Reflections in the Water, Spiritual Energy Revived

Yu Ke thought of the situation as it stood.

He could only brace himself and say,

"Junior Sister Xie, you are far too courteous. This was what I ought to have done in the first place. However, after failing at Foundation Establishment this time, the spirit stones I borrowed from you earlier... I fear I will find it difficult to repay them in a short time."

"I hope Junior Sister can grant me a little more time."

After Xie Wanwan heard this, she merely spoke in an airy, understated manner, as light as the wind and pale as the clouds.

"Senior Brother Yu, they are only a few spirit stones, not worth hanging on your teeth. Why must you take them to heart? When your hands are more comfortable, just return them to me then."

Her tone was completely unconcerned... only a few spirit stones, that was all.

When Yu Ke heard this, was this the charm of a rich woman?

True love!

He suddenly felt that Junior Sister Xie before him was like a fairy descending to the mortal world, her whole person glowing with holy light.

The Tea Mountain Xie Clan was a renowned wealthy household in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and when its descendants wandered the rivers and lakes, all of them had deep pockets.

Among scions of great families, second-generation rich heirs made up the majority, yet even among second-generation rich heirs, there were gaps as vast as heaven and earth.

For the materials needed for Foundation Establishment, Yu Ke had nearly exhausted all his family wealth and borrowed from all sides before he had barely gathered enough.

Xie Wanwan, however, did not care about such debts at all.

She really was a little rich lady!

"Then many thanks, Junior Sister!"

Of course, most importantly, Xie Wanwan also was not worried that Yu Ke would refuse to repay her.

Yu Ke, though not of the Yu Family's direct line, was still in the family register, a bloodline acknowledged by the Yu Family.

The Yu Family had been rooted by the Luo River for many years, with deep foundations and numerous servants, and their ancestors had even produced a great True Person who had suppressed an entire province, making their power immense.

They certainly would not default on a debt over this handful of spirit stones and lose face.

Moreover, Yu Ke had already written an IOU, and the sect naturally had its own justice.

If there truly were any danger of nonpayment, and the matter was brought to the Yu Family, how could this few spirit stones be enough to settle it?

Xie Wanwan had known Yu Ke for three years and understood his character well.

Therefore, she had no worries in her heart. She merely smiled faintly and said,

"Senior Brother Yu, no need to be so polite."

"I also have to go do my lessons. You continue... washing dishes."

Her tone was rather strange when she said the two words "washing dishes."

After Xie Wanwan finished speaking, she was about to turn and leave, but she could not help turning back out of curiosity.

"Senior Brother Yu, have you recently taken some whitening pill, or cultivated some special cultivation method?"

After Yu Ke heard this, he looked utterly blank instead.

Seeing Yu Ke's reaction, Xie Wanwan understood.

"It's nothing. Senior Brother Yu, carry on."

There was still one sentence in her heart that she had not spoken aloud. She thought to herself,

Senior Brother Yu was much fairer and more handsome than before.

Moreover, compared to that hard, rigid personality of his in the past, which only knew how to cultivate, he seemed to have changed slightly.

As for what those changes were, she could not say. She only felt that Senior Brother Yu's eyes had become much brighter.

Yu Ke took note when he heard it.

He bent slightly over the pond in the courtyard, reflecting his current appearance.

On the surface of the water, besides the reflection of blue sky and white clouds, and clean white pear blossoms hanging upside down, there was also the face of a youth.

It could not be called especially handsome, but it did carry a somewhat delicate refinement.

His brow was open and relaxed, and his eyes were pitch-black as stars.

The corners of his mouth curved up slightly, as if carrying a faint smile that was there and not there, making his bearing seem gentle and reserved.

Yu Ke looked left and right, then touched the sideburns by his ear.

It seemed he was a little fairer than before.

His originally somewhat resolute and wooden face had gained a few traces of life.

Sure enough, appearance was born from the heart.

"Ah... what a bother. I've gotten handsome again."

Yu Ke was almost unable to press down the corners of his mouth.

Just then!

The new neighbor in the western room, that white-robed youth, came strolling over from the western room.

He stood beneath the pear blossom tree, the pear blossoms flourishing like brocade. He raised his head and looked up; the sky was blue as if washed, white clouds drifting leisurely.

In the white-robed youth's hand, he played with a colorful, lively little bird. The bird was bright and vigorous, flapping its wings on his fingers with quite a bit of spiritual energy.

The white-robed youth chuckled and said,

"Birdie, ah, since you're so ugly, why must you gaze at your own reflection in the pond and pity yourself?"

"If I looked like that, I'd plunge headfirst into the water and die."

Yu Ke abruptly turned his head.

The white-robed youth walked past him calmly and unhurriedly, saying,

"The weather today is rather nice, especially pleasant."

