A Lecture

Medicine Slave followed behind Ye Tong, bewilderment showing in his clouded eyes. Though he had not seen what Ye Tong's poem was like, he was especially astonished. He had spent ten years with Ye Tong, yet had never once seen him write poetry.

"I understand less and less." Medicine Slave secretly shook his head and looked at the passing girls.

Colorful Phoenix Hall.

The hall where Jin Qiusheng was hosting Ye Tong contained babbling streams and little bridges, artificial hills and cool pavilions. Shrouded in five-colored lights, it felt like a dreamscape.

At that moment, Jin Qiusheng and another burly man were clinking cups and drinking heartily, their conversation in full swing. Four young and beautiful women poured tea and wine for them, keeping them company with smiling faces.

Knock, knock...

The door was knocked upon. Ye Tong entered the hall with Medicine Slave, and when he saw the burly man sitting opposite Jin Qiusheng, his expression froze slightly. He then strode forward and asked with a smile, "Brother Jin, I'm not late, am I?"

Jin Qiusheng and the burly man both rose to their feet. Jin Qiusheng laughed. "Not late, not late. A fine night's entertainment has only just begun. Brother Ye Tong, let me introduce you. This is my friend, Dongfang Xia, the most good-for-nothing fellow in the Dongfang Family of the county city."

"Second Jin, is it interesting to slander me before our young brother?" Dongfang Xia said with a smile. "Brother Ye Tong, don't listen to Second Master Jin's nonsense. I simply can't be bothered with the Lineage's trivial affairs and spend most of my time cultivating. Speaking of neglecting proper duties, he fits the description far better."

Ye Tong cupped his fists and said, "Greetings, Brother Dongfang."

Dongfang Xia smiled. "Brother Ye Tong, you are too polite. Please, sit. Second Master Jin has told me much about you. A hero truly emerges in youth!"

"You flatter me, Brother Dongfang." Ye Tong smiled faintly.

Medicine Slave turned around and silently walked to a corner by the wall. Hugging the Dragon Head Cane, he closed his eyes and feigned sleep.

Among men, especially in a place of pleasure like this, women naturally could not be absent. Ye Tong spoke rarely. Most of the time, he quietly listened as Jin Qiusheng and Dongfang Xia discussed which girls of Piaoxiang Tower were good and which were beautiful, occasionally speaking of the beauties of the county city as well.

"Second Uncle, I'm here."

His voice arrived before he did.

As a handsome young man stepped into the hall, everyone inside turned to look at him. When Ye Tong saw the newcomer, surprise appeared on his face. He discovered that Jin Shixue, who had mocked him so sarcastically earlier, truly was a disciple of the Jin Family in the county city. Judging from how he addressed Jin Qiusheng, he was the son of the Jin Family's head.

Jin Qiusheng laughed. "Shixue, come over. Let me introduce you to a young talent."

The moment Jin Shixue saw Ye Tong, surprise filled his face. He asked, "Why are you here? Could the young talent my Second Uncle mentioned earlier be you? The person he intended to host today was you too?"

"Probably," Ye Tong said calmly, nodding.

Jin Qiusheng asked in confusion, "What? You know each other?"

Ye Tong said with an almost-smile, "This Jin Shixue of the Jin Family seemed rather disgusted to see someone as young as me visiting a brothel. He tried to find out which Lineage I belonged to, intending to report to my family that I had come to a brothel. Had Brother Jin not so warmly invited me today, I probably would have turned around and left back then."

"What?" Jin Qiusheng glared and immediately cursed, "Jin Shixue, you little bastard! Are you so full that you have nothing better to do? Why are you meddling in this kind of idle business?"

"I..."

Jin Shixue had grievances he could not voice. When had he ever been the sort to enjoy meddling in other people's affairs? It was merely that Yun'er, the brothel girl he often favored, had shown interest in this youth right before his eyes. It left him unhappy, so he deliberately picked a quarrel, wanting to teach Ye Tong a lesson.

Jin Qiusheng was so furious that he nearly could not resist slapping Jin Shixue with the sole of his shoe. He had thought his nephew clever and sociable, which was why he had called Jin Shixue over to get acquainted with Ye Tong. It would also show that the Jin Family's descendants were outstanding and establish a good image of the Jin Family in Ye Tong's eyes. Yet the result was that Jin Shixue had taken the initiative to provoke him, disgracing the Jin Family.

Ye Tong acted very magnanimously and said with a smile, "Brother Jin, children are immature. A few casual words of discipline will do."

A child? Jin Qiusheng and Dongfang Xia were both stunned, their expressions instantly turning strange.

Jin Shixue's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Ye Tong in disbelief. This bastard is only sixteen or seventeen, isn't he? I'm at least five or six years older than him, yet he actually called me a child in front of Second Uncle?

What could be endured, and what could not? Jin Shixue glared at Ye Tong and shouted, "Surname Ye, at your age, who are you putting on airs before? Say any more nonsense, and see if I don't slap you."

Ye Tong looked at him, shook his head, and said, "As expected of a child's temperament. One casual remark from me was enough to anger you. Do you have even the slightest semblance of a mature man?"

"You..." Jin Shixue forcibly swallowed the anger rising in his chest.

Ye Tong adopted an exceedingly mature posture and said in a lecturing tone, "A person's age is merely an outward appearance. To see through a person's true nature, one must look at their life experience and whether they possess a mature state of mind.

In my view, you are a flower in a greenhouse, always living beneath the shelter of the Jin Family, that towering tree. Without weathering wind and rain, how can you possess an unyielding will? How can you grow strong and flourish?"

