Zhang Fengxi was angry at Xie Jianyu.
He was so angry that he decided to let Xie Jianyu do whatever he wanted. Like Xie Jianyu said, who he dual-cultivated with and why had nothing to do with Zhang Fengxi.
That was right.
Zhang Fengxi did not care anymore.
If ever something happened to Xie Jianyu, then Zhang Fengxi would not even care to laugh at his face.
He. Did. Not. Care.
Not that Xie Jianyu cared a lot about his own reputation.
Pffft.
Just...
They would see!
"..."
"..."
"...!!!"
AAAARGHHHHHHH!!!
Just what was the pair of uncle and nephew doing out there? How did they perform this so-called dual cultivation?
Zhang Fengxi was so irritated that he could not meditate properly.
The alpha paced back and forth. He tried hard to dispel his anger and anxiety, but it did not work.
"Yo, Brother Fengxi, did no one tell you that you should quietly meditate on your own when you are in an open space?"
Zhou Guiying gave Zhang Fengxi a judgmental stare.
"Your tumultuous aura disturbs the balance of this place. Thanks to you, the lesser cultivators are going to suffer from qi deviation*."
Zhang Fengxi pursed his lips.
"Do you take me for a Demon King? How can I alone affect the quality of the spiritual energy in this place?"
Zhou Guiying burst out into laughter.
"You look like a Demon King when you are angry. What is it, Brother? Tell me, maybe I can help."
Zhang Fengxi stared at him.
"Are you here to meditate or chat?"
"Chat."
"....."
Zhou Guiying dug into his ear with his little finger.
"My brother forced me to meditate here ever since we left the Great Sage Valley. Apparently, I did not perform up to his standard."
Zhang Fengxi scoffed.
"Well, what did you do after we separated that time?"
"Xie Jianyu went back to fetch you while I dragged that brat Jiang Muchen with me. He was screaming for his uncle the entire way. I mean..."
Zhou Guiying rolled with his eyes.
"I swear, I have never seen someone that clingy."
"Exactly!" Zhang Fengxi shouted. "Exactly my point!!!"
"That’s why I am glad that they finally left."
"Exactly! I mean, what? They left?"
"Yup, yesterday was their last day. Didn’t you know? Jiang Muchen finally achieved a breakthrough. He is at the late stage of Core Formation now."
"..."
Zhang Fengxi gaped at Zhou Guiying.
"What? How?"
How could that brat, Jiang Muchen, be so much higher than him?? He could not lose against Jiang Muchen, that... that big baby!
Zhou Guiying snickered.
"He is lucky to have a benevolent star to help him."
Speaking about help. Zhang Fengxi felt weak all over his body.
If Xie Jianyu helped Jiang Muchen, then surely Xie Jianyu was a lot higher than Jiang Muchen?
"What stage is Xie Jianyu currently at?" Zhang Fengxi heard himself asking.
"Ufh. The Crown Prince? Honestly, he must be quite far. At least Nascent Soul, middle stage, I would say."
No way.
No way.
No wayyyyyy!!!
Zhang Fengxi grabbed Zhou Guiying’s lapels.
"Brother Guiying, are you shitting me? How can Xie Jianyu be at the Nascent Soul stage? He is six... I mean, seventeen! He just differentiated a year ago!!!"
And into an omega too. What a slap in the face for all alphas.
Zhou Guiying laughed.
"Brother Fengxi, don’t kick a fuss. Isn’t it normal? I heard that Xie Jianyu was fed all kinds of spiritual roots ever since he was a child.
Do you not know that he was raised in Golden Dragon Palace when he was a baby? According to the rumors, his crib was made of hundreds of spiritual stones!"
Hundreds of spiritual stones...
Zhang Fengxi’s Longjing Palace was by no means poor, but they only had a meditation room with maybe a hundred spiritual stones to enhance their meditation, and it was for the palace residents’ public use!
Zhou Guiying could not help but laugh when he looked at Zhang Fengxi’s face. He patted Zhang Fengxi’s back to placate him while saying, "Brother Fengxi, do not compare yourself to the Mountain God. If you want to feel better, I can tell you that I am still at the early stage of Core Formation. Now, are you happier?"
...
Zhou Guiying did not know that Zhang Fengxi too was at the early stage of Core Formation. He unknowingly poured oil into the fire.
Driven by the wish to catch up to Xie Jianyu, Zhang Fengxi meditated religiously for the next three weeks while reviewing the three basic spear manuals that Commander Jiang left him.
By the time he decided to go back home, he had achieved a breakthrough to the late stage of Core Formation.
It was too difficult to get to Xie Jianyu’s level, so Zhang Fengxi decided to be content with reaching Jiang Muchen’s level. In fact, he did it without engaging anyone’s help. That was enough to be proud of.
Back at Longjing Palace, the palace physician was waiting for him to come back.
As soon as Zhang Fengxi stepped into the palace, the old physician rushed over to greet him.
"Prince, I have finally managed to find out the composition of the incense mixture sample that you gave me three weeks ago."
Perfect.
Now that Zhang Fengxi knew Xie Jianyu’s cultivation level, he was pretty sure that this incense mixture contained the secret to improving cultivation in a short time.
That cheating Crown Prince!
"So? What is it?"
The palace physician cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem, it contained Mugwort, Golden Ginseng roots, Lingzhi Mushrooms, Silphium, and uhh, Night To Day Reversal Seeds."
Zhang Fengxi wrinkled his face in confusion.
He knew the first three, but he knew nothing about the last two ingredients.
"Silphium is a rare herb that is used as an aphrodisiac, pregnancy prevention, treatment to common ailments, and also buffer between a lot of medicinal ingredients."
"Night To Day Reversal Seeds are rare seeds from the Demonic Realm. According to a legend, it can turn an omega into an alpha."
-------------
Author’s note :
*Qi deviation is a phenomenon that happens during abnormal cultivation processes, is very harmful and could be deadly depending on the severity of the deviation itself.