June 13, 2017
Li Family Mansion, in the tea room, Lu Xin waited anxiously for the butler Li Ping's response, so much so that she didn't even notice the tea in front of her had gone cold.
Finally, Li Ping's footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard, and Lu Xin breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up the teacup and took a sip, but the terrible taste made her furrow her brows.
"Madam, I just asked people from the association. They said... the young lady still hasn't taken the second batch of tasks."
Lu Xin put down the teacup and asked, "She hasn't picked them up? What's going on? The fifteen thousand spirit stones from the first batch were returned by her, and she still refuses to take the second batch. Could it be she really doesn't want our money?"
Li Ping opened his mouth but stopped short of speaking.
"Speak up!"
"Yes, madam, this is what happened. The day before yesterday, when the young lady went to the association to pick up a task, there was an independent cultivator girl named Zhang Zhixi..."
Li Ping then briefly explained the recent public opinion in the Mutual Aid Association and finally said with trepidation, "Madam, things seem to have gotten out of hand."
Lu Xin said angrily, "Aren't you good at sending gifts? How could you make such a mess of it!"
Li Ping looked distressed and said, "Madam, I'm really innocent. Those ways of gift-giving, I only heard about them from the Qian Family's butler while drinking, I've never dared to try them myself."
"..." Lu Xin was also exasperated. This foolish butler was really making her worry!
Under Lu Xin's angry and helpless gaze, Li Ping stood up very consciously, bowed, and said, "Madam, I get it. I won't come back for dinner unless I finish running ten laps today!"
"Go, go!"
However, he hadn't been gone long before this fool came running back, panic-stricken and panting, looking like a lost dog.
"Madam, madam, something terrible has happened. There's news from the association that the young lady, she... she wants to leave the family!"
"What?!"
——
Soon, with a restless heart, Lu Xin took out the instant communication paper. She then contacted various parties one by one: the Chief Instructor of the Li Family Outer Sect, the Mutual Aid Association's file manager, the Cyan Cloud Household Registration Manager... and then confirmed with them one by one if Li Qingming was really planning to leave the family!
First was the Outer Sect Instructor, whose response was that he did indeed receive Li Qingming's withdrawal letter via flying sword in the morning, stating she would henceforth be leaving the Outer Sect and would no longer participate in learning or cultivation. As for what she had previously learned, she could swear not to use or transmit it further.
Then the Mutual Aid Association received an application from Li Qingming about changing her registration information, requesting that her registered name be changed from Li Qingming to Shen Qingming and that she no longer be associated with the Li Family, thus becoming just an independent cultivator!
Finally, the Cyan Cloud Household Registration office also received Li Qingming's application to establish her own household based on Shen Garden, which was soon approved according to the management methods.
"How could they approve that!" Lu Xin was simply incredulous, "This is leaving the family! How can a young girl just leave on her own decision? Even if she owns property in QingCyan Cloud yun City and is over 14, she can't set up her own household without parental permission!"
However, the Household Registration office soon replied.
When Li Qingming submitted her application, she already had her biological father, Li Fengyun's, signed permission to set up her own household.
When Lu Xin saw Li Fengyun's signature, she felt like her eyeballs were about to explode.
The next moment, a roar reverberated throughout the Li Family Mansion.
"Li Fengyun!"
The clueless Patriarch Li quickly came on call and apologized immediately upon seeing his wife's angry face.
"I'm sorry, Xin'Er, I was wrong."
Lu Xin looked at her husband's sincere face and snorted, "You don't even know what you did wrong, do you?"
"...Yes, I'm sorry."
Faced with Li Fengyun, Lu Xin ultimately couldn't maintain her anger, sighed, and asked, "Why did you allow that girl Li Qingming to set up her own household?"
"Because she wrote me a letter, pleading for my permission to set up her own household." Li Fengyun said in confusion, "When a daughter asks, of course, I have to permit it."
"Do you have any sense of right and wrong! Is this something that can be granted just because it's asked for?! Do you know what setting up her own household means?"
Li Fengyun said, "Not quite sure, probably just living alone?"
"It means she wants to leave the Li Family! She's already applied to change her name to Shen Qingming!"
Li Fengyun pondered for a moment, "Shen Qingming... it sounds quite nice."
"Is this about sounding nice or not! Never mind, let's not waste time here, let's quickly find Qingming herself to get to the bottom of this!"
Under Lu Xin's urging, Li Fengyun quickly unfolded a sword light and took his wife to the east of the city to Shen Garden.
In front of that Zao Hong Sect gate, memories of the past flooded Li Fengyun's mind like a tide. In this small courtyard, he and Yue'e had once shared a peaceful yet unforgettable period of happiness.
Lu Xin did not disturb Li Fengyun's reminiscences, and quietly waited for him to snap out of his trance before stepping forward to push open the courtyard gate.
Then, they saw a colorful little dwarf holding two cups of tea, waiting for them.
——
Meanwhile, Wang Jiu looked puzzlingly at the two unexpected guests at the entrance.
Li Fengyun, Lu Xin... Li Qingming's parents, oh wait, now it should be Shen Qingming—this little steed, when she gets serious, her efficiency in handling matters is truly incredible. In a day, she visited three organizations, successfully ran through the process of establishing an independent household, and returned to Shen Garden before evening, loudly announcing she is now Shen Qingming, finally performing a set of sword dance to celebrate.
