Kong Ningyuan’s warning had been crucial, and it seemed to come from the heart; thus, the advice Lianshan Xin offered in return was equally sincere.
"Brother Kong, I know there is bad blood between you and your father, which is why you wanted to go through the academy's recommendation path. Hear me out: don’t let your pride get in the way. Bow your head when you should, and admit your faults when you must. For sons of established clans, the biggest mistake is wanting to rely on oneself. Leaning on your father with everything you've got is nothing to be ashamed of."
The Kong clan was fully capable of finding someone to recommend Kong Ningyuan, but Kong Ningyuan had wanted to secure a recommendation slot from Bailudong Academy because he couldn't stand the sight of his father and wanted to rely on his own abilities.
For second-generation scions, the worst thing they could do was try to stand on their own.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't have been a problem, but now, internal trouble had broken out within Bailudong Academy.
"It's far more important to leave this hotbed of trouble, Brother Kong. You are not someone meant to get tangled up in messes like this."
Besides, I’m still counting on you to be a useful connection.
Securing funding isn't easy these days.
Kong Ningyuan naturally heard the sincerity in Lianshan Xin’s voice. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "Worthy brother, there is reason in what you say. I will have a talk with my father."
"Don't let a woman drive a wedge between father and son. Frankly, I think Master Kong handled it quite well. Women only slow down how fast you draw your blade, Brother Kong."
Previously at the academy, Kong Ningyuan had a sweetheart. Spending day and night together, affection had quietly blossomed between them.
There was truth in the ancient saying that hopeless romantics were mostly born into great wealth. Having no worries about survival, they could pour their whole hearts into romance.
However, women truly did get in the way of one's career.
During that period, Kong Ningyuan's grades had noticeably slipped.
Upon discovering this, Master Kong pulled off an outrageous maneuver—he took Kong Ningyuan's sweetheart into his own inner quarters as a concubine.
It wasn't even forced; he simply buried her in silver.
When Lianshan Xin first heard this piece of gossip, he couldn't help but marvel at the absolute audacity.
Of course, as the person involved, Kong Ningyuan did not possess Lianshan Xin’s troll mindset. From that day onward, a cold war began between him and his father.
Previously, Lianshan Xin hadn't bothered to advise him. After all, he hadn't known everything Kong Ningyuan had been through, and when it came to matters of true love, meddling as a friend would only strain their bond.
Now, however, Bailudong Academy was far too perilous, and foreseeably, once he himself joined the academy, it would become even more dangerous.
Kong Ningyuan was the first contact from whom he had successfully secured funding, as well as his angel investor. Lianshan Xin didn't want him going broke; rather, he hoped he would hold out longer so that Lianshan Xin could extract more investment from him.
Thus, Lianshan Xin’s counsel came entirely from the bottom of his heart. Having lived through the ordeal of his sweetheart turning into his stepmother, Kong Ningyuan clearly didn't have much of a love-struck brain left, either.
"Very well. You have always been sharp, worthy brother, and your elder brother truly ought to heed your advice more often."
Kong Ningyuan took the out offered to him.
Lianshan Xin could tell that this had almost nothing to do with his own eloquence; Kong Ningyuan had already been leaning that way himself.
People always needed a graceful way out.
Had this matter not involved his new stepmother, given Kong Ningyuan's flexible nature of 'better to bend than break,' he probably would have yielded to his father long ago.
That stepmother really was something, managing to make Kong Ningyuan hold out until now.
...
"Lianshan Xin, let's go."
Just as Kong Ningyuan was about to take his leave, Qi Shiyun stepped out of the room.
Catching sight of Qi Shiyun, Kong Ningyuan’s face changed abruptly. "Tanhua Qi? You're here too?"
"Oh, young Kong."
In truth, Qi Shiyun was only three years older than Kong Ningyuan, yet she adopted the bearing and tone of a complete elder. "Young Kong, don't worry. Just because your teacher is compromised doesn't mean you are. I, for one, think very highly of—"
Before she could finish, Kong Ningyuan cut her off. "Tanhua Qi, this student is already preparing to enter officialdom through recommendation."
Hearing the terror in Kong Ningyuan's voice, Qi Shiyun knit her delicate brows slightly. "Spineless. If you take the recommendation route, you can forget about ever reaching the first rank in this lifetime. Why are your legs shaking so much? Am I that terrifying?"
Kong Ningyuan’s face was deathly pale.
Not daring to answer her directly, he merely shot Lianshan Xin a look that said 'fend for yourself,' then said in a rush, "Tanhua Qi, I have other matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave first. Worthy brother, you... stay safe."
In front of Qi Shiyun, he hadn't dared to speak too plainly.
He didn't know all the inside details about 'Heaven's Chosen,' but he did know that Qi Shiyun was the successor of the Heaven's Chosen lineage, and that the Heaven's Chosen lineage was the one within the Nine Heavens most prone to 'committing suicide.'
