Chapter 149: Chapter 145: A Sharp Sword Needs No Emotions
A few days later, when Gu Xiaofang returned after gathering information, Luo Jinyu had already entered seclusion for her final preparations before Foundation Establishment.
Meng Xiao had also brought Fang Simin over and settled her in a private courtyard to cultivate.
Upon entering Du Youqian’s room, Gu Xiaofang glanced around for a moment. "Brother Fei, where’s your little shadow?"
A figure materialized silently behind Gu Xiaofang. "What little shadow?"
Gu Xiaofang turned his head and broke into a grin.
He was about to make a teasing remark when he suddenly saw Fang Hua’s expressionless, beautiful face and her dangerous gaze. An instinctive shiver ran down his spine, and he abruptly changed the subject. "Ahem, Brother Fei, I’m here to report my findings."
"Coincidentally, the Shengxuan Sect has been quite lively recently. They’ve produced a Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator with a Tier Three Alchemy Dao. They’ve already applied for a sect promotion and are waiting for the Garrison from the Taihe Sect to conduct the assessment."
"Oh?" Du Youqian nodded thoughtfully. "What do you know about this person?"
Gu Xiaofang had long since anticipated Du Youqian’s question.
Anyone who spent enough time with Du Youqian would know that he placed great importance on details and intelligence gathering.
Naturally, he was well-prepared. He reeled off the details, "The Alchemy Master is named Wei Yunshi. She’s a woman with a Middle Grade Wood Spirit Root and an ordinary appearance. I heard she’s 160 years old. Apparently, she was stuck at Foundation Establishment Perfection and the Tier Two Peak of Alchemy for sixty years. She spent all her time in seclusion practicing alchemy and just had a lucky breakthrough."
"I asked around. This Master Wei isn’t skilled in Magical Combat and rarely spars with anyone in the sect. Most of the Magical Artifacts she owns are for assisting with alchemy. Of course, Alchemy Masters are typically wealthy, so she might have a hidden ace up her sleeve."
"Within the Shengxuan Sect, this Master Wei is on good terms with so-and-so, her master is so-and-so..."
By the time Gu Xiaofang finished his long and detailed report, Du Youqian could already form a clear profile of the female Alchemy Master in his mind.
"Tell me about other things. Who are the noteworthy people in the Shengxuan Sect right now? Who’s the strongest in Magical Combat? Who holds the power? Does the Sect have any external enemies? Which sects and Cultivation Families are they on good terms with? Tell me everything."
Gu Xiaofang did not disappoint. His inquiries had been thorough, and he proceeded to detail all the information Du Youqian wanted to know.
As Du Youqian listened, a strange thought crossed his mind. ’Once Du Yuxi becomes the Emperor, maybe I should find some eunuchs for Gu Xiaofang to train.’
’Then I could raise a group of elite secret agents and create my own intelligence agencies...’
’Of course, it’s just a thought.’
Although Du Youqian had already decided to grant Du Yuhuan’s request and help Du Yuxi ascend to the throne of the Wu Kingdom.
He had no intention of helping Du Yuxi with every little detail.
It was true that he had been moved by Du Yuhuan’s painstaking efforts. And it was also true that he was willing to start with the Shengxuan Sect, taking a top-down approach to orchestrate the change in rulership of the Wu Kingdom.
But if Du Yuxi and Du Yuhuan proved incapable and couldn’t hold their position, Du Youqian wasn’t going to exhaust himself playing babysitter.
He was only lending a hand because his descendant, Du Yuhuan, had accurately grasped his intentions and gone to great lengths to appeal to him.
He was supporting his descendants... not adopting a new father for himself.
’I absolutely have to keep a clear head. I can’t make the same mistake as Meng Xiao, who took on a disciple only to end up with a troublesome ancestor.’
After hearing Gu Xiaofang’s report, Du Youqian had a general idea of what to do.
’This is why intelligence work is so crucial.’
’Without the information Gu Xiaofang gathered, I’d be completely in the dark, with no idea where to start or which key figures to approach.’
’Handling this matter would have been twice the work for half the reward.’
After sending Gu Xiaofang away, Du Youqian looked around and said with a sigh, "Are you still going to hide from me?"
As his words fell, Fang Hua appeared, clutching her sword. Her incomparably beautiful face was flushed, and her eyes seemed to ripple as she said in a crisp voice, "Who’s hiding from you? I... I was practicing Sword Enlightenment."
Seeing her like this gave Du Youqian a bit of a headache.
To him, Fang Hua was an incomparably sharp Divine Sword. He certainly wouldn’t ruin this sword himself just for a bit of lust.
When he had offered to help Fang Hua rapidly improve her Sword Intent the other day, he hadn’t harbored any ill intentions.
He had read about it in a senior’s notes in the Holy Blood Sect’s Collection Room. If two cultivators who had both comprehended Sword Intent were to merge their Divine Senses, the one with the deeper understanding could help the other rapidly strengthen their Sword Intent.
Although this method was something of a shortcut, it would cause the latter’s Sword Intent to conform to the former’s, potentially leading them into a rut.
