Senior Brother's Got Your Back

Qi Yuan looked out into the distance and saw a multitude of brightly colored garments drifting within the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground. "The design of these mobs is pretty creative." Among the colorful clothes were silk skirts, short jackets, long robes, vests, pinafore dresses, trench coats, overalls... Ancient and modern attire alike, every style imaginable was there. Like living beings, the garments drifted suspended in midair. Yet the moment Qi Yuan stepped into the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground, the colorful clothes all turned toward him in unison. There were no heads above the garments, only hollow air, yet Qi Yuan felt as though tens of thousands of eyes were glaring straight at him. "Too tough to crack—run!" Qi Yuan took off immediately. Even though he was a whopping level 82, there were simply too many garment monsters in this forbidden ground. There were easily tens of thousands before him, and quite a few among them were level 50 or higher. More importantly, though the fierce beasts and monsters in the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground had been powerful, they possessed no cohesive organization and fought only for themselves. These garments, by contrast, acted plainly like a disciplined army. If Qi Yuan attacked, they would likely swarm him at once. Shamelessly, Qi Yuan beat a hasty retreat. Roughly a quarter of an hour later, he finally let out a sigh of relief. "Finally shook them off." He drew his great sword and drove it straight into the ground. In no time, he excavated a massive pit. No one knew how many li deep the hole went. He dug with seasoned skill. After all, he was used to it. He lay down inside the pit. Only then did he notice the message Jin Li had sent in the chat interface. He replied immediately: "I didn't lie to you. Just carry a ladder on your back, and you can walk right into the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground without any danger." How could there be any flaw in rules personally decreed and enacted by him? Naturally, upon seeing Jin Li say she intended to go to the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground in person, Qi Yuan still glanced back at his game screen. The display showed that the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground was currently under his control. In other words, it was his personal property. He sent another message: "Don't worry, it's fine. Go right ahead without fear." Back on Seven Colors Peak, Qi Yuan looked up at the moonlight in the sky, feeling somewhat exhausted. He wondered if playing the game for so long had drained too much of his mental energy. Inside the game, he said to Jin Li, "There are too many garment monsters in the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground. I'll farm them tomorrow. "I dug a pit and buried myself in the dirt. "Logging off now. Good night." Having said his piece, Qi Yuan set down the game jade slip. The slip dissolved, sinking into his body. *** Meanwhile, within a pitch-black palace, the slumbering Jin Li suddenly opened her eyes. Her gaze settled on the Exquisite Jade Tide. When she read what was inside, an inscrutable look flickered across her eyes. "Alright. Be careful, stay safe, and good night." It was merely a simple greeting. *** At the same time, inside the Prime Minister's residence. Sima Ting had not yet retired for the night. A stack of official documents waiting to be handled was piled on his desk. One could say that, compared to Empress Jin Li, he looked far more like a shrewd politician who always placed profit above all else. "Did Her Majesty make any unusual moves today?" Sima Ting asked slowly, setting down a document. Beside him, a figure cloaked entirely in shadow materialized and bowed low. "Today, at the hour of Wei, the Empress met with the Minister of Revenue to allocate disaster-relief silver. At the hour of Shen, she went to visit Old Madame Qin. "After returning to the palace, she spent the rest of the time reviewing memorials without any unusual movements. "However, late tonight, she instructed her maidservants to pull records regarding the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground from the imperial library." "The Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground?" Sima Ting chuckled. "It seems she has run out of options and can only pin her hopes on the illusory Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground." Sima Ting knew that the duel ten days from now was of vital importance to Empress Jin Li. The moment she lost, the precarious balance she could barely maintain would collapse entirely. And now, Madame Qin was grievously wounded, completely incapable of matching the State Preceptor of Southern Feng. That was why Empress Jin Li was desperate enough to risk entering the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground, hoping she might acquire some spiritual medicine inside to heal Madame Qin. Such was Sima Ting's conjecture. "Her Majesty has reached a dead end; there is no need to pay her any mind." Sima Ting did not hold Jin Li in any regard. The matters that truly demanded his attention and concern were his collaborators in the Northern Han Court and Senior General Tianqi, who guarded the border passes. Even