Chapter 13: Training
“Candied… hawthorns!”
“Meat buns, freshly baked meat buns!”
Listening to the street peddlers’ cries and feeling the long-absent atmosphere of the mortal world, the bottleneck of your late-stage Foundation Establishment began to loosen.
You had left the sect alone a week ago, traveling the entire way on foot, and had finally arrived today at the capital of the Great Flame Dynasty.
Along the way, you discovered that the liveliness of the other cities was not even one ten-thousandth of the capital’s!
“Young man, care for a divination?” Not far away, an old Daoist at a stall waved at you. “If it’s inaccurate, no charge!”
You sized him up and down, then realized you could not see through his cultivation. Your heart immediately tensed.
Could this be some big shot from the cultivation world, pretending to be a fraud here? This kind of plot was all too familiar to you!
“How much for one divination?” you asked, keeping your expression calm.
“Ten taels of silver per divination!” the old Daoist said with a smile.
You smiled faintly, took out ten taels of silver, and had him perform the divination.
“Hey, you old Daoist, cheating people here again!” A girl of seventeen or eighteen suddenly appeared, snatched the silver from the old Daoist’s hand, and turned to return it to you.
“This, uh, handsome young master, don’t let him fool you. Divination doesn’t cost that much. One tael of silver is enough.” Su Yao glanced at you and said shyly.
“You little girl, ruining my business again!” The old Daoist was furious and made to snatch the silver back.
“I’m helping you, don’t you understand?” Su Yao hid behind you and explained. “A few days ago, the old Daoist south of the city was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard for charging too much. He still hasn’t been released!”
“Cough cough, the young master has seen something embarrassing. This old Daoist will do a free divination for you.” Hearing this, the old Daoist looked somewhat embarrassed.
“This young master looks unfamiliar. You’re not a local of the capital, are you?” Su Yao returned the silver to you, sized you up, and said, “Come to think of it, you’re quite handsome.”
“It’s fine. Ten taels it is.” You returned the silver to the old Daoist. Mortal silver meant nothing to you.
As for the chivalrous young lady who had stepped in, you had already sensed her before she made her move. What you hadn’t expected was that this girl actually had mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivation.
In the Body-Refining Sect, such cultivation naturally amounted to nothing, but this was a mortal dynasty!
Of course, none of this had anything to do with you.
You were only curious whether this divination was actually accurate.
Daoist Outrageous invited you to sit and asked what you wanted to divine.
“Then divine whether my journey will go smoothly.”
Hearing this, Daoist Outrageous looked at your facial features, then your palm lines, his brow furrowed tightly as he calculated on his fingers for a long time. Finally he said, “This old Daoist is known as Daoist Outrageous. I have performed no fewer than eight thousand divinations, perhaps even ten thousand.”
“Whether you believe what I say next or not is up to you.”
You didn’t want to listen to all this beating around the bush and told him to speak plainly.
“Young master, your journey is certain death!” Daoist Outrageous dropped his earlier flippancy and spoke to you with extreme solemnity.
“Ah? That serious!” Su Yao was startled. “This handsome young master, don’t look at how unreliable this old Daoist usually is, but his divinations are never wrong.”
“I advise you to give up this trip. Your life is more important!”
You didn’t take it to heart.
If the Heavenly Lightning Body-Refining Art were really so easy to obtain, Ouyang Xiu wouldn’t have waited bitterly for so many years.
The reason you agreed was, first, you needed it yourself; second, it was a stalling tactic!
If you refused Ouyang Xiu’s invitation, there was no telling what he might do.
A cultivator who could reach the Nascent Soul stage was never an ordinary person!
Besides, whether this divination was even true was uncertain.
“It’s fine. I have my own plans.” Bidding the two farewell, you continued your mortal-world training.
Behind you came the sound of the girl and the Daoist talking. With your late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, you heard every word clearly.
“Old geezer, is this young master really going to die?”
“What, you can’t bear to part with him?”
“Not at all. It’s just that he’s so handsome, it’d be a shame for him to die like this.”
“Then go tie him up and bring him back.”
“Forget it. Whether I can survive tonight isn’t even certain…”
“Sigh, nine deaths and one life.”
You gradually walked away and could no longer hear the conversation behind you.
You wandered around the capital. As dusk fell, you arrived at the Entertainment Bureau’s pleasure house to listen to music and relax.
This was your first time in such a place since transmigrating, and you were quite curious about the foreign customs.
“Li Chen, Young Master Li, five hundred taels of silver, a private room on the second floor!”
When traveling abroad, how could one get by without a few aliases?
You arrived at the second-floor private room and silently apologized to Li Chen, who was far away in the sect.
The moment you sat down, the madam called over two women to serve you.
Enjoying the dancing in the hall below, listening to the music, and being fed by beautiful women, you were quite pleased.
Suddenly, turmoil broke out in a room upstairs, followed by news that the Prince of Qin had been assassinated.
Embroidered Uniform Guard came rushing at the sound, surrounding the Entertainment Bureau completely. The bureau fell into chaos.
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard is handling a case. No one move!”
“Damn it, that bitch dared to assassinate me! Search room by room!” The Prince of Qin came out from the third floor clutching the wound on his stomach and shouted at the guards below.
“Immortal Master, thank you for saving my life.” The Prince of Qin endured the pain and bowed to the person behind him.
“It is my duty. I have severely wounded that girl. She shouldn’t have gotten far.”
You watched this scene, brow furrowed slightly, and prepared to leave.
The music was ruined, the two women serving you had vanished, and there was no reason to stay.
Suddenly, a figure burst into your room. The next second, a dagger appeared directly at your neck, and a soft, boneless hand covered your mouth.
“Don’t make a sound, or I’ll kill you!” the person behind you warned viciously.
Hearing this, you found it somewhat amusing. With your current physique, no cultivator below the Foundation Establishment stage could even break your defense.
And the reason you didn’t resist was naturally because you recognized this assassin as the woman you had met today, Su Yao.
At this moment, you suddenly didn’t feel like leaving. Listening to music was ruined, but watching a play seemed like a decent alternative.
Today there was nothing to do, so watch a play at the pleasure house.