Chapter 85: All Are Merely Nourishment for My Growth

Enemy?

They’re nothing but the nourishment for my growth.

Ye Liuyun had no intention of burying He Long.

You came here to kill me, and you still expect me to bury you? Just rot in the wilderness honestly.

Ye Liuyun gave him one last glance, then left directly.

,,,

"Master!"

After returning to the manor.

Looking at the soft and delicate Xing’Er, Ye Liuyun’s mood instantly lightened up.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Master!"

Even though they’d done more intimate things before, Xing’Er was still a little embarrassed by such a sudden gesture.

She buried her face in Ye Liuyun’s chest.

The other maids and servants nearby all tactfully lowered their heads, or looked the other way; this sort of thing was not for them to look at.

That night.

Ye Liuyun began testing the limits of his split-focus talent.

He was practicing saber techniques with his hands, while also cultivating the Cangyang Force.

The cultivation speed was a bit slower than when he trained Cangyang Force alone, but after all, it’s just the beginning—he wasn’t really used to it yet.

Besides, he was now practicing two cultivation techniques at once—even if the speed was slower, it was still way more efficient than before.

And Ye Liuyun also realized—

With this kind of talent, he could even dual-cultivate his inner power while doing other things.

Another cheat-level talent.

Thinking about how He Long, with this talent, was still only mid-Innate Realm... Ye Liuyun couldn’t help laughing.

"Did you really get it? This kind of talent should belong to me."

Ye Liuyun started honing his proficiency.

He wanted to be able to naturally cultivate his inner power and condense inner strength in his daily life, even while doing other things.

,,,

The next several days, nothing happened at all.

There was no movement from Old Ninth.

Most likely they hadn’t discovered He Long’s death yet.

Ye Liuyun couldn’t care less; apart from his daily Embroidered Uniform Guard duties, he spent all his remaining time cultivating.

Nothing could disturb my cultivation.

Meanwhile—

On Old Ninth’s side, having not heard from He Long for so many days, he finally sensed something was wrong.

If it was just a day or two, maybe he’d just taken off to have fun, but disappearing for this long—without a single word—that wasn’t something He Long had the guts to do.

After ordering an investigation—

They finally found He Long’s corpse rotting in the woods outside the Imperial City.

"Useless!"

In a luxuriously decorated courtyard, Guan Bao and Old Ninth’s second son, Yun Hu, were both kneeling on the ground, heads lowered, silent.

And before them stood a figure in splendid robes, age showing a bit in his features.

His face was caked in white powder, making him look unusually pale and fair.

Except that right now, that face looked especially grim.

"To think he died so easily—utter trash!"

Even Old Ninth didn’t have that many Innate Realm Martial Artists at his command—losing even one pained him terribly.

Yun Hu and Guan Bao, kneeling there, showed not the slightest hint of grief on their faces.

Even though they were "brothers" in name—both adopted sons of Old Ninth—there wasn’t any real brotherly feeling, only competition.

As long as He Long wasn’t dead, the two of them would always be stuck below.

Now that He Long was dead, they finally had a chance to rise up.

As for mourning? Yeah, right. Ha!

Still, with Old Ninth fuming, they definitely didn’t dare let their happiness show; Yun Hu spoke first.

"Godfather, according to our men’s reports, the one who killed our big brother is most likely that Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion, Ye Liuyun!"

"That’s right!"

Guan Bao quickly echoed in support.

"This Ye Liuyun is extremely cunning, and even dared to kill our big brother. I must avenge him."

No matter what they felt inside, they had to put on a show of loyalty in front of Old Ninth now.

"Is that so?"

Such little tricks—like Old Ninth couldn’t see through them.

He swept his gaze over them, eyes cold, and said flatly—

"Then you go and kill him."

"Uh!"

Guan Bao’s angry expression froze instantly.

He wasn’t an idiot—if even He Long, an Innate Realm Martial Artist, ended up dead, and he went? That’s pure suicide!

In fact, Guan Bao was a little relieved; good thing he hadn’t tried anything during his last meeting with Ye Liuyun—otherwise, he’d probably be dead by now too.

Nothing he could do; unable to disobey Old Ninth’s command, Guan Bao could only turn a pleading look to his "second brother," Yun Hu.

,,,

But Yun Hu, sensing his gaze, just calmly looked away—pretending not to notice.

Son of a bitch.

"Being able to ease godfather’s worries is my greatest honor."

Clearly, Guan Bao really didn’t dare go against Old Ninth’s orders.

Fortunately, Old Ninth wasn’t actually going to send Guan Bao to his death—even if his strength wasn’t great, he was at least obedient; it’d be a pity to lose him just like that.

"Enough. Keep kneeling."

Seeing Guan Bao about to get up, Old Ninth just said blandly—

"Yes, godfather!"

Knowing he wasn’t being sent to his death, Guan Bao felt some relief and kept kneeling.

Yun Hu, on the other hand, felt a twinge of disappointment inside.

If Guan Bao died too, he’d be the last man standing in this household of Old Ninth’s.

"You two, bring Ye Liuyun here."

Right now, Old Ninth couldn’t leave the palace at will; it’s not that he was under restriction—it’s just that there were too many headaches lately.

He recalled the other day in court—

He’d hinted, in and out of official business, that a few princes were building up private armies, probably up to no good.

In the past, Yan Shuzhu, as emperor, would have quickly come up with countermeasures—he never let anyone else worry about things like that.

But for some reason, now Yan Shuzhu wasn’t concerned at all. He even said, "Let them keep recruiting; if they all go to the army, there’ll be fewer people going hungry."

There were a lot of refugees everywhere.

If they were all conscripted, the number of refugees would go down instead.

When he heard that, not just Old Ninth—half the court was dumbfounded.

Seriously? You really believe the princes are just stopping the refugees from going hungry by expanding their forces?

But Yan Shuzhu’s attitude was absolutely clear now.

I don’t care.

Being the emperor is just for show anyway, no one listens to me.

You want to meddle? Be my guest.

Pissed him off, but Old Ninth knew better—his master was now in seclusion; if the Great Qian really fell into chaos, that was definitely not what the master wanted to see.

So—

This matter had to be resolved.

At this thought, Old Ninth’s face turned black, and the jade thumb ring on his finger shattered from the burst of inner power.

’Who the hell is behind this!’

Old Ninth couldn’t be sure—had Yan Shuzhu truly given up?

Or was someone masterminding behind Yan Shuzhu?

,,,,,