"Guards!" Duke Gong hollered as his face turned red from anger. He was a noble figure in the Li Dynasty, one of the two most powerful dukes, yet it had taken an outsider to show him that an intruder was lurking in his home ground. The shame of it made him want to boil the estate guards alive.
Under the duke's orders, the estate's guards quickly mobilized and chased after the fleeing intruder. Afterward, Duke Gong showed a kind smile towards Fenghua and cupped his hand. "Many thanks for Senior's aid. Had it not been for you taking action, the ducal establishment would have remained unaware of the rats within."
Duke Gong's heart was moved by Fenghua's actions. As a peak martial master himself, he could absolutely tell that Fenghua was at the grandmaster level despite her childlike appearance. Furthermore, her cultivation should be rather high as only those who stepped into the Acupoint Opening Realm for some time could unleash a ranged attack as she had. All of this, coupled with the importance he placed on Leng Junfeng, made him want to establish a connection with her.
Fenghua waved her hand arrogantly. If this were in the Huang Realm, she would not have dared to take such an action as a little core formation master, but here, in the Allfist Realm, the Core Formation Realm represented the peak of power. "It's nothing."
Duke Gong didn't take Fenghua's dismissive attitude to heart. After all, which supreme expert wasn't proud? Some might have seen the intruder and ignored him while mocking the ducal establishment in their heart.
Leng Junfeng led Fenghua to the main hall of the mansion allotted to him. Against his wishes, the duke's daughter followed them. Only after minutes of Leng Junfeng's convincing did the girl leave unwillingly. After her student served her tea, Fenghua learned of the ducal lady's strange status.
The seventeen year old's name was Gong Qiu'ai, and she was Duke Gong's youngest daughter. Duke Gong was in his nineties, and unless he broke through to Acupoint Opening Realm, he would die within thirty years, so it was a surprise that he would have a daughter at his late age instead of focusing on his cultivation.
What was even more of a surprise was that Duke Gong's madame had long died, and Gong Qiu'ai was birthed by an outside mistress of the duke. Despite this, her treatment was not any worse than a daughter of the main branch birthed by the late madame. In fact, there were even areas where the duke treated her better than his own children and grandchildren!
Compounding all this is the fact that the duke did not let this youngest daughter of his reveal herself to the public. Whenever a public event was hosted by the imperial or some noble family, Gong Qiu'ai would always be absent.
Fenghua's overactive mind detected numerous novel plots from this. Perhaps she's the daughter of his true love? Nah, the duke's true love would have been too old or too young. Both cases make it unlikely. Then how about a hated enemy's daughter that he is raising for revenge, but it seems that he is treating her far too well. Unless that's the point, he will use her love for the Gong Duke Establishment to fatally rend the heart of this old enemy of his!
Brilliant fiery eyes turned towards Leng Junfeng. Still, this is awfully convenient. I'll bet my lifebound artifact that this Gong Qiu'ai is going to be this youngster's harem member or enemy!
Leng Junfeng felt goosebumps all over his body at Fenghua's strange stare. Thankfully for him, his teacher asked him to recount what happened to him while she was away.
When Leng Junfeng first arrived, he quickly found an excuse to separate from his childhood friend, Wang Meilin, whom he encountered by a series of coincidences along the way. After that, he booked a room near the outer edges of Chang'an, waiting for Fenghua to arrive.
However, Fenghua never arrived because she was in secluded cultivation, trying to heal her injuries. So after two weeks of waiting, Leng Junfeng decided to start his plan without waiting.
Fenghua filtered out the tedious journey Leng Junfeng went through in order to join the Gong Ducal Establishment. If you really wanted to know, it was basically a tournament where the most outstanding contestants under twenty get to be hired by the Gong Ducal Establishment, basic protagonist stuff. On a side note, Leng Junfeng got second place, losing to a martial master at the Marrow Enhancement Stage got second place.
