Wave-Gazing Residence

No. 13 Wave-Gazing Residence was where Jiang Wangxuan had lived in Lüyu for more than six years. Its abundant spiritual presence was perhaps rivaled only by "Where the Clouds Hide All" in the entire Central Palace!

But now that the Plain Shadow Cold Moon Osmanthus in the Frost Osmanthus Osmanthus Garden had hidden gold within its moonlight, that separate residence in the northwest corner of the Central Palace would become the most suitable cave abode in the Central Palace for secluded cultivation!

Jinyi and Chen Suqiu had followed him all the way here, and both were somewhat awed by the grandeur of Wave-Gazing Residence. The residences here had all once been important holdings of the Central Palace's great lineages, symbols of their status as powerful households of the Central Palace!

The architectural structures, carved patterns, and immortal ornaments, found only in buildings from centuries ago, all reflected the noble standing of the households that had once lived here.

The main courtyards at the very center had all been sealed with forbidden Incantations and arrays. The residences that had been cleared out were the lineages' separate residences!

"This is the place!"

Jiang Wangxuan pointed to the two towering pillars at the entrance, carved with auspicious cloud patterns. Chen Suqiu pulled a long face and ventured in a tiny voice, "Senior, is it too late for us to retreat now?"

"We're already here, so let's go in, sit for a while, and get familiar with the place. You two can move in in a few days. But remember, no further renovations are allowed here. These buildings are centuries old, and even a little damage would be a loss to Xuantian!"

Looking at the ornamental carvings she had never seen before, Jiang Jinyi should have been beside herself with excitement. Back home, she would have had to "accidentally" show them off, but now her heart felt heavy!

It was as if a small mountain were pressing down on her, leaving her unable to breathe!

All the way here, Jiang Jinyi had stared at her brother's back. His blue Daoist robes had faded somewhat, and the hairpin on his head seemed to be the one he had bought on a trip home years ago.

A senior as formidable as her brother was actually unknown at school. One could imagine how hard he had worked there these past few years!

Hearing her roommate stop calling him Senior Brother and address him as Senior every time she spoke, how could Jiang Jinyi not know that her brother had reached Foundation Establishment?

Her brother, only two years older than she was, had reached Foundation Establishment without a sound!

Foundation Establishment, an immortal foundation-even after attending classes in Lüyu for several months, Jiang Jinyi still heard the subject of Foundation Establishment discussed around her with great trepidation!

The so-called Foundation Establishment seeds the older students spoke of were merely striving for a chance to remain at the school. Very few Foundation Establishment seeds ever truly made it to the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

In Lüyu, the Foundation Establishment failure rate was as high as eighty percent. It made many Foundation Establishment seeds who had stayed at the school shrink back in the end, ultimately leaving with their profound cultivation intact. That was what the vast majority of the older students had planned when they entered Lüyu!

In the residence's main hall, Chen Suqiu looked at the understated yet immortal ornaments. Every object in the hall would have the great Aristocratic Clans scrambling to buy it if it were brought down below, to enhance their lineages' prestige and heritage!

Yet in this residence, they were displayed openly in the hall for visiting guests to admire!

"Oh, right. After you move in, take good care of the objects already in this residence. Every single one is accounted for!"

"Senior, I'm afraid the most valuable things in this residence are all these ornaments. If we really move in, could it be that we're here to give the courtyard a lived-in feel?"

Chen Suqiu half-jokingly spoke her mind!

Jiang Wangxuan merely smiled it off. "These objects may all be refined from precious immortal materials, but every one of them is a desecration of those superior materials. They took spiritual materials that could have been used to forge Law Artifacts and made these flashy, useless decorations!"

"Sometimes I don't know whether it's people who are precious or these lifeless things. A hundred years have passed, and the house and these things are still here, but where can the people of old be found?"

Chen Suqiu hurriedly agreed. Even as he chatted and laughed, the pressure this Grand Yin Foundation Establishment cultivator brought to bear on her was stronger than that of the old master of her own household!

His every movement and word seemed to draw a response from all the spiritual presence around them!

Was this the pressure brought by the Grand Yin Dao lineage?

"Oh, right. Jinyi will stay here for the next few days. Sorry for the trouble, Suqiu, but could you ask the substitute lecturer for leave on her behalf? Just say Jinyi needs to enter seclusion for a while!"

This time, however, Chen Suqiu did not agree. Looking troubled, she said, "Senior, Jinyi receives a great deal of 'attention' from the teachers in our class. In particular, Teacher Xun asks after her every single day. I'm afraid Jinyi will have to ask for leave in person to show her respect!"

Jinyi, who had been distracted at the side the whole time, also spoke up. "Brother, it's only been a little over a month since I broke through to Qi Refinement. How would the teachers let me go into seclusion?"

In Lüyu, classes and seclusion were scheduled in alternating periods. Students first attended classes for a semester or half a semester, then one to two months were set aside for the teachers to rest. That was when the students devoted themselves to arduous practice.

There were roughly three such cycles a year, without a break all year round!

"You have classes with Teacher Xun? Is the old professor still filling in as a lecturer?" Jiang Wangxuan suddenly asked.

"Yes, Senior. Teacher Xun teaches only our class. He's responsible for Dao theory and basic Techniques!"

Chen Suqiu answered carefully. Judging by Senior Brother Jiang's tone, he seemed to know Teacher Xun as well!

"All right, then there's no problem!"

With that, Jiang Wangxuan took out two boxes of Osmanthus Rain Flower Essence and handed them to Chen Suqiu. "Here are two boxes of Osmanthus Rain Flower Essence. Take one with you when you ask for leave, and tell Teacher Xun that the osmanthus flowers are in bloom, and I invite him to savor the tea. He'll understand!"

