Chapter 150: Destination

At the end of the seventh month, the autumn chill grew heavy.

It was precisely the time when the autumn wind blew bitingly cold, and the white dew turned into morning frost.

The war between the Barbarian race and the Great Xia at Cold Iron Pass subsided slightly, and both sides entered a brief period of truce.

The Demon race, meanwhile, established the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion in the Nine Provinces, a merchant firm facing human cultivators directly.

Furthermore, the influence of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan's Autumn Tournament gradually expanded.

Chu He, whose hand bones had been severed, was taken back to Youzhou, after which no further news came.

At the same time, because the results of the Autumn Tournament exceeded everyone's expectations and were too swift and decisive, rumors regarding Ding Yao's constitution began to spread.

Upon learning that he seemingly possessed a constitution comparable to the Chu family's Seven-Orifice Exquisite Body, the crowd felt as if they were witnessing the rise of a thousand-year-old aristocratic family.

However, what was puzzling was that the affections of Princess Changle and the young lady of the Lu family from Yunzhou had both gone unrequited.

"It is said that Ding Yao is somewhat indifferent to women?"

"Indeed, I heard from people at the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan that whenever he faces women, he never casts a sideways glance; he doesn't even look at them twice."

"Is there really such a gentleman in the Profound Cloud world?"

"I don't find it strange at all, for only such a person is worthy of what Spirit Sword Mountain calls a 'clear sword heart,' and is able to have nothing outside the heart, roaming freely in the Immortal Dao."

Yet, whenever such rumors spread, those who knew the inside story would always say "bullshit."

Especially an Immortal Emperor named Bai Rulong, who detested such rumors deeply.

He said that before entering the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, he was still a pure youth from an aristocratic family, and it was only by following this "gentleman" that he learned to appreciate buttocks.

Amidst this wave of public opinion, the Princess from the Chong Prince's Mansion grew increasingly cold and gloomy.

Before she handed the letter and dangling hairpin to Ding Yao, she seemingly never thought she would be rejected, even feeling that Ding Yao might be more proactive than herself; she never imagined she would now be the subject of gossip, causing her expression to be ugly for several days.

Especially when someone compared her to those other women who also wanted to become cultivation partners with Ding Yao, saying where she was inferior, her shame and anger grew even worse.

Thus, despite the open atmosphere among cultivators, Princess Changle still harbored a trace of resentment toward Ding Yao.

And Ding Yao was completely unaware of this.

Just like how Bao Si, the femme fatale, did not know that when she watched the beacon fires, those feudal lords were so angry they wanted to curse their mothers.

At this moment, he was standing on the hillside of the inner courtyard, watching the leaves quietly turn golden, and couldn't help but recall the autumn colors of Yuyang County.

Among the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, Ding Yao liked autumn the most.

Because the temperature in this season was moderate, neither too cold nor too hot, and the scenery was quite pleasant; placing a rattan chair in the courtyard, one could dream until dusk.

Ever since he got lost in Yuyang County, he had never liked this season again.

Thus, taking advantage of the deepening autumn, he packed his bags, intending to leave the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan with Cao Jingsong and Pei Ruyi, and take a carriage back to Fengzhou.

The matter of selecting halls in the inner courtyard was not urgent, but the autumn recruitment in the academy was about to begin.

Like previous years, Cao Jingsong and Pei Ruyi needed to go to Fengzhou to select students, to choose talented disciples into the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, so they could return together.

Before setting off, Ding Yao made a special trip to Void Mountain.

The Little Inspector of Spirit Sword Mountain was still in seclusion; when she saw him during a break to rest her spirit, she looked at him with a cold face and hugged him for a while, unable to stop herself from staring at his chest for a long time, listening to him mutter about returning home.

And when the day of departure arrived, there was one more person in the carriage: Xiang Kuangcheng.

He was responsible for the matter of "the Demon race entering the Nine Provinces for trade," which had temporarily come to an end; hearing they were returning to Fengzhou, he took the opportunity to ask for leave to return with Ding Yao.

