“Hm? Elder Qin knows the warrior who came to help us?”
Luo Mingyu’s father noticed the gaze and words of recognition from Qin Jinin and asked, a little surprised as she was a lofty figure not many have the privilege of knowing.
“Mm, he is helping protect young lady Luo?” she nodded.
“Yes, he came only a few days ago, with the intention to help, he must have heard we are hiring bodyguards” .𝘯𝘵
“Hmm~, interesting… well, if you have him around the young lady, she will not be in any danger then…”
She said surprised and intrigued as to what he was doing here.
“Really? If he is someone Elder Qin is so sure of, that is a cause for being cheerful”
The man was surprised at such high praise and turned to look at Wu Long who only slightly nodded to Qin Jinin in recognition.
“I cannot say anything to his character, but at the Ye family banquet I attended, he slayed a Revolving Qi Realm practitioner without breaking a sweat with a high-level Spiritual Sword Art”
“!!!”
She replied, dumbfounding everyone there.
They all turned to look at Wu Long, who calmly stood and looked at them, not fazed by the sudden attention from everyone present.
Luo Mingyu had an interested look as she saw this man, who was apparently so powerful despite being so young and yet so low-key as to volunteer to guard her and humbly stand in line with the other guards. She noticed him as soon as she entered the hall, as she always bowed to the people making efforts to guard her when she saw them.
It was not possible for such a conspicuously handsome man to not unintentionally catch the eye.
After Xue Bing confirmed that Luo Mingyu had an Extreme Yin physique, they were not able to determine the type, but having no knowledge Elder Qin was inclined to think that it should also be of the cold attribute.
It seemed that the original reason they decided she had such a rare and even legendary in the case of this world condition, was because of the fact that women who had Extreme Yin physiques had a natural charm exuding from them that intoxicated the men without any intention from the women to do so. This clue was the only thing people could judge since it was a little more apparent.
Right now that charm was suppressed by a half-face veil that she was wearing that had a formation stitched into the semi-transparent fabric. This veil was of little use in front of Wu Long, but for most people, it shielded their perception of her charm, as well as slightly masked the features of half her face.
“Lady Mingyu, I would like to formally express the willingness of our Frozen Garden Palace to accept you as a disciple. It would be very beneficial to you as you will be able to eventually learn to control your physique”
Said Qin Jinin while Wu Long nearly sighed and almost shook his head. Her lack of knowledge will make things very dangerous for this young lady. But to his surprise, and to the surprise of everyone else, Luo Mingyu shook her head.
“Thank you very much for the generous offer, Elder Qin. I know how precious such an offer is but I cannot accept it”
“Yu’er…!”
Her father was flabbergasted at her words, this was the Frozen Garden Palace! One of the Five Great Sects, leaving alone how great of an opportunity it is, just the fact that she rejected them is already enough for him to almost pass out from fear.
“I am sorry, Father, but I do not pursue the martial way. I am a Dao Cultivator and therefore am not suited to the Frozen Garden Palace which practices martial cultivation”
She said courteously in a refined manner, but there was also firmness in her voice.
“But…”
“I see, it was rude of us to ask a Dao Cultivator to go with us. Thank you for hearing us out”
Qin Jinin did not linger on it, immediately backing down.
‘Hoh… a Dao Cultivator’
Wu Long looked at Luo Mingyu with some appreciation, as it was a rather unpopular path, and, for many, very bitter.
Dao Cultivation was another type of cultivation, with different principles and conditions for advancing in realms, similar to Dual Cultivation and Alchemy Cultivation.
A Dao Cultivator did not possess any combat skills whatsoever, they were focused on comprehending the Dao and their realm advancement would require not only a cultivation technique but also enlightenment or achievements in the mental realm. They practiced the ways of literary arts, calligraphy, philosophy, and other such types of skills. And were known as the peaceful lambs of the brutal cultivation world.
But it did not mean they were not respected and valued. At some point in higher cultivation realms, normal cultivators would require comprehension of the Daos and greater mental realm to advance further, and then borrow the assistance of Dao Cultivators, who would have discussions on the Dao with them. Thus there were a lot of Dao Cultivation institutions that were held in high regard and protected by powerful entities.
Since the meeting, Wu Long has basically been promoted as he now was following Luo Mingyu around the mansion, only parting when she entered her private courtyard.
Most of her day was filled with lessons on etiquette, literature, calligraphy, and other such subjects a noble, and a Dao Cultivator might need.
But occasionally, her friends of similar backgrounds would come to her to drink tea and have conversations on the Dao. These meetings were normally held in high-class restaurants and other such places around the city, but since Luo Mingyu was being targeted they visited her here. It was apparent that she was the center of the group, and the meetings may not be even held if not for her.
“I must say, it really is foolish for these brutes to be arrogant when all they can do is swing their barbaric weapons around”
One of the young masters said in one of their discussions. It was clear from the volume of his voice that the jab was aimed at Wu Long.
All the noble young masters in the group instantly noticed, and immediately formed hostility to this handsome man who suddenly appeared beside Luo Mingyu.
“And yet if it was not for those who wield martial arts, who would save you from those who want to harm you?”
The tranquil voice of Luo Mingyu sounded out, and instantly puzzled the spirited young man, and most of his supporters who were already opening their mouths to sing praises.
“…Ahem, Lady Mingyu, although I agree with you on that point, would the world not be beautiful if everyone was just not practicing the martial way?
While it is true that in a world where everyone wields a weapon, one person not being an exception is not worthy of ridicule, however, if everyone was peaceful and cultivated the Dao instead, then it is an entirely different thing. I think you are being unfair in not considering that. The problem still stems from the fact that they are brutish, not from the fact that other people are also brutish”
A handsome young master who seems to be the leader among the male part of the group decided to give a helping hand while smiling amicably.
“Ideal world can only exist in ideals, and Dao is not an ideal. We cannot judge our real world solely by ideals”
Luo Mingyu said in a pragmatic manner.
“…If we do not at least strive to the ideals, we will never improve, and thus regress instead, will we not?”
“That is certainly true…but I still cannot agree with the statement since there is one thing you missed. If you were attacked by a demonic beast in such an ideal world, would there be anyone capable of protecting you?”
The young masters started to falter under Luo Mingyu’s logic.
“B-But what about only practicing skills to deal with demonic beasts, it still does not excuse them from attacking fellow humans!”
One of them said after seemingly having an epiphany but was stared down by all of them as even they had an answer for that, let alone Luo Mingyu.
“Greed and jealousy are vices of not only martial artists but every person, if people who are not martial artists have ambitions to kill others, just using other means than directly attacking them, so can the ones who can wield martial arts. How can you only demand virtue from one side that you want to receive protection from?”
As Luo Mingyu spoke, the silence that followed was somewhat awkward.
“Lady Mingyu, it may seem that you are advocating and enabling violence”
One of the young ladies at the discussion suddenly spoke up.
“I do not condone or advocate it. I am simply saying that we should not judge other people’s Daos from only our own perspective. I hate violence as much as you do, but there is a difference between violence and having strength, as having strength does not necessarily equal perpetrating violence. Malevolent violence is perpetrated not by having strength but by evil thoughts, greed, and ambitions”
As she finished speaking, the topic changed after a somewhat even more awkward silence.
But there was now a light of appreciation in Wu Long’s eyes when he looked at Luo Mingyu, however, he still shook his head at how naive she was by thinking the conversation really was about the Dao.