It Was a Sachet Embroidered with Pale-Gold Phoenix Patterns
By the time Ji Chaoyun returned to Cloud-Ascending Tower, night had already grown deep. He kneaded his aching neck and had only just stepped into the warm chamber when his footsteps halted.
Beside the desk facing the chamber entrance, a figure sat behind the desk, already asleep.
It was Feng Qi.
Several books lay open beside Feng Qi. His right hand supported his forehead, his eyes quietly closed. He seemed to be sleeping deeply enough that he did not notice Ji Chaoyun enter at all.
Now this was rare.
Feng Qi possessed exceptional talent and an excellent background. He had never taken cultivation particularly seriously. In all the days Ji Chaoyun had been staying at Cloud-Ascending Tower, he had scarcely seen Feng Qi come here to read, much less stay up late studying by lamplight.
Had the sun risen from the west today?
Ji Chaoyun stood outside the door for a long while, yet did not leave.
It had to be said that Feng Qi looked even more like the person in Ji Chaoyun’s memories when he was asleep.
After spending so many days together, Ji Chaoyun was nearly certain that Feng Qi was not the person he knew. Yet seeing him like this still left Ji Chaoyun momentarily lost in thought.
The night wind carried a slight chill as it slipped through the half-closed window and entered the warm chamber.
Feng Qi frowned in his sleep and unconsciously murmured something, seeming somewhat uncomfortable.
An immortal body naturally would not fall ill merely from sleeping like this for a night, but it still could not be very comfortable.
Ji Chaoyun thought for a moment, then carefully entered the inner room, fetched an outer robe, and walked to Feng Qi’s side.
They were clearly not the same person, yet their faces were so alike. The only explanation was probably that they were related by blood.
Since they were related by blood...
There was nothing wrong with him taking care of this person.
Thinking this, Ji Chaoyun knelt beside Feng Qi and raised the robe to drape it over him.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Feng Qi’s eyelids trembling as he suppressed a laugh.
Ji Chaoyun: “...”
It seemed certain people had no need for his care after all!
The reasoning he had only just built up for himself collapsed instantly.
Ji Chaoyun lightly ground his canine tooth, and an almost imperceptible light appeared at his fingertip.
A moment later, a tiny insect the size of a soybean, invisible to ordinary eyes, flew in from nowhere. Its wings fluttered soundlessly as it approached the side of Feng Qi’s face.
Just as the insect was about to touch him, Feng Qi suddenly raised a hand and caught it squarely.
Feng Qi pinched it between two fingers. The insect transformed into a wisp of green smoke and vanished.
He said angrily, “Why are you sending bugs to bite me?”
“Then why are you pretending to sleep here?” Ji Chaoyun’s expression remained calm. “If Your Highness is so idle that you don’t want to sleep, you may as well help me organize the books. We’ll finish sooner.”
“At this hour, organize my—” Feng Qi swallowed a silent curse.
After a pause, he asked instead, “Why are you only getting back now?”
He had thought Ji Chaoyun would come find him after evening lessons and had waited alone in Cloud-Ascending Tower the entire night.
Who would have thought that he would wait until he fell asleep without seeing the man at all? It was only when Ji Chaoyun passed through the tower’s barrier moments ago that Feng Qi had awakened.
Second Highness Feng had been stood up for an entire evening, only to nearly be bitten by a bug as well. His mood could hardly have been worse.
Unfortunately, the person before him had no sense of such subtleties and did not understand what he was sulking about.
Ji Chaoyun looked at him inexplicably. “Do I need to report to you wherever I go?”
Feng Qi answered as though it were perfectly reasonable. “You belong to Cloud-Ascending Tower now. Shouldn’t you report to me?”
“...” Ji Chaoyun suppressed his irritation and lowered his eyes as he picked up several books that had fallen to the floor. “I was at the Sword Practice Grounds all evening.”
Feng Qi understood at once. “Still practicing how to deal with the stone figures?”
Ji Chaoyun paused. “How do you know?”
“Every new class practices with those. How would I not know?” Feng Qi glanced at him, then deliberately straightened his collar. “Of course, I never had to practice them.”
Ji Chaoyun gave a cold, indifferent “Oh.”
