97: Chapter 97 Hoopoe

Chapter 98 Hoopoe

Song Jingzhao listened and instead chuckled.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang asks with such candor, so I might as well speak clearly."

"My hasty selection of you is simply because the Spring Spell Cultivator I was originally cultivating is already dead."

Jiang Yuhe's brows twitched slightly.

Song Jingzhao said, "My Royal Father has four sons, and I am the youngest."

"My three elder brothers have all reached Foundation Establishment and are currently preparing for the final trial set by my Royal Father. If one can pass that trial, they are considered to truly have the Foundation to contend for the Purple Mansion."

As he spoke to this point, his fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest.

"By then, regarding the position of the next Prince of Wu, many things will not need to be spelled out."

"I am the youngest, so I shouldn't have entered this game so early."

"But after I was born, my mother's lineage claimed a small portion of the status within the residence. The situation that had been stable for decades also gained a variable because of me."

"My three elder brothers, naturally, do not like me."

He chuckled softly.

"Recently, my cultivation progress has been a bit fast, and I am about to pass the second trial, so the methods they are using against me have become increasingly obvious."

"That Spring Spell Cultivator was someone I had supported for many years."

"He died very cleanly."

"If I didn't still have a few eyes and ears in the residence, I fear I wouldn't even be able to find out how he died."

Jiang Yuhe remained silent.

This kind of internal struggle within the royal Family is incomparable to the land disputes of ordinary families.

The pressure currently faced by the Jiang Family of Baili Mountain from the Han and Lu clans, in the eyes of a royal Family like the Song Clan, is perhaps nothing more than a few minor Cultivators bickering on a riverbank.

What the Song Clan is fighting for internally is the position of an Immortal, the status of the next Prince of Wu, and the tax ledgers of the southern prefectures of the Yanque Circuit.

Song Jingzhao seemed to see her concerns and added, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured."

"I have already had people conceal the matter of you entering my Nanjin Branch Residence."

"I have also asked the retainers in the residence to temporarily disrupt a thread of heavenly secrets; it is not very sophisticated, but it is enough to delay things for a few days."

He took a small jade talisman from his sleeve and placed it on the side of the table.

"I will bestow upon you two Medicinal Pills, both belonging to the Grain Rain category."

"One to help you break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and one to help you stabilize your newly formed Qi."

"Within three days, you must complete your secluded cultivation to break through. Come see me again in three days, and we will depart immediately."

Jiang Yuhe lowered her eyes and said, "Since Your Highness has made such arrangements, this Junior will naturally do her best."

Song Jingzhao said, "You do not need to worry too much about your own safety."

"I have deployed almost all the people I can currently mobilize at this Nanjin Branch Residence here."

"On the surface, it is to protect the residence, but in secret, they are watching each other."

"It is not easy for outsiders to enter, and since the people inside are guarding against each other, there will be even less chance of chaos."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuhe hesitated slightly and asked, "Then, what about the other Cultivators Your Highness has invited—"

She did not finish her sentence.

Song Jingzhao understood what she meant and suddenly laughed out loud.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang is afraid that they might also be eliminated by someone beforehand?"

He shook his head.

"Fellow Daoist, you do not know."

"Those few are different from the Spring Spell Cultivator I previously supported."

"Two of them are rare talents of the Daoist disciple class in this world. Their names have long since entered the ears of various families, and each is valued by powerful experts behind the scenes, carrying immense fate."

Song Jingzhao raised his eyes, which seemed to heighten his demeanor significantly.

"In the eyes of an Immortal, when such people walk in the world, it is like a lamp hanging in the long day, shining for ten miles."

"Whoever wants to kill them will have already alarmed many people before their murderous intent is even set in motion."

"Conversely, that Spring Spell Cultivator of mine, although I had supported him for many years, was still just a guest Cultivator in the residence. His Foundation was insufficient, and his fate was not thick; his death was simply that."

Jiang Yuhe felt a chill in her heart.

A lamp hanging in the long day, shining for ten miles.

So, in the eyes of a Purple Mansion Immortal, people who possess fate are actually so obvious.

These days, she had been secretly searching for people in Nanjin Prefecture, inquiring about those with heavy fate, and even took in Yan Qingju, attempting to place a piece for the Jiang Family in the Yanque Circuit first.

If viewed from the eyes of an Immortal, were these actions laughably naive?

What about herself?

After she received her register, her cultivation progress became faster and faster, and her understanding of the Dao of Grain Rain was far superior to before.

The so-called three phenological periods of Grain Rain—duckweed begins to grow, cuckoos flutter their feathers, and hoopoes descend upon the mulberry trees—are the three-fold phenological signs after the rains are sufficient, where duckweed grows in response to water, cuckoos chirp and flutter their feathers, and hoopoes return to the mulberry trees.

Later, when she browsed through ancient texts and verified them against her own cultivation, she vaguely understood that she likely corresponded to the Hoopoe phase among the three phenological periods of Grain Rain.

However, there were no unusual signs when she was born.

This is likely not an innate phase, but an Acquired fate phase achieved after the bestowal of the family genealogy register.

If so, from the moment she received the register, had she already fallen into the eyes of certain Immortals?

Have all the actions of the Jiang Family over these years long been seen through by others?

The Chengtian Sect bestowed that water-patterned dharma robe, not even asking if the Jiang Family was willing, and directly pushed the path of Pin Water before her.

