After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

The Dragon Court of the East Sea, the Star Gazing Platform.

Lord Ao Tianxin of the Dragon Court was sitting on a white jade chair, one hand supporting his chin, listening to his subordinates' reports.

She wore a dark blue robe, her hair was casually tied up with a jade hairpin, and there was a lazy, weary look in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, everything at the Hidden Abyss Pavilion has been normal recently. Several of the new batch of trainees are quite talented, and Cang Yao's cultivation has made another breakthrough, bringing her closer to that step."

Ao Tianxin nodded slightly.

The subordinate flipped through the jade slip in his hand and continued, "In addition, Cang Yao has been frequently traveling to and from the shore recently, and has a close relationship with a human youth. That youth is a scholar from the Great Zhou Dynasty, who topped the list in this year's imperial examination, and his name is Lin Chu."

Ao Tianxin's brow twitched slightly.

"Top of the list?"

"Yes, according to my investigation, this young man is only sixteen years old, comes from a humble background, and his essays and policy proposals have been praised by the chief examiner, Zhou Tingfu."

Ao Tianxin did not respond.

Leaning back in his chair, he looked over his subordinate's shoulder and onto the star chart outside the observatory.

The starlight flows slowly, unchanged for a thousand years.

She suddenly remembered some long-forgotten memories.

At that time, she was young, having just graduated from the Qianyuan Pavilion, transformed into human form, and went to the Haoran Domain for training.

The landscape of Da Zhou is beautiful; she has seen many of them.

I have also met many outstanding young talents.

Scholars recite poems under the moon, swordsmen practice swordsmanship on mountain peaks, and female generals ride horses at the border.

Some of them were spirited and vigorous, some were gentle and refined, and some were heroic and ambitious.

She had been friends with them all, shared drinks, discussed philosophy, and even traveled with them for a while.

But that's all. Although there was no romantic relationship, it was still a beautiful memory.

Later, she returned to the Dragon Court and became its new ruler.

Occasionally, when I think of them, I'll go visit those old friends.

As time goes by.

Thousands of years have passed, and the bones of those people from back then can no longer be found.

"I understand." She looked away. "You may leave."

The subordinate bowed and withdrew.

Ao Tianxin sat alone on the star-gazing platform, gently pinching his fingertips as he cast a divination.

After a moment, she sighed deeply and whispered, "A tragic fate."

……

Qinghe Village.

Lin Chu brought a chicken back from the market and was squatting in the yard plucking its feathers.

Cang Yao, wearing an apron, poked her head out of the kitchen, holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

"Mushrooms, chicken, cut into pieces." She read it aloud, then looked down at the chicken in Lin Chu's hand. "Is this chicken fatty?"

Lin Chu flipped the chicken over: "It's alright."

"What do you mean by 'it's alright'? Last time you said it was alright, but that chicken didn't have a single drop of fat after stewing." Cang Yao walked over, squatted down next to him, and poked the chicken. "This one does seem a bit fatter."

He took the chicken and went back to the kitchen.

The flames on the stove licked the bottom of the pot, and the chicken soup in the casserole bubbled and steamed, its aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Cang Yao moved a stool and sat at the kitchen doorway. Every now and then, she would get up to stir the fire, then sit back down. Her gaze swept across the yard and landed on the back of the person reading a book.

Lin Chu brought a miscellaneous book today, which Magistrate Liu brought a few days ago. It talks about the local customs and products of various places in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Leaning against the locust tree, I turn a page every half day.

At lunchtime, Cangyao first served him a large bowl of food.

The chicken leg was also taken out and placed in his bowl, while his own bowl only contained a few pieces of chicken breast.

Lin Chu looked at her bowl, then at her own, and put the chicken leg from her bowl into hers.

"You eat."

"I cooked it."

So you'll eat it yourself.

"I cooked it for you." Cang Yao put the chicken leg back and pressed it down with her chopsticks. "Don't you dare take it back."

Lin Chu glanced at the chicken leg that she was pressing down with her chopsticks, and then at her expression as she earnestly guarded her food.

"You're too thin," he said.

