Two conversations

"Imperial Preceptor, Imperial Preceptor?"

The veiled woman called out a few times and found that Luo Yuheng's face was blank and her eyes were unfocused. She looked like a beautiful jade statue, beautiful as she was, but without any liveliness.

The veiled woman reached out to push, but was blocked by a wall of air.

In a small courtyard in the outer city.

A faint light, imperceptible to ordinary people, descended and landed in the courtyard, transforming into a beautiful woman dressed in a black Daoist robe and wearing a lotus crown.

She had almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks, exquisite features, and beautiful black hair. Even the loose Daoist robe couldn't hide her proud and firm chest.

Luo Yuheng pushed open the door and entered, seeing an old Daoist priest with gray hair lying on the bed, his face peaceful.

She focused her mind and sensed for a moment, then reached out her delicate hand from within her loose Daoist robe and suddenly grabbed.

A few breaths later, a slightly illusory figure returned from afar, was captured in her palm, and with a flick of her sleeve, was sent into the old Daoist's body.

Master Jinlian opened her eyes, sat up cross-legged, and said helplessly, "I'm already on my way back."

As she spoke, Daoist Jinlian scrutinized Luo Yuheng's tall and curvaceous figure and said, "Junior Sister, you've even separated your Yang Spirit from your body. Why are you in such a hurry? Is there something important?"

Luo Yuheng didn't waste any words and asked directly, "Did you watch today's magical duel?"

Master Jinlian nodded.

"The Confucian School carving knife has appeared."

Master Jinlian hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"I ask you, who exactly is Xu Qi'an?" Luo Yuheng stepped forward, her beautiful eyes blazing.

"An ordinary person." Master Jinlian's answer was somewhat hesitant.

"Can an ordinary person use a Confucian School carving knife?" Luo Yuheng sneered.

Master Jinlian frowned and remained silent.

After a long while, he slowly said, "When I first met him, I saw that he was a person with great fortune, so I gave him the fragment of the Earth Book and used his fortune to evade Zi Lian's pursuit."

"Afterwards, I investigated his identity and found it rather strange. Whether it was Li Miaozhen, Chu Yuanzhen, or anyone else, they had all already gained power when I gave them the fragments of the Earth Book."

"Xu Qi'an is the only one at the Essence Refining Realm, and his family background is utterly unremarkable. What good fortune could he possibly have? Well, good fortune comes either from doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, or from the protection of one's ancestors. He has neither."

Luo Yuheng listened patiently without interrupting.

"Then something happened that made me realize something was wrong with him. One time, this kid revealed himself in the fragments of the Earth Book, saying that he was picking up silver every day and wanted to know why."

Hearing this, Luo Yuheng couldn't help but exclaim, "This isn't good fortune, is it?"

Master Jinlian gazed at her intently, her eyes deep and bright, and said, word by word, "This is destiny, an immense destiny."

Despite his initial suspicions, Luo Yuheng's pupils contracted sharply upon receiving confirmation from Daoist Jinlian.

Xu Qi'an woke up slowly, feeling pain all over his body, especially his neck, which was burning with pain.

He turned his eyes and glanced around at the scene: white bed curtains, brocade quilts embroidered with lotus leaves, simple yet elegant furnishings. An elderly man in a scholar's robe sat at the round table in the outer hall.

The old man in the scholar's robe had messy white hair hanging down, his robe was loose, and his white beard had not been trimmed in a long time. He exuded an air of "dejection".

Who is this cynic? A question flashed through Xu Qi'an's mind.

"You're awake," the cynical old man said, rising with a smile. "I am Zhao Shou, the dean of the Cloud Deer Academy."

The Dean of the Cloud Deer Academy, Cijiu said that the Dean of the Academy was Confucian School at the third rank of the Establishing Destiny Realm! Xu Qi'an immediately straightened up, cupped his hands, and said:

"So it's the dean. The dean has an extraordinary air about him, refined and reserved; he is truly a highly respected elder."

He paused for a moment before asking, "Why is the dean in my room?"

Dean Zhao Shou did not answer, but his gaze fell on Xu Qi'an's right hand. Only then did Xu Qi'an realize that he had been holding the carving knife the whole time.

He was taken aback at first, then made a guess: This carving knife belongs to the Cloud Deer Academy? That makes sense, besides Cloud Deer Academy, what other system could carry Vast Righteous Qi?

"This carving knife is the most precious treasure of our academy. You've kept it in your hand all this time, and no one can take it away. So I can only wait here for you to wake up and ask you a few questions."

After Zhao Shou finished speaking, he glanced at the ancient carving knife again, his eyes seeming to say: Still holding it? This young man is so ignorant.

Xu Qi'an presented it with both hands.

Zhao Shou didn't take it, but instead glanced at the table.

