"Su Qing, Su Qing, you can’t be this pathetic."
"It’s just won..."
Su Qing slapped his cheeks. He’d almost lost control last night.
’What if she’s a Demoness?’
So, after so thought, Su Qing decided not to go.
After all, this was a world of Immortal Cultivation.
His Synthesizer could even create divine items.
’It was a little scary.’
Since there was Immortal Cultivation, the Demon Dao surely existed too. Su Qing shuddered just thinking about those soul-stealing, bone-lting Demonesses.
’I should try to stay inside as much as possible.’
’I’ll master the Divine Concealnt Technique and Geng tal Sword first, then we’ll see.’
’The Divine Concealnt Technique has to at least reach the second level, Divine Concealnt.’
Su Qing was only a few days away from achieving it.
After regaining his focus, Su Qing quietly continued his Cultivation in his room.
He had plenty of ti.
Su Qing still scheduled seven hours of practice a day for the two Techniques.
「Two days later.」
Because Su Qing was constantly in Cultivation, he was able to train for almost twenty hours a day.
The rest of the ti was spent recovering his physical and ntal energy.
In a way, this recovery period was also a form of slacking off.
[Divine Concealnt Technique 1, Divine Concealnt (242/100,000)]
Because of his sudden change of plans, Su Qing had grinded his Divine Concealnt Technique all the way to the Divine Concealnt level.
Su Qing didn’t look in the mirror often. If he had, he would have noticed that after reaching the Divine Concealnt level, the kaleidoscopic colors in his pupils had faded significantly.
His aura was also no longer as striking.
’This Divine Concealnt Technique is clearly much harder than Geng tal Sword.’
Su Qing grumbled to himself. The experience needed for the Divine Concealnt Technique had suddenly jumped to one hundred thousand.
There was no way he could grind out that much Skill Level in a short amount of ti.
In the past two days, his Geng tal Sword had only increased by 30 Skill Level.
After all, once he reached the Divine Concealnt level, Su Qing had reverted to his previous training schedule.
Su Qing cultivated for a while longer.
Then, soone ca and knocked on the door of his residence.
After the Demon Fiend announced the visitor, Su Qing recalled it.
He opened the door to his house.
"Yinyin? What are you doing here?"
Su Qing asked, puzzled. He wondered if Xu Ningying needed him for sothing.
"Young Master Su, my lady sent to find you. She wishes to ask if you’d be willing to participate in this year’s New Year’s festival and accompany her to the celebration at the Imperial Palace."
This "Danri" was, by tradition, the local New Year’s celebration.
It also marked the beginning of a new year.
The twelve animals of the zodiac were still a popular tradition in this world.
’Go to the Imperial Palace?’
Su Qing thought for a mont. "When is it?"
"The festival is tomorrow."
"Oh... alright. What ti is the celebration tomorrow?"
"Early in the morning~ My lady also needs to head to the Imperial Palace at dawn."
Su Qing nodded. "Alright, alright. I’ll go and check it out."
"In that case, Young Master Su, please co to the estate a bit early tomorrow. You’ll need to be dressed appropriately."
"..."
’Appropriately?’
Su Qing nodded with a sense of resignation.
’Are my current clothes not appropriate enough?’
After another day of Cultivation,
Su Qing headed to Xu Ningying’s residence before dawn.
The whole estate was brilliantly illuminated.
As soon as he entered, a maidservant led him to where Xu Ningying was.
He saw that Xu Ningying was not in her usual attire. She was dressed in formal robes, her rouge applied perfectly, and her fair, delicate face held a rosy blush.
Her hair was arranged in an elaborate style Su Qing didn’t recognize. He was struck by its sheer volu; coiled up, it looked both elegant and grand.
"Su Qing, you’re here?"
Xu Ningying offered a slight smile, her charm blooming naturally. Watching her, Su Qing felt his heart skip a beat.
"I’m here."
"Take him to another room. Xiaoli, have so people help Young Master Su get dressed. Pick out sothing festive for him to wear."
"Yes. Young Master Su, please co with ."
Xiaoli lowered her head and spoke softly to Su Qing.
Su Qing nodded. "Alright, I’ll go. I’ve never been to the Imperial Palace before."
