When the moonlight of Qinglan City seeped through the paper window into the bamboo house, Ye Fan's fingertips were still stained with the lingering warmth of the huanpei. He pulled the wooden door shut with a backhand motion, the bronze lock clicking securely into place, causing even the candlelight to flicker. The Jiuxiao Huanpei in his embrace suddenly vibrated slightly, as if responding to his eagerness.
In his past life as an Inquiry Realm master, he had seen plenty of rare treasures of heaven and earth, yet none could compare to this huanpei in generating such a tight resonance with his Inner World. Sitting cross-legged on the straw mat, his palm uncurled, the huanpei floated three inches in mid-air, the mountain and river patterns on its surface pulsing with his breathing.
"Let's test the storage." He lowered his gaze and whispered, his consciousness probing along the pathways of his Inner World. The clear spring beside the half-mu of green bamboo suddenly rippled, its surface reflecting the celadon teacup on his desk—the next second, the teacup dropped into his palm with a crisp *ding*, tea stains from earlier still lingering at the bottom of the cup.
Ye Fan's pupils constricted slightly. In his past life, he had used storage rings, but those magical artifacts required three years of nurturing with vital blood to acknowledge a master, and their space was merely about a zhang wide. Yet this huanpei's storage space was actually connected to his Inner World; he clearly saw that beside the clear spring there was an extra wild chrysanthemum plucked from the back mountain, even the morning dew on its petals still trembling.
"Let's test the energy next." He took a deep breath and circulated the Ye Family's ancestral Qinglan Sutra. When the true qi reached the final major acupoint of the Jade Bone Realm, a refreshing current suddenly gushed into his previously sluggish meridians, as if the huanpei was actively guiding the spiritual qi of heaven and earth along the pathways of his cultivation technique. He could clearly feel that the energy was not being forcibly instilled, but rather, like spring rain nourishing the fields, it precisely filled the weak spots in his cultivation technique.
"So that's how it is." He chuckled softly, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead while the corners of his eyes gleamed brightly. "In my past life, my derivation of cultivation techniques always lacked a fraction of refinement; now with the huanpei guiding the Power of the Heavenly Dao to assist..." Before his voice trailed off, the faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the window, exceptionally clear in the silent night.
Ye Fan instantly put away the huanpei, his fingertips pressing against the Dark Iron Saber at the head of his bed. When those footsteps stopped in front of the door, he finally relaxed his grip—the visitor's aura was cool yet not sharp, carrying a hint of the sharpness unique to sword cultivators; it was precisely the sword qi of the Cangwu Sword Sect.
With a squeak of the door pushing open, a woman in plain sword robes stood in the moonlight. Lin Zhaoyue's hair ends were still damp with night dew, and the Taichu Sword at her waist was wrapped in a green bamboo scabbard, yet it could not conceal the faint cold gleam at the mouth of the scabbard. She paused slightly when she saw Ye Fan, perhaps not expecting him to be wearing coarse cloth inner garments, with half a hair ribbon loose over her shoulder.
"I heard that people from the City Lord's Mansion went to the forbidden ground." Her voice was like a spring in a mountain ravine, yet carried a trace of hesitation more than usual. "The head of the Zhao Clan is most protective of his own; just the day before yesterday, he even entrusted someone to come to the Sword Sect to purchase 'armor-piercing arrows'."
Only then did Ye Fan notice that her cuffs were stained with specks of mud, presumably having hurried back from outside the city. He stepped aside to let her into the room, the candlelight making the tips of her ears flush red—the trace of having run too hastily just now. "How did Lady Zhaoyue know I was in the forbidden ground?" he teased deliberately, while his fingertips quietly replaced the teacup on the desk with newly brewed Biluochun.
Lin Zhaoyue paused as she took the teacup. She had intended to maintain the aloofness of a Saintess, but when her gaze swept over the huanpei faintly visible at Ye Fan's waist, she still couldn't help saying, "Just now outside the door, I sensed... something akin to the Dao rhyme of the Taichu Sword Canon." Her fingertips tapped lightly against the teacup. "That is the lingering charm of the laws of the Heavenly Dao, isn't it?"
Ye Fan raised an eyebrow. Lin Zhaoyue's sword cultivation talent was peerless for a century; she was indeed sharp. With a flick of his finger, the Jiuxiao Huanpei floated up once more, the phantom images of mountains and rivers flowing between the two of them. "This is the heirloom treasure of the Ye Family's forbidden ground, called the Jiuxiao Huanpei." Watching the astonishment flash through her eyes, he added, "It can guide the Power of the Heavenly Dao to derive cultivation techniques. Just now I tested its storage..." As he spoke, a thought moved in his mind, and a wild chrysanthemum with morning dew instantly appeared on the desk—it was precisely the one he had stored in the huanpei just moments ago.
