Teasing the young lady really was fun.
Beyond that, Chen Xia had no other thoughts.
Just because Huang Qingyue was beautiful did not mean he had to do anything to her. Of course, he could, but there was no need.
One had to learn to appreciate beauty, and Chen Xia did not want to engage in the act of producing offspring without an emotional foundation.
He had a strong mind of his own and his own ideas. At least his actions were controlled by the head up top.
Huang Qingyue knelt beside him and poured him a pot of water, then could not help yawning and rubbing her eyes.
She had spent all night playing chess with Chen Xia and was already very sleepy.
"Go rest on the bed." Chen Xia lifted his teacup and took a small sip.
"No, no. You haven't gone to bed to rest. How could I?" Huang Qingyue hurriedly shook her head in refusal, then rubbed her sleepy eyes again, forcing herself to stay alert.
Chen Xia set down his teacup, tapped his finger lightly on the table, and said with a smile.
"When people are hungry, they need to eat. When they're tired, they need to rest. When they're sleepy, they need to sleep. Don't worry about me. I'm not sleepy."
Huang Qingyue hesitated, glanced around, and suggested softly, "Then I'll sleep on the carpet."
"Suit yourself." Chen Xia stood, walked to the door, and waved. "Get some sleep. I'm going out for a stroll."
Without waiting for Huang Qingyue to answer, he wandered leisurely out alone.
Huang Qingyue stared at the closed door, looking briefly dazed, then crawled onto the carpet beside her and curled up to sleep.
The imperial palace was enormous.
Chen Xia moved through it as though no one were there. No one dared stop him.
Whenever the palace maids and eunuchs saw Chen Xia's languid figure, they immediately knelt and kowtowed, offering their greetings.
Chen Xia responded politely, too, but he did not kneel.
Yet everyone in the palace had to kneel to him, including Emperor Song Wei.
He stood above everyone else in the world.
But there was a saying that put it well.
The higher you stood, the lonelier you became, especially once you reached a height no one else could attain. All around you were respectful, smiling faces.
That was fine.
Chen Xia liked smiling faces. It would have been even better without the respect.
"Adoptive Father, I've already ordered statues of you built in every county town in Great Song, with the people to bow before them every year. Choose a day, and I'll have them put it into effect."
Chen Xia paused. "Why worship me? I can't grant wishes."
Song Wei hurriedly said, "You're the National Preceptor of Great Song! What's more, you single-handedly drove back the barbarians and protected all of Great Song. You're practically Great Song's guardian deity. The people ought to kowtow to you!"
Chen Xia pinched the tip of his nose, somewhat at a loss in the face of Song Wei's bootlicking. He waved a hand and said casually, "Pick whatever day you like. I'm not getting involved."
"Of course, of course. I'll go make preparations right away and stop disturbing you, Adoptive Father." With that, Song Wei quickly withdrew.
Chen Xia stood on the steps, then slowly walked down, thinking about his secluded cultivation and his arrangements for what came next.
This was his first year living in the imperial city.
Every county town within Great Song now had a statue of Chen Xia. The third day of the fifth month each year was designated National Preceptor Day, when all the people had to kowtow to Chen Xia's statues.
Led by Emperor Song Wei, all the civil and military officials kowtowed together.
That day, while sitting quietly at home, Chen Xia received this notification.
[Effect of fortune: the entire population kowtows annually on National Preceptor Day. Flood Dragon Qi 100/100.]
It was full.
Chen Xia froze at first, then delight appeared on his face. Sure enough, he could grow stronger just by going AFK.
[Spirit Dragon Qi 0/1000]
Another notification sounded in Chen Xia's mind. Flood Dragon Qi had evolved into Spirit Dragon Qi, and its color had changed from dark yellow to blue-green.
His eyes shone as blue-green Spirit Dragon Qi swirled through them once before quickly settling.
[Spirit Dragon Qi: Qi of the third-tier dragon race. Can command the spirits of nature and merge with heaven and earth.]
That was the brief explanation of Spirit Dragon Qi.
Chen Xia had no opportunity to test it now, so that could wait until later.
"Brother Chen, the board's ready. Let's play another game." Huang Qingyue's clear voice rang out, calling Chen Xia over.
Her current position was Chen Xia's maid.
After a year together, Huang Qingyue had realized that Chen Xia was extremely easy to talk to and put on no airs around her. He even told Huang Qingyue to simply call him Brother Chen.
Chen Xia answered and ambled over to play chess.
The two were now about evenly matched.
Because neither played by the rules.
Never mind horses moving in an L or elephants moving two points diagonally.
Chen Xia could pick up his "general" and charge straight out to capture other pieces, grandly calling it the emperor personally leading a campaign.
Huang Qingyue, meanwhile, could move a horse two Ls in one turn, claiming she was riding a blood-sweating heavenly steed.
There were no real rules. The two were just amusing themselves.
They had also flown a kite together, right inside the imperial palace.
Holding the large kite, Huang Qingyue looked a little apprehensive as she asked Chen Xia worriedly.
"Brother Chen, what if our kite won't fly?"
"Run a few steps, and it'll fly on its own." Chen Xia leaned against the wall and answered with a smile.
"Brother Chen, have you flown a kite before?" Huang Qingyue asked, holding the kite.
Chen Xia folded his arms. "Once, but it didn't work."
