Misty Rain of the Old Times

It was dusk when I left the Gao family's house, and the setting sun had dyed half the sky's clouds red.

After they had walked a distance, Su Roujia tugged at Chen Xuan's sleeve and whispered, "Master, Master, didn't you notice? The young lady is so scary!"

"Why do you say that?" Chen Xuan asked, speechless. Was Gao Jingyu really that scary?

After thinking for a moment, the little girl said seriously, "I can't explain why, but I feel a lot of pressure in front of her, like... like when I was a child and came to the county town, I saw a tiger in a cage. I knew there was no danger, but I didn't dare to breathe!"

Is Gao Jingyu putting that much pressure on her? Chen Xuan threatened, "Wow, you dare call her a tigress? Don't you want to die?"

"No, sir, don't talk nonsense. I didn't mean it that way. It was just a metaphor," the little girl quickly explained, shrinking back in fright.

The little girl is so easily teased. Chen Xuan put the precious stick behind his neck and chuckled lazily, "I'm a ruthless bandit, my hands are covered in blood, I kill without blinking an eye. Do you think she's scarier or I'm scarier?"

"Oh, it's different. Anyway, I can't really say. I feel very relaxed when I'm with the master, but I get inexplicably nervous in front of the young lady," Su Roujia said, shaking her head somewhat blankly.

Perhaps the young girl doesn't yet understand what charisma and presence mean. When one's status and position reach a certain level, no matter how much one tries to restrain oneself, one's words and actions can truly influence others. Without a matching status and strength, one simply cannot withstand it, just like the mysterious and profound suppression of bloodline, which inspires awe.

Patting her bun, Chen Xuan said nonchalantly, "It's good that you're scared. Stay away from her in the future. Never mind, forget I said anything. Anyway, you're unlikely to have any interaction with her. Then work hard to improve your skills. Once you're skilled enough, no one will have anything to fear. Others will be the only ones afraid of you."

"Mmm, I'll listen to Master," the little girl said, seemingly understanding but not quite. Her eyes narrowed as she was patted on the head, and the pressure from Gao Jingyu instantly vanished.

Chen Xuan, however, was pondering that, judging from the current situation, Gao Jingyu definitely wanted to win him over to her side. The previous simple exchanges were just subtle tests, and it was impossible for things to just end like that.

Chen Xuan didn't care what tricks or schemes she might use next, because as long as he didn't want to, what could Gao Jingyu do to him?

These are secondary issues. The main question is whether Gao Jingyu's actions and thoughts were her own or instigated by Prince Qing.

If this is Gao Jingyu's personal behavior, then she is definitely not content with the mere status of a princess. She is accumulating power for herself, and who knows what she will do?

But if it was at the behest of Prince Qing, then it would be different, proving that Prince Qing is definitely not as docile as he appears on the surface.

But then another question arises: what exactly is Prince Qing thinking? If you say he wants to seize the throne, he has been sitting on the border for so many years, keeping a low profile, unlike Prince Jiang who shamelessly stays in the capital waiting for an opportunity. If you say he has no ambition, he has been constantly asking the court for money, grain, and soldiers lately.

The key point is that Prince Qing does indeed command an army, but it only numbers around 100,000. Even if it's an elite force, how much trouble can it cause? With so few people, no matter how capable he is, by the time he fights his way back to the capital from the border, it will be too late. Besides, does he disregard the border when he sends his entire army north to the capital to fight for the throne?
Chen Xuan really didn't understand. He had no clue about these situations and conspiracies.

Whatever, it'll be clear in a year at most, maybe even less.

"Brother Feng, look quickly, isn't that our benefactor?" Zhu Fang, wrapped up like a rice dumpling, pointed to the street corner and asked anxiously at the entrance of a clinic. He had just seen Chen Xuan's back.

Belatedly realizing what was happening, Feng Huixin looked up and asked, "Where? Where?"

Having gone through the ordeal of Zhu Fang's guard killing his master, the two had become sworn brothers. After finally arriving in Yang County, they rushed to the clinic to treat Zhu Fang's injuries, which would take several months to fully recover.

