Page 77

“Lord Chen…”

Chen Qing returned to his room, and not long after he had dozed off, there was a knock at the door.

Opening it, he saw Chen Ying pushing Wei Gongcheng through the entrance.

“Come in,” Chen Qing sighed.

Being interrupted in his sleep didn’t really irk him much—after all, in his past life as a software developer, working overtime and going days without sleep was nothing unusual.

“According to your instructions, we have sent urgent messages to the provincial government offices in Nan Ming, Nanyang, Suyang, Yunchuan, and Tianmen.

As of this morning, there has been no response from any of them!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing quickly beckoned them into the room and drew a heavy circle on the map with a fine brush.

“Lord Chen…” Wei Gongcheng observed with puzzlement.

“Do you know what has happened?”

Without looking up and while continuing to draw lines on the map, Chen Qing asked, “Miss Chen, you went to check on the fog line by the seashore this morning, what was the result?”

“From all four directions of the port, for a hundred miles, it’s all covered by that dense fog,” replied Chen Ying promptly.

“Lord Chen told me not to venture deep into the fog, so I only observed from a distance.

It seems to completely envelop the five waterways, and the fog is very high!”

“How high?” Chen Qing looked up and asked.

“My talents are meager, and I can only hang suspended in the air with the basic Wind Walking Technique, up to a height of about fifteen zhang—I couldn’t surpass that strange fog.

I’ve never encountered fog this high at sea before.”

“Miss Chen has not inherited any Techniques?” Chen Qing seemed taken aback.

“Lord Chen feigns ignorance?” Chen Ying’s expression immediately soured.

Seeing her reaction, Wei Gongcheng quickly interjected, “Miss Chen misunderstands; Lord Chen is likely unfamiliar with the current mainstream circles because of his concealed background as a Magician.”

He then turned to Chen Qing, “Miss Chen is the legitimate disciple of Mu Hongqing DaRen.

Although Mu Hongqing DaRen is very capable, he comes from a special background without the traditional roots of a Sorcerer Family.

Given that his inherited Techniques are too fierce, he does not wish for Miss Chen to follow the same path and has found it difficult to obtain an appropriate Technique for her.”

Chen Qing was initially stunned by this explanation, but after a moment of reflection, he understood the cause and effect.

Mu Hongqing was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Qin, maltreated to death by his stepmother and betrayed his own family, labeled as unfilial and therefore not accepted by the mainstream forces.

Even within Sorcerer Families, he was likely an outcast.

Chen Ying was significantly gifted, but she too was of humble origins and a woman.

Being favored by Mu Hongqing was both a good and bad thing.

As a woman seeking to make a name for herself, she needed a bold elder willing to advocate for her and fight for resources.

Someone like Mu Hongqing, unburdened by family ties and wholeheartedly supporting Chen Ying, could provide her with resources in the early stages which might even surpass those of many large families’ scions.

However, the difficulty would increase in the middle and later stages because the most valuable resources of Sorcerer Families are the diverse Techniques for the talented offspring to find what suits them best.

Most good Techniques are controlled by families, and it’s indeed a tough situation for Chen Ying, having followed Mu Hongqing in this respect.

“So you’re saying…” Chen Qing was shocked as he turned to Chen Ying, “You’ve been able to advance to Fourth Rank with just the basic Techniques?”

Chen Ying narrowed her eyes at Chen Qing, recognizing that he could discern that she was of Fourth Rank—the mark of a truly concealed and profound Magician!

“You jest, Lord Chen,” Chen Ying said coolly.

Chen Qing looked steadily at her for several moments, considering the upcoming situation, and then said, “Miss Chen, although you are apprenticed, you haven’t joined a family yet, have you?”

Chen Ying rolled her eyes, too lazy to respond; with her talent, if she were willing to marry into any family, she would already have her own Techniques.

Her master had indeed sought to find her a suitable marriage match, but none had been very successful.

Most Sorcerer Families couldn’t offer Techniques that met her master’s satisfaction.

The top two families had intentions of marriage alliances, but the two eligible children found her too tall and demanded that she become a concubine; infuriated, her master had immediately broken off relations with those families.

This also led to her current situation of not having a suitable Technique to inherit.

“Would you be willing to join the Chen Family?”

“Cough, cough…” Wei Gongcheng choked on his tea, feeling that this fellow always did things so suddenly.

“You want me to be a concubine?” Chen Ying asked Chen Qing coldly.

Chen Qing was bewildered…

Was that really his intention?

Joining his Chen Family meant becoming kin, especially since they already shared the surname Chen—there would be no need to change her family name.

How did she come to that conclusion so quickly?

Could it be that she’d noticed him stealthily eyeing her long legs?

No, that couldn’t be—he had been very discreet.

Before Chen Qing could explain, she sneered, “I wonder what betrothal gift Lord Chen can offer?”

“Uh…

my official salary is modest…

However, there are many fine properties on South Street; Miss Chen is free to choose any…”

Hey, that’s not what he meant…

“My lord…” Wei Gongcheng said helplessly, “Sorcerer Families use techniques as a betrothal gift, and besides, the lands you mentioned are public property, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to use them as a dowry, right?”

“Using techniques as a betrothal gift?” Chen Qing was startled, had the families of techniques developed to be so practical?

