Chapter 95 : Chapter 95

Chapter 95: These Parents... What a Sin...

Ten thousand li away, in the heartland of Great Qian.

Outside the Great Qian Capital, a dazzling glazed tower rose from the earth and pierced the clouds, wreathed in faint drifting mist.

It looked wondrous and otherworldly, enough to calm the heart and ease the spirit.

Inside a grand hall high within the tower, a woman with an inscrutable aura sat upon an exquisitely embroidered cushion, while a maidservant stood nearby refilling tea and fanning her.

Before her stood a man and woman of no ordinary bearing.

They were none other than Cheng Zhenjiang and his wife.

“Tower Master Zhu, my daughter Si’er’s life now rests on Tianji Tower.”

The square-faced, thick-browed Cheng Zhenjiang cupped his fists in salute.

At his side, the gentle and graceful Zhao Xichun also bowed, suppressing the sorrow in her heart.

Zhu Xuanji, whose Daoist robes could not conceal her exquisite figure, shook her head helplessly.

“Alliance Leader Cheng, Heroine Zhao, Tianji Tower divines Heaven and measures Earth, and we can investigate the affairs of the mortal world—but we truly do not know how to save lives.”

The moment she thought of that girl tormented by bitter cold throughout her body,

she could not help sighing and shaking her head.

“Tianji Tower is powerless to help in the matter of your daughter. May I ask who recommended that Alliance Leader Cheng come here?”

The moment they heard that, the hope in Cheng Zhenjiang and his wife’s eyes instantly dimmed.

“It was Divine Physician Ma of Divine Physician Mountain in Jiangnan. He said that what Si’er suffers from is not a stubborn illness. Since medicine cannot cure it, perhaps we must seek answers in fate and change fate.”

When it came to matters of consulting fate, there was no place in Great Qian more skilled than Tianji Tower.

“So it was that Divine Physician Ma…”

Zhu Xuanji felt even more helpless.

When it came to the arts of divining Heavenly Fate, Divine Physician Ma possessed a precious treasure. Even if it had yet to acknowledge a master, it was no worse than Tianji Tower.

Sending Cheng Zhenjiang here had truly saddled Tianji Tower with a great problem.

She had already examined Cheng Si’s condition. It was indeed a case of her fate being afflicted by water and conflicting with her own frigid Internal Energy.

Shaking her head, she said, “For Tianji Tower to privately inquire into Heavenly Fate is already brazen enough. We investigate mortal affairs and convey Heaven’s will only to ease Heaven’s wrath. How would we dare commit something as gravely disrespectful as changing fate?”

Even though Cheng Zhenjiang had long prepared himself for disappointment, he was still overcome with grief at those words.

Just as he was about to speak, Zhu Xuanji changed the subject and continued, “However, a flaw in one’s fate does not necessarily require changing fate. It may still be possible to harmonize it somewhat… though that will depend on whether Alliance Leader Cheng is willing.”

There was still hope!

“Please, tell us!” Hope flared anew in Zhao Xichun’s eyes.

Zhu Xuanji blinked her beautiful eyes. “If I remember correctly, your son Cheng Feng, the Young Alliance Leader, was born with Dragon Intent contained within his Internal Energy?”

“That’s right!”

“Then this becomes much easier.”

A faint smile appeared on her face. “The dragon is a creature of Heavenly Fate. Dragon Intent carries inherent majesty, and that majesty can suppress the cold within your daughter’s fate!”

At those words, Cheng Zhenjiang was overjoyed. As expected of the Master of Tianji Tower—she truly had a way to deal with Heavenly Fate.

“Then what should we do?”

“Have your son use his Internal Energy to nurture a treasure capable of carrying Dragon Intent. Your daughter need only keep it on her person. The only problem is…”

The moment they heard there was hope of curing their daughter, the couple was overjoyed.

The River-Severing Sect and the Cheng Family were both wealthy and powerful. They could absolutely produce a treasure capable of bearing Dragon Intent!

“What is it?”

“It’s just that it may be somewhat unfair to your son. His attitude on the matter would still need to be considered…”

Cheng Zhenjiang gave a broad wave of his hand. “No matter, no matter! My son is the most reasonable and benevolent of boys. If it is to save his sister, he certainly won’t mind. Tower Master Zhu, just tell us the full situation.”

Zhao Xichun also nodded again and again from the side.

Feng’er was so obedient. He would absolutely have no objection to this.

“That would be best, then. The problem is that nourishing such a treasure requires quite a great deal of Internal Energy. It may hinder your son’s martial cultivation.”

The moment Zhu Xuanji said that, she had not expected Cheng Zhenjiang and Zhao Xichun to both freeze on the spot.

After a pause, Cheng Zhenjiang asked hesitantly, “How much would it hinder him?”

“The amount of Internal Energy your son, at the Fifth Rank, can cultivate through one full day of arduous training would be enough to keep your daughter safe for three days.”

The moment they heard that, the couple went utterly rigid.

If that was the case,

then a full one-third of Cheng Feng’s cultivation gains would end up being used on Cheng Si!

He had only recently suffered too great a blow, feeling his own strength was too weak, and his emotions had been unstable ever since.

