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Translator: Fate
Proofreader: Silavin
Hearing that, Ji Qingxuan hastily went to make some tea before she could wash away the inky doodles drawn by Gu Changge on her face.
Earlier, she asked Gu Changge whether she needed to prepare anything. Since he invited guests over for some tea, it would be too derisive if there wasn’t even tea on the table by the time they arrived.
However, Gu Changge simply waved and said that nothing was needed, and the tea-drinking was of no importance right now.
Therefore, Ji Qingxuan stopped asking about it as she could already tell that the Saintess of Purple Mansion would not be walking out of the palace tonight. Even if she could, it would be at a great price.
“Greetings, Young Master Changge.” Liu Ziyan’s facial expression was rather hideous when she entered the palace, but she swiftly regained her composure, after which she politely greeted Gu Changge.
Before she arrived, she already gave Gu Changge’s countless troubling methods a thought, but she never expected that he would only prepare tea at her arrival without any sort of preparations. Such a condescending attitude of his sparked fury in Liu Ziyan’s heart, yet she could only hold it in and respond with a courteous smile. Not only was he too lazy to prepare for the deceptive banquet, he was also as rampant as the rumours claimed him to be.
With that in mind, Liu Ziyan forced herself to calm down. If she were to stir up conflict, she still wouldn’t be able to defeat Gu Changge although injured. Even if he was up against the rest of the young prodigies despite his current state, he would still remain undefeated. He was truly that terrifying of a person.
“Greetings, Young Master Changge!”
The disciples of Purple Mansion behind Liu Ziyan were also anxious and restless as they politely greeted him in fear. Although Gu Changge appeared harmless and was even emitting an extraordinary, otherworldly aura. Regardless, a man was only given a deserved reputation. Only when one were to face Gu Changge could they feel the alarming intimidation and fear he emmited.
“Bring the rest of the disciples to another chamber, and treat them well. I have something else to discuss with Saintess Zhi Yan. Honestly, I never expected you to arrive this fast, Saintess Zhi Yan. Qingge is always slacking off all day. I told her to prepare the tea early on, but she wasn’t willing to. I’ll have to teach her a good lesson once I have the time. I hope you are not disappointed by the poor service, Saintess Zhi Yan.” Gu Changge amiably smiled as he walked down after instructing Wang Zhong, who was by the door.
Hearing that, Ji Qingxuan, who was not far away, rolled her eyes. [Me? Slacking off? I have always been the one who takes the initiative!]
She finally got to experience Gu Changge’s blame-shifting methods first-hand.
“You flatter me, Young Master Changge. Every prodigal damsel would die to meet you! It is my honour and luck to share tea with you, Young Master Changge. All the prodigal damsels would be overtaken by jealousy if they hear of this!” Upon those words, Liu Ziyan’s heart skipped a beat, but she managed to keep herself composed, after which she smilingly replied with utmost vigilance.
She was rather confident Gu Changge wouldn’t be bold enough to attack her so mindlessly. Even if he had a grudge against Sky King Zhi Yang, it would be wrong for him to vent his disaffection on her. Besides, if anything were to happen to her, Gu Changge would be the first to be suspected. After all, many had witnessed her arrival at Gu Changge’s palace.
“Saintess…” The disciples of Purple Mansion looked at Liu Ziyan with their concerned faces. If something were to happen after they were taken away, they wouldn’t be able to stop it.
“Do you not trust Young Master Changge’s righteous personality?” Liu Ziyan blandly questioned, implying that if anything were to happen to her, Gu Changge would be the first suspect, so her fellow disciples had nothing to worry about. As for his ‘righteous personality’ based on the rumours, he would not do anything to them.
At once, the disciples of Purple Mansion were relieved and allowed Wang Zhong to take them away. Although Gu Changge claimed to be hosting a tea party, everyone on the spot, being no fool, was able to tell that this was a confinement trap.
As of now, the entire Black Tortoise Empire had fallen under his control. Although he previously chose Vermilion Bird Empire to be the location of his trial, things changed when Sky King Zhi Yang disappeared, adding to the fact that the King with Six Crowns preferred to maintain a low profile and stay out of the seizing of powers.
Thereupon, no one in Black Tortoise Empire, not even the disciples of Purple Mansion, would dare to disobey his orders. And now that he wished to confine them, even if the Elders of the Immortal Academy were informed about this, they would simply look past it without stopping him.
“It seems you bear some deep misunderstanding against me, Saintess Zhi Yan, given how wary you are against me…” Gu Changge shook his head with a helpless smile. He then pointed at the seat before him, signalling Liu Ziyan to sit down.
Nodding, Liu Ziyan took the seat. Indubitably, she didn’t believe Gu Changge as she was no gullible three-year-old. As she possessed the rational mind to draw the line between truth and falsehood, she could easily differentiate a good person from a bad one.
All of a sudden, she turned to the chess set not far away and curiously asked, “Is playing chess one of your pastimes, Young Master Changge?”
She had some knowledge regarding chess, and although she was by no means an elite, she still knew the basics, two parties of black and white respectively that would start from either end of the chessboard. From the simple chess set, one could actually perceive the wonders of the world and even the cultivation level of a player.
