Chapter 275: Chi Fire Bixiao

Seeing Pei Ye was about to answer, but the door was suddenly pushed open, and a young girl walked in.

It was the White Snake female role on the stage just now. She had already changed out of her play costume. Seeing Pei Ye had already guessed she was young when she was wearing makeup, and at this moment, she indeed looked like a girl of sixteen or seventeen.

The girl's own appearance was even more beautiful than her play makeup. She was thin, white-skinned, and her expression was calm and quiet, just like the orchid in the play. Her gaze swept over Ji Yun and Seeing Pei Ye, and finally stopped on the old man.

"... Are the guests finished?"

The quiet temperament on the girl seemed to permeate this room. The old man, who had just been free and laughing, had a light and slow voice: "Sit for a while?"

Yi Chengxin shook her head and looked at the old man squarely, performing a farewell ceremony properly.

"..."

The girl's voice was also clear, bright, and peaceful: "I have received instruction under the master for three years, often receiving diligent teaching, and the dull talent has benefited. Now that I am leaving, I will not see you again. I wish the master to enjoy immortal blessings—poverty is boundless, time is limited, please do not hurt yourself."

The old man felt genuine sadness on his face and said softly: "When is the auspicious time?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"... You are the child with the most spiritual nature I have ever taught. Singing plays is a skill for us to settle down, but it is useless to you. If you really marry far away alone, remember to change your cold-inside-hot-outside temperament, manage your life well, and you will have a wider place to live."

Yi Chengxin bowed again properly: "Opera is what I truly love. I wish to devote my life's work to it, but the fate is not appropriate, and I cannot be divided into two. I can only leave the master's knees."

"... Will you be busy with etiquette and dowry these two days?"

"Yes."

"... I will see you off the day after tomorrow."

"Thank you, master." The girl bowed three times, "Chengxin is leaving."

The old man stood up: "... I will see you off."

"Master, please stop."

The girl turned around and looked at the old man, finally lowering her eyebrows: "Back then, my brother led me from this door to the master, and today I am parting from this door."

"That's fine."

The girl turned and left, leaving only silence in the room.

Seeing Pei Ye looked at the old man's sadness and Ji Yun's indignation, and said softly: "I heard people say that Miss Yi is going to marry far away just now. Is this marriage not harmonious?"

The old man sighed lightly, and Ji Yun's eyebrows were already standing up: "What marriage, it's clearly selling a daughter!"

"..."

"In Xilong, a fat pig who is addicted to flowers and willows all day!" Ji Yun gritted his teeth, "He took a fancy to the junior sister after talking about business last year! From then on, he harassed her every month! Originally, the Yi family didn't loosen their mouths, but recently they said they gave a very heavy dowry, so the Yi family loosened their mouths!"

The old man didn't comment on the family affairs and sighed softly: "This child Chengxin is smart and kind-hearted, but it's as if she has two hearts... one born in the human world, one born in the sky."

"When she was sent to me, her brother told me that she had no likes since she was a child. That day she liked plays, hoping I could make her truly fall in love. Now her obsession and joy when singing plays can't deceive anyone, but..."

"I really can't bear to part with her." The old man lowered his eyebrows.

————

Seeing Pei Ye walked out of the theater with the play script.

He originally intended to flip through it casually in the room and pay the silver, but the old man insisted on asking him to take it to look at.

"We have things to talk about here, so the afternoon show is closed." The old man organized a smile from his sadness and said gently to the youth, "You take it and look at it yourself first. Let's chat properly when we come back tonight."

So Seeing Pei Ye left first. When he arrived at the front of the stage, he saw the young girl walking out of the gate against the light, and the two leaders were slowly walking down the stairs in the dim and empty theater behind her.

Seeing Pei Ye walked on the street of Seven-Meng Jiucheng. According to the direction the student pointed out earlier, he headed straight for that "Longmen Tower," intending to visit the so-called "Master Kou" first and ask for news.

While walking, he flipped through the play script in his hand. The performance details on it were indeed listed very clearly, including scene layout and musical flow, all of which were annotated. However, Seeing Pei Ye didn't look at this. He flipped through the lyrics section by section, wanting to find some clues.

