Beneath a vast expanse of clear blue sky, a single blue-canopied carriage ambled along the long, narrow road. Its heavy wheels ground through snow and ice, kicking up a misty white spray in an atmosphere of tranquil serenity.
Xu Yuan stretched lazily. Leaning back against the soft mattress, he idly pushed open the carriage window and looked out at both sides of the official thoroughfare.
Ink-dark distant peaks rose beyond the Jing River, which divided the banks, and the magnificent, rolling landscape of the Central Plains hills unfolded before his eyes.
The scenery was beautiful, yet Xu Yuan's gaze was laden with heavy exhaustion.
More than a month had passed since he left the capital. No matter how breathtaking the scenery, watching it for over a month straight would inevitably grow dull.
The only small comfort was that the landscape outside had shifted slightly with the passage of time.
When they first set out from Di'an, the mountains and rivers of late winter had been entirely draped in plain white. The snow that fell throughout the season had practically painted the entire world like a frozen cataract. By now, the snow had melted, and specks of lush verdant green had gradually surfaced in his field of view, spreading wildly at remarkable speed.
Another new spring had arrived.
Feeling the fresh, early spring breeze and savoring the morning tea handed to him by Xiao Bai, Xu Yuan's gaze drifted across to the black-robed maiden sitting cross-legged on the prayer mat opposite him.
As his dedicated treasure hunter, the big block of ice naturally had to be brought along on this journey out of the capital. In order to allow her to accompany him, Xu Yuan had even asked his old man to intervene and smooth over the lie with Ran Jianli.
By now, however, he rather regretted it.
He should have told Ran Qingmo to head straight to the Western Desert after a period of time to wait for him, while he took Bai Muxi alone to the ancestral grounds of the Feng family to retrieve the token for the Feng family treasury before meeting up with her.
Had he arranged it that way, this month-long journey might have passed in the blink of an eye, rather than dragging on like years.
This was likely the first time across two lifetimes that Xu Yuan had detested a long journey so thoroughly.
If he wanted to seek excitement with Xiao Bai now that they had tasted that sweetness, the carriage was simply too cramped to do anything.
At the beginning of the trip, Xu Yuan had occasionally taken Bai Muxi for strolls in the mountain forests, but over time, Ran Qingmo had grown suspicious.
They had simply been gone for too long.
After weighing the matter, Xu Yuan stopped doing it.
A life of indulgence raised one's threshold of desire, driving a ceaseless pursuit of greater stimulation, whereas a life of restraint allowed the next peak of pleasure to reach absolute ecstasy.
Yet the cost of restraint was boredom.
Xu Yuan could not even find anyone to talk to right now.
The big block of ice's obsessive cultivation grind, a condition she practiced without a moment's pause, seemed to have infected Biluochun as well. The two women now holed up inside the carriage every single day, competing against each other in their cultivation, seemingly trying to see who could be the first to break through to the Origin Realm.
This made life miserable for Xu Yuan.
Those two women could cultivate, but he could not.
With his constitution, cultivating required the array formation back home that extracted the source essence of yin ghosts and aberrant ghosts, and his fourth sister had not yet developed a portable array formation.
As for settling his mind to study technique arts?
Xu Yuan wanted to, but he did not dare.
Studying technique arts consumed Source Qi.
Before he left, Xu Xinyao had only crafted a dozen or so aberrant crystals to replenish the black Source Qi within him. Using one meant having one fewer. If he squandered them recklessly, he would have no choice but to wait for death if he ran into danger and his Source Qi ran dry.
After a month of travel, Xu Yuan already felt as if ants were crawling all over him.
Traveling?
This was serving a prison sentence!
Rubbing the space between his brows, Xu Yuan glanced to his side.
Sure enough, after brewing his morning tea, Bai Muxi had quietly sat back down on the prayer mat beside Ran Qingmo to resume her grind without a word.
One was dressed in pure white, the other in ink-like black. At a glance, they were a pleasing sight, yet after staring for a while, Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze. His narrow eyes went slack like a dead fish's as he aimlessly swept them back and forth across the boundless blue sky.
