Chen Ping's Sword

He is omnipresent and invincible.

It is said that the Fifth Patriarch of the Huayan Sect, who dared to challenge the Ji Family’s ancestor, also suffered a miserable loss due to the schemes of the Woyan Monarch.

Even against experts at the Divine Martial Realm, and individuals at the Venerable Level, he dared to plot against them. It can be imagined how audacious and bold this person is.

The most formidable part is that he succeeded and retreated unscathed.

Although he didn’t kill that Fifth Patriarch, since then, this Fifth Patriarch has announced a retreat, and for a long period, has not appeared before people.

Most likely, he was severely injured.

One might ask, with such a person, such a force entering Jiangnan, could Chen Ping sleep peacefully at night?

Even hiding within the army wouldn’t be safe.

Facing an ever-changing enemy, the more people around, the harder it is to distinguish them.

Would he feel skittish, like a startled bird, constantly suspecting someone of plotting against him, framing him, and even assassinating him?

Would he resent that his cultivation was improving too slowly to handle the upcoming storms?

"Therefore, I’ll give him an opportunity, an opportunity to enhance his strength. Even if he knows it’s dangerous, he has no choice but to fall into the trap."

"This plan is hard for him to advance or retreat. Should he strive for a brighter future, or wait for death on the spot?

I want to see how much tolerance this Hidden Dragon of Jiangnan truly has."

...

When Ji Changfeng and Feng Yuantu were waiting for news at the mountain peak.

It was already three days since Fang Qingzhu got the mantis mechanism puppet.

She didn’t know that someone had already prepared a stage for her, and the grand curtain had been pulled open.

The red sunset made the faces of the master and servant pair flush red. Just looking at their faces could arouse some fire in one’s heart.

More fervent than their flushed faces was Fang Qingzhu’s heart.

"Finally unlocked, so that’s it, that’s it. As expected of the Celestial Secret Pavilion, capable of amassing the world’s wealth with the power of a single pavilion, nearly rivaling a nation’s wealth. Such cleverness and ingenuity reveal just how brilliant Feng Yuansi was."

"He was so clever and wealthy, why was he later exterminated by the Emperor?"

Xiaoyu curiously asked from the side.

She, of course, knew that the vast, exquisite garden she resided in, Cuihu Residence, was actually built by Feng Yuansi, the Feng Family’s manor.

Only the wealth-laden Feng Family could be extravagant enough to build a temporary resting place more lavish than the Jinghai Prince’s Mansion by several times.

This is precisely why, after Chen Ping took over Xingqing Prefecture, he didn’t go to the Jinghai Prince’s Mansion or the Xingqing Prefecture Government Office, but stayed at Cuihu Residence instead.

With a better residence, why not stay there, free from worrying about others’ opinions or the Court’s suspicion?

Doing as one pleases is all that matters.

"Uh..."

Faced with Xiaoyu’s question, Fang Qingzhu didn’t know how to explain.

Should she discuss the vileness of raising pigs for slaughter and the necessity of lying low with a fish-brained person?

The affair of the Feng Clan’s extermination seventeen years ago was a big sensation, but the truth didn’t actually spread widely.

Those who knew the inside story dared not speak, and ordinary people kept spreading rumors.

So, one could only rely on guesses.

Fortunately, the Book Pavilion in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest still records some important matters.

Fang Qingzhu happened to have read about it.

She knew that there was a secret in this garden of Xingqing Prefecture.

According to her master’s divination, her chance to achieve the Dao might be here, atop this secret.

For three months, she searched high and low, but found nothing.

If not for the Shenxiao Sword Sect’s Mu Yuanzhen, who persisted like stubborn candy and gave her a mantis puppet, she wouldn’t have thought of the mechanism secret room.

Who would have thought that in this garden, which had been turned over countless times and hosted many distinguished guests for over a decade, there existed a hidden mysterious area?

All waiting for her arrival.

