The man"s profound eyes held the endless glint of clarity, as if those eyes could instantly see through any person.

He was incomparably handsome, though his attire and his shaved head implied that he was a monk. What a waste.

Lv Xin had never met Xuanji before, which was why she could do nothing more than stand there in utter astonishment. "Miss... how, how, how come there"s a man here? There"s a strange man..."

Lv Xin, like the Hua Qiyue of old, was very timid. Hua Qiyue, on the other hand, remained composed as she curtsied. "Qiyue greets Master Xuanji!"

At that point, Lv Xin felt as if she had just been struck in the head by five thunderbolts. She stared blankly at the man who was standing in the middle of the main hall. She could not believe her own eyes.

Master Xuanji"s name was very well-known all over the world. Lv Xin had a.s.sumed that only a man who was now in his seventies or eighties could have that kind of deep insight into human nature.

She could not believe that the infamous master was actually a young man, and a young man so handsome at that!

"Miss Hua, it"s a pleasure. I was pa.s.sing by Hua"s Mansion and suddenly had the inclination to come to see you," Xuanji said, smiling casually. His eyes contained no hints of dalliance at all.

Lv Xin"s heart was beating at a furious pace. If word got out that the First Miss had conversed with a man here, the First Miss" reputation would be tarnished. What would they do if it ever came to that?

"Miss... I, I, I"ll stand guard outside. If somebody comes... I"ll report it to you!" said Lv Xin before she ran out.

"That girl was afraid that an outsider would come barging in?" Hua Qiyue thought with a smile.

"Master, please have a seat. I"ll prepare some tea..."

"That"s not necessary. I"m only here to say a few words." Xuanji"s smile was his usual one. His warmth breath rushed towards her, reminding her of sunshine during spring, which was warm and relaxing.

Hua Qiyue invited Xuanji to take a seat. After that, she sat there and silently observed Xuanji.

Xuanji, the warm one, like the light of spring.

Tianpi, the devilishly beautiful one.

Yun Shimo, the cold and arrogant one.

There was another beautiful man, Huangfu Xuan, who was pure and innocent like clear water.

Today, Xuanji seemed a little different from the way he was at the temple. He seemed more... human.

"For Master Xuanji to personally drop in for a visit, could it be that there are matters which Master Xuanji wishes to impart to Qiyue?" Hua Qiyue asked respectfully. This monk should not be taken lightly. He was capable enough to give her a green jade gourd and to have a hand in the meeting between her and Tianpi, an event that had completely changed her life...

Did Xuanji himself know about the miraculous properties of the green jade gourd?

Xuanji took stock of the main hall in his surroundings. The hall seemed very old. Even the chairs and furniture were old.

A few days ago, Old Madame had planned to change up a few items in the hall. Old Madame had even suggested to Hua Qiyue to move into Rong Hua Court, which was currently unoccupied.

That was where Hua Qiyue"s mother had lived. It had remained unoccupied ever since her death.

Hua Qiyue did not want to leave her current place at all. For one, Hua Qiyue felt that moving into Rong Hua Court would be disrespectful to her biological mother. Also, her current place had been built along the edge of the wall and even had a ma.s.sive fig tree beside it, which she considered as a future convenience in that it would enhance the mobility of her living quarters.

She turned down Old Madame"s offer.

"I would like to give you a word of advice. You must try to succeed as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you will find yourself lacking in strength when disaster hits," Master Xuanji said calmly. His dark eyes were like deep vortices, almost sucking Hua Qiyue into them.

Hua Qiyue lowered her eyes, whose brows were drawn to perfection like a piece of art. "Thank you, Master, for the advice. Qiyue will work hard and try not to let Master down."

At the same time, Hua Qiyue felt shock coursed through her heart. "Can"t believe that this man knew about the secrets of the green jade gourd!"

Such a jade was arcane and powerful. Why would Xuanji pa.s.s something like that to her?

What were they planning?

Hua Qiyue could barely catch her breath, though Xuanji only smiled at her warmly. "Hua Qiyue, you do not have to worry. When you need me, I will come."

The moment the sound of his voice had dissipated, Xuanji had already stood up and floated towards the window. It was as though he had come here just to tell her those two things.

"I hope you don"t reveal all of your abilities during the tournament since doing so will not bode well for you at all. Also... it is best if n.o.body knows about the divine medicine. Or else, death is surely upon you."

