Second Brother, You've Made It

Even the finest medicinal bath, combined with demon beast meat rich in blood qi, could not possibly produce a Ninth Rank martial artist in just a few days.

There were only two possibilities for condensing one's first strand of blood qi and entering the Ninth Rank in such a short time. One was an exceedingly rare heavenly treasure, which could forcibly raise one's aptitude or even elevate one's realm by an entire rank when consumed.

But treasures like that were worth a fortune. Not to mention that Chen Mu would have had difficulty obtaining one, even if he really had, it would have been far too wasteful to consume it merely to break into the Ninth Rank.

Therefore.

There was only one truth.

"What do you mean, 'that'?"

Chen Mu let out a laugh and nodded lightly. "That's right. I'm a Sorcerer."

His simple admission made Chen Yao's large eyes widen at once. The light glittering within them was practically visible.

A Sorcerer!

Chen Yao understood far too well what being a Sorcerer meant!

"What rank?"

Chen Yao blinked.

Chen Mu thought for a moment before answering, "Sixth Rank."

Chen Yao slowly closed her eyes, drew a deep breath with all her might to calm herself, then opened them again. Her large eyes shone brightly.

"Second Brother, you've made it!"

The Imperial Court of Great Yuan was a tangled web of forces. There was the line of meritorious nobles, the line of the Imperial Family and royal clans, the Eunuch Party headed by Zhao Gao, and finally the line of civil officials headed by the Chancellor.

The only ones who could stand apart from all of these forces, free from the control of any faction, were the Sorcerers of the Directorate of Celestial Observation and the seven Second Grade Martial Dao experts regarded as the "Pillars of the Nation."

If he had been an Eighth or Ninth Rank Sorcerer, that would have been one thing. The various factions could still exert some influence. But Chen Mu was Sixth Rank, above Seventh Rank!

Great Yuan currently had no Second Grade Sorcerers. The highest rank in the Directorate of Celestial Observation was only Third Rank, and there were merely two of them. There were likewise only a handful of Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Rank Sorcerers below them. Sixth Rank already counted as a lofty position!

"You're making such a fuss."

Chen Mu shook his head and casually flicked his sleeve.

The door behind Chen Yao slammed shut.

"Second Brother, you're so mean. You're already a Sorcerer, yet you still kept it hidden, making me worry for so many days. But if Chen Xing wants to cause you trouble, this time he'll be kicking an iron plate."

Light danced in Chen Yao's eyes as she spoke with a grin. Aside from a tiny bit of envy, there was not the slightest hint of jealousy—only happiness and delight.

When they were young, Chen Wu and Chen Mu had both taken excellent care of her. After Chen Wu's accident, she had suffered for a long time, and Chen Mu had become dispirited because of it. She had not known what she could do to help him.

Now that she saw Chen Mu had not only pulled himself together but had also become a Sorcerer found once in ten thousand, her joy came entirely from the bottom of her heart.

"Let him be."

Chen Mu shook his head indifferently.

He had never cared about Chen Xing. To him now, Chen Xing was merely a weed by the roadside. If it did not obstruct his view, he had no interest in bothering with it. If it insisted on getting in his way, he would simply pull it out.

Chen Yao came right up beside him, practically pressed against his arm. She blinked repeatedly, her face full of curiosity.

"What does it feel like to be a Sorcerer? What exactly is Spirit Sight? I heard Spirit Sight can see straight through walls. Does that mean it can see through clothes too? In Second Brother's eyes, am I just like I'm not wearing any clothes?"

Hearing Chen Yao grow more and more outrageous, Chen Mu reached out and tapped her on the head. Half exasperated and half amused, he said, "You can actually say things like that? Are you one of those wandering ruffians outside, or are you truly the young lady of Xuanguo Estate?"

Chen Yao stuck out her tongue. "I was just curious."

