First Immortal of the Sword

It was the middle of the night.

Su Yi sat in the lotus position, circulating his qi. He was relentlessly nourishing and tempering the power of his flesh and blood.

This was a way of tempering the flesh recorded in the Pine and Crane Body Refining Technique. It was designed for the second layer of the Blood Circulation Realm, “Refining Muscle.”

After a while, Su Yi opened his eyes and furrowed his brow. My cultivation speed is nowhere near what it was in the Refining Skin stage….

It wasn’t that he was in a hurry. What worried him was that his cultivation sessions were far less effective than before.

There were two reasons for this.

First, the medicines he consumed during his daily and nightly cultivation were mostly ordinary goods.

Second, “Refining Muscle” was the second level of the Blood Circulation Stage. It was fundamentally far harder to cultivate than the Refining Skin stage.

At my current rate of progress, I’m afraid it’ll be at least half a month until I reach the peak of the Refining Muscle stage, Su Yi thought to himself.

But it would of course be even better if he could save himself some time.

I wonder what happened to the Nine-Leafed King Ginseng Huang Yunchong gave me? If I could use that….

As soon as this thought occurred to him, Su Yi shook his head.

He knew his mother-in-law’s personality far too well. Once a treasure like that fell into her hands, there was no way she’d cough it back up.

Suddenly, someone pushed open the gate to his courtyard, and Qin Qing’s bossy, demanding voice rang out. “Hey moocher, come on out!”

Su Yi froze. What a coincidence!

He rose to his feet and left the room. Outside, he saw Qin Qing. The moonlight illuminated her and her inky green dress, right down to her mature beauty and graceful, swaying gait.

She was already middle-aged, but her skin was fair and clear, her eyes were bright, and her features were both beautiful and symmetrical. Furthermore, she’d taken excellent care of herself. It was no wonder that both of her daughters were so extraordinarily beautiful.

“Did you need me for something?” Su Yi walked to her. It had been a year since his marriage into the Wen Family, but he’d never once called his in-laws “Mom” or “Dad.”

Qin Qing didn’t mind, either.

At today’s banquet, Fu Shan and Huang Yunchong, and the others’ arrival let her hold her head up high. Her time in the spotlight left her in abnormally high spirits.

When she looked at Su Yi, even he didn’t seem quite as detestable as before.

She got straight to the point. “As you know, Huang Yunchong gave our family two pieces of Nine-Leafed King Ginseng, and Fu Shan gave us a gift box as well. I’m here to ask you what you plan to do with them.”

Despite himself, Su Yi was surprised. How could someone as shrewd as his mother-in-law take the initiative to discuss this with him?

“I have nothing to say on the matter,” he said casually.

Qin Qing snorted, then complained, “I have no idea what the matriarch is thinking! Why did she insist I hand both gifts over to a leech like you?”

Su Yi instantly understood what was happening.

The matriarch knew what others didn’t. She knew Fu Shan and Huang Yunchong’s gifts were intended for him.

It was only natural that she wouldn’t let Qin Qing embezzle them. If that happened, and if Fu Shan and Huang Yunchong found out about it, they might very well take it up with the entire Wen Family.

Qin Qing glared at Su Yi. “You listen up! These gifts are for you and Lingzhao. That is to say, you can only take your share!”

With that, she took one of the two treasure boxes she was carrying and opened it.

Inside were two pieces of snow-white King Ginseng. Its root hairs were like silk floss, the main root crystal clear. With the box open, its fragrance quickly permeated the entire courtyard.

Even just one whiff boosted the spirit and calmed the heart.

Qin Qing gulped, increasingly resentful of the matriarch’s forceful intervention.

Otherwise, this ginseng was so incomparably precious, there was no way she’d give Su Yi so much as a single root hair!

“Choose one,” she said through gnashed teeth, feigning calm.

Su Yi inwardly thought it rather funny. One glance and it was obvious she felt that parting with treasure was like carving up her flesh.

“No, you choose first,” he said. “I’ll take whichever one is left.”

Qin Qing’s expression noticeably mellowed. “So, you’ve got a bit of filial piety in you after all. We didn’t spend a whole year feeding a sponger like you for nothing!”

As she spoke, she immediately snatched up the noticeably smaller piece of ginseng, as if she were afraid Su Yi would change his mind, and handed it to him. “Here, take it.”

Su Yi’s expression was strange, but he reached out to accept it.

Nine-Leafed King Ginseng was a spiritual medicine, and the quality of spiritual medicines wasn’t contingent on their size.

In this case, the smaller piece was actually higher quality….

Qin Qing was beautiful, but she’d never cultivated before. How could she possibly know something like that?

She closed the gift box with obvious relish. “I’ll leave the big one for Lingzhao. She’s cultivating at Heaven’s Origin Academy now, and she can surely put it to good use.

“Then there’s this box. City Lord Fu said to make sure to give it to you and Lingzhao to open. Open it yourself and have a look.” With that, she passed him the second box, her eyes shining with curiosity.

At the banquet, she saw it clearly—when the various VIPs in attendance heard that Fu Shan was delivering this on an eminent figure’s behalf, they were stunned!

Who was this person? Whoever they were, they were lofty enough to give even Fu Shan orders!

Even now, it was a mystery.

But the more mysterious someone’s identity, the more curious and reverent others would be.

Qin Qing was naturally no exception.

When Su Yi exerted strength through his finger tips, the gift box carved of rare black jade opened. A misty, faint golden light instantly billowed out and dispersed. Against the darkness of the night sky, it was particularly eye-catching.