Fenghua gave Leng Junfeng the stink eye for that.
She didn't pay much attention to the destruction of the Du Family either. How could a mere miniboss be a significant enough presence for her to care about? What she cared about was if Leng Junfeng discovered the force controlling the Du Clan.
And Leng Junfeng didn't disappoint Fenghua. The one who exterminated the Leng Clan was the Teng Clan. Or, to be more specific, Teng Shifang, the prime minister of the Li Dynasty!
dun!
Dun!!
DUN!!!
According to my years of experience, aka reading numerous novels, Leng Junfeng will borrow the hand of an opposing force to aid him in destroying the Teng Clan. From the rumors, the best choice and the only one with the power to oppose the Teng Clan is the Li Imperial Clan. Granted, that is only if the rumors are true. Fenghua analyzed. Although her starting point was abnormal, her analysis was not without logic.
"So, what do you plan to do now?" Fenghua asked. If Leng Junfeng asked for her aid, although she would help, her impression of him would drop.
It wasn't that she wasn't willing to help, but a one-sided relationship where only one party gives is not long-lasting. Relationships are a two-way street; both parties had to contribute. Otherwise, it would be unfair, and the relationship could easily twist. Leng Junfeng didn't disappoint her.
"The Li Dynasty is going to war with the Gu Dynasty soon. I plan to use my connection with the Gong Ducal Establishment to attain a good position and then climb the ranks until I have amassed enough power." Leng Junfeng explained.
"Oh?" Fenghua gave a teasing smile. It would have looked seductive if she was in her grown form, but on her adolescent body, it only appeared naughty. "Aren't you afraid of people claiming that you only got your position because of your relationship with Duke Gong?"
"Let them talk. Why should I worry about what other people think? If they have a problem with it, I don't mind proving them wrong." Leng Junfeng raised a clenched fist that paired well with his confident smile.
Fenghua stared for a moment before chuckling. "Compared to him who cared very much about what others thought of him, your willpower is on a higher level."
"Him?" Leng Junfeng asked. He had a gnawing curiosity as to who his teacher was talking about.
"He's not a person of this realm. If you want to meet him, you have to ascend to the immortal realm first." Fenghua teasingly said.
Clones like Fenghua were not a perfect copy of the original. Due to the process, the creator, in this case, Xi Tianyi, could subtract certain parts of their character from manifesting in their clone, resulting in other characteristics increasing to fill the gap. This was the case of Fenghua, so she did not care as much as her main body of what other people thought of her.
"Alright, we've talked long enough. Show me how much you've grown after all these months. I can tell you've already reached the Bone Refinement Realm, Mr. Martial Master." Fenghua teased as she started to walk out of the hall.
"Huh? How did you know?" Leng Junfeng asked, surprised. He quickly followed after Fenghua.
"You'll know when you enter the Acupoint Opening Realm," Fenghua replied.
Two hours later, Leng Junfeng found himself with his back on the ground and panting for his life. Not only that, his whole body was covered in bruises, and when he breathed, he discovered places that he didn't even know could hurt.
I thought Teacher said she was a spiritual cultivator? Aren't martial cultivators supposed to have a stronger body than spiritual cultivators? Teacher didn't even use qi. All she did was beat me up with her fists! Fenghua's fist may look tiny and cute, but Leng Junfeng could prove how painful receiving a single one was.
After that day, aside from occasionally observing Leng Junfeng, Fenghua secluded herself in her room. After entering the capital of the Li Dynasty, Fenghua discovered that her Primogenitor Flame Scripture had a small breakthrough, allowing her to understand it.
After a few days, Fenghua realized why. The Primogenitor Flame she cultivated within her spiritual core was born of human will. The more human will and more types there are, the greater her gains.
She hadn't felt such a case in Luoyang because most of the people there were cultivators. Due to being the ancestral site of Ancestor Allfist, most people there had a purer state of mind, resulting in a monotonous will.
