Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 29. Night Discussion
Glug glug glug
Song Chen drank a large bowl of ginger soup, then scooped up the chopped ginger from the bottom of the bowl and chewed it clean before he felt his limbs warm up a little.

The maidservant beside him clicked her tongue slightly, thinking to herself, "Why is Second Master so afraid of the cold? He seems so weak."

Song Chen felt somewhat helpless.

Logically speaking, the cold and yin energy of the Yellow Springs Scripture shouldn't have invaded the body so quickly, and it shouldn't have led to him being unable to live without ginger soup after only a few days of cultivation. But the problem is that he's cultivating too fast, faster and faster.

The cultivation in Jinxia Mountain is fast and follows some basic principles, but now, perhaps because he has completely integrated the "Book of Three Lifetimes" or something else, he feels that his unknown and amazing wisdom has been greatly enhanced. He feels that no matter what he cultivates, as long as he has enough resources, he can quickly master it.

Just last night, he completely digested that water spirit stone, which also made the first spiritual root in his body thicker and larger. That spiritual root has now completely transformed into a metal and water dual spiritual root intertwined together.

If we only consider this one spiritual root, his "spiritual energy reserve" is already twice that of others at the same level, and his "spiritual energy recovery speed" is more than twice as fast. As for other aspects such as "spiritual energy circulation speed" leading to casting speed, they have all been improved.

Metal generates water, and water generates wood.

The moment the water spirit root was born, the wisp of wood spirit energy that had been accumulated in the body had a place to rely on and was no longer eroded by the metal spirit energy.

However, the water spirit root generated by the "Yellow Springs Sutra" carries a hint of coldness, a coldness that must be endured and overcome.
As Song Chen was thinking, footsteps came from outside the dining hall.

In the blink of an eye, a maid in a green dress peeked out from outside the door.

Chunxiang, the First Madam's personal maid, has arrived.

"Second Master, First Madam, Second Madam are waiting for you. Please come with me." Chunxiang bowed and stole a glance at the young man, thinking back to this time last year when she first met this Second Master. He was still down on his luck, eating steamed buns in the streets and alleys.

Second Master is truly capable.

Song Chen responded, "Coming."

A screen provides a hidden partition.

At the round table, the three women felt the door open and looked up.

Que Chan respectfully stood up and called out, "Second Uncle."

Madam Qianxue smiled and said, "Little Song is here?"

Song Chen sat down next to his wife. Qingyue glanced outside the door before taking out the letter and pushing it in front of Song Chen. She then explained the current situation to him.

She spoke while paying attention to her husband's reaction.

This matter is the biggest secret of the He family, involving the extermination of the clan. She and her eldest sister actually took a great deal of risk and made a great deal of determination before deciding to involve Song Chen.

However, Song Chen was already fully aware of this letter and what Qingyue had been cautiously telling him. After all, he was the one who delivered the letter, so how could he not know?

However, he still looked thoughtful after listening, and then said, "I understand. Qingyue, let me accompany my elder sister to Yongcui County to see if this matter is true or false."

Lady Qingyue said apologetically, "There are many things to do at the Wei residence, and I really can't get away. Otherwise, I wouldn't have delayed my husband's cultivation."

Song Chen pondered for a moment and said, "But if this letter and these messages are not lies, then this is not the time for the patriarch to return."

The First Madam said, "I know. I only glanced at him from afar. He was indeed too impetuous. If it weren't for the help of that mysterious benefactor, my Crane Manor would have been doomed."

If he can have this opportunity to work and hone his skills at the bottom of society, that's something I'd be happy to see. I won't bring him back, I won't even come forward to acknowledge him. I'll just watch from afar, to know that he's still alive, to know that he's growing up.

Song Chen said, "Alright, when shall we set off?"

The First Madam said, "There's no time to lose; let's do it first thing tomorrow morning."

Song Chen shook his head.

The three women were all taken aback.

Song Chen looked at Qingyue and asked seriously, "My lady, what exactly happened at the Wei residence that has kept you so busy?"

Pei Qingyue said, "It's just everyday stuff, no need for you to trouble yourself, sir."

The First Madam said, "The Immortal Guardian is dead. The inner sect leaders of the Imperial City Temple are currently investigating. Qingyue's demonic hound is skilled at sniffing people, so it must be ready to be deployed at any time in the coming days."

The candlelight crackled, casting a soft, serene glow on the four faces.

Song Chen suddenly broke the silence, saying, "Tomorrow, I will accompany you. The day after tomorrow morning, I will leave with my elder sister."

Pei Qingyue said helplessly, "Husband, I know you're worried about me, but if I'm summoned, I'll be staying with the inner sect master of the Imperial City Temple, so nothing will happen to me."

