Xiao Rangchen took quite a while to calm himself. He was just about to sit down and cultivate when a timid young voice came from outside the bed curtains.
“Are you asleep?”
Xiao Rangchen pulled open the curtains. Standing beside the bed was a slender youth of about sixteen or seventeen.
When he saw Xiao Rangchen looking at him, the boy gave a shy smile. “I—I’m the one who sleeps in the bunk below yours. My name is Chai Zhuang.”
“Xiao Rangchen.” Seeing that he was still standing there, Xiao Rangchen asked indifferently, “Is there something you need?”
“N-no, nothing... Oh, no, actually, there is something...” Chai Zhuang’s eyes darted toward Xiao Rangchen’s side, as if searching for something. When he met Xiao Rangchen’s gaze, he awkwardly tugged at the blue guard uniform he was wearing. “Just now, I saw you holding a little blue-green beast. Is that your contracted beast?”
Xiao Rangchen gave a quiet “Mm.”
Summoning his courage, Chai Zhuang looked up at him and asked in a small voice, “C-can I ask where you got it?”
Xiao Rangchen frowned slightly.
Chai Zhuang hurriedly defended himself. “Brother Xiao, don’t misunderstand! I didn’t mean anything by it—”
“He didn’t mean anything by it? He’s just coveting your contracted beast, hahaha!” The burly man across from them, who was removing his wrist guards, snorted mockingly. Another man followed with a burst of laughter.
Chai Zhuang’s face flushed crimson. He said anxiously, “That’s not it, Brother Xiao! I’m not coveting it. I really just wanted to ask!”
“Chai Zhuang, the young master merely said you were ‘not bad,’ and you actually took it seriously? Go take a piss and look at yourself—how much do you think you’re worth? And you want a contracted beast? Even if you had one, would it ever be your turn to get it?!”
The other man teased, “I say, Xiong Wu, are you jealous that Chai Zhuang received the young master’s praise?”
“Jealous of that pretty boy? Hell no!” Xiong Wu spat.
He looked at Chai Zhuang with contempt and sneered. “Praise? Do you really think the young master still remembers something he said offhand a year ago? Even if you stood right in front of him, he wouldn’t recognize you!”
Xiao Rangchen’s expression suddenly stiffened for an instant.
“N-no, that’s not...” Chai Zhuang’s lips trembled. He was unable to say anything more for a long while. At last, he lowered his head and murmured, “I have to change shifts,” before hurrying away as if fleeing.
“Hmph. What a coward.” Xiong Wu cursed at his back.
Xiao Rangchen’s indifferent gaze settled on Xiong Wu.
“Brother, Steward Qiu seemed pretty polite to you just now. Are you a newly assigned guard?” the other man asked.
Xiong Wu glanced at Xiao Rangchen, tossed his wrist guards aside, and sneered. “Him? A few days ago, he was still locked up in the water dungeon. He only escaped and then got captured again.”
“Then how did he end up here?”
Xiong Wu tugged at the eyepatch covering his face. His remaining eye crawled over Xiao Rangchen with a greasy, disgusting look.
“That’s something you’ll have to ask him. Back then, the young master dismissed everyone and did something shameful with him in the garden—”
Xiao Rangchen appeared before Xiong Wu like a ghost. The tip of his dagger was nearly pressed against Xiong Wu’s single eye.
“Hey, brother, let’s talk this out!” The other man hurriedly tried to intervene. “Guards who fight among themselves are severely punished. Put that down first!”
Xiao Rangchen ignored him. “Continue.”
His cold tone sent a chill through Xiong Wu. Xiao Rangchen’s fingers were clamped around both his wrists, right over his vital points, their bones hard as iron. They were both Foundation Establishment cultivators, yet Xiong Wu was completely powerless to resist. He felt as though his wrist bones were about to be crushed.
His heart trembling, Xiong Wu realized that this man’s true strength was far beyond what he appeared to possess.
A poisonous look flashed through his eyes, but he also knew that clashing head-on with Xiao Rangchen would do him no good.
“I’m sorry!” The flesh on Xiong Wu’s face twisted. “My mouth got ahead of me!”
“All right, Xiong Wu has apologized. Brother, be the bigger man and let him off this time.”
The other man tried to play peacemaker and reach for Xiao Rangchen. Xiao Rangchen withdrew his hand before the man could touch him. Once released, Xiong Wu instinctively retreated two steps.
Xiao Rangchen stared down at him. “If there’s a next time, I’ll make sure you can never open your mouth again.”
Xiong Wu lowered his head, hiding the sinister look in his eyes.