Humans were often capable of overcoming their bodily limits and displayed shocking amounts of strength in dire times. This result was due to their will. The will they exhibited didn't have to be positive such as the desire to protect; they could be negative, like hate and the desire of vengeance. In reality, negative emotions were more easily brought out by humans.
In this bustling city, numerous will clashed and interacted, allowing Fenghua to reap bountiful harvests. Of course, it was tiring for her too. In order to study as much human will as possible, Fenghua had to spread her spiritual sense as far as possible.
Saying was easy, but doing was hard. Fenghua was still in an injured state, so her spiritual will was weaker than usual. It was okay if it was used only occasionally, but if she used it so much like this, the burden would increase. Not to mention that she was trying to digest all the information observed by her spiritual sense.
When a cultivator spread out their spiritual sense, they don't pay attention to everything at once. It was much like how a regular human had a peripheral vision, the human can see it, but they can't pay much attention to it. The first time Fenghua overdid, it caused her a serious migraine and almost caused her to revert into her fox form.
Two months later, Fenghua decided to come out of her secluded meditation for a special event. The Gong Ducal Establishment received an invitation to the wedding of Prime Minister Teng's grandson, Teng Wuba. Duke Gong didn't personally go, but Leng Junfeng asked to come as his representative. And Fenghua also came for the excitement.
Ah, I wonder how the Teng Family will react to seeing Junfeng even if he is disguised. Will they be able to dispel Junfeng's disguise and surround him with no hope of escaping? That will be the time I heroically swoop in and save him!
Leng Junfeng subtly inched away from his teacher. He had a feeling that she was thinking weird thoughts again. What is Teacher thinking? Is she preparing to enact another training plan of hers? Ever since she arrived, I would get mysteriously attacked in the middle of the night. Teacher claims it isn't her, but who else had the power or the motive?
The two of them arrived at the Teng Family Estate and were swiftly escorted in. Fenghua had learned that Duke Gong was firmly in the emperor's faction, so it wasn't weird why he didn't personally visit. What surprised Fenghua was that the Teng Family didn't show any signs of hostility despite knowing that Leng Junfeng was from the Gong Ducal Establishment.
Fenghua followed Leng Junfeng to mingle with the other guests. As she looked like a child, most of the other members thought she was some groomed genius of some family, a fact that Fenghua played for all its worth. Using the excuse that she was a child, she diverted an and all attention to her.
Leng Junfeng, on the other hand, skillfully maneuvered the noble circle. He greeted those in the emperor's faction, then the neutral faction, and finally the prime minister's faction. Fenghua's eyes were opened by this. Did he already have such skills, or did he recently learn them? If it is the latter, as expected of my student/protag!
Not long after, the Teng Family received the emperor's decree. Long story short, it was just some words saying congratulations and that you were only allowed to marry because of my grace, blah blah blah.
Can the emperor really survive against the Teng Family like this? Fenghua thought. The emperor was just lording over the surface authority over the Teng Family. It was like this was the only method he could show that he was still the top dog. If that really was the case, then the imperial family would eventually be replaced.
After the decree, all the guests followed the groom, Teng Wuba, to pick up his bride. Teng Wuba was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, with a masculine yet handsome face and a stalwart figure. Wearing red made him appear like a war god on the battlefield, incredibly incongruent with the festive atmosphere of the wedding.
To Fenghua's disappointment, the scene of Leng Junfeng confronting Teng Wuba didn't appear. Teng Wuba didn't even look at Leng Junfeng and ignored him like an inconsequential figure.
Still, Fenghua did enjoy a good show in the end.
Teng Wuba and the guests all arrived at the bride's house. It was actually an estate given to the bride's father since he was a foreigner to the capital. But the most exciting part was that the bride had run off!!!
Fenghua had to stop herself from laughing after seeing how dark and ugly Teng Wuba's face was, totally erasing the handsome impression he gave off.