Your Highness, his name is Long Aotian

Studying at the Chan Sect was quite easy: half a day of classes every three days, with the rest of the time left for cultivating and digesting what they had learned.

Chi Yu did not sit idle. He first copied out the Dao De Jing, found Lecturer Hong, and gave it to him.

Lecturer Hong held the scripture in his hands, his eyes falling upon it as he read, "The way that can be spoken is not the constant way. The name that can be named is not the constant name..."

The more he read, the brighter his eyes grew. After only a few lines, he could not help exclaiming, "Wonderful, wonderful! This is excellent!"

He knew perfectly well how valuable this was, and Chi Yu's willingness to hand it over so generously also astonished him. Looking at him again, he felt that Chi Yu truly had the pure heart he had shown in the illusion.

After some thought, Lecturer Hong took forty Top-Grade Spirit Stones from his storage pouch and handed them to Chi Yu. "This is an excellent work. On behalf of the Luopo Chan Sect, I would like to purchase this scripture from you. We certainly won't take advantage of you. Please accept these."

Chi Yu: "!!!!"

His eyes widened. "All of these are for me??"

Seeing the radiant smile on his face, Lecturer Hong could not help smiling faintly. "Yes, all for you. Or do you think it's too little?"

Chi Yu cheered, "Of course not! Teacher, you're so good to me! Teacher, I love you!"

He bounded over and threw his arms around Lecturer Hong in a fierce hug, then swiftly swept all forty Top-Grade Spirit Stones into his Sumeru Ring.

Lecturer Hong, who had been caught in that full-bodied embrace: "..."

He had never met anyone so... uninhibited.

Even after receiving the money, Chi Yu was not satisfied. He said happily, "Teacher, I have others! Do you want them? If you do, I'll give you all of them!"

Lecturer Hong was surprised. "How many more do you have?"

Chi Yu thought for a moment and said, "Lots!"

"..." Lecturer Hong said solemnly, "Copy them out first. I'll discuss it with the Chan Sect, and we will certainly settle on a price that satisfies you."

He paused, then, afraid Chi Yu might suspect he was being deceived, told him frankly, "The Chan Sect offers the highest prices for scriptures like these. Moreover, we will never keep them to ourselves; we will let everyone cultivate using them. If these are your family's inherited teachings, you must consult your elders. You cannot decide on your own."

Chi Yu said confidently, "Don't worry, Teacher. I can make the decisions on all of these. This is all to deliver sentient beings! If you have teachings, of course you should pass them on!"

Of course, they could not be passed on too cheaply.

Suggestive wink.jpg

Lecturer Hong smiled knowingly, finding him thoroughly open and honest, and all the more free and unrestrained for it. "Such awareness is truly rare. If you are willing, I would recommend you to enter the Anuttara Buddhist Sect and take the precepts."

Chi Yu: "..."

Huh? Become a monk? No!

Chi Yu hastily declined politely. "Teacher, I have eighty-year-old grandparents above me and seven or eight younger siblings below me. I have a large family and weighty responsibilities. I can't sever my worldly ties, so..."

Lecturer Hong was not surprised. "That is fine as well."

Chi Yu wasted no time. He hurriedly wrote out several more scriptures from memory and rushed over to exchange them with Lecturer Hong for another hundred and fifty Top-Grade Spirit Stones.

His first pot of gold in the cultivation world had come so easily.

I'm nobler than you lot. I'm here to make money.jpg

With his Sumeru Ring full, Chi Yu returned to his dormitory in high spirits and cooked himself a tableful of good food.

Xiaoqiu came over as soon as he smelled it.

The two sat together to eat. With someone else present, Chi Yu behaved much better, dutifully taking a bowl and chopsticks and chewing slowly.

And Xiaoqiu was no ordinary servant. The good upbringing he had received since childhood gave him elegant manners.

After the meal, Chi Yu chatted with Xiaoqiu. "Why did your highness bring you along as a servant when he came to study? Does he still need you to wait on him?"

"Not really," Xiaoqiu said. "My aptitude is too poor, so His Highness brought me along to take advantage of Zizai Continent's spiritual energy. My home is over in the Eastern Mirror Continent. Have you been there? The spiritual energy is thin there. It really isn't a good place to cultivate."

Chi Yu muttered inwardly that he had come from the Eastern Mirror Continent himself. But it was indeed as Xiaoqiu said: its spiritual energy was far inferior to Zizai Continent's.

Xiaoqiu was only ten years old. Although he had received an excellent education from childhood, he still could not help being something of a sieve around people he liked. He muttered to Chi Yu, "His Highness was doing perfectly well as crown prince, but then a Chan master came along and insisted he had to become a monk. He scared His Majesty into deposing him and sending him to Zizai Continent overnight. Isn't that infuriating? Who would become a monk instead of a perfectly good emperor? And he can't even marry

and have children

."

Chi Yu asked curiously, "Your highness is already a cultivator. Why is he still thinking about marriage and children?"

Xiaoqiu said with some pride, "Cultivators like you can't have children once you reach the Golden Core Realm, but our Great Xia Imperial Clan is different. We can have babies very easily. My father is a Golden Core Realm cultivator, but he has nineteen sons. I'm his eleventh son, and I have eight younger brothers and three younger sisters."

Chi Yu: "..."

"Wait." Chi Yu caught on. "You're from the imperial clan?"

