Chapter 33: Am I a Fledgling?

Chapter 33 Am I a Sparrow?

In all three secret letters, there were translations of two Huangmei Opera plays, *Tongniu's Journey*, and Lüfu poetry, *Yonghuan*.

Fortunately, the vast collections within the two wooden pavilions of Chunhe Garden contained the popular plays and stories of the time.

Even so, Chen Yi spent nearly an hour and a half before deciphering the contents of the three secret letters.

The first one read: [Sparrow married into the Xiao family—pay close attention!]

The second: [The matter of an elopement seems suspicious—investigate who is responsible!]

And the third, the one Chen Yi had beaten Liu Si'er to earlier that morning: [You've been exposed—find out who killed him! Also, someone will contact you later to take your place.]

After reading them,

Chen Yi furrowed his brow, musing, "Am I a sparrow?"

Sparrow, eagle chick.

Such a code name seemed to imply something about his growth and development.

Was this meant to cultivate him, or use him to achieve some purpose?

Moreover, from the content of these three letters, it seemed that the hidden watchers held no great ill will toward him.

Especially that line about the elopement being suspicious.

How did the hidden watchers even know about this matter, which the Xiao family knew nothing of? How could they be so certain it wasn't his own doing, but someone framing him?

Most crucially—why were they investigating this, and under what identity?

Thinking this, Chen Yi shook his head.

His intelligence was still too limited. He could only confirm that these hidden watchers, who had been embedded within the Xiao family for years, harbored no immediate malice toward him.

Beyond that, these hidden watchers were not the same group that had caused his elopement.

Beside him, Pei Menglü noticed his unease, leaning over to examine the deciphered cipher on the blank paper, stroking her rounded chin, and asked, "Brother-in-law, who is this Sparrow? Has a girl recently been married into the Xiao family?"

Chen Yi's face darkened. These hidden watchers were being evasive, likely unable to find a play with the character 'Zhu' in it.

Pei Menglü didn't notice his expression. "There's also the matter of the elopement—hmm, this must be about Brother-in-law, right?"

"The last part about exposure—haha... knowing someone's identity would be you and me, right?"

Pei Menglü suddenly realized, her smile fading, baring two sharp canines grimly: "Brother-in-law, he wants to kill us—should I kill him right now?"

Chen Yi raised a hand. "Not yet."

Up until now, he had assumed the hidden watchers were targeting the Xiao family, intending to use this as leverage when meeting Lady Xiao Jinghong, hoping to extract some benefit.

But now, knowing that the hidden watchers' three consecutive letters all involved him, the plan had to be revised.

At the very least, he needed to understand their true intentions before making a decision.

Otherwise, one misstep could bury him alive.

Pei Menglü glanced at the translation, then at him, puzzled: "Why?"

Chen Yi thought for a moment. "Isn't it interesting, hiding in the shadows, watching another group—who thinks they're hiding in the shadows—plot against themselves?"

Pei Menglü's plump face bore a look of confusion, her eyes seeming to cloud over as if veiled by mist.

After a long while, she finally grasped it, her lips curling into a smile: "I understand, Brother-in-law."

"You're waiting for them to attack you, so you can catch them all in one net?"

"Something like that."

Chen Yi wasn't a masochist; he couldn't just sit by while others plotted against him.

Since discovering the hidden watchers' existence, the roles of hunter and hunted had subtly shifted.

Liu Si'er and others hiding within the Xiao mansion knew only that they'd been exposed, not who had uncovered their identities.

This was Chen Yi's greatest advantage.

Pei Menglü's expression showed a hint of excitement, swaying her hips and gently jingling the bells on her skirt.

How interesting, this Brother-in-law.

Following him, there would surely be even more fascinating events ahead.

"Brother-in-law, what shall we do next?"

"Next? Well, naturally, we first need to enhance our abilities and techniques." Chen Yi knew Liu Si'er's strength.

He was an old soldier who had fought a hundred battles, having climbed the ranks through countless trials to serve as the Xiao family's guard. Supposedly, his cultivation had reached the eighth level in previous years.

He and Pei Menglü joined forces, confronting enemies directly—it wasn't Liu Si'er's match.

Plus, besides the hidden watchers, there was still another group hiding in the shadows, the ones responsible for his elopement.

Thinking this, Chen Yi felt a surge of urgency, nearly ruining his fishing mood.

Why was this idle son-in-law, so gentle and humble, harmless to all creatures, being so closely watched?

