As Yun Qing watched the figure standing in the training grounds with his hands behind his back, a sense of foreboding crept into his heart. He had certainly not dressed for combat today. Besides, exchanging blows with this reincarnated Immortal Emperor could hardly be called "practice." It was plainly "taking a beating."
Yun Huang turned around, inscrutable light shifting through his pale golden eyes in the morning sun. His gaze lingered briefly on Yun Qing's blue robe, so out of place in the Martial Arena, and an elusive smile curved his lips, as though he had seen straight through Yun Qing's little scheme.
Coming to his senses, Yun Qing decided to seize the initiative. He strode into the grounds, approached Yun Huang, and bowed beside him, his voice gentle and respectful. "Good morning, Young Lord."
Yun Huang gave a slight nod. Perhaps because he had arrived early to train, a faint crease marked the collar of his gold-brocaded robe, a small departure from his usual impeccable appearance.
Yun Qing stepped half a pace closer, his bearing composed. A thread of gentle spiritual power gathered at his fingertips as he brushed over the crease with a featherlight, swift motion, smoothing Yun Huang's collar into place. As he withdrew his hand, it grazed the other man's shoulder in a seemingly casual movement.
"The Young Lord's appearance should be like the sun and moon traversing the heavens, without the slightest blemish." Lowering his eyes, he used the motion of straightening the robe's hem to close the distance imperceptibly, then quickly retreated within safe bounds.
Yun Huang stiffened for an instant, his golden eyes settling on the hand arranging his hem.
His own fingertips curled unconsciously, but in the end, he did not move away.
"How... attentive."
Yun Qing straightened, the cloud-patterned jade pendants at his hem knocking together with a clear chime. He gestured toward his attire, speaking with just the right touch of helplessness:
"Please hear me out, Young Lord. Look at this blue robe. Its close-fitting sleeves and cinched waist are meant only to suit my duties as your attendant. I must even restrain the circulation of my spiritual power by thirty percent. If we truly exchanged blows, I fear my clothes would split before I could even take a stance. Not only would I lose all decorum before you, I would also slight your gracious wish to spar." His words gently declined on the grounds of unsuitable clothing while subtly praising a sparring match with Yun Huang as an honor, giving him every opportunity to let the matter drop gracefully.
Yun Huang's gaze swept over the elegant robe and paused briefly. It was not entirely an excuse...
The blue robe Yun Qing wore today accentuated his tall, slender figure, but its tightly cinched waist constricted key acupoints involved in circulating spiritual power. The cloud-patterned jade pendants hanging from its hem were intended to soothe the mind rather than offer protection. It was indeed unsuitable attire for combat.
In the end, Yun Huang merely gave a quiet "Mm," without showing any anger.
The soothing had worked.
Yun Qing smiled openly, indescribably gentle and dashing. "Then you have my thanks for your understanding, Young Lord."
That smile left Yun Huang momentarily dazed. Yesterday, Yun Qing had exposed the crux of the formation diagram with a single remark. Though Yun Huang had benefited greatly, the competitive spirit of a peerless prodigy deep within him had also been stirred. He had indeed hoped to use today's sparring match to "win back some face."
Still... forget it. We don't have to spar right now. Why is Yun Qing putting on such a display?
Just as Yun Huang was about to let him off for the moment and turn away with a sweep of his sleeve-
Whoosh!
A shadow appeared like a phantom and dropped to one knee, speaking urgently but respectfully. "Reporting to the Young Lord! Deacon Jia of the Discipline Office requests an audience on an urgent matter!"
Once permission was granted, Deacon Jia rushed onto the Martial Arena and fell to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling uncontrollably:
"R-reporting to the Young Lord! Something has happened outside the Ancestral Shrine. Yun Shuo, the clan head's seventh son by a concubine, clashed with Yun Hao, the Fourth Elder-no, the Fifth Elder's fourth legitimate son. In the chaos, they actually cracked the Soul-Suppressing Stele at the shrine's entrance!"
The words "Soul-Suppressing Stele" struck like an exploding thunderclap.
Yun Huang's brows drew together slightly. The subtle feelings toward his elder brother that had just begun to stir were instantly replaced by icy severity. His aura abruptly sank, and his gold-brocaded robe stirred without wind. Like the deathly still pressure before the Radiant Sun exploded, it descended over everything.
The air throughout the Martial Arena seemed to freeze.
Crushed flat against the ground by that pressure, Deacon Jia bled from his nose and mouth. Even breathing became an impossible luxury.
Even Yun Qing felt a sharp pain in his double pupils. Only when his Chaos Dao Embryo began circulating on its own did he barely withstand the pressure. The smile vanished from his face, and his heart sank.
"Such outrageous audacity." Yun Huang's voice was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
The Soul-Suppressing Stele was the ancient stone tablet that displayed talent during the Spirit-Appraisal Ceremony, but as a treasured artifact of the Yun Clan's Ancestral Shrine, it served far more purposes than that. Engraved with the inscription seals of successive clan heads, it possessed the power to suppress baleful intent and held down the soul of a Primordial Ferocious Beast.
Given the Yun Clan's deep reserves and his status as its eldest young master, a shattered stele was nothing. Even if the beast's soul broke free, they could simply suppress it again.
Yet only a handful of people knew that beneath the Soul-Suppressing Stele lay a connection to the Ancestral Shrine Forbidden Grounds-the very place where Yun Huang's Immortal Origin had taken form all those years ago.
This was no ordinary spiritual artifact. It was a Sacred Relic that touched Yun Huang's reverse scale!
Yun Shuo... how did he get dragged into something like this?
Watching the dangerous figure ahead of him, who resembled a Primordial Ferocious Beast, Yun Qing knew they were in serious trouble. Yun Shuo and the others knew nothing of the inside story and probably thought this was merely an ordinary dispute between legitimate and concubine-born sons.
The old drunkard's sights were not on the wine.
Still, Yun Qing could not help sighing inwardly. Shuo'er and the others really picked the worst possible moment. I'd only just soothed him, and now they've ruffled his feathers again.
What sun? He's a Golden Crow.
At such a critical moment, the image of a little yellow chick with its feathers puffed up, breathing fire in every direction, inexplicably popped into Yun Qing's mind.
Fan art drawn by reader @Three Bites a Pancake.
"Pfft, cough!"
Startled by his own imagination, Yun Qing could not quite suppress a cough, letting the sound escape.
Abruptly interrupted in the midst of his fury, Yun Huang swept his sharp golden gaze toward Yun Qing, studying him. Naturally, he remembered that Yun Shuo was this man's younger brother by the same mother.
Had this happened the day before yesterday, he might have vented his anger on Yun Qing as well. But recalling the moments they had shared yesterday, and the hand that had just smoothed his collar... Yun Huang paused and ultimately did not lash out.
He could hardly permit Yun Qing to approach him one moment, then punish him for his brother's offense the next. He did not suffer from a fractured soul. Yun Qing had attended him for two days; harsh as his temperament was, he would not deny him even that much dignity.
Yun Huang turned and issued his orders. "Come with me. You will handle this." Before his words had faded, his figure had already become a streak of light, shooting toward the Ancestral Shrine.
Yun Qing understood. His blue robe fluttered as he followed close behind.
This matter could be made large or small. After all, the one personally offended was Yun Huang, and whether to pursue it still depended on the offended party himself.
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