Even with Qi Shiyun's devastating beauty, looking at her filled him with nothing but fear, and he wanted only to keep her at a respectful distance.
From Kong Ningyuan's reaction, Lianshan Xin realized just how dangerous Qi Shiyun was.
Yet he didn't take it too much to heart.
Ah, if a man didn't have a good father, he didn't even have the luxury to be afraid.
Especially in an underdeveloped feudal dynasty.
There were no cutthroat food delivery apps competing to offer you cheap meals here.
Once Kong Ningyuan disappeared from view, Lianshan Xin smoothed things over for him: "Tanhua Qi, Brother Kong was never like this before. It is likely that your peerless beauty was simply too overwhelming, making Brother Kong nervous."
Qi Shiyun glanced at Lianshan Xin with approval. "If you know how to talk, speak more."
Lianshan Xin reeled it off without missing a beat: "This student has also never seen a woman as otherworldly and breathtaking as you, Tanhua Qi."
Even though he had picked up this line from a meme picture of a steamed bun.
Yet the source didn't matter; flattery did.
All else being equal, a subordinate who knew how to flatter would always be promoted more easily than a taciturn one.
Qi Shiyun was evidently susceptible to flattery, nodding with satisfaction. "At your age, it is indeed rare to meet a woman who can surpass me. What you said hardly counts as flattery."
Lianshan Xin smiled faintly.
Seeing how richly endowed she was atop such a slender frame, he decided not to call her out on being ordinary yet so full of herself.
"Let's go. To the Qu household."
Qi Shiyun had not forgotten their business.
Lianshan Xin asked, "Tanhua Qi, just the two of us?"
"The others have already mobilized; you simply haven't noticed. Lord Heavenly Sword will also make his move when the time is right—provided, of course, that traces of the Demon Cult fiends are truly found at the Qu household."
On that point, Lianshan Xin was full of confidence.
For he had witnessed Chairman Qu hiding several Demon Cult fiends right inside his residence.
Time had been too tight, and the Nine Heavens were investigating too strictly; they hadn't had the chance to move them yet.
Of course, it was also possible that during the brief time it took him to reach the academy, they had already been relocated.
Even so, that hardly mattered.
As long as it could be proven that the Qu household was colluding with the demons, Lianshan Xin would win.
The only difference was between winning big and winning huge.
As for whether the Demon Cult fiends could actually be apprehended... honestly, having not yet joined the Nine Heavens, Lianshan Xin felt no such grand sense of duty.
"Allow me to lead the way for you."
"No need. I'll take you flying."
Qi Shiyun grabbed Lianshan Xin by the collar and hoisted him up as effortlessly as a trinket.
With a tap of her toes, Lianshan Xin was airborne.
For the first time without boarding an airplane, he found himself high in the air.
Feeling the fierce headwind buffet him, Lianshan Xin felt no discomfort; instead, his eyes lit up. "Tanhua Qi, to what realm must one cultivate martial arts to fly through the skies and soar like you?"
"The fifth realm: true qi transforms into astral energy, allowing one to ride the air. It is also known as the Grandmaster realm. Anyone who reaches this realm can serve as a grandmaster commanding a sect in the jianghu, reigning over a region."
Lianshan Xin's tone and gaze shifted to genuine admiration. "At your age, you are already a grandmaster?"
Qi Shiyun cast him a half-smile. "Who told you I'm merely a grandmaster?"
Lianshan Xin inhaled a sharp breath of sweet fragrance.
'Can having great talent really allow someone to do whatever they please?'
He was only in the first realm of martial arts.
Judging by Qi Shiyun's implication, she was at least in the sixth realm of martial arts.
Yet Qi Shiyun looked barely in her twenties.
"Don't be so shocked. It isn't just because of talent. You people study martial arts; I am cultivating immortality."
Lianshan Xin's breathing grew rapid.
The smile at the corner of Qi Shiyun's lips began twisting into that of a smirking Dragon King. "Want to learn?"
"I do."
"Then you have to work with me."
Lianshan Xin nodded like a pecking chick. "I'll work with you."
Only an idiot wouldn't.
"Think it through. Working with me comes with immense danger. At any moment, you could be swept into a life-or-death crisis."
Even if Qi Shiyun hadn't said it, Lianshan Xin would have guessed; there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Besides, Kong Ningyuan's reaction had already secretly told him as much.
Yet that was cultivating immortality!
Lianshan Xin gritted his teeth and said, "To die beneath a peony flower makes for a dashing ghost."
Qi Shiyun burst out laughing, her joyful laughter ringing out in the wind. "A man who refuses to admit the truth."
She was fully aware that at this moment, what drew Lianshan Xin in was unquestionably the prospect of cultivating immortality.
Chapter 10