"Finally, some time to myself."
Late that night, Ye Li finished his martial training and washed up.
He lay in his spartan room, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Far too much had happened that day. He really needed time to digest everything he had gained.
First, he had broken through to the body tempering realm, then beaten up Lu Yue and his two companions and planted his foot on Li Xi's face.
Afterward, he had acquired a house in East City and unlocked the entire regional map thanks to Feng Yue's explanations.
The author had somehow padded a single day's events into eight chapters. What a shameless dog!
Thanks to a habit from his previous life, Ye Li always reviewed and organized his information before bed.
First came the expanded map. He was still a nobody, so there was no need to worry about major powers coveting him.
He just needed to maintain his persona as a talented local youngster, cultivate all the way to the post-heaven realm, and only then consider moving on to another map.
Next came cultivation!
The protection afforded by his core disciple status was too flimsy. He needed a powerful backer as insurance, someone who could at least keep the Li Family from daring to touch him.
Meanwhile, he could not neglect his cultivation. He would strive to reach the middle stage of body tempering within three months!
After silently drawing up a plan based on the information currently available to the public, Ye Li shifted into a comfortable sleeping position, satisfied.
What he did not know was that his existence had already stirred faint ripples in distant Central Province.
Those ripples were caused by the orange trait [Cause-Tracing and Effect-Tracking].
Just as the publicly circulated information described, [Cause-Tracing and Effect-Tracking], the strongest intelligence-gathering trait, required a medium to serve as a cause before it could deduce an effect!
The more detailed the cause, the more detailed the result. At its most powerful, it could even see through past and present.
Within the Great Qing Dynasty's borders, it could calculate everything from the precise number of raindrops to an individual's innermost thoughts.
Outside the Great Qing Dynasty, however, its computational power was insufficient. It needed enough of a medium to activate.
For instance... words!
That was also why the Great Qing Dynasty actively spread information about its own trait abroad.
As long as everyone beneath heaven discussed it, a vast web of cause and effect spanning heaven and earth would allow the dynasty to seek good fortune and avoid calamity!
Thus, when Feng Yue brought up the trait to Ye Li that day, their conversation directly tugged at the finest tip of the chain of cause and effect.
Four two-hour watches earlier, after catching the keywords, the Exquisite Pagoda at the center of the Bureau of Astronomy had automatically spat out sheet after sheet of white paper, each so thin it seemed almost weightless.
A blue-robed official on duty there, his hair secured beneath a crown, casually picked one up. His expression immediately turned grave as his gaze swept across the few lines of tiny writing traced in starlight:
"Report to the bureau director immediately. Someone in the Southern Barbarian Region is suspected of awakening a golden trait! Have Dragon Tiger Mountain begin divination at once. They must locate the person precisely and bring them into our dynasty's service!"
The official receiving the order looked troubled. "The bearer of that golden trait merely mentioned the Great Qing Dynasty. With so little to work from, any divination will surely miss the target by ten thousand miles!"
The blue-robed official shook his head. "We must at least try. A golden trait has the potential to overturn heaven and earth. If its bearer cannot serve the Great Qing Dynasty, we must strangle that threat in its cradle!"
"For now, we can only hope those major sects in the Southern Barbarian Region do not get their hands on that trait before we do."
"If a major sect clouds its bearer's mind with spells or divine abilities, it will become another enormous threat to the Great Qing Dynasty!"
The orders were swiftly relayed, without delay!
A quarter of an hour later, after passing through layer upon layer of officials, an urgent document bearing the great seal of the Bureau of Astronomy was personally carried out of the city by the seal-bearing eunuch, who streaked away in a trail of light.
Ten thousand miles from the Great Qing Dynasty's Capital City, outside a mountaintop Daoist temple wreathed in clouds and mist, a young Daoist attendant bowed with clasped hands:
"The Celestial Master is already aware and will begin divination immediately. Regardless of the outcome, it will require seven days and seven nights, and the chances of success are slim. Please wait patiently!"
The palace's seal-bearing eunuch solemnly returned the bow. "Whatever the outcome, I am sorry for troubling you, Daoist Master!"
The next day, Ye Li rolled out of bed feeling thoroughly refreshed.
