"Why is that? If an Enforcement Elder were to preside..."
"Too much is as bad as too little. Martial Uncle Yuanfeng has always been protective of his own. If he feels the Zhijian Lineage is pressuring, he'll instead try to exonerate Martial Uncle Qi." The ink bled slightly where the brush paused, much like the calculations of the human heart.
Although all Beast Taming Sects in the world originated from the same source, they are divided into seven lineages.
"Qi Yuancheng has been very active recently. What if the punishment isn't severe enough? I've long been fed up with that fellow's face," the large black dog said in a low voice.
"Silence!" Qing Feng lightly tapped the table with his knuckles, his brow slightly furrowed. "Martial Uncle Yuanfeng has always been upright; how can you speak so presumptuously? When Aunt-Master Zisu comes to impart her teachings, you can take the opportunity to disclose this matter to Zhang Shuning."
The giant dog's golden pupils suddenly contracted: "What a brilliant scheme to kill with a borrowed knife! It's strange, though. Both your parents are straightforward, and even your Master is an unyielding sword fanatic. How did they raise someone as full of twists and turns as you?"
"He who touches pitch shall be defiled." Qing Feng casually picked up a vermilion brush and annotated the classics.
"Bah! If Deputy Head had a crooked heart like yours, Deputy Head would have long since brought you to heel!" The giant dog flicked its tail, stirring up a gale, and stomped away, crushing the fallen blossoms in the courtyard.
Qing Feng put down his brush and looked up. The ice icicles on the eaves melted in response, and new green shoots instantly sprouted among the withered branches. Two months had passed since the Ziyan Sword Debate concluded. Chen Ming Peak had triumphed in both the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core rankings this time, achieving an unprecedented feat in three hundred years. When Disciples of the sect walked among the various peaks recently, even the usually stern Mountain-Protecting Sword Array exuded a touch of spring.
At this moment, Qing Feng was concentrating on deducing the profound mysteries of Spirit Transformation's fourth layer. As his brush flowed like a dragon, the renowned classic "Free and Easy Wandering" from his previous life appeared vividly on the paper.
Suddenly, clear carriage bells rang from outside the heavens. Eight cloud-treading white steeds pulled a gilded carriage through the air. The alchemical patterns flowing through their manes indicated their status as Golden Core Realm spirit beasts.
"The Great Liang Imperial Family..." The brush tip hovered in mid-air, and the ink spread ripples on the Xuan paper.
Qing Feng's divine sense swept across the jade tablet at his waist, and the Mountain-Protecting Array had quietly begun to circulate its defensive formations.
A clear neigh suddenly came from the peak of Chen Ming Peak, as eight cloud-treading divine steeds broke through the air.
Qing Feng leaned against the bluestone railing, his fingertips lightly tapping the jade sword hilt. It wasn't uncommon for royal retinues to appear at the Beast Taming Sect, but they always went directly to Dragon Yang Peak to pay respects to the Luo main lineage. Why today...
Melodious immortal music drifted from the direction of Xiao Yao Peak. The unique "Nine Odes" melody of Yixian Palace began on time.
Since that group of music cultivators temporarily resided there, this had become Qing Feng's lullaby and soul-soothing tune.
However, today, before the music was even halfway through, Master Qin Heng rushed into the cave dwelling, enveloped in frost, startling him so much that the jade cup in his hand nearly fell.
"Are those old fogeys from Qi Yuancheng causing trouble again? Master, don't panic. This time, we'll definitely make them pay..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Qin Heng's wide sleeve heavily slap the profound ice desk, making the thousand-year-old cold marrow paperweight on the desk jump three times.
"That old scoundrel Luo Jundi actually dared to ask for Yun'er's hand for that brat Luo Tingjue." The usually composed female sword immortal now had three feet of frost congealed between her brows:
"He said he was impressed by Yun'er's sword intent and was willing to offer three ancient exotic beast eggs, nine turns of a sixth-grade Profound Origin Pill, and three human-tier high-grade spirit artifacts..."
"That's it?" Qing Feng suddenly flipped onto the sword platform, and hundreds of treasures faintly emanated from the storage bag at his waist.
Since returning from the Dragon Emperor's Tomb, any random bottom-drawer item from his private treasury was more dazzling than that betrothal gift list.
"Do they think Master is some unworldly village woman? At the very least, they should include a Heaven-tier spirit treasure as an extra."
Qin Heng was amused by his Disciple's reaction, and his sword intent slightly receded. But then he saw Qing Feng suddenly become serious: "Besides, Luo Tingjue's natal sword was just knocked away by Senior Sister last month. He's probably still soaking in a medicinal spring to heal, isn't he?"
