Chapter 148

Ji You had been staying in his own Bishui Lake Elegant Garden for the past few days.

He had won the inner courtyard autumn battle.

There was surprise, but no danger.

But compared to the noise of the outside world, he wasn't too excited.

He was more concerned about another matter, so on the second day after the autumn battle, he went to the Wang Jiaoxi Building with Cao Jingsong to retrieve the original bet.

Ma Zhiyuan, one hundred spirit stones √

Ding Ang, one hundred spirit stones √

These were what the two of them lost after betting against Cao Jingsong. When sensing the Heavenly Book, Cao Jingsong promised to give him half, and now what he received was Ma Zhiyuan's share.

At this moment, Ji You was gently rubbing a spirit stone, his expression faint, while Cao Jingsong sat opposite him, his chest huge.

The two were carefully judging the size, shape, and quality of each piece, striving to achieve a fair split.

"Don't even mention the demon stones from the Snow Region; there aren't even any Yunzhou stones, they are all low-priced Zhongzhou stones..."

"Wang Jiaoxi Cao, this piece of mine isn't very good; this can't count as one piece."

Ji You in the courtyard muttered, picking out the spirit stone with slightly inferior quality in his hand and picking a good one from Cao Jingsong's pile.

Cao Jingsong was speechless for a long while: "You are about to enter the inner courtyard; why is your conduct not generous at all? Are you still as unpromising as when you just came out of Yuyang County?"

"If you come with me to Yuyang County and eat throat-scratching wild vegetables and corn buns for three years, you will know why."

The environment can truly change human nature, especially an environment of extreme poverty that is continuous.

To summarize in three words: afraid of being poor.

Ji You picked up a spirit stone and compared it under the daylight for a long time, carefully appreciating its luster and the essence of spiritual energy contained within, but his expression suddenly became much more solemn, and a flash of regret appeared in his eyes.

Cao Jingsong saw his expression and couldn't help but furrow his brows.

In fact, since the end of the autumn battle yesterday, he had noticed that Ji You was in a poor state, especially when he came over this morning, feeling as if he hadn't slept all night because of something.

"What is wrong with you? You have already won the autumn battle; why are you restless instead?"

Ji You put down the spirit stone in his hand: "Actually, during the autumn battle, there was a moment when I regretted it."

Cao Jingsong was stunned for a moment: "Regretted what?"

"I should have discussed it with Chu He and told him that ten thousand taels of gold could trade for me removing one sword, teaching him to experience the joy of a pay-to-win player."

"?"

The corners of Cao Jingsong's mouth trembled: "The Chu family took him back, tossed him for two months, teaching him techniques and whatnot, yet they didn't know they could have possibly bought your loss with money?"

Hearing this, Ji You's movements couldn't help but stop, his expression becoming thoughtful.

"What does that expression of yours mean? Could it really be possible to buy your loss with money?"

"Uh, probably not, but I don't have much confidence. Even if I really refused, my heart would definitely have a very strong struggle, because the human nature of a poor ghost cannot withstand the test."

"Then you still said he could make you remove one sword for ten thousand taels?"

"Actually, I could have won with five swords, so I wasted twenty thousand taels for nothing."

After Ji You finished speaking, he took a spirit stone from Cao Jingsong's pile: "This is to compensate for the twenty thousand taels I lost."

After Cao Jingsong saw this, his back teeth were about to be crushed, thinking to himself that he shouldn't have asked.

Some people really shouldn't be cared about casually.

Pei Ruyi and the others were also sitting at the tea table at this moment, looking at the serious way Ji You and Cao Jingsong were checking the spirit stones, all of them looking at each other.

Regarding the matter of Chu He's hands being completely broken, they knew earlier than Lu Qingqiu.

Because on the day of the autumn battle, when Ji You left the stage, they chased after him.

"Chu He's hands should have been broken by my vibration."

"For that final technique 【Little Zhongshan】, I used 【Liu Liu Se Xin】's sword intent, cutting open his 【Hun Tian Art】, and it all collapsed and slashed onto his body."

"Didn't you all say that the Chu family has a deep foundation and might have backup plans? So I never thought about giving him a chance for a second round."

These were his original words from that day; hearing them for the first time left people unable to close their mouths.

And the news that subsequently spread from all directions truly confirmed the matter of Chu He's hands being completely broken.

Recalling that sword-wielding god of slaughter from back then, and then looking at the miser who was now haggling over every ounce of a spirit stone, the contrast was not insignificant.

Wen Zhengxin picked up a spirit stone and looked at it, unable to help but speak: "Ji Shidi, if Chu He had persisted to the second round and still had backup plans not yet revealed, would you have had a chance of winning?"

"I would."

"Really?"

After pondering for a moment, Ji You nodded: "I also had some backup plans not yet revealed."