After he was done, Xuanji vanished from the window as if he were a gust of wind. His Qing Gong was absolutely superb, so much so that Hua Qiyue was beginning to suspect that he really had flight abilities.

Hua Qiyue snapped back to reality after a long while.

Those were Master Xuanji"s words indeed. If other people caught wind of the divine medicine"s existence, her troubles would be endless.

But Hua Qiyue would have nothing to fear. All she needed to do was borrow the emperor"s power, make herself stronger, and gain the favors of several key figures.

Her progress in the Qi Arts and the Spirit Summoning Arts were satisfactory. Even if there were numerous experts out there, Hua Qiyue would still feel confident—because she had her master, Tianpi.

When Lv Xin returned, she was surprised to find that the hall empty.

Hua Qiyue had instructed Lv Xin to come to get her only when it was dinner time. She had also instructed Lv Xin not to allow any outsider to disturb her rest.

Hua Qiyue once again entered the mysterious realm. Surprisingly, Tianpi really was soaking in a hot spring. Tianpi, who was leaning against the edge of the hot spring, was laughing merrily to Hua Qiyue.

"Can"t believe even a monk had grown interested in you. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like my disciple has quite a lot of appeal in her!"

Hua Qiyue sat at one side, smiling as she met those ice-cold eyes of her master.

It was rare to see Tianpi looking like this. The first time was when she had outright refused to acknowledge him as her master. He had revolted at her refusal. His eyes back then had held the same ice-cold look.

The second time was precisely now, at this moment.

"Master, who is Xuanji? How did he know that I can start training in the arts? Does he know about your existence?" Hua Qiyue looked at Tianpi earnestly. "Master, please don"t joke around. There"s nothing going on between Xuanji and I. All there is between us is the time when I bribed him to help spread the word about me adopting a child, and that"s it."

Tianpi"s eyes held a little bit of perplexity. "Why do you want to adopt the little guy?"

"Master, aren"t you the strongest person in the world? Then you must know who I truly am!" Hua Qiyue took the opportunity to gauge Tianpi"s true power.

Tianpi"s true ability was without a doubt powerful.

But could he really peer into a person"s past?

Tianpi was silent for a long moment, staring at the eyes which contained tens of millions of colors. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

Hua Qiyue waited patiently.

After a while, Tianpi opened his eyes. Hua Qiyue"s past life floated before him. That woman with a smile like flower and the man with whom she shared a sweet bond. The man and the woman relied on each other.

However, during the night of consummation, Zhou Zhicheng was seen leaving the bridechamber angrily. In his anger, he struck down a servant before slowly calming down.

Afterwards, Rong Qiyue was shown helping her husband manage the restaurant while taking care of her child. Her life had been hectic.

Much later... Rong Qiyue was blinded and disfigured. It was a cruel and inhumane thing to watch. After that, the memories focused on Hua Qiyue.

Tianpi looked at Hua Qiyue intently, sighing endlessly. "Ah, now I see...

A series of tremors coursed through Hua Qiyue"s body. She could not believe that Tianpi could actually see her previous life. A cold smile found its way onto her face. "So now you understand, right? Right now, I live for one thing, and that is to become stronger and stronger... I will kill those who intend to kill me. I will protect those who love me and those who I love!"

Tianpi was silent. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand around his drooping red hair.

"Master, you haven"t answered my question. Do you know Xuanji? Is he a friend or a foe? Does he know of your existence?"

Hua Qiyue"s voice had come out low and hushed. This was something that she had been dying to know.

"It"s impossible for him to know of my existence. All he knows is that the green jade gourd has miraculous properties. That time, he had the gourd with him. Too bad his aura is incompatible with mine. Surprisingly, he"d noticed it, which was why he sold the jade gourd. That money-grubber ended up reaping quite a sum. I can"t look into his past... because I can"t see him."

Tianpi went silent for a moment, after which his comportment became dignified and imposing. He reached out a hand and teased the spring water. Rings of ripples spread over the water surface, their form changing randomly like seaweeds.

"But a skilled Qi Artist could detect spiritual energy. He knew about your training because he had felt the spiritual energy in your body. Furthermore... you had sold the Long Red. At the same time, this place grows Long Red. What, you think he"s blind?"