Qin Qing’s eyes widened, and she held her breath. Her expression filled with shock, infatuation, and fanaticism.

Inside was a pair of rings carved of resplendent purple and gold crystal. The left ring’s surface was carved with a relief of a phoenix. It was vivid and lifelike, with two inlaid ruby fragments for eyes.

The ring on the left was carved with a coiling dragon, its head held high and its curled whiskers fluttering in the wind. It was so realistic, it almost looked alive.

This was a set of rings, a dragon and a phoenix, two symbols of prosperity!

“We’re rich, we’re rich! These are unquestionably rare and priceless treasures!” Qin Qing’s heart pounded and her eyes shone as she lit up with unconcealed delight.

Even Su Yi was surprised this time.

These rings weren’t simple. They were carved of pristine condition “Purple-streaked Gold”, a “spiritual material”. It contained spiritual energy, and was in no way comparable with ordinary metals.

The phoenix’s eyes were made of “Crimson Spirit Gems.” Although they were each only the size of a sesame seed, they were each worth ten thousand gold!

Taking a second glance at the dragon, he saw that its eyes were formed of “Spirit Obsidian”, a spiritual material full of abundant spiritual energy. Within the mundane world of the Great Zhou, it was priceless!

Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin really spared no expense, Su Yu thought to himself.

These rings wouldn’t have been particularly precious in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds.

However, within the Great Zhou, they were unquestionably rare and marvelous treasures.

Qin Qing suddenly cleared her throat, and her eyes flashed. “Su Yi…. How about I put these rings safely into storage for now? Then, when Lingzhao returns, I can give them to you together?”

Su Yi smiled. He naturally saw right through her petty schemes.

“Do as you see fit,” he said straightforwardly.

Qin Qing’s beautiful features were suddenly uncertain. What’s ‘do as you see fit’ supposed to mean?

She wanted to confiscate both rings and keep them forever. The problem was, the matriarch wouldn’t let her!

“A precious object like this, falling into the hands of a deadbeat like you? What a reckless waste of treasure!” Qin Qing gnashed her teeth, picked up the dragon ring, and hatefully handed it over. “Here! Take it! Don’t lose it!”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Su Yi smiled and took it.

He knew full well that no matter how fierce, shrewd, and unreasonable his mother-in-law was, there was no way she’d go against the matriarch’s orders.

“Ee? There’s a letter in here too.” Qin Qing took a sealed envelope from the base of the gift box.

When she saw the words written on its surface, “For Master Su to open personally”, she was stunned.

“Master Su?” she asked. “Who’s that?”

“It’s for me,” said Su Yi. He reached out and took the envelope.

“You? ‘Master’ Su?” Qin Qing snickered as if she’d just heard a joke.

But then, throughout the entire Wen Family, only Su Yi was surnamed Su. Furthermore, this gift was intended for him and Wen Lingzhao. Despite her sneer, Qin Qing didn’t question it.

Su Yi ignored her jeers. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my room,” he said with a faint smile, then turned around.

When Lingzhao comes home, we have to find some way to get that ring back! Qin Qing grit her teeth and stomped before turning and leaving.

However, when she got back to her residence and her gaze swept across the mountain of gifts piled there, her mood instantly improved.

At tonight’s banquet, she and her husband had stood out, but that wasn’t all. As a result of drawing so much attention, many influential figures had approached them of their own accord, and they even came bearing no small number of gifts.

When she saw this glittering pile of gifts, Qin Qing smiled broadly, and her phoenix-like eyes closed. Lingzhao, that girl, sure is promising!

“Honey, isn’t it about time we retire for the night?” Wen Changtai walked in and wrapped his arm around Qin Qing’s slim and tender waist. His lips were already nearing her long, snowy neck.

Tonight, he was in incomparably high spirits, and he’d drunk more than usual.

Whap!

Qin Qing slapped Wen Changtai’s hand away from herself then said irritably, “Off to one side with you! You always just leave me hanging, every single time! Want to see me in bed? Get yourself in shape first!”

Then, she turned back to the treasure heap with great relish and started taking inventory.

Seeing this, Wen Changtai let out a long sigh.

Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.

Su Yi sat at his desk and opened the envelope, then took out a letter.

Xiao Tianque had written it. It was respectful, but its contents were mostly just polite niceties.

It was only at the very end that he got to the point. The letter said that due to an urgent family matter, he and his granddaughter Zi Jin had already left for Cloudriver Province. Should Su Yi need anything, he could go directly to City Lord Fu Shan for assistance.

In short, it was a goodbye letter.

After reading it, Su Yi casually held it over the candle and set it ablaze.

He could roughly gauge Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin’s intentions. They were undoubtedly just trying to build a stronger relationship with him, so there was no need for concern.

This Nine-Leafed King Ginseng will save me a lot of time cultivating. Su Yi’s gaze returned to the snow-white spirit ginseng sitting quietly on the desk.

Spiritual medicines were divided into nine tiers based on quality.

The lowest was tier one, the highest, tier nine.

This piece of Nine-Leafed King Ginseng was a tier-two spiritual medicine, valuable enough for even a Qi Accumulation-stage expert to treasure it!

For the sake of repairing our relationship, Huang Yunchong sure spared no expense, thought Su Yi. Two pieces of Nine-leafed King Ginseng, a pair of tier-two spiritual medicines, was priceless. Moreover, at least within Guangling City, there was no way to purchase them!

Then, Su Yi glanced at the dragon ring carved of “Purple-streaked Gold”, and his heart stirred.