Chapter 580 - 329: Dazzling as the Galaxy!
Chapter 580: Chapter 329: Dazzling as the Galaxy!
"Are you afraid, Yunfan?"
"Afraid? You must be joking, Brother Yi. I am the dignified Imperial Top Scholar, Assistant Governor of the Governor’s Office, and a role model for all scholars in the world. When Father sees me, he will definitely praise me."
"Is that so?" Chen Yi replied with a hint of doubt in his tone. "Yunfan, what exactly do you think Father will praise you for?"
"Naturally, he’ll praise me for..." Chen Yunfan froze. The absurd things he had done in Shu State recently instantly flashed through his mind, and his heart tightened for no reason.
Despite his inner misgivings, he remained stubborn. "...for my outstanding talent and my diligent governance and love for... Alas, anyway, Father will definitely not scold me this time."
He figured that would be highly unlikely. Chun Ying had been handling all the government affairs, leaving him with little to do. The few times he did go out on official business, he had made mistakes. Add to that this recent incident...
Chen Yunfan seemed to have thought of something. The smile returned to his face, and he said with absolute certainty, "If you don’t believe me, Brother Yi, how about we make a bet?"
Seeing the smile on his face, Chen Yi shook his head and refused without a second thought.
Chen Yunfan’s face darkened, and he snorted, "Are you afraid?"
"I’m afraid."
"If you’re not afraid... Huh?"
"Brother Yi, you really are, really..." Chen Yunfan wanted to punch him.
Chen Yi ignored him, picking up his teacup to take a sip. Based on his understanding of Chen Yunfan, the latter would never act so cocky without a certain degree of confidence. He guessed that the clues provided by the White Tiger Guard had yielded results. Had Zhu Hao been caught? If so, Mrs. Chen should be returning to the manor tomorrow.
Seeing Chen Yi’s silence, Chen Yunfan grew furious. Especially when he thought of all the things Chen Yi had done while hiding his identity, he almost couldn’t resist exposing him right then and there. After holding back for a good while, he finally took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile. "The Annual Examination is approaching. How is your preparation coming along, Brother Yi?"
Chen Yi replied casually, "Adequate enough to pass, though perhaps not the absolute best."
"Oh? Don’t you want to achieve a first-grade result?"
"There’s no need..."
Chen Yunfan found him incredibly boring, seeing how impervious he was to any prodding.
Lin Zhong, standing nearby, listened extremely carefully, his gaze darting back and forth between the two. He finally understood the meaning behind the words Chun Ying had told him earlier—the young master did indeed treat Young Master Yi differently. They could generally be considered a fine example of brotherly harmony. It just seemed that Young Master Yi was still brooding over his past marriage into the Xiao Family as a live-in son-in-law. On this point, Lin Zhong was powerless to offer any comfort. He merely made a silent note of it so he could relay the information back to the Chen Family.
After a few more words of idle chatter, Chen Yunfan’s good mood had mostly vanished. Suppressing his frustration, he planned to properly settle the score with Chen Yi once he achieved Sword Dao Perfection.
Chen Yi naturally didn’t know what he was thinking, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t care too much. Now that he had achieved Perfection in two Daos and Great Success in several others, his cultivation was roughly on par with Chen Yunfan’s. He truly had nothing to fear.
Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Yi instructed Xiaodie to go to Jiaxing Garden to ask about lunch. After Xiaodie left, Chen Yi invited Chen Yunfan and Lin Zhong to sit in the study. Lin Zhong declined, claiming that a mere martial artist like himself had no business there. Chen Yi and Chen Yunfan then headed to the study together.
At a glance, Chen Yunfan spotted the "Song of the Water Melody: Mid-Autumn" hanging behind the desk and the Flying Heaven Illusion Realm beneath the study’s crossbeam. Unable to resist, he stepped closer.
"Is this the Immortal Palace that appeared by the Quchi on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
Without waiting for Chen Yi’s reply, Chen Yunfan took down the calligraphy scroll. As he examined the Cursive Script on it and observed the bizarre sights of the Immortal Palace Illusion Realm, he clicked his tongue in marvel.
"Brother Yi, your Calligraphy Dao truly has outstanding merits. No wonder Hundred Herbs Hall’s business boomed so much after they acquired your calligraphy.
"Qingwu told me about it several times, but I never went to see it. Today..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Yunfan’s eyes darted around, and he immediately rolled up the calligraphy scroll and tucked it into his sleeve. The Immortal Palace Illusion Realm vanished.
Chen Yunfan looked at Chen Yi with a beaming smile. "I’ll take this scroll back to study and observe. You don’t mind, do you, Brother Yi?"
Chen Yi glared at him in exasperation. "You’re just acting innocent after getting a good deal."
He had already tucked it away; what was the point of asking now? However, Chen Yi didn’t care much about a single calligraphy scroll. With his Martial Arts Cultivation, he could write eighty to a hundred scrolls at any given time.
Chen Yunfan was in an excellent mood. After looking around, his gaze sharpened, fixating on a few paintings hanging on another wall. The mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas depicted in them were majestic and brilliant like a galaxy, clearly indicating that the painting skills had entered the Dao. But that was secondary; Chen Yunfan’s eyes were locked on the signatures in the bottom left corners of those paintings—Chen Yi, Chen Qingzhou.
Painting Dao... Minor Success?
Chen Yunfan’s good mood evaporated instantly. He silently cursed, wondering just how many of Brother Yi’s Techniques had entered the Dao Realm. Calligraphy Dao, Painting Dao, Medical Dao, Martial Arts Spear, Punch, and Step—just the ones Chen Yunfan knew about amounted to six Daos. Was he even human?
