Heroine?

The next day, the heavy rain stopped slightly.

The continuous drizzle fell, making the entire Xiao Manor appear much fresher.

As Old Marquis Xiao's birthday approached, the manor's footmen and maidservants also began to busy themselves in various courtyards.

Even in the rain, they still had to prepare the spectacles for the birthday celebration in advance.

At least the "Double Happiness" lanterns that had been hung during Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong's grand wedding earlier had to be taken down and replaced first.

Before long, the eaves of the two wooden towers within Chunhe Garden were hung all over with lanterns bearing the character for "Longevity".

Fearing that the rainwater would soak them, the footmen also covered the outside with a layer of raincloth, saying they could just take it down before the birthday.

There were also other arrangements, which Chen Yi paid no mind to, leaving them entirely to Xiao Die.

At the moment, he was pondering what birthday greetings to write for Old Marquis, and had specially asked Xiao Wuge about Old Marquis's exploits.

"Grandfather is very formidable."

Xiao Wuge recounted Xiao Yuan's several campaigns that defeated the barbarian tribes with glowing eyes, such as personally leading three thousand Black Armor Heavy Cavalry twenty years ago to behead the barbarian preceptor in battle.

Such as the Poshushuo Kingdom's rebellion fifteen years ago, when Xiao Yuan led his troops to suppress the rebellion, successively slaughtering twenty large and small cities; to this day, his name still circulated in the Poshushuo Kingdom.

And such as six years ago, when the barbarian Left King Muhage assembled an army of two hundred thousand, pressing his forces upon Mengshui Pass, while Xiao Yuan sat in command atop the pass and repelled them over the course of a year.

However, speaking up to this point, Xiao Wuge inevitably felt somewhat dejected.

"Father, Mother, and several uncles and aunts all died in that great battle..."

Chen Yi touched his head and consoled him, "The dead are gone; living well yourself is the greatest filial piety you can show them."

Presently, the Xiao Family indeed lacked male descendants; the main branch went without saying-excluding Xiao Jinghong, Xiao Wan'er, and Xiao Wuge, there remained only Old Marquis Xiao and the aged and disabled Xiao Xuanshuo.

The remaining collateral branches were quite numerous, however; take the lineage of Old Marquis Xiao's brother Xiao Wang, which, as the Xiao Family's Second Branch, could be called full of children and grandchildren, with his sons alone numbering three.

Originally, Chen Yi also harbored doubts about this, but later learned that the Second Branch walked the path of civil official careers, mostly holding posts within Shuzhou Territory.

The one with the highest official rank was Xiao Wang's eldest son, Xiao Dongchen, who was currently the Shu Prefecture Administration Commissioner at the Subordinate Fourth Rank, managing the various taxes of Shuzhou with substantial official authority.

Naturally, the most special one had to be Xiao Wang's eldest granddaughter, Xiao Qiuyun, who was married to the younger son of the Duke of Qianguo-in other words, the birth mother of Young Heir Apparent Zhang Heng.

She could be described as having flown up to the branches to become a phoenix.

This time, Xiao Qiuyun brought Zhang Heng back to her maternal home, bringing along Old Duke as well; under the pretext of celebrating Old Marquis Xiao's birthday, they actually put on many pretentious displays.

To put it nicely, it was called "noble fortune nourishes a person"; to put it bluntly, it was "the bitch being pretentious."

Two out of three fortunes that Chen Yi had recently obtained were related to this person, opening his eyes wide.

After a long while, a smile appeared on Xiao Wuge's face once again: "Brother-in-law, next year I am to head to Jinling and spend ten years there. Can you come with me?"

"What are you going there for? Isn't it good staying in Shuzhou?"

Although Chen Yi wanted to witness the prosperity of Jiangnan Prefecture and Jinling, going there would inevitably involve dealing with the Chen Family, so it was better to stay in Shuzhou in peace.

Xiao Wuge smiled and said, "According to Great Wei regulations, if I wish to inherit the marquisate, I need to spend a full ten years in Jinling, studying courses in ritual laws, regulations, and classical histories."

"But I think Brother-in-law could be my teacher; you wouldn't need so many people to teach."

Chen Yi inwardly frowned. Studying? This was going there to serve as a hostage, wasn't it?

Carefully considered, however, it was also unremarkable-the title of Marquis of Military was hereditary, and the successor served as a hostage in his youth to receive instruction in ritual laws and regulations, which held a hundred benefits for the imperial house and not a single harm.

"I cannot be your teacher."

"Could it be that Brother-in-law does not wish to go to Jinling?"

"I don't. Furthermore," Chen Yi cast a sideways glance at the fish basket beside him and those few leaping carp, "your aptitude is too dull; I cannot teach you."

"Ah?"

"Don't 'ah' me. The fish has taken the bait, hurry..."

Strange to say.

