Chapter 149: Lord of Fengzhou
(This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation)
At the break of dawn the next day, the delegation from Heavenly Script Academy prepared to depart for Returning Clouds Prefecture to meet another scholar.
However, before setting off, Ji You was sent once again to speak with Xiang Fu.
After all, with his refined and graceful demeanor, he might just be able to change the young girl’s mind.
“If she refuses, simply loosen your collar slightly, just as you did that day…”
“With the number of fiancées you have, I doubt you need my advice. Perhaps you should rein it in a little, lest you frighten the poor girl.”
“?”
Ji You’s thoughts raced. [Are you trying to get me killed? Do you have any idea how much stronger someone at the Boundless Martial Stage can kick?]
Yet, when Cao Jin Song tossed two taels of silver onto the table, Ji You still relented and attempted to act as a persuader using his charm.
But his efforts were met with an icy reception.
Xiang Fu was resolute in her allegiance to the Mystic Origin Immortal Palace, and after learning that this group had set their sights on Falling Moon Villa, she regarded them with deep contempt.
To her, Falling Moon Villa—where she had spent her childhood—was like a second home. These outsiders who wished to seize it were nothing short of villains.
“I will not join Heavenly Script Academy, and I advise you to abandon your schemes against Falling Moon Villa.”
Ji You looked at Xiang Fu and replied, “Leaving it vacant is a waste. Moreover, according to the Azure Clouds Immortal Edicts, I am entitled to claim any residence.”
Xiang Fu’s eyes lifted, her gaze sharp. “So the one planning to take Falling Moon Villa is you? Speaking as if you have some righteous cause while stealing another’s home—how laughable.”
“From Fengzhou’s perspective, Falling Moon Villa is the true usurper of this land.”
Outside the room, Xiang Xuan listened to the exchange, his brows furrowed in displeasure.
Though his allegiance lay with the Mystic Origin Immortal Palace, he did not wish to openly offend Heavenly Script Academy.
Thus, he considered sending a servant in to have Xiang Fu make her stance clear without causing unnecessary conflict.
Just then, a household servant named Fu Sheng came rushing in, his face filled with urgency.
“Master, there is a visitor!”
Xiang Xuan’s expression darkened. “Could it be someone from White Mist Immortal Manor, returning so soon?”
The servant shook his head. “No, Master. It is Inspector Liu, the Regional Inspector of Fengzhou. He has brought his only son, Liu Jian Bei, and they have come to pay respects to the immortals of Heavenly Script Academy.”
“?”
A Regional Inspector was a high-ranking official, and with his title as an Imperial Censor, he outranked Xiang Xuan, a mere Magistrate, by a significant margin.
Moreover, Liu An—this Regional Inspector—was closely associated with Minister Wei, one of the most influential figures in the imperial court, effectively making him one of Wei’s protégés.
Recently, a new decree had been issued by the Emperor, forming the Department of Immortal Observers, which weakened Minister Wei’s power by leveraging the ongoing unrest in the cultivation world. This had caused considerable disruption.
Liu An had just returned from a trip to the capital to visit Minister Wei, and it had only been two days since his return.
Why had he come rushing here so urgently? And why did he specifically seek an audience with the immortals of Heavenly Script Academy?
Puzzled, Xiang Xuan nevertheless stepped forward to receive him, offering a respectful bow.
Liu An returned the gesture with ease. “Brother Xiang, I apologize for arriving unannounced. I hope my presence is not an inconvenience.”
“Inspector Liu, you need not apologize. Even if you hadn’t come, I had intended to visit you.”
“Brother Xiang, you are too courteous. But I imagine you already know my purpose for coming. May I ask where the Celestial Masters of Heavenly Script Academy are residing?”
“I have arranged accommodations for them in the eastern wing.”
“Excellent. Then I shall take my son to pay them a visit.”
Xiang Xuan hesitated. “Would you like me to introduce you to them, Inspector Liu?”
But Liu An waved his hand. “That won’t be necessary. My son and I will go alone.”
Watching the father and son depart, Xiang Xuan stood in the courtyard, his frown deepening.
It was not uncommon for imperial officials to seek an audience with immortals, as it was well known that, despite the Great Xia Dynasty’s rule over the Azure Clouds Continent, immortal authority far surpassed that of the imperial court.
However, just like Xiang Xuan, Liu An had always aligned himself with the Mystic Origin Immortal Palace.
