Reunion with an old friend
Changyou and Zhao Xun traveled from Bi'an Gorge to Fangcaozhou, having traveled a long and arduous journey from north to south. After meeting Yuzhu and the other two, they returned to their rooms to rest.
Yu Zhu, however, was still frowning, pondering Zhao Xun's last words. Could it be that she too had experienced difficulties in finding a husband?
Jingxu lifted the teapot, and water poured from the spout into Yuzhu's cup. He said in a low voice, "Zhao Xun's surname is Zhao. Zhao is the surname of the royal family of the capital."
The power structures in the cultivation world vary from place to place, but according to Yu Zhu, the Divine Capital is the closest to the feudal royal city in the previous life, and the Divine Capital has an emperor. The Divine Capital is named after the Divine Path, and the Zhao family has volunteered to protect the Divine Capital and fulfill their responsibility of guarding the Divine Path.
Six hundred years ago, a demon god invaded. The Zhao clan offered their flesh and blood as a sacrifice, activating the protective array previously set up by the Spirit Clan, preventing the demon god from entering the capital. From then on, the Zhao bloodline was bound to the protective array of the capital. Five hundred years ago, the head of the Zhao clan proclaimed himself the Pivot Emperor, and he is now the third Pivot Emperor.
Jing Xu continued, "The current Emperor Shuji has an Empress and a Consort, and the Consort is from the Baili clan. Zhao Xun is most likely the Consort's daughter."
Yu Zhu recalled what Jing Shu had said before: the Baili clan was marrying someone in the hope of having a child with the bloodline of the Spirit Clan.
"The Baili clan and Emperor Shuji... were together because of..."
Jing Xu nodded. "That's right. I heard that seventeen years ago, the Baili family took a baby from the capital. I guess that baby must have been born to the emperor and his concubine and had extraordinary bloodline."
"That Zhao Xun?"
"She may have a thin bloodline, or she may not have one at all."
"So she was acting on behalf of her mother?" Yu Zhu guessed.
"Maybe."
Jingxu took a sip of tea and explained it to Yuzhu in detail.
The Emperor of the Primordial Realm has one Empress and one Consort. Both come from powerful clans that have long held sway in the capital. Their union was intended to solidify their respective positions and share resources. The Emperor and Empress have one son and one daughter.
In the world of cultivation, the higher one's cultivation level, the greater the cost of conceiving a child. The mother has to share her own power with the child. However, sometimes this cost doesn't have to be so high. Cultivators with resources can nurture an embryo that has fused with the parents' essence and blood in rare and precious materials, using various treasures to support the fetus's development.
I had already encountered this Jade Bamboo in the general knowledge courses of the cultivation world. This is one of the reasons why there are so few children in the cultivation world. Although you can have external reproduction to reduce harm, you need to be rich, have cultivation level, and have the luck to obtain rare and precious materials.
The Emperor and Empress's two children were conceived through external fertilization, having virtually no impact on them. However, the Imperial Concubine, in order to give birth to a child with Spirit Clan blood, gave birth to both children herself, reportedly causing her cultivation level to drop from the early Nascent Soul stage to the mid-Golden Core stage. Because of the Imperial Concubine's actions, she successfully gave birth to a child with clearly visible Spirit Clan blood, thus opening up more marriage opportunities for the Baili clan.
After listening, Yu Zhu was speechless.
It's hard to say. She originally thought that the capital was quite feudal, but she didn't expect that the Baili clan was even more so.
Yu Zhu rubbed the teacup in her palm with her thumb, a hint of sarcasm on her face. "So everyone's quite bloodline worshipping, huh? The Zhao family sacrificed so many people back then, surely they weren't planning to change the bloodline of their descendants?"
Jing Xu's eyebrows curved into a smile. "After all, they are gods who have ascended to heaven. It's understandable that many people yearn for it. Even now, cultivators from the ruins of the Spirit Race and Demon Race in the Age of Gods are still flocking to them. I've also heard that the Zhao family has been a member of the Yingtian Sect for six hundred years. I thought Senior Sister would know more about this than I do."
Yu Zhu paused, put down her teacup. She really didn't know this; the original owner of the body didn't have any of her memories either.
"How would I know about something that happened so long ago? You seem to know quite a lot."
"To run a business from home, you must be well-informed."