’Good thing I don’t have to wear rouge.’
They simply washed his hair, tied it up, and fitted him with a formal headpiece.
It made Su Qing look much more dashing.
"Young Master Su, please choose your formal robes."
Faced with more than a dozen sets of formal robes, Su Qing was struck with indecision.
"Then... I’ll take the one with red. It’s a bit more festive."
"Yes."
Su Qing beca a living mannequin, holding his arms out and letting the maids drape the heavy robes over him.
Once he was dressed, Su Qing looked in the mirror. Not bad at all.
’Handso.’
’I’m handso, too.’
The outfit was a complete set, from head to toe.
It was a perfect match.
Most importantly, it was winter attire.
It only took Su Qing half an hour to get ready, but Xu Ningying still needed quite a bit more ti.
The sky was still dark.
Finally, Xu Ningying was also ready.
She wore a red robe embroidered with nurous patterns, making her look incredibly dignified.
"You look very handso, Su Qing." Xu Ningying’s eyes lit up when she saw him dressed up.
"You too, Xu Ningying."
"Alright, let’s get into the carriages."
"We need to be there for the New Year’s assembly at dawn."
Su Qing nodded.
Because of their cumberso formal robes,
Su Qing and Xu Ningying each took a separate carriage to the Imperial Palace.
The ride was smooth, and after about ten minutes,
"Young Master Su, we have arrived,"
the carriage driver said softly.
"Alright, I’m coming out."
The heavy robes felt like shackles, but they were certainly warm.
After Su Qing erged from his carriage, Xu Ningying erged from hers.
By the ti they stepped out of the carriages, the sky had already begun to lighten.
Xu Ningying led the way, with Su Qing walking beside her.
"Carriages generally aren’t allowed to travel within the Imperial Palace."
"Follow , and try not to talk much along the way."
Su Qing nodded with a soft "Mm."
Along the way, Xu Ningying presented a Token at every checkpoint, granting them unimpeded passage.
Many officials they passed nodded to Xu Ningying as a sign of respect.
They were particularly surprised to see Su Qing at her side, and their gazes toward him held an even deeper level of respect.
Su Qing pretended not to notice.
It was as if they all recognized him.
One or two would have been understandable, but when so many officials reacted the sa way, Su Qing was at a loss.
"What’s going on? Why are they all looking at with such reverence?"
Su Qing took advantage of a mont when no one was nearby to whisper to Xu Ningying.
"You really don’t know how famous you are?"
"You’re capable of Immortal Cultivation and you eliminated a Great Demon Fiend. How could they not be in awe of you?"
"After you arrived in Shangjing, there’s no way these people wouldn’t have investigated you—unless you were a complete nobody."
Hearing this, Su Qing could only stare in stunned silence for a mont before letting out a resigned laugh.
"I guess it’s impossible to keep things hidden."
Su Qing followed Xu Ningying through a series of winding paths until they arrived at an enormous plaza.
It was imnse, and all the snow had been completely cleared away.
There were also quite a few people there.
Several hundred, perhaps even a thousand, people were gathered there.
When Xu Ningying presented her Token, a eunuch led them toward the front of the plaza.
"My Lady of the Demon-Extermination Bureau, this is the designated area for the Bureau."
Xu Ningying nodded slightly. "You may go about your duties."
"Well, if it isn’t little Ningying? All dressed up and looking so beautiful."
A woman approached and, without a word, hugged Xu Ningying from behind. She too was in formal attire, but her face was utterly bewitching.
She had alluring, almond-shaped eyes that seed to pull at one’s heartstrings with every glance.
She was also wearing a floral red formal gown, though she was bundled up snugly against the cold.
"Sister Xiaoling, you’re here already?"
"It’s been so long. I thought you weren’t returning to Shangjing this year."
The beauty known as Sister Xiaoling then noticed Su Qing standing to the side.
A gleam appeared in her eyes. After all, with his looks, Su Qing ranked among the most handso of Shangjing’s elites.
"Aren’t you going to introduce to the handso young man at your side? This sister likes what she sees."
"Sister Xiaoling, this is my Guardian."
"Su Qing. ’Su’ as in Liu Su, and ’Qing’ as in green grass."
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers