The Lord of Qi held court at the hour of the Rabbit and dismissed it at the hour of the Dragon.
Before the court session began, the Lord's "grace" would be delivered to the Marquis of Bowang's manor.
Thunder and rain, lightning and dew—all are the monarch's grace. Punishment cannot be avoided, and reward cannot be refused.
Since the Lord of Qi had granted Chong Xuan Sheng's petition, allowing him to exchange his merits in the Yang Kingdom campaign for Chong Xuan Zun's year of cultivation at the Jixia Academy, Chong Xuan Zun had absolutely no right to refuse.
The moment the imperial envoy arrived, he had to depart immediately.
Chong Xuan Sheng, without resting his men and horses, rushed back to Linzi, facing repeated rebuffs and cold shoulders along the way.
He did not hesitate to gift the world-renowned Qiu Shan Bow to Li Longchuan, merely to secure a single word from Li Zhengshu before the monarch—this bow could have exchanged for enough bargaining chips.
He even hardened his heart to use the cultivation opportunity at the Jixia Academy that he had originally planned to keep for himself, trapping Chong Xuan Zun for a year.
This did not even account for the favors he had spent to gain the chance to wait outside the Donghua Pavilion, nor the resources he had expended to get his message into Li Zhengshu's ears...
This sacrifice was no small matter, and the reversal was no easy feat.
At such a crucial moment, he naturally would not miss it.
From the Donghua Pavilion, he directly pulled Jiang Chen to the Ji Gate.
The Ji Gate was the southernmost gate on the west side of Linzi, the first gate from south to north among the western city gates.
It faced the She Gate, which was the northernmost gate on the east side, the first gate from north to south among the eastern city gates.
She was the god of earth, and Ji was the god of grain.
The earth carries all things, and grain feeds all people.
"She" and "Ji" were both decreed by ritual, and the Son of Heaven had to sacrifice to them personally. Thus, She Ji itself contained the meaning of the world.
The Gate of She Ji naturally held its own significance.
The east faced the sea, and the matter of the land meeting the sea was暂且不表.
And outside this Ji Gate on the west side stood the renowned Jixia Academy!
The Qi Court treated this Jixia Academy as the grain that fed all the people, viewing it as the foundation of She Ji, showing its importance.
He had heard of it for a long time, and since coming to Qi, the name Chong Xuan Zun had appeared before him in various forms.
And outside the Ji Gate, Jiang Chen saw him for the first time.
At this moment, it was still the hour of the Rabbit.
The court session that would decide the fate of the entire nation was still proceeding calmly.
The sky had just begun to brighten, and Linzi awakened from the autumn night.
Street vendors had already begun to appear sparsely on the streets.
Whether transcendent or mundane, everyone was busy with their own struggles.
Jiang Chen and Chong Xuan Sheng stood inside the city wall, the city gate already open behind them.
The city gate guards were fully armed and armored, their eyes straight ahead.
And at the far end of the long street, a man in white walked toward them.
His white robes were not worn properly, as if he had just woken up, casually grabbed a piece of clothing, and thrown it on, making it somewhat messy. Among the noble sons who highly valued their appearance, this was simply unimaginable.
Yet as he walked down the long street, it was like pear blossoms blooming along the way.
The entire street seemed to be graced only by his bearing.
A pair of sword-like eyebrows slanted upward toward his temples, with a lively sharpness.
His eyes were dark and bright, like the last two black stones on a chessboard that determined the life and death of a great dragon.
Yet the corners of his mouth always held a smile, like some wandering noble son, masking this sharpness and severity. This made him seem approachable.
The feature that best embodied this temperament was probably his nose.
It was tall like a clear, pleasant mountain, but did not make one feel it was perilous.
The collar was worn casually, revealing the jade-bowl-like collarbones beneath, and the bulging muscles below.
Without Chong Xuan Sheng's introduction, Jiang Chen naturally knew who this was.
Only then could he shift his gaze from him to notice the Donghua Pavilion eunuch leading the way in front.
This eunuch was both delivering the Lord of Qi's oral decree and had the responsibility of supervising Chong Xuan Zun's immediate entry into the Jixia Academy. He could be considered someone of some status in the inner court, yet standing in front of Chong Xuan Zun, he looked like a mere servant.