Hearing Tianpi"s a.n.a.lysis, Hua Qiyue was stunned.

Upon further deliberation, although it was troublesome to have the divine medicine kept here, presenting two sprigs of Long Red to the emperor might be a good idea since the emperor would no doubt be satisfied and thus send more guards here for protection.

"Don"t worry. You"re not in any danger for now."

Hearing Tianpi"s words of a.s.surance, Hua Qiyue felt relieved. "Then I"ll head back first to have dinner. One more thing... Master, would you like a drink? I"ll bring back a bottle of Nv Er Hong for you."

"I want the plum brews."

"Okay. I"ll return after dinner!" Hua Qiyue agreed candidly.

Back in her room, Hua Qiyue stepped into the great hall. She saw Tianci sitting here with Youshui, swaying their heads rhythmically as they read.

When he saw Hua Qiyue walking out, Tianci ran to her and clung to her hand, rubbing his face against it gleefully.

"Miss, dinner is ready," one of the servants said smilingly. The servants had served out dinner.

Hua Qiyue gave them one tale of silver each. "You"ll be rewarded every month. The harder and better you work, the greater your reward will be. So it"s all up to you!"

Overjoyed at the reward granted to them by their mistress, the servants pledged their loyalty relentlessly. After the servants left, Hua Qiyue and the rest began their meal. For some reason, Hua Qiyue kept thinking about the mysterious Xuanji throughout dinner. She kept feeling that Tianpi had only been partially right in his a.n.a.lysis.

The following morning, the Hua"s Mansion was exceptionally quiet. It turned out that Hua Xiaoyi was afflicted by quite a number of blisters after she was scalded by hot tea. Due to her injuries, she had no choice but to stay inside her own quarters to recuperate.

Third Madame had left after she had greeted Old Madame, whereas Duo Er was still detained by the family servant. The latter was questioned repeatedly regarding her actions. The speculation was that Duo Er had spilled the tea because Hua Xiaoyi was overly mean and that her rewards were too meager.

When she was out with her maidservants, Hua Xiaoyi would cunningly trick the maidservants into spending all their silvers. As a result, the maidservants had no silver left to send back to their homes. Duo Er"s mother had died because Duo Er had failed to send enough money back home to treat her mother"s illness. Therefore, all this while, Duo Er had been harboring and acc.u.mulating feelings of hatred towards Hua Xiaoyi.

When Hua Qiyue had performed the Spirit Summoning Arts on Duo Er, she had successfully summoned the hatred hidden within Duo Er"s heart.

A skilled Spirit Summoner would leave no traces behind after performing their art. Their victims would appear perfectly normal afterwards.

Duo Er got her punishment—one hundred stick beatings. She did not survive the punishment.

Hua Qiyue and Tianci went to greet Old Madame. Hua Mengshi was, surprisingly, kind enough to gift one of her own maidservants to Hua Qiyue.

The name of that maidservant was Qiuyun, who looked to be roughly twelve or thirteen of age.

Hua Qiyue accepted the servant on the spot, rendering the servant girl in a state of happy surprise. The girl had thanked Hua Qiyue profusely before stepping aside.

Qiuyun had skillful hands. She was exceptionally talented in embroidery, so Hua Qiyue had asked her to embroider two handkerchiefs that day. One for herself, whereas the other for Tian Ci.

The pink lotuses sewn onto the handkerchiefs were lifelike, almost as if they were real lotuses. Every thread was expertly and delicately sewn. It was clear just how much effort Qiu Yun had poured into making the handkerchiefs.

Delighted, Hua Qiyue instantly rewarded Qiu Yun with one tale of silver and had her promoted to the second-grade maidservant.

In the Changjing Kingdom, the maidservant grading system employed by all mansions const.i.tuted of four grades, with the fourth grade being the lowest and the first grade being the highest.

Lv Xin and Youshui were very surprised by the fact that Qiuyun had been rewarded after being in service for such a short time. Hearing such news, other maidservants were filled with jealousy and envy. They had never expected Hua Qiyue to transform from a sparrow into a phoenix. In such a short time Hua Qiyue had become a wealthy lady, so it was natural for her to be giving out handsome rewards.

Two days after that, Hua Qiyue had left Qiuyun in charge of bringing food or to pa.s.s along messages.

The enrollment for the platform tournament had reached its closure. The roster for the first found of the tournament was released.