Then he walked off as if nothing had happened and left the courtyard.

The white-robed youth's appearance was indeed outstanding. His white clothes outshone snow, his lips were red and his teeth white, and his looks had abundant selling points, as if he were a noble, refined young gentleman who had walked out of a painting.

Yu Ke's head was covered in black lines. There was clearly something hidden in those words.

He kept feeling that this brat had been at odds with him all along!

Could it be because he had looked at that beautiful married woman a few more times?

Mount Zhongnan.

It was situated in the south, a remote place several hundred li from the capital, where the mountains were high and the roads difficult to travel.

Originally, it was a place rarely reached by human footprints, and once winter came, it was the time when, across a thousand mountains, the birds' flights vanished.

But that had been a few years ago. Now, things were different.

Ever since the Three-in-One Sect, the orthodox Daoist lineage personally designated by the Great Qing Son of Heaven's imperial brush, established a temple here, the Daoist temple had become towering and majestic, incense smoke curling around it.

The world-famous Lu brothers had also chosen this place to live in seclusion, and among them, Lu Chen's name had spread even more widely across both banks of the Yellow River, even reaching the land of North Wind.

After that!

Mount Zhongnan was no longer peaceful.

Whenever festivals came, pilgrims were like clouds, arriving in an endless stream. On the mountain paths, heads bobbed in a crowd, creating a winding long dragon that coiled through the mountains.

The plank roads into the mountain were even more packed with people, shoulders rubbing and heels touching, bustling beyond measure.

And those imperial nobles were all carried in sedan litters, causing movement to become even slower.

Even when night fell, the mountain paths were still obstructed, lanterns shining through, illuminating the night sky over Mount Zhongnan.

However, all of this made Lu Yu somewhat unaccustomed. He had long been used to peace and quiet. He looked at the brightly lit scene below the mountain.

He could not help feeling some longing for the past.

He sighed that it was still better to have things a little plainer!

At the beginning of the new spring next year, the Great Qing emperor would personally come to Mount Zhongnan to pray for blessings for the world.

For this reason, the Ministry of Rites had already issued an edict, sternly ordering that from the start of the first lunar month, Mount Zhongnan was to be cleared of all outsiders and forbidden to outsiders, to ensure the solemnity of the blessing ceremony.

This news quickly spread in all directions, causing countless commoners to surge toward Mount Zhongnan to offer incense before the year's end.

For a time, Mount Zhongnan's incense offerings reached their peak.

Incense smoke curled around, and human voices boiled like a cauldron.

The incense in the main hall burned even more vigorously, like blazing firewood, continuing for a full half month without any sign of decline.

Many high officials and nobles from the capital had even abandoned famous temples such as the capital's White Horse Temple and Azure Cloud Temple.

They traveled a long distance, disregarding the weariness of boats and carriages, crossing several hundred li, just to come to this Mount Zhongnan.

At this moment, it was already dusk.

Lu Yu stood alone on the mountain peak, looking down at the bustling crowd below, and could not help sighing again in his heart.

Thinking of his own master, Liu Jinchan had recently been all smiles.

Promoting the Three Truths Sect was originally his duty, and recently he had been smiling so happily that he had grown quite a bit plumper.

Whenever powerful figures from the capital came to visit, his master Liu Jinchan would always worry that the reception was not attentive enough, and so he would summon Lu Yu to deal with these honored guests.

Lu Yu was greatly distressed!

Unlike Lu Yu, his elder brother was far better at dealing with people and matters, yet Lu Chen chose to meet no one and devoted his whole heart to cultivation.

No matter how honored the person's status was, it could not shake his resolve in pursuing the martial path.

In the middle of the year, the Great Qing's second prince had personally come to visit, hoping to behold Young Protector Lu's true face.

He had also been politely refused by his elder brother.

Now, his elder brother had even hidden himself inside Mount Zhongnan's Tomb of the Living Dead.

The reason Lu Yu was going to seek out his elder brother today was not for worldly affairs. He knew his elder brother did not like hearing about such things.

He had an earth-shaking matter hidden in his heart, and he was impatient to share it with his elder brother.

Lu Yu raised his head and looked up at the vault of heaven, only to see that above the sky, several night stars had already emerged, as if some obscure aura was surging.

"The heavens have changed!"

He slowly spat out these three words, as if conversing with heaven and earth, every word carrying the weight of a thousand jun.

Immediately, in Lu Yu's palm, a white point of light slowly appeared. It gave off a soft and mysterious radiance, flickering faintly, like a candle flame struck alight.

"The spiritual energy for cultivation recorded in the ancient texts seems to have descended upon the world once more."

Lu Yu said this into the breeze blowing over Mount Zhongnan.