Chapter 110: Instruction
After a very long time, Chen Changsheng finally finished explaining the contents on the paper. Luo Luo quickly brought over the cooled tea with both hands.
He took the teacup, drank it all, and then continued, “Your situation is different from Tang Thirty-Six’s. For a demon race member to cultivate human techniques to break through realms is very rare, so you must be especially cautious. However, if you can truly simulate the Netherworld environment with your inner core, it’s not entirely without hope.”
Luo Luo nodded and said, “Rest assured, Master. I will only attempt to break through after I’m fully prepared and you’ve given your consent.”
Chen Changsheng looked at her seriously and said, “Actually, I’ve been thinking—you don’t have to take this risk at all.”
As the only princess of the demon race, she possessed so much. Legendary figures like Jin Yulu were always by her side. Luo Luo truly didn’t need to be so diligent on the path of cultivation, let alone practice human techniques and walk that edge between life and death.
“The White Emperor clan’s techniques are only suitable for males. Females simply cannot cultivate to the peak. My father and mother only have me as their daughter…” Luo Luo’s voice grew softer, and her little head drooped lower, somewhat dejected. Suddenly, she lifted her head and said firmly, “So I must find some other way.”
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then stopped persuading her. He took several medicinal prescriptions from his bosom and handed them over.
Seeing his solemn expression, Luo Luo knew these prescriptions were not ordinary. She warily glanced around several times, confirming no maids dared approach, before turning back to take them. Unexpectedly, she saw the table piled high with medicinal herbs, many fruits, and many root-like things.
Those herbs had already been sorted by category, with names written on the ties. The roots still had fresh soil on them, and some fruits even had dew drops. She was somewhat surprised, wondering how Chen Changsheng had brought these things in and where he had been carrying them on his person.
Chen Changsheng didn’t explain. He told her the names of the herbs, fruits, and roots, briefly explained their respective medicinal effects, and then pointed at the prescriptions. “There should be alchemy masters in the Li Palace. If there’s someone you trust, ask them to handle it. The heat levels and such are already written clearly.”
Luo Luo asked, “What are these pills for?”
“Mainly to nourish the foundation and consolidate the core. Right now, when I’m regulating Tang Thirty-Six’s body, I use these same medicines. But it’s inconvenient to come to the Li Palace every day, and refined pills should have better effects. So I thought of this method. I hope it can help you when you break through, or at least reduce the danger.”
Chen Changsheng had her put away the prescriptions and said, “After today, I need to focus entirely on preparing for the Grand Examination. I might not be able to visit you often. Take care of yourself.”
Luo Luo didn’t understand why he placed such importance on the Grand Examination, but during the months at the National Academy, she had felt this very keenly. Thinking that her master, at such a critical time, still hadn’t forgotten her and was so attentive, she was deeply moved.
Then she remembered what Jin Yulu had said earlier—about the mockery and humiliation Chen Changsheng had suffered on the Divine Path. Her slender brows shot up. The more moved she had been moments ago, the angrier she was now. She said in a low voice, “Those people dared to be rude to Master. How insolent!”
When she said this, she was like a little tiger—still cute, but full of authority.
Chen Changsheng reached out and ruffled her head, smiling. “Now that’s more like the White Emperor’s daughter.”
Luo Luo stuck out her tongue, and her authority instantly vanished.
Having finished the important matters, Chen Changsheng finally had time to ask about her recent situation. “How is it living here?”
Hearing this, Luo Luo pouted and said aggrievedly, “It’s so boring. I miss the Hundred Herbs Garden, I miss the National Academy, I miss Master.”
Chen Changsheng now knew that this space called the Green Leaf World was officially named the Lesser Li Palace. It was connected to the Pope’s divine consciousness. If Luo Luo still wanted to sneak out like before, it was definitely impossible. Although the Lesser Li Palace was vast, it wasn’t connected to the outside world. Living there for a long time inevitably felt stifling.
“I’ll think of something.”
Chen Changsheng said this very naturally. Given his current status and strength, logically speaking, he couldn’t possibly do anything. But he was used to treating Luo Luo’s matters as his own, not realizing how arrogant and ignorant this might sound.
Fortunately, only he and Luo Luo were in the room now, and Luo Luo would never think that way. She said, “The Grand Examination is coming soon. Master should rest well and prepare. You absolutely must not be distracted for my sake. Remember, you’re going to take first place.”
Her and Tang Thirty-Six’s confidence in Chen Changsheng had now become almost blind, far stronger than his confidence in himself. For this, Chen Changsheng was both moved and grateful. Whenever he was about to lose confidence, she and Tang Thirty-Six could always use their words and attitudes to help him regain it.
“I saw you biting your pen again earlier?” Chen Changsheng thought of something and looked at her.
Luo Luo grew a bit nervous. At the National Academy, Chen Changsheng had told her several times that pens weren’t clean and biting them could make her sick… She had finally managed to break this bad habit, but after coming to the Lesser Li Palace with no one to supervise her, she had started biting her pen again out of habit.
“This… this…” she explained nervously, “Master, I’ve been losing my baby teeth recently, so my gums are very itchy. Sometimes I can’t help it.”
