The tortoise shell only flashed once, yet it absorbed eighty percent of the Lesser Restoration Pill's medicinal power before drifting quietly into the sea of Wang Yu's soul consciousness, bobbing gently.
Though it had taken the lion's share, the benefits it returned to Wang Yu were immense.
"Huh?" Li Yunxiu let out a soft exclamation. "How does your internal force seem to flow more smoothly than before?"
Then she sighed with regret. "Too much of the medicinal power was wasted. Forget three years—once you clear your heavenly circulation, you'll be lucky to have three months' worth of cultivation."
Wang Yu's eyes darted, but he held his tongue.
Perhaps because the tortoise shell had made a home of his mind, he understood its function instinctively. Whenever he consumed an energy-rich medicine, the tortoise shell would absorb the energy and feed the refined essence back to its host. Not only could it enhance his innate aptitude and constitution, but the patterns on the shell could also deduce and refine whatever martial arts he practiced.
Just moments ago, after absorbing the pill's power, the briefest flicker across the shell's markings had fine-tuned the first three layers of Flowing Fire Reflection to suit him perfectly, while deducing the fourth layer and feeding it all into his mind.
As for the widening of his meridians and the smoother circulation of internal force, that was the shell's feedback on his innate aptitude. Though it was only a slight improvement, his meridians had never been trained before and were exceptionally narrow and blocked, which was why Li Yunxiu had sensed the change at once.
Beyond that, the tortoise shell likely had other abilities. Yet because the Lesser Restoration Pill held so little power, it had not been enough to activate them. Wang Yu had no way of knowing more and could only leave it for the future.
As Li Yunxiu guided what little remained of the medicinal energy to dissolve within his body, Wang Yu began circulating the first layer of Flowing Fire Reflection on his own. At last, he felt the legendary internal force and true qi he had only known from tales in his previous life.
*This golden finger is legit!*
Wang Yu's eyes shone bright. Li Yunxiu had just told him that starting martial arts so late would severely limit his achievements, yet in the very next instant, he had awakened a golden finger, lit up his progression tree, and shattered the ceiling on his potential.
"It's only three months of cultivation, look how thrilled you are."
Seeing the delight in Wang Yu's eyes amused Zi Ling as well, and she teased, "Now that you've got some martial arts under your belt, how about we have a sparring match—ouch!"
Zi Ling clutched her forehead, having received a sharp flick from Li Yunxiu.
"Miss..." Zi Ling whined, looking bewildered.
"From now on, call me Madam," Li Yunxiu said flatly. "And address him as Your Highness."
"Understood... Madam," Zi Ling agreed meekly. She then turned toward Wang Yu and offered a slight curtsy. "Your Highness."
"Aye!" Wang Yu answered, taking the title without the slightest modesty.
Seeing Zi Ling subtly roll her eyes, however, Wang Yu had to concede, "Though I have a bit of internal force now, I'm still nowhere near your level. Besides, I haven't the faintest idea how to use it, so I definitely can't beat you."
Flattered by the compliment, Zi Ling's mood instantly brightened, and she giggled, letting the matter drop.
Zi Ling was clever and pert. Though her tongue was sharp with Wang Yu, it was mostly out of indignity that her young mistress had entered a sham marriage with him, feeling he was taking undue advantage. In truth, she had looked after Wang Yu quite well along the journey; the dagger that had nearly struck him earlier had been parried away by her hand.
Speaking of the dagger, Wang Yu finally recalled the issue. "Why were there assassins trying to kill me?"
"I'm the Prince of Zhenxi, personally appointed by His Majesty and on my way to take office. Who would dare assassinate me?" Wang Yu asked, puzzled. "Isn't that slapping the Emperor right across the face?"
In response, he was met with two pairs of sympathetic eyes.
Zi Ling burst into laughter. "Who told you to be so rampant and overbearing in the capital? You made enemies left and right! Leaving the capital to take up your post—isn't this the easiest time to assassinate you?"
"Me?" Wang Yu pointed at himself, his head full of question marks. "Rampant and overbearing?"
