Volume One: The Turmoil of Yan and Yun Chapter Thirty-Nine: Heading South (Part One)

In this contest, it was indeed Feng Qi who won.

He won by sheer shamelessness.

And his shamelessness was so blatant that even Murong Xue could not be deceived.

“All the prodigies of the Feng family are protected by the Sand Eagle. I have been away from Yanbei for so long that I even forgot this,” the Divine Guard of the Fengs sighed. “What a joke. I am more than fourteen hundred years your senior, and yet I still lost to you by half a move. Shameful, truly shameful!”

If anyone else had said this, it would surely have sounded like mockery, but when the Divine Guard of the Fengs spoke, it was with utter candor, entirely free of pretense.

Feng Qi grinned widely, thinking to himself that as expected of His Majesty’s personal guard, his bearing was indeed remarkable.

The Divine Guard of the Fengs said, “Come, tell me—what do you wish to ask?”

Feng Qi replied, “You really are like one of my Feng family, straightforward and direct.”

The Divine Guard waved his hand. “No need for pleasantries. Ask away. As long as it does not touch on the royal secrets, I can tell you.”

As a Divine Guard, the most important and precious things he knew were the secrets of the royal family accumulated over the past millennium. Any matter, whether recorded in unofficial histories or rumors, if it was factual, could not escape this powerful being’s divine senses and eyes. Even in matters of the imperial harem, though he avoided suspicion, he could deduce most happenings from the comings and goings. With a little reasoning, the truth was rarely hidden from him.

Feng Qi was indeed interested in those old royal secrets, and if the earlier arrangement allowed him to ask more than one question, he would not have minded probing into the so-called romantic past of the old Emperor. But now, his question lay elsewhere.

He quickly reviewed the situation in Yanbei in his mind and finally settled on a place he had never been to, nor even heard much about.

“What exactly happened outside Shuntian City?”

Shuntian City was a famous city in Yanbei. Naturally, the first city of Yanbei was Yanyun, the second was Fenghe where the Divine Guard’s fortress stood, and the third was Shuntian, the very place where the Divine Guard and his men had intercepted Feng Yue.

The Divine Guard said, “I have already explained the details to the King of Yanbei. Why don’t you ask your father directly?”

Feng Qi said, “If you hadn’t already decided to have my father head south, I wouldn’t have wanted to fight you. You’re not like that girl Murong Xue. Beating you costs me a great deal of effort. Everyone who knows me knows that I dislike trouble.”

The Divine Guard grunted, then asked, “So you had already decided to follow me south from the very beginning? Is that why you revealed your sharpness so openly?”

Feng Qi replied, “To have the right to go south, one must at least have the ability to clarify the whole situation for His Majesty, don’t you think?”

The Divine Guard said, “Your father told me of Yang Wanli’s arrangements. Is there something suspicious about the Crown Prince’s past?”

Feng Qi replied, “When I discussed it with my father, I said that this Yanbei affair would ultimately focus on one or a few individuals. If it finally came to my mother, then Yanbei was the target. If it fell to the Medicine Sage or the Master Artisan, there might be other motives. It wasn’t until my master returned and told me that three Divine Guards had intervened and that the Shadow Guards couldn’t take anyone away, that I realized something was amiss.”

The Divine Guard asked, “In what way?”

Feng Qi replied, “Yang Wanli is Li Jin Xing’s disciple. Since he is a disciple recognized by him, his plans could not end with nothing. In fact, I can boldly presume he has already achieved all his goals.”

The Divine Guard said, “This plot began in Wuyang, passed through Jiangnan, and ended in Yanbei. Every link was tightly connected.”

Feng Qi replied, “No matter how tight the plot, from the outcome it seems Yang Wanli achieved nothing. But you, as someone from that era, surely know how terrifying Li Jin Xing truly was?”

The Divine Guard was silent for a moment, then said, “Yang Wanli is not Li Jin Xing.”

Feng Qi said seriously, “Divine Guard, I just praised you for being direct.”

The Divine Guard fell silent again, as if considering whether he had overlooked something.

An awkward tension hung in the air.

Suddenly, a weak female voice spoke: “I know the true purpose behind this layout.”

Everyone turned toward the voice—it was Yun Wanyan.

Her face was pale, and she was being supported by a housekeeper. Her forehead was beaded with cold sweat.

Feng Muyun strode forward, adjusted Yun Wanyan’s cloak around her, and took over from the housekeeper.

Yun Wanyan smiled playfully at Feng Muyun, then continued, “The source of my spiritual body has been extracted.”

At these words, the Medicine Sage’s expression changed dramatically. In a flash, he was by Yun Wanyan’s side, his hands gripping her wrist in a blur. After a brief probe, his face grew even darker.

“The source of the spiritual body is less than a tenth remaining... Even if it can recover, her future path of cultivation will be severely hindered.”

The Master Artisan asked, “As far as I know, you and the Princess of Yanbei share the same constitution. Did they only target the Princess? That makes no sense.”

The Medicine Sage replied, “Once the Medicine Spirit Body enters the Void Path, its source power is endless. In terms of longevity and recovery, even those at the He Dao stage cannot compare. For me, unless they devoured me whole—bones and all—my source would recover in a very short time.”

Once the Medicine Sage had checked his mother’s pulse and confirmed that apart from the loss of her source, there were no other issues, Feng Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “So, the true aim of Yang Wanli’s plot was not whether he could kill my father, but whether he could extract the source of the spiritual body from my mother and the Medicine Sage?”

The Medicine Sage glanced at him. “You are well-read. Do you not know the purpose of the Medicine Spirit Body’s source?”

Feng Qi replied, “Didn’t Tianshan, in ancient times, capture many Medicine Spirit Bodies from the world? It is very difficult for those of different origins to assimilate this power. The claim that consuming the source can grant immortality is pure nonsense.”

The Medicine Sage raised his brow, as if wanting to say more, but Feng Muyun stopped him.

“This is a grave matter. Let us move to the study and discuss it further.”

To move to the study meant that not everyone was permitted to hear.

Even the Sword of Snowcloud and the Master Artisan of Forging Valley were excluded, let alone others.

Only five were qualified to discuss this: the three members of the Feng family, the Medicine Sage, and the Divine Guard of the Fengs.

Half an hour later, the Medicine Sage left the study with a dark expression.

Another half hour passed, and the Divine Guard also left, his face equally bleak, and immediately departed Yanbei with the Sword and Blade Divine Guards, heading straight for the imperial city of Wuyang.

Yet another half hour later, Feng Qi emerged from the study, five bright red fingerprints on his left cheek, so deep they seemed to seep blood.

It appeared that Feng Muyun had truly been enraged; this was the first time he had ever struck Feng Qi.

Steward Fei approached, handing Feng Qi a towel.

Feng Qi smiled at him, then turned to Murong Xue and said, “Miss Murong, when you set out for Wuyang, could you take me with you?”

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