In the early morning, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.

Outside the south gate of the Taiqing Four Prefectures.

Zhao Rong followed Mr. Yan and his fellow brothers and set off back to Linlu Academy.

Because the gentleman who replaced Mr. Yan was delayed in returning, Zhao Rong's trip to the four prefectures of Taiqing lasted ten days longer than the expected one month.

It was still early autumn when I first came here, but now it is deepening. The mountains and forests outside the South Gate are covered in a pale yellow autumn coat, with occasional touches of emerald green standing out.

The morning light was chilly, and Zhao Rong lowered his head to adjust his autumn clothes.

When he returned to the academy today, he did not wear his usual thin student uniform, but instead specially put on the thick Confucian robe that Qingjun had made for him, and he chose the one with the best material and workmanship.

It was 1:25 AM, still early, and there were very few people outside the gate of the mansion except for a few students who were returning with their clothes soaked with dew.

Zhao Rong pulled his sleeves and couldn't help but look back at the gate again. Apart from the conspicuous Taiqing Tianjiaolu on the pure white rocks on both sides, the surrounding area was empty.

I guess I was really angry... I think I pinched her a little too hard by accident...

He sighed slightly, looked down at a hand with teeth marks on it, turned around, caught up with his fellow brothers, and left.

Not long after Zhao Rong left.

A beautiful figure emerged from inside the South Gate.

Concubine Zhao Ling looked at Rong Erge's receding back and the familiar clothes he was wearing, and smiled faintly.

When Zhao Rong disappeared from her sight, she frowned slightly, but also breathed a sigh of relief.

Concubine Zhao Ling suddenly turned her head to look at the Taiqing Tianjiaolu on the rock on the side. Her gaze lingered on a long-forgotten name for a moment, then she frowned and turned back to the mansion.

That was the name of the fastest Jindan-level student since the establishment of the Four Taiqing Prefectures in Wangque Continent. In her eyes, the Taiqing Tianjiao Record consisted of only that one line of text. It had been like this since Concubine Zhao Lingfei first entered the Four Taiqing Prefectures from here.

…

Zhao Rong and his party walked all the way back south. Wherever they passed, the sound of reading books echoed through the mountains and forests.

According to the rules of the academy, at 2:15 a.m. every day, all scholars and students in the academy must read in the morning, and even the teachers will join them.

Zhao Rong and his fellow brothers, led by Mr. Yan's hearty voice, loudly recited the words of sages.

He was surrounded by the lively sounds of reading, and suddenly he remembered Mr. Yan's words that day in the maple forest courtyard.

If it was planted in our Linlu Academy, it would never be like this...

Zhao Rong pursed his lips, and became more and more determined in his choice of Mr. Yan's Confucianism and Taoism. This time when he returned to Linlu Academy, he planned to read the Thirteen Confucian Classics carefully several times, reading them word by word, to lay a solid foundation.

As for the other arts, Zhao Rong promised Mr. Yan that he would learn them, but he was not prepared to spend too much energy on them...

Suddenly, Zhao Rong came back to his senses and remembered what happened last night. He kept reciting it in his mouth and silently in his heart.

"Lao Gui, did you see the lake in Qingjun's heart last night? How is her sword heart now?"

After being turned away last night, Zhao Rong hurried back to his residence to rest, but he forgot to ask about this matter. The sword spirit also didn't know why and never took the initiative to say it.

He frowned slightly.

Gui was silent for a while, and when Zhao Rong could no longer help but prepare to ask again, he suddenly spoke.

"One good news, one bad news, which one do you want to hear?"

"Bad." Zhao Rong said quickly without thinking.

"The bad news is that a Grade A flying sword was destroyed and has completely become a common item."

"Moreover, your wife's heart lake is actually a strange lotus pond. This kind of heart lake phenomenon of a sword cultivator is like the elixir room of a top-grade golden elixir. It is a rare wonder in the body of a cultivator. It is extremely rare and is purely a gift from heaven. The gift of the avenue is indescribable..."

Gui paused.

"It's just that the lotus pond that gave birth to the first-class flying sword has been half destroyed because the spiritual power of the closely related low-grade flying sword has been completely lost... In the lotus pond, the lotus with divine charm is still there, but the mud in the pond is too deep...

