The Path Ahead

"Won't this affect your cultivation?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei asked.

"It's fine, I won't be able to cultivate Heavenly Power for a long time anyway," Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei said casually.

"Why?"

Both Qi Feis looked at Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei simultaneously.

"Because Old Zhou said he plans to send me to the Vastness Palace."

The Vastness Palace is one of the five great holy lands in the Heavenly Jewel Change World.

It became the wealthiest holy land by inheriting the legacy of a dragon, and then used that wealth to become the most powerful one.

Because they are wealthy and possess many rare materials, it is also the place with the most Consolidation Masters.

The profession of Consolidation Master is somewhat similar to the Equipment Forger of other worlds.

They can create Consolidation Scrolls, which grant Physical Jewel Masters the ability to manifest their jewels into equipment.

They are people that Physical Jewel Masters and Heavenly Jewel Masters absolutely cannot avoid during their cultivation journey.

"Is it because of the talent you displayed?"

Shen San Qi Fei asked.

"Right. Old Zhou said the Heavenly Bow Empire can't protect me, so he has to send me to a holy land. The reason he was playing hide-and-seek with me before was because he was afraid His Majesty might have a lapse in judgment and refuse."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei was actually quite touched by this.

Regardless of the underlying motive, Zhou Shuiniu was truly considering his future.

"Joining the Vastness Palace is fine; at least you'll have a holy land background."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei expressed his envy.

He wanted to find a background for himself but didn't even know who to approach. What if he rashly showed up at someone's door only to find out they were his enemies?

"Still, for Old Zhou to be able to recommend you to the Vastness Palace, he's got some capability."

Shen San Qi Fei said with some emotion.

Zhou Shuiniu was the first Heavenly Jewel Master of the Heavenly Bow Empire; he had to rely on himself for everything from cultivation to building connections.

To be able to establish a connection with the Vastness Palace like this, he certainly had some ability.

"Actually, you can't really call it a recommendation to the Vastness Palace," Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei corrected.

"Old Zhou said he met a friend while traveling in the past, and an elder of this friend is a Consolidation Master at the Vastness Palace."

"Recently, because this elder is getting on in years, he wants to find a suitable disciple to inherit his mantle."

However, Old Zhou's plan wasn't for Qi Fei to become this elder's disciple—at least, that wasn't the primary goal.

He just wanted to use this channel to safely showcase Qi Fei's talent to the Vastness Palace.

If a powerhouse in the Vastness Palace took a liking to Qi Fei and accepted him as a disciple, that would naturally be for the best.

If not, it would still provide a fallback option.

Old Zhou didn't say these things explicitly to Qi Fei, but Qi Fei could hear the subtext in his words.

"Tang Xian?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei guessed.

He remembered that in the original work, the only connection Zhou Shuiniu had with the Vastness Palace was that his wife, Ling Zihan, had once been saved by Tang Xian and her husband.

And then, Zhou Shuiniu's son, Zhou Weiqing, ended up wooing all three of their daughters.

That was really milking one family for everything they were worth.

"Probably not, they don't have the surname Tang," Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei shook his head.

"Besides, there isn't much of a connection between Tang Xian and Old Niu's wife, and Old Niu doesn't know about that either."

He guessed it was likely just an ordinary passerby who didn't appear in the original work.

As for why Old Zhou didn't find this path for his son in the original story:

Firstly, Old Zhou's son hadn't even been born yet, and by the time his son became a Heavenly Jewel Master, he was already thirteen years old.

Thirteen years later, the elder would have already finished training his disciples and wouldn't be in need of anyone.

Secondly, Old Zhou knew that by the time Zhou Weiqing became a Heavenly Jewel Master, he had already apprenticed under a Consolidation Master.

There was no need, nor would it be appropriate, to send Zhou Weiqing away.

"In any case, until Old Zhou's friend replies, I'll have to stay at the One-Jewel realm for a while longer."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei summarized.

Once he showed his Life Bead to the people at Vastness Palace, he would be able to break through and cultivate normally.

Of course, he should still try to hide it as much as possible during his daily life.

After all, his speed of breakthrough was truly terrifying.

"Tsk tsk tsk, poor kid."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei shook his head and sighed.

"Indeed, poor kid."

Shen San Qi Fei wore an expression like someone watching a neighbor's child being forced to sign up for tutoring classes.

"Don't just watch the show, what about you two? Have you planned out your futures?"

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei stared at the two onlookers.

"What can I do? Just honestly keep a low profile and cultivate."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei said helplessly.

"Just like you said, I have a mastermind watching me from the shadows; right now, anything I do could be wrong."

Once his performance didn't match the original host and he attracted the mastermind's investigation, he would be finished.

"Right, there's one more thing."

Shen San Qi Fei seemed to suddenly remember something. "Normally speaking, you only have these next few days to cultivate openly and honestly."