"I... a flower?" Jin Shixue wanted to argue.

Ye Tong raised a hand to interrupt him. "Let us change the example. Please answer my question truthfully. Say one of your Jin Family elders, a grandfather's-generation old man, had a twilight romance and married a beautiful young wife. That young wife had just borne him a son. What should you call that child?"

"Little Uncle." Though Jin Shixue was displeased that Ye Tong had used one of his Lineage elders as an example, he answered directly in order to prove that he was not stupid.

Ye Tong nodded in satisfaction. "Since you understand the matter of seniority between people, this will be easy. Jin Qiusheng, Second Master Jin, is your Second Uncle, correct? He calls me Brother Ye Tong, and I call him Brother Jin. Then what should you call me?"

"Unc..." The moment the word left Jin Shixue's mouth, it was as though an invisible hand had seized his throat. The rest of his words were forcibly choked back.

Ye Tong clapped his hands, wearing an expression that said the child could be taught. He said with a smile, "That's right. You should call me Uncle, because your Second Uncle and I are of the same generation. Is it unfair for someone of a higher generation to call you a child?"

"You..." Jin Shixue was rendered speechless, but the frustration in his heart grew even stronger.

Jin Qiusheng and Dongfang Xia looked at each other, utterly stunned by Ye Tong's grand discourse. This boy had practically cursed someone by taking a roundabout route, yet he had not used a single vulgar word. That mouth of his could truly talk the dead back to life.

Ye Tong smiled faintly. "Your inability to refute me proves that my words are reasonable. Your silence shows that you are willing to humbly accept them. As the saying goes, there is no greater good than reforming after recognizing one's faults. Nephew Jin, as a disciple of the Jin Family, do not disgrace the Jin Family's reputation in the future. Let me offer you one sentence: remember it well. Do not meddle in idle affairs, do not stir up trouble, and do not invite calamity upon yourself."

"I..." Jin Shixue's face burned hot. He had always been sharp-tongued and eloquent, yet before Ye Tong, he felt as though he had encountered his nemesis. He was utterly unable to match him, and could not even form a complete sentence.

"Second Uncle, I... I have matters to attend to. I'll take my leave first."

Jin Shixue's heart was full of frustration with nowhere to vent it. Remaining here felt like sitting on pins and needles, so he cupped his fists toward Jin Qiusheng, then walked out without looking back.

"Alas!"

Ye Tong's sigh came from behind him. "Brother Jin, the child in your family will not do! Just a few words from me, and he could not bear it. He will never be capable of shouldering great responsibility in the future! When one lives, one must possess a broad mind, great patience, and a very thick skin. Only by achieving these three things can one accomplish something in the future!"

A broad mind?

Patience?

Thick skin?

Wasn't that simply being scheming and black-hearted?

Jin Qiusheng and Dongfang Xia could only smile bitterly. As for Jin Shixue, who had reached the doorway, he was directly tripped by the threshold and fell in a spectacularly handsome fashion!

Leaving aside what happened on Fang Yi's side, at this moment, the entire Piaoxiang Tower—whether its pure courtesans or flower courtesans, madams or servants, or even the guests who had come here for amusement—had all been shaken by a poem.

Prelude to the Water Melody.

It unfolded imagination and contemplation around the bright moon, incorporating humanity's feelings of sorrow, joy, parting, and reunion into a philosophical search concerning the universe and life. It expressed complex and contradictory emotions, while containing a love for life and a positive, optimistic spirit.

Emphasis on Martial Arts over Literature.

That was only because literary talent was lacking. If a world-shaking masterpiece appeared, it could still trigger a tidal wave of sensation.

Inside a vast, luxuriously decorated hall of Piaoxiang Tower, more than a dozen young talents of high status in Zifu County surrounded two extraordinary young men as though stars surrounding the moon. They took the seats of honor in the banquet hall, drinking and chatting merrily while showering them with flattery.

Mu Xiaochen wore a smile throughout. Though he did not like the scene before him, the person beside him came from the Imperial Capital and was Lan Zhuoyue, the Blue Family's foremost martial arts genius of the Imperial Capital.

Of the Eight Great Families of Eastern Mu Continent, the Sky Net Empire occupied two seats. The first was the imperial Mu Family, while the other was the Lan Family, which possessed a legacy spanning thousands of years. Mu Xiaochen knew that Lan Zhuoyue had already reached the Xiantian Sixth Level. Even compared to himself, Lan Zhuoyue did not fall short in the slightest.

Gradually, as everyone conversed, the topic shifted to cultivation.

Mu Xiaochen asked, "Brother Lan, there is less than half a month until the assessment of the Three Sects and Two Halls. The entire Sky Net Empire has only twelve slots this time, while Zifu County has only four. You suddenly came to Zifu County—was it because of the slots to join the Three Sects and Two Halls?"

Lan Zhuoyue shook his head and said, "Two years ago, I already obtained a place to enter Falan Sect, so I will not take up one of the Sky Net Empire's slots this time. The reason I have not gone to cultivate at Falan Sect until now is due to certain special circumstances.

"However, according to my agreement with Falan Sect, once this assessment for the Three Sects and Two Halls to recruit disciples concludes, I will leave with Falan Sect's experts."

Mu Xiaochen asked in surprise, "Since it is not about the assessment, what else could be worth your personal visit to Zifu County?"

Lan Zhuoyue said helplessly, "It is a private matter, truly inconvenient to reveal. I will punish myself with a cup."

Having said that.

He directly raised his wine cup.

Bang...

The doors of the hall were violently knocked open from outside. A thin young man rushed inside and, amid everyone's frowns, shouted, "Something huge has happened!"