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Chapter 232 Relaxation

Instructor Cao and his party of four arrived by night delivery cart from Shengjing Post Station, and did not arrive in Zhongxing County until this morning.

In his own words, he saved a day's room fee and only charged half price for overnight taxi rides, making him the most thrifty person in the world.

The good thing is that cultivators don't need much sleep; one hour of meditation can provide enough energy for several days.

When they arrived at the post station this morning, Pei Ruyi had already arrived. She had come by carriage from Fengzhou, an hour earlier than them.

After the four of them met up, they saw the note that Ji You had left with the innkeeper. They then rushed here, and as soon as they entered the garden, they felt a fluctuation of spiritual energy. Then they saw Yan Shuyi in the small building across the street.

She was ethereal and graceful, with a noble air, and her eyes held an air of pride and authority that commanded respect at first glance.

Cao Jingsong recognized the figure somewhat, but after thinking it over, he couldn't remember who it was.

Ban Yangshu, Wen Zhengxin, and Pei Ruyi felt that they had never seen such a beautiful fairy in their lives.

Yan Shuyi was also looking at them at this moment, her hands resting on the railing, unmoving, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

She was thinking about the Koreans, her mind was a bit full of things, including the image of bumping into Ji You preparing to take a bath that day, and the feeling of being lifted up in the bamboo forest, so much so that she didn't notice anyone approaching.

By the time Yan Shuyi noticed, all that was left was time to slip away.

When she landed on the small building behind, Cao Jingsong and the others had already looked over. She couldn't turn around and leave in a panic, so she made a gesture of leaning on the railing to admire the scenery.

Actually, I'm somewhat relieved that we didn't even kiss.

Because if they kiss, it would be very difficult for her to regain her authority as the appraiser in a very short time.

At this moment, Yan Shuyi curled up her legs, feeling the coolness of the floor, and realized that she seemed to have forgotten to put on her shoes again...

Cao Jingsong and the other three didn't dare to look for too long, after all, the woman's aloofness did put pressure on them. When they heard Ji You open the door, they came back to their senses and looked over, just as Ji You came out of the room.

Why did you only arrive today?

"The Heavenly Dao Society has been hosting banquets for the past few days, and we're not among them. Staying an extra day would be a waste of money. Coming today will save us two days' room fees, so why not?"

After hearing this, Cao Jingsong spoke with a shrewd and calculating expression.

Ban Yangshu then looked at Xian Jiyou and asked, "Junior Brother, how have you been these past two days?"

"It's alright. We can eat and drink without spending any money. It's more comfortable than robbing money at the Heavenly Academy. It's just that business is not good. I haven't met a single customer in the past few days."

"The good thing is that I can see this arrogant guy every day," Ji You couldn't help but add in her mind.

Wen Zhengxin and Pei Ruyi had just shifted their gaze from the small building opposite when they couldn't help but ask curiously, "Junior brother, who was that woman in that small building just now?"

"People from Spirit Sword Mountain."

Wen Zhengxin was somewhat surprised after hearing this: "So you are a disciple of Lingjian Mountain. I wonder why your temperament is so extraordinary."

Ji You glanced at the second floor across the street: "It's not surprising. After all, he's the appraiser. It's only right that he has some class."

"..."

"?!"

Upon hearing this, the four of them turned around abruptly, their eyes widening slowly. After seeing that Ji You was not joking, they all showed almost identical expressions of astonishment.

The people from Lingjian Mountain are so nonchalant.

They thought it was one of the female disciples who had been in seclusion for too long!

Before Ji You could speak, the four of them rushed out the door and continued to look back at the second floor they had just left.

No wonder that woman was like a goddess descended to earth; just by looking at her, she exuded an aura of majesty that made people unable to lift their heads. It turned out that she was Yan Shuyi, the next leader of Lingjian Mountain.

The most powerful woman in the world of Qingyun, the only one among her direct disciples to wield the weapon, and the youngest Boundless Realm master in a thousand years.

They had just had the honor of meeting such a person, yet they were completely unaware of it!
After searching for a while, the four of them discovered that Lingjianshan seemed to have already turned around and gone back to his room, leaving only the empty second floor.

Upon seeing this, the four of them instantly turned on Ji You with a furious expression.

"Why didn't you say earlier that she was the junior appraiser of Spirit Sword Mountain?"

Ji Youxin said, "You're blaming me? Why didn't you ask earlier?"