Chen Mu shook his head. "Under Spirit Sight, the entire world seems like a Netherworld ghost realm. All external things are nothing but beauty masking white bones."

Hearing this, Chen Yao shook her head as well and said disappointedly, "What a pity."

"?"

Chen Mu felt a question mark pop up above his head.

In his memories, ever since Chen Wu's death, Chen Mu had become extremely dispirited. He rarely interacted with the outside world and had hardly spent time with Chen Yao either. The changes in Chen Yao over these few short years had been earth-shaking. She was practically on the verge of becoming a lawless female demon.

"If you could see everything clearly, that would be great. When Second Brother looks for a sister-in-law later, you could find someone with a prosperous-husband type of fate. No matter what happened, she would..."

Chen Yao continued speaking in disappointment, then suddenly could not make another sound.

Once her mouth closed, a force sealed it shut. Even when she reached up with her little hands and clawed at it, she could not pry it open.

After struggling for quite some time without managing to open her mouth, Chen Yao finally looked at Chen Mu pitifully, her eyes pleading for forgiveness.

Chen Mu had already sat down at the table nearby to drink tea. Seeing Chen Yao's appearance, he finally moved his mind and lifted the restriction on her.

Although Chen Yao was an Eighth Rank martial artist, she had no power to resist a Sixth Rank Sorcerer. She was like an infant before an adult, and a single thought was enough to toy with her at will.

"...Huff, huff!"

The moment Chen Yao opened her mouth, she sucked in several great breaths and showed a look of relief. She muttered, "Second Brother, you can't bully people like this. If you have the ability, let's have a Martial Dao match."

Chen Mu took a sip of tea. "All right. We'll have a Martial Dao match a month from now."

Chen Yao could not help rolling her eyes.

Even a low-rank Eighth or Ninth Rank Sorcerer could advance with the speed of a thousand miles a day as long as they were willing to practice Martial Dao, let alone Chen Mu, who was Sixth Rank. He would probably have reached Seventh Rank with ease after a month.

Just then.

Chen Mu turned his head toward Chen Yao, his gaze sweeping over her from head to toe.

Chen Yao blinked. She neither covered herself nor tried to hide, even thrusting out her chest a little. "What is Second Brother looking at? I'm no worse than any other woman. Unfortunately, my heart belongs to Martial Dao now, so I won't be getting married."

Chen Mu ignored her words. After thinking briefly, he said, "Come here and strike a pose."

"What does Second Brother want to do?"

Chen Yao immediately raised both arms to shield herself and eyed Chen Mu warily.

But Chen Mu merely looked at her without saying a word.

Chen Yao and Chen Mu stared at each other with wide eyes for a moment. In the end, she surrendered. "All right, all right... Thank you, Second Brother!"

Of course she knew why Chen Mu had asked her to strike a pose.

In this world, nothing could correct a standing-posture stance better than a Sorcerer. Even a Third Rank grandmaster could not observe the details more clearly than a Sorcerer's Spirit Sight.

The transcendent status of Sorcerers came from every aspect of their abilities. One of those aspects was their capacity to correct martial artists' standing-posture stances and adjust them into the posture most suited to each individual.

Which faction did not need to nurture talent?

When the direct descendants of the various princely and noble estates practiced Martial Dao, they would often invite Sorcerers from the Directorate of Celestial Observation to tailor the optimal standing-posture plan for them. They might even specially arrange a training room and adjust the layout into the most suitable configuration.

Yet even princely and noble estates found it difficult to invite Sorcerers above Seventh Rank. Usually, they could only invite Eighth or Ninth Rank Sorcerers, who possessed merely the most basic Spirit Sight and could make only minor adjustments.

Without much hesitation.

Chen Yao directly struck a standing-posture stance before Chen Mu. The girl stood on her left leg, bending her right leg backward until it pressed against her spine. She crossed both hands behind her neck, interlocking them with her right ankle, then slightly bent her left knee and held it once it reached a certain arc.