Martial Cultivator

In the end, Chen Chao who did not make it to the First Prince's manor returned to the academy. It was late at night, but Xie Nandu was not in the courtyard.

Chen Chao found it somewhat strange, but fortunately, the maidservant Liu Ye was there. Seeing Chen Chao showing up here in the middle of the night, she rolled her eyes but quickly said, "Miss went to the library to study."

The library in the academy was open to the students, but not to outsiders. Therefore, Chen Chao dismissed the idea of going there. After waving his hand, he proceeded to roast two sweet potatoes on the stove.

Chen Chao had roasted sweet potatoes many times during his time in the Divine Capital and he had become quite skilled at it. However, he roasted them for that young girl every time. Tonight was the first time that young girl was not sitting in front of the stove.

Chen Chao did not dwell on those thoughts and instead started carefully reflecting on the events that had taken place in the Divine Capital during this period. From his arrival in the Divine Capital until now, many things had happened, and those incidents were closely related to him. He had done a lot in those incidents and he needed to carefully review whether he had made any mistakes.

This was something he should have done after he was done with each incident, but with so many things happening during this period, he only now had some free time to do a serious review.

As the fragrance of the roasted sweet potatoes wafted out, Chen Chao's mind was completely immersed in the process. Starting from his arrival in the Divine Capital, he thought about many things, all the way to being dragged to-and-fro between the two princes. Lost in thought, he did not realize that it was already dawn. Xie Nandu returned to the courtyard, frowned upon seeing the two burnt sweet potatoes, and then sat down in front of the stove, placing two fresh sweet potatoes on it.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Chao came back to his sense, feeling somewhat tired as he looked at Xie Nandu.

Xie Nandu asked, "What were you thinking about?"

She was also rather tired, having stayed up all night studying books. It was a great mental challenge for her, especially considering that those were not ordinary books but sword cultivation techniques, which could be quite frustrating.

Chen Chao began to talk about the things that were on his mind. Finally, he rubbed his head and said softly, "Consider tonight a farewell between us."

Before Song Lian left the Divine Capital, Chen Chao had already taken over the position of the Commander of the Left Guard, but he would also be leaving soon. However, he would retain his official position, and there would be a new position conferred upon him at the same time.

Chen Chao did not mention when he would leave the Divine Capital or where he was going.

Xie Nandu smiled nonchalantly and said, "Perfect, I also wanted to say goodbye to you."

Chen Chao gave her a strange look, somewhat puzzled.

Xie Nandu smiled and said, "Since I'm cultivating the sword, I need a sword."

Chen Chao understood. She was going to Sword Qi Mountain.

"I hope you find a good sword."

Chen Chao smiled. At the same time, he flipped the sweet potatoes on the stove.

Xie Nandu said, "Perhaps more than one."

She was a sword cultivator, but not an ordinary sword cultivator. Nurturing several flying swords at the same time did not seem to be a difficult task for her.

Chen Chao pretended to be surprised and said, "So the Great Liang Dynasty will have a female sword immortal in the future?"

Xie Nandu looked at him and smiled, saying, "Remember to come back alive."

After saying that, she stood up and walked into the house.

Chen Chao looked at the sweet potatoes on the stove and called out, "You haven't eaten the sweet potatoes yet."

"I'll eat it later."

She did not turn around. Looking at that delicate back view, Chen Chao smiled for no apparent reason.

He walked out into the morning light.

……

……

The Left Guard's office was located on a certain street. When Chen Chao first came here, he felt that this was a nice place. It looked secluded, but in reality, its location was crucial. In case of emergencies, the Left Guard could quickly reach any part of the Divine Capital.

Weng Quan accompanied him through various corners of the building and could not help but complain, "Your Excellency, you're about to leave, so why bother coming here?"

Chen Chao glanced at him with a hint of disdain and said, "What's wrong with leaving the Divine Capital soon? Does that mean I'm no longer the Commander of the Left Guard once I leave here?"

Glancing at the waist token hanging at Chen Chao's waist, Weng Quan hesitated to speak.

Chen Chao understood his thoughts and patted his shoulder with a smile, saying, "When Lord Song returns, I will naturally give up the position. But for now, hurry up and bring me to meet that Deputy Commander."

According to the Left Guard's tradition, there would be a Commander and a Deputy Commander.

The current Deputy Commander of the Left Guard was a lean middle-aged man named Lin Shan.

Lin Shan cupped his hands towards Chen Chao but did not have a pleasant expression toward this young commander.

Originally, based on his qualifications, he should have been the Deputy Commander of the Left Guard if there were no accidents. However, Chen Chao's arrival stalled his progress, making his career come to a standstill. Now that Song Lian had been transferred to the Northern Frontier, he should have taken over the position of Commander. But unfortunately, there was a young martial artist standing in his way.

Chen Chao looked at this current Deputy Commander of the Left Guard and went straight to the point, "Don't dislike me, because your dislike won't change anything."