Ever since Chen Yi had finished making his fishing rod more than ten days ago, he had unexpectedly failed to catch a single fish.

He knew not whether he was at odds with the "golden-haired carp" in this pond or if his luck was simply too poor; every time the float bobbed, various accidents invariably caused the fish to escape.

That much aside.

The crucial point was that Xiao Wuge made a harvest every single day, catching at least five fish on his lowest occasion, which truly caused him to lose face.

A day of peace.

Today, Chen Yi practiced stake training at dawn alongside Wang Lixing just as usual, lifted his brush to practice calligraphy after finishing breakfast, and followed that up with fishing and drinking tea to pass the time.

As soon as the daylight grew dim, he quietly slipped out of the side chamber to practice Great Spear Stance Cultivation, Collapse Mountain Fist, and Dragon Playing Phoenix Footwork in the bamboo grove.

While holding his stance, Chen Yi checked his current progress in each path.

Name: Chen Yi Cultivation: Rank 9 · Intermediate Calligraphy: Great Accomplishment (0/1000) Calligraphy Style: Wei Qing (Proficient), Running Script (Skilful) Martial Arts · Body: Minor Accomplishment (0/100) Technique: Great Spear Pile Practice [Mysterious Grade] (Skilful) Martial Arts · Fist: Minor Accomplishment (0/100) Fist Technique: Mountain Crushing [Mysterious Grade] (Skilful) Martial Arts · Movement: Minor Accomplishment (0/100) Movement Technique: Swimming Dragon Playing with Phoenix [Yellow Grade] (Initial Glimpse at the Threshold) Chance/Destiny: 7

"Once cultivation reaches the Ninth Rank · Middle Stage, physical strength advances rapidly."

At the Ninth Rank · Lower stage, Chen Yi's physical body possessed merely One Ox Strength, but now, he already possessed Five Oxen Strength-a full fivefold increase.

Although he had not learned of other cultivators' progress, based on the abstruse guidance of [Martial Dao Body], he guessed that others who cultivated [Great Spear Stance Cultivation] ought to directly break through to the Ninth Rank · Middle Stage upon reaching one ox of strength.

Yet he did not rush to make the breakthrough, continuing instead to temper his physical body with stake training until further progress was impossible before breaking through, laying a sufficiently firm foundation.

"This is fine as well. Where others use their full strength, I need only use two tenths."

"If in the future I cultivate Great Spear Stance Cultivation to the Proficient Level, or even the Perfection Realm, I will be able to reach the peak of 'Elephant Strength', possessing ten thousand catties of weight with a casual punch."

Thinking up to this point, Chen Yi reined in his thoughts, quietly sensing the reverberation of his tendons, bones, and skin as well as his Five Viscera and Six Bowels, guiding that trace of qi born from the refinement of flesh and blood to return to his dantian and gradually develop his dantian qi sea.

Having stepped into the Ninth Rank · Middle Stage of cultivation, any further breakthrough relied upon qi.

First, one had to open up the dantian qi sea; only when the qi contained within was sufficient could one proceed to the next step-unblocking the Four Main Meridians of the hands and feet to reach the Ninth Rank, Upper Stage and the Perfection Realm.

Yet the entire process was extraordinarily slow; even with the abstruse guidance of "Martial Dao Body", it remained a task of grinding iron into a needle.

An hour passed swiftly.

Chen Yi rested briefly, glanced around to see no unusual movements in the surroundings, and then assumed a posture, slowly and forcefully executing Collapse Mountain Fist.

The complete set of fist techniques comprised nine forms and thirty-six variations.

Apart from being forceful and heavy with momentum, it also emphasized attacking in place of defense, with every punch and kick heading straight for vital points, while the footwork went straight and direct.

Consequently, after finishing five sets of fist techniques, the food Chen Yi had just replenished was once again completely consumed, leaving his belly entirely empty inside.

"Tomorrow I'll still have to make Xiao Die take out some more food, or else if I keep practicing like this, I'll truly grow as frail as Wang Lixing said."

Chen Yi muttered inwardly, then circled several purple bamboos and continued practicing the [Playful Dragon Teases Phoenix] body movement technique.

Right at this moment, a crisp and pleasant voice sounded abruptly beside his ear:

"Chen Yi?"

Chen Yi's expression tightened slightly. Without stopping his feet, he swept far away to avoid the spot and surveyed his surroundings.

"Who is it?"

"It seems it really is you-the Xiao Manor's matrilocal son-in-law, Xiao Jinghong's husband, Chen Yi, right?"

That voice drifted unpredictably, wandering among the purple bamboo grove, accompanied during its passage by the sound of tinkling bells.

Chen Yi looked all around the perimeter and still discovered nothing. "May I ask what business this... female hero has with me?"

"Female hero? Hee hee hee... That's right, that's right, I am a female hero."