"Precisely you!" Zi Ling nodded. "The former Heir of Zhenxi, and now Prince of Zhenxi, Zhao Yu!"
Zi Ling began counting on her fingers. "You broke the legs of the Minister of Justice's son, seized the Vice Minister of Revenue's concubine for your own manor, and beat Commander Liu of the Capital Guard within an inch of his life..."
Wang Yu was thoroughly speechless. "I was a hostage prince from a border domain. How did I dare act so arrogantly in the imperial capital?"
Li Yunxiu offered a faint smile. "Because your father was a Xiantian grandmaster who commanded fifty thousand troops. Short of high treason, His Majesty could do nothing to you."
"Those people have no idea Zhao Yu was swapped; they think you're him," Zi Ling explained. "They didn't dare strike while you were in the capital, but now that you've left, if they don't strike now, when will they? Never mind that Commander Liu of the Capital Guard hails from a major sect—even if the Minister of Justice and the Vice Minister of Revenue know no martial arts, they have experts at their beck and call, and they can easily hire assassins to deal with you."
Without waiting for Li Yunxiu to chime in, Zi Ling rattled on, "Take the Black Ridge Twin Fiends who attacked this morning, for instance. They usually operate around Henan Circuit. If not for the backing of influential figures in the capital, they never would have come all the way to Hexi Circuit just to kill you."
Wang Yu asked, "Assassinating a prince of the realm—aren't they afraid of being put on the imperial wanted list?"
"What belongs to the jianghu stays in the jianghu, and what belongs to the court stays in the court. Once you step outside the imperial court, it's the jianghu," Zi Ling said as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Besides, they're already on the wanted list. Are they going to lose sleep over being wanted twice?"
"If they kill the master of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, aren't they afraid the manor's forces will rebel?" Wang Yu pressed further.
He clearly remembered that the Emperor had made him impersonate Zhao Yu precisely out of fear that Zhenxi would rebel.
"They don't care. If the sky falls, they expect the tall ones to hold it up." Disdain and disgust flashed across Li Yunxiu's eyes. "A bunch of useless parasites drawing salaries for nothing. If they can see past the next three days, it's already an achievement for them."
Through Li Yunxiu's explanation, Wang Yu came to grasp their current predicament.
The Emperor had detained Zhao Yu along with all the expert guards of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor in the capital, placing them under secret house arrest, and dispatched only a ten-man squad of imperial guards to escort him and the Princess Consort back to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor.
Because Wang Yu looked indistinguishable from Zhao Yu and the real prince had not returned home in a decade, the Emperor had zero concern about exposure. He firmly believed that with the righteous banner of legitimate succession in hand, Wang Yu could take control of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor under Li Yunxiu's guidance.
However, as a semi-independent power, the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor had long maintained an arm's-length relationship with the imperial court. By all reason, the Emperor should not fully trust Zhao Yu and should only be releasing him under duress. Therefore, he could not escort Wang Yu back with grand fanfare, lest it arouse the suspicions of the veteran experts under the Zhenxi banner.
The original host only knew he had to impersonate Zhao Yu, and that Zhao Yu had been reckless and tyrannical in the capital, but he had no clue that people in the capital would hire assassins to murder him on the road. Naturally, Wang Yu hadn't known either.
"So we can only rely on our own strength to get back?" Wang Yu asked.
"Indeed," Li Yunxiu said with a smile. "Yet once you return to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, you will be the prince commanding a mighty army. No assassin will ever dare come after you again."
As long as he reached the Zhenxi seat of power, followed Li Yunxiu's instructions to take control of the manor, stayed devoted to lying flat, harbored no rebellious ambitions, and remained loyal to the Emperor, there would be no danger of exposure. He could live his entire life as the Prince of Zhenxi!
Wang Yu nodded. While starting out facing assassinations looked a bit rough, once he cleared the beginner's hurdle, it would be smooth sailing all the way!
Lying flat? Now that was something he excelled at!
