124: May you hold happiness in your hands... as long as you don't go crazy.

Life at the Estate was always comfortable, so comfortable that Mo Yingqi had just woken up, having almost forgotten how he had entered the city yesterday and stirred up a storm of blood.

Of course, a large part of that credit probably had to go to the two ladies in his household...

"So sleepy..."

Mo Yingqi yawned while putting on his clothes. He didn't know why, but last night his body seemed to have recovered. For a while now, he had been the one to pass out first, but finally, he had returned to his old self—the one who could fight two opponents at once, single-handedly... and come out victorious.

"That's strange, why do I feel like my stamina is even more abundant?" Mo Yingqi stretched his limbs, looking curiously at his own hands and feet. "Tsk, could it really be because Sister Yongan pricked my acupuncture points with silver needles, which is why I felt like my state wasn't great these past two days? But that shouldn't be it..."

Mo Yingqi really didn't know what was going on. However, yesterday, Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning had brought him a large bowl of soup to drink.

"It was a coincidence. Partridge Sky has quite a few fishing boats by the sea. If it were ordinary, that would be one thing, but who would have thought a giant sea turtle would be stranded on the shore."

At the time, Luo Yongan said this while handing the soup bowl to Mo Yingqi: "I saw this sea turtle with my own eyes. It must have been at least several hundred, if not nearly a thousand years old. Normally, the fishing boats of Partridge Sky would never catch such a spiritual creature, but who knew this sea turtle would pass away from old age? That's why they dismembered it. The turtle was so old that it had formed an inner core inside its body. What you are drinking now is that."

Mo Yingqi truly didn't believe this thing could have any effect. He wasn't some immortal from a storybook, and an 'inner core'... but there was no helping it; he couldn't resist Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning... Or to be precise, he didn't want to resist.

Yet, after drinking the soup made from that so-called inner core, Mo Yingqi didn't feel any changes. He seemed much the same as before; his internal energy and stamina appeared just as they usually were.

"I said so, how could this kind of thing be real?" Mo Yingqi muttered, calculating in his heart. "If I eat random things, will I get a stomachache?"

"Hey, when you were in the Northern Territory, what kind of messy things haven't you eaten? I haven't seen you get a stomachache, have I?"

Xie Qingfeng appeared extremely abruptly behind him. Mo Yingqi wasn't surprised; he even turned around as if he had known all along: "No, old man, can you have some sense of propriety? I just got up to practice martial arts, is it appropriate for you to come running over?"

"You rebellious Disciple, why should I talk about propriety with you?" Xie Qingfeng curled his lip. "Let's go, we'll talk later. If your two ladies wake up in a while, they'll run to my senior sister and report me!"

With that, Xie Qingfeng leaped up. Although Mo Yingqi looked reluctant, he still flew up to follow.

This Estate was nestled against the mountains and near the water, with excellent scenery. Especially behind the mountain, there were fruit trees and vegetable gardens, and beyond that was a forest area that was also slowly being cleared to plant tea and grain.

"Not bad. I thought you had turned into a softie after marrying a wife."

Xie Qingfeng stopped in front of a fruit tree, casually plucked a fruit, wiped it, and took a bite. "Has your mother's revenge been avenged?"

"Yeah, just about. There's still one person left." Mo Yingqi found a rock, wiped it off, and sat on it. "This is also the first time I've seen such a reliable master. Your Disciple gets married and you don't show up, and you just wander around the capital and leave."

"Why would I go? That occasion doesn't suit me." Xie Qingfeng sat directly on the grass while eating. "What, does my being a master require me to cry a few times, then say, 'My Disciple has finally married a princess'? Is that what you want to see?"

"It's not like I wouldn't be able to accept that..."

"Get lost! If you can accept it, I can't!"

"Hey, that's not right. You, as a master, come empty-handed, not paying a cent, not giving a thing. If you don't even cry, that's a bit unreasonable, isn't it?"

"... Not to mention that your two ladies are Legitimate Princesses, even if you, you bastard, never worked a day in your life, the money and property left to you by your maternal grandfather would be enough for you to eat delicacies every meal until you die. And then you, you bastard, ask an old bachelor like me for money? Are you even human?"

"My Disciple is getting married, the least you could do is give a little something, right?"

As Mo Yingqi said this, he actually held out his right hand towards his master to gesture: "Come on, Master, I know you have banknotes under your kang. Maternal Grandmother sends you money every year. You're at such an age that you can't even use it, you might as well give it to your Disciple."

