Rushing into the Realm and Getting Dizzy

In the main hall of the county yamen, a graceful woman was respectfully pouring two cups of fragrant pre-Qingming tea.

Pre-Qingming tea wasn't a brand name, but referred to the tender buds plucked before the Qingming Festival. They were known for their vibrant green color, subtle aroma, mellow taste, and beautiful appearance.

However, Yuyang County did not produce tea, so a cup like this was often quite expensive.

This showed that the annual income of a conscientious magistrate was indeed a hundred thousand taels of silver, especially under such a tax and tribute system.

"Instructor Cao, Senior Sister Pei, please have some tea."

Cao Jinsong, an instructor from the Celestial Academy, picked up his teacup and took a sip. He narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a sense of clarity.

Beside him, Pei Ruyi, the chief disciple of the outer court, clearly had no interest in tea. She spun her teacup and then asked, "You'll be accompanying us to Shengjing tomorrow. Have you packed everything?"

Fang Ruoyao immediately nodded. "Reporting to Senior Sister, everything is packed and ready."

Cao Jinsong stroked his long beard and added, "Once you enter the academy, remember to cultivate diligently and not waste your time. You must know that even after entering the Celestial Academy, you haven't truly entered the immortal path. The true immortal path..."

"The true immortal path?"

"No, it's nothing."

Cao Jinsong chuckled lightly, retracting the rest of his words.

The Qingyun World had seven great orthodoxies, but they all basically followed the Three-Five Realms Qi Cultivation Method passed down from the Heavenly Dao in the Primordial Era.

This consisted of the lower three realms, the upper five realms, and the Immortal Approaching Realm, culminating in a great laugh and ascension.

For cultivators, the first three realms were merely about tempering the internal realms of the body, considered the foundation of cultivation. Only by condensing internal spiritual essence could one be considered to have truly entered the immortal path, also known as the Perfection of the Lower Three Realms.

However, Fang Ruoyao's aptitude was not exceptional, and Instructor Cao did not want to put too much pressure on her too early, lest it lead to planting demonic seeds in her Dao heart.

In fact, the aptitude of students admitted to the Celestial Academy in recent years had been declining. Even though they selected only descendants of immortal sects or progeny of noble families, there were only two this year who had reached the Perfection of the Lower Three Realms before the age of twenty.

Back then, when the seven great sects jointly formulated the Qingyun Immortal Regulations, they included a clause stating that those who reached the Perfection of the Lower Three Realms before the age of twenty could be admitted to the Immortal Registry regardless of their origin.

But now, very few could achieve this.

Fang Ruoyao looked at him, half-understanding, when a young servant from the mansion ran into the courtyard.

"Miss, Young Master Kuang is outside requesting an audience. He wishes to see you off."

Fang Ruoyao pondered for a moment before saying, "I am serving tea to the immortal elder. Please ask Young Master Kuang to come again tomorrow to see me off."

Pei Ruyi couldn't help but chuckle softly upon hearing this. "The journey ahead is long and arduous. Since he has come specifically to bid farewell, you should go and see him."

"Then... then Ruoyao will take her leave."

Fang Ruoyao agreed after only a moment's hesitation and walked to the side hall.

Kuang Cheng was also brought in by the yamen runners at the gate. The map of Yan Kingdom was very short, and he immediately asked Fang Ruoyao to help the Qiu family.

In fact, Fang Ruoyao had already guessed he would.

After all, Kuang Cheng's reputation as a gentleman was known throughout the county, which was why she had been reluctant to come. Hearing him say it himself now, she flatly refused.

"The Celestial Academy is undoubtedly a part of the Great Xia Sacred Sect, but the Xuan Yuan Immortal Mansion is also a major sect of the current era. Although the two immortal sects have been in secret conflict for many years, they have always cooperated on the surface and stayed out of each other's way."

"What you read in your books is correct. The Celestial Academy does indeed have a responsibility to protect its disciples and their families. However, I have no relation to that Qiu family. If I forcefully intervene, wouldn't it lead to accusations that my Celestial Academy is interfering in another sect's affairs?"

"Moreover, I haven't even entered the academy yet, and my status is low. How could I dare trouble the immortal elder?"

"Young Master Kuang, I will be departing tomorrow. I am grateful that you came to bid me farewell, and it is precisely for this reason that I agreed to see you. However, I do not wish to cause further trouble. I truly cannot help with this matter."

Fang Ruoyao was now a disciple of the Celestial Academy. Although she had not yet learned immortal techniques, she already possessed a certain transcendent aura. She was no longer like the delicate young lady she once was, but more like a proud swan.

After all, becoming a cultivator already destined her for a noble life.

Kuang Cheng was silent for a moment. "Is the life of even a five-year-old girl not worth Miss Fang's effort?"

"In this world, who can save whom?"

"It is precisely because of this world that we should try to save people!"

"Young Master Kuang, do you know that we cultivators need to have a clear mind and no distractions to achieve the natural way of the Dao?"

Kuang Cheng was slightly taken aback. He then realized that the person before him was already like an immortal, and his expression became much more respectful. "Please forgive my intrusion, Young Master Kuang. I shall take my leave."

