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The entire lobby was silent. Even the birds ceased their song.
The white-robed elder’s mind buzzed. He felt as if someone had whacked him over the head.
How could someone as venerable as Elder Shui treat some foreign yao woman with such respect?
The other prominent figures in attendance were all wondering the same thing. All of them subconsciously looked at Bai Wenqing. Each felt differently, but all of them were trying to guess just who this elegant beauty was.
Bai Wenqing felt bewildered too. She instinctively asked, “Senior, have you perhaps mistaken me for someone else?”
The gray-robed, black-hatted Elder Shui smiled benevolently in response. “Miss Bai, are you the one who brought that jade pendant?”
“That’s right.” Bai Wenqing nodded. “But it’s my master who entrusted it to me….”
Elder Shui laughed and cut her off here. “There are too many eyes here. Miss Bai, would you be so kind as to follow me for a chat on the top floor’s Cloudmarsh Terrace?”
Bai Wenqing nodded.
The man in ornate robes finally let his confusion get the best of him. He approached, lowered his head, and bowed. “Elder Shui, to the best of my knowledge, this is that woman’s first day in Nine Tripod City. Before this, she didn’t even know the rules for entering Cloudmarsh Tower. Besides, she’s a yao cultivator! Don’t let her deceive you!”
This declaration left the entire room flabbergasted.
Bai Wenqing was instantly enraged. “When did I ‘deceive’ anyone? You and I don’t even know each other, but you repeatedly pestered me and insisted I recognize you as my master. When I refused, you threatened to teach me a lesson after I left Cloudmarsh Tower!”
This provoked a round of uproar and upset. The man in ornate robes glowered and roared, “Bitch! How dare you slander me?”
Elder Shui’s brow furrowed slightly. He gazed evenly at the man in ornate robes and said, “You’re… Family Head Tang Shangcheng’s son?”
As soon as he spoke, the entire room quieted down. Everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter.
The man in ornate robes hurriedly lowered his head and bowed. “This junior is Tang Jiansen. Greetings, Elder Shui.”
By lowering his head, he hid his smug grin from view.
The Tang Family wasn’t one of Nine Tripod City’s three peak-level clans, but it was in the top five, a powerful aristocratic family!
He was confident that even if Bai Wenqing shouted herself hoarse, Elder Shui wouldn’t help her.
After all, she was just an outsider, and a yao cultivator at that!
“A good slapping is in order,” said Elder Shui calmly.
The man in ornate robes, Tang Jiansen, rejoiced. It’s just as I thought! That yao woman’s words displeased Elder Shui!
“Yes, sir.” A resolute, capable-looking middle-aged man stood behind Elder Shui. He was dressed in flexible armor, and he had a beast skin draped over his back. When he heard Elder Shui’s orders, he carried them out immediately.
Whap!
Beneath the crowd’s disbelieving gazes, Tang Jiansen took a ruthless slap to the face. Teeth flew through the air and blood spurted from his nose. He was slapped so hard that he spun in three circles, like a human top, before falling to the ground with an audible thud. The impact left him seeing stars.
“Young Master!” The white-robed elder was frantic. He felt a chill in his hands and feet. This scene left him surprised, but also terrified and uncertain.
Without exception, the others in attendance felt their hearts quiver.
Tang Jiansen was a famous playboy in Nine Tripod City. He relied on his family’s prestige, and over the years, he’d harmed countless women.
However, he was clever. He only ever targeted rogue cultivators from outside the city. They were rootless drifters; even if he caused an incident, the clan could easily smooth things over.
Yet now, he’d inadvertently kicked an iron board!
At the same time, Bai Wenqing seemed increasingly impressive. Elder Shui had made his position clear, going so far as to punish Tang Jiansen on her account. How could any ordinary person receive such treatment?
Tang Jiansen sat on the floor, panicked and ill at ease. He said in a quavering voice, “Elder Shui… Are you… Are you sure there hasn’t been some mistake?”
When Elder Shui saw this, he shook his head and said to the competent-looking man clad in beast skin, “A’ding, break his legs, then personally see him back to his home. His father, Tang Shangcheng, can deal with him.”
It was just one sentence, and his tone was casual and understated. His voice didn’t so much as ripple.
“Yes, sir!” The man in the beast skin nodded.
“Remember to tell Tang Shangcheng that I’m displeased with how he handles this, I wouldn’t mind paying the Tang Family a personal visit. If need be, I’ll teach his unfilial son how to behave myself.” Elder Shui waved. “Go on.”
Everyone was stunned, and their scalps went numb. They finally understood. Elder Shui obviously wouldn’t let Tang Jiansen off lightly!
Even Bai Wenqing would never have anticipated this result. Despite herself, she was stunned. So, the dragon sparrow jade pendant Senior Su gave me actually has such enormous weight…
“Elder Shui, I was wrong! I was wrong! Please, spare me just this once. I was blind! I didn’t know what was good for me, but please…!” Tang Jiansen wailed and begged in terror. He was now completely frantic.
However, his pleas soon came to an abrupt halt. A large hand had seized him by the neck, as if he were a chicken. Soon, A’ding’s cold, lean face filled his field of vision.
Crunch! Crunch!
One hand held Tang Jiansen aloft, while the other struck like a hammer, snapping the bones and tendons of Tang Jiansen’s legs. It hurt so much that his vision went black. His entire body convulsed, and he fainted.
A’ding then proceeded out of Cloudmarsh Tower, still carrying him by the neck.
This scene provoked gasps throughout the lobby.
Too tyrannical!
“Miss Bai, if you please!” Elder Shui, however, wasn’t the least bit concerned. His smile was warm and amiable as he gestured for Bai Wenqing to follow him. He then led the way inside.