Zhu Fang said anxiously, "Oh dear, they're probably our benefactors! They've gone into that alley, hurry and chase after them!"

When they finally reached the alley entrance, supporting each other and limping along, Chen Xuan and Su Roujia were nowhere to be seen. The alley had many forks in the road, and they didn't know which direction to chase after them.

“It seems we’ve missed him. It’s alright, our benefactor is in Yang County. Let’s settle down first and search for him slowly later,” Feng Huixin said regretfully.

Zhu Fang said helplessly, "That's all we can do. Once I'm better and have found out where our benefactor is, we'll try to visit the Gao family..."

Back at his lodgings, Chen Xuan became idle again, lying listlessly on the soft couch in the pavilion, twisting and turning like a maggot, completely ignoring Gao Jingyu's attempts to get his attention.

On the contrary, the little girl has endless things to do, cleaning, fetching water and chopping wood. She doesn't have many thoughts and is simple and happy.

'Look at that little girl, and then look at myself. Aren't I ashamed? No, I need to pull myself together and find something to do. I can't waste my time,' Chen Xuan thought to himself, giving himself a pep talk.

It turned out to be so damn comfortable lying down.

After lying there for a while, the moon had already risen from the horizon, and Chen Xuan finally thought of something to do to pass the time.

Looking around the room, he realized that he had tried to set up an array last time, but all he managed to create was a set of Nine-Tone Soul-Suppressing Bells, which could not be considered an array at all, but was somewhere between an array and a mechanism.

With Xiao Gao sent to the capital, his plan to set up an array was temporarily shelved.

"A real array formation is far more complex than the Nine-Tone Soul-Suppressing Bell. Old Liu isn't particularly skilled in this area, and he left me very little. Even the basic array formations are exponentially more difficult than those of the Nine-Tone Soul-Suppressing Bell. Right now, I can't use my mind to interfere with reality and directly set up an array. I need to use various materials to craft array artifacts and suppress them, and I also need to consider natural factors like weather and seasons to set it up. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Maybe… I can't give up, or I'll be completely useless."

In terms of cultivation, his cultivation techniques were constantly operating and improving on their own. His various martial arts, honed to perfection by his immense talent, were only waiting for him to reach a certain level of mastery to unleash their full power and power. Therefore, he had to find other things to pass the time. Why formations instead of alchemy and weapon crafting? After all, Chen Xuan had several years of experience in alchemy; he should have focused on refining his skills there.

But this is not something to be taken for granted, because he has already mastered the refining of lower and middle-level pills, but he currently lacks the materials for refining upper and middle-level pills, and his biggest concern is the tools.

If he wanted to refine mid-to-high-level pills, it wouldn't be as simple as before. In addition to materials, he would need tools such as pill furnaces. Pill furnaces are crafted objects, and he didn't have any on hand. He couldn't afford to buy them, and he didn't know where to get any ready-made ones. So the best way was to refine his own pill furnace.

However, the alchemy furnace is a tool for crafting artifacts, and Chen Xuan has not yet ventured into the field of artifact crafting. If he wants to craft artifacts, especially those with special effects, he must at least have some understanding of formations. So this is a cause-and-effect relationship. He must first understand formations before he can craft artifacts, and only by using artifact crafting techniques to craft the alchemy furnace can he delve deeper into the Dao of alchemy.

The prerequisite for crafting artifacts is not necessarily to be proficient in array formations, but at least to have a thorough understanding of them. Otherwise, how can one integrate array patterns into the crafting process to create items with special effects?
Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise. In Chen Xuan's words, this is an industrial system, and no link can be missing.

This is the disadvantage of being unorganized; he has to do everything himself. It's not that there aren't shortcuts, though. For example, he could do something ready-made, but he has no goal. He's just too lazy to put in the effort. He might as well improve his weaknesses little by little. He still has hundreds of years to live, so he has to find something to do.

"My short-term goal is to set up formations, try to create simple ones, and gain some understanding of this. Hmm, let's start with the simplest fog formation. Basically, it's about creating a dense fog, the kind that can be adjusted. The 'fog' part can be made by adding sleeping potions or incense; it's a combination of formations and pharmacology. I know alchemy, so this is simple; I just lack the formation itself, but it's still a headache."

