Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Emperor Yuan Feng clutched his chest as his vision darkened.
His heart ached. He felt terrible.
What is this called?
Donât you feel sorry for your father?
Even the imperial family canât withstand such torment.
He felt dizzy when he thought of what Yin Wuyou had taken away.
Forget it. I am the emperor. How can I be petty?
Emperor Yuan Feng comforted himself. He rubbed his chest and let out a long sigh.
In contrast, Yin Wuyou left the imperial palace in high spirits.
She was smiling, and her eyes showed contentment. Her high-spirited appearance made the entire sky brighten up.
Hmph, Zhou Shu, quickly thank me!
â¦
Zhou Shu didnât expect Yin Wuyou to arrive so quickly. As expected of the princess, she was rich.
She gathered ten thousand taels of gold so quickly!
âGrand Minister, cash or banknotes?â Zhou Shu said with anticipation.
Ten thousand taels of gold, how much was this?
No matter how much, he had never touched so much money in his two lifetimes!
Should I change them all to gold bars and fill my bed??Zhou Shu thought.
âNeither,â Yin Wuyou proudly said. âThis is for you!â
She carefully and solemnly took out a jade pendant from her bosom.
âWhat is this?â Zhou Shu was puzzled.?I just want money. Why do you want to exchange this with me?
I donât need the jade pendant. If I take it, Iâll have to sell it. Itâll be a hassle.
Couldnât you just give me money?
Yin Wuyou looked around and whispered cautiously, âEmperor Xuan Jade Book!â
âEmperor Xuan Jade Book? What is it?â Zhou Shu was puzzled.
âSomething good!â Yin Wuyou said as she presented it to him.
âYou know about Emperor Xuan, right?â
âI donât know.â Zhou Shu shook his head.
He really didnât know and didnât pay attention to it at all.
âEmperor Xuan was the founder of our Great Xia. His real name is Yin Daoxuan, and he was also our Great Xiaâs first forger.
âNot only was Emperor Xuan a forger, but he was also a powerful martial artist. Back then, he dominated the world and was invincible in the world.
âThis Emperor Xuan Jade Book was left behind by Emperor Xuan.â
Zhou Shu looked at the small jade pendant in Yin Wuyouâs hand in shock. Although he didnât know who exactly Emperor Xuan was, he could tell that he was an extremely impressive person.
How could someone who was said to be invincible in the world be a simple character?
Not to mention, he was the founding emperor of Great Xia.
âThe Emperor Xuan Jade Book is a cultivation technique that my ancestor Emperor Xuan cultivated back then. But ever since the ancestor disappeared, no one has been able to cultivate this Emperor Xuan Jade Book anymore.â
âIn that case, why did you bring it here?â Zhou Shu asked.
âFor you.â
âFor me?â
âThatâs right.â Yin Wuyou nodded. âIn any case, no one in the imperial family can cultivate it now, so itâs just collecting dust there. Moreover, I feel that Emperor Xuan was a genius in martial arts and forging. Youâre very similar to him, so you might be able to cultivate this Emperor Xuan Jade Book!â
Zhou Shu was somewhat stunned.
He didnât know if he could cultivate the Emperor Xuan Jade Book. Even if he could, he didnât have any expectations for his own aptitude.
Besides, he didnât lack cultivation techniques. Why would he need the Emperor Xuan Jade Book?
âIsnât this too precious?â Zhou Shu said.
âThereâs nothing wrong with you receiving it. You exchanged it with a heaven-grade weapon. You donât have to stand on ceremony.â Yin Wuyou waved her hand.
Zhou Shu was speechless.?Me? Stand on ceremony?
Iâm not standing on ceremony. I donât want this thing. I want money!
I want money. Do you understand?
He felt like he had jumped from one pit to another.
That fellow Shen Yue had used a heaven-grade weapon to pay off his betting debt, and it was the heaven-grade weapon he had lost!
Forget about that. Zhou Shu wanted to sell the heaven-grade weapon to Yin Wuyou for money.
In the end, Yin Wuyou didnât even give money and directly gave him some useless Emperor Xuan Jade Book!
Zhou Shu looked at Yin Wuyouâs magnanimous appearance and couldnât express the bitterness in his heart.
From Yin Wuyouâs attitude, she had good intentions.
She even gave him the cultivation technique of Great Xiaâs founding emperor. Even if Zhou Shu didnât understand it, he could imagine the value of this cultivation technique.
It was probably not something that a mere heaven-grade weapon could compare to.
There was a high chance the cultivation technique was Great Xiaâs investment in him.
The problem was, he didnât want this. He wanted moneyâ¦
âThis Emperor Xuan Jade Book is quite magical. When you want to read it, you just have to infuse spiritual essence into it, and words will appear,â Yin Wuyou said. âOh, I forgot. You havenât cultivated spiritual essence yet. Itâs alright. Iâll help you!
âLetâs go!â Yin Wuyou pulled Zhou Shu away without any explanation.
