Chapter 151

Seeing Pei Ye naturally didn't listen to these rumors. As soon as the field dispersed, he immediately went to the west courtyard to knock on the door, but the young girl only opened a crack in the door, and her head appeared between the two door panels.

"You finished learning too? Come out and practice," Seeing Pei Ye invited.

Li Piaoqing yawned lazily: "It's so late, hurry up and sleep, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Yes, because Seeing Pei Ye also moved into the martial arts hall to live.

"But aren't we busy tomorrow?" Seeing Pei Ye frowned and reached out to push the door open, but the young girl had already shrunk her head and pushed her hand, locking him outside.

The next day.

When Seeing Pei Ye opened his eyes from the bed, he thought he had woken up early because the sky was still very dark, but the next moment his ears also woke up, and he realized it was raining again.

Seeing Pei Ye quite likes rain, the small kind.

Today is exactly this kind of weather, but even if it doesn't affect practice, there won't be too many people on the martial field in a while.

Because after more than twenty days of looking forward to it, the second furnace of Ascension Pills finally arrived in Bowang Prefecture City, and the "Pill Singing Meeting" will be held today.

"Ascension Pill," this magical pill, no matter what your foundation is, can steadily make you cross from the Third Life to the Fourth Life. If you are already in the Fourth Life, it is also nine times out of ten that it can make you cross into the Fifth Life realm.

If you have been pondering in the Fifth Life realm for several years, it can still help you cross into the Sixth Life realm, but at this time, you have to look at your foundation and your accumulation in the current realm.

But the requirements are still not too harsh—if Lin Lin can get an Ascension Pill, he can steadily enter the Sixth Life.

Even when entering the Seventh Life from the Sixth Life, this pill can provide some visible help.

The first furnace has already been distributed to the few most suitable people in the prefecture, but the demand for this kind of pill is endless. Four of the second furnace will be gifted to the four most outstanding young people, and it is said that in the future, this reward will only be issued during the autumn competition, and there will be no more in the winter and spring competitions.

And the ownership of the last one will be decided by this Pill Singing Meeting.

If you don't have the strength, you also have the opportunity to fight with financial resources.

Seeing Pei Ye went out after washing up. On the martial field, only Zhang Junxue was waving her blade in the rain. When Seeing Pei Ye passed by, the splashing rain hit his face with a stinging sensation.

Seeing Pei Ye didn't disturb her and passed the martial field to the front of the west courtyard door. Sure enough, a "clink" had already come from inside.

I don't know who was earlier between Li Piaoqing and Zhang Junxue, anyway, when Seeing Pei Ye got up every day, they were both already practicing.

Including Seeing Pei Ye, the three of them basically got up at least half an hour earlier than the other students every day.

And others are not lazier, but how much exercise a person can withstand every day is actually a kind of talent. Seeing Pei Ye is still refreshed after going to bed late and getting up early every day, while Xiao Qiu still feels that his body's fatigue hasn't faded after keeping to his schedule every day.

The Dragon Gate Class will arrange for students to participate in the Luzhou Poetry Meeting before the martial competition, also out of consideration for rest.

At this time, Seeing Pei Ye stood at the door and raised his hand to knock. Soon the young girl ran over to open it. She had her unsheathed sword tucked under her arm, and the worry on her eyebrows hadn't dissipated yet.

"What's wrong? Didn't you learn the last three moves? Come out and practice while it's still early," Seeing Pei Ye laughed.

Li Piaoqing suppressed her worry and returned a smile: "No time! I'll tidy up, you go change your clothes too, let's hurry and grab a good seat."

"Ah? I'm not going."

"Why aren't you going?"

"I'm not buying."

"There are many who aren't buying, going to watch the fun is nothing," the young girl said, "This is the first time the Ascension Pill has appeared, many people have been preparing for it for more than a month. Especially our martial competition candidates, I guess many will go—have you ever seen a Singing-Selling Meeting before?"

"..."

Seeing Pei Ye had never seen any Singing-Selling Meeting; he didn't even recognize the character "Selling" when he saw it.

"Then..." The young man was indeed aroused with some interest, "But, I still have to practice swords."

"You're already invincible in the world!" Li Piaoqing said, "Let's go, it's only half a day, we can also talk about swords while watching."

She flicked the small Zhanxin Liuli at her waist with her finger.

"Alright then." Seeing Pei Ye nodded, suddenly remembering one thing, "But I don't have any clothes to change into, this set is just washed, is it okay?"

"It's okay! What's not okay, just wear whatever you have," Li Piaoqing said, "But I have to change, wait for me for a moment."

Before long, the young girl came out in a different outfit. She took off her green clothes, pinned up her hair, changed into a yellow shirt, didn't draw the iconic wing makeup on the corners of her eyes, and didn't even take the Lost Green Sword. She no longer looked like the current direct descendant of the Cuiyu Sword Sect, but truly became a young girl watching the fun.