To be fair, Seeing Pei Ye had read many books with elegant wording in the past month. He could read play scripts before, but only shallow and vulgar ones. Now he could read the elegant lyrics by pushing and guessing.

Flipping through two sections like this, it was no different from the performance on the stage, but a round and full feeling inexplicably came from his abdomen. Seeing Pei Ye was startled and stopped in his tracks.

The "Chi Fire Source" had taken shape.

Ever since the black cat injected the last bit of Chi blood for him that day, the dark, gorgeous, spherical shape in his abdomen had become completely complete, attached to the bottom of the meridian tree.

However, the black cat said it still needed two days to be assimilated by this body before it could be used freely.

By now, the "assimilation" was complete, and faint, slender blue flames grew upon it. Seeing Pei Ye felt the thing he had suddenly gained the ability to control within his body, and as his consciousness dropped deep within, he indeed sensed three different sources.

When the black cat explained the things to him in detail on the horse that day, Seeing Pei Ye felt he could copy them out and publish a book called "Black Cat Fire Explanation," and sign it Seeing Pei Ye.

It said that all fires in the world fall into five categories: material fire, gas fire, mystic fire, heart fire, and Dao fire.

The basis for its division is what it burns. "Material fire" burns real objects, "gas fire" burns things like True Qi, and "mystic fire" is supported by the Spirit-Mystic of heaven and earth. As for the heart and Dao categories, they can also be understood roughly like this, but their mysterious aspects are hard to describe in a few words.

Most of the first three types of fire are confined to what they belong to, that is, material is material, gas is gas, and mystic is mystic. Only a few divine and strange flames among them possess "Dao" assets, can connect other categories, and achieve the legendary "Dao fire."

As for "heart fire," all have "Dao" assets.

The Black Chi pointed out the end of the world's fire path like this—material fire, gas fire, mystic fire, heart fire, master the four types of Dao asset wonderful flames, then all the fires in the world are under your hand. Because you can ascend to the Dao rank and hold the 【Dao fire】.

【Chi Fire】 is exactly the legendary "Channeling Mystic Fire."

And if these higher and farther paths are not considered for the time being, as an immortal endowment fire seed obtained by the Immortal Hunter contract, the development and use of 【Chi Fire】 itself is already a discipline.

According to the black cat, 【Chi Fire】 has three characteristics.

First, Chi Fire is the best spiritual fire in the world.

Second, Chi Fire can be seen, but it has no temperature, and it is not subject to any perception other than sight.

Third, Chi Fire can swallow other fires without "Dao assets," obtain their characteristics, and complete its own growth.

When Seeing Pei Ye heard this, he immediately recalled the blue flames used by the Zhu Shi Sect. The difference between them and the blue flames used by the Black Chi turned out to be the third point.

The support for Chi Fire's burning is the Spirit-Mystic of heaven and earth, and this one in Seeing Pei Ye's abdomen is somewhat special. Its sources are three, which is exactly the three places Seeing Pei Ye touched when his consciousness explored the depths just now.

First, the Chi Fire source was originally born from the essence blood of the Divine Chi, which itself has the ability to absorb and store mystic Qi. The most direct source of mystic Qi for Chi Fire's burning is here. And this fire source is symbiotic with the Black Chi. With the growth of the Black Chi, its ability to store and absorb mystic Qi will also grow synchronously.

Seeing Pei Ye felt it. The Black Chi's true body was just a hundred catties at this time, and the mystic Qi in its body was just equivalent to the True Qi amount of a meridian tree's life. This Chi Fire source was also equivalent to it.

However, mystic Qi and True Qi are two kinds of energy with different essences. At the meridian tree stage, "controlling mystic Qi" itself is an ability that transcends the current realm level. No matter how small, it is enough to make the opponent helpless.

Second, under the same prosperity and withering, the Chi Fire source can actually be considered a "organ" shared by Seeing Pei Ye and the Black Chi, growing in both bodies at the same time. Seeing Pei Ye can borrow the mystic Qi in the Black Chi's body to supply Chi Fire through this connection.