Lin Shan lowered his head and replied calmly, "This lowly official dare not."

His voice was very calm, devoid of any emotions.

Chen Chao did not pay it any mind and continued, "After I'm gone, you'll temporarily assume the position of Commander."

Lin Shan nodded and said, "I definitely won't disappoint Commander's trust."

Chen Chao smiled and said, "Do your best. If anything happens, I believe you know the consequences."

After saying these words, Chen Chao patted his shoulder.

Lin Shan felt a peculiar sensation, but could not quite describe it.

Chen Chao quickly left the Left Guard's office.

Weng Quan accompanied him and asked with confusion, "Your Excellency, you didn't seem to be making any sense."

Chen Chao looked at him and shook his head as he said, "There's nothing baffling. If I were you, I'd spend some time and keep an eye on him. If anything unusual happens, remember to inform that girl."

Weng Quan was puzzled and asked, "Even if Deputy Commander Lin is problematic, why should we tell that girl?"

Furrowing his brows, Chen Chao sighed and said, "I made a mistake. That girl will also leave by then. Just tell the people you should tell."

The chief official of the Left Guard was his immediate superior. If that officer was problematic, whom should he inform? The answer was actually simple.

Although Weng Quan did not understand why such a thing would happen, his greatest strength was to trust the judgments of those intelligent people. Previously, that intelligent person was Song Lian, who was also his uncle. He would naturally choose to believe him. Now, this intelligent person was Chen Chao, and he would also choose to believe.

Chen Chao patted his shoulder and smiled, saying, "Certain things will definitely happen. You can take a good look."

Weng Quan was a little dazed, unsure of what to say.

Chen Chao chuckled, shook his head, and said, "By the way, don't put up a brave front. Staying alive is more important than anything else."

……

……

The Divine Capital gradually calmed down.

The events of the Myriad Willow Convention's martial exam had passed. All those major and trivial matters after the passing of the Empress had concluded. People had taken down the white lanterns hanging at their doors and replaced them with something else.

The shop assistant at South Street's honey dates shop had been waiting for that girl and the other girl, but they never came.

After handling everything, Chen Chao spent a lot of time tempering his body. After experiencing so much in the Divine Capital, his cultivation had become significantly stronger compared to the beginning. If he were to encounter that Song Changxi again, he would defeat him once more, and it would not be as troublesome as before.

He was still some distance away from the Bitter Sea Realm, but that distance was much shorter than before.

Many people were watching him.

Chen Chao was well aware.

……

……

A horse carriage drove out from the academy and headed towards the city gate of the Divine Capital. Many people received the news and fell silent.

The horse carriage came out of the academy, they also knew the identity of the girl in the carriage and they knew she was leaving the city to go somewhere else. But they dared not harbor any thoughts because the one driving the carriage was a scholar.

An ordinary scholar.

An ordinary scholar so ordinary that no one would think he was ordinary.

Wei Xu.

A Nepenthe cultivator.

With him driving the carriage, it was unlikely that anyone would have ill intentions toward Xie Nandu on this journey.

Even if she had just achieved the top score in the literary exam.

As the carriage passed through the long street and the city gate loomed before them, Wei Xu loosened the reins and said softly, "To be honest, it has been a long time since I left the Divine Capital."

The prominent figures in the capital were aware that after Wei Xu entered the academy under the tutelage of the Dean, he spent the majority of his time following the Dean and cultivating. He rarely left his side. Leaving the Divine Capital presently was an extremely rare occurrence.

Xie Nandu said, "Senior Brother should also take the opportunity to explore more. It will benefit your cultivation."

After saying that, Xie Nandu quickly added, "That's what Teacher said."

Wei Xu had originally wanted to say something more, but upon hearing this sentence, he merely smiled and turned to ask, "Even if Junior Sister attracts a lot of attention by leaving the city, will there really be no one who will go and look for him?"

"That's his concern, not mine." Xie Nandu's voice came out, sounding very dull, like tea that had been brewed multiple times.

Wei Xu jokingly asked, "Is Junior Sister angry?"

Xie Nandu replied, "What is there to be angry about?"

Wei Xu said, "I don't know either."

He had read many books but still did not have a good understanding of matters between men and women.

Xie Nandu did not speak. She just lifted the curtain and looked at one side.

This street was wide enough to accommodate two carriages side by side. The prominent figures knew that she was leaving the city tonight, but the general populace did not. A fleet of horse carriages were currently passing by slowly. It was a merchant convoy laden with goods. It seemed to be carrying a lot of things, some of which were miscellaneous and specialty products from the North, likely to be sold in the South.

It was not necessarily safe on this journey, so merchant convoys like this often hired cultivators to travel together.

However, most of them were martial artists.

Those martial artists rode horses and followed the convoy.

Xie Nandu glanced at them and was about to retract her gaze when she noticed a youth in black lying on a cargo-laden carriage. He was currently waving to her.