"I'm done chatting, I'm going to rest now," Yu Zhu said, covering her mouth with her hand and pretending to yawn.
I never imagined that even making up stories with Jingxu would carry the risk of being exposed.
Yu Zhu returned to her room and saw the blue outer robe hanging there. She realized that she had forgotten to return the clothes to Jing Xu again. When did her memory become so bad?
There was also a sword. Yu Zhu took out the sword and examined it closely. The sword already had cracks, and the blade even had small chips. Ning Wu's knife was of a much higher grade than this sword, and it had been damaged in the fight.
After pondering for a while, Yu Zhu decided to find the materials herself and forge a sword to compensate Jing Xu.
Thump, thump.
Yu Zhu opened the door, "Senior Brother?"
Yu Zhu invited Chang You in, intending to pour him some water.
Changyou stopped her movements, "Have you been chatting with Jingxu for so long?"
Yu Zhu straightened up, put her hands behind her back, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. She was worried that her master had found out about her gossiping behind people's backs.
Changyou's eyes were filled with laughter, "It was indeed the right thing to leave the sect more often. Azhu will be happier now. She's been cooped up in the sect all the time, and she's getting really bored."
Yu Zhu opened her lips and then closed them again. "No, I have a lot to do in the sect too."
A sword appeared in Changyou's hand. The blade was cyan, but engraved with gold patterns. The hilt was inlaid with cyan jade and hung with a dark cyan tassel. It was an exquisite sword, but it lacked any spiritual energy, like an ordinary sword.
"Is this Qing Shuang?"
Qing Shuang, the original owner's sword.
Changyou: "Yes, this sword was damaged back then, and Master could only repair it to this extent. To restore its former spiritual energy, we need to find better materials. You used to carry it with you, and now it's time to return it to its rightful owner."
Should it be returned to its rightful owner?
Yu Zhu blinked, hiding the confusion in her eyes, and changed the subject, asking, "Can Master's Wind and Snow Sword also be repaired?"
Changyou frowned. "Qiongfang Immortal Venerable's Wind and Snow Sword is a divine artifact that once gave birth to a sword spirit. Only by finding divine-level materials can it be repaired."
Changyou left, leaving behind Qingshuang. Yuzhu felt a mix of emotions and decided to put it away, out of sight, out of mind.
With the matter of Baicao Village resolved, Bai Wei returned to the village with her child.
The Baili family's marriage proposal failed, so they returned home.
Jing Shu also finished dealing with the matter of the Immortal Peak Pavilion. The group of people with low cultivation levels in the Immortal Peak Pavilion had their memories erased, while Han'er, A Quan, and others whom Yu Zhu had met could not say anything no matter how she asked them, and were temporarily locked up in the Yin Mountain Range.
Jing Shu also told Yu Zhu that the reason she was able to use magic might be because she had also been captured by the Immortal Pavilion and subjected to their so-called secret techniques.
About a hundred years ago, the original owner of this body was rescued from the Demon Cave by the Yingtian Sect. At that time, the Immortal Pavilion handled the matter very well, and the Yingtian Sect only thought that it was the Demon Clan causing trouble. However, the original owner of this body had been controlled by the Immortal Pavilion for a long time and was unaware of what had happened to him.
It wasn't until Zhoujia Village, when the original owner's demonic bloodline awakened, that Immortal Venerable Qiongfang discovered this. Immortal Venerable Qiongfang then used the pretext of demonic spies infiltrating the immortal sects to launch a purge, successfully identifying quite a few individuals with demonic power within them. These people were later sent to Thousand Peaks City.
"Ah Zhu, so much time has passed since this happened. It's good that the matter has been investigated and clarified," Jing Shu said gently, a rare occurrence for her.
"Sigh! I know, it's just..."
I'm just wondering if this might be one of the reasons why the original owner of this body went mad. The exceptionally talented disciple was actually the result of being modified by someone with some kind of intention.
Jing Shu sighed and tossed a spirit energy bag into Yu Zhu's arms. After Yu Zhu caught it in a flurry, she said, "This bag is full of spirit stones. Take this opportunity to play in Fangcaozhou for a few more days and buy some nice clothes. You always look like a green onion."
Yu Zhu's lips twitched; her senior sister was attacking her aesthetic sense again.
"Take it back, I don't need it."
