Chapter 24: The Arrival of Lord Divine Fire

Chapter 24: The Arrival of Lord Divine Fire

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Today, in Building Number Two of the Heaven Section at the Retainer’s Court of Prince Fu’s Mansion, Yu Xian sat cross-legged in a meditation room converted from a study. Before him lay a massive piece of verdant jade.

He pressed his palms against the stone, his inner mana flowing out in a continuous stream, while his spiritual sense formed an invisible net that enveloped the jade. An invisible flame began to calcine it.

The jade seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting as if it had suddenly come to life.

"Now!"

Suddenly, Yu Xian opened his eyes. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of heart-blood onto the jade. Instead of dripping away, the blood extended inward like a spiderweb, as if triggering a mystical mechanism.

A red and green radiance erupted from the surface of the jade, and the bloodstains automatically wove themselves into a profound, ancient seal script within the stone.

*Rustle, rustle!*

It was as if the jade had endured thousands of years of weathering in an instant. Countless fine pores appeared on its surface, and grey-white impurities began to seep out from the holes automatically.

About a quarter of an hour later, the impurities had piled up into small mounds around him. The jade, originally three feet square, had shrunk to less than two feet, but its color had deepened, and its texture now resembled clear, transparent lake water.

Looking at the partially formed artifact, Yu Xian exhaled a long, stale breath and ceased his refining for the day. Feeling his mana nearly depleted, he couldn't help but offer a wry smile.

"It’s a good thing I have Yulan’s help—not only does it improve my cultivation, but it also restores my mana. Otherwise, just recovering my mana every day would be the death of me. And having to spit out a mouthful of blood every three days... well, at least I won't need to do that once the base is formed, or even a wealthy landlord couldn't afford this kind of torture. It's no wonder this primitive blood-refining method was abandoned by mainstream cultivators; it’s just too grueling. I suppose only poor wretches like us would use such outdated techniques."

With that thought, he picked up his wine gourd and took a few long gulps. He had recently had Dr. Huang increase the dosage of his "All-Inclusive Tonic Wine" and add more blood-nourishing herbs. However, Dr. Huang had warned him that these were the best medicinal ingredients available on the market, and the dosage could not be increased any further; otherwise, it would cease to be medicine and become poison.

After regulating his breathing for a while, Yu Xian stood up and headed out.

Recently, due to the great robbery at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, the atmosphere within the Prince's mansion had become tense. After all, the assassination attempt on Prince Fu by Chen Xiao a few months prior had already caused the mansion significant losses.

With that precedent, and considering the intruders were powerful, unscrupulous, and the mansion was notoriously wealthy, it was entirely possible they would target Prince Fu next. Therefore, Yu Xian was obliged to spend half of every day protecting the Prince. He was, after all, a retainer of the mansion.

Of course, Prince Fu was a sensible man; he knew that if you wanted someone to work, you had to pay them. His monthly salary had been temporarily increased to three thousand taels of silver. If he were willing to guard the mansion day and night, the price could go even higher, reaching ten thousand taels a month.

Had it been earlier, Yu Xian might have bowed for the sake of those "five pecks of rice" and taken the ten thousand taels. But now that he had gold worth one hundred and fifty thousand taels stashed in his room, the only reason he still acted as a bodyguard for half the day was because they had gotten along well since he joined the mansion.

Though, truth be told, he would much rather have been protecting the Princess.

...

In Prince Fu's study, Yu Xian greeted Ding Le, who had just finished a night shift.

"Retainer Ding, thank you for your hard work. Leave the Prince to me."

As an elder of a major sect with obligations to his organization, Ding Le didn't have the same freedom as Yu Xian. Once he entered the Prince's mansion, he became a beast of burden. Yu Xian could pick up and leave whenever he pleased, and no one would dare touch him. But if Ding Le were to walk away today and disrespect the Prince, an army would be surrounding his Chang-le Sword Sect by tomorrow, forcing them to purge their own ranks. That was the burden of having a legacy.

Recently, Ding Le had been scolded severely by the Prince over the case of the Sun Family Pharmacy. By the time he had taken action, the principals had already vanished, leaving only a few scapegoats behind.

When Ding Le saw Yu Xian now, his face turned black as the bottom of a pot. He had already found out that the Sun Family Pharmacy matter shouldn't have fallen to him; he had been set up by the bastard standing in front of him. Coupled with the memory of being forced into such a pathetic state by Yu Xian’s palm strike, he had no pleasantries to offer. He marched out of the study without even looking back.

"Tsk tsk, Retainer Ding is still holding a grudge. One should be more magnanimous."

Ding Le, who hadn't walked far, almost tripped. *Magnanimous? Magnanimous your grandfather!* He quickened his pace. If he couldn't afford to provoke him, he could at least avoid him.

Seeing that the fun was over, Yu Xian nodded to Prince Fu, who was sitting behind his desk watching the drama unfold, and found a seat for himself. Before long, a maid brought tea and pastries. His posture was even more relaxed than the Prince's, leaving the overwhelmed and busy Prince feeling quite unbalanced.

But then the Prince remembered that he had practically begged for this service, and he began to miss the virtues of Retainer Ding—who was hardworking, never complained, and took abuse without striking back. That was his ideal retainer.

Unfortunately, his strength was a bit lacking.

As usual, Yu Xian ate the pastries prepared by the Prince's private chef and sipped on top-tier tea brewed with mountain spring water—a tribute to the imperial court—all while slacking off in front of his employer. Meanwhile, the Prince was working diligently, his brows knitted in a deep frown as he reviewed documents submitted by his subordinates.

Nearly an hour passed in silence. Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside.

A guard rushed toward the study, only to be stopped by the sentries at the door. Yu Xian straightened up, abandoning his leisure to stand in front of the Prince.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?" Prince Fu stepped out from behind his desk.

"Someone is trying to abduct the Princess!"

The guard was panting, breathless and panicked; there were soot stains on his face and a lingering look of terror in his eyes. "The attacker uses fire—he can control a divine flame! He looks a lot like... like the legendary Lord Divine Fire. Retainer Ding has already gone, but we can't hold him off much longer."

"Retainer Yu, please, you must save the Princess!"

Prince Fu was shocked and turned immediately to Yu Xian. This was exactly why he tolerated Yu Xian's constant slacking.

"Your Highness, don't panic. This might be a ruse to lure the tiger away from the mountain." Yu Xian analyzed the situation with a grave expression. The moment he heard the guard's description, he knew the attacker was a cultivator. "Lord Divine Fire"? Wasn't that just a simple Fireball Technique?

However, he didn't particularly want to cross paths with another cultivator. He cursed silently; the man had chosen a terrible time to arrive. His artifact was not yet finished; if it had been a few days later, he would have made any demon or monster kneel and call him "daddy."

"This?"

Faced with his own safety, Prince Fu calmed down. The more he thought about it, the more he felt Yu Xian was right.

So he said, "Retainer Yu makes a valid point. However, I have my own means of protection. You should go and rescue the Princess first."

"Very well." Yu Xian nodded reluctantly. He wasn't afraid; he just couldn't be bothered. "Lead the way. Let me see who is bold enough to be so arrogant!"