Xu Qi An tilted his head back for a sip of wine and, after some thought, said:

“Lord Wei, let me first report on my duties. After Emperor Yuanjing’s death, the Dragon Qi dispersed, putting Great Feng in grave danger.

“The Witch Deity Cult, the Buddhist faction, and that lineage from five hundred years ago are all coveting the Dragon Qi. During my month of travels, I’ve collected three crucial Dragon Qi strands and one scattered strand.

“The Director said we can ignore the scattered Dragon Qi—once we gather all nine crucial strands, the scattered ones will naturally congregate.

“However, I suspect we don’t necessarily need to collect all nine strands, as the difficulty would be too great. If enemies find even one strand and take it back to their base, I’d be completely helpless.

“Therefore, we should collect as much Dragon Qi as possible to stabilize the faltering Great Feng. Perhaps gathering more than half would suffice. Or perhaps the Director has other plans—he’s truly unfathomable.

“If you were still alive, Lord Wei, I wouldn’t have to agonize so much…”

Xu Qi An took another sip of wine, accompanied by a soft sigh:

“Your sacrifice hasn’t brought positive changes to Great Feng, though the Director and Zhao Shou say you bought time for the Central Plains…

“Throughout this journey, in this bitter cold, I’ve seen nothing but unbearable sights. When a dynasty rises, the common people suffer; when it falls, they suffer still. How true those words are.

“I’ll try to risk my life to change this situation, to save Great Feng from the brink of destruction. This concerns my own life as well—if Great Feng falls, I, who carry half the nation’s fate, will perish with it.

“Sometimes I feel lost, unsure which path to take. If only you were still alive.

“Ah yes, I finally dual cultivated with the Imperial Preceptor. She’s now my Dao partner, though she probably wants to run me through with her sword right now. Such a tigress…

“Before, I purely lusted after the Imperial Preceptor’s beauty—she’s truly too gorgeous and enchanting. But after this period of dual cultivation, I’ve developed different feelings for her. I suppose this is what they call ‘riding first, paying later.’

“The only trouble is, she’s not very friendly toward my other women… and I can’t control her. Once she calms her karmic fire and transcends her tribulation, she’ll be a Terrestrial Immortal of the First Rank.

“Just thinking about it makes me despair. Perhaps Lin An and the others feel even more desperate. Well, my womanizing ways are my fault. Lord Wei, as a great romantic yourself, can you understand me?

“Once I recover my cultivation to the peak of Third Rank, I can dual cultivate with Mu Nan Zhi. With my outstanding charm, she surely won’t refuse, but I don’t want to seize her spiritual essence.

“Perhaps the ancient Daoist art of the bedchamber can solve this trouble, allowing us to benefit mutually.

“Also, Huai Qing has a strong and domineering personality. When I went to see her yesterday, she kept me waiting outside for half an hour, claiming she was indisposed.

“Want to guess how I finally got to see her? I said: ‘I haven’t visited Lin An yet.’

“Only then did she agree to see me. If she knew I’d gone to Lin An first…”

Xu Qi An sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the bed. As he drank, he turned to look at Wei Yuan and said helplessly:

“I apologize, but I truly lack the energy and time to gather materials for the soul-summoning bell. The situation forces me to prioritize collecting Dragon Qi.

“In the past, I would have chosen to resurrect you first. Now, I choose to save the country first—this is the responsibility I must shoulder. You initially practiced martial arts to reach the Third Rank, to take the Empress away from the capital.

“But later, when you truly possessed the cultivation and authority to look down upon all beings, you chose to remain in court, willingly becoming Emperor Yuanjing’s pawn, a master patch-worker of the empire.

“How can one satisfy both the world and love? One must choose between serving the masses and personal desires.”

Xu Qi An turned his gaze away and continued chattering:

“I’ve taken a new disciple, named Miao You Fang. His aptitude is ordinary, but he has a chivalrous heart and dreams of becoming a great hero who can shoulder heaven and earth.

“I suddenly felt then that I should give him a chance because it was you who once gave me—a man without family or connections—a chance, which led to the Silver Gong I am today.

“You cultivated a talent for the court, and I do the same.

“Lord Wei, this is the legacy you passed to me.”

As he finished speaking, the wine jar was empty.

Xu Qi An stood up, bowed deeply before the bed, and then left the secret chamber.

While maintaining his “Moving Stars and Changing Constellations” ability to prevent his aura from leaking even slightly, he used the dharma conch to contact Sun Xuan Ji.

In a one-sided communication, he said tersely:

“Meet at the bottom of the tower!”

He cut off communication before giving Senior Brother Sun a chance to reply.

…

When Sun Xuan Ji arrived at the underground first floor, he saw Xu Qi An ruffling Fifth Junior Sister’s messy hair.

“Stay at the Celestial Observatory and wait for my return. It’s not that I don’t want to take you along, but it would be too dangerous.

“You wouldn’t want to die young before getting married, would you?”

Xu Qi An felt the smoothness of her hair between his fingers. Though Zhong Li appeared unkempt with messy hair, often giving the impression of poor hygiene, her hair was smooth, and she had no odd odors—she was quite clean.

Zhong Li didn’t resist Xu Qi An’s head-patting and quietly defended herself:

“Your good fortune can offset bad luck. I won’t necessarily come to harm.”

Senior Sister Zhong, as a woman, you don’t know your limits… Xu Qi An said sternly:

“Have you forgotten about Master Heng Yuan’s scalding soup outside Yong Province? Forgotten what happened in the underground palace? Forgotten all your misfortunes at my home?”

Zhong Li said: “But now you have Dragon Qi with you, plus your original good fortune…”

Xu Qi An glared at her: “You’re still not convinced?”

