Imperial Cultivation-Chapter 248 - 245: The Eighth Layer

"Hmph." A cold snort came from afar.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and paid no attention.

Xiao Ruoling felt a bit embarrassed and gently nudged him.

Only then did Chu Zhiyuan let go of her, still holding her delicate hand.

A girl in white as snow drifted over from a distance, her face covered with a thin veil, her bright eyes and cold eyebrows exuding arrogance.

"Shen, this is the Princely Heir." Xiao Ruoling smiled and said, "We met before."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Meeting as if not meeting."

"Hmph, what’s there to see!" Shen Hanyue pouted and said, "You are not worthy of Sister Xiao at all."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I’m not worthy, then who is worthy?"

"No one is worthy!"

"Hmm, Ruoling’s younger brother used to think so too." Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Everyone thought I was not worthy of this Fairy Ruoling, ... I heard your swordsmanship is outstanding."

Shen Hanyue smiled proudly.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Your talent is also exceptional. We’re about the same age, what realm are you in?"

"Grandmaster First Layer Heaven!" Shen Hanyue said even more proudly, slightly lifting her chin, "Soon to be Second Layer Heaven!"

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, "Hmm, First Layer Heaven."

"Hmph, how many layers are you?"

"Seventh Layer Heaven. After returning this time, it’s estimated I’ll reach the Eighth Layer Heaven." Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said.

"... Did you use a Spirit Pill?" Shen Hanyue said, "I didn’t use a Spirit Pill!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I did use some strong meridian Spirit Pills."

Shen Hanyue was immediately pleased, "No wonder."

"You didn’t use even one Spirit Pill?"

"Of course not!"

"I admire that." Chu Zhiyuan nodded with a smile, "When I was twenty, stepping into the Innate level, I didn’t use a single Spirit Pill either. Indeed, progress wasn’t fast, and it couldn’t possibly be much faster."

Shen Hanyue became even more pleased.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Will you be able to use Spirit Pills freely in the future?"

"That’s right." Shen Hanyue huffed, "Soon we’ll catch up with you!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Then I must congratulate you, ... By the way, are you two Holy Daughters equal in rank, or is there a main and a secondary?"

"I’m the senior sister, so I’m the main one for now." Xiao Ruoling said, "If I’m not around, Shen can also take charge."

"Very nice." Chu Zhiyuan agreed, "Miss Shen, study well, and you can take over quickly too."

Shen Hanyue huffed, "What’s the rush, it’s still early."

Xiao Ruoling was very straightforward, directly telling the Palace Master and several Elders her plan.

Since there were two Holy Daughters, she would only stay for a short time, not over a year, before marrying into Prince Qing Mansion as the Heir’s Wife.

This would fulfill the agreement between Yao Yue Palace and the Grand Ancestor.

So Shen Hanyue should still be the main one.

However, Shen Hanyue was too immature and needed experience and trials, so she was to learn by Xiao Ruoling’s side.

Xiao Ruoling, being the young lady of Duke An Mansion, was skilled in managing people and affairs, enough to fulfill the duties of a Holy Daughter.

Moreover, a Holy Daughter was also to assist the Palace Master.

Chu Zhiyuan mused, "As a Holy Daughter, what do you have to do next?"

Xiao Ruoling said, "I need to visit Jiuli Divine Sect first."

Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow.

"After Jiuli Divine Sect, I also need to visit Wuyou Sect and Yongling Divine Sect."

"Visit them all?"

"I need to pay a visit to the other three sects, at least show my face, let them know the new Holy Daughter."

"Yongling Divine Sect..." Chu Zhiyuan frowned, "The Imperial Grandfather just dealt with Yongling Divine Sect, be careful."

"I am a Holy Daughter. If they don’t want to turn against our Yao Yue Palace, they wouldn’t dare do anything."

"Let’s hope so." Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

He always had a special dread towards Yongling Divine Sect.

Maybe it’s because the spiritual sons of Yongling Divine Sect could awaken their past life memories.

He had awakened his past life memories, so he was a bit reluctant to interact with Yongling Divine Sect.

He had a faint worry: is he a spiritual son?

Could awakening the Fetal Mystery, remembering his past life, be because his past life’s soul underwent a mutation while crossing over to this world?

Is it really so?

Is there another possibility?

Therefore, staying as far from Yongling Divine Sect as possible is better.

"Actually, the real trouble is the Wuyou Sect." Xiao Ruoling said softly, "They are the most difficult."

"The Wuyou Sect are deadly with poison?"

"Impossible to guard against, they kill invisibly."

"Senior Sister, no matter how strong their poison is, it can’t harm us with Taiyin Great Refining Form." Shen Hanyue said proudly.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

Shen Hanyue furrowed her brow displeased as she glared at him.

Xiao Ruoling said, "Junior Sister, you shouldn’t say such things out loud, lest people find out."

"He won’t say anything."