Out of nowhere, she saw the chess pieces come to life as pieces of black and white suddenly levitated, resembling a Roc that was about to soar from the waters. As the winds swirled into Yin and Yang, the Roc then took flight towards the high sky.
Accordingly, the Yin and Yang would combine into chaos, which then split the sky apart, turning the chess pieces ambiguous, as if they morphed into living beings, factions and forces, almighty beings of ancient times, as well as apex dominators.
[Perceiving all lives as chess pieces…] Liu Ziyan sounded rather shaky in her mind. In that instant, she felt nothing but fright as she found no words to describe him.
[Unpredictable… Tip of an iceberg… The cultivation level that he displayed is merely the tip of an iceberg. Who knows what else he is hiding? Perhaps no one except himself.] As such, Liu Ziyan had a hard time controlling her emotions as she never expected to witness such an occurrence.
Observing her expression, Gu Changge somewhat figured what she saw, yet he wasn’t bothered by it as he smilingly replied, “It’s not really a pastime. I simply play it to kill some time. Well, since I’m gravely injured now, I can only stay in the chamber. After all, I’m not allowed to go anywhere else.
Staring deeply at him, Liu Ziyan then heaved a sigh, after which she asked, “So, to what do I owe the pleasure, Young Master Changge?”
She already decided in her heart that she must not offend him, and she didn’t make the decision based on her intuition, but she already detected the spine-chilling sensation just by looking at the strangeness from the chess set. It was as though she took a glimpse of some dark, terrorizing secret. It seemed to be such a deep dark terrifying secret, that in this whole world, he was using all living beings as mere chess pieces. Not even those who achieved the Great Dao would dare to be as bold as Gu Changge.
“Honestly, I invite you over simply for some tea. Why don’t you believe me?” Gu Changge helpless smiled. His eyes remained calm, emitting a reassuring sensation.
“Young Master, the tea is done…” At that moment, Ji Qingxuan brought the newly brewed tea over.
Still boiling with steam, the tea brewed with an eight million year old Spring Tree Core emitted an incomparably dense fragrance. The tea leaves within resembled the Enlightenment Tea Leaves as they were covered in a certain divine quality while celestial energy wafted, yet they were clearly different from the actual Enlightenment Tea Leaves.
Some of them possessed the shape of ancient clocks as a slight tremble would let out a ring, while some others were in the shapes of cauldrons, swords, and so on. The colourful godly gleams on the tea were subtly glowing above the tea, as if a portal to a storage full of godly weapons opened up in the sky. Axes, pitchforks, swords, and flails, every weapon was in an ethereal form, as if they were about to solidify.
“This tea is quite wondrous.” At once, Liu Ziyan was dazed. As the Saintess of Purple Mansion, she had seen plenty of treasures. Yet, it was her first time encountering such a tea. Forget the exquisiteness of the tea, the precious tea leaves were ones that she had never set her eyes upon, and she managed to learn some things today.
In that instant, she grew confused as to Gu Changge’s motive, wondering if he genuinely invited her over for some tea. However, the arrogance of his followers earlier was simply unacceptable. Now that she compared him to Wang Zhong, his follower, she thought it could be possible that Gu Changge’s followers were used to being smug. After all, with such a reputable man as their leader, none would dare to upset them.
“I grew these unnamed tea leaves myself. I combined the branches of Enlightenment Tea Leaves and the leaves of other ancient tea, and ‘invented’ this abomination…” Gu Changge warmly smiled as he politely introduced the tea to Liu Ziyan.
But of course, those were complete nonsense. Although he fancied enjoying tea, growing one all by himself was too troublesome as he was one who preferred the result rather than waiting along the process. As for the unnamed tea leaves, he acquired them from the System Shop solely to use it as a conversation starter.
“I see. To think that you have such a pastime, Young Master Changge… But it certainly impressive that you came up with such a way to grow tea leaves.” Liu Ziyan’s eyes were glistening vibrantly as she spoke those words from her heart, given that she was genuinely astounded. In fact, she wasn’t exactly interested in cultivating, as she was more drawn to her other artistic hobbies. For instance, music, chess, reading, drawing, tea-tasting, art, and dance, and she was more thorough with these hobbies.
Furthermore, she was quite well-informed regarding the ancient teas around the world, so she could identify Gu Changge was telling the truth, but never had she expected him to be so knowledgeable about teas.
“It seems you are a tea enthusiast as well, Saintess Zhi Yan. Please!” Gu Changge said with a subtle smile, after which she invited Ji Qingxuan to refill their cups before voicing out his motive.
“To be frank, Saintess Zhi Yan, I invited you over for another matter.” At that moment, even if he didn’t say it, Liu Ziyan could already tell what he was coming to.
In response, she bitterly grinned and stated, “I know you are trying to find Sky King Zhi Yang, but honestly, even I couldn’t come in contact with him. About half a month ago, I sent a message to him, but since then, I have not received one word from him. If Zhi Yang was truly working with the Successor of Demonic Arts, I, naturally, wouldn’t let him off so easily.”
“Oh? So that’s what you’ve been assuming, Saintess Zhi Yan, but I’m afraid you misunderstood me.”
Nonetheless, upon those words, Liu Ziyan’s face stiffened as she was surprised. [I misunderstood him? He didn’t invite me over so that he could interrogate me about Zhi Yang’s whereabouts?]
Many thanks
Many thanks