After much deliberation, he made a decision and then pondered it further.

The Mist Array is the simplest array known to Chen Xuan. It requires array flags and comes in three sizes: small, medium, and large. A small Mist Array can cover a radius of 100 meters and requires five array flags. A medium-sized array requires nine array flags and can cover a radius of 1,000 meters. A large array requires thirty-six array flags and can cover a radius of 10 miles.

Even though he has already reached the Grandmaster level, his large-scale mist array can only cover ten miles, making it rather useless. But since this thing is the most basic of the basics of array formations, if one is proficient in this art, it is not impossible to expand the range. It all depends on one's own skill.

'The materials needed to craft the array flags are hard to find. Where can I get them? There are over a dozen types, most of which are common, but two or three are extremely rare, and even money can't always buy them.'

Scratching his head, Chen Xuan said to the little girl who had already finished her work, "Roujia, you should get some rest. Some friends want to go out with me."

With a shout, Chen Xuan grabbed his stick and prepared to slip away, not to avoid Gao Jingyu, but to find materials for refining array flags.

"Where are you going, sir? How long will you be gone? Will you be back for a midnight snack?" the maid asked from the second floor.

Waving his hand, Chen Xuan said, "I don't know, don't worry about me. Just continue as usual. If anyone comes looking for me, just say that I've gone out to visit friends, that's all."

After saying that, Chen Xuan's figure flashed and disappeared into the night, taking nothing with him except the stick he had exchanged for candy. As for where he went, only he knew.

"Master, really! You're not taking me with you. Where are you going in the middle of the night? When will you be back?" The little maid on the second floor stomped her foot and pouted.

Under the cover of night, an inconspicuous cloud about ten feet long shot straight into the sky, traversing the void for dozens of miles, drifting like a fleeting shadow.

Chen Xuan had long since mastered the Qingyun Piaoxu (Azure Clouds Floating) lightness skill to its pinnacle. Now, when he used it seriously, it was as if he was surrounded by a cloud of azure clouds. It could move at several times the speed of sound, yet remain completely silent. This was the wonder of martial arts.

Even so, lightness skill still cannot break the laws of physics to achieve true flight. Even a Grandmaster's cultivation, which allows them to soar dozens of miles into the air at once, will ultimately require additional support to continue their journey...

The moon shines brightly outside the window, but my heart is in turmoil.

The little princess rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the bright moon in the sky. Her thoughts had long since drifted away, and her longing was like bitter melon, making her frown.

"What are you doing now, Brother Xuan? Are you alright? I miss you. I've been thinking of you ever since you left. You said the moon can carry our longing, shining across the ends of the earth. Brother Xuan, are you looking up at the bright moon now? Is my face reflected in it?"

With her eyes downcast, the little princess sighed. This month's manuscript was going to be delayed again. It was all Xuan-gege's fault. He kept bothering her in her mind. How could she be in the mood to write the story?

Suddenly, the little princess looked up at the window and saw Chen Xuan's figure right in front of her, so close.

She smiled immediately and murmured, "So the bright moon really can reflect the face of the one I miss, even across the ends of the earth. Brother Xuan, I see you! That's wonderful. Hmm, I should go to sleep now; I'm hallucinating. I promised you I'd eat and sleep well."

Just as she rubbed her eyes and was about to go to sleep, Chen Xuan stood outside her window, waving and smiling, "Qian Ning, I'm home! I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn't worry. Don't worry, my journey was very smooth."

Zhou Qianning: "..."

"Brother Xuan, am I dreaming?" she asked blankly, looking at Chen Xuan outside the window.

Looking at the sky, Chen Xuan said, "It's still early. You're not asleep yet, how could you be dreaming?"

"So, Brother Xuan, you're actually home now, and you came to tell me you're home?" Zhou Qianning asked hesitantly, completely bewildered, forgetting the joy of seeing her beloved.

Nodding, Chen Xuan said matter-of-factly, "Yes."

Zhou Qianning immediately covered her face; this was something her Xuan-gege (older brother Xuan) would do... (End of Chapter)