Seeing Pei Ye poked his head inside to look. Several green-clad figures of different heights were walking in the courtyard, the tallest one being taller than himself: "Aren't your senior brothers and sisters going together?"

Li Piaoqing shook her head and handed him an umbrella: "They aren't, let's go."

Going out and heading south, the two walked along the street. The rain was still not heavy, and Seeing Pei Ye held the umbrella without opening it.

This "Pill Singing Meeting" was indeed as lively as the young girl said. At this time, the daylight had just brightened, and carriages and horses had repeatedly passed them along the way. Li Piaoqing was originally walking on the outside, but looking at the water droplets repeatedly splashed by the carriages and horses, she couldn't help but frown while holding her skirt, and pulled the young man to the outside.

"..."

"..." The young girl blinked.

Seeing Pei Ye really didn't care about such a little sewage, and the young girl's skirt looked much more expensive, so he let her hide by his side.

"How long do we have to walk, where is that Pill Singing Meeting held?" Seeing Pei Ye said.

"Not far, it's in Bowang Garden—have you been to Bowang Garden?"

"I've been to its gate."

"It's still very beautiful inside. If there's time later, we can stroll around, but there will definitely be many people today."

"I went when I first arrived in the prefecture city. I had never seen such a tall building. I wanted to climb to the top floor to see it at the time, but they wouldn't let me."

"Oh, you're talking about the Catching-Moon Building. I haven't even climbed to the ninth floor. They have a special name called 'Han Pavilion'," the young girl laughed, "That's the place for holding various ceremonies, it can't be opened many times a year... However, my senior brother has climbed up, saying the scenery is actually not much different from the seventh or eighth floor, but the feeling is very different."

"How did your senior brother climb up?"

"Martial Champion of the winter competition, named in the Han Pavilion. The rewards for this year's autumn competition have also been announced, didn't you see?"

"Oh! The instructor read it before, but I didn't understand what 'Han Pavilion' meant."

Li Piaoqing stood still, leaned down to pick up a small wooden stick, dipped it in water, and wrote the characters "Han Pavilion" on the wall beside her, pointing and saying: "'Han' refers to brush, ink, and articles, because there are the ink traces of successive prefecture inspectors on the ninth floor, so it takes this name."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded in realization: "I have seen this character before."

The young girl said "Hmm," and just as she was about to throw away the wooden stick, she suddenly paused: "Then do you know how to write my name?"

"Aren't you called 'Li Piaoling'?" Seeing Pei Ye gestured.

"..." The young girl wrote the characters "Piaoqing" on the wall again.

"What does this character mean?" Seeing Pei Ye asked curiously.

"'Kingfishers gather from time to time, flapping their wings to cultivate their appearance. Looking back, they produce a green color, shaking and lifting the Piaoqing'—I grew up in the sect since I was a child, and this name was taken for me by my teachers."

"Ah..." Seeing Pei Ye nodded blankly. He didn't recognize the character "Piao" originally, and now even "Qing" was covered in a layer of fog.

"It's just an ancient poem, chanting about kingfishers," the young girl explained with a smile, "The teachers always say this name was taken cleverly, because I grew into the appearance of this name."

Seeing Pei Ye then turned his head and looked at her face seriously.

Li Piaoqing raised her hand to block it, and smiled embarrassedly: "What are you doing?"

"Ah, I haven't seen a kingfisher, I'm looking at what a kingfisher looks like through you."

"..." The young girl rolled her eyes at him.

The two chatted as they walked. Bowang Garden is indeed not too far, and it was soon in front of them. Hidden in the rain, the tall buildings, red wood and green tiles, green willows and large lakes, the Bowang Garden of today is far different from the bright hall of that day.

The green-clad figures greeted them from afar. There were roads for carriages and roads for people. Although there were many guests, it was orderly.

This Pill Singing Meeting can be called inviting guests widely. People with status, as long as they occupied one of martial arts, wealth, or fame, all received invitations sent actively. If they didn't receive one, as long as they asked someone, they would immediately be presented with one.

Even if you have neither fame nor connections, as long as you come here today and verify your qualifications a little, you can enter. Li Piaoqing said that the verification was also very loose, so Seeing Pei Ye went to see it curiously—it was a threshold he couldn't pass.

Fortunately, he followed the direct descendant of the Cuiyu Sword Sect closely, and the green-clad figures serving didn't even ask a question.

The number of people attending today has far exceeded the number of people who can support a Singing-Selling Meeting. Seeing Pei Ye walked into this garden, looking around curiously.

It's not that he hadn't seen plants, flowers, birds, and springs, but this kind of artificial exquisite design where grass relies on springs, birds lean on trees, and white pearls fly on top of red pavilions was the first time he had seen it.

