Volume 5, Chapter 72 – Fragments

“Hm?”

She had been frowning slightly over the first several documents, but when she got to the report from Luezhou, Bai Zhuqing suddenly arched a brow.

There were only so many ways for local powers to resist the center. One was inaction. Another was deliberate overreach. This sort of confrontation was usually hard to resolve through force alone, and this time they had been unlucky enough to run into Bai Xiang. Bai Zhuqing had originally planned to borrow her elder sister’s baleful aura and carry out iron-blooded measures, using blood to wash clean the atmosphere at the lower levels.

She had already prepared herself mentally to a considerable extent, yet she had not expected Luezhou… the Tao family, of all people, to be so quick on the uptake. Before that kind of confrontation could even begin, they had already “submitted to the imperial mandate,” taking the lead in raising the banner of righteousness and having their students and disciples begin opposing certain officials.

“How sharp.”

Bai Zhuqing curled her lip.

“Tao Muyun.”

“It would be nice if there were more people like you.”

After finishing with those matters, Bai Zhuqing summoned a sword attendant and had them continue transmitting orders, remotely directing the operation of Great Xia’s fourteen provinces through the Imperial Court Jade Order and the information network.

She was thoroughly familiar with this kind of work and did not spend much time on it.

That should be about enough…

Once everything was done, Bai Zhuqing propped her elbows on the desk and stared at the computer screen with open eyes.

With these tools to assist her, the work actually was not all that exhausting.

And whenever she thought that she was doing this for Bai Xiang, whenever she thought that by taking on these responsibilities herself she was freeing up a great deal of Bai Xiang’s time for cultivation, Bai Zhuqing felt happy inside, and even that slight mental fatigue vanished without a trace.

“Finished?”

Along with the question, a pair of hands suddenly came down on her shoulders from behind and began giving her a simple kneading massage.

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“Elder Sister?”

Bai Zhuqing turned her head and saw Bai Xiang standing behind her in a black robe. The belt at her waist was drawn tight, accentuating her figure, but beneath the slightly parted hem of the robe, her legs and feet were bare, so that with just a lowered gaze one could see her toes and the tops of her feet resting on the wooden floorboards.

“…” Bai Zhuqing knew why. It was because she had hesitated when Bai Xiang questioned her before, and Bai Xiang had seen through her exact thoughts, had seen through the fact that now she preferred having Bai Xiang walk about before her with bare legs and feet exposed.

Thinking about it, that really did make sense.

Things like stockings were fundamentally for emphasis, concealment, and at times adding a bit of extra pleasure.

But if the skin and lines themselves were already beautiful enough, then covering them with fabric only became superfluous.

“What did Elder Sister come to see me for?”

Suppressing those thoughts, Bai Zhuqing asked while enjoying the massage.

Bai Xiang’s massage was anything but ordinary. She would send vibration force into the body through the acupoints, stirring the meridians, especially causing the great spinal dragon to sway ever so slightly, so that the body could naturally expel fatigue and impurities during the process.

It was not that Bai Zhuqing did not understand how to do it herself, but Bai Xiang’s cultivation was higher. There was no comparison between doing it herself and having Bai Xiang smooth things out for her.

“The ‘Precious Jades’ have arrived,” Bai Xiang said bluntly.

“I want you to come take a look with me.”

Hm?

The way she said that… sounded a little strange coming from Elder Sister.

“Come with me,” that was almost a coaxing kind of request.

Bai Zhuqing’s heart immediately wavered.

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But she quickly realized that this should have something to do with repairing Feixiang Heaven. Bai Xiang had likely considered that she too had put effort into nourishing that sword, and so had specially invited her along.

“Since it is Elder Sister’s invitation, I would naturally be delighted to accompany you.”

Bai Zhuqing nodded, rose, and went with Bai Xiang to the storehouse.

On the way, Bai Xiang’s gaze remained on her figure the whole time. She noticed that beneath her phoenix robe, Bai Zhuqing also wore neither stockings nor shoes. As her two long legs and bare feet moved, they were like white pythons, like white snakes, and she even had two decorative gold rings around her ankles.