"Keep the other box for yourself. This osmanthus tea is well suited to stabilizing true essence in Early Qi Refining. It isn't much use in Middle Qi Refining. You could also give it to an elder in your family to prolong their life!"

As soon as Chen Suqiu took the tea boxes made of spiritual jade, she sensed a trace of Grand Yin flowing within them. This had to be a spiritual product connected to Grand Yin, something quite rare on the market!

She suddenly felt that, with a Foundation Establishment senior like him looking after her, her future was bright. Even something he casually gave away was a rarity that could not be found on the market!

Chen Suqiu felt that the Jiang Household had the bearing of a great, long-established Aristocratic Clan. Wouldn't assisting the Jiang Household's direct-line young lady also open up a vast world of possibilities?

After thanking him repeatedly and saying goodbye, Chen Suqiu left the residence she would soon move into, her whole face flushed red!

Twenty years old, and at Grand Yin Foundation Establishment-it sounded like something out of a storybook. Only her good roommate, who had never encountered the petty scheming of Aristocratic Clans since childhood, failed to understand the weight her brother carried!

If her brother visited the Jialing Chen Household now, the only two Foundation Establishment cultivators left in her family would both have to come out to welcome him. His age was one reason, but most important was his Grand Yin Dao lineage. With the two combined, his weight was even harder to calculate!

Chen Suqiu felt she could not calculate the weight Jinyi's brother carried at all. She had only scratched the surface of her Qian Metal cultivation!

But she had to keep this matter to herself. Was this not a small test the senior had given her? She might be among the first to know of his breakthrough in seclusion, and what that meant went without saying!

Dazed, Chen Suqiu walked out of the residence and accidentally bumped into a cultivator wearing black robes. He had handsome features, his presence was restrained, and a splendid light seemed to turn faintly around him!

This was bad. This was Wave-Gazing Residence-there wasn't a single person who could appear here that she could afford to offend!

"Are you a student of Lüyu?" a magnetic voice suddenly asked.

Chen Suqiu hurriedly offered an apology and replied, "I'm sorry, Senior. I didn't see you while I was hurrying along. I'm terribly sorry. I'm a new student at Lüyu this year, in the Metal Virtue department. My surname is Chen, and my name is Suqiu!"

Gu Changhuai, whom Chen Suqiu had accidentally bumped into, studied the young woman with interest. A Qian Metal cultivator at Qi Refinement Second Layer did not look like someone who belonged here!

In past years, there had been no Chen clan among the great lineages of the Central Palace. That was rather strange.

"It's all right. I'm also a lecturer at Lüyu. My surname is Ye, and I teach in the Water Virtue department! Few ordinary people ever come in here, so I wasn't paying attention either!"

Gu Changhuai had returned to the Central Palace only a few days ago and had yet to officially report to the school. He had first chosen an old Gu Household courtyard as his residence, and today he had encountered a new face, a rare occurrence.

"Your student Chen Suqiu pays her respects, Lecturer Ye!" Chen Suqiu bowed with proper decorum.

Seeing that the student plainly had the bearing of someone from a great lineage, Gu Changhuai nodded and left. But when he returned to his own residence, he suddenly felt that something was very wrong!

Was there some presence on that young woman that was drawing me to her? He felt his fate stirring with excitement!

Investigate! Investigate this student named Chen Suqiu inside and out! Gu Changhuai, who was always vigilant from dawn to dusk, moved his fingers.

Countless covert contacts throughout Yuanhuai Heaven were immediately set in motion to serve the Gu Household's eldest young master upon his return home!

Meanwhile, Chen Suqiu had just returned to her dormitory in the Lüyu blessed land when she received a dormitory transfer notice through her contacts. More interesting still, the applicant field bore her own name, Chen Suqiu.

The approver was Lin Tongjiang, secretary-general of the principal's office!

Somehow, Chen Suqiu felt restless and dispirited all evening. Perhaps it was because her utterly adorable roommate was not by her side, or perhaps the pressure that Grand Yin Foundation Establishment senior brought upon her was too great!

But Chen Suqiu felt that someone had diverted her own fate from its original course that night. People and levels of society she could never have reached before had all opened their doors to her today!

In the early hours, Chen Suqiu somehow found herself opening the tea box Senior Brother Jiang had given her, the one called Osmanthus Rain Flower Essence. Soon, shriveled osmanthus blossoms edged with silver drifted into the tea!

As the osmanthus blossoms unfurled, clusters of moonlight rippled through the teacup. Chen Suqiu cupped it in slightly trembling hands and took a sip of the osmanthus tea!

A clear, soothing stream of moon essence Qi flowed along her meridians into the depths of her Qi Sea, then fell upon her true essence like a shower of spiritual osmanthus blossoms.

The barrier to Qi Refining Third Layer quietly gave way just like that, while a trace of moon-cold frost remained in her body, to be slowly absorbed!

Osmanthus Rain Flower Essence was a top-grade spiritual tea for the Grand Yin path at the Qi Refining Stage. Chen Suqiu felt that Senior Jiang had greatly underestimated its effects. At the very least, this spiritual tea could be used all the way from Middle Qi Refining through the breakthrough to Late Qi Refining Stage!

For cultivators of the Three Yins and Cold Qi, the moon-cold frost left behind by Osmanthus Rain Flower Essence was probably a priceless treasure at the Qi Refining Stage!

Chen Suqiu was finally certain that her fate must have been "forcibly" changed!