He sorted the books into neat stacks, then went to a nearby wooden rack to fetch brush and ink.
Feng Qi propped his chin on one hand and watched Ji Chaoyun bustle back and forth. At last, he could not resist asking, “Don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”
Ji Chaoyun looked back at him. “Ask what?”
“...”
Before Feng Qi could say anything else, Ji Chaoyun had already returned with the brush and ink and placed them on the desk.
He looked up at Feng Qi and hesitated. “There actually is something...”
Feng Qi’s brow rose with interest.
Then Ji Chaoyun said, “Your Highness, move your foot. You’re stepping on a book.”
Feng Qi: “............”
Feng Qi was so angry he wanted to hit someone.
He thought, if not for that old man Tianshu’s instructions, would you even have the chance to stay here?
He snatched up the book beside his foot and slapped it down in front of Ji Chaoyun. “You think I’m in the way now? I’ll have you know, I came here specifically to supervise your progress.”
“At the rate you’re dragging your feet, how many years will it take you to finish?”
Without even raising his head, Ji Chaoyun replied calmly, “Less than three months, I think. I should finish before the seasonal examination.”
“...”
Feng Qi was choked speechless, as though he had thrown a punch into a bundle of cotton.
He could neither sit nor stand comfortably. At last, he gave a cold snort, swept his sleeves, and left.
Only after Feng Qi disappeared beyond the warm chamber did Ji Chaoyun raise his head.
He frowned in confusion. “How did the Phoenix Clan produce a descendant like him? Talking nonsense all day, acting so strangely...”
☁
The next day, at the Sword Practice Grounds.
Ji Chaoyun’s sword swept out in a sharp arc and struck directly at the stone figure’s chest.
When the dust cleared, only a shallow groove remained over its stone heart.
“Still no good.” Ji Chaoyun withdrew his sword force and stepped half a pace backward.
The stone figure’s attacks stopped.
Ye Chenxing and Bei Ran, who had been restraining its two arms, seized the opportunity to escape.
Once the three withdrew from its attack range, the groove over the stone figure’s chest rapidly repaired itself.
Ji Chaoyun said, “Having two people attack at once can indeed restrain the stone figure’s movements, but that stone heart is exceptionally hard. One person alone can’t damage it at all. I think we should switch back...”
“Switching back won’t work either.” Ye Chenxing wiped the thin sweat from his forehead. “Among us, your movement techniques are the best. You’re the only one who can restrain the stone figure by yourself.”
“But if you do that, your spiritual power drains too quickly. You can’t hold out for long.”
Ji Chaoyun fell silent.
He raised his eyes toward the distance.
So far, no group had successfully shattered a stone heart, but most had already found the solution.
The stone figures did not possess overwhelming offensive strength. Their advantage lay in their speed and extraordinary sturdiness. They had been made specifically to deal with immortal disciples and were difficult to approach.
Thus, most groups chose to have two people restrain their movements while the other three attacked the heart.
There was nothing wrong with this method. The only reason no group had succeeded yet was their unfamiliar coordination.
That, however, was only a matter of time.
Ji Chaoyun stared into the distance, lost in thought.
Ye Chenxing called beside him, “Chaoyun, what are you thinking about?”
Ji Chaoyun came back to himself and shook his head. “I was thinking that perhaps there’s something wrong with the method of breaking it.”
“With five or six people, it can be broken easily. With three people, whether one person restrains it or two, it’s difficult, but if their cultivation is high enough and their coordination precise, passing isn’t completely impossible,” Ji Chaoyun said slowly.
“But if there were only one person...”
“Only one?” Ye Chenxing shook his head repeatedly. “Impossible. How could one person possibly do it?”
Ji Chaoyun lowered his eyes. “Yes. How could one person possibly do it...”
Their attempt to break the formation reached a temporary deadlock.
For the rest of the lesson, they tried several more times, but the results were no different from before.
Soon, dismissal arrived. The distant mountain bell slowly rang, and disciples across the Sword Practice Grounds gradually stopped what they were doing.
The Yellow-rank disciples had only just enrolled, so their evening lessons had not yet been assigned any content and counted as self-study time, to be arranged at their own discretion.
