Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Dragon-Tiger Mountain Chief Disciple

Autumn Chrysanthemum Courtyard.

The chrysanthemums were in full bloom.

At this season, the Chancellor’s Manor always hosted guests here in the Autumn Chrysanthemum Courtyard.

From far away, laughter drifted out of the courtyard.

Shen Jing Yun sat beside You Bing Yue with a bright smile on his handsome face, his eyes full of respect and praise: “Miss You, I heard you caught a notorious robber two days ago. You are truly as capable as any man.”

Several men were also seated: Li Chang Huai, the young manor lord of Tianyu Manor; Liu Fei Yang, the heir apparent to the Prince of Yunnan; Li Ming, a section chief at the Ministry of Personnel; and a white-robed man none of them knew.

It was clear the white-robed man was not familiar with the group. He sat quietly beside You Bing Yue and, now and then, looked at her with a lingering tenderness.

Feeling the man’s affection, You Bing Yue’s smile deepened.

A few days ago, after much thought, she made a decision: give up pursuing Du Zi Heng.

Of course, it was not truly giving up. It was retreat in order to advance. She would find a man even better than Du Zi Heng to provoke him, so he would realize breaking up with her had been foolish.

That man was the chief disciple of the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Daoist Temple whom she happened to meet a few days ago: Ou Yang Shuo.

Ou Yang Shuo was not only handsome and well-mannered, he was also highly skilled.

These skills were not worldly skills, but the Mystic Arts.

That’s right, Ou Yang Shuo was also a master of the Mystic Arts.

Wasn’t Yu Zhi Yi using the Mystic Arts to fool people and show off?

Then she would bring someone even stronger in the Mystic Arts. She did not believe she couldn’t crush Yu Zhi Yi underfoot.

Du Zi Heng clung to Yu Zhi Yi only because she was powerful and could bring benefits to Du Manor.

As long as she broke that illusion, Du Zi Heng would wake up.

And also… thinking of Yiluan Charity, You Bing Yue’s eyes dimmed.

Almost all of Du Zi Heng’s close friends knew her and treated her well, especially Shen Jing Yun. If he had not kept saying his heart belonged only to his fiancée, she would have suspected he liked her.

Later, though, You Bing Yue figured it out: he was just a fan of their pairing.

Even so, her pride was greatly satisfied.

After Shen Jing Yun praised her a few more times, You Bing Yue said with a smile: “It was not only my work. Thanks to Brother Ou Yang.”

Hearing the intimate “Brother Ou Yang,” Shen Jing Yun felt alarm bells ring and asked: “Oh? Did Young Master Ou Yang also help catch the thief?”

She wanted exactly this reaction from a CP fan. If she toyed with him hard, maybe later she could turn him into a fan who only supported her. If she pointed, he would follow.

Pretending not to notice Shen’s annoyance, she smiled and said: “Brother Ou Yang is the chief disciple of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, young and promising, with a Cultivation Base so deep it is hard to measure. He can see a person’s life at a glance. We met the thief on the road. Brother Ou Yang only looked once and knew he had taken hundreds of lives and had no sense of justice. He had to be either a spy from an enemy state, a wanted criminal of the Imperial Court, or a bandit.”

Showing just the right amount of worship, she added: “When we caught him, he was about to ambush and kill a merchant couple.”

Shen Jing Yun looked at Ou Yang Shuo in surprise: “So impressive?”

At this, Li Ming asked: “Isn’t Young Madam Du famous for the Mystic Arts? His Majesty even noticed her for this skill and promoted her to Court Physician out of the usual rules. I wonder, compared with Young Master Ou Yang, who is stronger?”

As Yu Zhi Yi entered the Autumn Chrysanthemum Courtyard, she happened to hear this.

Anyone strong enough to be compared with her must also have skill in the Mystic Arts.

Her mind stirred.

In her past life, she had met gifted people on the battlefield, most of them strategists hired by the enemy. The best among them was a strategist from the Great Luo Empire, someone who gave even her a headache. But in that past life, she did not meet other Mystic Arts Practitioners until several years later. She had not expected it to happen earlier in this life.

Wait. She had run into a Demonic Cultivator in the day, and now at night she met a Mystic Arts Practitioner? Could it really be such a coincidence?

No extra searching was needed. His aura was too special. Among normal people, he stood out like a crane among chickens. Yu Zhi Yi easily found the young man in a green robe. By chance, he also looked over. Their eyes met, and in a blink sparks danced. An invisible force flowed between them, point against point. Others could not see it, but they felt the pressure. Shen Jing Yun hugged his arms and rubbed them, saying: “Why do I suddenly feel a little cold?”

Yu Zhi Yi withdrew her gaze first, her face calm with a slight smile: “Maybe because the weather is cold.”

Ou Yang Shuo frowned. In this kind of invisible contest, the one who withdrew first was usually the one who lost. But it was not so between him and Yu Zhi Yi. As the chief disciple of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, he knew his own strength. He had heard Yue’er mention that Yu Zhi Yi had some ability, but he did not take it to heart.

There were many Mystic Arts Practitioners in the world, not only the two of them. Those with proper training mostly gathered at Dragon-Tiger Mountain. Even those who did not come there had their own sects, and those sects followed Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s lead.

If a disciple was famous, he had heard of them. He had never heard of anyone with the surname Yu. That meant she was self-taught. Being self-taught did not only mean not orthodox; it also meant weak skills. Most powerful techniques were kept in the libraries of the big sects and almost never leaked outside.

So he looked down on Yu Zhi Yi. He had not expected that under his pressure she would not fall behind at all. He, with orthodox training, could not crush a rogue cultivator. In a way, that already meant he had lost. He had not expected her will to be so firm.

If Yu Zhi Yi had known his thoughts, she would have rolled her eyes. Firm will? She had not felt any pressure at all. With one look she saw his Cultivation Base: only mid-stage Qi Refining. Even without refining the merit light today, her realm was still one small stage higher than his.

He tried to release pressure on her, but it felt like a baby glaring at an adult, thinking it was fierce. Pressure? It did not exist. She felt nothing.

You Bing Yue did notice a few things. She had thought Yu Zhi Yi would be crushed by Ou Yang Shuo and make a fool of herself, but the other woman was fine. She bit her teeth in secret, then suddenly gave a bright smile: “Young Madam Du, I offended you before. I have already given up on Zi Heng. I hope you and your husband will live in harmony and respect.”

She retreated to advance and brought up the breakup herself. As expected, her words drew sympathy from their friends.