Hearing this, the people sitting idly in the Elegant Garden couldn't help but have complex expressions.

Before the autumn battle began, many people said they hadn't seen Ji You make a move and couldn't grasp his foundation.

So after Chu He returned to the inner courtyard with a towering momentum, many people didn't dare to easily say who would win or lose.

However, in that intense autumn battle, when everyone saw Ji You slash down with the seven swords of 【Little Zhongshan】, they thought they had finally seen Ji You's strongest sword Dao.

But it wasn't until Ji You spoke at this moment that they realized that even though Chu He's 【Hun Tian Art】 was so strong, it still hadn't managed to probe the Ji Shidi's foundation.

But on the day of the autumn battle, they had all seen 【Little Zhongshan】 and 【Gui Qu Lai】, and the sharp sword intent of 【Liu Liu Se Xin】 had also appeared in those final seven swords.

They couldn't figure out what kind of backup plans Ji Shidi Ji still had left.

Just at this moment, a 'dong-dong-dong' knocking sound came from the courtyard gate of the idle garden. Pei Ruyi, who was closest to the gate, stood up and opened it.

Standing outside the gate was a Senior Sister from the third year of the outer courtyard, who handed over a bulging letter while her eyes wandered.

"Senior Brother Ji's fiancées are getting more and more numerous..."

After seeing this scene, Rulong Xiandi was insanely jealous: "If I had known, I would have cultivated immortality diligently too!"

Pei Ruyi took it and squeezed it a few times, judging that it should contain a bodice, and then handed it to Ji You, seeming to be accustomed to this matter.

Because since last night, these things hadn't stopped.

Young ladies from the families of high-ranking imperial officials, outer courtyard fairies, and some daughters of noble families all swarmed in.

It is said that even Princess Changle from the Chong Prince's Mansion had ideas, putting a hairpin into the letter and sending it over.

They all knew that although Princess Changle Zhao Yunyue was not a disciple of an immortal sect, she was actually a personal disciple of an Elder of Lingjian Mountain, and her status in the immortal register was actually not inferior to Senior Brother Ji.

And the relationship between the Great Xia and the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan had actually always been relatively good.

So whether it was the Great Xia Dynasty or within the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, they were quite supportive of Princess Changle wanting to become a Dao companion with Ji You.

There was also the eldest young lady of Yunzhou in the same courtyard, Lu Qingqiu, who was also considered a good choice in everyone's eyes.

Because Yunzhou borders Fengzhou, this would be very helpful for Senior Brother Ji to establish a noble family.

Senior Brother Ji has a good body, and Eldest Young Lady Lu has a round bottom, so there would definitely be no problem with reproduction; this is also one of the important factors to ensure the prosperity of the family.

However, according to their observations over the past few days, Senior Brother Ji seemed more interested in silver.

After a short while, Ji You finished checking the spirit stones and then put them into his own storage gourd.

"I'm rich..."

"I'm so happy. Shall we go out to eat? Rulong is treating."

On the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, the rain stopped. The two days of continuous rain took away the last bit of summer heat in Shengjing, and the temperature dropped quietly.

The Management Institute issued a document announcing that Ji You had been selected to enter the inner courtyard.

So on a bright and sunny morning, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ji You followed the mountain road, bypassed the Management Institute, and entered the ten thousand acres of forest sea alone.

And the cultivators of the same level as him, or those who had been in the outer courtyard for many years, as well as the three Abbots of the Management Institute, were all gathered under the platform at this moment, watching him walk further and further away into the forest sea.

"He really entered the inner courtyard..."

"Those seven swords in the autumn battle are said to have been praised repeatedly even by the five Hall Masters of the inner courtyard. This might just be Ji You's starting point, not his peak."

"Do you mean he might become a personal disciple of a Hall Master?"

"We naturally dare not speculate on the Hall Master's thoughts, but who can say for sure about such things?"

Lu Qingqiu was standing on the corridor in front of the Bai Yu Platform at this moment, her eyes somewhat moist.

She had sent a letter yesterday wanting to become a Dao companion with Ji You, but hadn't received a response. Looking at his back at this moment, she couldn't help but imagine that jade-like body in her mind, giving rise to a trace of unwillingness.

She knew that after the autumn battle, many noble young ladies had ideas about him, but she didn't know who he had chosen.

If she had known today would come, she felt she should have acted when she was saved by him on the streets of Shengjing.

It's just a pity that considering his humble background back then, she had excluded him from her list of potential husbands.

"Ji You, will he really choose that Princess Changle?"

"It's also possible it's that daughter of the Pill Sect."

"The daughter of the Pill Sect's status is still a bit too high; it's not very likely..."

At the same time, Ji You had already walked into the depths of the ten thousand acres of forest sea, suppressing the urge to write "This road was opened by me, this tree was planted by me, if you want to pass from here, leave behind road money," and finally walked out of the forest sea, seeing a vast cliff.

