Chapter 126: Persistence

Chen Ji was a stubborn person. To achieve his goals, he would stop at nothing, even risking life and limb. He wouldn't turn back until he hit a dead end. He repeatedly recited the *Fù Gài Yún* technique, determined to cultivate purple *qi* in his meridians, come what may.

However, that path, like a blazing, glorious sword *qi*, was more persistent than him...

Chen Ji sat cross-legged in the dim apprentice dormitory, reciting the technique for a full hour, twelve times in total. The strands of purple *qi* that were born were, without exception, mercilessly severed.

"Strange." Chen Ji muttered to himself, "The Mountain Lord path and the Sword Seed path can coexist peacefully, so why not *Fù Gài Yún*?"

"Could it be because both Sword Seed and *Fù Gài Yún* are sword paths, and therefore cannot coexist? Let's try again."

Just as he was about to recite it for the thirteenth time, he heard urgent bird calls outside the courtyard. Chen Ji recognized it as the copper whistle signal from the Secret Agent Department. But whereas the previous bird calls were crisp and pleasant like those of a magpie, this time they were as urgent as if a bird's nest were about to be raided.

He stood up and walked out of the medical hall, only to see Golden Pig's carriage stopped across the street. Chen Ji, familiar with the routine, climbed into the carriage. Before he could even speak, Golden Pig, covered in sweat, said fiercely, "You can't cultivate! You've cultivated to the ninth level!"

Chen Ji's eyes widened. He feigned confusion, "Lord Golden Pig, how did you know I can't cultivate? Are you monitoring me?"

Golden Pig realized he had misspoken, and hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying, "I was just worried that you might act rashly after getting the cultivation technique, so I specifically came to remind you. You must understand, while cultivation can make you extraordinary, you also need to properly relax when cultivating. You absolutely cannot blindly push forward."

Chen Ji said, "Oh, thank you for your concern, my lord."

Golden Pig's eyes darted around. "Right, have you encountered any difficulties while cultivating? Perhaps I can help you with one or two."

Chen Ji shook his head. "No..."

Golden Pig looked pained and anxious. "Think carefully again."

Chen Ji glanced at him and casually explained, "My lord, when I cultivate this technique, I always feel a nascent *qi* mechanism that is about to be born but hasn't yet. I can't touch it, and I can't find it."

Golden Pig pondered for a moment, then said with concern, "Perhaps you've been too tired these past few days. That's why you can't calm down when cultivating. Think about it, you've only slept a total of three or four hours in the past few days. How can you cultivate well? It's better to get some good rest first."

Chen Ji hummed in agreement, "What my lord says makes sense. I'll go back and get some good rest now."

Golden Pig felt relieved. "Very good, very good. Go."

After Chen Ji got off the carriage, Golden Pig leaned weakly in the carriage compartment. In just one hour, twelve of his ribs had been remotely drawn out. How was this any different from torture? Perhaps even if he fell into the hands of Jing Dynasty thieves, the outcome would be no worse than this.

At this moment, Golden Pig sat in the dim carriage compartment, enjoying a moment of quiet solitude. There was no heart-wrenching pain, no constant worry. It was exceptionally relaxing.

After a short rest, he softly muttered, "This young man is quite diligent, even more hardworking than Tian Ma was back then. But what exactly is his cultivation path? He's clearly a first-rate talent, so why can't he enter the threshold? Could it be a problem with the cultivation technique?"

He tapped the carriage compartment and said to Xi Feng, the guard outside, "Return to the inner prison and continue interrogating that Jing Dynasty thief. ...Alas..."

Golden Pig's face drastically changed. Didn't this young man just agree to rest? How could he go back and start cultivating again instead of getting good rest?

Xi Feng heard his exclamation and hurriedly lifted the carriage curtain, poking his head in to ask, "My lord, what happened to you? Do you have a stomachache?"

Golden Pig gritted his teeth. "Blow the copper whistle and call Chen Ji out."

As the bird calls sounded, Chen Ji soon climbed back into the carriage compartment, looking puzzled. "My lord, we just said goodbye. Why have you called me back again?"

Golden Pig asked seriously, "Did you remember my advice to rest well?"

Chen Ji said frankly, "I remembered. I went back and slept. I didn't cultivate again."