Actually, this is not a big problem. It is a lotus pond, so it doesn't matter if there is more silt. However, the lotus pond now lacks a source of fresh water to nourish the lotus pond, so the lotus flowers cannot be pure and beautiful. It can only be left to dry up. What a pity. If it is only missing this key step, the lotus pond can come back to life. What a pity."

The sound of Zhao Rong reading gradually weakened, and in the end, only the lip movements remained.

He remained silent, thinking in his heart: "What about the good news?"

Gui coughed lightly, "Concubine Zhao Ling had two first-class flying swords, and one was destroyed. Ahem, it's not a big deal that most of the rare wonders of the Heart Lake were destroyed. She still has one first-class flying sword. As long as she works hard, she will have a chance to reach the top of the sword path, but the advancement may not be as fast as before, but...

It's hard to say, isn't it? Two first-class flying swords are certainly a good thing, but for a pure sword cultivator, it might be better to focus on one sword. Of course, if the magical powers of her two first-class flying swords complement each other, then it would be a big loss, but who knows..."

As the sword spirit spoke, its voice became smaller and smaller.

Zhao Rong's face darkened. "Why do I feel like all the news is bad?"

Gui wanted to nod in agreement, but he was worried about something happening, so he said firmly:

"You have to think like this. The worst thing didn't happen. At least she still has a first-class flying sword. This is definitely enough for her to surpass most of her peers on the mountain. She is probably one of the top few in Wangque Taiqing Mansion. This is a blessing in disguise. Zhao Rong, don't be too greedy. Don't forget that you are a waste, and you are still worrying about the affairs of other people's monster geniuses..."

"She is not someone else. Qingjun is my wife. If I don't worry about her affairs, who will?"

Zhao Rong couldn't help but interrupt the sword spirit, and he said anxiously:

"Old return..."

"Try to scream again?" Gui said in an unhappy tone.

"Okay, Old Gui... Gui, help Qingjun restore the rank of her destroyed flying sword. Can you repair her heart lake lotus pond?"

A possibility flashed through Zhao Rong's mind, and he spoke expectantly.

When Zhao Rong thought of Qingjun's sword heart shattered because of his emotional injury, causing half of the rare lotus pond wonder to be destroyed, he felt distressed. That was a first-class flying sword, and it might be able to complement another flying sword...

As a result, all of it is gone now. Qingjun's talent in swordsmanship has at least been cut a lot. Although it does not affect the final path to the top, who knows how much more difficulty it has added. Now she is stuck at the bottleneck of the peak of Haoran Realm, which is proof of it.

Qingjun could easily cross it...

Zhao Rong frowned.

Gui hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."

It looked at Zhao Rong's inner emotions and said truthfully:

"In the lotus pond of Concubine Zhao Ling's heart, the blooming blue lotus is still there. This is the result of the surviving Grade A flying sword. The two are closely related. Last night, I saw that the lotus pond seemed to have some signs of recovery. This is the effect of this blue lotus..."

"As for the problem of deep mud, as long as we can introduce some clean water, the lotus pond will come alive. Where did the original living water come from? I guess it should be the miraculous effect of the low-grade flying sword..."

"Therefore, there is a mysterious relationship between Concubine Zhao Ling's Wonderful Lotus Pond and her two natal flying swords. If the rank of the degraded flying swords can be restored, there is indeed a great hope that it will help her recast the Wonderful Lotus Pond. It may even be able to break it and then rebuild it, and reach a higher level."

"I don't expect to go to the next level. I'll be satisfied as long as I can get back to the way it was before." Zhao Rong whispered to himself.

He then said in a deep voice: "Gui, I am going to give the Li Ji Sword Pill to Qing Jun."

"No, I don't agree."

The sword spirit spoke decisively.

Zhao Rong nodded to himself, "Okay, it's decided."

Return: “…”

It shouted, "Are you stupid? You are a useless person, but you are worried about the talent of a girl from heaven. Even if Concubine Zhao Ling is your wife, her swordsmanship talent is still better than yours. Are you sure you can manifest a Grade A flying sword when you enter the Haoran Realm? I think you can't even reach Grade C."

Gui's tone was impatient.