The above one and two are like two connected pools.

The third is Seeing Pei Ye's own unique channel.

Through the absorption of external mystic Qi by the "Bing Lu" in the abdomen, the Chi Fire source attached to it can be borrowed without return. However, this path can only support some continuous burning and cannot complete the explosion after storage.

At this time, the black cat also sensed the formation of the fire source, and its calm voice came from its abdomen: "【Chi Fire】 is the so-called 'Spirit-Nothing Fire'. Every time it swallows a kind of fire, its characteristics will accumulate or fuse, and its spirituality and temperature will superimpose. When the spirituality reaches Bright Mystic and the heat reaches Yang True, it can burn all things, and it should be the nemesis of all mystic arrays, magical artifacts, and spiritual arts."

"What are 'Bright Mystic' and 'Yang True'?"

"Go read 'Spirit Recognition' and 'Fire Classic'."

"... Oh."

"Pick a mortal fire first—when the heat reaches 'One Li' and the spirituality peeps at 'Breaking Mortal', your Chi Fire will be considered to have stepped into the threshold."

Seeing Pei Ye closed the play script. At this time, he had arrived in front of this Longmen Tower in the center of Seven-Meng Jiucheng.

It was six stories high, with a wide gate and a large courtyard, majestic and heavy. It was exactly where the person in charge of the two-mile Seven-Meng Jiucheng lived. When pedestrians passed by, they subconsciously avoided it.

At this time, the sky was just turning yellow, and the fire candles in front of the gate had already been lit. Seeing Pei Ye reached out and stroked the flame flower, light and dark flashed, and when he withdrew his hand, he had already performed a cupped-fist salute to the guard who was looking over.

He smiled: "I am abrupt, I have long heard of your prestige and want to enter to pay a visit to Master Kou. Please make it convenient."

——

Inside Bixiao Pavilion, the black cat stretched gently and lay back on the table.

There was no one in the room, and a cup of tea was just brewed. The girl had arrived a bit early and was waiting for the head manager to finish his work.

She looked at this little cat with curiosity and care, still not understanding the meaning of Seeing Pei Ye's words "can pass messages."

Now she already knew that there were some magical things on the youth, and this little cat that was inseparable from him must also have its peculiarities. However, the girl looked left and right along the way, and except for its refined temperament and beautiful blackness, she really didn't see any more differences.

This cat looked quite spiritual. Could it be well-trained and able to carry letters back and forth to its master?

But it was so small, it looked only a month or two old. How small must it have been when it started training...

It's pitiful.

Li Piaoqing rested her chin and leaned to the side of the table, stretched out a finger, and gently poked its soft butt.

The black cat didn't move.

However, the girl was somewhat happy—it used to avoid her before.

Couldn't help but poke it gently again.

Then the black cat raised a pair of clear green eyes and looked at her quietly: "Do you have something to do?"

"..."

"..."

"Ah—" Li Piaoqing let out a short scream, widened her apricot eyes, and covered her mouth, "You you you you..."

The black cat had already put its head back down.

Li Piaoqing stared straight at this cat, the whole person as if frozen. It wasn't until the main door was suddenly pushed open that she was startled back to her senses, looked at this little cat again, and then turned to look at the person who came.

It wasn't the head manager, but a new guest, a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen, with eyebrows dyed with cinnabar, thin and white, with a calm and quiet temperament.

Li Piaoqing put aside the "monster" matter just now and looked at this girl, but she was dazed again.

Until the other party cast her eyes over, she couldn't help but open her eyes and say: "This young lady... is the White Snake female role on the stage just now?"

Yi Chengxin looked at her and nodded with a smile: "Sister has sharp eyes, I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence."

The voice was indeed as clear and pleasant as on the stage.

Li Piaoqing suddenly bloomed with a smile. She had been bright and cheerful since she was a child practicing martial arts. She had always felt close and fond of gentle and quiet women, not to mention that this one was of similar age, sang plays well, and had a temperament that matched. The girl hadn't met a peer who was so pleasing to the eye for a long time.

