72: Chapter 72 Fellow Cultivators, Secrets of Divine Skills

The two arrived at an inconspicuous old teahouse at the corner of the street.

This teahouse had no signboard hanging; only a faded tavern banner spun in the wind.

The storefront was small, and as they stepped on the slightly dilapidated wooden stairs that groaned in protest with a "creak," the two went up one after the other to a private seat by the window on the second floor.

This place avoided the clamor of the main street, making it a rare spot of tranquility.

Chen Ran sat down casually.

Jiang Mengli stood behind him to the side, silent, her face hidden in the shadows.

Even though her moon-white dress was unstained by dust, it seemed out of place in this teahouse heavy with the scent of worldly life.

Su Qinghe sat down opposite Chen Ran.

The guard leader, Liu Zhong, did not follow up but instead stayed on the periphery with several elite subordinates.

Outside the window, the thousands of lights of the capital flickered.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper could be vaguely heard from the streets and alleys.

A single wall separated them, blocking out all the noise from outside.

The interior of the building was surprisingly quiet.

There was only the gurgling sound of water boiling in the purple clay teapot, and the occasional faint crackling of charcoal.

Chen Ran glanced at the bustling night scene outside the window, then withdrew his gaze, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and closed his eyes to rest, looking completely unperturbed.

He did not speak, so Su Qinghe also sat quietly.

She sat with a straight posture, her hands naturally folded on her lap, using only her clear eyes to quietly and meticulously observe the man before her.

Compared to the mysterious person with the terrifying Aura that day at Wuyue Mountain, the man before her appeared a bit too "ordinary."

However, the temperament he carried clearly showed he was far superior to ordinary people.

"Miss Su, it has been quite a while since you last came to sit in my humble shop."

A slightly aged voice rang out, warm in tone, breaking the subtle silence between the two.

The teahouse owner was a thin, old man with graying hair and a slightly hunched back, personally carrying a chipped black-lacquered wooden tray, on which sat a pot of hot tea and two plates of exquisite snacks, all perfectly steady.

He was full of smiles, and although his movements were a bit slow, his hand while pouring tea was extremely steady.

With a flick of his wrist, the clear yellow tea soup formed a thin stream of water, accurately falling into the cup without splashing a single drop.

"Old Sun, there have been many things to attend to at home recently, and I could not get away." Su Qinghe smiled slightly, her tone gentle, without any airs of a noble young lady.

"Sigh, Miss Su is busy with important matters. But it is thanks to your frequent care in daily life."

Old Sun sighed and carefully set out the tea and snacks.

While wiping his hands, he gratefully rambled: "Otherwise, with just this dilapidated teahouse of mine, in this area where every inch of land is worth gold and dragons and snakes are mixed together, how could I have kept it going? Please enjoy, this is newly arrived tea, call me anytime if you need anything."

"Thank you for your trouble, Old Sun." Su Qinghe nodded in thanks.

Old Sun smiled and retreated, not forgetting to thoughtfully close the partition door on the second floor as he left.

Chen Ran picked up the teacup and gently blew away the foam.

It was ordinary coarse tea, but the roasting method was authentic, the heat control was excellent, and while it was a bit bitter going down the throat, the aftertaste was long and sweet.

"May I ask for the name of my benefactor?" Su Qinghe watched Chen Ran put down the teacup, then spoke softly, her tone solemn.

"Chen Ran."

"Young Master Chen." Su Qinghe leaned forward slightly, "Actually, ever since we parted at Wuyue Mountain that day, I have had a doubt in my heart. I do not know if I should speak of it."

"Speak." Chen Ran's tone was plain.

"Which lineage of Confucian Cultivation Technique are you cultivating, Young Master?" Su Qinghe's tone was firm.

"Although you struck ruthlessly that day, the moment your Qi exploded, it was upright, peaceful, pure, and vast. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for me to have such a fresh memory of that Aura."

She had read the books of sages since childhood and cultivated the Noble Spirit, making her most sensitive to the same source of Qi.