Not long after,

Chen Yi led Pei Menglü quietly to a secluded corner of the Purple Bamboo Grove, where they each took a stance.

Outside Chunhe Garden, Liu Si'er and Wang Lixing stood guard, but as long as they didn't enter, their eighth-level cultivation would still be unable to pierce through so far to investigate the Purple Bamboo Grove.

This made it convenient for Chen Yi to secretly enhance his cultivation.

Thus, while practicing the Great Spear Pillar technique to refine his internal energy and open his dantian and chest, he also accessed the panel to check his progress:

Name: Chen Yi

Cultivation: Ninth Level—Middle

Book Path: Complete (0/1000)

Calligraphy: Wei Qing (proficient), Running Script (skilled)

Martial Path—Body: Near Complete (0/100)

Technique: Great Spear Pillar [Mystic Level] (skilled)

Martial Path—Fist: Near Complete (0/100)

Fist Technique: Crushing Peak [Mystic Level] (skilled), Hundred Flowers Palm [Mystic Level] (beginning to grasp)

Martial Path—Step: Near Complete (0/100)

Movement: Drifting Dragon Dancing Phoenix [Mystic Level] (skilled), Meteor Butterfly Step [Earth Level] (beginning to grasp)

Fate: 43

Chen Yi carefully reviewed the progress of each path, already having a plan, and dedicated himself to practicing the spear pillar technique.

Now, except for his complete mastery of the Book Path, his martial paths of body, fist, and step were all near completion, while his various techniques were merely at a basic skill level, far from perfect. There was no need to rush in spending his Fate.

To break through, his cultivation advancement was actually quite rapid.

After a moment.

Chen Yi’s body stood in a large spear-stand posture, eyes slightly closed, hands raised to shoulder height, as if holding an imaginary spear.

From the outside, nothing seemed amiss, but his body was trembling with an extremely faint yet rapid frequency, shaking his muscles, bones, skin, and even internal organs.

The qi generated by his blood and flesh, having carved the elixir field in his dantian to its limit, began slowly condensing and contracting into a thin thread, piercing the solid-like membrane above.

Like a needle pricking.

Chen Yi felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, heard a crisp “click” in his ears, and suddenly realized that the thread of qi had pierced through his dantian and ascended, disappearing into the Gouzhi acupoint.

[Cultivation refined, breakthrough to nine grades·upper!]

A flash of light, and Chen Yi’s mind revealed a segment of esoteric knowledge about the “Martial Dao Body” minor completion realm.

[The Martial Dao Nine Grades realm is to build the body’s essence and meridian foundation; the upper part uses Gouzhi as the core, opening the hands’ main meridians, the lower part uses dantian as the core, opening the legs’ main meridians.]

[At this point, strength penetrates muscles, bones, skin, and organs; qi flows through all limbs, forming the foundation, allowing continuous refinement of the body until both seas are full.]

Chen Yi opened his eyes, slowly lowered his hands, steadied his internal qi, and exhaled a breath of turbid qi.

Suddenly, his body felt light, his entire being was permeated, no longer hungry as after previous cultivation.

“So that’s how it is. After reaching the upper stage, the qi condensed in muscles, bones, and skin is locked in the two energy seas, meaning no internal consumption.”

Chen Yi understood, looked at Pei Wenlu, who had also finished the pillar exercise, realizing she had been pretending to be hungry.

Hmph, this tiger maiden is not only fierce but also greedy.

However, he thought for a moment and still pulled out the pastries he had prepared earlier, offering them to Pei Wenlu to share.

“Brother, thank you for your guidance, the dantian energy field is…”

Pei Wenlu, her face flushed, tapped her chin on the bell, “The deficiencies in my body are almost fully cultivated, I feel my cultivation can soon break through to the eighth grade realm.”

Chen Yi ate the pastry, looked at the sky, and casually said, “Congratulations.”

“Brother, you’re about to break through too, right?”

“Remove the ‘quickly’ character.”

Pei Wenlu’s smile froze: “Brother, you—you—you’ve broken through to the nine grades upper stage?”

Chen Yi gave her a dismissive glance, “Why so surprised? I’m still far from completing the nine grades.”

Pei Wenlu stared at him, “Heh, I see.”

Oh, Mountain Mother, this brother isn’t human!

He cultivated from a mortal, common body to the nine grades upper stage in less than a month!!

[End of chapter]