Chapter 322 - 125: Absolute Beginning

Chapter 322: Chapter 125: Absolute Beginning

"This old one is Yuan Haogu. I heard a new neighbor had moved in, so I’ve come to pay a visit."

Yuan Haogu hailed from a prestigious scholarly tradition of the age and possessed the characteristic integrity of a man of letters, placing great importance on etiquette. For the Fang Family, his newly moved-in neighbors, he brought a gift of a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone to offer his congratulations.

Just then, a fist-sized, square white jade seal hanging from his waist suddenly flickered faintly.

"The ’Celestial Heart Seal’ is giving a warning. Are you an Ancient Spirit Cultivator?!"

Just as Fang Rui tensed, Yuan Haogu waved a dismissive hand. "The current Court no longer has explicit, strict orders to crack down on Ancient Spirit Cultivators. The Court doesn’t interfere, and neither will I."

"However, a word of warning: Spiritual Qi is poisonous!"

"Elder, ’Spiritual Qi is poisonous’—what do you mean by that?" Fang Rui’s eyes flashed as he pressed for an answer.

"It cannot be spoken! It cannot be spoken!"

Yuan Haogu waved his hand, shook his head, and turned to leave.

COUGH, COUGH!

Watching Yuan Haogu’s retreating figure, Fang Rui, for some reason, began to understand how Zhou Changfa must have felt.

’That damned old man, he’s so infuriating! Can’t he just finish a sentence? He insists on stopping halfway, being all secretive and leaving you hanging. What an awful personality!’

’Even Ge Changgeng, when he encountered things he couldn’t speak about, would at least compensate with some other piece of information!’

However.

Fang Rui suddenly smiled. ’It’s fine. Time reveals a person’s heart. I refuse to believe that after ten, or even twenty years of being neighbors—right up until I see that old coot to his grave—I won’t be able to get a single honest word out of him.’

...

Time flew by, and in two or three months, spring turned into summer.

「One afternoon.」

In the lush courtyard, cicadas droned relentlessly as the weather grew increasingly sweltering.

CRACK!

With a flash of a blade, a watermelon the color of icy glaze was split into perfectly even slices that gave off a frosty mist.

"This is an exotic fruit, the ’Ice Glaze Melon’. Ling’Er, Nannan, come have a taste!"

Fang Rui smiled and divided the melon for the two young girls present.

There were high-end shops in Shangluo City that sold all sorts of exotic fruits year-round, but the requirements to even enter were extremely high. This "Ice Glaze Melon" was actually a gift from Zhou Changfa.

"Elder Brother, aren’t we using the ’Ice Rain Pavilion’ this year?" Fang Ling asked Fang Rui, eating her melon in small, ladylike bites.

"No need. It’ll cool down soon."

Fang Rui pinched his fingers together as if making a calculation. "Here it comes!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

RUMBLE!

A sudden clap of thunder exploded outside.

Above Shangluo City, the hemispherical light barrier shimmered, shifting to a cool, crisp color. Then, a hazy, smoke-like rain began to drift down, bringing with it waves of refreshing coolness.

"See? I can tell the future and command the elements," Fang Rui said coolly, his hands clasped behind his back.

"El~der Bro~ther!" Fang Ling shot Fang Rui a playful, reproachful glare, drawing out the words in a whiny, coquettish tone that was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

"Yeah, Brother Ah Rui, stop teasing us and keeping us in suspense. Just tell us already!" Nannan chimed in, looking over curiously, her bright eyes as clear as autumn pools, like crystal glass.

If they were younger, they might have actually believed him, but how could they be so easily fooled now?

"Sigh. You’ve all grown up. You’re not as cute as you used to be."

Fang Rui shook his head and explained with a smile, "Here in Shangluo, there’s a Marquis Anle who can’t stand the sweltering heat. So, a Demi-Immortal, Master Bao, controls the ’Chaos Four Symbols Banner’ to make it rain."

"And this rain is called the June Lotus Rain!"

Naturally, he had learned this information from Zhou Changfa.

’Perhaps the great drought in the Three Southern States left the Marquis Anle, Li Xuantong, with some psychological trauma? Or maybe the shadow wasn’t cast by the drought, but by a life of being controlled.’

’What Fang Rui hadn’t expected, though, was that Li Xuantong still wielded so much influence in Shangluo City. He could truly ’ask for the wind and get the wind, ask for the rain and get the rain.’’

’Perhaps this surrendered Flood Dragon, Li Xuantong, possesses something that Master Bao values?’ Fang Rui mused.

In truth, what he was more concerned about were the underlying implications.

The Innate Supreme Treasure, the ’Chaos Four Symbols Banner’, hovering over Shangluo City, wasn’t for defense, but for changing the weather—more for functional and recreational purposes.

It was like using gunpowder to create fireworks in a prosperous age. This confidence from the Great Yu Court, this "I am unrivaled in this world" attitude, was truly awe-inspiring!

...

In the midst of this drizzling summer rain, the days felt exceptionally long.

The two young girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, went to play chess with the maids.

In the front yard, Fang Rui lay on a wicker chair, reading through copied notes and theories from Zhen Daoji about new techniques for the realm beyond First Grade.

’Currently, there is only one path beyond Martial Arts First Grade, known as the ’Seed Path’... A Spirit Seed is planted in the body, powered by Divine Medicine, and detonated with Gang Essence to open a Spiritual Sea. But from then on, one is branded, one’s life and death in the hands of another...’

’Hm? This is slightly different from Daoist Ge’s records. Who is right and who is wrong? From my current perspective, Zhen Daoji’s version should be the correct one.’

Ge Changgeng was a Spirit Master, after all. It was understandable that he wouldn’t have a clear view of some of the secrets of Martial Artists, so his records being slightly distorted was plausible.

’It’s also possible that Zhen Daoji is deliberately misleading me. Oh well, I’ll just have to test it out slowly!’

In fact, relying on his accumulated knowledge, Fang Rui had already tried to cobble together several versions of a technique beyond Martial Arts First Grade, all based on the *Nourishing Body Skill*.

Unfortunately, his method of relying on luck was mostly just guesswork, producing things based on ’I figure...’ or ’it should be like this...’. The system panel wouldn’t even give them a second glance.

Indeed. Unlike others, who had to go through all sorts of painstaking verification, Fang Rui only needed to see if the panel would accept his creations, which saved him an incredible amount of effort.

’Always trying to rely on luck like this will get me nowhere. I really need to be able to sit my butt in a chair, calm my mind, and just bury my head in research!’