Indeed.
He should have just had the big block of ice go straight to the Western Desert to wait for him.
As these jumbled thoughts occupied his mind, he had no idea how much time passed until the bright sun hung high in the sky. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a tiny black shadow beneath the distant blue sky, hurtling rapidly toward their carriage.
At the sight, Xu Yuan's drifting mind jolted awake.
A message had finally arrived?
Murmuring softly under his breath, Xu Yuan immediately sat up straight and extended a hand out the window.
Before long, the black speck in the sky transformed into a sparrow with purple-tinged tail feathers that obediently landed on his fingertip. A rolled-up slip of paper was tied to its tiny claw with a thin cord.
A purple dragon sparrow—a ranked demonic beast used by the Black Scale Guard as a courier bird for short distances.
It was likely a message sent by the Black Scale Guard branch in the Mount Xifeng region.
Untying the paper slip from its claw, Xu Yuan casually tossed the little sparrow out of the carriage. It fluttered its wings twice and vanished into the blue sky in an instant.
Unfolding the paper slip slowly, Xu Yuan had just begun reading when a crisp, tranquil female voice drifted over:
"Young Master, is it a letter from the Black Scale Guard?"
Over the past month, Xu Yuan had found very few opportunities to speak with either woman. The instant he heard her voice, he immediately lifted his gaze and chuckled softly.
"Yes. You're done cultivating?"
Bai Muxi raised her delicate hand slightly, where a faint wisp of five-colored Dao Charm flickered in and out of view. Clenching her fist, she dispersed the Dao Charm and murmured softly, "I've encountered a small bottleneck. I probably won't be able to make any further progress in the short term."
As she spoke, Bai Muxi keenly caught the flicker of pleasant surprise in his eyes, feeling an inexplicable trace of delight in her heart.
She had indeed been cultivating throughout this journey, yet she had clearly observed every shift in the young master's expression, from sheer boredom to gradual despair.
Ever since that night, each time he sought her out, those fancy tricks that preserved her virginity while delivering intense pleasure had given her quite a few earth-shattering shocks.
Her thoughts drifted involuntarily back to those nights, and a barely perceptible blush crept across her snow-white skin, though Bai Muxi quickly suppressed it with her cultivation technique.
She knew very well that intimacy with the young master was her advantage, but it was equally her disadvantage; after all, people only treasured what they could not easily obtain.
Thus, giving him the "cold-shoulder treatment" during the journey had been entirely intentional on her part.
However, she had walked that line with great care. The young master was exceedingly clever, and he could see through most of the little schemes she tried to pull at a single glance.
The reason it succeeded this time was largely because cultivation was serious business, coupled with his affection and the cover provided by Mr. Ran.
Whenever they were cultivating, no matter how bored he felt, he would never disturb them, even deliberately suppressing his presence to avoid affecting them.
At this thought, her heart softened slightly. Bai Muxi gracefully rose from the prayer mat, walked over, and sat down beside Xu Yuan. Tilting her head slightly to lean near his breath, she peered at the slip of paper and asked softly, "What news did the Black Scale Guard send?"
Catching the fragrance from her hair, Xu Yuan did not hide anything. He casually handed the slip to Xiao Bai and said, "It's all about the Feng family."
Bai Muxi scanned it briefly, then asked in a low voice, "The Feng family at Mount Xifeng... is a collateral branch?"
Feeling the woman's orchid-sweet breath so close at hand, Xu Yuan instinctively reached out to wrap an arm around her slender waist, but glancing at the big block of ice, he held back for the moment and replied, "The main lineage of the Feng family is all at the Prime Minister's Manor, so the ones here are naturally collateral branches."
As she read on, Bai Muxi's exquisite, bright eyes widened slightly.
"The commander of the Black Scale Guard branch in Mount Xifeng is merely a Grandmaster, yet the collateral branch of the Feng family actually has a peak Origin Realm expert?"
With that, she gave Xu Yuan a peculiar look.