Wen Zhengxin's expression was full of regret: "I'm afraid I'll only get to see such a person once in my life, but I never expected it to be such an unexpected chance encounter."

Ji Youxin said that it was nothing, there would be plenty of opportunities to meet in the future. After all, you were all the worshippers in Ji Village who paid to work for me. Maybe I would even meet a mini version of the little appraiser in the future.

Thinking of the mini version of the little appraiser, Ji Hanfei couldn't help but recall that scene in the bamboo forest.

When we were playing the game of "Hit the Tiger with a Stick and Eat the Worm with a Chicken" earlier, I played a stick card, which definitely reminded her of something.

Looking at the small building across the street, Pei Ruyi couldn't help but wonder, "It's a bit strange. Why would disciples of my Heavenly Academy live with people from Spirit Sword Mountain?"

"There might be some kind of secret relationship, the kind that no one knows about. But even if there isn't, it's not surprising. The Chen Clan and the Mountain and Sea Pavilion have a feud over the mountain, yet they live next door to each other."

"So you're really lucky to live so close to someone like that."

"If it were a little stronger, it might be even closer."

Ban Yangshu sighed with admiration, "What was your reaction when you first saw the young master of Lingjian Mountain standing opposite you?"

After pondering for a long time, Ji You said, "They are truly a perfect match for me."

"?"

Upon hearing this, the four of them immediately became serious, and in unison took three steps away from him. They also loudly proclaimed to the empty, deserted building that they had absolutely no connection with Ji You.

Only after confirming that there was no movement from the small building across the street did they feel a little relieved, and they couldn't help but marvel at Ji You's audacity.

"Next time, inform the instructor before you speak."

"Why?"

"I need to clean house beforehand to avoid getting splashed on myself..."

After Cao Jingsong finished speaking, he stepped into the house first, looked around, and felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

This is what a proper room looks like! Unlike the inn they stayed in, which only had a bed and a stool and no room for anything else, and it was ridiculously expensive.

Wen Zhengxin and Pei Ruyi were also strolling around the room, showing particular interest in the decorations.

However, as they strolled around, their steps suddenly stopped, and unsurprisingly they saw a pair of shoes placed next to Ji You's bed, along with two white socks scattered beside them.

Upon seeing this, the two fairies held their breath, then exchanged a glance, turned to look at Ji You with strange expressions, and thought to themselves that the service provided by the Heavenly Dao Society was a bit too thorough.

Following their gaze, Ji You quickly noticed the shoes and socks on the ground and realized that Yan Shuyi had left barefoot again. So, with a surge of spiritual energy, she swiftly took the shoes and socks away.

Wen Zhengxin looked at him with great interest: "Junior brother is quite interested, in broad daylight..."

Ji You looked at them, unsure whether to interpret "in broad daylight" as an adjective or a verb.

At this moment, Pei Ruyi suddenly tugged at Wen Zhengxin's sleeve and glanced towards the tea table.

There were two teacups on the table, both still steaming, indicating that they had just been poured.

They exchanged a glance, then looked around the house from left to right, searching every corner.

In their view, the woman in the room might not have left yet; the tea was evidence, as were the shoes and socks, and they hadn't seen anyone walking out when they arrived.

However, after searching around, the two still couldn't find the person, and a hint of doubt appeared on their faces.

Cao Jingsong and Ban Yangshu snapped out of their reverie at the room's exquisite decor and, seeing Wen Zhengxin and Pei Ruyi's expressions, couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"There were women's shoes and socks that had just been taken off by my junior brother's bed, so we assumed there was another woman in the room."

"?"

After hearing this, Cao Jingsong's eyes immediately turned strange: "You wicked disciple, you're not idle at all even though you're here to participate in the Heavenly Dao Assembly? You even claim to be a novice disciple, don't smear our novice disciples."

Ban Yangshu nodded enigmatically, feeling that he shared some similar views with Instructor Cao.

After listening, Ji You couldn't help but glance at the small building across the street, thinking to himself that Yan Shuyi had ruined his reputation as the Pure Yang Child.

However, Cao Jingsong and the others were not there to concern themselves with Ji You's private life. As they chatted, the topic shifted to tomorrow's battle. Ji You took out the letter and handed it to them, which drew a glance from the four of them.

The Heavenly Dao Society's competition system is quite complex, as there are many participants and various group assignments. It took several people a long time to figure out how the participants could win.