The First Madam said, "Qingyue, it's rare that your husband is so sentimental. He's also a disciple of the Imperial City Temple, so it's not against the rules for him to be with you. Just let him come along and see for himself, so he can rest assured."

Pei Qingyue nodded and looked at Song Chen, saying, "Then you'll have to get up early tomorrow."

Song Chen said, "Okay." The First Madam smiled and said, "Then it's settled." Then she said seriously, "Little Song, I want to know what level your strength has reached now."

Song Chen got up and went out, followed closely by the three women.

Song Chen immediately picked up a tree branch and used the [Golden Edge] technique from the first level of Qi Gathering to coat the branch. The branch moved according to his will, creating streaks of light and shadow in the surrounding air, slicing through the ground and cutting through rocks, leaving smooth cracks.

After demonstrating for a while, he stopped.

The First Madam clapped her hands in praise, but inwardly she sighed, feeling that Xiao Song was still quite a distance from Que Shenyun.

However, Que Shenyun was, after all, an inner sect cultivator who was only half a step away from the fifth level of Qi Gathering. Now that Xiao Song had only cultivated for a short time, he was already quite good at being able to flexibly control spiritual energy and use supernatural powers.

As long as you don't encounter any cultivators, there shouldn't be any problems.

midnight
The candlelight crackled.

A dilapidated temple in the suburbs of the capital.

Two streaks of light came from afar and silently landed in the woods not far from the temple, revealing their forms. One had the wood element in the hem of its clothing glowing, while the other had the fire element glowing. Clearly, these were two inner disciples of the Imperial City Temple, the former being wood-elemental and the latter fire-elemental.

In the woods, a figure was already waiting.

Hearing the noise, the figure turned around, revealing his appearance: slightly plump with a smile, a pointed beard, and the hem of his robe also showed a bright, wooden gleam.

The figure was none other than Yu Cheng from the Yu family.

The inner disciple of the Wood Sect glanced at Yu Cheng.

Yu Cheng glanced in the direction of the temple and then made a "shh" gesture.

The two of them had a tacit understanding.

Immediately afterwards, the three exchanged a glance and stepped forward quietly.

These two inner disciples were on duty at the Imperial City Temple. The atmosphere in the Imperial City had been strange lately, and the mysterious death of the Immortal Guard yesterday brought things to a climax.

The two inner disciples then began a thorough investigation. Tonight, the wood-element inner disciple received a secret letter from his senior brother Yu Cheng, saying that he had discovered some clues and that it was a good opportunity to make a contribution. So, the wood-element inner disciple invited his colleague to come along.

At this moment, Yu Cheng was in front, and the inner disciples of the Wood element wanted to follow, but Yu Cheng shook his head and looked at the inner disciples of the Fire element behind him.

The inner disciples of the Fire element understood that Yu Cheng was worried that the two Wood elements would be countered, while one Fire and one Wood element would complement each other perfectly. So they silently stepped forward, while the inner disciples of the Wood element followed behind to provide support.

Bang!
The doors of the dilapidated temple were suddenly pushed open.

Inside the temple, a strange black figure stood before the dilapidated temple wall, holding a brush, dipping it in ink, and painting on the wall. It was a magnificent painting, so much so that even the newly initiated inner disciples of the Fire element and the inner disciples of the Wood element watching from outside were stunned.

They couldn't help but look at the painting.
Watching intently,

It looked as if their very souls had drifted away.

Yu Cheng didn't look at it.

He lowered his head and slowly stepped aside.

From the shadows in the corner of the temple, a streak of blood suddenly flashed out, slicing through the neck of an inner disciple of the Fire Sect.

brush!
Yu Cheng also moved, pulling a knife out of thin air, the blade flashing as it sliced ​​across the neck of his junior brother Mu Xing outside the door.

brush!
The two heads flew up almost simultaneously, then fell back down, landing with a thud in the mud.

Yu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. Of the two, the wood element disciple was slightly weaker, and he knew him better; the fire element disciple was slightly stronger, and he wasn't confident he could handle him, so he reserved the position of "most impactful" for the fire element disciple.

At this moment, he glanced warily at the black shadow painted on the white wall and exclaimed, "The witchcraft medicine of the North lives up to its reputation."

The shadowy figure put away the pen.

But where can I find a pen?
There were no pens, not even ink or paint, and there had never been any paintings on the walls.

The shadowy figure held nothing more than a black candle, its flame flickering and emitting a strange fragrance. The fragrance, carried by spiritual energy, dispersed in the air into jagged lines, resembling a spiderweb.

The shadowy figure uttered a strange voice: "People of Jin, our two countries share the same goal this time, so let's cooperate for now and avoid internal strife."

Yu Cheng bowed respectfully and said, "This junior understands, and will certainly do so."

(End of this chapter)