Chapter 189: The Master

Dispatching Ji You on a mission to the Snow Region involved many participants, but ultimately, this matter was still officially overseen by the Office of Affairs.

Although cultivators are not subject to the emperor and need not report to the Great Xia Emperor, upon returning from a mission, they must still report to the Office—this has always been the established procedure of the Heavenly Book Academy.

But seeing Ji You had not come, the three directors conferred and sent someone to personally fetch him.

Just after the Office's disciples departed, a middle-aged man clad in Great Xia official robes entered the Office of Affairs building.

The three directors were sipping tea and waiting, still silent, when they saw the man bow deeply before them.

"Director Qin, Director Lang, Director Ji, I am Minister Dou Xiong of the Ministry of Revenue, honored to meet you three directors."

"Oh? So it's Minister Dou. We apologize for the tardy welcome—please, be seated."

The Heavenly Book Academy is the Holy Sect of Great Xia; its founding lineage once had marital ties with the imperial family, and Great Xia's founding emperor himself emerged from this Academy. Thus, though the Qingyun realm now places immortal authority above all, the Academy still treats Great Xia's officials with courtesy.

Yet mutual social interaction has always been minimal.

After all, as those entrusted with managing Academy affairs, whether openly or covertly, they must maintain a degree of detachment and avoid growing too close to mortal powers—this is Academy regulation.

Though the three directors liked to put on airs, they regarded the Heavenly Book Academy's prestige as their lifelong ideal and deeply respected its rules.

Unless, of course, the other side offered something truly substantial…

And in Qingyun, there's an old saying: "No one climbs the Three Treasures Hall without a purpose"—especially someone who normally has no dealings with you. So Qin Rong could not help but ask: "What brings Minister Dou here today?"

"I am here to file a complaint against a Heavenly Book Academy disciple for committing violence in the streets of Shengjing!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Qin Rong's expression instantly turned grave.

"At the hour of Chen today, someone drew their sword without provocation and severed the head of the lion statue before my mansion—everyone in Shengjing can testify!"

"Who dared do such a thing?"

"Ji You!"

Dou Xiong stood in the hall of the Office building, face twisted with grief and fury.

The Office of Immortal Supervision ignores it? Writes poetry? Thinks he deserves eternal glory in history? Then let him answer to the immortals!

He simply could not accept that his son would never return to the capital for the rest of his life.

And in Dou Xiong's view, the Heavenly Book Academy had never liked Ji You—otherwise, when his son schemed to send Ji You to the Snow Region, the Office of Affairs would never have lent a helping hand.

Even if the true masterminds behind it were certain elder elders from the Inner Academy, the Office of Affairs still had no desire for Ji You to remain at ease.

Ji You, as an Inner Academy disciple of the Heavenly Book Academy, fears neither the Office of Immortal Supervision nor does the Office wish to oppose him—but he must still fear the Heavenly Book Academy.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

After finishing his words, Dou Xiong clapped his hands thrice, and several servants from the Dou mansion carried in a large chest.

The chest opened, revealing a dazzling golden glow.

When seeking a favor without justification, one must offer a gift.

This custom had endured for a thousand years across Qingyun, and Dou Xiong, having risen through Great Xia's bureaucratic ranks and once held a key post overseeing taxation, understood this principle well.

Qin Rong stared, then glanced at Lang Hetong and Ji Jingyao beside him—all three simultaneously recalled the sword aura they had sensed earlier in western Shengjing.

Everyone knew that only Ji You could produce such a piercing sword aura in this place.

Yet only now did they learn where that blade had landed.

Dou Yuan Kong's role in the envoy affair was no secret; now, reflecting on cause and effect, the three directors found this sword strike entirely justified.

Lang Hetong set down his teacup and smiled: "A pair of stone lions? Easily replaced. Besides, you should be aware of the current tensions between our human race and the demonic races—stone lions are no longer suitable to display."

"?"

"During the age of the Ancient Remnant Clans, who ruled over all races, they not only feasted on living humans but also ripped out the true spirits of demonic races, forcing them back into their ancestral forms and chaining them at doorways—brutal methods. Your custom of placing stone lions at gates originated from that era—it is an insult to the demonic races."

Lang Hetong stared at him: "The demonic races have agreed not to oppose us; future exchanges between our peoples will increase. Minister Dou, if you keep that lion statue, trouble is inevitable."

Dou the Minister had not come to discuss Qingyun's history—he snapped back: "The lion statue is harmless; even removing it would be trivial. The issue is my son."

"Your son?"