Cang Yao looked down at herself, and asked blankly, "Where am I thin?"

Lin Chu's gaze unconsciously slid down an inch before snapping back into the bowl.

He picked up the bowl, took a sip of soup, and said nothing.

"What did you just say about being thin?" Cang Yao asked again.

"The soup is bland."

Cang Yao lowered her head and took a sip; it wasn't bland.

She looked at Lin Chu with a puzzled expression and found that he was concentrating on drinking his soup, and the tips of his ears seemed to be slightly red.

"Lin Chu, why are your ears red?"

"It's hot."

Cang Yao looked outside—it was early spring, the locust trees were just sprouting buds, and the wind was still cool.

She glanced at him suspiciously again, but didn't ask any more questions.

In the afternoon, several middle-aged women from the village came to arrange to go to the market.

Cang Yao told Lin Chu and then went out with Aunt Qin and the others.

The courtyard fell silent.

Lin Chu sat alone under the locust tree, flipping through a dozen pages of that miscellaneous book.

He closed the book and was about to get up.

There was an extra person under the locust tree.

She wore a dark blue robe, her hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, her features were cool and aloof, and her expression was somewhat languid.

She doesn't look her age, but she's very beautiful.

Lin Chu looked at her without moving.

The woman was also sizing him up.

His gaze moved slowly from top to bottom, as if he were looking at something interesting.

You don't seem too surprised.

Lin Chu said frankly, "I was actually quite surprised, but there was no point in shouting it out, so I just let it go."

The woman's lips twitched slightly, whether in a smile or something else was unclear.

She walked to the stone table and sat down opposite him.

Lin Chu put down the book, stood up, and gave a scholar's bow: "How should I address you, young lady?"

"Ao Tianxin".

Lin Chu poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of her.

"Miss Ao, please have some tea."

Ao Tianxin picked up her teacup but didn't drink it.

She watched him pour the tea, his movements steady and deliberate, without the slightest tremor.

She put down her teacup. "Has Cangyao mentioned me to you?"

"no."

"I am her teacher," Ao Tianxin said, "and also the current ruler of the Dragon Court."

She looked at Lin Chu's expression as she said this.

"I know Cangyao isn't from an ordinary family," Lin Chu said.

A hint of surprise appeared in Ao Tianxin's eyes.

"Then do you know about the Dragon Court?"

"I know a little bit about it."

Ao Tianxin picked up her teacup, took a sip, and as she put it down, she suddenly said, "You're a very interesting person."

"Just a scholar."

"I've met many scholars," Ao Tianxin said, leaning back in his chair.

She looked into Lin Chu's eyes.

"What a pity."

Lin Chu waited for her to continue.

"There's no spiritual energy fluctuation on you," Ao Tianxin said. "Your physical constitution is also lacking; you have no talent for cultivation."

There was a hint of regret in her voice.

The tone of her voice was somewhat unexpected to her—she hadn't felt sorry for a human in many years.

Lin Chu smiled.

"Everyone has their own way of living. If you can't cultivate Taoism, being an ordinary person is just fine."

Ao Tianxin looked at him.

It wasn't just a polite, feigned magnanimity; he seemed to genuinely believe it.

A sixteen-year-old boy, with no spiritual power and no innate talent, sat in front of the Lord of the Dragon Court and said with a smile that being an ordinary person is not bad.

She was momentarily dazed, and then she thought of things from the past.

The young man who practiced swordsmanship on the mountaintop chased her for three days, hoping she would teach him swordsmanship. What happened to him then? He died in battle at the border.

The scholar who recited poetry under the moon said he wanted to write about everything in the world.

What happened to him after that? He died of old age in his study, surrounded only by a pile of dusty manuscripts.

"It's quite good." Ao Tianxin stood up.

She turned to look at him: "You seem to have some doubts. Is there anything you'd like to know?"

Lin Chu also stood up and cupped her hands in greeting: "As expected, I couldn't hide it from Miss Ao. I do have some questions. I wonder if the fairy could enlighten me?"

"Just say it."

"I would like to ask about the matter of the fish leaping over the dragon gate."