Xu Qi'an, understanding perfectly, threw the carving knife onto the table with a loud clatter.

Zhao Shou's brow twitched, and he quickly bowed three times to the carving knife before taking out a wooden box from his sleeve and putting the carving knife inside.

"Does Lord Xu know the origin of this carving knife?" Zhao Shou asked with a slight smile.

Xu Qi'an's heart stirred slightly, and he boldly guessed. "The carving knife of the Quasi-Sage?"

Zhao Shou shook his head. "This is the carving knife of a sage."

"Is the sage's carving knife... that sage? Is it a sage who transcends all ranks? Can I touch the carving knife a little longer? I haven't taken a picture to post on WeChat Moments yet." Xu Qi'an's mouth was open, his throat seemed to have lost its voice, and he couldn't speak.

"Since the passing of the Second Sage, this carving knife has remained dormant for over a thousand years. Although later generations could use it, they could not awaken it. Unexpectedly, it has broken free of its box today to assist Lord Xu."

Zhao Shou stared intently at Xu Qi'an and said in a deep voice, "There are some things I need to remind Lord Xu of in person."

Xu Qi'an's heart sank; he had a premonition. He got out of bed, bowed deeply, and said, "Please enlighten me, Dean."

"Impossible, impossible!"

Luo Yuheng shook his head repeatedly, his two delicate and long eyebrows furrowed, and retorted:

"I've had many encounters with him. If he possesses extraordinary potential, how could I not have sensed it? How could my Human Sect not have sensed it?"

Master Jinlian countered, "What if the secrets of heaven were blocked? If you were to look at Xu Qi'an now, you still wouldn't detect anything unusual about him."

"You mean the Supervisor?" Luo Yuheng took a deep breath, her furrowed brows a captivating sight, but as her brows furrowed, her gaze sharpened like a knife.

"Didn't you investigate Xu Qi'an? He's just a lowly silver gong seller, with no extraordinary figures in his family. How can he possibly bear the weight of such a fortune bestowed upon him?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't figured this out yet." Master Jinlian got up from the bed, walked to the table, sat down, poured two glasses of water, and gestured for Luo Yuheng to sit down.

The female imperial advisor ignored her.

She has no time to drink tea right now.

After pondering for a long time, Luo Yuheng suddenly said, "If Warlock conceals the secrets of heaven, you should be unable to see his fortune at all. The Supervisor lays out subtle clues; if he doesn't want others to know, then others will never know. That's what a first-rank Warlock is."

"I've thought of everything you can think of." Master Jinlian sipped her tea, her tone calm. "Some time ago, I noticed that his good fortune had disappeared, so I went to check on him."

"I discovered that the Supervisor had shielded the heavenly secrets and concealed his special nature. I knew then that this matter was unusual and that Xu Qi'an was hiding a huge secret."

"That day, after leaving the Xu Residence, I walked and walked until I reached the Eight Trigrams Platform of the Star-Gazing Tower, where I met the Supervisor."

"What did he say?" Luo Yuheng narrowed her beautiful eyes.

"We shall keep to ourselves," Master Jinlian said in a deep voice.

The curvaceous and alluring Luo Meiren remained silent for a long time, then gritted her teeth and said angrily, "The dynasty's fortunes have plummeted, and it's no wonder the Bureau of Astronomy is involved."

Master Jinlian frowned. "What do you mean?"

Luo Yuheng finally sat down at the table, picked up her teacup, sipped her tea with her beautiful red lips, and said, "A few years ago, Wei Yuan came to Lingbao Temple and pointed at my nose, scolding me for being a femme fatale."

He said that during the twenty years that His Majesty had been practicing Daoism, the power of the Great Feng Kingdom had declined day by day, and the taxes and grain in various prefectures were often not collected, the people were suffering, and corrupt officials were rampant.

"All of this is because I, for my own cultivation, misled His Majesty into practicing Daoism, causing him to neglect his duties."

"Isn't that right?" Master Jinlian thought to herself.

"From that moment on, I suddenly realized that the dynasty's fortunes were beginning to wane, like a dull knife slowly cutting flesh, imperceptible to most. If it weren't for Wei Yuan's talent for governing the country, his familiarity with civil administration, and his being the first to notice and give me a wake-up call, I probably would have had to wait several more years to discover the signs."

After listening, Daoist Jinlian nodded and reminded her, "Don't say so much. This is the Supervisor's territory. He might be listening to our conversation."

"Not at all," Luo Yuheng said with a shrug, quite confidently, "He can't hear me."

This isn't a question of whether he can hear me or not; it's a question of why I don't want to get involved in this mess. Master Jinlian wisely changed the subject:

"If, and I mean if, Xu Qi'an really has extraordinary luck bestowed upon him, would you cultivate with him?"

Luo Yuheng's expression froze once again.