"After Ji You severed my lion statue, he threatened me: my son must never return to the capital. I beg the Heavenly Book Academy to intervene. I do not seek compensation for the lion—I want my son back, and I demand he come to my Dou mansion to apologize!"

Ji Jingyao spoke: "Where is your son now?"

Dou Xiong replied: "My son recently accepted a friend's invitation and left the capital for a winter excursion."

The old father never mentioned how his son had frantically packed his belongings and fled the capital in panic after hearing Ji You had returned to Jiuzhou—whenever questioned, he gave this same answer.

Winter excursion.

Hearing this, the three directors exchanged glances—but none spoke.

At that moment, a disciple returned from outside and bowed in the hall: "Directors, Ji You has come to report."

Director Qin turned to Dou Xiong: "Ji You has arrived. Minister Dou, perhaps you should… step aside for now?"

Dou Xiong had already tensed at the name Ji You—not because of his strength, but because Ji You never understood propriety and never cared about face.

After flashing a furious glare, the Minister rose and stepped behind the screen, then called out: "Will he notice me if I stand here like this?"

Director Lang pondered a moment, then flicked his sleeve—a mysterious light struck the screen, concealing Dou's aura.

Dou Xiong exhaled slightly, then peered from behind the screen toward the main hall.

Contrary to expectation, Ji You did not enter humbly—he strode in with head high, making the Minister frown.

Most puzzling of all: the country cultivator's first glance was not at the three directors, but at the chest of gold he had brought—only then did he look at them.

Ji You suddenly smirked, his mood lifting: "Greetings, three directors."

Qin Rong was startled by his politeness, exchanged glances with the other two, then said: "Ji You, sit."

"Thank you, Director, for the seat."

"We already know the details of your mission to the Snow Region from the Office of Immortal Supervision's report. We summoned you merely to complete formalities—no further questioning. We only need your seal on some documents."

Director Qin produced several case files, densely filled with characters.

Ji You glanced at them—they were summaries based on the Office of Immortal Supervision's report, detailing the entire mission to the Snow Region.

Shi Junhao and Xiao Hanyan had already signed; only Ji You remained.

"Just going through the motions is fine."

Ji You picked up his brush, signed his name while muttering, then a flash of light appeared at his waist—immediately, a clattering sound echoed as shattered swords spilled across the floor.

Dou the Minister, hidden behind the screen, raised an eyebrow and saw the floor covered in sword fragments.

The swords were nearly identical in size and style—likely purchased as a set. From the broken blades alone, little could be discerned—but the hilts revealed everything.

Dozens of hilts lay scattered on the ground.

After waking in the Snow Region, besides the golden lump hanging from the ceiling, he had asked Gongshu Qiu for the broken swords he had retrieved.

Gongshu Qiu had been confused: "The swords are broken—why keep them?"

Now, their purpose was clear.

Qin Rong, Lang Hetong, and Ji Jingyao froze, their right eyelids twitching violently.

Ji You, oblivious to their expressions, murmured: "On this mission to the Snow Region, I shot down a spirit sword with my bow. When slaying the barbarian warlord, forty-one swords shattered—worth roughly three thousand taels."

Dou Xiong: "?"

Qin Rong's lip twitched: "If I recall correctly, those swords were purchased by the Office of Affairs to support your mission?"

Ji You blinked, thought for a long while, then said: "Was that so?"

"Yes."

"Oh? I'd forgotten…."

Ji You glanced at the shards: "So I don't have to pay for them?"

Qin Rong stared blankly: "We paid for them—why should you compensate?"

"But I have no swords left."

"You never had fifty spirit swords to begin with."

Ji You fell silent for a long while: "Fine, then I won't charge you for those. But during my battle with the demonic general in Yuyuan, two swords I've cherished since childhood were stolen—they were found during a miraculous fall down a cliff, worth five thousand taels combined."

Qin Rong frowned, turning to the other two directors.

Lang Hetong rose, went to the case archive room, retrieved the files, and after studying them, asked doubtfully: "Didn't you kill that demonic general?"

Ji You turned to him: "I did—but I searched his entire body and found no trace of my swords."

"But I recall you never use swords?"

Ji You stared at him, thinking: You've never killed anyone, have you? "Director Lang, you jest. Who doesn't have a hidden survival technique? How else could a country cultivator like me survive in a world that constantly targets me?"

Hearing "constantly targets," Lang Hetong fell silent. Ji Jingyao rose and joined him, re-examining the files.

Seeing that the demonic general had fought bare-handed, leaving Ji You covered in sword wounds, and now hearing he'd lost two cherished swords worth over five thousand taels, his mind struggled to process it.