Her gaze seemed to ask why the Prime Minister's Manor did not pay more attention to a collateral branch that possessed an expert of this caliber.
Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then replied softly, "Even an emaciated camel is bigger than a horse. Back in the day, the Feng family was one of the top three aristocratic families in the realm. Is it really that strange for a collateral branch to produce a peak Origin Realm cultivator?"
Bai Muxi furrowed her brows, asking with some wariness, "Could that lead to trouble?"
"What trouble?"
Xu Yuan smiled faintly. "A rebellion? With just one peak Origin Realm cultivator?"
Bai Muxi possessed a natural sensitivity toward power. "Young Master, what I mean is, if this person breaks through to the Transcendent Realm, could they follow the Long family's example..."
Xiao Bai was already considered Xu Yuan's concubine. Although she was still far from earning the qualifications to enter the inner courtyard, Xu Yuan did not conceal certain confidential documents of the manor from her.
Just as the remnants of the Long family had rallied around Granny Long, if someone from a collateral branch broke through to the Transcendent Realm, would they become a second Granny Long?
Xu Yuan shook his head, his tone utterly unconcerned. "Muxi, you need to adjust your way of thinking. Great Yan is different from your underground palace. Here, power does not belong to the most capable; bloodline is supreme."
"That person also carries the bloodline of the Feng family..."
"Yet he belongs to a collateral branch. A natural chasm exists between collateral branches and the main lineage from birth. They are born subjects, and until death, subjects they will remain."
"..." Bai Muxi fell silent.
Compared to how the Prime Minister's Manor monitored the old retainers of the Long family, its oversight of the Feng family's collateral branch was practically nonexistent.
First, they were family after all, and overly oppressive policies would only cause unnecessary trouble.
Second, they were merely a collateral branch.
As long as the family head, Feng Jiuxuan, did not die, the Feng family would remain firmly bound to the Prime Minister's Manor. Even if the collateral branch wanted to rebel, the Feng family's old retainers would pay them no heed at all.
And even if Feng Jiuxuan were to die, so long as either he or Xu Changge took the Feng surname—or even if his fourth sister took it—the Feng family's inheritance rights could never fall into the hands of a collateral branch.
This was the rule and cohesion rooted in the bloodline of a millennium-old aristocratic family.
Xu Yuan reached over, took the slip of paper from her fingertips, and flicked it with a chuckle. "Actually, rather than worrying about an old fossil with one foot in the grave breaking through to the Transcendent Realm, it makes more sense to worry about the two prodigies who have emerged from the collateral branch in recent years. One broke through to Grandmaster at eighteen, while the other achieved Body Integration at fifteen and seems to have comprehended Dao Charm as well. If they grow up in the future, they might actually pose a threat to me."
At these words, a flash of murderous intent instantly crossed Bai Muxi's bright eyes.
Over on the other side, Ran Qingmo suddenly dispersed her cultivation, opened her eyes, and stared unblinkingly at Xu Yuan.
Neither woman said a word, yet their silence spoke volumes.
"..."
The atmosphere turned rather bizarre.
After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan rolled his eyes in exasperation.
He had witnessed the little green tea's bandit nature before—she had casually suggested kidnapping Mu Zhiyun right off the bat. But how had his big block of ice turned into a bandit as well?
The green tea had definitely corrupted his big block of ice.
Exhaling softly, Xu Yuan smiled and said, "Don't be so tense. Most of the people in the collateral branch were purged by my maternal grandfather back then. Although my father indeed marginalized the collateral branch due to various considerations, they are still Feng family members and still on our side. If those two prodigies really manage to rise, can't we simply grant them a matching share of authority when the time comes?"
Only the young rebelled blindly; adults understood compromise.
Because of Feng Jiuxuan and Feng Qian'er, the Feng family naturally fell into the camp of the Chancellor's Manor. As long as the manor's upper echelon was not stubborn and did not clutch power with a death grip, what prodigy hailing from the Feng family would risk suspicion just to defect to another faction?
