The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 444 Speculation, Changes (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Zhao Ti stared blankly at the large hole above, feeling a chill run down his spine. How could such a commotion have occurred? How could this be explained?

With a loud bang, the door was suddenly kicked open, and Zhao's father rushed in from outside: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

“Hmm, this…” Zhao Ti rubbed his head: “Father…”

"What? What happened? How did such a big hole appear in the roof? Who did it?" Zhao's father exclaimed in surprise when he saw the hole above, with the stars twinkling and the moonlight enchanting.

Zhao Ti's face twitched. He looked up and said in a low voice, "Father, that man in black who came a few days ago... is here again."

"What?!" Zhao's father was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "That Yang A-Liu, he's really gone too far! If you have something to say, just come to me directly. What kind of skill is it to bully the younger generation time and time again!"

At that very moment, on the official road three hundred miles northwest of Yuzhou, a handsome man dressed in white was walking under the moonlight, carrying a sword.

The tranquil moonlight bathed him, as silver and jade-like as snow, and the sword behind him was also snow-white, like a silver snake. He was ethereal and otherworldly, incredibly elegant.

Suddenly he sneezed violently, then looked around and said with a hint of coldness, "Who's got the nerve to talk about me behind my back?"

Zhao Ti glanced at his father, not daring to utter a sound. Zhao's mother also entered the room from outside: "Ti'er, what happened?"

Father Zhao pointed to the large hole in the roof: "What else could have happened? The sixth son of the Yang family is here again. This time, he didn't just break the wooden bed, but he punched a big hole in the roof."

"Sixth Brother is here again?" Zhao's mother looked up in surprise and asked, "Ti'er, did you see clearly?"

Zhao Ti's eyes gleamed: "I don't recognize him. He was just a person dressed in black with a mask on. I couldn't see his face, and I don't know who he was..."

Mother Zhao said, "If that's the case, how can we be so sure it's Liu Lang?"

Father Zhao snorted, "Who else could it be but him? Ever since Yang Shisan came, two people have come here to cause trouble, but they didn't dare to face you and me. They only dared to show off their power to the children. Who else could it be but that crazy martial artist!"

“That might not necessarily be Liu Lang…” Zhao’s mother shook her head: “Have you examined carefully how this large hole above was formed?”

"I haven't seen it yet," Zhao's father gasped. "I'll see it now, I'll go get the ladder right away..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao's mother sighed softly, "There's no need to retrieve it. Since Thirteen has already found it, some things will inevitably be known to the children sooner or later. It's going to be leaked anyway, so let's just go up and see."

Upon hearing this, Zhao's father's expression turned grim: "But this, but this... it's all Yang Shisan's fault! How could he have brought Yuzhou here? I, I..."

Zhao's mother said, "There's nothing we can do about it. But since we were so eager to send our children to school, they've done quite well and fulfilled some of our wishes. As for martial arts... let them show off their skills."

Hearing this, Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes, feeling he should play along, and asked with a curious expression, "What martial arts?"

Father Zhao glanced at him, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "My son, don't panic. Your father and I practiced some basic martial arts when we were young. We've never told you about it before, but we're going to show you now. Don't be surprised when you see it."

"Simple martial arts?" Zhao Ti looked at his father: "Father, how simple is it?"

Zhao's father said awkwardly, "It's just a physical exercise, nothing serious, not suitable for sparring or fighting."

Zhao Ti nodded, his face subtly displaying a hint of disinterest, and asked, "Father, you really don't need a ladder?"

Father Zhao rubbed his hands together and shook his head, saying, "No, no, this move is useless; it just makes you jump a bit too high."

After saying that, he used his waist strength and with a "whoosh," he leaped out of the hole above and landed on the roof outside.

Seeing this, Zhao Ti couldn't help but think to himself, "My father's martial arts are really high. He exerted so much force, yet I didn't feel anything unusual about his aura. His internal energy is so well contained, almost to the point of complete control."

At this moment, Zhao's mother suddenly asked, "What are you thinking about, my son?"

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I didn't expect Father to jump so high. If I had known, I would have asked Father for help when I was a child to raid bird nests. That would have saved me from falling several times while climbing trees and almost breaking my arm."

Zhao's mother looked thoughtful: "Doesn't my son want to learn?"

Zhao Ti said, "What's there to learn? I'm too busy reading books to have time to learn any skills."

Zhao's mother said, "My son, aren't you interested in martial arts? What about more advanced skills?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ti's heart stirred, but looking at his mother, he shook his head: "I don't want to. Human strength has its limits. I have already exhausted all my time and energy studying and writing, and I still feel it's not enough. Where would I find the time to practice martial arts?"