"Don't be silly, keep it well, improving your own strength is the most important thing. I see that you are definitely not the descendant of the illusory ancient Li clan. The sword pill can only improve your natal flying sword by one level, and you cannot obtain the inheritance of the Li Emperor and directly reach the A level. But you are content. In case you are lucky, your natal flying sword is stuck in a key position above C or B. As long as you improve it by a small level, you can jump to a large level."

It couldn't help but say:

"Mr. Zhao, I beg you, have you forgotten our Haoran agreement? Stop being a money-giving boy. Isn't it enough to send you a ray of purple air from the east? I didn't tell you its function on purpose, but you still sent it out. You are really something, Zhao Rong."

Gui was somewhat glad that he had asked for the Wuwei Purple Qi, otherwise he suspected that when he woke up, both of the two Donglai Purple Qis would be gone.

Zhao Rong was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Gui, what you said is not right. I can't think like you do... Qingjun's sword heart was destroyed because of me. Although it was a misunderstanding between the two of us, I am responsible for a lot of it. So even if Qingjun doesn't blame me, I still have the responsibility to help her repair her sword heart and rebuild the lotus pond in her heart."

Gui hated to open Zhao Rong's head, pointed at his nose and scolded, "Zhao Rong, Zhao Ziyu! You have to think clearly, Zhao Lingfei's low-grade flying sword is already a useless ordinary item, and using Li Ji Sword Pill to upgrade it one level can only make it a C-level at most. Instead of this, it is more cost-effective for you to use it. Why do such a loss-making business? If you ask her opinion, Zhao Lingfei will definitely agree with my idea."

Zhao Rong remained silent, because what the sword spirit said was indeed right. This was not the maximization of interests that practitioners pursued.

I am disappointed that iron cannot be made into steel.

"Oh, if you want to compensate her, use other methods and don't waste the Li Ji Sword Pill. You want to help Zhao Lingfei's natal flying sword recover its A-grade status? This is probably something she wouldn't even dare to think about, but you insist on showing off..."

Gui Hu paused for a moment, glanced at Zhao Rong's expression, and then sneered:

"Oh, can you get a few more sword pills to help her upgrade her rank one by one? Or are you hoping that Concubine Zhao Ling has the legendary bloodline that can directly reach the A-rank?"

There was silence on the lake of my heart for a while.

Zhao Rong spoke softly, "Gui, I don't expect these. I am actually very selfish. It's not about giving away money. I just... feel guilty and must repay her."

Gui was slightly choked when he heard this, and shouted, "You are not worthy of being consulted! This is unreasonable!"

Zhao Rong was not a good-tempered person. He had some unsettled grudges with it. He said unhappily:

"You still want me to listen to you? Last time you said that as long as you put the Thunder Purple Gold Furnace on the top of the mountain during a thunderstorm, it will roar and the elixir will be perfect. As a result, I ran over to try it eagerly. It roared more than ten or twenty times, almost deafening me. It was still useless. I couldn't get the moon at the bottom of the furnace out!"

Gui was angry and was stunned when he heard this, "This..."

"What's this? Could it be that I have wronged you? If you don't believe me, let's go and bomb a few more times and see how you can argue."

Zhao Rong rushed to say.

Gui was choked by him, but he was a person with a sharp tongue and was not willing to be at a disadvantage in words.

"cut."

It sneered and said confidently, "It's this generation of heavenly thunder that is not good. What does it have to do with me? When I was in the Xuanhuang Realm, the heavenly thunder of that generation was much more powerful. Humph."

Zhao Rong: “…”

…

An hour later, Zhao Rong and his party arrived at Linlu Academy.

Zhao Rong had just had a big fight with the sword spirit, and in the end, neither side was able to change the other's mind, so they had to part unhappily.

But after all, the two of them are inseparable, so just like now, no one cares about each other and they are in a cold war with each other.

Zhao Rong said goodbye to Mr. Yan and his fellow brothers. Before leaving, Mr. Yan gave him some specific instructions, warning him to study the other six arts well in addition to the classics.

Zhao Rong just nodded and responded silently.

Everyone separated.

Zhao Rong walked towards the students' dormitory in the academy and prepared to pack his luggage first.

Today, he still has to report to the school and attend formal classes.