The moment that form of address was spoken, Xue Shuangtao's expression froze slightly. This was the Xue family estate—the young miss of the Xue family walking alongside the youngest guest retainer in thirty years was already eye-catching enough.
Now with Li Guanyi openly calling out "Xue Family Sister" without a hint of concealment, it naturally drew curious glances from all around.
At first, the girl didn't think much of it.
It was just a form of address.
Be generous, be open.
But somehow, when the surrounding gazes all landed on her, she instead felt her cheeks start to burn.
Looking at the shy, innocent-looking boy in front of her, she knew full well that this innocent demeanor was feigned, a response to what she had just said about being older than him. Yet even so, her cheeks grew even hotter. She pointed at him with her finger, biting her lips, you, you, you for several moments, unable to speak a complete sentence. Finally, she stomped her foot and snapped,
"Tomorrow, come early! Just you wait!"
With that, she turned and fled, her skirt blooming like a lotus as she spun, sleeves raised to cover her jade-like cheeks, leaving only her pair of beautiful eyes exposed. Even her forehead was flushed red as she hurried off.
The young man smiled faintly, murmuring to himself:
"Ah... youth."
"A lovely little girl indeed."
The people nearby looked on at this scene.
Spring was in full bloom—it was the season of fresh grass and songbirds, an age of youthful vigor. A heroic young man, and a blushing young girl.
They gazed at that youth with the bow on his back and a saber at his waist, and inwardly sighed, "Truly the time of youth... innocent and romantic."
Li Guanyi climbed into the carriage. Zhao Dabing drove along the carriage path on one side of the Xue estate, exiting through a side gate, and entering a broad avenue. The wheels rumbled, merging into the bustling crowd. Li Guanyi let out a slow breath and placed his saber across his lap.
His temperament quickly returned to that warm and calm demeanor.
Just a little girl, he told himself—but still, behaving like that was a bit embarrassing. He could feel the warmth lingering on his face.
He tugged at his collar slightly.
"It's too hot today."
Zhao Dabing glanced up at the sky—a perfectly cool early spring day. The man curled his lips but didn't say anything. He brought out a cloth bundle of salted roasted peanuts, sharing them with Li Guanyi, then took out a large waterskin of brewed tea with the fat sea (Malva nuts) floating in it, pouring a cup for the boy.
After they'd driven for some distance, Zhao Dabing finally spoke up:
"Brother Li, I have something to say. Just listen if you will."
"You and the young miss are of similar age, and the young miss's beauty… well, that goes without saying. You're also a talented youth. But…"
He hesitated. "Don't go having any other thoughts about the young miss."
Li Guanyi smiled.
"Why would you think I have such thoughts?"
Zhao Dabing said: "As long as you don't, that's good. You're a guest retainer now, yes, but even guest retainers are just that—guests of the Xue family. The guest retainers are divided into three ranks. Even among the top-ranking 'Upper Court Guest Retainers,' the most they've been allowed is to marry into the collateral branches of the Xue family. That's already an immense privilege."
"Do you know… about the young miss's second aunt? The old patriarch's daughter."
Li Guanyi quietly listened to Zhao Dabing's gossip about the main family. Zhao Dabing lowered his voice:
"Back then in the capital, she got involved with a young wastrel and was punished heavily by the patriarch. Later, she obeyed and married Prince Jing as a concubine."
"People didn't understand. Prince Jing was just a minor idle noble at the time, and while the Xue family wasn't an aristocratic clan, we were a prominent merchant family—why lower themselves to concubinage? But the old patriarch insisted. Everyone thought he was just finding a safe, respectable match for his daughter."
"Later, the previous emperor passed away, and after years of struggle… Prince Jing ascended the throne."
"That second young lady… became the Imperial Noble Consort."
Li Guanyi murmured,
"So the Xue family… is a royal merchant family."
"What about the previous eldest miss?"
Zhao Dabing hesitated. "Don't tell anyone I said this—it's an old story now. Back then, the eldest young lady ran off with a man she met while traveling. That man was a general of the Ying Kingdom. The old patriarch was furious and disowned her publicly."
"It's said that general was deeply grateful to her for that."
"Now he's the Grand Marshal of Ying, protector of the nation. Years ago, he battled with our Chen Kingdom's generals, drove back the Turks in the north, and opened trade routes to the west. His fame shakes the world."
"When relations between Ying and Chen were good, he tried to come back and visit the patriarch but was driven out. The eldest missed herself, pregnant at the time, and knelt outside in the rain all night, nearly fainting. The patriarch still refused to see her."
"Even His Majesty today thought the patriarch too ruthless."
"Even the emperor said the old master should show mercy, but he wouldn't relent. Said a daughter married to an enemy nation might as well not exist. He even tried to have himself imprisoned, until the emperor personally issued a decree to comfort him."
Li Guanyi's chewing slowed slightly.
Zhao Dabing recounted Xue Daoyong's fury in detail, filled with sympathy for the eldest miss and confusion about the old patriarch's ruthlessness—but Li Guanyi instinctively felt that Xue Daoyong was acting. The purpose of this act? Most likely to fool the Chen emperor.