At that moment, Ji You looked at the chest of gold in the hall: "Actually, this is enough."

Seeing this, Qin Rong held his breath—he suddenly realized Ji You had misunderstood from the moment he entered.

He meant "simplify the process" as: no need to write a new report on the mission—he only needed to sign the Office of Immortal Supervision's draft.

But Ji You had interpreted it as: just hand over the money.

"Then I won't be polite?"

Ji You swept his sleeve, and the chest of gold vanished into his storage gourd. He couldn't help but smile: "You've been pretending all this time, but I've always disliked the Office of Affairs—thought you were all pretentious. Now, I'm starting to change my mind."

Qin Rong had been about to stop him—but his hand hesitated.

Because if he stopped him now, the Office of Affairs would have to pay for Ji You's lost swords.

Forget it. Let it be as if Minister Dou dropped a chest of gold here—and Ji You picked it up.

At that moment, Lang Hetong and Ji Jingyao exchanged glances, then subtly glanced toward the screen.

Having secured the gold, Ji You rose from his seat and looked at Qin Rong: "Next time there's a job like this, call me. As a disciple of the Heavenly Book Academy, I must share its burdens."

No. Never again.

Your mother's cunt, how expensive is this?

Before leaving, he gave him ten thousand taels of gold and three thousand spirit stones—already an enormous sum—and then he ran up another debt at Qionghua Pavilion, roughly the same amount.

Now that he's returned, he's taken away nearly the same amount again.

Though the Seven Immortal Sects are all sustained by the common people below, they rarely care for gold and silver; yet since they produce nothing, they must spend vast sums to buy elixirs, making such consumption truly staggering.

At this moment, the three managers were no longer sure whether they were swindling him or offering charity.

As Ji You walked out of the Manager's Courtyard, Dou Minister stepped out from behind the screen, stunned, staring far off for a long time, unable to understand why Ji You dared to be so brazen even before the managers.

This was utterly opposite to the image he had imagined: Ji You bowing in apology under the pressure of the Heavenly Book Academy.

Manager Qin noticed his confusion, rose from his wooden chair, and spoke slowly.

"Do you think his disregard for rules only happens outside?"

"No."

"When Ji You's talent began to emerge, it startled some people. Fearing he might block the path of the Chu family's second son to the Inner Court, they intervened and ordered us to assign him to Qiling to investigate the mass escape of demonic seeds from the ruins."

"When he returned to report, he arrived riding his sword over the mountains, his entire body bristling with sword qi as he walked past me."

"Some said no matter how strong an immortal's personal power, it could never rival a powerful background. Ji You was just a rustic self-cultivator, not worth fearing. But later, people gradually realized one thing: a man who fears nothing is also terrifying—even if I don't know whether he truly fears nothing."

Dou Minister frowned after hearing this: "Could it be that the Heavenly Book Academy, the foremost of the Seven Immortal Sects and the Holy Sect of Great Xia, cannot even control a single student?"

Lang Hetong spoke from behind: "I know what you thought when you arrived—that our Manager's Courtyard was at odds with Ji You, that we wanted him to live peacefully. Actually, that was true at first, but things changed later."

"?"

"A few days ago, Manager Qin told me while copying documents that he always found such tasks tedious, but whenever he wrote about Ji You, it was the most satisfying part."

Lang Hetong now picked up the document signed on the desk: "Do you think this is just routine paperwork? No—this will be recorded in the Qingyun Immortal Annals, under the Heavenly Book Academy's volume. Rescuing the Yu Danzong's direct disciple from Qiling, questioning the Dao on Lingjian Mountain and shattering the Sword Forest, orchestrating the Yuyuan counterattack to secure peace with the Demon Emperor—these are all major events."

"The Heavenly Book Academy must leave stories for future generations. We don't care how the Immortal Sect's high-ups decide, but after the Lingjian Mountain Dao Questioning, we truly admired Ji You."

"Some say history is meaningless, but we never want future readers of these records to ask, 'What happened to that Ji You?' and be answered: 'He was eventually persecuted to death by the three managers of the Manager's Courtyard.'"

Dou Minister had originally intended to make Ji You suffer under the Heavenly Book Academy's pressure, then humiliate him bitterly when he came to apologize at his mansion.

But only now did he finally understand what role Ji You truly played within the Heavenly Book Academy.

For thousands of years, there have been few like Ji You—a rustic self-cultivator.

His uniqueness stems from his origins, naturally different from aristocratic scions; yet apart from that, no one doubts he is among the Academy's most outstanding students in recent years.

Had he not entered the Academy in the same year as Chu He, had he not insisted on cutting taxes from the external immortal estates, he would already have entered the Immortal Palace and thrived.