Lin Zhaoyue's eyelashes fluttered. She reached out as if to touch the wild chrysanthemum, then withdrew her hand three inches away from the petals, as if afraid of shattering something delicate. "I saw ancient texts in the Sword Sect's Scripture Pavilion stating that ancient masters possessed the technique of the 'Inner World', capable of containing mountains and rivers within the body." When she raised her eyes, the aloofness in them faded somewhat. "This huanpei of yours... is probably capable of helping you touch the threshold of the Void Breaking Realm ahead of time."
"Yet it will also make you a target for everyone." She suddenly grasped Ye Fan's wrist, her fingertips ice-cold. "The head of the Zhao Clan has business dealings with the Poison Sect of Southern Xinjiang, and the Cangwu Sword Sect received word that the Poison Sect's 'Myriad Gu Banner' has recently appeared near Qinglan City."
Ye Fan's wrist was gripped tightly enough to hurt, yet he felt warm inside. He turned his hand over to cover hers, the warmth of his palm seeping through her sword robe. "I understand the principle of a towering tree bearing the brunt of the wind, which is why I must grow strong as quickly as possible."
Lin Zhaoyue abruptly pulled back her hand, the tips of her ears red enough to bleed. She grabbed the teacup on the desk and gulped down a large mouthful, coughing softly from the hot tea, yet putting up a front as she said, "I... I was only afraid you would delay your sword cultivation sparring."
As the two sat opposite each other in silence, the sound of the night watchman beating his wooden clapper drifted in from outside the window. "It is midnight." Lin Zhaoyue stood up and straightened her sword robes. "I should return to the inn." She paused as she reached the door, with her back to him, and said, "Tomorrow I will go to the south of the city to buy osmanthus cake. If... if you have the time..."
"I have the time." Ye Fan agreed with a smile, watching her figure disappear into the moonlight before lowering his gaze to the huanpei in his palm. The phantom images of mountains and rivers were flowing even faster, as if urging him toward something.
The next morning, the servants of the Ye Manor discovered that the third young master's bamboo house had a wooden sign hung outside reading "In Seclusion." Ye Fan sat cross-legged beside the green bamboo of his Inner World, the clear spring reflecting the figure of him circulating his cultivation technique. The huanpei hovered above his head, condensing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into fine streams that poured into his body through his Baihui acupoint. He could hear his bones emitting crisp popping sounds, the omen that the Jade Bone Realm was about to reach perfection.
Seven days later, the wooden door of the bamboo house creaked open. Ye Fan stood in the morning light, his eyes seeming tempered with stars. He reached out to catch a falling peach blossom, and the petal paused in his palm without being shattered by his true qi—this was the "precise control at the micro level" belonging solely to the Void Breaking Realm.
Yet before he could even exhale in relief, idle chatter drifted from the teahouse at the street corner: "Did you hear that the Ye Family boy got his hands on the Jiuxiao Huanpei?" "Hush! My uncle works at the City Lord's Mansion and said Young Master Zhao gathered a bunch of pugilists yesterday to go to the Ye Family to demand an explanation..."
Ye Fan lowered his gaze to look at the huanpei at his waist. Within the mountain and river phantoms, a few wisps of faint, indistinct black Qi seemed to have been added, as if being watched by someone. He touched the scabbard of his Dark Iron Saber, the corners of his mouth curving into a cold sneer—since someone was in such a rush to deliver an opportunity, he might as well...
"Third Young Master?" The little pageboy ran over from outside the courtyard holding a medicinal pot. "First Madam asked me to send over ginseng soup, saying your seclusion would harm your health..."
Ye Fan took the medicinal pot, his gaze drifting toward the southern part of the city. There floated the sweet fragrance of osmanthus cake, along with a certain sword cultivation girl who always loved to put on an aloof facade. He lowered his head and sipped the ginseng soup, the warmth spreading from his throat to his heart—some troubles simply had to be handled after one was well-fed.
Meanwhile, on the mountain road thirty miles outside Qinglan City, three sedan chairs with black curtains were moving slowly. Half a hand wearing a silver bracelet emerged from a gap in the sedan curtain, the fingertips stained with scarlet Gu powder. "Jiuxiao Huanpei..." A flirtatious giggle came from inside the sedan. "I hear that boy has a Saintess of the Cangwu Sword Sect by his side? Perfect, this young lady's 'Twin-Heart Gu' hasn't tasted the soul of a sword cultivator yet."
The mountain wind whipped up the sedan curtain, revealing the face of the woman inside. Her brows were dotted with cinnabar, yet her eyes held the vertical pupils unique to serpents—none other than the Young Master of the Southern Xinjiang Poison Sect, Chǔ Hóngzhuāng.