Qing Feng's fingertips condensed a phantom blue lotus, smiling colder than the Cold Pond on the mountaintop: "The proposal is fake; probing the true strength of my Chen Ming Peak is the real intention, isn't it?"
"Master, there have been many marriage proposals in previous years, but why are you particularly angry this time?" Qing Feng looked at the shattered teacup on the table.
Since Qin Yue came of age, marriage proposals from outside the mountain gate had sprung up like bamboo shoots. Yet, today, Master had even cracked the jade table.
Qin Heng's wide sleeves stirred the wind, and the Nine Heavens pendant at his waist clanged. "Those bastards dared to use the zither score for 'Phoenix Seeks Phoenix'! Do you know how the Luo family's junior prevaricated when Su Yan reported it? Saying it was to assist sword cultivators in comprehending the Way of Music."
He suddenly flicked his sleeve, and the green jade paperweight on the table shattered in response. "Do they think Deputy Head is deaf!"
Qing Feng lowered his head, suppressing a laugh. It was well-known in the cultivation world that the Lingxiao Sword Venerable doted on his daughter like his life. On her hundredth birthday, he had declared that his only daughter would remain unmarried until she was five hundred years old.
At this moment, the swaying bamboo shadows outside the window reminded him of when he practiced swordplay with Senior Sister as a child, and Master would always secretly watch from within the clouds.
"This matter is inconvenient for this seat to act on." Qin Heng suddenly changed the subject, and a profound iron token floated out of his sleeve. "You take Great Black to the Pine Wave Plain behind the mountain. If you encounter any petty scoundrels disturbing the spirit beasts..."
Before he finished speaking, the copper bells on the eaves suddenly trembled slightly. It turned out the mountain-protecting spirit dog had smelled its Master's aura and was excitedly digging at the bluestone bricks of the palace gate.
Qing Feng understood, his fingertips lightly tapping the hidden pattern on the token: "Disciple will ensure that music never dares to disturb Senior Sister's cultivation again."
As moonlight swept over Listening Tide Cliff, a starlight formation diagram appeared in Qing Feng's palm. His Spirit Transformation realm divine sense, like threads of silk, quietly immersed itself into a palace complex a thousand li away.
In the dream, the palace was resplendent with gold and jade. A figure prostrated beneath a nine-dragon pillar, barking like a dog. Qing Feng, wearing python-patterned boots, ground his elder brother's head into the gold-woven carpet.
"What a brotherly affection," Qing Feng sneered, hidden behind a cloud-patterned beam.
The more arrogant Luo Tingjue was at this moment, the more vivid his dream mutterings became. He formed a hand seal, and a subtle plum fragrance suddenly surged in the illusion.
That was the scent of Yun Qingrao's unique tracking technique.
When the morning sun first rose tomorrow, these dream whispers would transform into soul-piercing arrows, penetrating the heavy curtains of the imperial city.
If Qing Feng couldn't find enough evidence to overthrow the opponent, he planned to let Luo Tianyi repeatedly sink into pleasure and purgatory, using soul-piercing techniques to break his will, which would be far more fatal than physical punishment.
"What a loyal dog, knowing its place."
Luo Tingjue's boot sole ground over his younger brother's headpiece, the years of power struggles transforming into twisted pleasure.
Inside the gilded hall, amidst the praises of hundreds of officials prostrating themselves, he indulged in his madness.
Golden goblets overturned, their contents soaking his dragon robes, and memorials scattered across the floor from the laps of beauties. Such absurd acts, defying ancestral traditions, caused Qing Feng, hidden in the shadows, to frown deeply.
How could this be an emperor destined by heaven? This was clearly a gluttonous beast that had torn off its disguise of etiquette.
Time and space suddenly twisted, and the chilling cold of the underground palace pierced through the superficial illusion.
Luo Tingjue leaned against the white bone throne, gently swaying a glass cup filled with crimson liquid. After a shallow taste, he let out a satisfied sigh: "Uncle truly did not deceive me. Immortal sects and Demon Sects are all poisonous tumors in troubled times."
His fingertips caressed a token engraved with the characters "Xuan Ming," and blood surged in his pupils: "Once Deputy Head unifies the court and the Demon Dao, Deputy Head will surely refine all these self-proclaimed transcendent cultivators into puppets of imperial power."
Qing Feng's pupils in the shadows suddenly contracted. He had intended to investigate imperial secrets but unexpectedly uncovered a shocking chess game: Luo Tingjue actually possessed the Demon Emperor's inheritance.
That word "Uncle" was even more chilling: Could it be Elder Xuan Ming, who rebelled from Dragon Yang Beast Taming Sect Twenty Years Ago? What if this fiend infiltrated the upper echelons of the immortal sects through marriage?
The memory projection deep within the earth veins flowed again.