[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-ascending-to-the-jade-palace":3,"chapter-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-58":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Ascending to the Jade Palace",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2320520,4538,"Chapter 58: Shocking Secrets of the Purple Mansion!","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-58",58,"\u003Cp>Qingxi Alley, the Garrison Cultivator’s Residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it was not yet the day the Ghost Market opened, the Qi Refining guards at the Garrison Cultivator’s Residence naturally would not let Yulou enter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, the Garrison Cultivator’s Residence is much like a brothel—you can enter if you offer spirit stones, but only on the right days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you scruffy cultivators could just barge in every day without notice, where would the Garrison Cultivator’s authority lie?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, once Yulou revealed his identity as Wang Shizi of Anbei Kingdom and explained his purpose, the guard promptly let him pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A scion of a great clan, courting the Garrison Cultivator’s daughter, and still young.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What does “unlimited future” mean?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is what “unlimited future” means!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou guessed correctly—the Clan Chief indeed intended for him to probe Mu Chunze’s intentions, which was why he specifically named Yulou to deliver the qin himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a logic here that Yulou had previously overlooked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namely: why did Mu Yingxi bypass the alchemists inside Hongdengzhao and instead seek out Huafeng Studio?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her father is Hongdengzhao’s true disciple—if he wished to connect her with an alchemist, he wouldn’t even need to show up; a single message would suffice to find any alchemist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After receiving the Clan Chief’s letter, Yulou only then realized that their meeting that day might have been a special matchmaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Mu Yingxi’s visit to Huafeng Studio may not have been known to her father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Clan Chief may have spoken with Mu Chunze, but whether it would succeed ultimately depended on Yulou’s and Mu Yingxi’s own feelings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having lived two lives, this was Yulou’s first matchmaking—and to say he wasn’t nervous would be a lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the guidance of a servant, Yulou walked along the front courtyard’s corridor and arrived before a side hall within the residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across the corridor from the side hall stood a stone arch bridge without supports—such bridges, suspended over water without pillars, were called Feihong Bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the thick stone pillars outside the side hall, Yulou noticed heavy blue-dragon-patterned curtains hanging inside; the owner was hidden behind them, and he could not locate her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young Master Wang, please come in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young maid, wearing a jade hairpin, her hair styled in a Chaotian bun, and tiny tiger-head pink embroidered slippers, skipped forward and pulled back a corner of the curtain, smiling as she beckoned Yulou inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou tightened his grip on the seven-string willow-wood qin, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the stone arch bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little maid walked ahead to lead the way, and Yulou said softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve come only to deliver the qin on behalf of the Wang clan—I’m not worthy of being called Young Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid didn’t reply, but chirped sweetly toward the person behind the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heehee, Miss, he’s quite shy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shy?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of this, Yulou grew even more uneasy—was this really going to be a live matchmaking?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the daughter of Hongdengzhao’s true disciple, even if she had only just reached Foundation Establishment, wasn’t bad at all—many would kill for the chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cui Guo, don’t be rude. Bring me my qin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A familiar voice came—indeed, it was Mu Yingxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou handed the qin to the maid named Cui Guo, then stood quietly and obediently before the curtain of the side hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His head bowed slightly, allowing him to see the vivid, lifelike blue dragon embroidered on the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dragon’s body was outlined in blue silk thread, its horns and claws stitched in gold thread; in its front claws it gripped a small boat, as if committing mischief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the dragon’s left, a shimmering curved blade was racing toward it—the embroiderer had been meticulous, using varying shades of white thread to depict the blade’s path through the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the embroidery of the curved blade slaying the blue dragon, Yulou thought of the female cultivator seated behind the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi, a beginner-level Qi Refiner, was surely at least ten years older than him—in fact, he ought to call her Auntie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They say a woman three years older brings golden bricks; ten years older? That’s a pile of golden bricks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This qin is indeed excellent—the Wang clan of Anbei Kingdom lives up to its reputation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi’s voice came, pulling Yulou from his reverie; he explained:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Clan Chief knew this qin was custom-made for you, so he personally forged it—the base material is the finest willow spirit wood, the strings are made of eighth-grade donkey hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fifteen sealing arrays were applied, with two more layers left for future refinement—should the need arise, it can be further refined.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi was older than Yulou and held a higher cultivation base; though they were potential match candidates, calling her “Senior” was appropriate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t call me Senior. Wang Yulou, do you know why I commissioned the seven-string qin from your Wang clan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The person behind the curtain didn’t discuss price or quality—instead, she tested Yulou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou, after much thought, decided to play it safe with this opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi fell silent for a long time, then spoke a sentence that stunned Yulou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I need a partner—a cultivator born in the Mao month sixteen years ago, with at least two elemental affinities besides wood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So direct?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are you trying to make me a son-in-law?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Yulou could recover from his shock, Mu Yingxi’s next words struck him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was born in the same year and month as you, but I am a single-element cultivator—opening the Purple Mansion will be as difficult as climbing to heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hongdengzhao possesses a dual-cultivation secret art that allows partners to mutually complement their foundational bases, combining their strength to open the Purple Mansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yulou, if you are willing to become my partner, you will effortlessly attain the Purple Mansion in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What do you say?