Chen Yunfan grumbled incessantly in his heart, but on the surface, he feigned calmness and asked, "Brother Yi, you’ve also achieved some success in painting?"
Seeing that he had noticed, Chen Yi didn’t bother hiding it. "Calligraphy and painting are interconnected. It’s not difficult."
He had to be kidding. It was true that calligraphy and painting shared the same origins, but Chen Yunfan had never seen many scholars who achieved success in both Daos. However, he didn’t voice his disbelief. Instead, he pointed at the Ancient Zither in the corner and asked, "How are your zither skills?"
"I play rarely, so my achievements are limited."
"Is that so? What about the Chess Dao?"
Chen Yi smiled and replied that he usually just played chess with Xiao Wuge, so his chess skills hadn’t improved much.
Chen Yunfan didn’t believe him and dragged him over to set up a game. Unable to decline, Chen Yi played a match with him.
Of course, he couldn’t use his full strength. More accurately, he didn’t even use a tenth of his chess skills. Even so, after a little over a hundred moves, Chen Yunfan still surrendered and conceded defeat.
"Let’s play another game."
"Brother Yi, how could you place your piece there?"
"That doesn’t count, that doesn’t count..."
As they played on, Chen Yunfan’s face flushed with alternating shades of green and red. He clutched a Heizi hesitantly.
"Brother Yi, your Chess Dao... has achieved success?"
Even if he wasn’t particularly skilled at the Chess Dao, his chess skills were still leagues above other scholars. However, no matter how brilliantly he played, he would ultimately lose by a margin of exactly two points. No more, no less—just two points. Once or twice was fine, but it happened every single time. Even a fool would realize that Chen Yi wasn’t using his full strength.
Chen Yi smiled and shook his head. Tossing his chess piece down, he said, "Chess skill doesn’t represent the Chess Dao, but rather..." He pointed to his own head. "...here."
"There, that..."
As Chen Yunfan finally processed the insult, his face darkened, and he cursed under his breath a few times. "Sooner or later, I will show you how formidable I truly am!"
Chen Yi gathered the chess pieces and the board, then stood up with a smile. "Yunfan, it’s time for lunch."
Xiaodie had already come to report earlier that Xiao Wan’er had prepared lunch at Jiaxing Garden and was waiting for them.
Chen Yunfan remained indignant, muttering to himself about Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting, as well as martial arts, medicine, and how someone wasn’t human. Naturally, he felt a bit disgruntled. Although his Sword Dao had one foot in the Perfection Realm, it still needed some time to fully cross the threshold. Compared to Chen Yi’s progress, the difference was like night and day.
With these thoughts in mind, Chen Yunfan said with a tinge of jealousy, "Brother Yi, if Father knew of your current achievements, he would definitely be very gratified."
Chen Yi nodded noncommittally. He led him out of the study, called out to Lin Zhong, and opened his Oil Paper Umbrella as they headed toward Jiaxing Garden.
Chen Yunfan let Lin Zhong hold the umbrella for him as he followed behind Chen Yi, rambling incessantly. "Did you receive guidance from someone back home, Brother Yi? That must be it. The uncles and elders in the clan thought so highly of you; how could they have just allowed Mother to imprison you?"
Chen Yi couldn’t help but laugh. "Couldn’t it just be that my talent is peerless?"
Chen Yunfan wanted to say no, but when he thought of all the Techniques Chen Yi possessed that had entered the Dao Realm, the words naturally caught in his throat.
His feelings were somewhat complicated. After a moment of silence, as they arrived at Jiaxing Garden, Chen Yunfan let out a long breath and changed the subject. "Mother said in her letter that Old Four and Old Liu have already set out to come here. When the time comes, you’ll come with me to welcome them."
Old Four Chen He, and Old Liu Chen Yu?
Chen Yi didn’t break his stride. He glanced sideways at him and said with a smile, "Of course."
He guessed this was the idea of the First Mrs. Chen of the Chen Family, wanting the brothers to see Chen Xuanji sooner.
"When will Father come to Shu State?"
"I don’t know the exact date. I only know he should finish inspecting all the Border Towns before the end of the year."
"I see..."
Chen Yi silently made a mental note of it, then withdrew his thoughts and joined Xiao Wan’er, Chen Yunfan, Cui Qingwu, and the others for the meal.
During the meal, the conversation mostly revolved around the Medical Dao Academy and the recent situation in Shu State, which wasn’t particularly novel.
On the other side, however, the atmosphere among Lin Zhong, Xie Tingyun, Shen Huatang, and the others was much livelier. Perhaps because they all practiced Martial Arts, their casual chat centered on recent major events in the Jianghu. However, it was mostly Lin Zhong doing the talking; Xie Tingyun and Shen Huatang had stayed in the Xiao Family and hadn’t left Shu State for a long time, so they didn’t know much about Jianghu affairs.
"Lately, rumors have been spreading wildly in the Jianghu about Immortal Bai coming to Shu State. I heard someone found out the reason."
"He really came to Shu State?"
"What’s the reason?"
"Rumor has it that Immortal Bai..." Lin Zhong paused, speaking with feigned mystery. "...had a duel with a peerless expert in Shu State."
"GASP!"
Xie Tingyun first drew a sharp breath, then asked with excitement written all over his face, "Really?"
"It’s not certain yet, but over the past two days, quite a few Upper Three Grades experts have already arrived in Shu State. It’s highly likely to be true..."