Chapter 100

In fact, his sense of guilt might as well be called a sense of responsibility, after all, his body flowed with the blood of the Shen family.

If he were naturally cold and indifferent, with no feelings or righteousness, then blood ties would not be a constraint. However, he was not heartless and ruthless, so this mundane bond could not be severed.

He also understood the purpose of Qingxuan establishing the Upper Academy, which was to give senior practitioners who had achieved success a chance. If you could not sever this mundane bond, you could also let those who were connected to you follow in your cultivation. However, if they could not reach the stage of Returning to the Elixir in the future, they would eventually turn to dust.

And those above the stage of Returning to the Elixir could not take disciples, thus preventing Qingxuan from becoming the private property of one or a few families.

After all, even if one could achieve the stage of Returning to the Elixir through external elixirs or immortal pills, it was not a hundred percent successful. Moreover, these were rare items, not easily obtainable.

This system was far from perfect and could be exploited, but over the millennia, even the speculative families gradually faded away in the long river of time.

These thoughts flashed through Shen Lian's mind like lightning. He said softly, "Your hands are stained with ink, wash them."

Next to them was a basin. Shen Lian threw a talisman paper into it, and in an instant, the basin was filled with clear water.

Xiao Ruoxi was not surprised. Shen Lian rolled up her sleeves for her, and she obediently put her small hands into the water, carefully wiping off the ink stains.

The clear water in the basin gradually turned a light shade of ink. She conscientiously carried the basin out to pour the water away.

In the past, not only did she not pour the water from the basin herself, but even washing her hands was done by maids. However, Shen Lian would not indulge her in such habits.

At first, she felt very wronged, but now she was used to it.

When she poured the water out, she heard a cry of surprise. The voice was coarse but had a hint of shrillness.

Then someone said, "Little brat, don't you have eyes?"

This was followed by the sound of a whip being swung, cutting through the air.

But before the whip could land on Xiao Ruoxi, it was caught by a young man.

The young man was naturally Shen Lian. He stood beside Xiao Ruoxi, who was not afraid and looked at the person who wanted to hit her with wide eyes.

The man had a pale face and no beard, riding a horse, with his boots stained with water.

Next to him was another horse, on which sat a valiant young man.

The man with the pale face continued in a shrill voice, "This uncultured little girl, is she from your family?"

"Children are ignorant and have dirtied your shoes, but why must you get so angry?" Shen Lian looked at the man calmly. The man still held the whip, but the end of it was pinched between Shen Lian's two fingers.

No matter how hard the pale-faced man tried, he could not pull the whip out of Shen Lian's fingers. He wanted to let go but found that the whip seemed to be welded to his hand, unable to be released.

Sweat beads the size of soybeans rolled down his forehead, and he could not say a word.

The valiant young man saw this and knew they had encountered a high-level practitioner. He clasped his hands and said, "My subordinate was a bit rough, I apologize here. Can we let this matter go?"

Shen Lian glanced at the pale-faced man and then at the valiant young man, smiled faintly, and released his fingers.

The valiant young man looked at Shen Lian's clinic and said with a smile, "Brother, you run a clinic? 'Reviving the Dead' is quite an interesting name."

Shen Lian named his clinic 'Reviving the Dead,' which was a grand claim. On either side of the door was a couplet: "Medicine treats the incurable, only saving those with a karmic connection."

However, in the capital, there were no shortage of people who sought attention, and he was young. Moreover, there were other clinics nearby, so no one had come to seek treatment until now.

It wasn't that no one had come. A few neighbors with minor ailments still wanted to take care of the brother and sister, asking him to prescribe some medicine, but Shen Lian did not treat these minor illnesses.

Naturally, people became even more skeptical of Shen Lian's medical skills.

Word of mouth spread, and even the curious disappeared.

Moreover, Shen Lian's location was slightly off the beaten path. If one was not careful, they would not even notice it was a clinic.

Shen Lian was too lazy to deal with it and took Xiao Ruoxi inside.

The young man was not angry and said to the servant beside him, "Let's go."

The servant, who had just been slightly disciplined by Shen Lian, was now catching his breath. He was not inexperienced and knew that Shen Lian was not an ordinary person. Since the young man did not want to pursue the matter, he naturally understood and did not seek trouble.

As they walked away, the young man said with a smile, "This capital city is indeed a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."

"Sir, don't we need such extraordinary people? That young man is truly capable. Even the disciples of the Great Master Kuhui, who is a favorite of the emperor, could not play with him so easily. Why don't we investigate his background and see if we can recruit him to assist you?" the pale-faced servant suggested.

"Da Zhuang, I am pleased that you can put aside your prejudice and say such words. However, we have just arrived in the capital, and we need to keep a low profile. Do you think the Prince of Qi invited me to a welcome banquet tonight just to be friendly? It was to remind me," the young man said, a hint of a cold smile appearing on his face.

******

Shen Lian looked at Xiao Ruoxi and said, "You weren't afraid just now. It seems you've developed a bit of character these days."

Xiao Ruoxi looked up and said, "With big brother here, I'm not afraid of anything."

Shen Lian touched her forehead and thought, "I can't keep you by my side forever." He did not say this aloud, as it would make the little girl sad and overthink.

He had some knowledge of feng shui and physiognomy and noticed that the young man had a purple aura, indicating great nobility, yet he currently had the demeanor of a dragon in hiding.

In the capital, the dragon qi of the Empress was at its peak but carried a hint of gloom. If it was not resolved, it would eventually decline.

He studied these matters to gain insight before he could grasp the essence of the Great Void Divine Strategy. The capital was the imperial city, and this place was a vast feng shui array, extending for thousands of miles.

The entire Great Zhou's earth veins ultimately converged through this capital's feng shui array. Despite the chaotic earth qi surging into the capital, it was neatly organized.

This was a creation of nature, and the most terrifying part was that it was deliberately done by someone.

Shen Lian speculated that only a high-level practitioner, perhaps a deity or a buddha, could have such means to manipulate the mountains and rivers.

He also wanted to gain insight into the Daoist principles and perhaps find a way to harmonize the eight qi within his body, eliminating conflicts.

This was his main purpose for coming to the capital. He also knew that the current Empress revered Buddhism, and Kuhui was a prominent figure in the capital.

He said, "Starting tomorrow, I will teach you to cultivate qi. Although I cannot pass on the 108 methods of Qingxuan, by the time you can truly enter the path of immortality, I will likely have returned to the mountains. For now, laying a good foundation is enough."

These words also served as a self-motivation, which Xiao Ruoxi could not understand.

——

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