Meanwhile, on the top floor of the south Myriad Phenomena Tower.
A grand international banquet with 108 dishes was laid out on a large round table covered with silk. Junior Sister Fat Snow, with a square scarf around her neck, squatted at the lower seat, her eyes wide with astonishment.
The one seated at the head of the table was naturally Cloud and Rain Tower. At this moment, the veil had been removed, revealing a stunningly beautiful face with an extremely striking presence.
Her phoenix eyes were clear and her eyelashes were long and long. Her eyebrows were as black as ink and her nose was high and straight. Her cheeks were as white as rouge and her red lips were a pale red with an ascetic feel. Overall, she gave people a feeling of 'all living beings are like ants, and I am like an immortal'.
There is no arrogant arrogance, only the composure to rule the world.
At this moment, Cloud and Rain Tower was looking out the window at the distant Heaven-Observing Pavilion. His face did not reveal his age, but his clothes, which showed his concern for the world, revealed a sense of maturity and composure.
Hongyu, dressed in a long, bright red dress, sat before her mother, no longer displaying the domineering demeanor of her former sect leader. Instead, she resembled a graceful young lady, earnestly pouring wine for her mother.
"The dishes here are of good quality, but not quite divine. Ye Xingge can make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall; Master, you can go and try it sometime..."
Cloud and Rain Tower had long since reached the mountain peak, his body so pure he didn't need to eat, but when his disciple hosted a banquet, he still picked up his chopsticks.
Recalling the slight transgression of last night, Cloud and Rain Tower gently reminded him again:
"I sent you here to guide Ye Xingge, to teach him to follow the right path, to be self-disciplined and respectful. Even if you can't control him, you can't indulge him."
Hongyu clearly had no idea what that audacious son-in-law had done last night, and at this moment she gestured to the terrace in the middle building:
"This is truly not my fault, disciple. Luo Xuanqing is a disciple of the Perfected Jiuhua, and should have followed the teachings to stay away from the mortal world..."
Cloud and Rain Tower and Perfected Jiuhua are the only two female demons of this era, and both are leaders of the righteous path, so they must know each other. Upon hearing this, they responded:
"Everyone has their own path. Regardless of what others do, as the future head of the household, you should cultivate good character and set an example..."
Gibberish...
Hongyu nodded slightly, earnestly accepting the instruction, when she heard the audacious son-in-law's voice, and:
" Yu'er? Come back quickly to learn the martial arts techniques! I'm having trouble figuring out the Twelve Stances Art..."
?
Hongyu wondered, if she went back at this time, could she possibly learn any martial arts techniques?
Worried that her master would notice, Hongyu initially wanted to pretend she hadn't heard, but the man kept whispering in her ear, so she had no choice but to pick up the red jade pendant:
"Busy, focus on your training, bye!"
Seeing this, Cloud and Rain Tower guessed that the rebellious son-in-law had told his wife to go back to bed, and he also felt a sense of 'a daughter is too young to stay at home'.
"You have your own things to do, go back when you should, you don't need to stay by my side."
"Sigh, I'll just be idle when I get back. It's a rare opportunity to get together and have a few drinks with Master. Fat Snow, dance for Master to entertain him..."
"Gurgle?"
Before I knew it, it was already late at night.
Stone Bridge Alley.
Luo Xuanqing, dressed in a long blue satin dress and wearing a flower hairpin given to her by her subordinates, returned to her residence alone, her brows furrowed with weariness.
After all, official receptions are just too boring.
It would be fine if the eldest princess were a young person, but she was an old princess in her fifties who refused to admit she was old. Her entourage consisted of noble ladies from wealthy families, and their private conversations revolved around nothing more than gossip and romance.
Luo Xuanqing, after all, was a disciple of the Perfected Jiuhua; why would he be interested in things like male favorites or mistresses?
If it weren't for her male subordinates flirting with her, she probably would have been anxious to death outside tonight.