Outside the red pavilion, two middle-aged scholars in long gowns, one light blue and one reddish-brown, stood with straight backs, chatting and laughing with their hands behind their backs. A boy stood on the steps of the pavilion holding an umbrella for them, and a boy held a small stove of unknown use.

The whole garden was a scene like this. If one had to describe it, it would be well-dressed and chatting politely.

This overall atmosphere composed of people and scenery made Seeing Pei Ye feel quite strange. He grew up in a natural and rough environment, filled with loud laughter and scolding. But this scene today brought him a sense of "pruning"—the plants came from scissors, and the people came from those classics he rarely read.

But the young man didn't dislike it. In fact, this pruning made him feel very good. Those sharp and rough things disappeared, and the contact between people became round and gentle.

The young man didn't know for the time being that this was a kind of "Lord Ye loves dragons," because he hadn't been pruned yet, and some sharpness itself is very difficult to suppress, let alone remove.

"Look, isn't that Officer Bai?" Li Piaoqing had no thoughts about this scene she was accustomed to. She pointed out those figures in the garden to the young man, "He has a granddaughter of appropriate age, and this session is her first time participating in the martial competition."

Seeing Pei Ye turned his head to look as told.

"And the head escort of the Weiyuan Escort Agency, the boss of the Dingyun Trading Firm... Hmm! Officer Xing, the one next to him is the second direct descendant of the White Bamboo Pavilion, Zhang Mozhu, but he just stepped into the Fifth Life, so he shouldn't be too eager for this pill..."

The young girl pointed them out one by one, almost everyone had a name with considerable weight. Seeing Pei Ye only then knew that there were so many dignitaries in this prefecture city.

Where are they usually?

The young man thought curiously, not hindering his exclamation: "You actually recognize so many people?"

"I took the list and portraits a while ago and remembered them one by one. They don't really recognize me yet," Li Piaoqing laughed.

Suddenly, a familiar figure also appeared in Seeing Pei Ye's field of vision. He waved his hand, and the short, chubby boy also saw him, very pleasantly surprised, and ran over.

"Brother Zhang..." Seeing Pei Ye cupped his hands.

"Miss Li!!" Zhang Dingyun stood still excitedly and saluted, "I am Zhang Dingyun, the playboy of the trading firm. I have long admired your name, but I didn't expect to see you in person, your demeanor is even better!"

"Ah, it's Young Master Zhang," Li Piaoqing laughed in surprise, "Long admired, long admired."

"What is there to admire, you have to look down when you talk to me," Zhang Dingyun opened a fan with both hands, "That... can you write a name for me?"

"Sure, but there's no pen or ink at hand..."

"Just carve it on the fan handle."

Li Piaoqing nodded, took off the Liuli at her waist, and wrote a line of characters for him.

Seeing Pei Ye had long been confused by this behavior: "How come everyone asks you to write?"

Li Piaoqing laughed: "I don't know either."

Zhang Dingyun was unhappy: "Are you jealous?"

"?"

"If you take the top four in this session, I'll ask you to write too." Zhang Dingyun closed his fan like a treasure.

"Will I pay attention to you?"

"If you don't pay attention, you don't, at worst I'll beg you," Zhang Dingyun hummed, "Anyway, I'm a loser myself, I just love watching powerful people."

Li Piaoqing nodded: "That's true! Scholars ask for calligraphy when they meet great Confucians, and we martial artists also ask for a trace when we see powerful people... If I meet Ming Qitian, I will definitely squeeze over too."

"Exactly!" Zhang Dingyun looked at Seeing Pei Ye, "If you meet Ming Qitian, don't you want to go up and see?"

"..."

"You're tough." Zhang Dingyun hummed, turned his head to look, "I'll go find Zhang Mozhu to write one too."

Zhang Dingyun turned and left. The two walked for another distance, turned behind the Catching-Moon Building, and Li Piaoqing pointed: "That's the place for the singing meeting—Viewing Wind Terrace."

Seeing Pei Ye looked up. The building in front of him was a strange structure that was wide at the bottom, narrow in the middle, and wide at the top. The first floor was very spacious, able to accommodate hundreds of people loosely, the middle floor shrank by half, but the top floor stretched out again, becoming a high platform that could accommodate nearly a thousand people.

This platform had a roof, but it was open on all four sides, leaning against the lake and the mountain. It was conceivable that even if a thousand people really entered, they wouldn't feel stifled.

At this time, the platform was still adjusting its layout, and the people who arrived early were all visiting and talking in the long pavilions below.

Seeing Pei Ye and the two had just approached here when suddenly "whoosh, whoosh, clatter," the rain tightened suddenly. For a moment, there were sounds of surprise everywhere, and people ran to the pavilions one after another. Seeing Pei Ye and the two happened to be close, so they hurriedly went in to occupy a position.

Then they watched with a smile as the people behind ran over and filled the remaining positions one by one.

"Raining again, are we going to wash the streets this time?" A male voice came from beside them.

(End of chapter)