Maybe it was because he was an outsider, or maybe because of the history education from his previous life, but Li Guanyi could see the moves clearly:
The old man married one daughter to Ying's Grand Marshal, another daughter to the emperor of Chen as his favored concubine, and his son controlled the trade routes to the Western Tribes. Yet the Chen emperor remained unsuspecting, and the Grand Marshal of Ying was filled with guilt and affection toward his eldest daughter.
And the old man himself?
He carried the White Tiger's mark.
He kept divine weapons.
The Xue family's estate even had lotus ponds and koi fish, their grand estate was called "The Pavilion of Listening to the Wind."
Listening… to what wind?
Zhao Dabing eventually dropped Li Guanyi off at his residence.
The boy watched the departing carriage before turning back inside. After recounting the day's events to his aunt and reheating the millet porridge he'd brought back, another thought struck him. Earlier, when holding the divine weapon, his mind had been chaotic—but oddly enough, he seemed to recall the sound of his aunt's guqin calming him.
Normally he disliked practicing the guqin.
But today, he sat down voluntarily to play.
His aunt, Murong Qiushui, watched him fondly, saying:
"My little raccoon is growing up."
Soon enough, it was time for chess.
As Murong Qiushui played the guqin to relax his mind, she also calmly dictated chess moves to crush Li Guanyi in their match.
Smiling mischievously, she said:
"My little raccoon's chess skills… still terrible. But much better than before. You must keep practicing and beat me someday!"
Li Guanyi: "..."
Chess had become his rare leisure in this era.
But losing every single game… was another matter entirely.
He'd been dubbed a 'terrible player' by his aunt, never having won a single match. She even forbade him from going out to play chess with others—if you can't even beat me, a woman, what's the point? Just to get mocked?
He couldn't argue.
After a day of wielding the divine weapon, receiving the inheritance, and exhausting his spirit, the guqin music left his mind feeling blurred, and the chess drained the last of his focus. After washing up, Li Guanyi collapsed into bed and quickly fell asleep.
When he woke again, it was already deep into the night.
He sat up, breathing deeply, lifting his inner robe to reveal the image of a bronze cauldron on his chest.
Two forms were etched upon it: a crimson dragon and a white tiger.
Unfortunately, only one could emerge at a time—when the dragon manifested, the tiger was suppressed by the cauldron, and vice versa.
Li Guanyi gazed at the perfected jade liquid.
Ninety-eight percent of it came from Xue Daoyong.
The last two parts… from the divine weapon: [Breaking Clouds, Shaking Heaven Bow].
What would happen now?
He closed his eyes, calmed his breath, and let his spiritual sense touch the bronze cauldron.
The cauldron trembled and tilted to one side.
That jade liquid suddenly poured forth. His inner strength cultivation method [Battle Formation Melody] was already at the twelfth level of perfection, and the liquid did not disturb its circulation. Instead, in his mind, those characters branded when holding the divine weapon lit up again—
[Three Ranks of Entry Method]
[One Arrow, Cold Light]
The second great archery art glowed brightly, but this time, it did not easily succeed as before—the path seemed blocked, the jade liquid unable to fully integrate. Li Guanyi focused on the godlike figure demonstrating the art.
He watched the divine general draw the bow, internal energy flowing, the divine manifestation coalescing into form—and finally, the arrow shot forth.
Soon even the divine general disappeared, leaving only glowing acupoints and meridians.
Li Guanyi mimicked that flow of inner strength.
After countless attempts—finally, success.
"So that's it… channel inner strength, match it with the manifestation, use inner power to fuel the manifestation, and rely on that form for the attack. Using the manifestation as the weapon itself."
At that moment of enlightenment, the blockage vanished.
The jade liquid surged forward, completing the circulation of [One Arrow, Cold Light] within his meridians.
A tiger's roar seemed to echo in his mind.
The Xue family's divine manifestation art: [One Arrow, Cold Light]—achieved!
—
Pavilion of Listening to the Wind, Xue Residence.
Thirteen luminous pearls hung suspended in the air, making the entire room as bright as daylight.
The old man was leafing through a letter, reading the final words from his son—a friend of his was coming to Guanyi City soon to discuss a major business venture.
After reading, the old man crushed the letter to ash in his palm.
Just then, he sensed something wrong.
The stillness of the night was too profound—even the chirping of insects ceased. The very air seemed to weigh down, making one's heart grow uneasy. The old man immediately appeared before the divine weapon.
[Breaking Clouds, Shaking Heaven Bow] remained in place, untouched.
The old man let out a slow breath, running his hand over the bowstring, recalling the moment that boy gripped the bow.
It had startled him.
He'd thought the boy might lift it.
Chuckling softly now, he stroked the bowstring—but then flinched in pain. Blood welled from his fingertip. Xue Daoyong blinked, stunned, as the [Breaking Clouds, Shaking Heaven Bow] trembled softly beneath his hand—as if a fierce tiger long hidden had stirred from its slumber and opened its eyes.
The old man's pupils contracted.
"…This is…"
In the next instant, the still air split like torn silk.
The bowstring reverberated violently.
Outside the Listening Wind Pavilion, every drop of water in the lotus pond instantly burst into mist, gathering together—forming a massive white tiger of qi, roaring skyward like a thunderclap.
A tiger's roar that shook the heavens—
The bowstring's resonant hum exploded, echoing endlessly.
Number one among the divine weapons of the world.
Breaking Clouds, Shaking Heaven Bow—Awakens!
(End of chapter)