Golden Pig was speechless. He knew very well the temptation of a cultivation technique to a young person. When he himself first got a cultivation technique, wasn't he also racking his brains day and night, thinking about how to step into that threshold? He could understand the young man's feelings, but he himself was a bit overwhelmed.

At this time, Chen Ji cupped his hands and said, "My lord, if there's nothing else, I'll go back to the medical hall to sleep."

Golden Pig tightly gripped Chen Ji's wrist. "No."

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. "Hmm?"

Golden Pig patted the carriage wall and said loudly, "Xi Feng, return to the inner prison. Chen Ji and I want to interrogate the Jing Dynasty thief one more time."

Chen Ji was puzzled. "My lord, didn't you want me to rest well?"

Golden Pig said earnestly, "I just realized that Yuan Shopkeeper must still have a lot of intelligence to extract. If he reveals more, you can also help me analyze it. If you want to sleep for a while, then sleep in the carriage."

After saying this, he actually took out a copper hand warmer from under the seat, carefully poured in carbon powder, lit it with a fire match, and then stuffed it into Chen Ji's arms. "Hold this and sleep. It's warm. Overthrowing the Liu family and the Military Intelligence Department is our proper business. Think about how I didn't sleep for three full days and nights just to keep an eye on a Jing Dynasty thief. Since you've joined the Secret Agent Department, you need to slowly get used to it too."

Chen Ji thanked him, slowly leaned against the carriage wall, and closed his eyes. He had confirmed that the purple *qi* he obtained during cultivation should immediately feedback to Golden Pig. And the action of the glorious sword *qi* severing the purple *qi* must have caused significant harm to Golden Pig, otherwise the other side wouldn't be so wary, even daring not to let him out of sight.

He just didn't know if the Mountain Lord and Sword Seed paths also immediately fed back to Golden Pig. He needed to try again to find out.

The carriage swayed on the bluestone road. Chen Ji felt as if he were living a drifting life, coming and going all day, following the flow. Outside the carriage, the voices of peddlers hawking in the streets and the laughter of children playing gradually faded away. The carriage carried him into the afterglow of the setting sun, taking him back to the *Jianghu*.

"Wake up!" Golden Pig patted Chen Ji.

Chen Ji opened his eyes and asked drowsily, "My lord, have we arrived at the inner prison?"

Golden Pig said with a complex expression, "It's hard on you. At such a young age, you have to live this life of danger and bloodshed. Don't worry, once the Liu family is overthrown, I'll decide to give you a long vacation."

Chen Ji smiled, got up, and jumped off the carriage. "Then thank you in advance, my lord."

The two bowed their heads and squeezed through the iron gate, heading towards the depths of the inner prison.

In the deepest cell of the inner prison, Yuan Shopkeeper had changed into clean white prisoner's clothes and was sitting at a dark red Eight Immortals table, eating beef with chopsticks and drinking wine. His ten fingers were bloody and missing nails, making his grip on the chopsticks exceptionally strange.

Hearing the sound of the cell door opening, Yuan Shopkeeper looked up and smiled at Golden Pig and Chen Ji. "Two lords, how was your harvest last night? From your expressions, you must have stopped the Liu family's scheme."

Chen Ji leaned sideways on the door frame, unwilling to approach this Jing Dynasty expert. Golden Pig, however, smiled and squinted as he sat opposite Yuan Shopkeeper, picked up a piece of beef with chopsticks, and put it in his mouth. "While we were fighting for our lives outside, your days were quite leisurely and comfortable."

Yuan Shopkeeper spread his hands. "I'm just a prisoner under the steps. How can you talk about leisurely comfort? Did the two lords catch the mastermind, Liu Mingxian? If you did, that's a great merit. I should congratulate the two lords."

After saying this, he picked up the white porcelain wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Golden Pig said calmly, "Liu Mingxian is dead."

Yuan Shopkeeper was puzzled. "Did my lord kill him?"

Golden Pig replied, "No, the Liu family killed him."

Yuan Shopkeeper was startled, then burst into laughter, laughing until the oil lamp on the stone wall swayed.

Golden Pig frowned. "What's so funny?"

