At first, Fang Shuwen was rather dismissive.
But the more he listened, the more he felt this Sixty-four Trigrams Maze Array was anything but ordinary.
Yu Yaoguang was a master in this field. Seeing that Fang Shuwen was interested, she pulled him aside to explain it to him.
The two didn’t emerge from the room until Fang Lingxin called them for dinner.
Speaking of which, this young lady, Fang Lingxin, had never done a lick of housework before meeting Fang Shuwen.
But during their few days in Pojun City, it was as if her talent for cooking had been awakened. At first, Fang Shuwen and the others were her guinea pigs, but in just a few short days, her cooking became more and more delicious.
If she were given enough time, she could probably open her own restaurant and make a fortune.
Of course, given the Fang Family’s standing, Fang Lingxin would never be so destitute as to need to open her own restaurant.
Fang Shuwen had already eaten at Langhuan Restaurant, so he didn’t need dinner. He just sat to one side and watched them eat.
Yu Yaoguang took a scroll from her robes and placed it on the table.
"This is for you."
"This is..."
Fang Shuwen took it and glanced at it. The scroll bore four words: Profound Yellow Secret Record.
His heart skipped a beat. He unrolled the scroll and took a look. As he expected, it was an Inner Power Heart Method.
This Inner Strength technique began with the line, ’As for the profound and the yellow, they are the mingling of Heaven and Earth; Heaven is profound, and Earth is yellow,’ going on to expound upon an extremely profound method of Inner Strength cultivation.
According to the manual, if one cultivated it to the absolute peak, they would possess nearly invincible power.
Fang Shuwen smacked his lips and looked at Yu Yaoguang.
"Have you read it?"
"I have."
Yu Yaoguang said,
"This Inner Strength technique is certainly extraordinary."
"But it clashes with my Ice Purity Jade Technique."
"That’s good."
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"In that case, we can return this manual to Lin Fan next time we see him. You can keep the one about the sixty-four trigrams for yourself."
"You’re not going to practice it?"
Yu Yaoguang glanced at Fang Shuwen.
"I’m not."
Fang Shuwen waved his hand.
"I can’t stand the hardship of cultivation."
As soon as he said this, everyone present stared at him. Even the little donkey couldn’t help but shoot him a glance and snort, as if finding his words utterly unbearable.
Fang Shuwen paid their stares no mind, his gaze falling upon Fang Lingxin.
Fang Lingxin found his stare baffling.
"What is it?"
Fang Shuwen pondered for a moment, then said to Yu Yaoguang,
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Let’s hear it."
Fang Shuwen said,
"After this, I need to make a trip to Guangning City, and then back to Julu City."
"Then, I plan to travel to the Northern Domain."
"You’re leaving so soon?"
Yu Yaoguang knew where Fang Shuwen was going; she just hadn’t expected him to be in such a hurry.
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"I promised Lingxin before that after this trip, I would go discuss it with her father and let her travel the Jianghu with me."
"But the journey to the Northern Domain will likely be far from ordinary. I’ll have to face more than just the Sword God Palace."
A man from the Eastern Domain, going to the Northern Domain to kill.
He would surely be blocked by countless people.
One could even say he would face resistance from the entire Northern Domain Martial World.
In such a situation, his side would inevitably be fraught with danger.
"So, you want her to come to my Yuqing Pavilion?"
Yu Yaoguang understood Fang Shuwen’s meaning.
Fang Shuwen sighed with emotion.
"A true confidante."
"Cut it out."
Yu Yaoguang considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright, I agree."
"But you have to promise me one thing in return..."
"What is it?"
"I’ll tell you later."
Fang Shuwen didn’t suspect anything and simply nodded.
Then he said,
"This may not work out, though. It still depends on her father’s opinion."
"Mm."
Yu Yaoguang nodded, showing she understood.
Fang Lingxin’s eyes went wide. ’How could they decide my future in just a few words?’
But after hesitating repeatedly, she remained silent.
The meal quickly ended. Fang Shuwen and Yu Yaoguang returned to the main house, only for him to see Yu Yaoguang go back to her own room.
Fang Shuwen scratched his head. ’Didn’t she say she’d tell me later?’
’What on earth did she want to say?’
Seeing as she didn’t seem to be in a rush, Fang Shuwen decided not to be anxious either.
Back in his room, he suddenly thought of something else.
’Why hasn’t Ye Feihua come looking for me yet?’
They should have all fallen into that Sixty-four Trigrams Maze Array together, but he hadn’t seen Ye Feihua or Dong Wangyou at all since then.
By now, they should have gotten out one way or another.
’Why is there still no sign of them?’
"Are they tied up... or did something happen to them?"
Fang Shuwen mulled it over for a moment, then stopped thinking about it.
He sat cross-legged on the couch, calmed his mind, and began to silently circulate his Inner Strength.
Time drifted by, and in a blink, it was midnight.
At the hour of absolute stillness, Fang Shuwen suddenly opened his eyes, looking toward his door with some confusion.
He heard a CREAK as the door opened.
A figure slipped inside...
Fang Shuwen’s eyes flashed like lightning. Even in a place as dark as the Earth Palace, nothing could obscure his vision, so he immediately saw Yu Yaoguang, dressed only in a sheer gauze robe.
"HISS!!!"
Fang Shuwen sucked in a sharp breath of cold air... but while the air he inhaled was cool, what it kindled was a fiery heat.
Her exquisite figure, smooth and flawless as jade, with a slender waist one could encircle with a single grasp, was all the more alluring beneath the sheer gauze that did more to reveal than to conceal.
The glistening moisture in her phoenix eyes was even more bewitching.
The impact of this scene was even more unbearable than the day in the Cold Ice Pavilion when she had risen directly from the water.
GULP. Fang Shuwen swallowed shamelessly.
"You seductress! In broad daylight—bah, in the dead of night! What is the meaning of dressing so indecently?"