In the future, they would have to pay a price to mend their foundation before they could forge their own path again.
Many exceptionally talented swordsmen disdained using such a method.
But it could also save a great deal of time.
Rapidly strengthening one’s Sword Intent during the Foundation Establishment Stage, which only lasts a couple of hundred years, and then mending the foundation and paying the price after becoming a Core Formation Lord with a lifespan of 500 to 800 years...
Anyone could see which option was the better deal.
Of course, not everyone could take such a shortcut.
When Divine Senses merge, there are no secrets between the two individuals.
The Cultivation Techniques, Secret Techniques, and so on that they practiced would all be exposed to the other person.
Unless they were Dao Companions, who would dare to be so completely open and unreserved with another person?
Du Youqian, however, felt that he had a firm handle on Fang Hua after all these years.
While it was still impossible to make Fang Hua betray Shuyue Hua for now, he was certain that she would not betray him either.
As for Fang Hua, ever since Shuyue Hua had explicitly given her to Du Youqian, she had already come to see herself as his person and felt no resistance toward him.
So, after Du Youqian explained the situation, the two of them began their Sword Intent cultivation.
What Du Youqian hadn’t expected, however, was that after their Divine Senses merged, it wasn’t just their Cultivation Techniques, cultivation progress, and Secret Techniques that were laid bare to each other.
Even the most intimate details of their bodies were exposed in the convergence of their Divine Senses.
It was practically the same as the two of them standing naked before each other.
It was even more intimate than the physical union between a man and a woman.
A true meeting of minds, so to speak.
That was why, from that day on, Fang Hua had refused to appear before Du Youqian.
Of course, she was actually always nearby, but she was too shy to show herself and used magic to remain concealed.
If not for Gu Xiaofang’s joking around today, she might have continued playing ostrich for a while longer.
After a moment of thought, Du Youqian said, "Practicing Sword Enlightenment on your own is an indispensable part of cultivation. But right now, you need to rapidly strengthen your Sword Intent so you can better serve as my right-hand woman and slay all enemies who stand against me."
Fang Hua pouted. Her eyes, having temporarily lost their sharp Sword Intent, had become watery and seemed to say, ’You liar! You just want to bully me!’
"Ahem," Du Youqian said. "It’s true. I purely want to help you strengthen your Sword Intent."
"Really?" Fang Hua asked suspiciously.
"Really." ’Sigh. Why is it that nobody believes you when you tell the truth these days?’
"You really don’t have any... other, improper thoughts about me?"
"I really don’t!" Du Youqian said sincerely.
"Then don’t force me to use this method to improve my Sword Intent again. I can practice Sword Enlightenment on my own!"
Du Youqian thought for a moment, then gave up trying to persuade her. He nodded helplessly. "Fine."
Based on the past few days, Fang Hua was far too naive when it came to matters between men and women.
She was very reserved.
If he forced her to strengthen her Sword Intent through this method of merging Divine Senses again, her mental state would likely collapse before her Sword Intent could grow.
Du Youqian had no desire to destroy a sharp sword that could be of use to him.
It might seem like Fang Hua’s talent was lacking since she only comprehended Sword Intent after reaching the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
But if one thought about it carefully, Fang Hua was so young—only in her early thirties—and already at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Her cultivation speed was on par with some of the Great Sects’ Prides.
So, how much time could she possibly have spent practicing the Sword Fighting Art?
Unlike Du Youqian, she didn’t have three lifetimes of accumulated experience in the Sword Fighting Art.
Moreover, the swordsmanship she practiced was merely something Shuyue Hua had acquired from elsewhere. It wasn’t high-grade, and before Du Youqian, she had no one to teach her, relying purely on her own comprehension.
Thinking of it this way, one could perhaps understand the true value of her comprehending Sword Intent at this age!
She was likely not the least bit inferior to those rumored Sword Dao geniuses from the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion.
Fang Hua’s face was beet red as she concealed her figure once more.
Her mental state would probably need a little more time to recover.
Although Du Youqian was impatient, he knew he couldn’t rush things and ruin them. She had to figure it out for herself.
Otherwise, matters like this could easily cause a flaw to appear in the mental state of a simple-minded Kun Cultivator like Fang Hua.
"Get ready. You’ll be going out with me tomorrow. Remember to call for Fellow Daoist Meng."
"Understood." The air shimmered slightly as Fang Hua asked, "We’re going to the Shengxuan Sect, right?"
"Yes."
"Will we need to kill anyone?"
"Be prepared for it."
Fang Hua replied calmly, "Understood."
In truth, Fang Hua wasn’t stupid. It was just that in the past, she had been too well-protected by Shuyue Hua and had spent most of her time on cultivation, which made her seem naive and endearingly clueless.
Du Youqian intentionally tried to make her think about things a little more to cultivate her ability to think independently.
After all, for a cultivator who was too stupid, no matter how sharp their swordsmanship, there were too many ways to get them killed.
They could easily be undone by a trivial matter.
But Du Youqian also didn’t want her to have too many distracting thoughts.
A sharp sword doesn’t need too many thoughts or emotions.