He could have become a direct disciple of an Elder, befriended the great clans, married a noblewoman, and controlled one-ninth of the human realm's tax revenue.

In other words, whether inside or outside the Heavenly Book Academy, the reason people disliked him was not because they looked down on him or sought to exclude him—it was because he chose this most difficult path himself.

Before the Fengzhou Ji family was established, several Elders in the Inner Court had wanted to take him as their direct disciple.

He himself chose to point his sword at Yecheng Mountain, slay the immortal estates, and cut taxes.

In other words, from the very beginning, he was the one excluding everyone else.

But what does the Dou family have?

The Dou family rose only as a new noble under Wei Li's rule; in the Qingyun world where imperial power bows to immortal power, Dou Xiong, the Minister of Revenue, isn't even considered a powerful minister.

The three managers of the Heavenly Book Academy might act against Ji You due to family ties or Inner Court Elders—but they would never act against Ji You for the sake of a mortal aristocratic family.

That man is the one who dared to slay a Warlord with a sword in the wilds.

Only now did Dou Xiong finally accept reality—he had utterly misjudged Ji You's stature.

His son's momentary cleverness might truly prevent him from ever returning to the capital.

Manager Qin now patted Dou Minister's shoulder: "Actually, Lord Dou, you needn't rush so much. Since Ji You accepted your money, it means there's still room to ease this matter. Take it slowly—let your son travel further outside. The anger will fade."

Dou Xiong looked up at him, his lips twitching: "Is that so? But you didn't mention that the box of gold was mine."

"Oh, we forgot about that…"

"..."

By now, Ji You had left the Manager's Courtyard. The amount of money he had was so vast it made him feel like treating others to a feast—truly terrifying.

He then walked along the mountain path into the ten-thousand-acre Lin Hai and returned to his small courtyard.

The Inner Court disciples' daily affairs are managed by the Manager's Courtyard; they had already heard Ji You had returned, and had swept the fallen leaves clean and filled the water vat with fresh water.

Yet because he had not lived there for so long, the room still carried a stale, sealed-in odor.

Ji You stepped inside, threw open all doors and windows, then took the cotton quilt from the bottom of the camphorwood chest, shook out the filling, and hung it to dry on the bamboo rack in the courtyard.

He turned back inside, cleaned the stove, lit it with firewood, added charcoal, used spiritual energy to ignite it, and brewed a pot of clear tea.

Only after finishing all this did he take out the letter from his bosom, inscribed with 【Nanhua City—Ding Wanqiu】.

Earlier, rushing to the Manager's Courtyard for money, Ji You had feared that opening the letter might cheer him up too much, making him unable to open his mouth wide enough before the managers—so he had kept it unopened until now.

Now, Ji You had brewed the tea, and slowly unsealed the letter.

As the paper inside unfolded beneath the bright winter sun, Ji You's gaze froze.

He had expected a long-winded letter, stubbornly worded but full of unspoken words—after all, he had been gone so long, surely she had much to say.

About his breakthrough, or questions about his mission to the demon clans—but Ji You had not expected the letter to contain no words at all.

It was not a letter—it was a drawing.

Calling it a drawing was not quite accurate, for it showed only two stick-figure people.

The one on the right was clearly a woman: her head was a black circle with a dot in the center and a hook—eyes and mouth; several black lines hung from the top of her head as hair; she held a long sword, assuming a forward lunge stance.

As for the sword, it was merely a horizontal ink stroke—but with Ji You's intelligence, he recognized it instantly.

On the left was another crude little figure, even simpler: a black dot for the head, with a dot on top like a crown, then pierced through the heart by the woman's sword, suspended midair like a roasted chicken… his bowed head and hunched posture were remarkably lifelike.

"?"

Ji You stared at the letter and fell silent.

What did this mean?

Was she trying to stab me to death with a sword?

Ji You thought long and hard, wondering: I didn't write anything in my letter to anger this prideful little thing, did I?

After staring for a long time, he put down the letter, picked up his teacup, and sipped slowly, thinking: Could it be that he had suffered qi deviation during his breakthrough?

But this drawing—though lacking any aesthetic appeal—somehow felt strangely adorable.

The Little Inspector of Lingjian Mountain was the fastest in the entire realm at the Yingtian realm, the Keeper of Lingjian Mountain's artifacts, and stunningly beautiful—yet her drawing was this childish.

In his thoughts, Ji You imagined a fairy barefoot on snow-white feet, scowling fiercely, wielding a brush to splash ink, finally producing this childish sketch.

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(End of chapter)