I can't say it, it's not good to say it, and I certainly can't reveal that I know martial arts. After all, I learned it too quickly. I can learn it in no time and master it in no time. I try not to reveal this kind of thing. It's not that I don't trust my parents, but the fewer people who know, the better, to reduce trouble and avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

Just as Zhao's mother was about to speak, Zhao's father angrily exclaimed from above, "The Four Illuminations Divine Skill! It really was the Four Illuminations Divine Skill that punched a hole in this house! It must be that madman Yang Dian!"

"Is it really the Four Illuminations Divine Skill?" Mother Zhao frowned slightly, and with a movement, she also leaped up.

"Your mother's martial arts skills are quite good too," Zhao Ti raised an eyebrow. "But how could you tell that the residual Four Illuminations Divine Skill energy around me broke through the roof on its own?"

In that case, it would be too risky to bury the elderly man surnamed Zhu who was killed the other day on the spot. If his body is found, it may take three to five months, or even more than a year, to find out the cause of death. It seems that we should go there again when we have the chance to deal with the remains.

"It really is the Four Illuminations Divine Skill..." Zhao's mother's voice came from above: "It seems... the skill is quite profound."

Zhao Ti's lips twitched. He thought to himself that he hadn't made a move at all; it was just that the residual air currents outside his body rushed up on their own. How could it not be shallow?

"He must have reached the intermediate level, and not just the initial intermediate level, but at an extremely high level. The saying that a peerless genius can reach the intermediate level in three years is just a saying. Where are there so many peerless geniuses? It would probably take close to thirty years. The same goes for the thirty years of the Great Perfection. It would take at least close to sixty years or even a hundred years." Father Zhao said loudly, "How many years has it been since a peerless genius appeared in the world? But Yang Dian is considered a genius. It certainly didn't take that long."

Zhao's mother pondered for a moment and said, "He has been practicing the Four Illuminations Divine Skill since he was a child. Let me think, did he start laying the foundation when he was five or six years old? He showed signs of a breakthrough when I left Huazhou. It must have been around that time, but it has only been a little over ten years."

"I estimate it's about right. When we arrived in Yuzhou, he had already broken through, and then immersed himself in diligent cultivation for more than ten years, reaching his current level. Judging from this, it seems that he is likely to achieve mastery in fifty years or sixty years." Father Zhao said, "However, I heard that there are some other strict requirements for mastering the Four Illuminations Divine Art. Only by meeting certain conditions can one succeed."

“That’s true,” said Zhao’s mother. “This technique has extremely high requirements, but once mastered, it is extremely powerful. There are only a few martial arts in the world that can rival it in terms of internal strength. Even if others are highly skilled, none of them can match the power of the Four Illuminations.”

"Hmph!" Zhao's father suddenly exclaimed angrily, "Is this madman here to show off to me? I defeated him back then as easily as playing with children. Does he think he can defeat me now? It's truly laughable." Zhao Ti, hearing this from below, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Was his father's martial arts really that high? Even with the Four Illuminations Divine Skill at its peak, and after more than ten years of diligent practice, he was still no match for him?
"I understand. It's precisely because he felt he couldn't defeat me that he came to Ti'er to show off and test my current cultivation level," Zhao's father coldly snorted.

"Sixth Brother is not the kind of person who acts cunningly and treacherously. If it really is Sixth Brother who came, it is unlikely that he would act in this way," Zhao's mother said doubtfully.

“If it’s not him, then who could it be? It can’t be Thirteen, can it? Or is it that someone else in the Yang family also knows that you and I are staying here?” Zhao’s father said.

Mother Zhao remained silent for a moment before saying, "If it is my sixth brother, why don't you show yourself?"

Father Zhao said, "He doesn't know if I've put down my skills over the years. Back then, I couldn't even withstand a single move from him. Perhaps he has some lingering fear. He wanted to see how well Ti'er was doing in martial arts first, so he could judge whether I had improved and whether he should come to challenge me. However, Ti'er hadn't learned any martial arts at all, which ruined his plan."

"Then why come twice? Didn't you already find out that Ti'er hasn't learned martial arts when you broke Ti'er's bed last time?" Zhao's mother said.

"Who knows? He's usually crazy and his actions are often unpredictable. Who knows what he's thinking? We'll have to ask Ti'er for details." As he spoke, Zhao's father jumped down from the roof, followed closely by Zhao's mother.

"Tier, what did this man in black say this time?" Zhao's father asked.

“He…” Zhao Ti scratched his head. Sure enough, one lie leads to countless more to cover it up. What exactly did this man in black say?

He said...that his martial arts skills were unmatched in the world, his voice filled with pride, and then asked me why I hadn't learned martial arts...

"So what was your answer?" Zhao's father pressed.