"Heh, you little rabbit, are you trying to squeeze money out of me?" Xie Qingfeng almost threw the fruit pit at his head. "Cut the crap. No money. I need to keep it for drinking. I won't even give it to you when I die!"

"Tsk, it's been so many years, when will this stingy nature of yours change?" Mo Yingqi didn't really want his master's money. "I'm just joking with you. I'm not short on money; you should just keep it for your retirement."

"Pfft, I'll count that as you speaking like a human." Xie Qingfeng casually tossed the fruit pit aside. "Enough nonsense. How is your work at the Pacification Bureau? I won't ask or care about what kind of grudge you have with that Grand Chancellor Zhou, because I wouldn't understand it anyway."

As Xie Qingfeng spoke, he pulled a somewhat worn book from his robes and tossed it to Mo Yingqi: "Take it. Consider it a wedding gift for you."

"What is this?" Mo Yingqi caught the book. "Tsk, you're at your age and you're still collecting erotic paintings to give to your Disciple?"

"Erotic your seventh aunt's grandmother! Open it and look before you talk nonsense!" Xie Qingfeng was almost laughed to anger by Mo Yingqi. "Who on earth did you inherit that foul mouth from?"

"Why don't you look in a mirror and find out?"

Xie Qingfeng heard Mo Yingqi say this and was about to retort, but thought... it seemed correct. This little brat had always been sharp-tongued, having grown up with him, that foul mouth...

Back then, someone who didn't have eyes came over wanting to challenge Xie Qingfeng. He found it troublesome, so he pushed it off to Mo Yingqi to handle. Coincidentally, the opponent this time was an old master who saw he was just a child and said disdainfully: "I won't fight with a little tot. Let your master come out!"

"Oh, my master said, if I can't even beat you, then don't come out and embarrass myself." Mo Yingqi, who was only ten at the time, yawned. "Old Master, seeing that you're at such an age, I advise you to go back."

"Why?"

"If nothing else, even if you win against me, you'll probably be as tired as Old Huang at our street corner. You must be curious who Old Huang is. He's the old dog that's lived for over ten years here."

"Besides, you're at your age and you win against a child... You'll have no face left!"

This old master was a hot-tempered person. After being told these few sentences by Mo Yingqi, the old man was suddenly overwhelmed with anger, and he couldn't take it out on a child... He actually fainted from sheer rage!

"I say, Master, what exactly is this?" Mo Yingqi waved the book in his hand. "Why does it look like... internal energy cultivation?"

"That's right, it is internal energy cultivation." Xie Qingfeng looked at his Disciple like he was an idiot. "You spend your days drowning in the lap of luxury, how come you've become stupid now, asking such a foolish question?"

"No, didn't you originally..." Mo Yingqi was about to explain that he had already learned internal energy cultivation, but suddenly thought of something and looked at his master with a knowing look. "Oh, is this the legendary fear that the Disciple will learn, and the master will starve?"

"The way you put it, am I that kind of person? Of course, I won't deny that there was some of that reason." Xie Qingfeng chuckled. "But the most important thing is that you were young and impulsive back then, and your heart was set on revenge. Your murderous intent was too heavy. Teaching you the internal energy cultivation at that time wouldn't have been a good thing for you."

It wasn't that Xie Qingfeng didn't want to teach him, but at that time, although Mo Yingqi was more mature than his peers, he was still a child after all. And this child was bent on killing his own biological father to avenge his mother. In such a situation, Xie Qingfeng didn't dare to teach him the complete internal energy cultivation.

Sword techniques, footwork, and close-quarters combat didn't need to be taught. Xie Qingfeng had always emphasized that having no moves was better than having moves. Their sect's martial arts also focused on actual combat, emphasizing a single lethal strike. But internal energy cultivation was different. It could be said that for their sect, the internal energy cultivation was the most important thing.

"I considered a lot back then, so naturally, I didn't tell you everything. It's not just the internal energy cultivation; there are also some skills that are considered my own, unrelated to the sect." Xie Qingfeng said, standing up and plucking another fruit. "You know about my past. In my early years, I was pugnacious and caused trouble everywhere. If I hadn't had some skills to rely on back then, I would have died long ago."

"Asura Blade internal energy cultivation?"

Seeing the back, Mo Yingqi looked up at his master, extremely surprised. Xie Qingfeng didn't seem to care and nodded, saying: "It is just as you see. In my early years, I practiced the Asura Blade."