So why was he in such a rush to visit Heavenly Script Academy, even bringing his only son along?
After contemplating for a while, Xiang Xuan turned to Fu Sheng. “Prepare a pot of tea and bring it over.”
“Yes, Master?”
“When you deliver it, listen carefully to their conversation and report back to me.”
Having given his instructions, Xiang Xuan remained seated in the courtyard outside the eastern wing, waiting patiently.
Before long, Fu Sheng returned with an empty tea tray.
“What did they speak of inside?”
“Master, Young Master Liu Jian Bei served tea to Celestial Master Cao, formally acknowledging him as his teacher…”
Xiang Xuan’s mouth fell open in shock. “He has joined Heavenly Script Academy? Are you certain?”
Fu Sheng nodded. “Yes, Master. Young Master Liu stepped out earlier to fetch tea for the ceremonial offering.”
“??”
Xiang Xuan gripped his teacup tightly, his mind thrown into turmoil. His gaze flickered with deep disbelief.
Liu An, the ever-calculating politician, knew better than anyone that Fengzhou was a land fragmented by numerous immortal manors, with Mystic Origin Immortal Palace reigning supreme due to its strategic position.
To ancient immortal sects and noble families, Fengzhou might be a mere backwater compared to the other eight provinces.
But to mortal aristocrats like them, Fengzhou was their entire world—their domain to protect and govern.
Thus, Liu An’s sudden pivot to Heavenly Script Academy signified a change of great consequence, and Xiang Xuan was left wondering what power shifts lay ahead in the turbulent days to come.
Xiang Xuan could not fathom why Liu An would suddenly abandon the Mystic Origin Immortal Palace and instead become so desperate to enter the Heavenly Script Academy.
Despite racking his brain, he remained perplexed until he saw his wife approaching from the front courtyard, a letter in her hand.
“Husband, my elder brother has sent word.”
“Oh? What matter does he speak of?”
Madam Xiang’s expression was odd. “He wishes for Fu’er to join the Heavenly Script Academy.”
Madam Xiang’s maiden name was Wen, and her elder brother was an elder of an Immortal Manor in Feng Prefecture, having studied under the Mystic Origin Immortal Palace as well.
That being the case, for her brother to suddenly insist that his own niece enter the Heavenly Script Academy instead was truly baffling.
Xiang Xuan stared in stunned silence for a long while. “Did he say why?”
“Elder Brother said that a local noble family will soon rise in Feng Prefecture, and the one leading it will come from the Heavenly Script Academy.”
“…”
At that moment, within the Magistrate’s Manor, Cao Jin Song was accepting tea from Inspector Liu’s son. Meanwhile, Xiang Xuan and his wife entered the side chamber to read the letter, and Ji You rose from his seat before Xiang Fu, preparing to leave.
Beauty held no allure for him.
This young lady treated Falling Moon Villa as her second home. As long as the one coming wasn’t from Mystic Origin Immortal Palace, anyone else was merely an intruder in her eyes.
She never even considered that foreign Immortal Sects establishing Immortal Manors here, feeding off the tributes of the local people, was the true act of plunder.
[Let’s go take a look at the manor I just seized.]
Xiang Fu also stood up, watching him leave, a trace of disgust in her brows.
When she first met Ji You, she had thought him graceful like jade, an ethereal presence of celestial bearing. Though she could not discern his cultivation, she assumed it was higher than her own, thus forming a favorable impression.
Especially upon hearing that he was also from Feng Prefecture, she had entertained thoughts of forming a Dao Companion with him once he completed his five-year term at the Immortal Sect and returned.
But who would have thought that beneath his handsome exterior lay the same greedy heart of a plunderer?
Xiang Fu left the side hall and entered the inner chambers, where she found her parents. Her father was seated at the table, reading the letter with a complex expression.
“Father.”
Xiang Xuan snapped out of his thoughts. “Where is Ji You?”
Xiang Fu plopped down at the table. “I just found out that the Heavenly Script Academy wants my Falling Moon Villa, and it turns out this was all his idea.”
Madam Xiang cast a glance at her daughter. “In truth, that manor is one he could rightfully claim.”
“??”
Xiang Xuan clutched the letter tightly. “Fu’er, you’ve always wanted to join Mystic Origin Immortal Palace, and I have always supported you. But now, I wish for you to reconsider and enter the Heavenly Script Academy instead.”
Xiang Fu was taken aback. “Why?”
