Practicing the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art!

With a warm beauty in his arms, Zhu Youning spent another ten days or so on the road before finally reaching Qingzhou, the seat of Pinglu. ReadingМ

Although Zhu Youning rode in a carriage and had a smooth journey, with a warm beauty in his arms to cushion even the occasional bumps, the road had been far from peaceful.

There were simply too many starving refugees along the way.

This was undoubtedly a chaotic age. From Huang Chao's uprising in the late Tang to the founding of Great Liang, countless wars had raged without cease.

Take Zhu Wen alone. From the day he joined the army to his ascension to the throne, he had fought more than sixty major battles.

For example: the capture of Chang'an, the several battles at Hezhong, the attack on Deng, the defense and assault of Deng, the battle at East Wei Bridge, the battle at Fuping, the battle at Tongzhou, the battle at Xiguan Gate, the battle at Luyi, the battle at Wangmandu, the battle at Yinshui, the battle at Banqiao, and the battle at Chigang.

Zhu Wen's military career had spanned more than thirty years. He had fought over sixty major battles, losing seven, failing to take his objectives in six, and winning forty-nine. Those victories had laid the foundation of Liang State.

Listing so many battles certainly showed Zhu Wen's outstanding military talent, but it also reflected how frequently wars broke out in that era.

Natural disasters and continual warfare had created countless starving refugees.

Zhu Youning rarely left his carriage, but he had seen the refugees' gaunt, sallow faces long ago.

This had to be dealt with!

After arriving in Qingzhou, Li Zhen, the senior official overseeing the city, wanted to hold a welcoming banquet for Zhu Youning that very evening. Zhu Youning declined, saying he was exhausted from the journey and needed to rest.

Although he turned down Li Zhen's banquet, he still followed official custom and sent him a gift.

The gift was nothing more than silver. Li Zhen didn't refuse it, and after accepting the money, he treated Zhu Youning with even greater deference.

Zhu Youning hadn't lied when he declined the banquet.

After more than ten days in a carriage, his body wasn't especially tired, but he was truly exhausted mentally.

So the thing he wanted most right now wasn't to satisfy his appetite, but to sleep.

And so Zhu Youning settled into the new prince's residence Li Zhen had arranged for him.

Li Zhen had to be given credit: he had arranged things quite well.

Although the residence had only just been built, everything was ready. There were already several servants and maids, more than enough to attend to him.

Li Zhen hadn't arranged for too many maids because he feared Zhu Youning might grow suspicious.

It was best for Zhu Youning to choose his own household staff. If someone else arranged everything, it would always seem as though they were planting spies.

Inside the room, Zhu Youning sat in a chair as maids kept bringing in roasted almonds, hazelnuts, all sorts of pastries, and tea. He casually sampled some of the food and found it quite tasty, then took a sip of tea.

After the long, bumpy journey, he could finally relax.

As the saying went, a full belly and warm clothes stirred desire. There wasn't much entertainment in this era, and once he tired of the pastries, he summoned Miaocheng Tian.

To be fair, he had called her over this time mainly to take care of something important.

Miaocheng Tian soon entered the room and gave a graceful curtsy. "This servant pays her respects to Your Highness."

"No need for formalities. Sit."

"Thank you for granting me a seat, Your Highness."

"Mm." Zhu Youning made a quiet sound, then looked at Miaocheng Tian and got straight to the point in a sincere tone. "Miao'er, I can cure your Innate Severed Meridians!"

A look of surprise appeared in Miaocheng Tian's eyes. "Your Highness, are you joking?"

"Of course I'm not joking."

Zhu Youning's tone was firm and decisive, which left Miaocheng Tian somewhat astonished. After thinking it over, however, she still couldn't believe Zhu Youning had the ability to cure her Innate Severed Meridians.

"Your Highness, it's not that I don't believe you... It's just that when I was little, I sought out every famous doctor I could find, but none of them knew how to treat it. Even—"

Miaocheng Tian paused. "Even renowned miracle doctors couldn't cure me. Miao'er gave up a long time ago."

Zhu Youning said earnestly, "What if I really can cure you?"

Miaocheng Tian was slightly moved. "This life of mine already belongs to Your Highness. I can't imagine how I could ever repay you."

"Then remember what you just said. If I really cure you, your life will belong to me."

Miaocheng Tian could hear the confidence in Zhu Youning's words, but a moment later she still thought it impossible.

Even the Empress had no way to cure her Innate Severed Meridians. How could Zhu Youning possibly do it?

Zhu Youning, however, was confident. He took a manual from his robes and handed it to Miaocheng Tian.

Miaocheng Tian accepted the manual. "Your Highness, what is this?"

"See for yourself."

Miaocheng Tian looked closely and saw five characters written on the manual: Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art!

Her pretty face immediately flushed red.

That didn't sound like the name of anything proper! She instantly understood what the manual was for.

"Your Highness, how did you come by something like this?"

"Open it and read it carefully first. Don't worry about what kind of thing it is."

Miaocheng Tian had no choice but to open the manual and study it closely.

At first glance, the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art seemed unremarkable. But after reading it, Miaocheng Tian finally understood what made it so extraordinary.

It was a dual cultivation technique. It wasn't some peerless divine art, but to her, it was a means of saving her life.

When practiced together, the technique not only increased both practitioners' internal energy, but also gradually reshaped and expanded their meridians. The prerequisite was that the internal energy cultivated through their dual practice had to be sufficiently powerful.

"Your Highness, is this Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art the method you mentioned for curing my condition?"

"Exactly." Zhu Youning nodded.

He had taken out the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art specifically to help Miaocheng Tian treat her Innate Severed Meridians.

Of course, Zhu Youning could also have taught Miaocheng Tian the Wedding Dress Divine Art. That would certainly have resolved her condition.

The Wedding Dress Divine Art had the power to reshape meridians. A classic example was Yan Nantian, a practitioner of the art.

Back then, the Five Great Villains had used a sinister scheme to destroy Yan Nantian's martial arts, then tortured him repeatedly. Eight of his fourteen meridians had been ruined, yet he had ultimately managed to cultivate the Wedding Dress Divine Art anew. The process had remade his body, cleansing his marrow and transforming his very nature.

In theory, the Wedding Dress Divine Art was the ideal solution for Innate Severed Meridians.

But Zhu Youning wasn't going to teach it to Miaocheng Tian. At least, not now.

Miaocheng Tian was a member of Huan Yin Workshop and had no particular loyalty to Zhu Youning. Teaching her a divine art would only strengthen a rival.

If she could leave Huan Yin Workshop and devote herself wholeheartedly to him, working for him, then of course he would teach her the Wedding Dress Divine Art.

But Miaocheng Tian's intentions were still unclear. Zhu Youning wasn't foolish enough to believe that sharing a bed with him would make her wholeheartedly devoted to him.

So for now, he would use the Inverted Dragon and Phoenix Art and let it slowly solve the problem.