"Tsk, that's not right. You didn't say..."

"Nonsense, if I told you everything, would I still be your master?"

Xie Qingfeng guessed Mo Yingqi's thoughts. Indeed, not many people knew about this. If one had to say, the killing sins he committed back then were largely due to his accidental acquisition of this "Asura Blade" technique.

The Asura Blade originated from the Western Regions. Frankly, the initial Asura Blade was unremarkable. However, after it was introduced to the Central Plains, a swordsman discovered the biggest flaw of the Asura Blade—it lacked suitable internal energy cultivation.

Central Plains martial arts were profound, and internal energy cultivation was the most important of all. The moves of the Asura Blade were vicious and ruthless, but without proper internal energy cultivation to drive them, they were ultimately form without substance.

That swordsman exhausted his life, and finally, when he was old and frail, great emptiness and regret gave birth to resentment. Eventually, this resentment turned into murderous intent, and finally, it transformed into the internal energy cultivation for the Asura Blade.

What was surprising, however, was that it was unclear if this internal energy cultivation placed too much emphasis on murderous intent, or if the swordsman, having realized the essence of the technique only on his deathbed, harbored resentment, causing this technique to seem cursed.

Later generations who practiced the Asura Blade mostly could not improve. Occasionally, those with excellent aptitude either went into qi deviation or their minds were affected, eventually becoming disasters in the martial arts world.

Such people were either besieged and killed, or could not bear such a life and eventually collapsed and committed suicide. In short, none had a good end, and none were spared.

"I happened to obtain this internal energy cultivation back then. As for the moves... don't worry about it. You learn things too quickly. I taught you the moves back then." Xie Qingfeng didn't hide anything. "Learning just the moves is nothing, especially since you use your family's japanese sword techniques, plus my sect's kung fu. Originally, I thought I would keep this internal energy cultivation until I died, and let it be buried and burned with me..."

"Then why did you suddenly give it to me?" Mo Yingqi really didn't understand his master's intention. "Aren't you afraid I'll follow your old path, or aren't you afraid I'll kill the innocent indiscriminately?"

"You brat, have I ever harmed you all these years?"

"It's true that you haven't harmed me less."

"Tsk, that was to train you!"

Xie Qingfeng defended himself verbally, but in his heart, he felt a bit guilty. After all, considering Mo Yingqi's age back then... he really was harming him.

"It's meaningless to talk about this. Master is truly doing this for your own good this time. I didn't intend to give it to you before going to the capital, but after going to the capital, I thought about it, and decided to give it all to you." Xie Qingfeng reached out and pointed to the book in Mo Yingqi's hand. "Anyway, I don't have any private skills left. With your comprehension, within ten years, I probably won't be your opponent anymore."

"No, wait, Master, you still haven't answered my important question?" Mo Yingqi quickly stopped him. "After talking for so long, you still haven't told me why you suddenly told me about this Asura Blade internal energy cultivation?"

"Oh, stop asking. If you want to practice, practice; if you don't want to, don't!"

Xie Qingfeng knew his Disciple's personality best, so he simply acted shamelessly with him: "Don't talk about this. Your life is good now, so I can rest assured. Alright, stop talking, let's go back."

Xie Qingfeng was quite the master, observing everything. The sparse sounds in the forest reached his ears, and he guessed that the Temporary Palace had probably sent people out to look for their distinguished Imperial Son-in-Law.

"Oh, by the way, if there's anything, have your lady send a message. My senior sister can contact me." Xie Qingfeng said, plucking a few more fruits. "Hey, don't tell me, this fruit is really fragrant, sweet, and thirst-quenching. I'll pick a few more."

"... At your age, why can't you change your habit of stealing food?" Mo Yingqi had no choice regarding his master. "Otherwise, you can just live at the Estate, and tell me whatever you want to eat."

"Forget it. I'm an old bachelor, living in the same place as a group of single old sisters-in-law. If it gets out, will I still have any face in the martial arts world?"

Xie Qingfeng put the fruits away, then looked at Mo Yingqi and smiled: "Not bad, you didn't disgrace me. Little Mo, Master was a martial artist in the past, I don't have much education and I can't say fancy things, I just hope you can hold onto your happiness..."

Of course, there was actually half a sentence that Xie Qingfeng swallowed back: "...provided that... you don't get driven crazy by those two ladies of yours..."