Chen Ran's expression was calm; he did not seem surprised that she could tell.

In front of this proud student of Wenxin Hall, known as the "talented woman of Shenghai," hiding things would only be beneath him.

"Noble Heart-Calming Mantra." He did not hide it and stated the name directly.

He had specifically learned about this Cultivation Technique; it was not a profound technique, and any official serving in the imperial court could Cultivate it.

Confucian self-cultivation did not provide a great boost to combat power, so the imperial court did not care about these Confucian Cultivation Techniques spreading.

After all, that Noble Spirit still relied on the imperial court to be achieved.

As soon as these five words came out, Su Qinghe's hand holding the tea paused abruptly, the tea in the cup sloshed violently, nearly spilling onto her skirt.

"Young Master also Cultivates the Noble Heart-Calming Mantra?" Su Qinghe's voice rose slightly.

No wonder she was so sensitive to his Qi.

Cultivating the same lineage—in the Confucian school, this was considered a bond of the same source and the same sect.

Chen Ran watched her joyful expression, his eyes flickering slightly.

The Cultivation Technique he obtained in the celestial prison naturally could not have any real-world Legacy connection with the Su Family.

But he knew the origin of this Cultivation Technique all too well.

"What is Su Yuanshan to you?" Chen Ran put down the teacup, tapped his fingers on the rough tabletop twice, and suddenly asked.

The smile on Su Qinghe's face instantly froze.

She instinctively glanced at the tightly closed partition door and leaned back slightly.

"Does Young Master Chen know Lord Yuanshan?" Her fingers tightened slightly, suppressing the shock in her heart, her voice very low.

"I have heard of him." Chen Ran was noncommittal, his tone still without waves, just like discussing an insignificant passerby.

Su Qinghe was silent for a moment.

She pressed her lips tightly together, looking at Chen Ran with complex eyes.

"That was a very formidable elder of our Su Family in the past," she said softly after a long time.

"He served as the Censor-in-Chief, and was once a figure whose words carried great weight in the imperial court. But later… later our family suffered a huge change, and the elders only said he went missing. From then on, his name was removed from the genealogy, and no one dared to mention his name again."

"We of the younger generation have only occasionally seen these three characters in the crevices of old letters."

Chen Ran nodded slightly, not continuing to press the matter.

Stop while it is enough.

He had already confirmed that Su Qinghe and that old Censor in Section C of the celestial prison were indeed of the same clan.

And the reason that old Censor was imprisoned back then, and the political turmoil involved, seemed even deeper and more terrifying than he had initially imagined.

Chen Ran calmly changed the subject.

"The capital seems unsettled recently; I hear people talking about it every day, with rumors everywhere that some peerless divine technique that can allow one to ascend to the heavens in one step has appeared."

After hearing this, Su Qinghe's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and she smiled helplessly.

"Young Master Chen has heard of it too?" She shook her head, picked up her teacup, and took a sip, resuming the composure of a noble lady,

"It is just some street gossip, not to be taken seriously."

"Oh? How so?" Chen Ran pretended to be interested.

"If there really were such a divine technique that could allow one to directly break through and ascend to the heavens in one step, it would have long been taken into the possession of the imperial court's Demon Suppression Division."

"We are only helping the imperial court decipher it; we cannot be considered key figures."

Su Qinghe put down the teacup, her gaze clear; she saw things very clearly.

She neither denied nor admitted it.

Three rounds of tea had passed.

Chen Ran was just preparing to get up and take his leave.

"Bang—!"

Just as he was about to speak again, a loud noise suddenly came from the lobby downstairs!

The sound was so loud that the wooden floor of the second floor trembled violently.

A whole thick solid wood table had been rudely kicked over, smashing into pieces.

Immediately after, there was the crisp sound of teacups shattering and the crashing sound of chairs falling to the ground.

"Old thing, are you blind?! You dare to splash water on my clothes?!" An extremely arrogant, rough male voice exploded from downstairs.