Wei Gongcheng nodded, “When families of magicians marry, it’s essentially an exchange of spells, the male’s betrothal gift is a certain technique, while the female’s family complements it with another technique as a dowry.”

For this reason, it was difficult for women to rise in rank within the families of magicians because the mainstream techniques of the family generally were not taught to girls, unless a girl had extraordinarily amazing talent.

In such cases, the woman would not marry out of the family.

At most, she would bring in a husband, creating a separate branch within the family.

Chen Ying listened indifferently to Wei Gongcheng’s explanation, her gaze towards Chen Qing filled with some confusion.

This has been the way sorcerer families married for a thousand years; could there be any secret sorcerer family who did not know this?

“So it is…” Chen Qing stroked his chin, before turning to look at Chen Ying, “Lord Mu is not here, can you make a decision on your own, Miss?”

“I can!” Chen Ying said coldly, “As long as you can present a betrothal gift that can impress me.

But let me be clear upfront, there is no dowry for a concubine!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing fell silent for a few moments and did not rush to explain.

Instead, he took out a jade talisman from his sleeve.

The jade talisman was exquisitely fine.

Wei Gongcheng could only feel its beauty, but in Chen Ying’s eyes, she saw a streak of azure light shooting up into the sky!

“Big Dipper Sorcery!!”

Chen Ying could no longer sit still; she stood up at once, staring intently at the jade talisman!

“Big Dipper Sorcery?” Upon hearing this, Wei Gongcheng was also shocked, turning his head towards Chen Qing.

Though he came from a Martial Family, he knew of the reputation of the Big Dipper Sorcery.

The thirty-six spirits of Big Dipper, any legacy was a top-notch technique that only the foremost families of techniques could master.

In today’s Capital City, as far as he knew, only four families possessed it; besides Duke of Qin Liu Yu’s lineage of the Evening Elephant, there were the Heart Ape of the Nangong family, the Giant Spirit of the Li family, and the Vermilion Bird of the Fei family!

Apart from the uncertain lineage of Duke of Qin Liu Yu, weren’t the other three age-old great families?

Was Chen Qing actually from a Big Dipper Sorcery Family?

Thinking of extraordinary beings like the Gate Deity and the Mountain God, Wei Gongcheng could accept that Chen Qing could produce a piece of Big Dipper Sorcery.

But to use it as a betrothal gift was just too excessive…

Was taking a concubine this luxurious now?

“Are you serious, my lord?” Chen Ying asked intently, fixing her gaze on that jade talisman.

“Of course…” Chen Qing nodded.

At this moment, the situation was tense.

The more powerful experts he could get on his side, the better.

He wanted even the competitive Shen family to remain in Lyuzhou, let alone such a valuable ally as her.

Chen Ying, who had managed to attain the rank of Fourth Grade simply by leveraging basic techniques, was surely a perfect user of the Four Spirit Techniques.

If he wasn’t going to present them now, then when?

“Agreed!” Chen Ying nodded without hesitation, her cold snicker aimed at the other.

“By the witness of the Heavenly Spirits, with these gifts, I shall enter the Chen Family.

For a lifetime, if you do not abandon me, I shall never betray you; by a blood oath, I swear it!”

As soon as the words fell, the ambient energy of the space quivered, obviously forming a very strong bond.

Chen Qing frowned and glanced around, roughly understanding that this must be an oath via sorcery.

Indeed, following the customs of sorcerer families, who would dare engage in such a transaction without the guarantee of an oath?

Once the oath was set, unless one could resist the greatest spirits of heaven and earth, they would surely suffer the backlash!

Chen Qing gazed at the forthright young woman in front of him, somewhat in a daze.

“What’s the matter?” Chen Ying scoffed coldly, “If you’re joking about this, my lord, you better consider the consequences carefully!”

She didn’t really expect him to use this to marry her; she thought he was making fun of her and he should pay a price for that.

Her mentor had been scheming on her behalf for many years, always failing to secure a good technique for her.

As she was getting older and couldn’t wait much longer, and with her mentor having fallen out with most of the sorcerer families in Capital City, progress seemed difficult.

But now that Chen Qing was revealed to be from the Big Dipper Sorcery Family, he surely had other valuable artifacts; by pressuring him to produce one, her mentor could then exchange it with her own technique, potentially creating a successful exchange.

Her mentor’s technique was extremely dangerous, and though powerful, the risks of inheritance were too great, bringing its value down on the sorcerer market.

But now, with this Mr.

Chen being in the wrong, it might be a good opportunity to press him!

Just as she was contemplating this, she saw him holding the jade talisman, and he walked straight up to her.

As if sensing something, the talisman transformed into a jade ring.

“My lord…

you…”

Chen Ying couldn’t help but want to step back, but bound by the blood oath, found that she couldn’t.

He took her right hand and slipped the jade ring onto it!

“The blood oath is sealed!” Chen Qing looked at her earnestly, “From this day forward, you are part of the Chen Family.

As you said, with these gifts, I take you as my spouse.

Should I not forsake you, you shall belong to the Chen Family for a lifetime!”

The next instant, an azure light soared into the sky, accompanied by the ringing sound of a dragon’s cry that echoed through heaven and earth!

In that moment, not only was Chen Ying stunned, but sorcerers from all nine prefectures of Jiangnan gazed in shock towards the sky above Lyuzhou!

The foremost of the Four Spirits: Azure Dragon Sorcery!!