Chapter 9
Liang Chen's day started off relatively normal. He started the day by cultivating a new flower in his right hand to quicken the rate at which qi was refined.
Creating the new flower had taken days to do. In fact, he had fallen asleep forging the new flower in his shoulder. The pain was also blinding as well. It felt like his whole body was crumbling.
After creating the flower, he helped himself to a hearty breakfast of dumplings and stew. Then he practised his Echoing Fang of the Lotus spear technique.
It was when he was in the middle of his training, that he received a knock on the door.
The knock wasn't urgent. Just three light taps on the wooden door.
Liang Chen lowered his spear, the qi flower throbbing in his right shoulder. He adjusted his robe, wiped the sweat from his palms, and walked toward the door.
There was another knock.
'What kind of inpatient bastard is disturbing my training' Liang Chen thought.
He opened the door.
Standing before him, bathed in the early afternoon light was a beautiful woman with deep green eyes and brown hair. He wore golden and white robes with a red lotus insignia at the upper chest area. The symbol of the Crimson Lotus pavilion.
The woman bowed slightly, just enough for politeness, not enough to suggest inferiority.
"Disciple Liang Chen," she said, her voice cool and melodious, "Grandmaster Yu Weixian requests your presence. Immediately."
Liang Chen blinked. That was unexpected.
Still, he nodded. "Let me grab my boots."
A few moments later, he was walking down the path leading to the Petal Pavillion, where the sect grandmaster resided.
The walk there wasn't long. It just felt endless.
Cobblestone lined the walkway, lily pads floated in pools of still water on either side. The song of a crane bird could be heard in the distance. Everything here was clean and quiet. The quietness was eerie.
Liang Chen adjusted his pace.
The woman who had summoned him moved just a few steps ahead. She hadn't said much. Yet Liang Chen could feel it, he could sense her spiritual pressure buried deep within herself.
He spoke, voice casual. "What's your name?"
"Bai Lianhua," she replied without looking back.
"Lotus in the name. How poetic."
"I was born under one."
"Wonderful!. I was born under a thunderstorm in a warring city."
She finally turned her head slightly, just enough to show a faint smirk tugging at her lip. "Explains the temperament."
Finally, they passed the final gate. Beyond it stood the Lotus pavilion, a towering structure that looked like it had been bloomed, not built by human hands. It looked natural.
It had a roof curved like the petals of a flower in mid-bloom. Waterfalls poured down the sides into hanging gardens and koi ponds.
At the front were two guards in ornate golden armor standing at the door. They moved aside.
"Wait here," Bai Lianhua said, walking up the steps. "You will be summoned shortly."
Liang Chen stood still, taking in the beauty of the whole place.
[All-Seeing Eye Activated]
[Micro-spiritual fluctuations detected]
[Array Layer Detected: Type – Binding; Strength – Moderate; Trigger – Spatial Disruption]
'Ah, a ward'
The Grandmaster was being careful, of course he was.
A moment later, the doors opened and he was ushered inside.
The scent of rain water filled the air. Above, a slow, majestic rainfall of glowing petals drifted endlessly from the high ceiling, never touching the ground. His every step echoed through the chamber. And in the very center of the room, situated on a floating lotus platform carved from jade sat Yu Weixian. The Crimson Lotus himself.
The Grandmaster sat with his legs crossed. He looked old, but not the mortal comprehension of old. His hair was as white as snow, that complemented elegantly to his pale skin and golden eyes He wore a crimson robe. He was exceptionally handsome, even when he looked like he was in his fifties.
"Disciple Liang Chen," he said without rising.
Liang Chen bowed, not too low. Just enough to show respect.
"Grandmaster."
[All-Seeing Eye: Active]
[Target Acquired: Yu Weixian]
[Spiritual Pressure: Restrained – Estimated Base Tier: Deva Stage, Peak]
[Qi Signature: Lotus Cycle Cultivation – Modified; Unusual fluctuations detected in heart meridian]
[Intent Level: 17% Aggression, 31% Curiosity, 52% Observation]
"You've caused a bit of a stir, young man." The sect grandmaster spoke calmly, with a royal tone in his speech.