Finally, after sending the person back to the palace, Luo Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his residence alone.
The bright moon shines gently, and the two courtyards are quiet and still.
The big black cat with the word "Catch" on its arm was squatting inside the passageway, wagging its tail. When it saw its master return, it meowed.
Luo Xuanqing went over, hugged the cat, rubbed it, put it back on the cat tree, then went to the bathroom to wash up, put on a white nightgown, and returned to the bedroom to lie down on the pillow.
All the steps were just like every day of the past.
But today I feel like something's missing...
Luo Xuanqing twirled the cyan throwing knife between her fingers, the memory of leaning against the man's chest, the thrilling sensation flashing through her mind again...
Pshaw~...
I wonder if that brat has been thinking about me...
Luo Xuanqing tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation of his inner demons. He took out the jade pendant and gently stroked it with his fingers, and soon drifted back into a dream.
But this dream was a bit strange.
Rumble~
Thunder rumbled in the sky.
Luo Xuanqing came to his senses and found himself standing in the stone pavilion. Outside the pavilion, thousands of mountains were shrouded in mist, and the wind and rain were raging. The sky was filled with chaotic clouds, which faintly exuded a strange pressure.
The wind follows the tiger, the clouds follow the dragon.
Luo Xuanqing couldn't see what it was, but above the vast sky, it seemed as if a colossal creature was wandering in the sea of clouds, trying to break free from some kind of shackle.
As the lightning flashed, nine dark shadows could be faintly seen in the churning sea of clouds, like cloud dragons coiling in the sky, each with a different color.
" Nine Qi..."
Luo Xuanqing was genuinely surprised when he saw this strange phenomenon.
The Nine Qi differentiated from the Primordial One Qi and are the ancestral Qi of all things in the Nine Heavens and the human body and soul.
Among all the old demons who follow this path, the most famous is Cloud and Rain Tower.
His original immortal technique, " Nine Transformations of the Cloud Dragon," when mastered, displays a power that can be described as "a figure in white robes as bright as the sun in the sky, surrounded by nine dragons, whose oppressive aura blots out the heavens and the sun."
According to Daoist alchemy, when the nine cycles of alchemy are completed, the elixir will naturally display nine colors; if the elixir is not yet completed, it will only have one color.
Therefore, the meaning of "Nine Transformations of the Cloud Dragon" is that the inner elixir will transform nine times, each time with a different color, and finally the Nine Qi return to their origin, thus forming the golden elixir.
Luo Xuanqing noticed the signs of the Nine Qi manifesting and was puzzled. He carefully observed the sky and saw that the nine-colored Nine Qi were swirling in the air, seemingly sealing something.
"What's going on...?"
Luo Xuanqing was in a dream and didn't know what was going on; he just stared blankly around.
And Peach Blossom Lane.
Ye Xingge sat cross-legged on the bed, his upper body bare, with the " Twelve Stances Art " manual beside him. His palms were stacked one on top of the other, his energy flowing through his body. The candlelight cast shadows on his cheeks, and his expression remained calm and serene.
On his broad back, the red marks covering his back appeared as he practiced his martial arts, revealing the shapes of dragons and elephants.
But then it vanishes without a trace, and the cycle repeats itself...
The next day.
Sunlight streamed onto the window paper, and the faint chirping of cicadas drifted in from outside.
Cicadas~ Cicadas~...
Ye Xingge sat cross-legged on the bed, listening to the cicadas chirping. He exhaled a breath of stale air, picked up the " Twelve Stances Art " manual beside him, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
After all, this lousy inner sect technique is even harder to learn than the Great Nine Yang!
Am I really that bad at understanding things?
No wonder Duke Wu described the competition as so difficult, even mentioning thoughts of suicide...
Ye Xingge probably tried hundreds of times last night, but according to the description in the cultivation manual, there were always a few places where the energy could not be circulated, preventing him from circulating the energy throughout his body.