Then, until this morning, Shen Qingming's excitement hadn't dissipated, saying she wanted to go to the city outskirts for a stroll and leaving Wang Jiu to look after the house.
This is naturally no problem for a Sword Spirit immersed in the reconstruction of Sword World, after extracting half of her Qi Blood, letting her stagger off freely.
Unexpectedly, encountering two unexpected guests.
At the moment Li Fengyun, riding on the sword light, landed in front of the gate, Wang Jiu noticed the True Essence aura of him and Lu Xin, guessing they intended to visit.
Considering Li Qingming had already separated from the Li Family, Wang Jiu treated them with the courtesy of ordinary guests, employing the Illusion Sword Technique to transform into the appearance of "Li Qingming," and brewed two cups of plain tea to welcome them.
When Lu Xin pushed the gate open and entered, Wang Jiu promptly carried the tea tray over, with a warm greeting note placed on top.
"Welcome to my humble abode, please have some tea."
However, upon seeing the note, Lu Xin's heart turned cold.
That child actually treats her and Fengyun as guests, this seemingly chilly and polite approach contains such a degree of estrangement and clearing!
Yet on the surface, Lu Xin raised her eyebrows and sneered, "Do you think treating us as guests can deny your blood relation with us?"
Li Fengyun laughed, "Indeed, we're family. Why such formality?" and attempted to reach for the teacup, only to have his hand slapped away by Lu Xin.
Listening to the couple's words, Wang Jiu thought it made sense too, even though separated from the family, the blood relation remained, and guests' standards of reception were inappropriate.
Thus, he casually poured the tea aside and motioned them to enter the house for a talk.
However, in the turn of his figure, a sudden gust of wind sounded behind, and an overwhelming True Essence came crashing like a landslide or tsunami.
Wang Jiu promptly directed the sword body, the sword tip pointing at a weak line in the True Essence tsunami, simultaneously operating the Wind Gathering Array within Sword World, gathering Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind to interfere with the True Essence's advancement.
Consequently, of the tenfold power of the True Essence behind, ninefold fell into emptiness directly, and the remaining one-fold was also disturbed by the Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind, weakening its power by half.
Nevertheless, this True Essence was so strong that it still far exceeded what Wind-Rising Realm Cultivators could endure; if Li Qingming were here, she'd be gravely injured, coughing up blood.
But Wang Jiu, unlike Li Qingming, possessed the Immortal Celestial Divine Sword Body, even if he took the True Essence head-on, no harm would befall him. Further weakening the power by over 95%, he directly leveraged the mighty force to float backward and finally landed steadily.
Nonetheless, although Wang Jiu remained unscathed, the colorful trendy robe was ultimately unsalvageable, torn to shreds amidst the rampaging True Essence, beyond repair. Without the robe to cover him, Wang Jiu's true form was exposed.
His Sword Spirit True Form—a miniaturized version. To ensure the height and physique resembled Shen Qingming, he had to adjust his illusion proportions. Indisputably, this appeared as a young, handsome man, not the 14-year-old girl Shen Qingming.
"Who are you!?"
Li Fengyun's expression turned solemn, his True Essence, at the Peak of Mountain-Overturning Realm, surged magnificently, creating an overwhelming force, while the Sword Qi outside his body instantly enveloped the air like rain, blocking the entire space of Shen Garden.
Only needing a turn of his Primordial Spirit, these countless Sword Qi would simultaneously erupt, grinding everything within Shen Garden's radius into powder, or they could concentrate the power on a single point, obliterating anyone entirely.
Wang Jiu ignored the myriad Sword Qi, merely curious about how the other recognized he wasn't Li Qingming.
"Qingming would never casually discard the tea for guests! Yue'e taught her that when she was young!" Li Fengyun said harshly, "Now, tell me who you are!"
Wang Jiu never expected his steed to have such a quirk, but now that his true form was revealed, there was no need to deny further. After some thought, he used concise language to state his identity on the note.
Li Fengyun warned, "Don't try anything; I can discern lies!"
Wang Jiu curiously raised his head and added on the note, "Sword Heart Clarity?"
"Eh, how did you know?" Li Fengyun was curious but quickly switched to a glare, "Enough with distractions, last warning, reveal your identity before I lose focus!"
While speaking, Wang Jiu's note was finally ready, folded into a flying sword shape, and floated over.
Li Fengyun took the note, reading the neatly written content: "I am from the Jiuzhou Immortal Demon War era, created by Jiu Immortal Venerables sacrificing Jiuzhou's essence blood to the Nameless Sword God as a reincarnated Celestial Divine Sword Spirit, awakened by Shen Qingming years after dormant, forming a Master-Servant Contract with her, currently helping her watch over the house."
This note left Li Fengyun furrowing his brows, and Lu Xin dumbstruck.
Moments later, Lu Xin furrowed her brows, about to reprimand, only to see Li Fengyun's ire dissolve, a smile appearing while the enclosing Sword Qi around the courtyard instantly vanished.
"So it's Elder Divine Sword, my apologies for earlier."
"How could you believe it just like that?!"