Perhaps because he was highly valued by the Great Xia Emperor, and performed quite well in the "Tax Corruption Case" and "Demon Trade," he was now a Director in the Ministry of Revenue, concurrently serving as a Tisi in the Reception Office of the Immortal Supervision Bureau.

He was only one step away from earning a cultivation quota for his family.

However, while Xiang Kuangcheng's official career was smooth, the hurdle of beauty remained difficult to cross.

He still did not know how to get along with Wei Rui; the two rarely met, though they did exchange more letters.

There was also one other person, not in the same carriage, but also returning along the same path: Fang Ruoyao, who intended to return home to visit relatives.

"There are three cultivation quotas in Fengzhou, all three coming from the Zhenbei Army."

"Besides that, there are six children of officials in Fengzhou who are cultivating at nearby Immortal Manors and have almost reached the qualifications to enter the academy. I paid close attention to several of them when I came last year; this year shouldn't be much different."

As the carriage jolted, Cao Jingsong muttered to himself while holding the scroll in his hand, his heart full of expectation.

And the source of this expectation, in the final analysis, was Ding Yao.

Recalling a year ago, he came to Yuyang County for Fang Ruoyao, only to find a Lower Three Realms perfection who had broken through two realms in one night and was not yet twenty.

And now, this Lower Three Realms perfection had already opened the inner courtyard with his sword.

Subsequently, the carriage slowly stopped at a small Fengzhou town called Yunxia Town; everyone intended to rest their feet here, eat and drink, and then continue the journey.

Yunxia Town was located on the vast and endless loess plateau, surrounded by yellow earth everywhere, barren and desolate amidst thousands of gullies.

As everyone walked into the town, they saw countless square pits arranged neatly on the ground, yet not a single house stood on the surface.

Looking closer, these square pits were three zhang deep and over five zhang long and wide, with slopes leading to the bottom of the pits, and cave dwellings on all four sides, with doors and windows clearly visible; these were the traditional dwellings of Yunxia Town.

There was no stone material here, and little wood; the people of Yunxia Town dug into the earth to make courtyards and had lived here for a thousand years.

And besides Yunxia Town, there were countless such barren towns in Fengzhou where people lived in the earth.

And in the courtyard they approached, an old farmer with dark skin was walking out of a cave dwelling; seeing them, he immediately knelt and kowtowed in the pit, his whole body trembling.

Ding Yao and Xiang Kuangcheng stood above watching; seeing this scene, they subconsciously avoided it and then left in silence.

At this time, in another carriage, Fang Ruoyao also stepped down, followed by her maid, Shuang'er.

Then the six of them found a quiet place to stay, took out the food they brought, and sat down to rest.

"Look here, Falling Moon Xianzhuang; one student I favored last year is cultivating here. This Xianzhuang is a disciple of the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion, so I might not be the only one eyeing this student. Therefore, we must go here first, then we will return to Yuyang County, and then pick up the other students to return."

Cao Jingsong pointed to a spot on the southwest side of the Fengzhou map, muttering to Ding Yao and Pei Ruyi.

Hearing this, Ding Yao spoke up: "I need to make a trip to the state capital."

Cao Jingsong turned to look at him: "Establishing an aristocratic family cannot be rushed; you are, after all, alone right now."

"The Profound Cloud Immortal Rules didn't say one person cannot establish an aristocratic family, and besides, this year's tax collection is about to begin."

"You want to target the tax collection? Acting like this, I fear you will invite hatred."

Fengzhou had no local aristocratic families, but it had many Immortal Manors that were disciples of other Immortal Sects, just like the Fengxian Shanzhuang.

These Xianzhuang forces were not considered large, and the Manor Master at most had the cultivation of the Realm of Merging with the Dao.

It was difficult for these Immortal Manors to exist and grow among the aristocratic families of Yunzhou, Youzhou, and the Central Province, so they moved to Fengzhou, occupying as much as twenty percent of Fengzhou's tax revenue.

A portion of these tax items was consumed by the Immortal Manors, while the other portion was transported away and given to the Immortal Sect aristocratic families for consumption.