"That's right."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei added.

"You can pretend you're just interested and working hard intermittently for these few days, but it won't be easy to explain once it goes past a week."

"So, I must take advantage of this time to control my surging power and then return to the life of the original host."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei continued along with their train of thought.

To be honest, if it were his past life, he would have loved to live the life of the original host forever.

But now, Qi Fei was actually somewhat unwilling.

This was probably just being pretentious.

"Not only that, you have to watch out for those three maids."

Shen San Qi Fei reminded him.

"You must confirm that those three are not spies from other factions."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei looked serious.

"They shouldn't be. The original host bought them according to his own preferences, almost completely at random, but I will be careful."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei also agreed with their point of view.

When it came to matters concerning his own life, it was naturally better to believe it than not.

"Of course, even if they aren't spies, if you can win them over, your future cultivation will be much more convenient."

Shen San Qi Fei added.

The changes in Coiling Dragon Qi Fei's physical fitness were destined to be impossible to hide from these three personal maids.

--Given their intimate relationship, if they couldn't notice Qi Fei's changes, they might as well go bang their heads against a block of tofu.

If he could win over these three maids, he could not only better hide his own strength but also secretly cultivate while spending time doting on them.

It could be considered killing two birds with one stone.

"I know, don't worry."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei said thoughtfully.

"What about you? Are you planning to join the Imperial Uncle?"

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei turned to look at Shen San Qi Fei again.

"You guys know, if I want to find someone to join, I don't have many choices."

Shen San Qi Fei spread his hands.

In the Mythical Three Kingdoms World, the origin of Qi Fei's surname, Qi, was a bit bizarre.

The Chen Clan, one of the noble families of Yingchuan, had a dark history known as the Tian Clan Replaces Qi, or the Tian-Chen Usurpation of Qi.

Specifically, in the early Warring States period, the Chen State collapsed, and a prince of the Chen State fled to the Qi State, changed his surname to Tian, and was accepted by the then-King of Qi.

Then, through the efforts of several generations, the Tian Clan usurped the throne of the Qi Clan.

The allusion of "large measures out, small measures in" refers to the story of the Tian Clan buying the hearts of the people in the Qi State.

And Shen San Qi Fei's surname originated from this.

Back then, when the ancestors of the Qi Clan were still surnamed Chen, they had a falling out with the head of the family, so in a fit of anger, they changed their surname and branched off.

The surname he changed to was the dark history of the Chen Clan: Qi.

The reason given was quite sufficient; after all, the old Chen Clan was indeed enfeoffed as the Marquis of Qi by the King of Zhou after they replaced the Qi state.

From this perspective, changing the surname to Qi was completely unproblematic.

But any normal person could see that this reason was pure nonsense.

The only reason that person changed his surname to Qi was to mock the Chen Clan and disgust the main branch that had displeased him.

Consequently, the Qi Clan bid farewell to serving as officials in the imperial court.

The first step for most people in the Han Dynasty to become an official was the Filial Piety and Integrity Recommendation.

Although this step was basically nonsense by the later stages, it at least had to be justifiable on the surface.

Yet, with a surname from such a sarcastic ancestor, the Qi Clan belonged to the category that could never be justified, no matter what.

Therefore, the Qi Clan was collectively boycotted by the Han Dynasty's officialdom.

Fortunately, there were no shortage of families in the Han Dynasty that held grudges against the Chen Clan.

Driven by the desire to disgust the Chen Clan and ensure future generations knew what the Chen Clan had done back then, they gave the Qi Clan a helping hand.

Only then was the Qi Clan able to survive to this day.

Of course, the help from these people was limited to merely keeping the Qi Clan alive.

Farming in the countryside was fine; making money through business was also fine; but wanting to become an official? Not a chance.

This was why, even though Qi Fei had built a reputation as a prodigy, there were only people willing to take him on as a nominal disciple.

In fact, if it weren't for the two Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions, which left these people with nothing to do but teach, Qi Fei wouldn't even have been able to secure a nominal apprenticeship.

Therefore, if Qi Fei wanted to find someone to join, the most suitable person was the current Liu Bei.

Liu Bei himself came from a humble background and did not know about the issues between these aristocratic clans.

By the time he found out, he would likely be too attached to let Qi Fei go.

And Chen Xi, the chief strategist of the Liu Bei faction, was a transmigrator who would care even less about these issues.

"Besides that, there is one more reason."

Shen San Qi Fei revealed a smile on his face.

"I think Chen Xi is doing a great job, which aligns with my own values, so I am prepared to work with him."

Qi Fei liked Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but he never liked just one person; rather, he liked this era of surging winds and clouds, where heroes emerged in great numbers.

He liked this romantic era that countless successors like Luo Guanzhong, CCTV, and Koei were willing to meticulously polish.