Seeing him turn to leave, Fang Ruoyao pondered for a while before speaking again. "You went to find Ji You, but he didn't dare to come, which is why you came yourself?"

"That's right."

"The Qiu family owed him a great debt of gratitude, and he can still pretend not to know?"

"What is Miss Fang trying to say?"

"Back then, when the Ji family was destroyed, I took the opportunity to break off our engagement. I was subjected to much criticism. Some said I, Fang Ruoyao, kicked him while he was down, while others said I was unchaste. Now it has proven how innocent I was. How could that ungrateful wretch be my good match?"

Kuang Cheng did not speak upon hearing this. He waved his sleeve and left the Fang residence.

He did not agree with Fang Ruoyao's words, because an engagement was an engagement, and character was character. Just as merits and demerits could not offset each other, they could not be generalized.

If Fang Ruoyao truly disliked Ji You, she could have chosen a suitable way to break off the engagement, preserving dignity for both parties.

But she chose to take advantage of his misfortune. She forcibly broke off the engagement when Ji You could not even walk, so her character was not necessarily any better.

However, at this moment, although Kuang Cheng was full of principles, he truly had nothing to say, because Young Master Ji had not even dared to leave his house to this day.

Kuang Cheng disliked Fang Ruoyao's actions and looked down on Ji You's cowardice, so he could only remain neutral.

She was about to become a person of the immortal path, and didn't want any further connection to old people or old matters.

If she really sought out an instructor and senior sister, and it was known later that she had been betrothed to a rustic villager, she feared she wouldn't be able to hold her head up in front of her fellow Daoists.

Fang Ruoyao splashed the tea in her hand into the flowerbed, then got up to head to the main hall. But just then, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the northwest outside the window.

Following that, a beam of rosy light shot up through the clouds, merging into the evening sky.

Before she could get a clear look, the rosy light quickly retracted, disappearing behind the clouds as if it had never appeared, leaving her with a sense of inexplicable feeling.

But Fang Ruoyao didn't know that the two immortal elders who had been sipping tea in the front hall had now drawn their swords and left the manor, arriving at Yuyang County's Archway Street with grave expressions.

The fiery clouds that had stretched across the sky for a thousand miles were now abruptly cut off in the direction of Archway Street, a ten-mile scar as if an immortal had swung a sword.

And the rosy light from before had already been withdrawn, hidden behind the clouds as if it had never appeared.

This place was remote and barren, with no immortal dojos. The only Fengxian Mountain Villa was thirty miles further west, a long way from here. Dao resonance and heavenly light shouldn't have pierced through the clouds like that.

A rogue cultivator!

There was a rogue cultivator in Yuyang County who had just broken through to the Initial Profound Upper Realm!

But the aura was contained so quickly. Even they couldn't track it down now.

"Instructor, we can't find them."

"Mm, they've vanished."

Cao Jinsong said softly, sweeping his gaze over the Ji family's door plaque without a trace. Shock flickered in his eyes before quickly disappearing.

Yuyang County wasn't large. Interesting anecdotes could spread throughout the county in an hour. Immortals had keen senses, and some things naturally couldn't be hidden from them.

He knew about the Qiu family girl, with her spiritual light reaching the crown, and the Young Master Ji, who was under twenty years old...

Pei Ruyi noticed the instructor's gaze and then frowned, looking at the Ji residence. "Could it be that the rogue cultivator hid inside this courtyard?"

"No, even without looking, I know it's impossible."

"?"

Cao Jinsong turned to leave, but his hand couldn't help but tremble within his sleeve.

Fang Ruoyao had a fiancé who was despised by the entire county. It was said he was under twenty years old and timid as a mouse...

Under twenty years old, under twenty years old, under twenty years old, under twenty years old!

Pei Ruyi followed behind him, thinking that the instructor's leg strength was truly unmatched; even his walking trembled as if he were practicing martial arts.

Meanwhile, just one door and two courtyards away, Ji You's eyes were tightly shut, his forehead covered in meticulous beads of sweat that dripped to the ground, shattering into pieces.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked up at the twilight outside the window, realizing that thirteen hours had passed.

He almost passed out...

As expected, youth fades, learning is hard to achieve; not a moment of time can be taken lightly.

He observed his internal Spiritual Spring, seeing that it was full and ready for refinement. It was a matter of nine deaths, one life.

In the blink of an eye, it was evening, and the sky gradually darkened.

Fang Ruoyao was preparing the things she would need from her room when she noticed Instructor Cao looking at something in the courtyard. She then called her father over.

"Father, I'll be leaving tomorrow. Have the carriage to Shengjing been prepared?"

"It's ready, but..."

Fang Zhongzheng reached out and took out a visiting card. "Fengxian Mountain Villa will be visiting tomorrow. The immortal has agreed."

Fang Ruoyao was slightly taken aback. "Didn't they refuse before? Why did they suddenly agree? I had also invited some old friends to see me off tomorrow."

"It won't matter if it's delayed by an hour or two. It will also give them a chance to see the immortals from Celestial Academy and broaden their horizons."

(Edited, the chapter comments might be messy...)