Up until now, Chen Changsheng still thought she was only eleven or twelve years old. But logically, by eleven or twelve, the tooth-changing period should be over. Hearing this, he grew a bit concerned. After cleaning his hands with water and medicinal powder, he gestured for Luo Luo to open her mouth. “Ah…”
Luo Luo obediently said “Ah,” drawing it out long.
Chen Changsheng put his fingers into her mouth and carefully examined her teeth. He found that she really was still losing her baby teeth, but there were no major problems.
“Master, I’ll keep changing teeth until I’m sixteen. It’s such a bother.”
Because her mouth was open, Luo Luo’s speech was slurred. The words “Master” came out sounding like “Massa,” as if she were calling Chen Changsheng by a childhood nickname.
Only then did Chen Changsheng remember that Luo Luo was the demon race princess, different from humans in many ways.
He washed his hands again and wrote her another prescription. This one wasn’t for treating illness but for stimulating appetite. He also told her how to make a chewing stick.
“It has to be made from ironwood,” Luo Luo said.
She picked up the pen. The tail end was covered in clear teeth marks. “This pen is made from ironwood. Otherwise, it would break with one bite.”
Chen Changsheng thought of the White Emperor’s bloodline. Making a chewing stick that could withstand it would indeed be troublesome with the materials. He looked at the few potted green plants outside the door and asked, “Are those ironwood saplings? They don’t look much like the ones in the books.”
Luo Luo said, “Those are banyan saplings. I don’t know if they’ll ever grow up.”
The National Academy had a lake, and by the lake stood a large banyan tree. She and Chen Changsheng often stood on that banyan tree watching the setting sun.
Chen Changsheng smiled and said, “They will definitely grow up.”
When the autumn light passed through many eaves and windows and reached the deepest part of the true Li Palace, it became even more ethereal. Only after being reflected by the crystal throne at the top did it become brilliant again. The clear crystal was carved into a lotus flower. In the middle of the lotus sat a crown. The crown was divided into black and white. There was no clear boundary between the two colors, yet they hadn’t mixed into gray. Instead, they merged in a magical, incomprehensible way, perfectly and exuding a sacred aura.
Beside the lotus seat was a chair carved from a single piece of black flower wood. An old man sat in the chair, wearing a loose linen robe. His graying hair hung loose over his shoulders, looking like a cliffside waterfall in winter that was about to freeze but hadn’t yet.
That old man was reading a book.
Across from the old man was another old man.
His Eminence, the Chief Bishop of the Pontifical Council, Merisa, was one of the few people of the same generation as the Pope. Naturally, he was extremely old. Every time the priests of the Li Palace and the Pontifical Council saw the age spots on his face, they would be filled with endless worry, always fearing that the old man might one day return to the starry sky.
Merisa himself couldn’t see the wrinkles and age spots on his face, because from the moment his first white hair had grown over two hundred years ago, he had refused to look in mirrors again—whether the luxurious bronze mirrors in his bedchamber or water mirrors condensed with true essence. Watching oneself grow old was a painful process, especially for people like them, for whom aging was a long process lasting hundreds or even nearly a thousand years. That made it even harder to bear.
Not looking didn’t mean not knowing. Even if one gouged out one’s eyes, the starry sky would still be there. Merisa knew very well that he was old, because he had become increasingly drowsy. Unlike other normal old people who got up at three in the morning, the older he got, the more he liked to sleep. He always felt that his body might be adapting to a long slumber in advance.
In the current state religion, he had the most seniority. Because of the National Academy incident, many people considered him the leader—or at least the symbol—of the old faction within the state religion. Through many matters, he was opposing the Pope. He lived year-round in the Pontifical Council and hadn’t set foot in the Li Palace for a long time. He didn’t even attend the state religion’s routine Light Council. This seemed to prove those rumors were true. Who would have thought he would appear in the Li Palace today, and even fall asleep here?
“Snap!”
A soft sound. The hall was too quiet, so the sound was very clear.
Merisa opened his eyes. His somewhat cloudy gaze took a while to gradually clear. He looked at the linen-robed old man reading across from him, then tottered over. Slightly stooped, he looked at the potted green plant beside the old man.
The pot was an ordinary light gray clay pot. On the streets of the capital, you could probably buy three for a hundred coins. The plant in the pot was very strange—several green stems, but only one leaf. That leaf was very green, and its veins were very clear.
The crisp “snap” from earlier had come from that green leaf. The very tip of the leaf vein seemed to be trembling slightly. It wasn’t the leaf trembling, but the vein. The amplitude of that trembling was so minute that probably only he and the linen-robed old man in the entire Li Palace could see it.
“That little highness is this angry, and you still have the mood to hold a book and read?”
Merisa looked at the linen-robed old man, his tone respectful yet familiar.
The old man put away the book scroll and looked up at the potted green plant. His appearance was ordinary, but his most distinctive feature was his extremely deep eye sockets. If viewed from the side, they looked like terrifying entrances to an abyss. But viewed from the front, one could see eyes as blue and serene as an ocean.