Chen Yang

By the time Liu Changdie climbed out of the lake, dawn had already broken. The feather robe on his body had protected him completely; not a single drop of lake water had touched him. He paced a couple of steps in a daze along the shore. Realizing that everything of his past had vanished without a trace, he was left disoriented and at a loss for what to do. All he could do was ride the wind and fly toward the mountains. Only when he reached Mount Qingdu did Liu Changdie realize the formation flags were still on him. Having no choice, he passed through the barrier and headed toward the main hall where Li Xijun had been. Once the armored guards at the doors had announced him, Liu Changdie stepped inside. To his surprise, seated at the very head of the hall was a man with snow-white hair and beard, clad in black-and-gold armor, who raised his brows to look over. "Fellow Daoist Changdie!" "Brother Xuanfeng!" Liu Changdie hurried forward to meet Li Xuanfeng. Taking a close look at him from head to toe, he found himself speechless for a moment. Li Xuanfeng had been the very first member of the Li family he had met in this life. In his previous life, he had only heard of the reputation of the Jingeng Astral String, but in this life, they had crossed paths in their youth and shared an old acquaintance. Li Xuanfeng was observing him as well. He saw that Liu Changdie looked thoroughly crestfallen, his eyes hollow. Although the aura of Foundation Establishment around him was profound and clearly born of no ordinary cultivation method, his breath was shallow and his heart unsteady, leaving him lost and bewildered. The two stood in the hall. One had once been sharp and radiant, passionate and spirited, wielding a golden bow and daring to shoot at Tangjin, but now his brow and eyes were cold, his hair and beard snow-white, driven at the beck and call of others just to protect his family. The other had once been high-spirited with a soaring reputation, using his mastery of arrays to befriend heroes across the land, but now his hands were empty, left completely alone in the world. As they looked at each other, everything was understood without a word. They cupped their fists to each other, neither prying into the other's bitterness. Li Xuanfeng simply offered his thanks: "The formation succeeded entirely thanks to you, Fellow Daoist. Xuanfeng expresses gratitude on behalf of my family." He brought out a jade box from his storage bag, but Liu Changdie had lost all interest. Handing over the formation flags, Liu Changdie said softly, "If you truly wish to thank me, Brother Xuanfeng... Retainer Hu in town has a concubine surnamed Liu, who is a distant cousin of mine. If you could look after her on my behalf, consider your debt repaid." Li Xuanfeng frowned. Liu Changdie pressed a hand against his Shengyang Mansion, his eyes full of exhaustion, and murmured, "Brother Xuanfeng can see that I am plagued by inner demons. I truly cannot afford any delay; I must hurry to find spiritual items and secret arts to suppress them. It would be unwise for me to linger. Forgive me... please forgive me..." Li Xuanfeng was a decisive man as well. Seeing Liu Changdie drenched in cold sweat, he could only see him out, watching as Liu Changdie brought out a flying shuttle and swiftly vanished beyond the horizon. Only then did Li Xuanfeng ride the wind back into the hall, where Li Xijun was waiting. Among all the younger generation, Li Xuanfeng favored Li Xijun the most. His expression softened somewhat as he first inquired, "What happened regarding Yuexiang?" Li Xijun explained the causes, consequences, and his deductions. The chill on Li Xuanfeng's face subsided slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Even if it was forced upon them by circumstances, can our family simply suffer their insult for no reason? I shall pay a visit to the Yuan family. If Yuan Huyuan wants to make a clean break, I will ensure he understands it thoroughly." Li Xijun nodded. Though he was also nursing a belly of anger over his sister's plight, he still gently advised, "Qingchi strictly forbids crossing borders to ally across commanderies. The Yuan family is our natural geopolitical ally. If lives are lost, it might not end well." Li Xuanfeng merely waved a hand in response, a rare smile appearing on his face. "Let us speak no more of this; I have my own plans. First, take me to see that dutiful junior of ours. Let me see what he looks like nowadays." *** The Chen Residence. Chen Mufeng rode the wind back to his mansion. A flock of wives and concubines came forward to greet him. The Chen clan had enjoyed the Li family's favor for generations, and Chen Mufeng held no small status within his clan, so he naturally had plenty of wives and concubines. Chirping and chattering rose all around him, but he showed no good cheer, waving them aside. He hurried inside all the way to the deepest courtyard, where he saw a woman seated composedly. Her looks were unremarkable, yet Chen Mufeng broke into an eager smile and stepped forward attentively, murmuring, "My lady..." This woman was none other than Lady Li, the younger sister of Li Xicheng. She was seated in the courtyard sipping tea. Standing beside her was a youth of twelve or thirteen years, with narrow, elongated eyes and gentle, sloping eyebrows, standing with his hands behind his back. Lady Li acknowledged him and said softly, "Husband, you return at just the right time. Yang'er has broken through to the fourth tier of Embryonic Breathing, and we were just about to look for you." Surprised and overjoyed, Chen Mufeng exclaimed, "What?!" Sweeping his spiritual sense over the boy, he indeed found that his eldest son, Chen Yang, had reached the fourth tier of Embryonic Breathing. Chen Mufeng gasped in astonishment, "Such cultivation speed! It