In front of him were the pavilions he had seen many times in the clouds and mist. Without the cover of those clouds and mist, they looked even more magnificent and broad.

The inner courtyard also had a mountain gate, similar in appearance to the one in the outer courtyard.

Entering from the mountain gate, the towering mountains and ridges unfolded in front of his eyes in sequence. On the left were three peaks, and on the right were two, all with towering palaces, which were the five halls of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's inner courtyard. In the middle was also a highest peak, which was the holy land of the academy, the Heavenly Book Hall.

The place where Ji You was located was the intersection of the six high peaks. Ahead was the Bai Yu Divine Path, where many inner courtyard disciples were gathered, looking along the divine path, watching Ji You walk out from the forest sea.

Among the five halls of the inner courtyard, besides Jixiang and Zizai, the three halls of Changsheng, Buchan, and Wuyu did not yet have personal disciples.

And among the disciples of these three halls, there were not a few who wanted to compete for this quota. Based on Ji You's various performances in the outer courtyard, his existence was enough to make those candidates view him as a threat.

Ji You was looking around at this moment when he saw Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu walking over.

"Ji Shidi Ji, welcome to the inner courtyard."

They had recommended themselves to be Ji You's guides, and then led him into a small courtyard on the west side of the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest.

This small courtyard had been prepared at the beginning of the year, specifically to be left for students newly entering the inner courtyard.

There were also inner courtyard immortal robes prepared in the room, and the tables and chairs were all complete, not much different from the Bishui Lake Elegant Garden, and the area was even larger.

Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu took him around once, then sat down at the stone table in the courtyard: "We have already chatted together about the situation in the inner courtyard before. Currently, what you need to consider is which hall you want to join."

Ji You was looking at the flowers, plants, and trees in the courtyard at this moment, and turned his head upon hearing the sound: "Is the difference between the five halls big?"

"The various methods cultivated between the five halls have different focuses, such as the Zizai Hall, which mainly cultivates Heavenly Secrets, and the Changsheng Hall, which mainly cultivates Force Methods... However, the Dao arts are generally interconnected, and students entering the inner courtyard generally don't consider this heavily."

"Then what do they consider?"

"They consider the mutual grouping between noble families. Most of the noble families in Yunzhou are in the Zizai Hall, others are in the Jixiang Hall, and there are also a few noble families from Youzhou. Most of the disciples in the academy are like this."

Ji You vaguely understood Wen Zhengxin's meaning, understanding that the grouping in the inner courtyard was even more serious than in the outer courtyard.

For a wild private cultivator like him without a noble family background, entering the outer courtyard was already an unprecedented thing, and entering the inner courtyard was even more shocking, so they wanted him to consider it carefully.

It was as if everyone was saying before that he could establish a noble family or immortal manor in Fengzhou; choosing which side to join might affect his relationship with various noble families.

Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu did not recommend him to join the Zizai Hall and Jixiang Hall. The reason was the same as the worries of those previous inner courtyard disciples, naturally for the sake of the personal disciple position.

Those people might just feel that Ji You was a threat, but the two of them felt that with Ji You's talent, he would inevitably become a personal disciple of a hall.

If he chose an immortal hall that already had a personal disciple, that would be too much of a pity.

And just as the three were talking, three inner courtyard instructors wearing black Daoist robes drifted over.

These three instructors came from the Changsheng Hall, Jixiang Hall, and Buchan Hall respectively, and they opened their mouths to take Ji You as a personal disciple, inviting him to join their respective immortal halls.

Seeing this scene, Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu couldn't help but open their mouths wide.

Because they had also walked from the outer courtyard into the inner courtyard back then, but had never seen anyone have such treatment.

However, Ji You didn't decide on the spot, only saying that he had just entered the inner courtyard and still needed to consider it further.

So the three Elders left from there, and only the three of them were left in the field again.

"After becoming an Elder's personal disciple, can I still become the Abbot's personal disciple?"

"?"

Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu were just about to answer, then were stunned for a moment, and then looked at each other.

At first, they thought Ji You was asking "After becoming an Elder's personal disciple, can I still become a Hall Master's personal disciple?" They were just about to answer when they realized it wasn't.

He was asking about the Abbot's personal disciple, which had a world of difference from a Hall Master's personal disciple.

Did Ji Shidi Ji say "Abbot's personal disciple" wrong as "Hall Master's personal disciple" out of excitement?

But before they could react, they heard Ji You's voice rise from their ears again.

"Where does our Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's Abbot... live?"

"Uh, the Abbot should live in that Heavenly Book Hall at the highest point."

Ji You looked at the clouds and mist in the distance: "Then is his health still good?"

"?"

(New Year... resting slightly for two thousand words, there will only be one update, asking for monthly tickets)

(End of chapter)