"I've barely done anything," Liang Chen said, his iconic smirk flashing for a brief moment.
"That," the Grandmaster said, "is precisely what worries me. You've done so little… and yet, you've already been noticed."
He snapped his fingers. A scroll floated down between them, unrolling in mid-air.
It showed a detailed map of the Jade Veil Sanctum, a spiritually-rich neutral zone nestled between three major sects: Heaven's Tear Sect, Crimson Lotus Sect, and Wisteria Empress Sect.
"This place is the reason for your first mission."
Liang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"The Jade Veil Accord. I remember that from the lectures. It was formed over a century ago to stop three sects from razing each other over a vein of immortal bamboo and a floating leyline, right?"
Yu Weixian nodded. "Among other things."
He tapped the map "The Jade Veil Accord is due for renewal in less than a week. Our sect, as one of the founding parties, is required to send a diplomatic envoy to discuss territorial rights, spirit beast migration routes, and cultivation resource claims."
"And… you want me to go," Liang Chen said slowly.
A faint smile crept onto Yu Weixian's lips.
"As an advisor to my daughter, Yu Miaoran. She will be leading the envoy. Your role is public. But your purpose is private."
Liang Chen tilted his head. "To guard her?"
"To watch her," Yu Weixian corrected. "She is clever and talented. But not invincible. There are whispers of interest in her from other sects. Political marriage proposals, assassination attempts, spiritual abduction… you name it."
He stood, letting the lotus platform lower to the marble floor with a gentle thrum.
"My daughter is brilliant. And proud. And perhaps too trusting of her ideals. But the world outside these walls… has no ideals. Only ambitions."
[All-Seeing Eye: Fluctuation Detected]
[Subject's Pulse Increase – Subtle Emotional Distress Triggered by "Daughter"]
[Conclusion: Past Trauma / Regret – Likely Connected to a previous event.]
Liang Chen filed that away too. The All-Seeing Eye was becoming a little bit too jarring for Liang Chen.
Yu Weixian walked toward him slowly, folding his hands behind his back.
"You are to keep her safe. But more importantly, you are to see what happens when diplomacy is tested. Something foul stirs in the Jade Veil. The other sects send more than elders, they send killers dressed in robes of silk."
"And you want me to…?"
"Watch, report, strike if necessary. But do not interfere unless she is in true danger. This is her trial as much as yours."
Liang Chen tilted his head slightly. "You're throwing us both into the same fire."
Yu Weixian finally looked at him fully, and the weight of his gaze hit like a mountain.
"You were forged in fire, Liang Chen. I'm simply letting you walk through it again."
A long silence followed.
Then the Grandmaster stepped back and waved a hand. A secondary scroll floated down, this one was sealed with red wax.
"This is your travel clearance. Lianhua will escort you to the staging grounds. You leave in two days, so prepare well."
He turned his back then, signaling the conversation was over.
But just before Liang Chen stepped out, Yu Weixian's voice echoed behind him.
"One last thing."
Liang Chen paused.
[All-Seeing Eye: Threat Detected]
[Intent Level: 94% Aggression – 6% Restraint]
[Conclusion: Kill Order – Will Be Executed Without Warning]
"Let me be blunt," Yu Weixian continued. "If anything happens to my daughter, I will erase your name from the earth so thoroughly the heavens will forget you ever existed."
"I'd expect nothing less," Liang Chen said quietly.
And then he walked out.
Outside, Bai Lianhua was waiting beneath a cherry blossom tree.
"You're smiling," she said, raising an eyebrow. "That's rare."
Liang Chen looked at her.
"Tell me something, Lianhua."
"Hm?"
"What's Yu Miaoran like?"
Lianhua exhaled. "Sharp tongue. Sharper blade. She thinks ninety-nine percent of people are beneath her."
"Perfect," Liang Chen muttered. "I love being the one percent."
She looked at him with that same unreadable amusement. "You're going to piss her off."
"I usually do."
And with that, Liang Chen stepped down the platform and made his way down the path again. He had 2 days to prepare for this diplomatic mission. He just hoped it wouldn't turn into a disaster.