"That Shang Ziliang is the son of Shang, the peak master of the Yunyao Peak." After leaving the Sword Transmission Hall, Xu Ziqing muttered to Chu Liang, "He always relies on his father being the peak master, acting as if he's so powerful, I've never liked him. But he always likes to come around me, I hate him."
I see.
Shang Shuwen, the peak master of Yunyao Peak, is a Confucian cultivator on the Shushan. He's also well-known in the Jianghu... His son doesn't seem to live up to that.
Just as she was thinking, she saw a flash of fire falling from the southeast, like a shooting star, heading towards the direction of the Silver Sword Peak.
Chu Liang's eyes lit up.
"Sister Ziqing, my master should be back, I'll go back to meet him first," Chu Liang said.
"Oh..." the little girl nodded, then watched Chu Liang's figure leave.
Reluctantly.
Returning to the Silver Sword Peak, Chu Liang saw the empress Fen sitting in her pavilion, dressed in a black and red robe, her chest trembling as if in a fit of anger.
The Phoenix Spirit Blood Jade appeared and disappeared intermittently.
"Master." Chu Liang stepped forward and said, "I have come to welcome Master's return."
"Hmm, everything been alright these last few days?" The empress Fen asked.
"Everything's fine, master. I completed another mission, relatively smoothly." Chu Liang nodded and asked, "And how about you, Master? Was your journey successful?"
"Don't even mention it." The empress Fen frowned. "While I was searching for monsters in the East Sea, the Penglai Sect interfered, accusing me of destroying the ecological balance of the East Sea! They insisted on driving me away! If it wasn't for my consideration for the entire Shu Mountain Sect, I would have to fight them!"
Chu Liang fell silent for a moment.
The master's behavior was exactly as she had anticipated.
Although she casually mentioned looking for monsters, it was easy to imagine that her actions would not be so peaceful.
When there were monsters causing trouble, the empress Fen could help eliminate the danger. But in the absence of monsters, the empress Fen herself was a threat.
It was probable that her actions had caused unrest in the East Sea, attracting attention from the Penglai Sect, prompting them to intervene.
The Penglai Sect was also one of the Nine Heavenly Sects, with territory in the East Sea, naturally they would not tolerate her causing trouble at their doorstep.
Their actions were justifiable.
Amidst his thoughts, Chu Liang couldn't help but say, "The people of the Penglai Sect are so rude!"
"Exactly!" The empress Fen nodded angrily.
Then, she felt something was off and raised an eyebrow to look at Chu Liang. "You, how come you're not usually this obedient. Why did you come to welcome me the moment I returned? Do you have something to discuss with me?"
"It is the duty of a disciple to welcome the master, is it not?" Chu Liang smiled. "But… there are also some matters I would like to discuss with the master."
"Tsk." The empress Fen chuckled. "Speak."
"On this mission, I happened to be traveling with people from the Jade Sword Peak. Among them, there is a disciple in the early stage of the Golden Core realm, far superior in cultivation to me, employing powerful flying swords and divine abilities. This person isn't even a main force of the Jade Sword Peak, and I'm concerned… how will we compete with them during the upcoming Shu Mountain Sect gathering?" Chu Liang asked.
"You still have time to become stronger, have faith in yourself." The empress Fen said nonchalantly.
Continuing, Chu Liang said, "So, I am thinking about how to strengthen myself. Apart from diligent cultivation and advancing my cultivation, I have relatively few divine abilities myself, so I would like to ask the master to impart some powerful divine abilities to me."
"Divine abilities?" The empress Fen was taken aback. "How can I teach you divine abilities?"
She was speaking the truth.
Initially, the headmaster of Shu Mountain did not allow her to accept disciples, not only because of her rebellious character, but also because she was a physical cultivator.
Unlike martial artists, a physical cultivator focused on cultivating the body through Daoism, without practicing martial arts, only forging a strong physique.
