Moonlight Pavilion's Tang Yuehua

The carriage rumbled along, its wheels rolling over the bluestone-paved streets of Heaven Dou City.

Inside the carriage, an oil lamp cast a soft glow, quietly hanging overhead and driving away the chill of the night.

Yang Fan leaned against the soft velvet seat and let out a long breath. The nerves that had been taut all night finally relaxed.

He had finally gotten the little witch home.

With two Soul Douluo present, Ning Rongrong would never have been in any real danger. But the slaughter earlier had left her feeling deeply insecure.

Yang Fan had no choice but to stay with her and tell her a few stories. Though his body was somewhat tired, he felt far more relaxed. The only problem was that he had noticed Ning Rongrong looking at him in an increasingly strange way.

She was only eight or nine. How was she already so mature? They had only known each other for a few days, right? Was this Romance Continent?

Then again, that San Wu pair had apparently been sharing a bed since they were six.

What perverts!

Yang Fan cursed inwardly, completely forgetting about his own situation with Na'er. All he could say was that everyone was equally hypocritical when it came to double standards.

After getting out of the luxurious carriage that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had specially sent to take him home, Yang Fan returned to Yang's Treasure Appraisal Pavilion.

"Ye Rou, A Wu, you worked hard tonight."

Yang Fan rubbed his brow and said to the two inside the pavilion, "We're closing early tonight. You should both head back and get some rest."

"Thank you, Pavilion Master."

The burly guard, A Wu, responded in a deep, muffled voice, but he still stood beside the stairs like an iron tower, dutifully protecting the pavilion's safety.

Ye Rou, seated in her wheelchair, gave him a slight nod. Her eyes carried a trace of concern for her pavilion master. "His Majesty Qinghe knows about tonight's events. But don't worry, Pavilion Master. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has already taken notice of this matter. It won't implicate our Treasure Appraisal Pavilion."

Yang Fan felt somewhat helpless. In this timeline, hadn't he theoretically only formed a partnership with Xue Qinghe two days ago? And they were already laying their cards on the table?

"Ye Rou, you're not even pretending anymore... I only just got back. How do you seem to know more than I do, the person involved?"

Seeing Yang Fan's helpless expression, Ye Rou smiled sweetly and replied with a reason he found difficult to refute. "The Pavilion Master possesses the talents of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick. Such matters naturally cannot be concealed from you."

"Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick is a good phrase, but I don't deserve it."

In this world, Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick were still compliments. According to unofficial historical records, Heaven Dou had risen to prominence with the aid of a wise man possessing the Crouching Dragon Martial Soul, while Star Luo Empire had been aided by a sage with the Fledgling Phoenix Martial Soul.

Thus came the saying: "Whoever gains either Crouching Dragon or Phoenix Chick can gain the world."

In Heaven Dou, dragons were also symbols of emperors. Because of this, many people spoke ill of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan before the Heaven Dou Emperor.

Yang Fan smiled and waved the two away. Only after confirming that they had left did he close the shop door and enter the secret chamber deep on the second floor alone.

Yang Fan sat cross-legged on the stone bed and began to meditate.

His eyes were half-closed, his breathing long and even, like an old monk in meditation.

As his thoughts withdrew, the clamor of the outside world gradually faded until it was completely shut out from his senses.

He entered a state of deep meditation.

Within this spiritual sea that belonged solely to him, there were no bizarre illusions, only boundless depth and tranquility.

Soul Power was no longer a rushing current within his meridians. Instead, it became strands of warm, radiant mist that gently washed through every part of his body.

He could clearly "see" the primal energy drifting between heaven and earth transform into sparkling motes of light, continuously entering his body through his pores, mouth, and nose.

They flowed along specific meridian paths. Each time they passed through an acupoint, they left behind a trace of pure energy before continuing onward in an endless cycle.

The fatigue in his body was completely stripped away at that moment. His soul seemed to be soaking in a warm spring, every inch greedily absorbing nourishment.

Time lost all meaning here.

Within that absolute silence, Yang Fan's Soul Power and spiritual power grew like tender shoots breaking through the earth, slowly yet irresistibly rising upward.

The methods of circulating Soul Power that had once been obscure and difficult to understand now became incomparably clear in his mind, as if they had always been meant to be this way.

He could even sense the mysterious aura belonging to the Monocle deep within his martial soul growing purer and more enigmatic with every breath he took during meditation.

There were no distracting thoughts, no external things—only the most primal connection between himself and this world.

When the last trace of stray Soul Power was fully refined and merged into his dantian, Yang Fan slowly opened his eyes.

A glimmer seemed to flash through them before they returned to calm.

His deep meditation had ended, and the Soul Power within his body had quietly crossed the invisible threshold between level 31 and level 32.

"So this is deep meditation?"

The life-and-death experiences of Legend of the Dragon King and tonight's leisure, the tension and relaxation together, had allowed Yang Fan to enter the legendary state of deep meditation for the first time.

Yang Fan could now somewhat understand those cultivation novel protagonists addicted to secluded training. That feeling of forgetting oneself and emptying one's mind truly was exhilarating.

He looked outside and saw that the sky was still dim. It was probably around the Hour of the Tiger.

Had he cultivated for four or five hours? It felt like only a few minutes had passed.

On the broad rosewood desk in the secret chamber lay two pieces of metal.

One of them was an iron block as black as ink, its surface covered in strange cloud patterns. It was the top-grade Magic Silver he had snagged at a bargain during the auction.

Yang Fan's slender fingers lightly brushed across Magic Silver's cold surface, while his mind rapidly worked through his next plan.

He had Magic Silver, but that was only the first step.

To truly forge a suitable weapon through fusion forging, he still lacked one crucial metal—Sinking Silver.

Sinking Silver was extraordinarily dense, highly resilient, and exceptionally compatible with Soul Power, making it the best choice for the primary material.

But the problem was that in this era, rare metal veins were extremely well-hidden and were almost entirely monopolized by Star Luo Empire. High-purity raw ore simply never reached the market.

This was also one of the reasons Star Luo Empire possessed greater military strength. It had a culture that valued martial prowess and the military resources to support it.

"If I buy it on the black market, not only will I be overcharged, but I could easily end up with inferior goods mixed with impurities. If I ask Xue Qinghe, it'll look like I'm trying to give him a gift, and as a crown prince, he probably wouldn't stockpile metals either..."

Yang Fan muttered to himself, his brows slightly furrowed.

Just as he sank into thought, the quiet alley he had passed when leaving the auction house tonight suddenly flashed through his mind, along with the half-open carved wooden window on the second floor.

Moonlight Pavilion! Tang Yuehua!

A thought struck his mind like lightning.

How had he forgotten about this?

On the surface, Moonlight Pavilion was Heaven Dou City's most elegant music shop and a place where noble ladies learned music. But behind it stood the Clear Sky Sect, hidden among ordinary society.

Others might not know, but didn't he?

The Clear Sky Sect had closed its gates and gone into seclusion several years ago after Qian Xunji's death, but its members still needed food, clothing, housing, and travel arrangements. Moonlight Pavilion was that channel.

With the Clear Sky Sect's foundation and connections across the continent, even though they had long secluded themselves from the world, they surely still retained some unknown channels for rare metals in private.

But what could he use to persuade Tang Yuehua?

Tang Yuehua did not lack money. Behind her stood both the Clear Sky Sect and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.