Xiaoqiu said, "Yes! His Highness is my cousin. Once he becomes the Buddha-son, I'll go home. I can even become a commandery prince then. I want to marry three wives like my father and have twenty children!"

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu asked curiously, "Then has your highness married at his age?"

An indignant look appeared on Xiaoqiu's face as he grumbled, "That Chan master came when His Highness was eight, and he's been talking nonsense ever since. That's why His Highness is still a virgin. Now His Highness has been deposed, and the second prince has become crown prince. He's a coward. I don't think he's any good. He can't be emperor."

Chi Yu rubbed his chin and told him, "Being timid isn't that big a problem. As emperor, you only need to know how to employ people. I think you should stop worrying. You're cultivating to become an immortal, so why are you still thinking about worldly affairs?"

Xiaoqiu was about to say something when he suddenly grew alert and shut his mouth.

Just then, someone knocked on Chi Yu's door, three measured knocks before stopping.

Chi Yu hurried over to open the door. Seeing Xuanji, he smiled and greeted him properly. "Senior brother, did you need something?"

Xie Xiyi did not look at him. He merely called, "Xiaoqiu."

Xiaoqiu ran up to him and called somewhat ingratiatingly, "Your Highness."

Xie Xiyi said coolly, "If you have so much time on your hands, you might as well go home."

Xiaoqiu hurriedly bowed with clasped hands. "No, no. Your Highness, I just remembered I haven't changed today's lampwicks. I'll go change them."

With that, he vanished like a puff of smoke.

Only then did Xie Xiyi turn his gaze to Chi Yu's face. "My attendant is young. Since you are a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you should conduct yourself with some dignity and associate less with servants, lest you lower yourself."

Chi Yu: "..."

Why does that sound so snide?

Wasn't the subtext simply, "Stop enticing and deceiving my servant"?

He could not lose in bearing, so Chi Yu smiled brilliantly and said with innocent sweetness, "How could that be! Although I'm a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I'm a person first. People need friends. With more friends, you have a multitude; united in purpose, we form a fortress, and with one heart and mind, our strength can cut through metal. Xiaoqiu is my friend. How could that lower me?"

Xie Xiyi's golden eyes narrowed slightly. "He is a servant, and you still consider him a friend?"

Chi Yu nodded without hesitation. "Of course."

Then he said bluntly, "He's only at Qi Refining. In the end, he's still a mortal. Have you ever looked after him? There's hardly any flesh on him. Did you know he hasn't been eating well here? Of course you didn't. You're so conscious of your status, why would you care about a servant? Since you're cultivating, don't bring a mortal prince's notions of hierarchy, honor, and disgrace here."

Despite being spoken to this way, Xie Xiyi was not annoyed. He said coolly, "Since you wish to look after him, I'll grant your wish. Xiaoqiu will live with you starting tomorrow."

As he spoke, he smiled faintly. "Fine words are always easier than deeds. If you want to prove you are different from others, show me."

Chi Yu said composedly, "First, I have no objection to Xiaoqiu living with me. But since you proposed it, both reason and fairness dictate that you pay. Five hundred middle-grade spirit stones a month. The question is whether you can afford it."

Sometimes, Chi Yu made no attempt to conceal his greed. Because he was wealthy himself, his greed appeared so open and clear that it did not strike people as unpleasant.

Xie Xiyi did not find it unpleasant either, perhaps because, at their first meeting, the youth had remained perfectly composed and untroubled, with a cheerful expression, even after Xie Xiyi had pried a Top-Grade Spirit Stone out of him.

"Second," Chi Yu had not finished, "even if I do it, I won't be doing it to show you. It'll be out of my own desire to care for the weak. Even if it weren't Xiaoqiu, I'd still do it. Whatever I do, I don't do it to put on a show for others. I only do it for myself."

Xie Xiyi said, "You want it both ways."

Chi Yu said, "Exactly!"

He smiled, his lake-like eyes sparkling. "Right, it's been so long, and I haven't introduced myself. My name is-"

Xie Xiyi had no interest in his name, but that did not stop Chi Yu from announcing it cheerfully himself. "That's right, my name is Long Aotian!"

Xie Xiyi: "..."

Does that name sound good?

Author's note:

Top: When you turn twenty, this memory will become your embarrassing past.

Little Fish: It won't. Forever at peace with myself. Puppy holding a rose.JPG

P.S. [1][2] Quoted from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch and other sources.

Chapter 24: Your Highness, his name is Long Aotian

Xie Xiyi never bothered remembering people's Dharma names or personal names. He saw no need to let boring things take up space in his brain.

Yet the three great characters of "Long Aotian" kept circling in his mind, like a splatter of crow droppings that remained fresh with age.

Xie Xiyi: "..."

He could not help letting out a cold laugh.

Back at his residence, Xie Xiyi summoned Xiaoqiu. "You like that cultivator?"

Xiaoqiu studied his expression, trying to discern something from it. Several breaths later, he failed, so he said vaguely, "His cooking is very good."

Xie Xiyi said, "Just because his cooking is good?"

Xiaoqiu thought for a moment, then hurriedly knelt and apologized. "Your Highness, I was wrong. I told him things I shouldn't have. I won't do it again."

Xie Xiyi tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop, a little habit of his when thinking. After a while, he said, "Move back over there. Starting today, you'll live with him."