Xiao Rangchen left and walked to the end of the passageway. Through the window, he gazed at the clouds roiling behind the airship and slowly exhaled.
Sure enough, the kind of master one had determined the kind of guards one attracted...
Up in the top cabin, Lou Yue suddenly sneezed.
She rubbed her nose, then sneezed twice more. With a solemn expression, she said, “Someone’s cursing me.”
After thinking for a moment, she declared, “It must be Xiao Rangchen. He’s the only one who harbors such deep resentment toward me!”
Xuanba had originally had no intention of responding to Lou Yue’s muttering. But hearing the certainty in her voice, he slowly poked his head out.
“You’re underestimating yourself.”
Lou Yue: “?”
Xuanba said, “The people who resent you could circle this entire airship several times.”
Lou Yue’s face twisted as though she had swallowed something bitter. “...You’re making me feel like I’m in grave danger.”
Xuanba showed no remorse. Instead, he added fuel to the fire. “Once we reach Xuandu, you’ll be in even greater danger.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re too arrogant on a daily basis.”
Lou Yue: “...”
Because of Xuanba’s provocation, Lou Yue threw herself into cultivation for three full days. Aside from memorizing the Lou family’s illustrated manuals that Little Qiu had obtained for her and getting the sleep she absolutely needed, she devoted every remaining moment to cultivation. She worked harder than she had during her college entrance exams.
As a result, she missed the visit from Xiao Aiai, who had gone to see Xiao Rangchen.
“They talked for a long time?” Lou Yue asked Little Qiu, who had come to report the matter.
“They chatted on the deck for about fifteen minutes. The young master had given orders beforehand that Miss Xiao was to be treated as a guest, so no one was allowed to approach them. I don’t know what they discussed.”
“What about Xiao Rangchen?”
“After seeing Miss Xiao, he returned to the lower cabin. He spent most of his time meditating on his bed. At night, he would go to the rear deck to practice with his spear and only return at dawn.”
Lou Yue had initially intended to rest for a day. Upon hearing this, she ground her teeth. “He didn’t sleep?”
Little Qiu paused, then answered, “It seems not.”
“Is he even human?”
After dismissing Little Qiu, Lou Yue paced back and forth across the room. She took several deep breaths before sitting back down on the bed.
So he wanted to compete, did he? Who was she to be afraid?
This bout of cultivation lasted from morning until the following day before finally coming to an end.
Feeling the spiritual energy within her body remain stubbornly fixed at the middle stage of the Golden Core realm, Lou Yue experienced, for the first time, the frustration of having great ambitions but no way to fulfill them.
In the novel, Lou Yue’s talent had ranked at the very bottom of the Lou family. The Lou clan had maintained its position as one of the four great families through a perception-based talent passed down from generation to generation, with the talent being especially pronounced among the direct descendants.
Lou Yue, however, was an anomaly. She was as direct a descendant as one could possibly be, yet her perceptive abilities were no better than those of an ordinary cultivator. As for her Golden Core cultivation, it was merely an impressive facade piled together with rare treasures of heaven and earth.
No, this wouldn’t do. She needed to get outside and take a breath of fresh air. If she kept shutting herself away to cultivate, she was going to develop depression!
The moment Lou Yue came downstairs, Dou’er, who had been waiting for several days, caught her.
“You finally came out, Young Master!” Dressed in an especially flamboyant manner, Dou’er threw herself into Lou Yue’s arms and complained that she had forgotten all about her.
Dou’er sobbed theatrically. “Little Qiu said you were cultivating and wouldn’t let me go upstairs, but Dou’er missed you, Young Master, so I had no choice but to wait here every day...”
Lou Yue raised a hand and gently patted her. “I’m free today. I can keep you company for a while.”
Dou’er had defeated her sisters with great difficulty just to get onto the airship. How could she possibly waste this opportunity?
“Young Master, Dou’er learned a new dance. I want to perform it for you. Shall we go to the deck?”
Lou Yue readily agreed.
Before long, a soft couch had been set up on the deck. Several maids stood around Dou’er, each holding a musical instrument.
Lou Yue was initially surprised that the maids were proficient in music as well. Then she thought about it and realized that, given her status as a member of an aristocratic clan, even the servants must have been selected through layer upon layer of screening. It was hardly strange for them to be talented in many different areas.
On the spacious deck, songs and dances flourished. Lou Yue reclined on her side, her slightly curled black hair spilling across the snow-white fur cushion. One hand supported her forehead while the other rested on her raised knee, her posture languid and uninhibited.