How is this a reward? The path has already been laid out for the Jiang Family.

Walk it, and there is still some dignity.

Do not walk it, and it is being ungrateful.

If the Jiang Family wants to break out of this situation, they must at least bring the matter of Young Master Gu Xingzhi walking the path of Pin Water into the open, begging those Immortals to change their target.

But what if what the Immortals have set their eyes on was never just the Grain Rain and Pin Water, but rather this Hoopoe phase of hers?

Jiang Yuhe's thoughts swirled, and she dared not think any deeper.

She merely gathered her sleeves and bowed.

"Many thanks for the Medicinal Pill, Your Highness."

Song Jingzhao looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Go. I will wait for you for three days. After the matter is accomplished, there will surely be a generous reward."

Jiang Yuhe took her leave and exited.

The steward outside the door was still waiting with his hands hanging down. Seeing her come out, he smiled and stepped forward.

"Miss Jiang, please come this way."

He led Jiang Yuhe around the Listening to Waves Studio and headed deeper into the branch residence.

The snow was still falling.

Within the Nanjin Branch Residence, the Formation was warm and gentle; the snow would turn into fine water vapor mid-air and fall along the eaves into the Spiritual Channels on both sides.

Hidden Formation patterns were beneath the Spiritual Channels. Once the water vapor circulated, it turned back into Spiritual Mist, feeding the medicinal herb fields in the courtyard.

The steward led her to an Immortal Cave by the water.

The Immortal Cave was built at the end of a small pond. Two green jade curtains hung before the entrance, and between the beads of the curtains, water light shimmered continuously, as if a layer of clear spring water was slowly flowing from top to bottom.

Three words were engraved on the stone door: Listening to Rain Cave.

The steward smiled and said, "Although this place cannot compare to the main cave, it is connected to a small Spiritual Vein here."

"Miss Jiang can rest assured and break through your realm here."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and cast a Dharma spell. The stone door slowly opened.

Spiritual Qi rushed out from the Immortal Cave.

The floor inside was paved with warm, moist white stone, and several bright pearls were embedded in the walls. The light from the pearls was not blinding, resembling only the window lamp on a rainy night.

In the center of the Immortal Cave was a green meditation cushion. Beneath the cushion was a Spirit-Gathering Formation carved into the ground, its patterns spreading out like ripples in water.

There were tiny spring eyes on the four walls, with spring water flowing out from the stone crevices, circling the cave once, and the Spiritual Qi was astonishingly abundant.

Compared to the thin Spiritual Qi outside the ancestral home of Baili Mountain, this place was practically like a small Spiritual Spring.

The steward said, "The Medicinal Pill will be sent later."

"During your secluded cultivation, two guards will be stationed outside the Immortal Cave. If you have any needs, simply shake the jade bell by the door."

Jiang Yuhe returned the salute.

"Thank you, Senior."

The steward hurriedly smiled and said, "Miss, you are too polite. Since you are someone valued by His Highness, this old servant naturally dares not be negligent."

After saying this, he retreated. The stone door closed again, and only the sound of water remained inside the Immortal Cave.

Jiang Yuhe sat down on the meditation cushion. She closed her eyes for a moment, and Song Jingzhao's previous words kept surfacing in her mind.

People with fate, in the eyes of Immortals, are like lamps hanging in the long day. If this is truly the case, how much of her past plotting, which she believed to be secret, could she actually hide?

After she received her register, she obtained the Hoopoe phase. Young Master Gu Xingzhi was born a Cuckoo.

The fates of the two were compatible, as if pulled by a red thread. The Chengtian Sect bestowed the Pin Water object, and she secretly guided Young Master Gu Xingzhi toward the Grain Rain Pin Water.

Is she using fate to escape the situation, or is fate using her hands to push everyone to the positions where they are supposed to be?

Jiang Yuhe opened her eyes. The bright pearls on the stone walls of the Immortal Cave shone quietly, and the sound of water remained faint. She slowly let out a breath. She could not think anymore. For a Cultivator breaking through a realm, the most taboo thing is a chaotic mind.

I do not know how much time passed when the Formation of the Immortal Cave moved slightly. A hidden compartment beside the stone door opened on its own. Two wooden boxes were carried by the Formation into the cave and landed gently in front of her.

The wooden boxes were greenish and moist, with fine grain patterns, and the faint scent of spring rain seeped through the cracks of the boxes.

The two wooden boxes corresponded to the Ascension Origin Pill and the Meridian Stabilizing Pill, respectively.

Jiang Yuhe reached out and opened the wooden box on the left. Inside the box lay a rain-colored Medicinal Pill. The pill was only the size of a dragon's eye, and a clear, moist scent of spring rain falling on the soil wafted into her nose.

She had not been lax in her cultivation all these years, and with the bestowal of the family genealogy register, the Family's dedicated support, and several tempering battles, she had long since reached the minor Perfection of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

What she lacked was just a breath of sufficiently pure Spiritual Qi. Now, this Grain Rain Ascension Origin Pill was just right to make up for that breath.

Jiang Yuhe put the Medicinal Pill into her mouth. The pill melted upon contact, slowly seeping from under her tongue into her internal organs.

The next moment, the sound of water in the Immortal Cave suddenly became clear. Jiang Yuhe closed her eyes. The Grain Rain Spiritual Power spread bit by bit along her Meridians, like countless fine rains gathering into a single line, gently crashing toward the barrier of the ninth level of Qi Refining.