He had no idea that his existence had stirred countless waves in distant Central Province.
Once awake, his first thought was to follow Feng Yue's instructions from the previous night and head to Spring Return Alley in East City.
Half a two-hour watch later, having finished his meal, Ye Li stood at the entrance to Spring Return Alley.
Despite its name, Spring Return Alley was actually a long, narrow street.
The morning mist had yet to fully disperse, but a cloyingly sweet scent of rouge and powder already drifted through the air.
Unlike the respectable bustle of East City's main street, this alley was lined with tightly packed pavilions whose vermilion paint had peeled and faded. Faded silk lanterns hung from their eaves, casting an intimate, warm glow even in daylight.
It was daytime now, so there were few patrons, only the occasional gentleman staggering out after spending the night.
"A new young gentleman?"
Noticing Ye Li standing at the entrance, a woman in her early thirties suddenly leaned out, her hair arranged in a loose, drooping bun.
Her eyes flicked over his Azure Dragon Gang uniform, and understanding dawned on her face. "You may call me San Niang, young sir. Instructor Feng is waiting in the rear courtyard of the Jade-Rinsing Pavilion~"
Her final syllable lingered seductively, but the round fan in her hand pointed precisely toward a small three-story building deep in the alley, a gilded signboard hanging above it.
From somewhere within that building came faint, crisp clangs of metal against stone, utterly unlike the strings and flutes of an ordinary pleasure house.
"Thank you for the directions, San Niang!"
Ye Li clasped his hands in thanks, then stepped into the alley's crisscrossing shadows.
Passing one pleasure pavilion after another, listening to the alluring, lilting catlike cries within, Ye Li remained composed and unruffled.
When he entered the Jade-Rinsing Pavilion, the girl inside did not lead him upstairs, but took him into the rear courtyard instead.
There, he spotted a familiar face, flushed bright red.
Under Ye Li's gaze, Lu Xiuyuan stood bare-chested in a horse stance, his face crimson, enduring repeated blows as a servant behind him swung an iron rod against his body.
Each collision between his body and the iron rod rang out like clashing metal.
Beside him, a crowd of heavily made-up women cheered incessantly, urging Lu Xiuyuan on.
With defensive power like that, he was clearly a body tempering realm martial artist too!
"He reached the body tempering realm this quickly too!" Ye Li remembered Lu Xiuyuan vividly as he watched him.
This was the newcomer who had awakened a blue trait and joined the gang on the same day as him.
To think that, after only a month, this fellow had entered the body tempering realm just as early as he had!
Ye Li said, "Wait, is he cheating too?"
"Don't be discouraged. He hasn't surpassed you in natural aptitude."
Feng Yue had appeared beside him at some point and explained calmly:
"He simply awakened a blue trait, so the gang has devoted its resources to nurturing him. He's supplied with Body Tempering Pills every day."
"He took thirty-five Body Tempering Pills in total to reach body tempering this time, breaking through a day before you."
"Thirty-five?" The corner of Ye Li's mouth twitched. They really did have money to burn.
Understanding also dawned on him. No wonder Feng Yue had said "too" when he heard about Ye Li's breakthrough yesterday.
So Lu Xiuyuan had broken through a day before him.
"Blue traits are precious, after all. You could scarcely find a handful in the entire city. His [Master of Ninjutsu], in particular, is extraordinarily effective when cultivating accelerated external hardening arts that require enduring extreme pain."
"The further you advance in cultivation, the more pronounced the differences between traits become. With a high-grade trait, you can be practically invincible within the same realm!"
As Feng Yue spoke, a pill appeared in his hand. "Take this Dragon Tiger Pill."
"Dragon Tiger Pill?" Ye Li asked in confusion. "What does it do?"
"It's a tiger-and-wolf-strength drug, and one made specifically for martial artists at that. The sort that would make an ordinary person bleed from all seven orifices on the spot."
With a mysterious smile on his face, Feng Yue said, "Take one, and you won't need a break for the next two-hour watch."
Ye Li: Huh???
"What are you gawking at? It's the same for every core disciple. You have to take them for six months!"
"You're in for a real treat now!"