The Phoenix Princess
The Emperor's daughter Feng had a body of crimson flames and a divine phoenix constitution. She cultivated her body to seek the Tao, and her formidable power was beyond doubt.
However, body cultivation was extremely rare, requiring various fortuitous circumstances to succeed. What she cultivated was something that could not be passed on to disciples.
However,
In addition to the lineage of the sect leader, Shu Mountain disciples could also acquire divine powers through the Guardian Hall. If one wanted to practice a divine power that even the sect leader did not possess, they could directly purchase it from the Guardian Hall.
Chu Liang smiled slightly, "So, I want to go to the Guardian Hall to make some purchases."
Feng narrowed her eyes, sensing a hint of danger. "Then go ahead and buy it."
"But disciple... I don't have much money..." Chu Liang said softly.
"Heh," Feng sneered, "You, little punk, are resorting to begging, huh? After all this nonsense, you just want to ask me for money, don't you?"
"All this is for the great cause of the sect," Chu Liang earnestly said.
Always embodying the art of language.
"Mm..." Feng propped up her chin, her sleeve slipping down, revealing a fair slice of her wrist. "You need divine powers and artifacts. I can help you think of ways, but for money, I really don't have any."
"The sect leader's monthly stipend at Shu Mountain is not low, right? And isn't it said that the peak master also has additional funding..." Chu Liang asked cautiously.
In fact, he had always been puzzled. Their Silver Sword Peak had always been poor, and he had gotten used to it since he was young, so he didn't feel it was a big deal.
But as he grew older and saw that other peaks were very prosperous, it was inevitable that he felt it was strange. Especially since Silver Sword Peak only had him as a disciple, there were no resource allocations.
Even if the sect leader gave him a little pocket money each month, he should have enough to buy a flying sword.
"Sigh." Feng sighed, "What's the use of that little money... I not only have no money now, but I also have a large amount of external debt."
"Why is that?" Chu Liang was puzzled.
Feng patted the gourd hanging from her waist, "Do you think the alcohol that can get someone of my cultivation drunk is cheap to buy? This Drunken Immortal Brew costs five hundred jade coins per gourd."
"Ah?"
He had been watching Feng drink this alcohol since he was young. Turns out, one gourd costs as much as a flying sword?
Unbelievable.
This wasn't just drinking, this was burning money.
"I'm telling you the truth. In short, besides the external debt, I have nothing at all. After all these years, I've traveled the world, and besides this Phoenix Blood Jade, I've never had a magic weapon. It's all up to my flesh." Feng spread her hands, adopting a posture of being unafraid even if thrown into hot water, "Even if you are really desperate for money, there's nothing I can sell. If I had to sell something, I could only sell this body."
Chu Liang's eyebrows twitched, "Is that convenient?"
"Get lost."
...
Chu Liang returned to his small wooden house, feeling dejected after the failure of his money-making plan and the distressing news that Princess Feng had no intention of giving up drinking for nearly a hundred years.
It seemed that in the future, he would have to rely on himself.
If he wanted flying swords, magical weapons, elixirs, dowry, and talismans, he would have to save up on his own...
Or perhaps he would just wait for the monsters to explode.
Just as he turned over a hill, he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure.
Thick eyebrows, large eyes, a gorgeous robe, and a radiant face—it was Lin Bei, a disciple of the Jade Sword Peak.
"Hey hey hey!"
Seeing Chu Liang, Lin Bei immediately burst into laughter and greeted, "Brother Chu, you're finally back."
"Brother Lin, why are you waiting for me here? Is there something urgent?" Chu Liang asked.
"Of course," Lin Bei smiled broadly, "I've just learned of a highly rewarding task that requires two disciples of exceptional skill, quick wits, and handsome looks in the Divine Introspection realm to complete together. I immediately thought of us!"
Ignoring his flattery, Chu Liang asked, "Where do we need to go?"
"To Yanjiao City, South Mountain Academy."