Chong Xuan Sheng, who was plump, always smiling, and looked harmless to both humans and animals, was waiting on the city gate side.
When they approached, he smiled and said, "Your little brother has come to see his elder brother off."
Chong Xuan Zun stopped in his tracks, looked deeply at Chong Xuan Sheng for a moment, and the corners of his mouth curved up: "My chubby little brother. You've really made me look at you in a new light."
Chong Xuan Sheng spread his arms to show off his figure: "Little brother has gotten so fat precisely so that elder brother doesn't need to look at me in a new light to see me!"
He had truly been ruthless. He had sacrificed all his merits just to send Chong Xuan Zun to the Jixia Academy for a year of cultivation.
He had originally intended to use the cultivation opportunity at the Jixia Academy to narrow the gap in cultivation level with Chong Xuan Zun. Now he had to give up this opportunity, actually widening the gap between them.
Just to catch his breath under Chong Xuan Zun's repeated offensives, and then launch a counterattack in one fell swoop!
When things could not be done, he simply gave up chasing personal cultivation and chose to overtake in terms of influence.
It could be said that in this game, he had wagered all the gains from the Yang Kingdom campaign.
And for Chong Xuan Zun, he had been sitting at home when a decree fell from the sky. Suddenly he was told he had received a grace, gaining the opportunity to cultivate at the Jixia Academy for a full year!
This meant that the series of offensives he had launched against Chong Xuan Sheng had come to an abrupt end. Before he could make the final move to slaughter the great dragon, the entire board had been taken away, and then the opponent would play slowly while he could only watch, and not even see!
Cultivating at the Jixia Academy for a year was indeed a tremendous benefit.
But compared to the entire Chong Xuan family, which was more important?
Chong Xuan Zun did not become angry with embarrassment, but merely smiled: "You should still eat less in the future. Being too fat is not good for your health."
Even as his enemy, Jiang Chen had to admit that this person's bearing was extraordinary, a first-class figure.
Chong Xuan Sheng cupped his hands: "Thank you for your concern, elder brother."
Chong Xuan Zun also returned the gesture: "I have not yet thanked my worthy brother for petitioning for my reward."
Jiang Chen watched this unusually warm scene, and in his heart, there were only four words—brotherly affection!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Footsteps that seemed forever constant, forever clear, sounded from the road that ran along the city wall.
Then an extremely tall figure strode toward them.
He walked out of the faint morning light, as if parting the dawn, gradually becoming clear and substantial.
His black martial attire appeared simple and crisp.
Long face, high nose, sharp eyes.
It was none other than the one Jiang Chen had seen outside the Celestial Residence Secret Realm, the closed-door disciple of the Great Qi War God Jiang Mengcheng, known as the strongest Heaven-Piercing realm cultivator in the world, the man who had broken the past limits of the Heaven-Piercing realm—Wang Yiwu!
This was something that could have been foreseen, so neither Chong Xuan Sheng nor Jiang Chen showed any particular reaction.
Only Chong Xuan Zun smiled.
This was a truly released smile—not that his previous conversation with Chong Xuan Sheng had been particularly hypocritical, but only at this moment was this smile completely genuine and open-hearted.
It reflected complete trust.
"The messy affairs in the city will be left to your care," Chong Xuan Zun turned his head to look at him and said with a smile.
Wang Yiwu, who did not speak lightly, simply said: "Cultivate with peace of mind."
Then Chong Xuan Zun, without looking back, his white robes fluttering, headed out beyond the Ji Gate!
He walked casually, elegantly.
Without saying another word.
The Donghua Pavilion eunuch did not pause for a moment; once the oral decree was given, he had set off for the Marquis of Bowang's manor.
Without permission, doing anything under the eunuch's watchful eye would be disrespectful to the Lord of Qi.
Therefore, if there was anything to do or any opportunity to act, it had to be before the Donghua Pavilion eunuch delivered the decree.
The fact that he could learn the news a bit in advance before the Donghua Pavilion eunuch arrived was already a testament to Chong Xuan Zun's ability to reach the heavens.
And he had chosen... to inform Wang Yiwu!