In the southwest corner of the Astral Sage College.
A red-brick spiral building stood out from among the lush, green grass. It was an unfamiliar place for most students, as only Violet Vibrance mentors with resources to spare could rent the place.
Mentor Chi Chan brought Li Luo and the others to one of the cultivation chambers.
Pushing open the heavy, stone doors, a glittering arena of white crystal greeted their eyes. The cool room sparkled with golden glamor, and a spacious, stone platform in the middle of the room basked in their reflective spotlight.
A wave of worldly natural energy blasted them full on from the moment the doors opened.
For Dukes like Chi Chan and Yu Hongxi, it was like a cool and refreshing breeze playing across their faces. For Li Luo, it was closer to a tornado. He felt like he had been dunked into one of those earthenware wine jars the size of a bathtub, and he had drunk every last drop. He could barely stand straight.
Mentor Chi Chan had expected as much, so she reached out to steady him.
She also sent a jolt of resonant power to fortify him, shaking him out of his drowsy state.
“Wow, this is intense,” Li Luo muttered to himself. This was even stronger than what he had experienced from the Tree of Resonant Power.
“Is this dragon’s blood amber crystal?” Yu Hongxi asked appreciatively as she stepped into the glittering room. “The Astral Sage College is truly something else. This crystal is very expensive. This entire room was built out of it, and it harnesses the harmonies of dragon’s blood in an inspirational design. Even Dukes would gain greatly from cultivating here.”
Chi Chan smiled. “Very modest, President Yu… As if the Astral Sage College could ever hope to compare to the Golden Dragon Bank’s wealth.”
“Wealth built through a lifetime of scrimping and saving,” Yu Hongxi replied. “No boldness in luxury like the Astral Sage College.”
“If President Yu finds this too ostentatious, I would be delighted to show you to House Luolan’s wagon parking yard,” Li Luo said.
“Oh, no thank you.” Yu Hongxi smirked. “You don’t have enough space to park all the wagons I have.”
Li Luo scowled. Damn, she is ruthless! Get off your high and very expensive horse! You think money alone can make you happy?
Li Luo sighed. Actually, money would make him very happy. If he had enough money, his waterlight resonance would already be an eighth-grade… And maybe he would have a seventh-grade woodearth resonance to go alongside it. Money could make him very happy indeed.
Money he did not have.
While Li Luo was brooding about his financial concerns, Yu Hongxi turned to Cao Sheng, who was standing at the door. “Mentor Cao Sheng, our safety is in your hands.”
Mentor Cao Sheng waved eagerly at her. “Don’t worry, President Yu. I will not let anyone cause trouble to you. Anyway, the school is quite a safe place. I doubt anything would happen.”
“It’s always good to be safe. If there’s nothing else,” she said, turning to Li Luo, “let’s begin.”
Her natural business efficiency had reasserted itself.
Li Luo was only too happy to oblige.
With a gentle flick from Chi Chan’s wrist, the heavy, stone doors swung shut with a rumble.
Cao Sheng stared at the closed door, then planted his own butt outside it. He rubbed his grizzled cheek and grinned like a young boy. He had not spoken so intimately with Yu Hongxi in many years now. Then again, he knew that it was not her fault—he was the one who had not dared to speak to her.
In this regard, he was truly a coward.
Back in the day, he had not even been able to muster up the courage to confess. He knew that the reply would be a clear refusal—she had told him that she liked Li Taixuan.
Afterwards, he left the Golden Dragon Bank and entered the Astral Sage College. Although they still worked near Xia City, he had never gone to find her. She was a proud woman and would probably not tolerate his attention. He had all but cut contact with her.
Cao Sheng knew that he was a coward.
In his heart, Yu Hongxi was perfect, and he dared not even have the slightest untoward thought about her.
But tragically, one’s feelings could not be controlled. He could not help but like her—an understandable reaction for any hot-blooded man towards a wonderful woman like Yu Hongxi. Cao Sheng sighed deeply. He closed his eyes and let the memories fill his mind’s eye.
He had been a young boy, escaping to Xia City after his family had fallen into ruin. He had nothing more than the threadbare shirt on his back and a growling stomach.
He had collapsed by the city wall, resigned to death by starvation when someone threw a hot, fresh bun at his face. The yeasty fragrance had awoken his soul, and he had scarfed it down, sinking his teeth into the plump and piping-hot snack. The bun pressed against his tongue, burning it, and somehow he had enjoyed the feeling.
When he had licked the last crumb clean, he finally looked up at his savior.
A young girl dressed in red, she was as beautiful as she was proud, staring down haughtily at him.
“You big lout, come do hard labor for me if you want to eat.” She turned away without waiting for his reply.
He stood rooted on the spot for a few seconds, then crawled hastily after her.
Later on, he had demonstrated his talent and carved his own reputation in the Xia Kingdom as one of the top elites. But all of that was thanks to Yu Hongxi.
He laid back and smiled at his memories.
In all these years, he had not dared to appear before her, afraid that he would be a bother. But his life had been hers, bought for the price of a steaming bun all those years ago. She had never asked him for anything since then, as though she had forgotten that she had a Duke’s life at her beck and call if she so wished.
Finally, now she had asked him for something.
Although it was just door guarding, he felt that he had to do his best.
Slapping his knee, he looked up at the night sky, then turned his head to the right. “I say, Old Jin, how about giving tonight a rest, eh? For me?”
A figure shifted in the darkness, then the veil of black parted to reveal a person.
Stepping out into the moonlight was none other than Shen Jinxiao.
“I had not expected the wildest of my colleagues, MMentor Cao Sheng himself, to be on bodyguard duty,” Shen Jinxiao said with a slanted smile.
“Bodyguarding is an honor,” Cao Sheng replied. “If she asked me to go do hard labor, I’d still do it gladly.”
“A moving, yet pitiful story.” Shen Jinxiao sneered. “And so strange. You are a Violet Vibrance mentor in the Astral Sage College, one of the few elite Dukes in the Xia Kingdom. You’re of comparable status to President Yu, and you are fully deserving to chase her. There’s no need to sit here steeping in imagination.”
“Steeping is all the heat I can handle in the power of her beauty,” Cao Sheng replied.
“Your obsession,” Shen Jinxiao noted.
Cao Sheng nodded. “And your obsession? Li Luo? Or is it Jiang Qing’e?” Shen Jinxiao smiled wordlessly.
“Mentor Shen Jinxiao, I do not want to fight you. Do not make trouble here tonight. I could ignore your tussle with Li Luo and Chi Chan, but tonight, you are up against me. I will not show courtesy,” Cao Sheng said with a quiet promise. Under his scraggly hair, his eyes were clear and filled with power.
Free of his sappy thoughts of Yu Hongxi, Mentor Cao Sheng flexed the full power that he had earned as a Duke over the years.
Shen Jinxiao waved lazily.
“I’m not here to fight you.”
“Eh? Then you’re just here to watch me guard the door?” Cao Sheng frowned.
Shen Jinxiao laughed, then he sat on the stone steps beside Cao Sheng.
Cao Sheng frowned, but there was no good reason to shoo Shen Jinxiao away, even though he was a little too close for comfort. “Mentor Shen Jinxiao, I’ve always felt that your anger against Li Luo was unwarranted.
“What is it that you are trying to accomplish?”
Shen Jinxiao remained silent, looking up at the bright moon.
In it, he could almost see the silhouette of Jiang Qing’e.
But his eyes were not on her imaginary face. He looked at her organs inside her, and he licked his lips. I want her heart.