Zhou Shu didnât see that Yin Wuyou, who was walking in front, was blushing like an apple, beautiful and alluring.
Zhou Shuâs baronâs residence was next door to the princessâs residence. Yin Wuyou and Zhou Shu entered the baronâs residence and found a random room before closing the door and windows.
A man and a woman alone had closed the door and windows tightly. There was ambiguity in the air.
But Yin Wuyou didnât seem to notice anything unusual. She held the Emperor Xuan Jade Book and infused spiritual essence into it.
Buzzâ
With a soft buzz, the jade pendant suddenly emitted a bright yellow light.
The light was like a projection projecting into the air. Then three-dimensional words appeared.
3D projection??Zhou Shu thought.
âLook!â Yin Wuyou said anxiously.
From the moment Yin Wuyou returned with the Emperor Xuan Jade Book to the moment she directly activated it, Zhou Shu didnât find a chance to refuse her.
How could he reject her now?
In any case, he couldnât get the heaven-grade saber back, and there was no hope for him to get money. He couldnât possibly spend all that effort for nothing.
It would be a waste not to learn the Emperor Xuan Jade Book!
Zhou Shu cursed as his gaze landed on the golden words in the air.
The Emperor Xuan Jade Book didnât have many words, only about three thousand.
Zhou Shu had cultivated the Visualization of the Five Mountainsâ True Form, so his spirit was very strong. Although he didnât have a photographic memory, he wasnât too far off.
He quickly browsed through it a few times and memorized the words.
The Emperor Xuan Jade Book, or rather, the cultivation path of this world, was different from the Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique and Golden Bell Shield Technique that Zhou Shu was currently cultivating.
The Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique cultivated the body, while the Golden Bell Shield Technique cultivated true qi on the foundation of cultivating the body.
There was no such thing as true qi or internal strength in this world. People absorbed the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into their bodies and converted it into spiritual essence. Then they would break through and improve.
Although the methods were different, the principles were similar.
Zhou Shu pondered over the contents of the Emperor Xuan Jade Book and then attempted to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into his body.
The first step of cultivation was to calm oneâs mind and focus while sensing the existence of heaven and earthâs spiritual qi.
Zhou Shuâs mind stirred slightly. He began to visualize the Five Mountainsâ True Form in his mind. His mind immediately calmed down, and all of his distracting thoughts disappeared.
Suddenly, the scene in front of him changed.
There seemed to be particles emitting light in the air. Some were golden, some were purple, and some were blue. They were colorful and looked like stars filling the sky. It was very beautiful.
Zhou Shu used his consciousness to form a small hand and attempted to grab the particles into his body.
Multicolored particles touched the hand formed by his consciousness. Most of them were like fish escaping the net, spreading in all directions.
Only some golden and red particles entered his body through his consciousness.
As these particles entered his body, Zhou Shu felt as if his entire body was soaking in a hot spring. A warm feeling filled his whole body. The feeling made him so comfortable that he wanted to moan.
Before he could moan, lines of messages suddenly floated across the starry sky.
[The Horse Slaying Saber you forged effectively completed a kill. The Golden Bell Shield Technique has improved by 30%!]
[The Horse Slaying Saber you forged effectively completed a kill. The Golden Bell Shield Technique has improved by 12%!]
â¦
[The Spring Embroidered Saber you forged effectively completed a kill. The Visualization of the Five Mountainsâ True Form has improved by 5%!]
â¦
There was only one Spring Embroidered Saber on the southern borders battlefield, and it was in Sun Gongpingâs hands.
What the hell is a 5% improvement for the Visualization of the Five Mountainsâ True Form?
Is Sun Gongping only targeting small fries?
He had forgotten that the Visualization of the Five Mountainsâ True Form was on a higher level than the Golden Bell Shield Technique and Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique. It was naturally more difficult to level up.
Before he could think any further, Zhou Shu was suddenly rendered speechless.
This is bad!
Boom!
A fierce aura suddenly erupted from his body, and a faint golden light radiated from his body. In an instant, he seemed to have turned into a golden man.
Golden Bell Shield Technique, tenth level!
The sudden feedback caused his Golden Bell Shield Technique to break through to the tenth level!
The commotion caused by his breakthrough dumbfounded Yin Wuyou.
In her eyes, Zhou Shu had only finished reading the Emperor Xuan Jade Book, then closed his eyes and cultivated for a while. Then⦠thenâ¦
He entered the ranks?
Why is his aura after entering the ranks so terrifying?
Itâs even stronger than when I broke through to the third rank!
But the spiritual qi he absorbed was so little.
Could this be the profoundness of the Emperor Xuan Jade Book?
Itâs indeed the ancestorâs technique!
But it seems like Zhou Shu was a bit more powerful. Heâs only seen the Emperor Xuan Jade Book for less than fifteen minutes, and heâs already entered the ranks?
What kind of aptitude is this!