“My son asked me what the point of learning martial arts was, and what use it was. Then he asked me what I was learning. I said I was learning strategies for governing the country, methods for managing the nation, and the art of writing beautiful prose and poetry. None of these are inferior to martial arts,” Zhao Ti said after thinking for a moment.

"What was his reaction after hearing that?" Zhao's mother asked.

"Although he was masked, you could tell he was furious. He kept grumbling and finally punched a big hole in the roof with his palm, jumped out, and disappeared without a trace," Zhao Ti said.

"That does fit the style of that madman," Zhao's father said, glancing at Zhao's mother and frowning.

Mother Zhao shook her head: "Has his temperament become more and more eccentric over the years? We should ask him carefully when Thirteen comes. But there's a hole in the roof of this house, how will my son rest?"

“Mother, it’s alright, it’s alright…” Zhao Ti hurriedly said, “The weather is hot and humid now, this big hole will help cool things down and won’t interfere with my sleep.”

Mr. Zhao said, "I won't go out tomorrow. I'll stay home and repair things for the day. Just bear with it tonight."

Zhao Ti said, "That's fine. Please go back and rest, Father and Mother. I also need to sleep a little longer so that I won't be too tired for school tomorrow."

Mr. and Mrs. Zhao exchanged glances, then said a few words to each other before leaving the room.

Zhao Ti watched the two leave, locked the door, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn, so he quickly got into bed, intending to get some sleep.

I don't know how much time passed, but then I heard Zhao Ling'er calling from outside the window: "Big brother, get up, get up."

Zhao Ti groggily opened his eyes, got up, and opened the door. Zhao Ling'er rushed in to check the gourd, while he fetched water to wash up and tidy everything up.

After finishing their meal, they headed to the state school, where they found Mo Xun had arrived early again, looking rather hesitant to speak.

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "Brother Mo, is there something you want to discuss with me?"

Mo Xun's face twitched: "There is indeed a big matter, but now is not the time to talk about it. Let's talk about it after school."

Zhao Ti said, "Then let's talk after school. Brother Mo, don't leave so early every day."

Mo Xun immediately retorted angrily, "Do you think I want to leave early? I just can't stand Brother Zhao's hypocritical face; it makes me angry!"

Zhao Ti knew that he still remembered what happened at the Tea and Fragrance Pavilion a few days ago, so he shook his head and smiled without offering any explanation.

Nothing was said that day. After school, the two walked out of the state school and headed towards the Yujiang River. Zhao Ti said, "Brother Mo has something important to tell me..."

Mo Xun said, "When the treasure was seized in Yuzhou, the imperial court, aristocratic families, and martial arts worlds all gathered. Normally, it is an unspoken agreement that even if they investigate each other, they will not take action in private except by the government. They will keep to themselves. However, someone from the Yang family in Huazhou has gone missing."

"Oh?" Zhao Ti stopped and looked at Mo Xun. "Missing?"

"They say he went missing, but in reality he must have been killed. Everyone knows that. It's just that the body hasn't been found yet. We don't know which force broke the rules and dared to do it."

“Breaking the rules…” Zhao Ti said, “So what?”

Mo Xun said, "This is a rule that has been passed down since ancient times. Such things are mostly about the confrontation between aristocratic families and the government. At first, they do not want to fight each other. They have to cooperate with the government to avoid being defeated or driven out by the other side. Only when the treasure appears can they truly fight each other and show their skills, which will be advantageous."

"I see..." Zhao Ti nodded and continued walking forward.

"The disappearance of the Yang family members naturally warrants an investigation. It turns out that this was not the work of the Yuzhou government, and the imperial court has also denied it. After all, the Yang family and the imperial court are allies, and they would not harm their own people. Since it was not the government, the Yang family suspects that other aristocratic families or martial arts sects have broken the rules, and they are currently searching everywhere, probably about to take action," Mo Xun said meaningfully.

"Any action taken?" Zhao Ti frowned.

"That's right. It sounds nice, but it's likely to cause quite a stir in Yuzhou City before the treasure even appears. Brother Zhao has dealings with both the Qin and Qin families, so the Yang family might already know about it. You should be careful and avoid going out except for going to and from school. By the way, I also heard that Yuzhou City will be under curfew for the next day or two, and people will not be allowed to go out at night."

Zhao Ti pondered for a moment and said, "I understand. Thank you for informing me, Brother Mo."

Mo Xun waved his hand and said, "There's no need for thanks. Just be careful, Brother Zhao."

The two continued walking, talking until they parted ways at the Jade Belt Bridge. Zhao Ti headed home, thinking as he went. He realized this was not a good idea and that he should move the body of the old man surnamed Zhou as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)