Misty Rain of the Old Times

The next morning, Chen Xuan practiced her meditation exercises in the morning sun as usual, and the little girl followed her and practiced with great focus. Even if there were superior cultivation techniques, there must be a reason why the master, who was so skilled, still practiced them.

After finishing her meditation and health-preserving exercises, she went to make breakfast. Not understanding anything, she asked, taking a moment to speak to Chen Xuan, who was reclining in his chair waiting for food: "Master, what's so special about this meditation and health-preserving exercise? Why do you practice it every morning without fail?"

Chen Xuan was lost in thought, actually wanting to go back to sleep. He lazily said, "There's nothing clever about it, it's just a habit. The imperial court has been promoting it for many years, it's spread far and wide, even farmers can do a few tricks with it. What do you think is so clever about the soft armor?"

"Oh," she nodded, not bothered by it; it was just a habit after all.

However, Chen Xuan turned around and smiled, "But Roujia, don't underestimate something as simple as it seems. In fact, the simpler something is, the more profound its principles are. Just like even the most advanced arithmetic starts with one plus one equals two."

Upon hearing this, Su Roujia seemed thoughtful, not quite understanding, but she kept these words in mind.

After breakfast and a short rest, Chen Xuan began to teach her light-body skills, which were none other than the Qingyun Piaoxu light-body skills that he himself was most proficient in.

He wasn't the kind of stubborn old man who had any secrets. If the little girl was willing to learn, he would teach her. He wasn't worried that she would surpass him in the future; on the contrary, he was happy to see her succeed.

What determines a person's potential is never the technique used, but themselves. The same technique can produce vastly different results when practiced by different people. Can geniuses and mediocre people be the same?

In fact, Chen Xuan was also curious about what level she could reach in the future. Ideally, she would be the kind of person who could handle anything with just a word. In order to completely abandon her, Chen Xuan really put a lot of effort into cultivating her.

Even though the little girl already has a foundation in martial arts, this kind of lightness skill is not something she can learn in a short time. At most, she can only get a general understanding in a morning. It will take at least half a month to learn it and be able to use it in practice. And that's considered fast. The little girl's talent in martial arts is quite good, but it is completely incomparable to someone like Chen Xuan who is simply unreasonable.

The Azure Clouds are drifting catkins, but they are the top-tier cultivation techniques left behind by Old Liu, who almost reached the Human Immortal realm. The higher one's cultivation level, the more wondrous they can be. Even at the Tribulation Transcending realm or the Human Immortal level, they can bring great help to the cultivator.

Even now, Chen Xuan cannot show its most wondrous aspect. If he were to reach the Tribulation Transcending Realm and use this lightness skill, in terms of pure speed, it would be like floating on a cloud, covering 30,000 miles in an instant. That would truly make the ends of the earth seem within reach.

After teaching for a while, Chen Xuan told her to stop, as there was a gradual process involved.

During the break, Chen Xuan asked with interest, "By the way, Roujia, you've started practicing martial arts. You definitely won't be staying at home all the time anymore. You'll have to travel around. After all, what's the point of living a life confined to a small world? So, when you're out and about, you need to give yourself a catchy nickname. Have you thought about what nickname you should give yourself?"

"Nickname?" Su Roujia blinked, a little confused. She had never thought about such a thing before.

Nodding, Chen Xuan said enthusiastically, "Yes, nicknames, the more catchy and intimidating the better, like me, who has a nickname called 'Lost Tyrant' outside. Although I don't use it often, just tell me, isn't that scary? You can't come up with one without some education."

Sang Biao? I think I've heard the master mention him. He's really scary. Before I was with the master, I probably would have cried if I had heard such a name. But is the master really that formidable outside? He seems like a nice person.

Somewhat bewildered, she shook her head and said, "Master, I haven't thought about it yet. Why don't you help me come up with one?"

"Oh, how about this? From now on, when you go out, you can just say you're the Red Serpent Fairy. That way, you'll show off your ruthlessness and also be a full affirmation of your looks," Chen Xuan joked.

Actually, nicknames are either something you choose yourself or something you earn through experience. It's not worth asking someone else to help you with them. But Chen Xuan was just bored, so he thought he was just teasing her.

"No, no, I'm not worthy of the title 'fairy.' I'll think of something myself. Anyway, I don't need it right now. I'll go take care of some important business for the master first," she said, and then ran off shyly, her face flushed.

Hehe, Master said I'm a fairy, but I'm not that pretty, am I? But when will Master ask me to serve him?
A wonderful day begins with playing with the little girl. In a good mood, time to go back to sleep.

Liang Mumu arrived shortly after. Chen Xuan had only asked the maid to borrow someone. The Gao family took this very seriously, and Steward He had personally given the order. They were to try their best to fulfill any requests Chen Xuan might have.

After getting up and having a brief conversation with him, Liang Mumu learned of Chen Xuan's purpose. He was also very uneasy. Although his father had taught him a lot of skills in cultivating exotic flowers and plants, he had never heard of white cloud trees before. He had no confidence at all in planting some small branches.

Chen Xuan told him not to feel pressured, to try his best, and not to force it if it didn't work out.