Yuan Shopkeeper gradually restrained his smile. "Liu Mingxian was killed by the Liu family. That means, from now on, the two lords are not facing Liu Mingxian, this second-generation ancestor, but that person who has stood undefeated on the court for over thirty years, the Liu Cabinet Elder."

"And what about the Liu Cabinet Elder?"

Yuan Shopkeeper said solemnly, "Emperor Ning hates the Liu family to the bone, yet the Liu Cabinet Elder was still able to control the Ministry of Personnel for fifteen years and manage Yu State like an iron barrel. Can two lords possibly contend with such a giant?"

Golden Pig picked up another piece of beef and put it in his mouth. "The two of us are not fighting alone. Behind me is the entire Directorate of Ceremonial of the Ning Dynasty, and the Inner Chancellor. Don't worry, you can't scare me away. That Mr. Feng beside the Liu Cabinet Elder can't scare me either."

At this point, Golden Pig wiped the oil stains from his fingers on his robe and changed the subject. "Do you want to get out of the inner prison?"

Yuan Shopkeeper laughed. "Of course I do! I told the two lords about the Liu family's plan honestly, wasn't it just to exchange for freedom?"

Golden Pig stared directly at Yuan Shopkeeper. "Then reveal a few more things. I can go to the Inner Chancellor and claim merit for you."

"What if I don't reveal anything?"

"Do you still have a choice?"

The cell fell silent. Golden Pig and Yuan Shopkeeper faced each other sharply, like the tips of two knives pressed together, neither willing to yield.

After a moment, Yuan Shopkeeper was the first to ease his tone. "I helped the two lords achieve a great merit, but I still haven't seen any sincerity from the Secret Agent Department. If you want me to be honest, you need to let me see some hope, right?"

Only then did Golden Pig pull out a document tied with a roll of gold silk cloth from his sleeve. "This is the Inner Chancellor's decree that just arrived in Luo City today. You know, the letter I gave to the Inner Chancellor should have arrived in the capital yesterday, but the Inner Chancellor's decree arrived in Luo City today. Do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean?"

"For this decree to arrive in Luo City within one day, it needed to leave the capital before sunset yesterday, pass through six relay stations in Baoding, Hengshui, Handan, Hebi, Xinxiang, and Zheng County. Change six horses, without a moment's delay..."

Chen Ji, standing at the side, listened with increasing familiarity. He couldn't help but laugh and cry a little. This Lord Golden Pig always managed to give him a little shock inadvertently.

Opposite Golden Pig, Yuan Shopkeeper took the document and unfolded it, reading it quietly for a long time. His face constantly changed, as if he was struggling with something. He put down the decree and looked up at Golden Pig. "If I can truly become the Secret Agent Department's Sea East Eagle, you will all understand how correct your decision today was."

Chen Ji was puzzled, not knowing what was written in this decree that could make Yuan Shopkeeper change his stance on the spot.

Golden Pig took the decree and stood up. By the flame of the oil lamp, he burned the decree to ashes. "Tell me. What else can you do for us?"

Yuan Shopkeeper silently watched the burned decree, struggling for a long time before saying, "I once arranged to meet with Long Whale tonight. He agreed."

Golden Pig suddenly turned his head. "Is that true?" Immediately after, he shook his head. "No, no, no. Now that Bai Lu Pavilion is destroyed and the battle at Peony Bridge is known to everyone, how could Long Whale keep the appointment?"

Yuan Shopkeeper said, "But on that day at Peony Bridge, everyone saw me jump into the river to escape, but they didn't see me being captured on the sandbank. What if he keeps the appointment?"

Golden Pig's eyes flickered uncertainly. "Where was it appointed?"

Yuan Shopkeeper said calmly, "Take me there tonight. I will lead the way for the two lords."

Golden Pig chuckled, turned, and walked out, saying loudly, "Xi Feng, call all the secret agents here. No one is allowed to act alone tonight."

After the cell door closed, he turned his head to look at Chen Ji. "What do you think?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "My lord should see that he wants to use this opportunity to escape. Otherwise, there's no need for him to personally lead the way for us. However, his appointment with Long Whale should be true. If no one helps him create chaos, he can't escape either."

Golden Pig laughed coldly and walked out. "Then let's go. We were just worrying about not finding these Jing Dynasty rats!"