Without saying anything, Bai Xiang withdrew her gaze. The two of them soon arrived.

The storehouse was inside Listening-to-Rain Tower.

Over the past ten years, the Bai family’s status had changed, and many places in the mountain gate dojo had been renovated, becoming far grander than before.

Listening-to-Rain Tower was one of the few places that had hardly been altered. That was not out of disrespect, but because no one dared. Bai Zhuqing had specifically ordered that this place not be changed, only that the perimeter around the first floor be extended and expanded, with a few buildings added for storage.

When they entered now, Bai Xiang saw at a glance that the room was piled full of boxes, while the tables were heaped with large numbers of scrolls.

“The boxes mostly contain antiques and rare curios, and the scrolls are mostly paintings and calligraphy.”

Bai Zhuqing explained it to her.

“They’re very valuable out in the world, but they do nothing for cultivation. I figured Elder Sister couldn’t be bothered with such things, so I didn’t have them all moved in.”

Bai Xiang nodded.

She truly had little interest in such things.

The Precious Jades that had been delivered were also packed in a metal chest. Bai Zhuqing opened it for inspection, first stirring through the pile of stones inside with her hand, then using qi to move them out and arrange them one by one on an empty table.

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“One thousand two hundred and sixteen pieces in total.”

Bai Zhuqing turned back.

“Among them, nine are suspected to be ‘arcane treasures.’ Elder Sister, see whether there’s anything you need?”

There was tension in her voice as she spoke.

Heavenly Stem Precious Jade was simply too valuable, after all.

In theory, as the main world fused with fragments from the Illusory Realms, the area of this world, of this planet, had increased quite a bit over the past ten years. At the same time, it had also absorbed many living beings and rare treasures from those fragments, greatly increasing the chances of discovering treasures in the wilderness.

But treasures also came in ranks.

Once one reached the level of Heavenly Stem Precious Jade, it was no longer something that could be found simply by throwing manpower at the search. Such things had spirituality of their own, and after being unearthed and coming into the world, most would seek out something to attach themselves to.

And if what they attached themselves to was a person, that person would naturally know it was a treasure beyond measure. Asking them to hand it over in exchange for merit would require them to be fools. Otherwise, hardly anyone would do it.

So their only hope lay in lucky finds and forced purchases.

Bai Xiang stepped forward and carefully examined these “Precious Jades.”

She only swept a glance over the thousand-odd stones laid out there before paying them no further attention.

They were all ordinary stones. Some might count as gemstones or fine jade, and a very few even had energy flowing through them, enough to alter the surrounding magnetic field, but none of them were what she wanted.

Lowering her head, Bai Xiang fixed her gaze on the nine “arcane treasures” in front and quickly locked onto a jade pendant carved in the shape of a fish. She reached out and picked it up.

“This is ‘Spirit-Wandering,’” Bai Zhuqing immediately said. “It was collected from the Yuzhou region. The Yuzhou Wang family enshrined it, and it’s said to be an ancestral treasure passed down in their family.”

Spirit-Wandering?

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Bai Xiang gently stroked the jade pendant. Within her golden pupils, the carved fish suddenly came alive, transforming into a golden swimming fish that darted into her consciousness and swam back and forth inside it.

The next moment, she came back to herself, and it was as though nothing had happened at all.

Interesting.

She murmured inwardly.

That little trick alone would be enough to open one meridian for an ordinary person. It truly could be called a priceless heirloom.

“Elder Sister?”

Bai Zhuqing was extremely tense. She was desperate to know whether this was what Bai Xiang had been searching for.

“Not bad luck.”

Bai Xiang glanced at her, interlaced her fingers, and with a sharp crack snapped the fish-carved jade pendant apart.

The moment it split open, a puff of pale golden jade powder shot out from within, sprang into the air, and condensed into a tiny fragment of jade even smaller than a grain of rice. With a twist, it tried to fly away.

Smack!

Bai Xiang snatched the fragment in one hand. Her palm writhed and swallowed it into her body, directly drawing it along her meridians and absorbing it into her Inner Body-scape.

“I’m going into seclusion.”

She gave the instruction to her younger sister.

“Do not disturb me for the next three days.”