"Your first match isn't until tomorrow afternoon? Looks like we've come at a really good time."

As Ji You poured tea, he said, "There are too many participants in the Tongxuan Realm. My group is at the back, so I was scheduled for tomorrow. But even though it's a day later, I won't miss a single match."

After listening, Cao Jingsong glanced at the memorial again: "If six people fight and three are chosen, how will the remaining three fight?"

"One of the three will receive a bye, waiting for the other two to decide who will then challenge them. In any case, only one of them can enter the second round, which is somewhat similar to defending the title."

"..."

As the sun began to set, footsteps echoed through Rusheng Garden once more.

He Lingxiu and the others returned, and the disciples of the academy also returned one by one, along with several elders, who gathered in the academy at the same time.

Shi Junhao, Chai Ze, Wang Gaocen, and Yu Shiliu all had their first matches today and won all four, earning high praise from the Dean of Affairs and several elders.

Although this, like Yan Hao's duel with Lü Qifeng, is just an appetizer for the entire Heavenly Dao Society, they believe that a successful start is a good omen.

In addition, they also discussed the performance of other immortal sects and aristocratic families, as well as some intelligence they had secretly gathered.

After last night's gathering of immortals, they all saw the unique spiritual flow of those who were in seclusion and trying to break through to a higher realm, and they knew that someone must be planning to break through to a higher realm in the face of battle. Today, they have finally gotten some clues.

There was an elderly man in his fifties named Lin Hong, who came from a prominent family in Yongzhou. He successfully broke through to the first realm of Yingtian last night at midnight.

This person had sensed a bottleneck in his cultivation years ago and had little confidence in the future. So he placed all his hopes on the places where the sages had proven their Dao. It is said that he had decided a year ago to suppress his cultivation level for the Heavenly Dao Society and has been holding back until now.

The aptitude of cultivators means that the time it takes for each person to reach the same realm is different, and the Heavenly Dao does not restrict age, only realm, which leads to many old cultivators appearing on the scene.

This person is a threat to He Lingxiu and the others.

Because the increase in combat power from surpassing a major realm threshold is immeasurable.

As for the Profound Realm, three of them have broken through to the Upper Realm of Fusion Dao. However, the good news is that they are not in the group of the four Profound Realm experts from the Heavenly Academy, which means that the four of them will at least not encounter them in the first round.

However, this is only the comparison up to the first day.

The fact that only four people successfully broke through their limits before the competition does not mean that only four people were attempting to break through their limits before the competition.

Based on the flow of spiritual energy last night, at least one in ten will successfully break through to the next level during the competition.

In Gu Zetao's group, there was a cultivator named Lu Xiuwen. It was said that he was also one of those secretly trying to break through to the next realm. Although he had not yet succeeded in breaking through, the risk of his existence could not be ruled out.

At this moment, everyone who had returned saw Cao Jingsong and his three companions drinking tea in front of the window of Ji You's house.

Ji You was a private cultivator who entered the Immortal Sect alone. He always kept to himself and even at the Immortal Gathering Banquet, he appeared quite lonely. This time, finally, someone came to watch the battle and cheer him on.

Although the battles in the Heavenly Dao Society are not compared by the number of spectators behind them, the atmosphere can sometimes affect one's Dao heart.

To these people with powerful backgrounds, Ji You's situation inevitably seemed somewhat like a lone battle.

Cao Jingsong and his three companions then left the courtyard, as they had traveled all night and needed to rest.

Ji You escorted them all the way to the outside of Rusheng Garden, and when they returned, He Lingxiu stopped them.

"Junior Brother Ji, have you not gone out to watch the battle all day?"

"I went. I went out shortly after you left and randomly chose a dojo to watch the battle."

"You only watched one game?"

Ji You nodded: "I came back in the afternoon. It just so happened that Instructor Cao and the others came here, so we drank some tea and chatted for a while."

As he was speaking, Manager Qin from the Dean of Affairs addressed him, repeating what he had told Wang Gaocen, Yu Shiliu, and the others, mainly about those Tongxuan Realm cultivators who might break through their cultivation barriers.

Ji You listened thoughtfully, then thanked him and turned to go back to his room.

Seeing this, Shi Junhao couldn't help but purse his lips: "This Ji You doesn't seem to have the slightest sense of urgency. You should know that the people who can participate in the Heavenly Dao Assembly are not the same kind of people as Liu Qichen and Wu Zhen, whom he defeated earlier."