"Is sister here to talk about play costume business?" Li Piaoqing looked at her happily.

"No, I'm here to check the dowry." Yi Chengxin smiled.

"Ah, whose dowry?"

"Mine." Yi Chengxin smiled softly, "I'm going to marry to Xilong the day after tomorrow. From now on, I won't sing plays anymore."

"..."

At this time, the head manager walked out from the inner room with a ledger, bowed to Li Piaoqing, but didn't show any indication to Yi Chengxin, and walked straight over.

The two whispered about the items, and Yi Chengxin nodded in thanks and took the ledger. But she didn't leave, but walked into the inner room in Li Piaoqing's surprised gaze.

Only two people were left in the hall.

This head manager looked like a head manager, kind and wide-bodied, looking kind and trustworthy, steady and speaking little, so every sentence had more weight.

"Distinguished guest from Bowang is really rare." The head manager bowed with a smile, "Young Master, you have come to visit, but if you have any needs, Qiyun is willing to do its best."

Li Piaoqing returned the salute quickly: "Ashamed, ashamed, sorry to trouble the head manager to come—a noble person in the prefecture likes it, Piaoqing just wants to buy a few paintings."

"Oh? What kind of painting brush actually alarmed the distinguished guest from the neighboring prefecture?" The head manager raised his eyebrows in surprise, "It's my eyes that are covered with dust. In recent years, I don't know which divine brush has become famous."

Li Piaoqing smiled: "It's not the head manager's fault—to recognize this person, you have to count back thirty years."

The head manager looked up, revealing a slightly dazed look: "Then it must be..."

"It is the famous master of your prefecture, the late Master Xi Wantian."

But the head manager smiled with difficulty: "It's really not that I'm stingy with my own things, but in recent years, Xi Wantian's paintings have suddenly gained some fame, and there are many seekers. If the Young Master wants them, the Chamber of Commerce will help you search for a few days, but whether there is news of the true masterpiece, it is really hard to say."

Li Piaoqing's intention was not to seek paintings. Hearing this, she revealed a regretful look: "I wonder if there are any other posthumous works of Master Xi. I heard that the master's paintings were entrusted to your Chamber of Commerce for sale back then... any anecdotes would be fine."

The head manager thought for a while: "Our Chamber of Commerce did compile and print a 'Biography of Painter Xi' ten years ago..."

"This has already been read." Li Piaoqing smiled.

Zi Huang indeed let them see this thin volume, which was all about introducing Xi Wantian's painting achievements, and there was no explanation about his life experiences and death.

It was precisely because the Qiyun Chamber of Commerce could produce such a volume twenty years later that several people believed it actually hid more things about Xi Wantian, mostly related to the proprietor behind it.

"Then what the Young Master wants is..."

Li Piaoqing revealed a curious look: "I heard that, about that 'Scroll of Approaching Immortals'..."

The head manager looked up and laughed, interrupting: "Young Master, I have only been in the Qiyun Chamber of Commerce for eighteen years. This is really beyond my help."

Li Piaoqing didn't give up: "Then I wonder if the head manager can introduce your proprietor to me?"

The head manager smiled: "I am very sorry, the proprietor is not convenient to see guests these days."

Li Piaoqing asked again as if she suddenly thought of it: "By the way, I don't know who your proprietor is..."

"Sorry, it is not convenient to tell."

Li Piaoqing smiled and nodded: "It was my abruptness—then I wonder if I can stay in your pavilion for two days and wait for news of the paintings?"

"It is a great honor!"

The girl thanked him and glanced at the backyard while drinking tea.

Actually, she didn't expect this chamber of commerce to really reveal anything to her.

After the post was handed in, the identity of Li Piaoqing, the Young Master of Cuiyu, must have been sufficiently understood by others. When Qiyun expanded to Bowang, Dingyun was also extending to Xiangzhou, and behind it, there was vaguely the shadow of Cuiyu.

Li Piaoqing asked Zhang Dingyun where the account books were usually kept, and also knew that a large chamber of commerce like Qiyun must keep the transaction records of thirty years ago very well.

The sky was already somewhat dim.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 276 =====