He wanted to call Great Yu'er back for guidance, but Great Yu'er ignored him. He spent the whole night trying to figure it out but still couldn't find the right approach, and he was almost driven to despair.
As dawn broke, Ye Xingge had no choice but to put the booklet away, get up to wash and prepare, intending to deliver the cultivation manual to his second uncle.
Halfway through, he remembered something, took out the jade pendant again, and thought hard about the hanging bell and the heavy snow:
[How is Sister Luo sleeping?]
Judicial Review Bureau.
Luo Xuanqing had already gotten up and was sitting in the main hall, assigning tasks to his subordinates for defense, while feeling somewhat puzzled.
After all, last night she wanted to be the kind and beautiful Aunt Luo, so she went to flirt with her subordinates, but she ended up being exposed to cold winds all night in her dream, and when she woke up it was as if she had slept for nothing.
Upon discovering that Guagua was being spied on, Luo Xuanqing immediately snapped out of his daze and retrieved a token from under his desk in response:
[You slept well, how about you?]
[I forgot the time while practicing my martial arts and didn't sleep.]
[You're quite diligent. Tomorrow is your birthday banquet, and you have to compete. Stay home and rest to prepare; don't run around aimlessly anymore.]
[Line, (←?←)]
After their conversation, Luo Xuanqing also felt that last night's dream might be related to Ye Xingge practice.
After all, the Great Nine Yang is also a method of Qi Refining, so it's not surprising that it would produce all sorts of strange phenomena in a dream.
But this brat, instead of playing with the beautiful and kind Aunt Luo, he's staying up all night practicing his martial arts...
Tsk~
Luo Xuanqing quickly cleared his mind of distractions, pondered for a moment, and then thought hard about chest and abdominal muscles, considering it a reward for the kid...
Not long after, on Azure Dragon Street.
Tomorrow is Emperor of Yan's fiftieth birthday. The powerful and noble Yongzhou Prefecture, as well as relatives from all over the country, will come. Ye Xingge rode his white horse through the streets, and it was clear that the streets were much more lively than usual.
However, its scale is definitely smaller than that of the 60th or 70th birthday celebrations. The core of the celebration is in the large square inside the palace and Diligent Governance Tower, and there are no special decorations on the streets.
Ye Xingge walked along the street, still pondering the cultivation technique in his mind, and unknowingly arrived near the inn.
The three-story inn is located in the center of the main street. Under the rising sun, the large signboard of " Wujian Inn " shines brightly in the distance, while inside the newly decorated inn...
The place is deserted!
Hey?
Ye Xingge's heart sank slightly when he saw the familiar scene.
The white horse beneath him, which had been unfamiliar with the place on previous visits, finally recognized the inn this time as an "old horse that knows the way" and trotted quickly to the door.
Hoofbeats, hoofbeats...
Since Ye Xingge was already there, he couldn't pretend not to know her, so he braced himself, dismounted, and peered out the window.
To everyone's relief, there were still several tables of customers in the lobby, which would be considered a full house even by Qingxi's standards.
Unfortunately, half of them were acquaintances.
"Uncle Wang?!"
Ye Xingge was slightly taken aback when she saw Wang Shouyin, dressed as a guard, sitting at the table with a wine bowl, chatting and laughing with her father and second uncle. She quickly stepped inside.
"Uncle Wang, what brings you to the capital?"
Wang Shouyin arrived last night and will definitely be staying here tonight. Looking back now:
"Oh! Lord Ye has arrived..."
"Shh~"
Ye Xingge, afraid of scaring away the two cautious tables of guests, slightly raised his hand in a gesture of greeting:
"Running a shop isn't easy, don't ruin your business..."
Ye Yuanshan had just stood up when he heard his son's words. He looked around and thought to himself:
Is this even necessary?
Now, everyone in the capital knows my son's nickname is Ye Grand Duke Jupiter. Outside of Yongzhou Prefecture, no one even knows that murder is a crime!
But since they could keep as many guests as possible, Ye Yuanshan didn't want to bring it up. He simply gestured to the table.