Therefore, Qi Fei truly believed from the bottom of his heart that Chen Xi was doing too well.

Entering Mount Tai, emerging from Qing Province, defeating Yuan Shao, pacifying the Xiongnu, stabilizing the Central Plains, and conquering the four directions.

Chen Xi had kept almost all the civil and military officials of the Three Kingdoms era and led them to fight their way out of the Central Plains.

Dividing Parthia and expanding territory into Kushan.

This was a landscape Qi Fei had never seen in other Three Kingdoms novels.

So, Qi Fei was willing to give Chen Xi a hand.

"He is indeed doing very well—no, I should say it's outrageous."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei corrected his choice of words.

That guy Chen Xi led hundreds of thousands of heavy-armored soldiers (wearing super-heavy Plate Armor weighing anywhere from fifty to a hundred kilograms) on an expedition to Kushan.

Not only did he fight for several years without affecting the people's livelihood, but the pace of development hadn't even slowed down.

He had raised the living standards of the Han people to a modern level.

Then, in the process, he even managed to build a ten-thousand-ton battleship on the side.

If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't written in the original work, Qi Fei would have suspected that he had a system that rewarded him with supplies once he reached a certain stage.

Otherwise, it was simply irrational.

"I feel like you have another reason you haven't mentioned."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei stared silently at Shen San Qi Fei.

"I suppose it should be the seat among the Four Heavenly Kings of Slacking, right?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei chimed in.

Given his own personality, even without the previous reasons, he would definitely follow the original protagonist.

He could slack off while simultaneously achieving the goal of unifying the world.

That would be too comfortable.

"Yes, but that is definitely not all."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei corrected him.

"What do you mean?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei turned his head to look at Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei.

"Look at how old he is right now?"

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei gestured with his eyes for Coiling Dragon Qi Fei to look across the way.

"Twelve years old..."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei realized it the moment he spoke.

During the Tiger Trap Pass era, a twelve-year-old who had reached Qi Solidification.

In the eyes of outsiders, Qi Fei's natural talent was likely even more terrifying than that of Zhao Yun.

(The Shen San Zhao Yun setting is a peerless genius found by Tong Yuan only after traveling across the entire country, whose Internal Qi scale at the same realm can reach a hundred times that of Second Master.)

Under these circumstances, any normal person would have Qi Fei focus on cultivation rather than dragging him along to do chores.

In other words, by joining now, Qi Fei was collecting the salary of a core member during the startup phase while not having to work unless absolutely necessary.

"Damn, what a Scheming Boy."

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei exclaimed.

"How can you call it scheming? I'm just delaying the work a little."

Shen San Qi Fei argued with conviction.

It wasn't as if he wasn't going to work; once he developed over the next two years, the returns would be incredibly high, alright?

Then followed some difficult-to-understand words about "strategy being the primary job of a strategist" and "the brain only gets sharper the more it's used."

For a time, the space was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

After laughing, the three of them each left behind a sliver of mental energy and returned to their own worlds.

Heavenly Jewel Change World.

Qi Fei, who had used the excuse of going to the restroom, finally emerged.

But before he could take two steps, he was caught by Ling Zihan.

"I've finally found you. Hurry up, we're running out of time."

Ling Zihan grabbed Qi Fei by the wrist and dragged him toward the banquet hall.

"What happened? Sister Ling?"

Qi Fei asked with a confused expression.

This form of address was requested by Ling Zihan herself; at first, Qi Fei wanted to call her Madam or Aunt, but he was stopped.

"His Majesty is about to announce your rewards, and yet you, the guest of honor, are nowhere to be found."

Ling Zihan said, looking back.

"I just came out to use the restroom."

Qi Fei offered a defense.

"Mhm, I know."

Ling Zihan replied dismissively, clearly not believing him.

This left Qi Fei not knowing what to say.

In just a few steps, the two arrived at the banquet hall.

Ling Zihan stopped and turned around to straighten Qi Fei's attire.

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in this room don't measure up to your Uncle Zhou, and even your Uncle Zhou won't be able to compare to you in the future."

She moved behind Qi Fei and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"So, don't be nervous, just enjoy it with confidence."

After speaking, Ling Zihan patted Qi Fei on the shoulder and pushed him into the banquet hall.

Shen San World.

Qi Fei slowly opened his eyes.

"Someone come in."

He called out.

"Master."

An old man walked in.

This was the steward in charge of the entire Qi Clan, promoted by Qi Fei's father back in the day.

"Uncle Qi, please keep an eye on the intelligence regarding General Liu outside the city."

Qi Fei instructed.

If he remembered correctly, this was when Chen Xi would have a falling out with the Yingchuan Chen Clan and be kicked out of the family genealogy.

This point was perfect to use as his reason for defecting to Liu Bei.

"Understood."

Uncle Qi agreed.