The moment his injuries healed, he had returned to the River-Severing Sect and thrown himself into bitter cultivation.

If they made him do this, then both his strength and his state of mind would suffer a double blow!

His standing on the Human Ranking might even plummet.

That was something they were absolutely unwilling to see.

“You two…”

The moment Zhu Xuanji saw their reaction, she knew this path was likely impossible.

Cheng Zhenjiang shook his head helplessly. “I have no right to make Feng’er give up on himself, nor am I qualified to sacrifice the future of the heir of the River-Severing Sect and the Cheng Family in his stead.”

Tears streamed down Zhao Xichun’s face as she looked at Zhu Xuanji pleadingly.

“Tower Master Zhu, other than Feng’er’s Internal Energy, is there any other way? I beg you, for Si’er’s sake!”

“The Young Alliance Leader’s Dragon-Intent Internal Energy is incomparably precious. There are simply far too few who could replace it.”

Zhu Xuanji looked toward the distant direction of the Great Qian Capital.

There was, after all, one person there who certainly did not lack Dragon Intent.

“The Great Qian Emperor?!”

Zhao Xichun’s whole body trembled, and she knew at once that such a thing was impossible.

Leaning against Cheng Zhenjiang’s shoulder, she broke down in tears.

“Why must all the calamities under Heaven seek out my children?”

But just then, “The majesty of Dragon Intent can suppress icy cold… majesty…”

Muttering to himself, Cheng Zhenjiang suddenly gave a violent start, as though he had remembered something.

He looked up and asked excitedly, “Tower Master Zhu, if there were someone whose Internal Energy was born with incomparable majesty, enough even to overpower Feng’er’s Dragon-Intent Internal Energy, then what?”

Zhu Xuanji’s eyes lit up. “If it can overpower the Young Alliance Leader’s, then naturally it would work! Though it would still inevitably hinder that person’s cultivation.”

“No matter, no matter!”

Cheng Zhenjiang was overjoyed.

But at that very moment, Zhao Xichun suddenly grabbed his robe and stared at him with reddened eyes.

She had already understood whom Cheng Zhenjiang meant!

“Cheng Zhenjiang, are you even human? If Feng’er can’t do it, you actually want to make—”

Before she could finish, Cheng Zhenjiang, afraid the family scandal would spread, clapped a hand over his wife’s mouth.

He released his Internal Energy and formed a barrier to block out their voices, then said, “Feng’er has been a genius since childhood. He can’t bear that sort of blow. But that unfilial son is different. This would be nothing to him!”

“Didn’t he have the best relationship with Si’er? Then let’s see whether he still has even the last shred of humanity left!”

“Don’t you want to save Si’er, my wife? If that unfilial son can save her, then every wrong he has committed will be wiped clean. I’ll shoulder it on his behalf!”

Zhao Xichun shuddered all over.

In the end, tears in her eyes, she still nodded and stopped trying to stop him.

Yu’er truly could bear far more than Feng’er, and his strength was greater as well.

If this could mend the estrangement between them, then perhaps this was the best choice…

Cheng Zhenjiang withdrew the Internal Energy that had blocked out their voices.

He straightened his expression, restoring the bearing a great hero ought to have.

“Thanks to Tower Master Zhu’s guidance, my wife and I have made our decision. May I ask how long Si’er’s condition can be maintained?”

“Thanks to Divine Physician Ma’s treatment, your daughter need not worry for at least one year.”

Zhu Xuanji answered with a slight frown. Though she had her doubts, she did not ask further.

“Many thanks to Tower Master Zhu for showing us the path through the fog! Then my wife and I will take our leave for now. Once we have made our preparations, we will once again rely upon Tianji Tower!”

“There is no need for such courtesy, Alliance Leader Cheng.”

She watched the two of them leave.

But the furrow in Zhu Xuanji’s brow never once relaxed. Turning her head, she looked toward three golden rankings standing to one side of the hall.

The three rankings of Tianji Tower.

On the first ranking, thirty-six names were so blurred that they could not be made out. That was the Heaven Ranking.

On the second ranking, seventy-two names were clearly arrayed. That was the Earth Ranking.

On the third ranking, one hundred and eight names were listed, with all their realms and battle records open to verification. That was the Human Ranking.

She looked at Cheng Feng’s name among the upper positions of the Human Ranking and shook her head.

Then she gazed deeply toward one of the spots among the first few positions on the ranking.

With a helpless sigh, she said, “These parents… what a sin…”

Outside Tianji Tower, after sending Zhao Xichun off to see their daughter, Cheng Zhenjiang began issuing instructions to a trusted subordinate.

“This matter must be handled slowly. We cannot use force with that unfilial son. Keep watching and look for an opportunity to report to me.”

“As for the situation in Jiannan Circuit, tell Cousin Cheng Fang and the others to be cautious. They must not be dragged into the pit by those lunatics dreaming of rebellion, and they absolutely must not let outsiders recognize their identities.”

“The greatest goal of our Cheng Family is to find the treasure Ancestor Cheng Yuan left behind all those years ago and use it to aid Feng’er’s cultivation!”

“And most important of all—after the affair at Sword-Forging Manor, the relationship between me and that unfilial son never became widely known. It absolutely must not be exposed, lest it damage my reputation!”