Chapter 19
Translator:
Lordbluefire
Editor:
Lordbluefire
Master Hong hurriedly spoke, “Master Xia, what are you talking about? By being here, you are already giving our Immortal Pavilion face. How can we still want your money?”
He turned his gaze to Zhao Churan and revealed a friendly smile. “Lady, since you are Master Xia’s cousin, you are also a VIP of our Immortal Pavilion. Please enjoy yourself to the utmost here today. Everything is free!”
Xia Qingchen couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. He simply walked away.
“I will respectfully send Master Xia off.” Master Hong led a group of guards and followed him out.
Pausing for a moment, Xia Qingchen continued, “The guard at the entrance recognized me, this was why he let us enter. I was the one who told him not to make a big fuss, so don’t punish him.”
Master Hong was initially preparing to look for that guard to teach him a lesson. Xia Qingchen was here, yet no one reported it to him. This was what caused all the misunderstandings earlier.
But this sentence of Xia Qingchen instantly made him change his mind. He hurriedly nodded.
In the cloud room.
The originally lively atmosphere was now cold like in a house of ice.
Xia Qilin’s expression alternated between the shades of red and green. No wonder the guard at the entrance changed his attitude so quickly. Xia Qilin had thought it was because of his great reputation, but it was Xia Qingchen all along.
From the start until the end, it was he who had been pasting gold on his face.
“Xia Qilin, this male cousin of yours isn’t as useless as you said. He didn’t reveal anything on the surface, but once he chose to do so, it is truly frightening.” Chen Jun drank a mouthful of wine due to the lingering fear.
He felt a slight joy in this misfortune that Xia Qingchen didn’t look for revenge. If not, just a single sentence from him was enough to make Master Hong skin him alive!
Wu Yanfei also felt extremely nervous. He had a face filled with resentment. “Xia Qilin, your cousin is so capable. Why did you hide this from us? Did you want us to disparage him before your female cousin to elevate you? Are you actually planning to harm us?”
Chen Jun also shot a sharp gaze over. “Xia Qilin, you bastard. In order to make a woman happy, you used us as your shields. Hmph, I will remember this debt!”
He tossed the wine flask onto the ground and flicked his sleeves as he left.
Wu Yanfei also snorted angrily. “From now on, don’t say that you are my brother. We can be brothers no longer!”
It was useless no matter how Xia Qilin tried to explain.
How would he know that Xia Qingchen had a connection with the Immortal Pavilion? If he knew, would he still dare to act like this today?
A grand welcoming reception ended up with only Xia Qilin and Zhao Churan.
“Cousin, I…” Xia QIlin braced himself. For the banquet today, it could be considered that he had lost all face in front of his cousin.
Zhao Churan lightly pursed her lips and calmly spoke, “Cousin, there’s no need to say anything. I won’t blame you nor do I feel that cousin Qingchen is awesome!”
“In the martial world, what determines one’s status is ultimately their martial cultivation.” Zhao Churan seemed to have seen through everything as she continued, “Cousin Qingchen has given up the martial dao and made friends with those from the criminal world. This path he is walking on is a crooked one. He would regret this sooner or later.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Qilin felt joy blossoming in his heart.
This meant that his female cousin still looked up to him more and not Xia Qingchen.
(Haha. Xia Qingchen? So what even if you have a connection with the underworld? Our cousin’s heart is still inclined to me!) Xia Qilin silently laughed.
But he didn’t know that Xia Qingchen had never cared about which way Zhao Churan’s heart was inclined to.
…
After returning to the Xia Manor, he encountered Xia Yuan who was about to head out.
“Have you gone to pick Churan up? Where is she now?” Xia Yuan asked.
Xia Qingchen shrugged. “She went to second uncle’s place.”
Xia Yuan seemed to understand the intent in these words and could only sigh softly.
The wealthy would even see their relatives when they were deep in a mountain. The poor could be out in the open streets and no one would give a damn. Even his younger sister’s family wasn’t willing to interact with him.
“Old Master, the auction is about to commence.” At this moment, Uncle Qin reminded.
Xia Yuan nodded. “Qingchen, do you want to go with me to the auction?”
His face was filled with anticipation. “Today, the Shrine is organizing a small-scale auction. They have invited the representatives of a hundred martial aristocratic clans and a thousand ordinary land-owning aristocratic clans. They are going to auction [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum], a mid-grade yellow-tier martial skill away.”