"Come and sit down, is everything alright at the yamen today?"
Ye Xingge sat down at the long table and first greeted her parents and second uncle:
"I'm off today, just came to check in and pick up a few things."
As they spoke, Ye Xingge took out the booklet " Twelve Stances Art " and handed it to his second uncle, Ye Gucheng, who was dressed in white and sported a mustache.
"Second Uncle, didn't you say last time that you were interested in this? I just borrowed it, take a look."
Ye Gucheng and Ye Yuanshan's gazes both sharpened slightly upon seeing the familiar cover of the cultivation manual.
After all, the two brothers had been practicing the " Twelve Stances Art " for decades.
However, since they were in public, the two didn't want to show any unusual expression, so Ye Gucheng casually took it:
"That's thoughtful of you. I'll go check it out."
After saying that, he got up and walked to the backyard, one hand behind his back, and walked with the imposing air of heading to the Cliff of Repentance, the Scripture Pavilion, and the secluded cave.
Seeing this, Ye Yuanshan also picked up the teapot:
"I'll go get you some more tea. You rest for a bit and chat with Old Wang."
With guests present, Ye Xingge naturally couldn't leave his seat, so he turned to Wang Shouyin:
"Is Uncle Wang coming to the capital to offer birthday greetings?"
Wang Shouyin frowned, gesturing to his blue constable's robe:
"With your rank, are you even qualified to attend a birthday celebration? It's Magistrate Shen who's going; we came along yesterday."
Ye Xingge suddenly realized, and looked up at the second floor again:
"Is Lord Shen upstairs?"
"The magistrate left at dawn, saying he was going to visit an old friend. He didn't let us go with him, and we don't know when he'll be back."
Wang Shouyin looked around and whispered:
"I reckon Magistrate Shen went to see his old flame; it's the same thing every time he Capital..."
"Well..."
Ye Xingge had heard Uncle Wang mention this before, but now that he thought about it, Magistrate Shen must have gone to the Heaven-Observing Pavilion to visit his father-in-law.
Magistrate Shen used to be quite low-key. Over the years, he had no idea who his father-in-law was, and naturally, neither did the yamen runners below him.
"It shouldn't be that bad, maybe it's just visiting relatives..."
"Who knows..."
Wang Shouyin had watched Ye Xingge grow up, and after not seeing her for several days, he missed her a little. He raised an eyebrow again at that moment.
"So? Did you avoid ten years of detours by following your uncle's advice?"
Ye Xingge was arranged by Uncle Wang to be a perfect match for Great Beauty and Three Feet One, which almost drove him to despair!
However, in retrospect, he did indeed benefit from it, and he poured himself a bowl of wine.
"Uncle Wang is truly experienced. If it weren't for his help that day, I might have missed this opportunity."
"Sigh, it mainly depends on your own abilities, kid. If you don't have the ability, even with your uncle and Magistrate Shen's help, we can't make you successful..."
After saying a few words, Wang Shouyin glanced outside again, and seeing that Flower Judge and the others hadn't followed, he leaned closer and said:
"I remember you, kid. You're particularly fond of female knights-errant. There's one living upstairs; she just arrived last night. She was wearing a veil, so I couldn't see her face, but she didn't seem like an ordinary person. She even had an eagle perched on her shoulder..."
As he spoke, Wang Shouyin and gestured:
"About this size! Probably seven or eight pounds. At first, my uncle thought it was a speckled pheasant and teased it a bit. The speckled hawk even tilted its head and looked at me. I said, 'What are you looking at?' It made a 'clucking' sound. It seemed quite intelligent..."
"Oh?"
Ye Xingge found it somewhat interesting and looked towards the stairs:
"Is that female knight still upstairs?"
"No, I left this morning and haven't come back yet."
"Oh."
Ye Xingge felt it was a pity, and picked up the wine bowl again:
"Come, let me first toast Uncle Wang..."