Zhong Li lowered her head, looking like a bullied victim, and didn’t dare speak further.

Only then did Xu Qi An turn to Sun Xuan Ji and say:

“Senior Brother Sun, please trouble you to take her out of the capital.”

He feared the Imperial Preceptor might still be patrolling the capital territory. If they encountered her, her little fists would punch his chest—to death.

Putting himself in her shoes, if someone had caused him such social death, Xu Qi An would also go berserk.

Sun Xuan Ji gave an “mm” and looked at Zhong Li, saying:

“She…”

Before he could finish, Xu Qi An had already handed over brush and paper.

…Sun Xuan Ji immediately lost his desire to speak. He stomped heavily, activating the transmission formation, and disappeared with Xu Qi An.

“Junior Sister, do you want to advance to Fourth Rank sooner to help him ward off future dangers?”

Zhong Li turned her head at the voice and saw Yang Qian Huan’s back head poking through the doorway.

She honestly answered with an “mm.”

“These truly are troubled times.”

Yang Qian Huan sighed and said: “After I handle matters in the capital, I’ll also need to journey through the jianghu. The director-master has assigned me tasks. Though that dog Xu Qi An is detestable, we’ve still shared experiences, so I should help if I can.”

Zhong Li asked curiously:

“What matters does Senior Brother Yang still have in the capital?”

Yang Qian Huan said in a low voice:

“It’s a secret, but I can reveal some details. Well, it’s related to donations.”

Zhong Li suddenly understood:

“Senior Brother Yang wants to donate all the Celestial Observatory’s assets again?”

“Ah, this… how did you guess? No, no, no, I didn’t think that, don’t wrongly accuse me…”

After rambling incoherently for a while, Yang Qian Huan dejectedly said: “Junior Sister Zhong, remember to keep this secret. I plan to catch Director-Master off guard.”

…

Cloud Province!

Hidden Dragon City, atop the Star-Gazing Pavilion.

“Cough, cough…”

Hoarse coughing echoed in the tea room as a middle-aged man in white robes sat by the table brewing tea, occasionally covering his mouth to cough.

Outside the tea room on the observation platform stood a golden figure like an iron tower.

He stood eight chi tall, with perfect proportions, wearing a kasaya that exposed his chest, his visible muscles as if cast in gold.

His features clearly showed Western Region characteristics, and as he stood there, he had the strength and straightness of bamboo.

His gaze held depth and authority—those who met his eyes would feel as if they were facing an abyss.

“In your current state, you would be killed by the Director within ten moves.”

The golden figure spoke, his voice though not loud carried the might of thunder.

“The backlash of fate on a ritualist is far more terrible than you imagine.” Xu Ping Feng patiently brewed tea and sighed lightly:

“Using self-mutilation to launch a death curse against me—my eldest son’s battle talent is truly terrifying. Give him five or ten years, and rebellion would become nothing but a joke.”

The golden figure looked down at all of Hidden Dragon City and slowly said:

“We still haven’t found Dharma Joy Bodhisattva, otherwise his Medicine Master Dharma body could treat your injuries.

“Since you can’t rise now, you must focus your energy on collecting Dragon Qi.

“The current situation is unfavorable. The Comprehending Emotions Arhat has been captured, and at least half the sealing nails in the Buddha’s Son’s body are gone. Even if he hasn’t recovered his immortal body, he’s always been capable of Third Rank combat power.”

The white-robed ritualist finished brewing tea, took a sip, and smiled:

“Don’t we still have two Vajra and my Azure Dragon Seven Constellations? Last night observing the stars, I noticed an additional bright star in the west. Is this a newly born Arhat, or has a reincarnated Arhat awakened?”

“The Asura King’s youngest son has returned to his position,” said the golden figure.

Xu Ping Feng nodded:

“The Asura clan are born warriors, practicing both Buddhism and martial arts. With the youngest son’s return, the Buddhist faction has gained both a Vajra and an Arhat simultaneously.

“There’s no rush to collect Dragon Qi, I have other plans. Since Director-Master has confined us to Cloud Province, we might as well take this time to discuss the details for after we rise.”

As he finished speaking, both the white-robed ritualist and the golden figure raised their heads to look at the sky.

In the azure sky, the clouds churned and transformed, condensing into a giant face that gazed down at the earth with cold indifference.

The Director!

…

That day, Xu Qi An’s group arrived in Jiang Province territory, passing through a place called “Sheng Yi County.”

The city walls were low, with four soldiers standing at the county gate holding spears, their postures slack as they shivered in the cold wind.

“This cursed weather, the sun might as well be decoration.”

Miao You Fang grumbled. He was just one step away from Bronze Skin Iron Bones and no longer feared heat or cold.

But his mindset was still that of “us common folk,” instinctively putting himself in the perspective of ordinary people.

Seeing passersby hunched against the cold, he felt as if he too was being persecuted by the “cold front.”

The group entered the city. The stone slabs of the main street were covered in cracks. The buildings were low, and while not exactly dilapidated, they were decidedly unremarkable.

This represented the poor economic state of Sheng Yi County.

People hurried to and fro on the streets, each busy with their affairs, their faces reddened by the cold wind. Looking carefully, one would notice most people’s hands had chilblains.

The group found a roadside restaurant and sat down to eat.

“What would the honored guests like to order?”

The waiter came over and pointed to wooden boards hanging on the wall, each with a dish written on it.

Xu Qi An casually ordered a few dishes and three jars of wine, then smiled and asked:

“Waiter, have there been any strange occurrences around here lately?”

Strange occurrences… the waiter looked around and said in a low voice:

“As it happens, there have been several strange incidents.”