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou believed only one part of Mu Yingxi’s words—he didn’t believe a secret art that used another’s foundational base to open the Purple Mansion had no flaws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just think: no matter how close a partner, there are always differences between two people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he concluded Mu Yingxi was just dangling a carrot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing he truly cared about now was that Mu Yingxi was born in the same year and month as him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A little-known fact, one the Wang clan happened to know, was that the laws of heaven and earth had been altered by great cultivators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the past thousand years to the present and into the future, all Qi Refining cultivators must rely solely on innate talent to reach Qi Refining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a design by great cultivators to restrict the overall cultivation levels of heaven and earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, Yulou, if he continued his cultivation normally, wouldn’t reach Qi Refining until he was thirty-one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this process, he could use spirit food to ease daily cultivation labor, but no method could accelerate the rate of his cultivation growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if Mu Yingxi’s words were true, then Yulou had a chance to reach Qi Refining early!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior, if we were born in the same year and month, why did you reach Qi Refining so early?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As far as I know, even a single-element cultivator needs at least ten years to reach Qi Refining.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, a Qi Refining cultivator with a single element takes over a decade—how did Mu Yingxi become a Qi Refiner in just three years?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou’s question caught Mu Yingxi off guard; after a moment’s thought, she answered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qi Refining cultivators may enter the Purple Mansion’s cavern realm, where there are no limits to cultivation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Wang clan was already one of Hongdengzhao’s own, there was nothing to hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the Purple Mansion’s cavern realm, Qi Refining cultivators face no cultivation limits—the laws of heaven and earth cannot reach the Purple Mansion’s cavern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou pondered this sentence deeply, remaining silent for a long while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The great cultivators had locked the car door—but secretly allowed their direct disciples to sneak in for extra meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cruelty of this world revealed itself once again before Yulou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he understood why spirit rice and spirit food were so expensive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those consuming them were not the Qi Refiners seated in Zhiwei Fang—they were the direct disciples of great clans and major sects in the Qi Refining stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great clans and major sects naturally had no shortage of funds to buy spirit rice and spirit food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand, thank you... Sister Yingxi for clarifying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t want to be called Senior—she disliked being called old—so “Sister” would do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I don’t understand—if partners’ foundational bases can be mutually complemented through dual-cultivation, why is the Golden Basin Deficiency-Repairing Pill still so expensive?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou’s question left Mu Yingxi silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why was the Golden Basin Deficiency-Repairing Pill so expensive?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because it’s worth it—the foundational base it repairs for a single-element cultivator is their own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But using dual-cultivation to achieve mutual complementation is, in a sense, cheating in cultivation—and cheating always comes at a cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To save on the cost of the Golden Basin Deficiency-Repairing Pill, you must pay elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you trying to refuse?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi didn’t answer Yulou’s question—instead, she threw it back at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou now firmly confirmed: the sweet carrot of becoming a partner was only sweet to look at.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I dare not refuse, but becoming a partner requires the approval of my elders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I came today only to deliver the qin—I never expected such a situation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sister, I’m still a child—whether or not I become a partner is up to my family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just came to deliver a qin—you don’t need to pressure me like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha, Wang Yulou, you’re overthinking. Even if you wanted to accept, you’d need to reach Foundation Establishment first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’ve already found four other cultivators roughly your age, born in the Mao month sixteen years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Go back and cultivate hard. When you reach Foundation Establishment, you might understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi’s attitude was surprisingly casual—even revealing she had four backups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to Yulou, she sounded stubbornly proud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Four others roughly your age—you’re not unique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you reach Foundation Establishment, you’ll understand— you’ll regret it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, hard to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t dare to think more, and bowed deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand, I understand— this qin uses willow wood as its base, with eighth-rank donkey hair spun into pure gold for the strings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clan head said that Elder Mu has worked hard protecting Qingxi Alley; the Wang clan will only charge you a thousand spirit stones.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Yingxi: ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was surprised to find that a person could smile with relief when speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here! Reach Foundation Establishment soon!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A storage bag flew toward him, pulled by the curtain; Wang Yulou swiftly caught it with ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was about to take out the spirit stones from the storage bag when Mu Yingxi spoke again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m giving it to you— the Wang clan doesn’t even provide storage bags to their own disciples.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yulou bowed again, then quickly left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What do you know? The Wang clan isn’t short of storage bags— they don’t give them out because they’re afraid their disciples will be targeted!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the brat walk off without looking back, Mu Yingxi wasn’t angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’s just a cultivator from a minor clan— narrow-minded. Why get angry?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shook her head and placed the qin at the edge of the small table before her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her pure white fingers, untouched by worldly dust, gently plucked the strings; a graceful, melodious tune slowly emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cultivator’s mansion, at the Qingxi Spirit Eye where Mu Chunze was meditating, he opened his eyes upon hearing the music.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He listened for a while, then softly smiled, and resumed his cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earlier, behind the curtain, Cui Guo had suddenly remembered something and asked in confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss, when did you get four other young masters? How come I never knew?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, Mu Yingxi’s qin melody faltered, and one string snapped under her anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the music go wrong, Wang Yulou instinctively quickened his pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dammit, this seven-string qin seems broken— I’ve got to run!\u003C\u002Fp>",2004,"2026-06-20T15:48:26.995Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c82ad16c810ffc6af61ccfd23b06d0255b2c5dbbfb3836314cd67bd0c61f97c7","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-59","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-57",243,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fascending-to-the-jade-palace-cover.jpg"]