Fang Qingzhu unlocked the puppet mechanism, feeling elated, and didn’t mind Xiaoyu’s mood-killing nature.

She nearly forgot her fairy-like composure, sitting cross-legged on a chair, hands on her hips, thoroughly pleased.

She knew, once the mechanism was unlocked, there were no more secrets in Cuihu Residence for her.

Every brick, tile, pavilion, and kiosk, even the arrangement of fake mountains and flowing water, all made sense to her now.

Of course, that mechanism could no longer hide either.

"Three months, it took me a full three months, pretending to be a silly gal obsessed with eating, finally it’s time to harvest bountiful results, chance, here I come."

"Let’s go treasure hunting, Xiaoyu, whether we can live it up going forward hinges on this haul."

Due to her special identity and remarkable background.

Chen Ping had long instructed that nothing should constrain her.

Even Zuo Xiaoyuan, who managed the garden, dared not watch over her constantly.

Let alone the servants, who stayed far away.

Distinguished guests naturally received the treatment of distinguished guests.

The treasure hunt process was uneventful.

For those who knew, it wasn’t hard, for those who didn’t, it was impossible.

Fang Qingzhu had whittled bamboo carvings for many years to pass time, and learned quite a few tricks from Mr. Bamboo, the four Guardians behind her were testament to that.

Though she couldn’t construct it herself, nor had the skill to repair it,

she understood the basic principles.

Once she grasped the core principle of the mantis mechanism, she immediately understood the subtlety of this shift-in-scenery setup, moving between pavilions and kiosks, calculating as she went, until reaching a fake mountain.

She moved three Yellow Jade bricks, twisted two Chicken-Blood Stone sculptures, hearing a soft creak.

The fake mountain quietly opened, revealing a square cave and stairway.

A gentle light projected from within the cave.

After a brief contemplation, Fang Qingzhu entered with Xiaoyu once she confirmed no one would interrupt them.

The secret room, though large, had few items, appearing quite empty.

A few scattered gold and silver treasures, antiques, and paintings lay in the corners, which Fang Qingzhu ignored.

Instead, her eyes landed on the sheepskin scroll and a token on the table.

"It’s it, it’s it, just it."

Almost teleporting, Fang Qingzhu dashed over, diligently memorizing every pattern and route on the scroll, confident she wouldn’t forget, she took the starlight-lustring token.

"Master said, the Divine Martial Mysteries lie in the soul, a weak soul means a Dharma Body can hardly form. But ironically, cultivating the soul is the hardest part, even with the Three Lights Divine Spell, a soul-refining technique pointing directly to the core, to reach the soul strength necessary for a Dharma Body, takes at least thirty years of cultivation.

To swiftly succeed, finding the best method means relying on the Floating World Celestial Map of the Heaven-Reaching Tower."

Just about to tuck the Celestial Star Order into her pouch, Fang Qingzhu hesitated slightly.

"Isn’t this too unfair to Chen Ping, a chance for cultivation, should I let him have it?

Pei pei pei, that fierce guy, how could it go to him cheaply?"

She suddenly realized she was reluctant to take it away.

Staying put, Fang Qingzhu felt utterly lost for a long while before finally deciding: "I also want to establish my Dao Foundation early; at most, I’ll leave him the latter part of the Three Lights Divine Spell.

Once I refine my True Form, I’ll lend him a hand."

Her plans set.

Fang Qingzhu resumed her joyous, treasure-acquiring silly mode, swiftly wrote the spell’s latter part on a portable handkerchief with a nearby ink stick, including notes on frequent recitation for efficacy.

Thinking, she added a few words, saying she went treasure hunting, reassuring not to worry, and so on.

With nothing holding her back anymore, she left the secret room with Xiaoyu.

Not yet out of Cuihu Residence, a fierce wind arose in the sky, a five-colored brilliance roared, shaking half the city, and fell upon them.

Enveloping her and Xiaoyu.

...

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