Slightly relieved, Liang Mumu nodded, not daring to make any promises, and then busied herself preparing the medicinal solution and soil. She used five different methods with the five twigs, employing every trick in the book. Actually, this is a skill in itself; haven't you seen people making a living from this craft passed down through generations? Chen Xuan observed from the side, humbly asking for advice and learning quite a bit himself.

Liang Mumu is completely open-minded. If someone else asks him for advice, he'd probably yell back. But when Chen Xuan asks him, he's overjoyed. How could this guy be like an ordinary person? Could he possibly steal his job?

By noon, Chen Xuan had practically emptied his savings. The little girl had also bought back the secondary materials for refining the array flags. They were all common items that could be found in the county town and wouldn't cost much.

Liu Liangmu ate a meal here to express his gratitude and gave him three taels of silver as payment. Whether the deal would work out or not was another matter. In any case, he had always been very friendly to his friend Chen Xuan.

As she left happily, Liang Mumu thought to herself, "Young Master Chen is such a good person; he deserves to be rich and powerful."

Liang Mumu was probably going to brag about receiving such a warm welcome from Chen Xuan for a long time. After all, who was this young master Chen? Madam Gao treated him like half a son. Anyway, there were unverified rumors circulating in the Gao family that Madam Gao wanted to take Chen Xuan as her godson. But these things shouldn't be taken seriously.

He'll come back to check on the sapling often, either to give up completely or to get lucky and see it grow...

After he left, Chen Xuan checked the materials the little girl had bought. Next, he was going to start refining the array flags. Actually, it was quite troublesome, and he wanted to give up. However, he had been busy for so long, and he couldn't give up halfway. He would just treat it as a way to pass the time.

After thinking it over, Chen Xuan decided to start with the simplest flag. Even the simplest one was much more complicated than the Nine-Tone Soul-Suppressing Bell. In addition to ice silkworm silk, it involved five other materials: snake tendons, crane feathers, gold and silver threads, and jade.

For Chen Xuan, crafting array flags was no less difficult than creating a simple chip from scratch.

With his grandmaster cultivation, a small mist array requires five array flags, yet it can only cover a radius of a hundred meters, making it truly useless. However, that's how arrays are; he has no foundation, so he can only start with the simple ones. Fortunately, his spiritual sense is now strong. If he hadn't practiced martial arts, he would have been completely helpless when it came to this.

After taking some ice silkworm silk to the pavilion, Chen Xuan controlled the silk threads to weave the flag in mid-air. The weaving structure was also very particular. If even one of the threads crossed incorrectly, the whole thing would be ruined, and other materials would have to be used to build the array pattern. Fortunately, the details were all in his mind, and he only needed to follow the steps. However, this did not mean that it was simple. He needed to make constant adjustments based on his mistakes.

Deep down, Chen Xuan admired the people who created the array immensely. Such a complex thing, with a level of precision no less than the high technology he had in his previous life, how did those people figure it out?
After finishing her chores, Su Roujia practiced her martial arts for a while, then came over to watch curiously. Although she didn't understand what Chen Xuan was doing, she didn't say anything to disturb him.

After an hour or so, she saw Chen Xuan dismantle a pretty triangular flag several times, finally lying on the rocking chair looking at the sky with a lifeless expression. While secretly marveling at the master's amazing skills, she then asked, "Master, are you making clothes? Do you need my help?"

At this moment, Chen Xuan's mind was filled with the crisscrossing of the ice silkworm threads, and he said lazily, "Roujia, go play. I want to be alone."

I knew this thing was difficult, but it's just too difficult. Even following the steps doesn't help me figure out where I'm going wrong. To be honest, his talents outside of martial arts are really just average.

Su Roujia immediately fell silent. Playing was out of the question; she was thinking about what to do. A lazy girl like her would be disliked.

But she wondered who Jingjing was, the girl the master liked.
Chen Xuan wasn't one to get bogged down in details. He had already prepared for a long-term project of refining the array flags. Now, relaxing his mind, he looked at Su Roujia and said, "Roujia, you mentioned making clothes. I have quite a bit of ice silkworm silk. I'll use it to make you two beautiful dresses later. Oh right, how could I forget about my Qianning? Anyway, wearing clothes made of ice silkworm silk is no different from wearing a suit of armor. At the Acquired Realm, swords and blades are hard to hurt her."

As he spoke, his thoughts began to jump around. He looked the little girl up and down with great interest and said, "Hey, why don't I make you a maid outfit, and then some stockings? You'll look really good in it."

For some reason, the little girl blushed slightly under Chen Xuan's gaze, but she didn't look away. She wondered who Qian Ning was but dared not ask. She shook her head and said, "No need, no need, Master. Ice silkworm silk sounds very expensive. I have enough clothes."

"It's alright, no need to be so polite with me. We're family, why stand on ceremony? Dressing you up makes me happy too. But I'm busy now, let's talk about it later," Chen Xuan waved his hand and said.

The little girl said "oh," and that whatever the master said was fine.

But what's that maid outfit? And what are those stockings? They sound a bit indecent. Oh well, as long as the master's happy, I just need to be obedient.

After resting for a while, Chen Xuan rallied and said, "Alright, Roujia, you can get back to work. I refuse to believe that I, who can practically fly and disappear into the earth, can be stumped by this thing!"

...(End of chapter)