Bai Wenqing’s mind was blank, and she followed him, feeling a bit dizzy. She’d yet to recover her senses after watching A’ding snap Tang Jiansen’s legs.
It was only after watching her and Elder Shui disappear from view that the illustrious guests reacted as if awakening from a dream. They looked at each other, taking in the shock on each other’s faces.
“Just who is that woman, for Elder Shui to attach such importance to her?” said one of the guests, clearly shaken.
Who could miss that Tang Jiansen’s miserable outcome happened on account of Bai Wenqing?
“You’re looking at this the wrong way. That woman said it herself; she’s an attendant, and she came to Cloudmarsh Tower on her master’s orders. The truly impressive one is whoever’s standing behind her!” One of the higher-up’s eyes flashed as he made this deduction.
Numerous others chimed in their agreement.
“In that case, that yao cultivator’s master must be an extremely terrifying existence. Otherwise, someone of Elder Shui’s status would have no need to welcome a servant in person. It’s rare for him to attach such importance even to Spirit Dao cultivators!” said someone else, sounding bewildered.
“I’m afraid Tang Jiansen really is finished this time. His father might be the head of the Tang Family, but there’s no way Tang Shangcheng will offend Elder Shui over a playboy silkpants of a son,” someone sighed.
“Heh, I’m afraid just punishing Tang Jiansen won’t be enough to satisfy Elder Shui,” someone else said with complete confidence. “Way I see it, the Tang Family will have to pay through the nose this time. Only then can they extinguish the fires of Elder Shui’s fury!”
“Finished, we’re finished…” The white-robed elder who’d accompanied Tang Jiansen inside finally came to his senses. He shrieked in alarm, then charged out of Cloudmarsh Tower.
……
As this little interlude played out, Su Yi and Yuan Heng had already ridden their carriage around most of the city.
Yuan Heng admired the scenery along the way with great relish, while Su Yi sprawled out leisurely and rested his eyes.
He’d racked his brains, but he couldn’t think of an effort-free, relaxed way to earn big bucks. He couldn’t help but feel a bit dejected.
Why is it so difficult for humans to obtain what they want without working for it?
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Sirs, up ahead is the forbidden city. Do you see it? That’s Mount Heavenbristle. They say it’s the greatest divine mountain in the Great Xia and that it’s even older than Nine Tripod City. The imperial palace is built there. Regardless of the world’s ups and downs, Mount Heavenbristle shall exist in perpetuity!” said the carriage driver, the words flowing out of him.
Su Yi rose, opened the curtains and looked out. A mountain so tall, it seemed to reach the heavens stood in the distance.
The mountaintop was shrouded in mists. Purple air surged around the peak, and an auspicious presence pervaded the area, enshrouding the entire mountain. It had the atmosphere of a holy ground.
Upon closer inspection, numerous majestic, ancient buildings stood on the mountain, casting long, overlapping shadows. They were as dense as trees in a forest, but they were only faintly discernible through the mists.
Mount Heavenbristle!
It was thirty thousand feet tall and as vigorous as a dragon soaring into the sky.
The Great Xia’s imperial palace was built halfway up the mountain, while the emperor and the imperial family lived on the peak.
The foot of the mountain was a hundred-plus acre forbidden zone. The imperial guards, a group recruited from the nation’s cultivators, were stationed there. Never mind ordinary people; even cultivators dared not approach without permission.
Rumor had it that the current emperor of the Great Xia was shrewd and strategic, a rare talent with a deep and inscrutable cultivation base.
Under his command, even if the leaders of the four great orthodoxies were to visit in person, they’d have no choice but to ascend the steps of Mount Heavenbristle one at a time. Only then could they receive an audience.
It was no exaggeration to say that in the Great Xia, the Xia Emperor wasn’t just lofty and supreme in the eyes of the masses; he was a valiant leader worthy of his title even in the world of cultivation. His prestige intimidated the four seas, and he reigned supreme over his entire domain!
“Misty purple light and an imperial air. The force of the mountain is one with Nine Tripod City, and it’s linked to the dragon vein underground. It encompasses the ten directions, both drawing upon and strengthening everything beneath the heavens. This mountain… really is extraordinary.” After staring intently at it for a moment, Su Yi slowly lowered the curtain.
Mount Heavenbristle really was a spiritual mountain and a blessed ground highly suitable for cultivation.
Even by the standards of the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, it qualified as an upper-grade spiritual mountain!
No wonder the Great Xia’s imperial family is so prosperous. Cultivation requires resources, companions, methods, and a good location. Occupying such a mountain means they’ve got the best location around, thought Su Yi.
The carriage quickly drove past the forbidden city surrounding Mount Heavenbristle, then proceeded along a wide street known as “Vermillion Bird Avenue.”
The streets were bustling everywhere they went, as vibrant as a carpet of flowers.
Suddenly, Su Yi sensed something, and he took a string of little purple bells from the Snow Beetle Jade Pendant.
The Mother and Child Rhinoceros Horn Bells!
They were formed of smooth, exquisite Purplefeather Rhinoceros Horn Jade. When she left the Great Zhou and began her journey to the Great Xia, the Featherflow King, Yue Shichan, took off the bells and gave them to Su Yi.
She said that, so long as Su Yi was within the Great Xia’s borders and so long as he carried this treasure on his person, she could locate him right away.
Yet now, the string of little purple bells produced an unusual energy fluctuation. They waved about and shook, producing a soft but urgent rattling. It seemed they’d sensed something.
“Don’t tell me Yue Shichan is nearby?” exclaimed Su Yi. He’d been riding the carriage through the city for hours now, but he hadn’t discovered any trace of Ge Qian.
Now, it seemed he’d encounter Yue Shichan first. Who could have anticipated this?