Xiang Xuan extended the letter toward her.
Her uncle’s message did not merely urge her to enter the Heavenly Script Academy—it contained detailed records of Ji You.
A mere rural Rogue Cultivator from Yuyang County, who by all rights should have been executed for practicing illegal cultivation. Yet before reaching adulthood, he had already reached the Peak of the Lower Three Stages and was admitted into the Heavenly Script Academy as a special exception.
That same year, he trampled over Chu He, the second son of the Chu Clan, and in full view of the crowd, comprehended the Heavenly Tome.
The following year, in the depths of the Qiling Mountain Range, he slew a Dao Fusion Stage cultivator with his sword, rescuing a direct disciple of the Pill Sect along with several Heavenly Script Academy disciples.
Later, in Spirit Sword Mountain, he shattered the Sword Forest, mastering the Sword Dao of that sacred land.
In the autumn of the Great Yuan’s first year, during the Academy’s Autumn Duel, he crushed Chu He’s hand bones and entered the Inner Academy, earning the qualification to establish a Noble Clan.
Xiang Fu’s eyes widened as she read. She recognized each individual word but struggled to comprehend them as a whole.
For families like hers, part of the mundane bureaucratic world, the most they had ever interacted with were Immortal Manors. Even Noble Clans were an unreachable existence.
Her family had spent fortunes on Spiritual Pills and Spirit Stones for her cultivation, frequently offering tribute to Falling Moon Villa, all to nurture their only child with talent into someone worthy of an Immortal Sect—an achievement once thought unfathomable.
Yet, according to this letter, Ji You was a storm that could overturn the very order of an Immortal Sect itself.
The Chu Clan…
What was the Chu Clan?
Even from their isolated Feng Prefecture, they knew that the Chu Clan was the true ruler of You Prefecture.
Yet Ji You had shattered the hand bones of the Chu Clan’s second son and entered the Inner Academy?
Now Xiang Xuan finally understood why White Mist Immortal Manor had refrained from making trouble with him yesterday, why they had even abandoned the estate they had long coveted and left without a word.
Because the so-called genius in this letter hailed from Yuyang County, Feng Prefecture—he was one of their own.
That meant that in the future, the ruler of this land would not be the foreign Immortal Manors, nor would it be the Regional Inspector.
The true lord of Feng Prefecture was the young man who had spent a single night within his household.
Why had Inspector Liu suddenly brought his son to enroll in the Heavenly Script Academy?
Because he knew that the landscape of Feng Prefecture was about to change.
With the rise of a local Noble Clan, the foreign Immortal Manors would lose their authority.
Xiang Fu finished reading the letter, and Ji You’s departing figure surfaced in her mind’s eye, disbelief filling her gaze.
A lower cultivator could never discern the level of a higher one.
And Ji You had never displayed his power here.
What shook her was not merely the content of the letter—it was the realization that Ji You had already stepped into the Upper Five Realms.
But the greatest shock of all was that he had started out as a mere rural Rogue Cultivator.
When one only lives within their small world, it is easy to believe oneself the protagonist. Just like Fang Ruo Yao in Yuyang County once did.
Upon receiving her admission into the Heavenly Script Academy, she had thought herself already graced with Immortal Presence, even causing her father, Fang Zhong Zheng, to tread carefully around her.
But after arriving at the Academy, she discovered that the true protagonist was the very fiancé she had tried so hard to cast aside.
Yesterday, Xiang Fu’s mindset had been exactly the same.
She had set her heart on Mystic Origin Immortal Palace, and upon seeing the Heavenly Script Academy vying for Ji You, she had felt an unwarranted sense of pride.
But today, she felt just like Fang Ruo Yao, who had stepped into the Heavenly Script Academy and realized the truth—what a true protagonist looked like.
Xiang Xuan studied his daughter’s face, knowing she had finished reading. He rose to his feet and led her toward the eastern chamber.
Cao Jin Song had just finished his tea with Liu Jian Bei when he saw them approaching, already understanding their intent.
“News travels slowly in Feng Prefecture, and few may yet know of Ji You’s feats. But what I fail to understand is why the instructors do not reveal the truth sooner.”
“It would shatter their Dao Hearts.”
Pei Ru Yi was momentarily stunned. “Shatter their Dao Hearts?”
Cao Jin Song stroked his beard. “If they enter the Academy aiming to match Ji You, they will ultimately meet the same fate as Chu He—only despair.”