might not match Li Ximing back then, but it could certainly rival the one managing Mount Qingdu!" Lady Li nodded with a smile, while Chen Yang raised his brows to look at his father and said in a low voice, "The Embryonic Breathing technique is crude; otherwise, I could have been even faster." His eyes had inherited his mother's grayish-black hue, and his eyebrows were gentle and long like those of his maternal uncles' line. In truth, he looked more like a member of the Li family than a Chen. In particular, whenever he narrowed his eyes, it made Chen Mufeng's heart skip a beat. Out of dread for those eyes, Chen Mufeng had never been very close to the boy. At times, catching the child's inadvertent gestures and expressions, he seemed the spitting image of the Li family's suspicious and cunning nature. Yet compared to Chen Yang, his many other children were like a flock of timid quails, completely outmatched in talent. Between incompetence and ambition, Chen Mufeng still preferred Chen Yang. Lady Li naturally doted on the child deeply. Her gaze was gentle as she said softly, "The reason I wished to speak with you is that I want Yang'er to attend upon the Heir." At these words, Chen Yang did not raise his head, but his narrow eyes slanted swiftly and stealthily, sweeping over his father's face. His grayish-black pupils contracted slightly, the pitch-black centers staring straight ahead. Chen Mufeng let out an "Ah," and when he looked back at Chen Yang, he saw only an obedient expression on the youth's face. He replied, "That is naturally a good thing, but I only worry about Chengliao..." "I have already spoken with him." Lady Li lowered her eyes and dismissed Chen Yang first. Only then did her expression turn grave, and she spoke with urgency: "Do you truly understand Yang'er? He is not one to remain content in shallow waters! The reason I rarely take him to see my brother is precisely because of his temperament... He resembles... I don't even know whom he takes after, growing more cunning and ambitious by the day. If he does not win the trust of the Lis early on, I fear he will come to no good end!" "What?!" Chen Mufeng looked up in disbelief. He had possessed youthful ambition in his own past, and he felt his wife was exaggerating. He murmured, "Why must you go so far, my lady? A boy in his teens is bound to harbor some ambition. Once time passes—" "You do not believe me?" Chen Mufeng immediately shut his mouth and could only nod. "Then I will take him over to see Chengliao at once." Lady Li caught hold of him and cautioned, "I hear the Heir is no simple character either. When you go, be sure to accompany Yang'er in person when they meet, just in case." Chen Mufeng merely felt his wife was overthinking things. Giving a casual nod, he hurried out of the courtyard, swept up Chen Yang, and rode the wind toward the towering side palace. After waiting for nearly half an hour, Li Chengliao finally returned. The two traversed the corridors connecting the pavilions and terraces. This was Chen Yang's first time here. Looking at the golden eaves and the white jade steps ascending the terraces, his gaze gradually locked in place, his heart thumping with excitement. Li Chengliao was leading his men back from the borders. Their armor rubbed together, producing crisp, clanging metallic rings. Chen Yang and his father knelt below the steps. The youth silently observed the eighteen stone steps leading to the head of the hall, his eyes scanning covertly, shaken to the core: *What magnificent authority.* Thoughts flickered lightly across his mind as he looked up at the man clad in the wolf-fur cloak. Li Chengliao radiated little overt pressure, yet merely standing there in silence exuded commanding presence. A surging impulse welled up in Chen Yang's heart: *A true man... ought to stand above tens of thousands, overwhelming all rivals with his cultivation... manipulating heaven and earth with his schemes... What meaning is there in confining oneself to books and quiet cultivation!* Wearing a smile, Li Chengliao turned back to reply to Xu Gongming, "The weather has eased a little, and there is a harvest at last. It is a relief." He took his seat at the center of the hall, looked over at Chen Mufeng and Chen Yang, and spoke warmly: "This must be Yang'er. I hear you have already broken through to the fourth tier of Embryonic Breathing. A rare talent indeed!" The eighteen stone steps in the hall were not mere decoration; they served to keep the spiritual senses of ordinary Qi Refinement cultivators at bay. Furthermore, Chen Yang was kneeling far below, ruling out any possibility that Li Chengliao had probed him with spiritual sense. *I only just emerged from closed-door cultivation, yet he already knew!* Chuckling, Li Chengliao walked down and slowly paced up to him. Taking Chen Yang by the hand, he saw the youth raise his head and nodded slightly. Turning to smile at Xu Gongming and the others, he remarked, "One look and you can tell he belongs to our family—his brows and eyes are carved from the very same mold!" These words clearly caught everyone off guard. Hearing them, Chen Yang froze for a moment as well. The corners of his mouth could not help dipping slightly while his brows arched, his eyes flashing with pride and delight. His previously placid face instantly sprang to life, radiating an assertive momentum. The onlookers obliged with hearty laughter and congratulations. But Li Chengliao scrutinized him closely; though a smile remained on his lips, a dark haze had risen in his heart. *This expression... this look... Good! Very good!