"Ziyu, don’t go yet, come here and talk," Teacher Yan said.
After the perch feast concluded, the disciples began bidding farewell to Teacher Yan Jidao and leaving.
Teacher Yan suddenly called out to Zhao Rong, who was preparing to leave with his wife.
Zhao Rong halted, accompanied by Qing Jun and Qian’er, and under the friendly smiles of his senior martial brothers, walked towards Teacher Yan.
The eldest senior brother patted the younger one’s shoulder and then left to attend to the banquet’s miscellaneous matters.
Zhao Rong and his small group remained with Teacher Yan, sitting by the riverside for a chat.
At that moment the weather was clear and pleasant, and the river flowed gently as Teacher Yan fished with his rod.
Zhao Rong also took out a fishing rod and sat down beside Teacher Yan to fish.
Teacher Yan stroked his beard, turned his head, and glanced at Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Qian’er, who were standing quietly behind Zhao Rong.
Just a moment ago at the banquet, he had intended to give a gift to the two ladies, but Zhao Rong had politely declined.
Now, seemingly aware of Teacher Yan’s gaze, Zhao Rong said with a smile,
"Teacher, those entry-level poems you offered us are too precious. I heard from the eldest senior brother that these are favorites you’ve cherished over the years."
His smile was helpless as he shook his head.
"Neither my clumsy wife nor I felt it right to accept them. Besides, our visit today was hasty, and we only brought a few dishes and a jar of wine. Teacher, your perch delicacies have already indulged us greatly; we would be too shamefaced to accept such valuable gifts."
Teacher Yan had noticed that both Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Qian’er were in the Vast Realm, and Zhao Lingfei especially was stuck at a bottleneck. That’s why he had prepared those entry-level poems for them.
They needed those right now.
Indeed, to advance from the Vast Realm to the Heavenly Will Realm without any trace of dust and water in a single breakthrough, one would need a precious Nanshan Grade poem and simultaneously elicit a resonance during the Realm Breakthrough.
Through the subtle resonance and the surge of Spiritual Energy provided by the Nanshan Grade poem, one could break through the mirror.
But aside from that, the Falling Flower Grade and Ascending Grade, while not achieving immediate success, could at least bring one closer to the Realm Breakthrough after resonating and absorbing Spiritual Energy.
That was the reason behind Teacher Yan’s gift of poems.
But, this junior disciple had declined.
Teacher Yan scrutinized Zhao Rong’s expression and nodded slightly, knowing that he always had his own ideas and should have his own sense of propriety, so he no longer insisted.
Zhao Rong looked back at Qing Jun and Qian’er.
With his vast memories from a previous life and his mastery of poetry and meters, what he lacked least were entry-level poems, even the deliberately understated Nanshan Grade ones.
However, the current situation was not suitable for him to present them.
It wasn’t stinginess; he was probably more anxious about Qing Jun’s cultivation than she was.
This spendthrift lady, with her top-ranking Heart Lake Phenomenon of the mountain, destroyed it as if it meant nothing.
Thinking about it made Zhao Rong’s heart ache, almost wanting to deal with this foolish wife using family discipline.
Only previously, their emotional entanglement was a bit complicated, and if delved into deeply, under Qing Jun’s aggrieved and sorrowful gaze, much of that family discipline would probably end up being applied to him instead...
Regardless, helping Qing Jun repair her Heart Lake as much as possible was his inescapable responsibility as her husband.
This was also what he was focusing on at the moment.
And as for Qing Jun’s bottleneck, although it could be solved with a suitable Nanshan Grade poem, the primary reason for her bottleneck was the Sword Heart injury, as Gui mentioned.
This directly resulted in half of the Heart Lake Phenomenon being destroyed and a Class A Flying Sword degrading to Mortal Grade.
That was the core issue.
To solve the problem, one had to start there.
On the last rest day, in the small woods, when their Heart Lakes touched and submerged,
Gui said that Qing Jun’s Heart Lake was showing signs of slow recovery, like deadwood meeting springtime.
But to be completely healed and upgrade the Flying Sword was still far from enough.
Therefore, even if he borrowed a Nanshan Grade poem to break through into the Heavenly Will Realm and outclassed the young prodigy from Taiyi Mansion who was competing with his wife—what was his name, Ji something?—becoming the youngest Sword Cultivator in the Taiching Four Mansions, the number one among the younger generation,
The problem would still exist.
Moreover, Gui asserted that the next time Qing Jun attempts to form her Golden Core from the Heavenly Will Realm, there would still be shackles: an unstable foundation, possibly harboring greater hidden dangers.
Therefore, it might be better to remain longer in the Vast Realm, accumulating experience.
Whatever could naturally recover in the Heart Lake Lotus Pond would be a bonus.
And for someone like Qing Jun, who was accustomed to rapid breakthroughs and an unobstructed path, this was a rare form of cultivation.
Later, when the cost of time and the benefits of waiting no longer aligned, it would be time to seek methods such as Nanshan Grade poems to advance through the Heavenly Will Mirror.
Therefore, not long ago, Zhao Rong had quietly spoken to Zhao Lingfei, advising her not to be hasty and to calmly proceed with systematic cultivation.
His words subtly hinted that the husband had his plans.
When Zhao Lingfei heard this, she just smiled gently and deflected the topic without making any fuss, the same as when they spent time together previously, not discussing much about cultivation.
She assumed that Zhao Rong’s ’plans’ must refer to things like the Falling Flower Grade poems he had given her before.
As for Nanshan Grade poems, well, Zhao Lingfei didn’t doubt that her husband could obtain them.
After all, he was in the Confucian Academy.
Using Teacher Yan and other influential figures, spending some significant favors, it might be possible for Zhao Rong to borrow them.
But even if he managed to acquire one or two through great difficulty, chances were they might not be useful.
Because she would need to resonate with the poems to draw upon them for a breakthrough, just like the letters Zhao Rong wrote to her previously.
But these sought-after Nanshan Grade poems all had their own contexts of creation.