He Lingxiu pursed her lips: "That's always been his personality."

During their conversation, disciples from Lingjian Mountain also returned from outside.

All of them won their matches today, except for Gongshu Chou, who took a little longer. This was partly because his opponent was stronger, and partly because he stayed up late writing a book last night.

The scions of aristocratic families are ultimately inferior to those of the Immortal Sect.

No one was surprised by this result.

This is how it usually is at the Heavenly Dao Gathering. The final spots are basically all in the hands of the Immortal Sects, and only the most outstanding talents from aristocratic families can secure a place, but the proportion is not very large.

Ji You watched the Lingjian Mountain disciples leave before entering the house.

He wasn't very familiar with the aristocratic families of Kyushu, so the head of the academy kept telling him to pay attention to this and that, and he couldn't match them up at all. He could only go back and look at the duel reports to determine their groups.

After looking through the pages for a long time, he glanced at the deep night outside the window and realized that it was getting quite late.

If things had gone according to plan, he should have already completed a body-refining session and was about to take a bath, but Cao Jingsong's visit today delayed him.

He has another match tomorrow, so he doesn't plan to continue today.

Ji You closed the folded book, poured out the tea, washed the teapot, and then got up to go to sleep, but she stopped moving as soon as she took a step.

At this moment, a faint ripple appeared in the air not far away, followed by a silent surge of mysterious light.

Barefoot, the young appraiser of Lingjian Mountain silently entered his room, landing right in front of his bathtub. He then casually glanced at the tub several times...

Upon discovering that no one was in the bathtub, Yan Shuyi was slightly taken aback. Turning her head, she spotted Ji You sitting at the tea table. She instantly feigned composure and froze on the spot, as if she wanted to annihilate everything.

Ji You's lips twitched slightly. She thought to herself, "That arrogant devil really calculated things accurately, both in terms of timing and location."

The young appraiser then turned to look at him: "You stranger I've only met a few times, give me back my shoes and socks."

"Your Excellency, as the next leader of Lingjian Mountain, you only have one pair of shoes and socks. You even had to come to pick them up in the middle of the night, and the timing and location were so perfect."

"How I conduct myself is none of your concern, a mere disciple of the Heavenly Academy."

Yan Shuyi spoke calmly, his righteous indignation tinged with a hint of malice.

If you want to watch someone shower, you can watch them shower; they even left their shoes there as a cover.

Ji You thought to herself for a moment, then got up and took out the shoes and socks that she had put in the cupboard. As she walked over, she also took a towel from the sink stand.

The young appraiser was already sitting on the floor waiting to put on his shoes when he suddenly felt his feet being lifted up and then a towel soaked in warm water was placed on the soles of his feet.

"You dirty little feet..."

Ji Youci was on the ground, holding her feet and gently washing them, then rubbing each of her plump, smooth toes clean.

Looking at his gentle and meticulous appearance, the young appraiser of Lingjian Mountain was stunned for a long time. Only after hearing Ji You say that her feet were dirty did she squint her eyes and couldn't help but kick him twice.

Ding Yao returned to her small building in Rusheng Garden very late, because she had also gone to watch the game.

I watched two matches between Lingjian Mountain disciples and three matches between other sects, one of which was between Tianshu Academy.

Just as Ding Yao entered the small building, she suddenly heard a faint melody and couldn't help but be slightly startled. She then looked at Zhuo Wanqiu, who was carrying tea towards her.

"Who's humming a song? It sounds like a folk song from our Lingzhou."

"Shh, it's the appraiser."

"Why is the appraiser so happy today?"

"She went to see her son-in-law and just got back."

Ding Yao glanced at the dark sky, then looked towards the appraiser's room: "Young Master Ji has a duel tomorrow, yet you only watched one match and played with the appraiser until so late. Isn't that a bit too relaxed?"

Zhuo Wanqiu looked at Ding Yao: "Are you afraid that the son-in-law will lose?"

“Young Master is naturally a prodigy, but those who can participate in the Heavenly Dao Gathering are not ordinary people. I’m just afraid that Young Master will underestimate his opponents. If he wants to marry the Master of Appraisal, he needs to enter the Holy Land of Sages even more than others. Moreover, Young Master also said that he wants to reduce the prestige of Heavenly Sword Peak for the Master of Appraisal. He should be more cautious.”

(End of this chapter)