Even so, they could not simply return to the disciple peaks to rest.
The only places they could go were the classrooms, the Sword Practice Grounds, the quiet chambers used for seated meditation, or the Scripture Pavilion to consult books.
Ye Chenxing put away his weapon and loosened his shoulders. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s stop for today. There are still more than two months before the seasonal examination. We’ll find a way eventually.”
“Brother Ye, don’t take it so lightly.” Bei Ran looked deeply worried. “This is only the first stage of the secret realm, and we’re already struggling this much. What are we supposed to do afterward?”
“When the cart reaches the mountain, a road will appear. Right, Chaoyun?” Ye Chenxing looked back at him. “Where are you planning to go tonight?”
A talisman flashed in Ji Chaoyun’s hand as he put away the stone figure.
He answered, “I’m going to the Scripture Pavilion to look through some texts and see whether any of them mention a way to break the Stone Figure Formation.”
Ye Chenxing nodded. “Good idea. We’ll go with you. Bei Ran?”
“I’ll follow you two.”
The three spoke as they crossed the Sword Practice Grounds.
Suddenly, a small figure came rushing from the distance.
Seemingly without noticing them, he collided directly with Ji Chaoyun.
The person was roughly the same size as Ji Chaoyun. The impact nearly knocked Ji Chaoyun off balance, but fortunately Ye Chenxing caught him.
Ji Chaoyun barely steadied himself and looked up.
It was Qi Xuan, the younger disciple who had originally been in their group.
Qi Xuan had entered the academy alongside them and had also received Ji Chaoyun’s help during the trials on Hongmeng Mountain.
The moment Ye Chenxing saw him, his expression darkened. “Don’t you have eyes?”
“S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to...” Qi Xuan looked extremely nervous and shrank back fearfully.
“It’s fine.” Ji Chaoyun patted Ye Chenxing on the shoulder, bent down, picked up the sword Qi Xuan had dropped, and handed it back. “Be more careful next time.”
Qi Xuan said nothing.
He quickly snatched back his sword and ran off.
Ye Chenxing shook his head and sighed. “Only someone as good-tempered as you wouldn’t bother arguing with them. Those fence-sitters who forget loyalty the moment there’s something to gain, I’d beat every one I saw.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “Better one less problem than one more. Don’t you think we already have enough enemies in the academy?”
“So what? They’re all just people who cling to whoever has power. I can’t be bothered associating with them.” Ye Chenxing said, “Come on. If we finish early tonight, I’ll treat you to wine.”
Bei Ran whispered, “But the academy rules don’t allow...”
Ye Chenxing gave him a warning look.
Bei Ran immediately closed his mouth.
Ji Chaoyun watched their exchange and shook his head with a smile. “Everyone’s worked hard these past few days. If you want to drink, then drink. At worst, we’ll all be punished by copying scriptures together.”
“Ha, I knew you were loyal.” Ye Chenxing wrapped an arm around Ji Chaoyun’s shoulders, grinning broadly. “Let’s go!”
The three left the Sword Practice Grounds laughing and talking.
None of them noticed that Qi Xuan, who had run away moments ago, suddenly looked back at them before heading directly into the woods on the other side of the grounds.
Someone had already been waiting quietly among the trees.
Xu Zixing smiled faintly at him. “Did you get it?”
Qi Xuan’s gaze darted away. He said quietly, “Senior Brother Xu, do we really have to do this—”
Xu Zixing said, “What nonsense are you asking? Do you still want to pass the examination or not?”
“I...”
Qi Xuan hesitated for a moment.
Then, as though finally making up his mind, he reached into his sleeve and took something out, placing it in Xu Zixing’s hand.
It was a sachet embroidered with pale-gold phoenix patterns.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
While our dear classmates are diligently stirring up trouble, of course we all know that while it’s written as “causing trouble,” it’s read as “playing wingman.”
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We’re finally making it onto the rankings today! The first twenty commenters will get a little red packet. And to all my cuties who haven’t bookmarked the novel yet please remember to do so! It’s really important for the rankings. 【bows】
Also, it’s the end of the month, so a certain unidentified liquid... cross that out, nutrient solution is expiring tomorrow! Please feed me some, hehe~ w.
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