When the time came, he wouldn't need to worry about a thing. He could simply use the manor's wealth to purchase all kinds of miraculous elixirs and pills, cultivate peerless talent, master supreme martial arts, and then roam the jianghu on horseback. Wouldn't that be pure bliss?
Both before and after his transmigration, Wang Yu had always been an ordinary man. He had no towering ambition, no lust for power, and certainly no savior complex. If someone else was willing to shoulder the burdens so he could enjoy life, wouldn't he be a fool to refuse?
Of course, all of this hinged on whether he could safely make it out of Jingji Circuit and return to Longshan Prefecture in Anxi Circuit, where the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor was situated.
Wang Yu could not help glancing at Li Yunxiu.
Aside from Li Yunxiu and Zi Ling, their entourage consisted of only a ten-man squad of imperial guards. Was that really enough to hold the line?
Seeing Wang Yu's timid gaze, Li Yunxiu smiled and consoled him, "Do not worry. His Majesty anticipated this long ago. Aside from me, there is another expert accompanying us. Unless a Xiantian expert takes the field, our safety is assured."
Li Yunxiu instructed, "Once we reach Longshan Prefecture, tell them you rescued him by chance in the capital, which is why you brought no retinue from the manor and only kept him at your side for protection."
"There's another expert?" Wang Yu asked curiously. "Who is it? Are they hidden among those ten guards?"
Just as Wang Yu's words left his mouth, he felt the carriage brake violently. From outside came a flurry of brisk, orderly footsteps as the ten guards in front and behind converged at once, encircling the carriage in the center.
"Whoa!" Song Yong, the squad leader of the imperial guards up front, reined in his horse and bellowed, "Who goes there?"
Zi Ling leaned sideways and lifted the front curtain of the carriage. Looking past the shoulder of the gray-haired old driver, Wang Yu saw two middle-aged men clad in blue robes, holding long swords, standing side by side blocking the road ahead.
Li Yunxiu's brow twitched. "Sky-blue robes, ocean-green lapels, finger-half swords... they are from the Nanhai Sect."
Zi Ling gasped in shock. "The Nanhai Sect is far away in the southern reaches; they rarely even visit the Central Plains! Why would they come to target those of us who... ahem, came from the royal city?"
Looking at the expressionless swordsmen and the three diagonal stripes stitched onto their emerald-green lapels, Li Yunxiu narrowed her eyes. "They are not merely swordsmen of the Nanhai Sect. They are two of its most renowned."
Zi Ling picked up immediately, "Clouds in the sky, wind over the sea—Light Clouds and Gentle Breeze, the Twin Swords of Nanhai?"
"How rare that someone recognizes us." The blue-robed man on the left smiled.
"We can spare her life," the blue-robed man on the right said with an indifferent expression.
"What about that female Zhuangyuan?" the man on the left asked.
"Since she married Zhao Yu, she counts as family," the man on the right replied, answering indirectly.
Li Yunxiu naturally heard their exchange. Abandoning all lingering hope, she turned to explain to Wang Yu, "The Nanhai Sect is located along the coast of Guangnan Circuit in the south. Their swords are three cun longer and half a fen narrower than ordinary blades. Their swordplay is blindingly fast, fierce, bizarre, and ruthless, yielding not an inch to the supreme arts of the Seven Great Sword Sects.
"These two go by the title 'Light Clouds and Gentle Breeze,' derived from the concept that their strikes are swift, their sword paths bizarre, and entirely without trace—as light as floating clouds and as gentle as a breeze. By the time someone catches sight of their blades, they have already been pierced through."
Wang Yu looked at Li Yunxiu, concerned with only one question. "Can you beat them?"
Li Yunxiu shook her head. "No."
In the next instant, the two blue-robed men surged forward, unsheathing their swords mid-stride.
"The female Zhuangyuan lives up to her name! Such fine composure!" praised the blue-robed man on the left.
The man on the right bared a cruel grin. "I hope that when you're yielding submissively beneath me, you'll remain just as calm."
Chapter 2