so, he picked up another document and added, "Dispatch a few men to shadow her and see if anything unexpected happens." In all matters, a little extra caution was always wise. *** A familiar melody echoed in the room. With a flick of Qi Yuan's hand, the wooden cat puppet was sealed once again, silenced before it could utter another sound. This time, however, Qi Yuan uncharacteristically opened both eyes. "The sun is already burning my ass. "As the Eldest Senior Brother of Seven Colors Peak, I must set a good example for my junior sister. I can't be sleeping in." Although the disciples of the Divine Light Sect had already concluded their morning cultivation by this hour, for Qi Yuan, it was a rare early rise. After freshening up, Qi Yuan stretched lazily. Sunlight poured over his face, making him look utterly languid. Yet because he was exceptionally handsome, even his indolence carried an extraordinary grace. "Morning, Junior Sister." Stepping into the courtyard, Qi Yuan spotted Jiang Lingsu drenched in foul sweat. He did not draw close, deliberately keeping his distance. Hidden information regarding Jiang Lingsu surfaced before his eyes: [This is an ordinary young woman. Proficient in numerous Daoist techniques, she cultivates diligently, looking forward to the day she possesses the might to dominate the world and put an end to all calamities.] Seeing this, Qi Yuan's opinion of Jiang Lingsu ticked up another notch. Jiang Lingsu, on the other hand, furrowed her brow as she looked at him. "Eldest Senior Brother, why do you look so frail and drained? It's as if... you've overindulged in worldly pleasures." Qi Yuan stared blankly. He had merely spent too much time gaming, which had exhausted his spirit. At present, his strength was stuck at Qi Refinement perfection, unable to step into Foundation Establishment. So wasn't it entirely normal that gaming took a heavy toll on him? Unfortunately, for Qi Yuan to break through into Foundation Establishment right now, he was missing two things. First was a suitable cultivation technique. Second was a suitable Foundation Establishment spiritual item. As for a suitable cultivation technique, he naturally intended to create it himself. Though his cultivation was low, his eyes could perceive hidden information. He could cobble together a random technique and use the hidden information to continually refine and correct it. By now, Qi Yuan had browsed every technique available in the sect. Regrettably, he was still far from creating his own. Or rather, his foundation was too shallow. Just now, however, he had noticed that Jiang Lingsu possessed countless Daoist techniques. He turned to Jiang Lingsu and said, "Junior Sister, you need to save your senior brother." He hadn't taken her earlier verbal jab to heart at all. "What happened?" Jiang Lingsu asked with concern, worried that something had gone wrong with his cultivation. "I can tell you don't come from an ordinary background..." "Are you trying to borrow money?" "Not at all. What I mean is, do you have any extra cultivation techniques? Regardless of grade, lend them to me to read," Qi Yuan said. Jiang Lingsu breathed a sigh of relief. "How many techniques do you need, Senior Brother?" "The more, the better, of course," Qi Yuan replied. "Ideally a few hundred, or even a thousand." If the prompt said 'numerous Daoist techniques,' there had to be plenty. "Senior Brother, what do you need so many cultivation techniques for?" Jiang Lingsu inquired. Qi Yuan answered lazily, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. "Just give me some techniques. Once my cultivation bears fruit in the future, throughout the entire Divine Light Sect—no, across the whole Canglan Realm—Senior Brother's got your back!" Hearing that, Jiang Lingsu burst into laughter. Have her back? Did she even need someone to protect her? Qi Yuan might be taller than her, and perhaps older as well, but if they actually came to blows, Jiang Lingsu felt she could trounce this Eldest Senior Brother with one hand tied behind her back. "Why do you need so many techniques? Tell me, I'm listening," Jiang Lingsu asked once more. "To create my own cultivation technique." Qi Yuan made no attempt to hide it. In this world, nobody believed the truth anyway. For instance, he had already exposed the fact that the sect master was an undercover spy, yet not a soul believed him. Jiang Lingsu froze. Create his own technique? This Eldest Senior Brother was truly daring in his fantasies. Yet after a fleeting thought, she retrieved a jade slip nonetheless. "Senior Brother, there are quite a few techniques stored in here. I'll lend them to you to look through." Over all these years, Ruan Yixi had taken in only this single disciple. That meant Ruan Yixi must hold Qi Yuan in very high regard. She needed to stay on good terms with him. "I'm lending you the techniques, but Eldest Senior Brother, you must stop indulging in games all day. Cultivate properly, so you can truly have your little junior sister's back in the future," Jiang Lingsu teased. "Gaming is also a form of cultivation." Qi Yuan took the jade slip. As for the rank stench of sweat on his junior sister, it didn't smell foul at all anymore—in fact, it smelled rather sweet. How could it not, when his junior sister's jade slip held hundreds of cultivation techniques!