"Do you know why the sage's carving knife broke out of the box? And why, apart from the near-sage, later generations can only use it but cannot awaken it?" Zhao Shou Shoulian asked two questions.

"I'm just a crude and uncouth martial artist," Dean Xu Qi'an shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

The dean didn't keep them in suspense and said in a deep voice, "The luck is insufficient. This carving knife was used by a sage. The sage used it to carve the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Book of Rites, the Book of Music, the Book of Changes, and so on."

"It cannot be used by those who do not possess the great fortune of humanity."

The dean's words finally resolved Xu Qi'an's long-standing doubts: his strange luck was actually just destiny.

Picking up silver every day, isn't that the mark of a lucky person? Picking up one coin a day gradually becomes picking up three coins a day, then five coins a day, and it's a lucky person who can level up.

No, rather than an upgrade, it's more accurate to say that it slowly revived within me. Xu Qi'an felt a heavy weight in his heart.

He had his reasons for thinking that way; as his rank increased, his luck improved. At first glance, it seemed like his luck was leveling up, but how could that thing possibly level up?

The only explanation is that the energy within him is slowly recovering.

But I am just a child from an ordinary family in the capital. My Xu Household is just an ordinary family. My second uncle and biological father are rough and uncouth military men, just ordinary soldiers.

Non-Self 'm not a member of the Xu Household.

This suspicion had been raised before, because there was a dragon licking him in the palace. Scratch that, there was a spirit dragon that was very eager to please him. Master Jinlian said that the spirit dragon only liked people with purple qi aura around them.

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "Oh no, I'm doomed. I was still thinking about Huaiqing's beauty. Could I be the illegitimate son of some royal prince among the common people?"

However, Xu Qi'an's face before "plastic surgery" was quite similar to that of his Second Uncle Xu, and from a genetic perspective, the two are related by blood.

Xu Qi'an is a son of the Xu Household, the offspring of Xu Pingzhi's elder brother. Even if he is Xu Pingzhi's illegitimate son, he is still a son of the Xu Household.

The essence remains unchanged.

So, where does this good fortune come from?

Dean Zhao Shou Shouwen said, "This fortune is mysterious and profound, yet it truly exists. There are three things in the Nine Provinces related to fortune: first, Confucian School; second, Warlock; and third, human emperors."

"The third party is not limited to the Great Feng; the Witch God Sect and the Western Regions Buddhist School are also included. As for the northern and southern barbarian tribes, the former are scattered and have never been unified, while the latter have a sparse population, making it impossible for either to accumulate fortune."

Confucian School is mostly irrelevant to me, otherwise the dean wouldn't be lecturing me about it. So, there are only two reasons why I'm so lucky: the royal family and the Bureau of Astronomy.

If I were a member of the royal family, I'd be doomed; Lin'an and Huaiqing would be my sisters or cousins. However, Linglong's attitude suggests that I'm unlikely to be a member of the royal family. Compared to an illegitimate child born into the common people, shouldn't a prince or princess with a legitimate lineage be more sycophantic?

Besides, I haven't seen Biao Biao and Huai Qing picking up money every day.

My relationship with Lin'an is steadily improving, and I'm also getting along well with Huaiqing. I've become a viscount, and if I can be promoted to earl in the future, I'll have a chance to marry the princess.

I absolutely cannot have any blood relation with the royal family.

Based on the past attitude and behavior of the Director of the Imperial Observatory, Xu Qi'an suspected that this matter was mostly related to the Bureau of Astronomy, no, it was related to the Director of the Imperial Observatory.

Seeing that he seemed to have figured something out, Dean Zhao Shou said with a smile, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Is there anything you want to ask, Dean? Xu Qi'an's gun will never fall. Do you think this line is acceptable? If it is, please give me a line. "Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

On the surface, he shook his head. "That's all, thank you for your explanation, Dean."

Zhao Shou nodded. "The palace eunuchs have been waiting outside for a long time. Please invite him in; His Majesty has something to ask you."

Eunuchs in the palace?

After a moment's thought, Xu Qi'an realized why the eunuch had sought him out.

During the battle, he twice displayed his divine power, breaking through the "Eight Sufferings Formation" and the "Vajra Formation," both of which were bursts of power beyond his limits.

Although some "clever people" might suspect that the supervisor was secretly helping, routine questioning was unavoidable.

Moreover, Xu Qi'an glanced at Zhao Shou. The first two cuts could still be blamed on the supervisor, but the appearance of this carving knife from the academy, which shattered the Buddhist realm, was beyond the supervisor's control.

Emperor Yuanjing was a very controlling emperor; he wouldn't overlook these details. If I don't handle this well, I might be in trouble, revealing things I shouldn't have, such as the carving knife being summoned by me.

Xu Qi'an dressed himself, put on his mink hat, and went to the hall with Dean Zhao Shou.