"Still, you should avoid eavesdroppers." Xiao Ruoling said softly, "There’s no wall that doesn’t leak."

"Alright." Shen Hanyue nodded helplessly.

She felt that just after leaving her mother, she met another sister who controlled her, but she had no choice but to listen.

Sister Xiao was very nice, but sometimes annoying.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Xiao Ruoling hesitated.

"No!" Shen Hanyue quickly widened her bright eyes and then pouted, "We’re a group of disciples going, what kind of a situation is it with you, a man, joining us? Wouldn’t it stain the reputation of Yao Yue Palace?"

Xiao Ruoling looked helplessly at Chu Zhiyuan.

She was actually very tempted.

If she could travel with Chu Zhiyuan, riding together, it would indeed be more interesting.

But thinking about having to follow along with disciples from Yao Yue Palace, it indeed wasn’t suitable to have Chu Zhiyuan there.

She let out a soft sigh, "I won’t be back for a month."

"Then go." Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "I’ll come to find you in a month."

Xiao Ruoling slowly nodded, her bright eyes misty.

Chu Zhiyuan released her jade hand, smiled, and said, "Then I shall go, see you in a month."

As he spoke, he leaped onto the Heavenly Dragon Divine Horse, waved his hand, and in a flash, turned into two beams of golden light and disappeared out of sight.

Xiao Ruoling looked on disparaged, her gaze fixed in the distance until nothing was visible.

Shen Hanyue looked on from the side, her lips pouting.

Xiao Ruoling kept her eyes fixed on where Chu Zhiyuan disappeared, unmoving for a long time.

Shen Hanyue couldn’t help it, "Senior Sister, is he really that good? He’s just a stinky man after all."

Xiao Ruoling turned to look at her and shook her head with a smile.

Shen Hanyue grunted, "Even if he’s the Princely Heir, he’s still just a stinky man, I really can’t understand what’s so good about him."

Xiao Ruoling said, "Junior Sister, let’s go, we still need to inventory the sect’s Spirit Pills and Spirit Grass."

"Sigh..." Shen Hanyue immediately felt a headache, showing a pained expression.

She would rather retreat and train, than deal with these trivial matters.

Who cares how many Spirit Pills there are in the sect, there are people in charge of that, just ask them, why personally count them?

And Spirit Grass, so many Spirit Grass, how long would it take to count them all?

Being a Holy Daughter truly isn’t easy!

...

Chu Zhiyuan sat on a bench in Listening Waves Court, inspecting three Sky-reaching Grass, a broad smile on his face.

After returning from Duke An Mansion, delivering the message from Xiao Ruoling, he eagerly came back to see these three Sky-reaching Grass.

After a moment’s gaze, he directly stuffed all three into his mouth.

...

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Three times the black flame slowly merged with the aura of the Dragon Transformation Technique, reinforcing his meridians by a tenth.

This tenth was different from the initial tenth, the strengthening effect indeed strong.

He now had the confidence to directly break through the seventh level copper building and step into the Eighth Layer Heaven.

Thinking it over, he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

...

Upon waking the next morning, he let out a long howl, startling the entire Prince Mansion.

Others quickly learned that the Princely Heir had broken through again.

The Princely Heir’s cultivation truly advanced by leaps and bounds, advancing so quickly even in the Grandmaster Realm, truly incredible.

Nowadays, life in the Prince Mansion was getting better and better.

Thriving, prospering, they felt it fully being a part of the Mansion.

When Chu Zhiyuan arrived at Mingwu Hall, he found Chu Qingfeng looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fists with a smile, unconcerned said, indeed he had reached the Eighth Layer Heaven.

"How did you level up again?"

"Couldn’t help it, Ruoling over there got some Spirit Grass, strengthened my meridians."

"... Your luck!" Chu Qingfeng helpless.

Originally he needed to earn merits to exchange for Dragon Blood Stone, Dragon Fat Fragrance, Dragon Bone, etc., now the woman became a Holy Daughter and possessed vast cultivation resources.

According to his temper, it would be difficult to work for the Court, focusing entirely on cultivation.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "The further you go, the harder it gets. The Ninth Layer Heaven and Grandmaster Perfection aren’t easy to achieve."

He could feel the challenge of the Ninth Layer Heaven and Grandmaster Perfection, faintly feeling despair.

Even alongside mystical stones, the Purple Sun Scripture cultivated faster, while the effect of Sky-reaching Grass diminished.

Ultimately it would still rely on enduring effort.

This discomforted him, accustomed to rapid progress.

Easy to go from frugal to lavish, difficult from lavish to frugal.

He could adjust his mindset, but mindset was mindset, emotions were emotions, ultimately unable to eradicate human nature.

"Can’t just blindly immerse in cultivation, it’s still important to experience more." Chu Qingfeng said.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Uncle, now all but the Northern Territory’s war, everything seems calm and peaceful."

"Hmph, the matter of White Cloud Sword Palace is very troublesome." Chu Qingfeng shook his head.