has to be nurtured all over again. So it’s best not to use it unless you have to."
"Of course. A scholar’s Righteous Sword is a tool of last resort, meant for saving one’s life. As for the matter of the Righteous Sword Seed, I’ll see what I can do," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Then I’ll be waiting for your good news, Uncle Zhou," Li Qingxian said.
Zhou Chunfeng fell into a long, thoughtful silence. He finally looked up at Li Qingxian, his peach blossom eyes unusually bright. "Qingxian, my boy, have you ever considered returning to the path of Literature Cultivation?"