* Although Chen Yang was precocious, he could never compare to Li Chengliao, who had managed family affairs for years. Beyond the boy's remarkably familiar eyes and darting glances, Li Chengliao read an all-too-familiar flavor from those arched brows and downturned mouth. That flavor of rebellious, burning ambition was like a thorn pricking his palm, making him grit his teeth and inhale sharply. It brought to mind that youth who had wielded gray flames and wrought havoc in the skies, so much so that Li Chengliao's smile warped slightly. *A seed of fierce ambition.* Li Chengliao had always trusted his instincts. Just as he had recognized Xu Xiao's extraordinary nature at a single glance back then, Chen Yang possessed the same nascent, hungry ambition. Yet the boy held less arrogance and more of the Li family's cunning, perhaps even touched with a streak of malice. *And his talent happens to be so high! If let loose out in the world, he could stir up storms... The Chen family has truly produced quite a genius!* Having made his initial assessment of the boy's character, Li Chengliao smiled at Chen Mufeng and asked, "What, you intend to send him to accompany the Heir? With such fine talent, wouldn't it be a waste not to focus purely on cultivation?" As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Chen Mufeng, but his spiritual sense was latched tightly onto Chen Yang. Seeing the boy briefly raise his head and slightly twitch his eyelids, Li Chengliao felt a stir in his heart. Meanwhile, Chen Mufeng offered polite words: "Why would Embryonic Breathing require non-stop daily cultivation? Drawing and refining spiritual energy only takes a few hours each time; spending the rest of the day on it yields half the result for twice the effort. It is far better for him to learn alongside the Heir..." "Yang'er is three years older; it is Zhouwei who should learn from him!" Li Chengliao offered the polite reply, but had already agreed. He deliberately said, "Yang'er, follow the corridor down along the side. Someone will take you to the Heir. I have already told him that I would be sending a playmate over." Hearing that Li Chengliao meant for the two children to meet alone, Chen Mufeng was slightly taken aback. But Li Chengliao smiled and added: "I still have a few matters to ask the Chiliarch!" At these words, Chen Mufeng's hesitant feet immediately halted. Bearing his wife's warning in mind, he could only sigh inwardly and watch the boy leave. Li Chengliao asked: "I recall that for several generations past, the Chen clan was never on good terms with the Xu family. Was there ever any marriage between you?" "Naturally not!" While Chen Mufeng answered, Chen Yang hesitated for a moment. Thinking Li Chengliao simply did not want him eavesdropping, he promptly followed the guards down, winding through the zigzagging corridors until he arrived outside the courtyard. Looking at the spotless white paving and the two golden doors standing ajar, he felt a hint of disdain in his heart. From infancy to now, Chen Yang had always been peerless in talent, twisting his peers around his little finger and running circles around them with just a few words. Why would he ever fear a mere child? He thought to himself: *So what if he is the Heir? His talent might not even be anything special. I hear he has only cultivated for two years at most, so he could have formed the Chengming wheel of Embryonic Breathing second tier at best. Handling him will be like taking candy from a baby.* *Besides, cooped up in this little courtyard day in and day out, how much scheming could he possibly know? A few simple tricks will be enough to play him like a fiddle.* Devious from a young age, Chen Yang naturally looked down on a child three or four years younger than himself, assuming the Heir could barely even read. He sneered inwardly. Stepping into the courtyard, a sudden fragrance wafted into his nostrils, intoxicating and mesmerizing. Chen Yang frowned; being too young, he could not recognize the scent, thinking to himself: *I wonder what incense this is. The smell is rather nice; I might take some back with me.* Standing in the inner courtyard was an old ape with snow-white fur and drooping eyes. Clever as he was, Chen Yang did not dare underestimate it, thinking to himself: *Nine times out of ten, this is the spirit beast assigned to protect the Heir up close. I wonder what its cultivation is.* Guessing it was most likely a Qi Refinement spirit beast, he bowed respectfully before entering, secretly pleased with himself for having gained its favor without leaving any trace of flattery. Chen Yang pushed open the door to find a boy dressed in gold and white kneeling in the chamber, appearing no older than eight or nine, his back turned toward him. Before Chen Yang could even utter a casual greeting, the Heir suddenly snapped his head around, fixing two deep, dark-golden eyes upon him—like amber, staring straight into him. They were calm eyes, brimming with contemptuous scrutiny. Ears perked alertly at the intrusion, and the twist of his waist carried a startling vigor, displaying the supple yet ferocious poise of a tiger or leopard. Startled, Chen Yang stumbled back a step. Humiliation and anger immediately surged within him, which he quickly buried deep inside, greeting in a sullen voice: "Greetings, Heir." Li Zhouwei studied him for two breaths. Perhaps provoked by his tone, those golden pupils turned even more chilling and sinister, yet he said not a single word. Through the instinct shared between predators of the same kind, Chen Yang swiftly discerned his expression, and an understanding dawned in his heart: *These are inhuman eyes—eyes that would never deign to spare an ordinary person a second glance unless they were kneeling at his feet. Such eyes would likely be even more lethal against women than men.* A sneer and the indignation of being scorned welled within him. Relying on his stature that stood a head taller than the boy, he took a step forward and repeated with feigned humility: "Greetings, Heir."