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Ran Qingmo silently closed her eyes and resumed her relentless cultivation.
Bai Muxi, however, suggested in a low voice, "Young Master, during our trip to the Mount Xifeng Range, should we test the moral character of those two prodigies?"
"..."
The corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitched slightly.
Why examine their character?
Naturally, to eliminate uncertainty.
Dig to the root of anyone talented: keep those who could be used, and ruthlessly eliminate those who could not.
He realized this little green tea was showing more and more remnants of a villain's demeanor.
On second thought, however, Bai Muxi's suggestion held some merit.
After all, the Feng family existed mostly in name now. No one knew what kind of political propaganda was being spread privately among the collateral branch, nor whether they harbored resentment toward the Prime Minister's Manor.
Moreover, calculating the timing, the collapse of the Prime Minister's Manor in Cangyuan seemed to coincide precisely with the timeline in which those two prodigies would have grown up.
Exercising caution was always wise.
With this in mind, Xu Yuan pondered briefly and nodded. "There's no need to make deliberate contact. Leave professional matters to the professional Black Scale Guard. Still, if we happen to run into them, there's no harm in testing them."
***
After two more days on the road, the wilderness landscape gradually fell away, replaced by a magnificent mountain range stretching for over a thousand li.
The ancestral grounds of the Feng family, Mount Xifeng, had arrived.
This was not a formal visit. Therefore, before entering the mountains, the trio hid their carriage in a wooded area and activated the simple array formation upon it to conceal it, preventing demonic beasts in the mountains from devouring their horses.
Once everything was prepared, the three masked their auras and slipped into the vast mountain forest before them.
The Feng family had two ancestral halls.
One was situated in the Feng family's settlement, newly constructed over three hundred years ago. The other was concealed within this Mount Xifeng Range, its location known only to the family head of each generation.
Of course, there was no need to deploy the big block of ice, his dedicated treasure hunter, for this task, as Xu Yuan carried a map he had retrieved from home. After all, he was an indisputable son of the Feng family's direct line.
The Mount Xifeng Range was a blessed land.
Rosy clouds perpetually lingered, and celestial mist drifted about. Whenever the sun set, the lingering twilight filtered through the forest and draped over the red clouds, making it appear as though a radiant phoenix were descending into them, grand and breathtaking.
Once night fell, the entire Mount Xifeng Range was shrouded in a dense mist that obstructed spiritual perception, within which the towering main peak lay hidden, resembling an enormous phoenix prostrate upon the earth.
Three days passed in a cycle of sunrise and sunset.
Only then, guided by that somewhat crude map, did Xu Yuan's group draw near the location of the Feng family ancestral hall.
A crackling bonfire illuminated the surrounding white mist, casting dancing shadows across the towering dense forest. Sitting before the fire with Bai Muxi, Xu Yuan deftly handled the spice jars in his hands, preparing wild game they had encountered during the day as their meal.
He basted the meat with sauce, skewered it on iron rods, and placed it over the fire, the fat sizzling and dripping into the flames.
Turning the iron rod, Xu Yuan asked Xiao Bai softly, "Ran Qingmo should be returning soon, shouldn't she?"
Bai Muxi sat cross-legged beside him, scanned the surroundings, and replied quietly, "This dense mist obstructs spiritual perception; I haven't sensed Mr. Ran yet."
Xu Yuan smiled faintly upon hearing this. "She hasn't returned this late, so it seems she made quite a haul today. Yesterday it was a fragmented Source Crystal and a Grade A Low-tier fire manual. I wonder what she'll find today."
Although they did not need the big block of ice to locate the ancestral hall, the Feng family ancestors had clearly hidden other treasures in their ancestral grounds, so Xu Yuan had let his treasure hunter go out to try her luck.
If she found anything, it would simply be returning goods to their rightful owner.
Just as these thoughts crossed Xu Yuan's mind, Bai Muxi suddenly looked toward the depths of the dense forest and spoke up:
"Young Master, someone seems to be coming this way."
Chapter 566