When the song and dance ended, Dou’er, glistening with sweat, threw herself into Lou Yue’s arms and asked sweetly, “Young Master, did I dance beautifully?”
Lou Yue hurried to praise her, giving her all the emotional reassurance she wanted. “Beautiful. You’re gorgeous no matter what you do, Dou’er.”
Dou’er pouted coquettishly and slid her lotus arms around Lou Yue’s neck. She puckered her lips and leaned in for a kiss, but Lou Yue tilted her head slightly, allowing the kiss to land on her chin instead. With a light push, she sent Dou’er back and teased, “Don’t be so eager.”
“Mm~ Young Master, how am I acting like a monkey~?” Dou’er whined coquettishly, twisting her body.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman, whispering sweet nothings to each other.
In the distance, Xiao Rangchen turned his face away, refusing to look at such blatant daytime indecency.
He was standing far away, yet he still couldn’t stop Lou Yue’s nearly murmured words from burrowing into his ears. Her voice was not as deep and resonant as that of an ordinary man. When she softened it to coax someone, it was like the tinkling drops of water formed by melting snow in early spring, striking blue-gray stone again and again—impossible to drive away, and deeply distracting.
“Brother Xiao, did I say something wrong?” Chai Zhuang asked awkwardly.
It was no secret that Xiao Rangchen came to the deck every night to practice his spearwork. The previous night, Chai Zhuang had mustered up the courage to approach him with a question about spear techniques. He had expected to be mocked, but Xiao Rangchen had not only answered patiently; after learning that Chai Zhuang also cultivated the spear path, he had even offered to teach him some of his insights in the coming days.
This was their lesson for the day. Unfortunately, they had barely exchanged a few words when singing and dancing began on the forward deck.
Chai Zhuang had long since grown used to it, but Xiao Rangchen, standing before him, had his brows tightly furrowed, as though enduring tremendous discomfort.
“No. Continue,” Xiao Rangchen said in a low voice.
Chai Zhuang became even more cautious, stumbling over his words as he spoke. Xiao Rangchen pointed out one flaw and began explaining his own understanding of it, but halfway through, he suddenly stopped, as if his mind had wandered. Only after a while did he continue.
“Brother Xiao, do you dislike the music? If it’s bothering you, should we talk later? It probably won’t stop anytime soon up front.”
Xiao Rangchen had been about to deny it, but then Lou Yue’s soft laughter drifted into his ears again. The words at the tip of his tongue changed.
“Mm.”
Just as he was leaving, Xiao Rangchen suddenly asked, “They said before that Lou Yue once praised you as ‘not bad’?”
Chai Zhuang hurriedly waved his hands. “I didn’t go around telling people! That time, Xiong Wu and I were on duty together. He just happened to overhear it.”
Xiao Rangchen raised a hand to stop him. “There’s no need to be nervous.”
“You needn’t care how others see you. The road of cultivation is long and arduous. The person who determines your future has never been anyone else, but you yourself.”
Chai Zhuang had never expected Xiao Rangchen to say something like that to him. His shoulders trembled slightly, and a glimmer of tears flashed in his eyes as he stared at Xiao Rangchen’s sharp, resolute features. He nodded firmly.
“Brother Xiao, I’ll remember that!”
...
The glow on the horizon was gradually swallowed by dusk, and the clamor of the day was slowly quieted. Lamps shone across the cloudship, bathing the cold silver radiance in a warm hue.
Lou Yue had soaked in the private bath in her quarters. Although bathing in her underclothes was uncomfortable, she was even less willing to see her flat chest and the other parts of her body that she couldn’t bear to face. Fortunately, balancing work with relaxation had temporarily allowed her to forget the frustration of her slow cultivation.
However, when she happened to glance at the figure practicing with a spear on the deck after returning to the upper cabin, all the “relaxation” she had enjoyed that day went to waste.
Xiao Rangchen wore nothing more than a coarse hemp robe, yet it could not conceal his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and upright figure. As his long spear swept through the air, the wind shrieked around it, each movement sharp, forceful, and decisive.
Lou Yue felt irritated just looking at him. When he leaped into the air, she took the opportunity to throw a strand of spiritual power at his feet, attempting to bind them.
Xiao Rangchen reacted with astonishing speed. He twisted in midair and dodged the spiritual restraint.
Lou Yue clicked her tongue and turned to walk up the wooden stairs leading to the third level.
Thunk!
The long spear that had been in Xiao Rangchen’s hands moments earlier suddenly shot forward, carrying the force of a thousand jun, and slammed into the wooden step directly in front of her.