Jing Shu scoffed, "You don't need those few spirit stones? Take them. The future Sect Master of Yingtian Sect is busy and doesn't have time for formalities."
After Jing Shu finished speaking, she patted her bottom and set off with Zhou Nan to respond to Tianzong.
After Jing Shu left, Yu Zhu, Jing Xu, Chang You, and Zhao Xun rented a small courtyard because they would be staying in Fangcaozhou for a while longer.
Changyou went to the city gate to repair the defensive formation. The city gate was the center of the battle, and the formation there was the most severely damaged.
Zhao Xun followed along, learning and assisting.
Yu Zhu spent the last two days browsing Fangcaozhou, hoping to find good materials for forging swords.
Jingxu was ordered to accompany Yuzhu on her outing. Changyou was worried that Yuzhu, who hadn't been out of the sect for a long time, might not be used to the outside world, so he instructed Jingxu to spend more time with her.
Yu Zhu: ...
Senior brother is being far too considerate; she wouldn't go that far.
Later, after discovering that Jingxu spent his days shopping with her and his nights cultivating immortality, Yuzhu refused to let him accompany her anymore.
Time is money, and the children are studying hard, so how can adults interfere with them?
Yu Zhu wandered around alone for several more days, exploring Fangcaozhou, but still couldn't find the materials she wanted.
On this day, the sun shone brightly, the sky was high and clear, and the sky was a deep blue with only a few pure white clouds floating in the distance.
Jing Xu, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, sat cross-legged under the flower trellis in the courtyard. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled, golden light and shadows on him.
A gentle breeze passed by, and the wind chimes under the eaves tinkled, bringing Yu Zhu back to her senses. These wind chimes were bought by Jing Xu. Yu Zhu closed her storybook and looked up at the sky.
The weather was lovely, but her mood wasn't great. The protagonists in stories could easily obtain priceless treasures; shouldn't someone of her status have one too?
The wind chimes stopped, and Yu Zhu flicked a wisp of spiritual energy from her fingertips, causing them to sway and tinkle.
This wind chime rings when you flick it; it's quite interesting that the Bai family has fallen into decline.
Through the window, her gaze fell on Jing Xu, and Yu Zhu flicked a burst of spiritual energy towards his shoulder.
Jing Xu shifted slightly, his shoulders tensed, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he suppressed a muffled groan that was about to escape.
Yu Zhu immediately jumped out of the window. "Were you scared? I didn't use much force!"
After recovering from that momentary, subtle sensation, Jingxu opened her eyes: "I'm fine, what's wrong, Senior Sister?"
"I just wanted to let you know I'm going out to check on my senior brothers."
"Understood, Senior Sister."
Yu Zhu took a few steps, then turned back. Jing Xu was rubbing his shoulder, his eyes lowered. Yu Zhu thought to herself that she had really scared him; she shouldn't tease him like that again.
After the city gate was closed, Chang You was drawing something with a pen while explaining it to Zhao Xun.
Yu Zhu had nothing to do but watch the people entering and leaving the city gate.
Changyou walked over to his side. "Azhu, why did you come out?"
"Nothing to do, so I came to check on things. How's the repair going, senior brother?"
"It will be finished today. Is something on your mind, A-Zhu?" Chang-You asked with concern.
Yu Zhu waved her hand. "It's not something on my mind. Jing Xu lent me a sword before, and I broke it. I was thinking of forging one myself to return to him, since he's practicing the Wind and Snow Technique right now. But I haven't been able to find suitable materials yet." As she spoke, Yu Zhu sighed.
"Finding materials isn't urgent, I can..."
As Yuzhu was listening, Changyou suddenly stopped. Yuzhu followed Changyou's gaze and saw a woman wearing a lotus-colored dress.
She was heading into town, walking a little slower than the others, her shoulders drooping.
"Aro?"
Changyou murmured to himself, then walked toward the woman, and Yuzhu followed.
The woman seemed to sense something and glanced at them. She froze, her eyes wide. As they approached, she regained her composure and exclaimed in surprise, "Brother...Brother Changyou?"
Changyou was clearly quite excited. "It's me! I never expected we'd meet again here."
The two looked at each other, their joy evident in their eyes, but they remained silent for a moment, a touch of awkwardness settling in.
"Senior brother, who is this?" Yu Zhu asked.
“This is my friend, Aro.”
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