To Xia Yuan who had always hoped to elevate his clan into a martial aristocratic clan, this was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to miss!
“The martial legend, Zhen Nantian, has personally checked the manual. Its power can even be compared to a high-grade yellow-tier martial skill. Although it is a fragmented version that only consists of 25% of its full content, it is still incomparably valuable.”
25%?
Xia Qingchen had a face filled with black lines. He gave the Shrine half of the [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum], yet they were only auctioning half of that away. He initially thought his heart was already very black.
He didn’t expect the hearts of that grandfather-and-granddaughter duo were even blacker than his!
He really didn’t know who would be the biggest sucker in the end to buy the [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum].
“There’s still half a month before the competition starts, and I wish to take this time to cultivate. Father, it is better that you go alone.”
Xia Yuan spoke with gratification in his heart, “Alright, I will try my best to win the bid for that martial skill, so you can cultivate it.”
As he spoke, he bolted off into the distance.
Staring at his back, Xia Qingchen silently mused, “You absolutely must not buy that back!”
If his own martial skill was brought back by his father using a sky-high price, should he just cry or laugh?
Shaking his head, Xia Qingchen left the Xia Manor and went to the Ghostwail Forest outside the city.
There was still half a month left.
It was sufficient for him to clear another nine minor meridians. And with the remaining time, he wanted to cultivate some attacking-type and movement-type martial skills.
The might of these martial skills was extraordinarily great. It was too easy to attract attention if he practiced them in the manor.
Hence, he headed to the Ghostwail Forest outside the city to cultivate secretly.
The ferocious gusts of wind in the forest kept whistling, creating sounds akin to the wails of ghosts.
This was how the Ghostwail Forest got its name.
Xia Qingchen had chosen the martial skills he wanted to learn.
The attacking-type martial skills would be [Four-Forms Ancient Scroll] and [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum].
The [Four-Forms Ancient Scroll] was a high-grade yellow-tier martial skill. Its might was extraordinary, and it was considered one of the pinnacle martial skills of the yellow-tier. It was the cultivation art Xia Qingchen had cultivated in 1,000 years ago.
The difference between [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] and [Four-Forms Ancient Scroll] was extremely large. Xia Qingchen chose to cultivate it as well because he planned to use [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] as his starting stance.
For his movement-type martial skill, he chose the [Cloudlight Nature Sound]. There was a total of three levels in this cultivation art.
At the first level, one’s body movements would be as ethereal as the clouds, extremely agile and nimble.
At the second level, one’s movements would be as quick as a ray of light.
At the third level, one’s movements would be completely silent, as tranquil as the sounds of nature.
After selecting his martial skills, Xia Qingchen immediately started his cultivation.
—–
Several days later.
A figure continuously jumped and leaped about in the forest. It was extremely light and misty just like the white clouds in the sky, brimming with grace and elegance.
In the forest that was crowded with trees, the trees actually posed no obstructions to its agile movements.
Its speed was extremely quick as well. It could travel twenty chi with a single step, like a gust of wind that arced through the forest.
Xia Qingchen finally stopped with a look of satisfaction. “It can be considered that I have mastered the first level of this movement art.”
After finishing his cultivation of the movement-type martial skill, Xia Qingchen was prepared to practice his attacking-type martial skills.
“[Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] is easier. I will practice this first,” Xia Qingchen mused silently.
At this moment, from outside of the Ghostrwail Forest, the voices of a young man and young woman drifted over.
“Cousin Qilin, you are so fortunate. You actually managed to obtain the mid-grade yellow-tier martial skill the Shrine was auctioning!” The voice of the female belonged to Zhao Churan. She was filled with envy.
In the auction held by the Shrine several days ago, the one who managed to obtain the [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] was none other than Xia Xun.
“It is only 25% of the entire manual. Cousin, you praise me too much.” Although Xia Qilin put it this way, he also had a complacent look on his face.
Although the manual was fragmented, its true might wasn’t inferior to a high-grade yellow-tier martial skill.
In the entire Lone Cloud City, the number of martial skills that could surpass the [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] was less than five.
Once he achieved mastery of this, his strength would surely skyrocket.
“I’m waiting in anticipation to see the power of cousin’s cultivation art.” Zhao Churan’s eyes sparkled.