Everyone said that she was a Martial Dao genius, but she had cultivated for a full month before breaking through to the ninth rank.
Just as Yin Wuyou was sighing with emotion, she suddenly saw a vortex visible to the naked eye above Zhou Shuâs head. A large amount of spiritual qi of heaven and earth surged into his body.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened so wide that a duck egg could fit inside.
Itâs not over yet??Zhou Shu was also somewhat dumbfounded.
He didnât understand what was happening.
After his Golden Bell Shield Technique broke through to the tenth level, he originally planned to open his eyes and come up with a reason to explain it to Yin Wuyou.
But he felt that the Emperor Xuan Jade Book that he had just learned began to automatically circulate and absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth!
Then he felt the amount of spiritual essence in his body increasing. The entire process seemed to happen naturally, and he didnât need to waste any energy.
It felt likeâ¦
His body was an empty bucket, and the spiritual qi of heaven and earth seemed to be pouring into it.
Zhou Shu didnât know what was happening, but he knew that he couldnât allow the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to continue pouring in. Otherwise, he wouldnât be able to explain the situation.
Even though he was a genius, it had to make sense!
He visualized the Five Mountainsâ True Form, and his spirit jolted as he forcefully cut off the circulation of the Emperor Xuan Jade Book.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that he seemed to be a genuine ninth-rank martial artist.
Thatâs right. From the depth of the spiritual essence in his body, he had already entered the ranks and became a glorious ninth-rank martial artistâ¦
Zhou Shu was somewhat speechless. He was still not a Forging Master, yet he became a ninth-rank martial artist first?
How was he going to explain this?
âGrand Ministerâ¦â Zhou Shu looked at Yin Wuyou and tried to think of a reason to brush her off.
âAh!â Yin Wuyou suddenly shut her mouth and almost bit her tongue. âZhou Shu, I was right about you. You can really cultivate the Emperor Xuan Jade Book!
âBack then, my ancestor obtained the Emperor Xuan Jade Book and entered the ranks in one day as well. Youâre even more powerful than my ancestor!â
Zhou Shu was speechless.?Your Highness, are you trying to kill me with your words?
I am more powerful than the founding emperor of Great Xia?
What would your father think of me?
âThatâs great! I want to tell this good news to Father!â Yin Wuyou excitedly rushed outside.
âDonâtââ Zhou Shu couldnât stop her in time, so he could only watch as Yin Wuyou ran like a little bird toward the imperial palace.
She doesnât seem to have discovered my true strength. She just thinks that Iâve cultivated the Emperor Xuan Jade Book and broken through to the ninth rank?
Zhou Shu recalled Yin Wuyouâs words and came to a realization.
If thatâs the case, itâs actually a good thing.
In any case, the origin of the Emperor Xuan Jade Book was open and aboveboard. As for breaking through to the ninth rank, it was a little fast, but there was nothing suspicious about it.
He was only worried that his true strength would be discovered by others. If a Forging Apprentice suddenly became a peerless expert, everyone would know that he was hiding something. Then, it would be hard to guarantee that there wouldnât be experts who had their eyes on him.
As for being treated as a genius, Zhou Shu wasnât that worried.
There were many geniuses in the world. At most, they would occasionally be assassinated. But not many powerful experts would be sent for the assassinations. Would Zhou Shu be afraid?
In any case, he was already being treated as a forging genius. It was no big deal to be treated as a Martial Dao genius.
In the eyes of Emperor Yuan Feng and the others, he should have been a Martial Dao genius long ago. When he had gone to the Saber Cave to comprehend the saber intent, he had immediately comprehended it.
Zhou Shu thought about it carefully and felt that it wasnât all bad that Yin Wuyou had witnessed his breakthrough.
At least in the future, when he occasionally made a move in front of others, it wouldnât arouse suspicion.
Using this portion of his cultivation to display in front of others to conceal his true strength might be even more effective.
Ranked martial artists seem to be qualified to become officials. But Iâm already a baron now. This qualification is useless to me. What a waste.
â¦
Yin Wuyou excitedly rushed to the imperial palace but was stopped by Eunuch Zhao at the entrance of the imperial study.
âYour Highness, His Majesty is discussing important matters with the court ministers. No one is to disturb him.â
âEven me?â
âHis Majestyâs instructions are for everyone,â Eunuch Zhao said profoundly.
Yin Wuyou frowned. âAlright, when Father is free, get someone to inform me. I have something to report!â
With that, she left unhappily.
Eunuch Zhao only returned to the imperial study after Yin Wuyou left.
There were no ministers in the imperial study. Emperor Yuan Feng looked up from his memorial. âGone?â
âYes, sheâs gone,â Eunuch Zhao said.
âThis girl has been so startling recently that even Iâm afraid of her.â Emperor Yuan Feng shook his head with a wry smile.. âEunuch Zhao, keep an eye on her. Before the Standard Armament Manual is released, if Wuyou comes looking for me again, stop her!â