"Why?" Huang Qingyue lifted her pretty face and looked at Chen Xia with some curiosity.
Chen Xia thought for a moment, then recalled with a smile, "The wind was strong that day, and there wasn't any sun. I thought it was perfect for kite flying, so I went up the mountain. But I forgot..."
"Strong winds also blow before thunder."
"Haha." Huang Qingyue laughed without a care, then asked with a little concern, "Were you all right back then, Brother Chen?"
"The kite was gone." That was all Chen Xia said.
"Hehe." Huang Qingyue laughed in reply, then started running with the kite. But no matter what she did, she could not make it fly. She could only stop and complain to Chen Xia between breaths.
"Brother Chen, this kite won't fly."
"There's no wind," Chen Xia gave the reason.
He had barely finished speaking.
When Huang Qingyue turned her head, she felt wind blowing straight into her face.
A strong wind.
It stirred her hair and swept up her skirt, pressing it against her shapely figure.
The kite rustled.
Holding her skirt down with one hand, Huang Qingyue called loudly to Chen Xia.
"Brother Chen, with the wind this strong, will there be thunder later?"
"No." Chen Xia's light voice passed through the strong wind and reached Huang Qingyue's ears.
His eyes shone with blue-green light.
The wind was strong that day, and the kite flew very high.
In the strong wind, Huang Qingyue smiled at him from afar and said, "Brother Chen, shall we fly a kite together again next time?!"
Her voice did not carry through the strong wind.
Yet Chen Xia heard her clearly. Leaning against the corner of the wall, he nodded slightly and answered with a smile, "Sure."
But he did not say when next time would be.
Life always came with partings. Chen Xia felt that, with his endless lifespan, he should not become too deeply involved with other people.
It was not very good for either side.
The third year.
During a winter of alternating wind and snow.
A languid figure rose early and, with unhurried steps, trod across the vast white snow, slowly leaving the imperial city.
He wore a blue-green robe.
Just as when he had arrived, he carried nothing.
The wind and snow grew stronger afterward.
They completely swallowed Chen Xia's figure, and even his departing footprints vanished with him.
Perhaps snowy, windy days were good days for leaving in the first place.
Who knew?
Chen Xia left just like that, without a sound.
After getting up in the room next door, Huang Qingyue put on a thick padded jacket, looking sweet and lovely, and knocked on Chen Xia's door. Knowing his lazy disposition, she called out again.
"Brother Chen, time to get up! Brother Chen, time to get up! Brother Chen..."
No one answered.
Puzzled, Huang Qingyue used a little more force and knocked the door open.
Nothing inside had changed. Everything was there.
Only Chen Xia was missing.
"Brother Chen, stop hiding. I can see you."
Huang Qingyue called out deliberately, thinking Chen Xia was joking with her, but no answer ever came.
Her expression grew anxious, and she raised her voice.
"Brother Chen, Brother Chen?!"
Still no answer.
Huang Qingyue began searching the room and finally found a sheet of paper on the bed. At the top, three characters had been written with some semblance of formality.
Farewell letter.
The contents were below, the crooked handwriting very much in Chen Xia's style.
"Personally, I don't think partings need letters, since they aren't good news. But out of politeness, I'll mention it. Meeting is fate. Go have a look outside."
The farewell letter was that simple, very much in keeping with Chen Xia's lazy style.
Holding the farewell letter, Huang Qingyue went outside. Only then did she notice a crooked snowman a dozen or so meters away, with a tall broom stuck in it, as though waving goodbye.
Huang Qingyue wiped away the tears about to spill from her eyes and smiled as she waved back at the snowman.
Thump.
The snowman suddenly collapsed, revealing a book inside.
Puzzled, Huang Qingyue approached to examine it, picked up the book, and saw the four large characters on its cover.
"Mystic Primordial Dao Chapters"!
News of the National Preceptor's departure from the imperial city could not be kept secret and spread unchecked.
Thus, everyone under heaven knew the National Preceptor had gone out into the world.
Officials in the prefectures and counties grew nervous, planning to pay their respects properly if they met the National Preceptor and win his favor.
Unfortunately, they never encountered him.
And people could not stay nervous forever. At first, they still kept up appearances, but later they returned to normal.
Most worth mentioning was Great Song's martial world.
After Chen Xia, the sole immortal to appear in the world, vanished from the news, Great Song's martial world grew lively again, with many experts establishing sects.
They even launched another selection of the world's ten greatest experts.
It was called the Number One Under Heaven Martial Dao Tournament.
This happened in the eighth year.
Moreover, this martial tournament had been agreed upon by the martial world and the imperial authorities, who would host it together.
The martial world's four great aristocratic clans joined Old Dragon Temple, the three great sects, and Great Song's imperial family in hosting it. The ten victorious experts could receive official posts and noble ranks, as well as a reward of ten thousand taels.
Of course, even those who did not enter the ranks of the ten greatest experts could join the Constabulary as long as they had ability, drawing generous salaries while working for the imperial family.
It could be called an excellent place for martial-world experts to rise to great heights in a single bound.
For a time, experts from every corner of the martial world flocked toward the Number One Under Heaven Martial Dao Tournament.
The venue was the Water of the Heavenly Altar. One had to cross a hundred-meter river and traverse the mountains before reaching its shores.
It was a place with beautiful scenery.
And scenic places all shared one trait.
Plenty of idlers.