The people of the Nine Provinces all suffered, and the people of Fengzhou suffered the most.

Cao Jingsong knew that Ding Yao now wanted to establish an aristocratic family alone, which meant he wanted to use his own strength to confront all the foreign Immortal Manors in Fengzhou, and as a local aristocratic family, take back these tax quotas.

But although the Profound Cloud Immortal Rules were formulated jointly by the Seven Great Immortal Sects, the source of deterrence still relied on people.

Although Ding Yao had entered the inner courtyard, he was, after all, only in the Realm of Profound Understanding; those foreign Immortal Manors might not truly be willing to hand over the tax revenue.

Cao Jingsong actually also intended for Ding Yao to establish an aristocratic family here, but it was still a bit too early.

"Instructor, Junior Brother Ding is not alone."

"?"

Cao Jingsong turned to look at Pei Ruyi.

Pei Ruyi opened his mouth: "I will also join."

"But there are only two of you..."

"Not just the two of us; there are also Ban Yangshu, Wen Zhengxin, and Bai Rulong. Before we left, they told me."

Pei Ruyi looked at Cao Jingsong: "I failed to enter the inner courtyard, and for the past few years, I have been pondering where I could go after leaving the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan. I think I have found my destination now."

Within the Seven Great Holy Sects, the Realm of Merging with the Dao might not count as profound cultivation, but in Fengzhou, such cultivation was already the limit.

And a mountain villa with three people in the Realm of Merging with the Dao was enough to possess a certain deterrent force.

After a long silence, Cao Jingsong stood with his hands behind his back: "Then before returning to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, we will make a trip to the state capital."

Ding Yao and Xiang Kuangcheng looked at each other, then bowed with their hands in front of them, bowing to the ground on this loess-filled plateau.

Fang Ruoyao stood not far away, watching them, silent.

"Let's eat first. As it stands, we still have a long way to go."

"Yes."

Lunch ended hastily, and then the group of six boarded the carriage, crossed the loess-filled and crisscrossing gullies, and headed toward Danshui County, where the Falling Moon Xianzhuang was stationed.

Danshui County was one of the largest counties in Fengzhou, located in the hinterland; the student Cao Jingsong mentioned was Xiang Fu, the daughter of the Prefect Xiang Xuan.

Xiang Fu had followed the cultivators of the Falling Moon Shanzhuang to cultivate since she was young, and last year she reached the Initial Realm of Condensation and Transformation.

In a place like Fengzhou, being able to have this realm was actually considered gifted.

However, the Falling Moon Xianzhuang also belonged to the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion; whether this Xiang Fu was willing to listen to Cao Jingsong and enter the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan was still an unknown.

Cao Jingsong intended to first probe Xiang Xuan's stance; once he handled that Prefect, he would go to see Xiang Fu.

However, when the six of them arrived at the Prefect's Mansion, they discovered that Xiang Fu was currently at the mansion.

"The Falling Moon Xianzhuang moved away half a year ago."

"Moved away?"

Xiang Xuan was a middle-aged man with a goat beard; hearing the inquiry, he bowed his head to Cao Jingsong: "Returning to the Immortal Master's words, they did move away, but... we didn't see when they left."

Ding Yao and Xiang Kuangcheng couldn't help but look at each other: "Also suddenly empty?"

"Indeed, at that time, Fu'er had already been sent home for more than half a month. I thought moving away was an excuse, but in reality, she was not obedient, so I waited a few days and prepared some gifts to visit the Xianzhuang, only to find that the manor was already empty."

Ding Yao frowned slightly: "The same as the Fengxian Shanzhuang?"

Xiang Kuangcheng flicked his long sleeves: "This is actually good news. With one less Xianzhuang, Brother Ding will have one less obstacle in establishing an aristocratic family."

Cao Jingsong, like Pei Ruyi, also felt this was good news.

They came specifically to recruit Xiang Fu; at first, they were worried she was too close to the people of the Profound Origin Immortal Mansion and wouldn't be willing to go to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan. They never imagined such a good thing would happen.

(Seeking monthly tickets...)

(End of chapter)