Martial Cultivator

After everyone was seated, they ordered dishes, ate, and chatted idly. In truth, it was Chen Chao who did most of the talking, with Miss Wu responding less, while the others were even more focused on the food.

While eating, the boy He Liang carefully tried to grasp the meaning of his master’s words, but the more he listened, the more his head hurt, and in the end he simply stopped listening.

Yu Xiyi’s chopsticks flew rapidly, and he soon ate several plates of meat, making Jiang Xiao’an at the side feel somewhat embarrassed. She only felt that her master was truly disgraceful, how could a dignified great sword immortal act like this?

However, when she lowered her head and looked at the pile of bones in front of her, her small face could not help but flush red. She quickly found a reason for herself: with a master like this, being influenced over time was only natural.

But in reality, she had not been apprenticed for very long.

Chen Chao picked up a bite of food, put it in his mouth, and chewed carefully. After a while, he smiled and asked, “Does Miss Wu have anyone else at home?”

Hearing this, Miss Wu finally raised her head to look at Chen Chao. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head and said, “My parents passed away early. I was brought up the mountain by my master.”

Chen Chao nodded and said nothing.

Jiang Xiao’an said indistinctly, “Then being alone must be very boring. Big Sister Wu, haven’t you thought about finding a Dao companion?”

As Jiang Xiao’an said this, Chen Chao paid attention to Miss Wu’s reaction, while the Crown Prince immediately became much more nervous. The hand holding his chopsticks visibly stiffened.

Miss Wu’s face flushed slightly. In the end, she did not give an answer, only lowered her head and ate a piece of green vegetable.

Chen Chao already had a clear understanding in his heart.

Chen Chao telepathically informed everyone present that he wanted to speak alone with Miss Wu.

Yu Xiyi was the first to stand up, followed by He Liang and Ning Qingnian. Jiang Xiao’an grabbed a pig’s trotter before reluctantly getting to her feet. As for the Crown Prince, he hesitated for a long while before slowly standing up and walking out of the private room.

Only after everyone had left did Miss Wu raise her head and look at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao smiled and asked, “May I ask Miss Wu for your real name?”

Earlier, the Crown Prince had said that the woman before them was surnamed Wu and named Qian, but Chen Chao knew that was not the truth.

Miss Wu was silent for a moment before speaking. “Wu Xinyue.”

Chen Chao said, “That Mountains and Rivers Sect’s Grotto Heaven Sage cultivated for an entire lifetime without ever taking a disciple, yet thirty years ago accepted a single disciple. In the blink of an eye, that disciple is now already a daoist sage of the Nepenthe Realm.”

In the present age, with Chen Chao at the forefront and young geniuses like Yun Jianyue far too dazzling, the rest of the younger generation naturally appeared less brilliant.

However, after Wu Xinyue stepped into the rank of a daoist sage, she genuinely drew the envy of Infatuation Daoist Temple. They wanted to bring her into Infatuation Daoist Temple, and at the time offered the Mountains and Rivers Sect many good things, but Mountains and Rivers Sect still refused, because they intended to nurture Wu Xinyue as the next sect master.

Wu Xinyue fell silent for a moment. That the man before her could see through her identity was not particularly surprising. As a Nepenthe cultivator and daoist sage, at their first meeting she had already probed the backgrounds of this group. The few youngsters were transparent at a glance, but the man before her, and the one who had earlier been focused only on eating, were impossible to read. With a single look, not only could she discern nothing, it even made her eyes sting.

Encountering someone at the end of Nepenthe within the Divine Capital, she could assume it was some hidden pillar-level figure of Great Liang, but encountering two made Wu Xinyue feel that it was highly unlikely.

Since these two were clearly unusual, she naturally did not dare act rashly.

After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Does your esteemed self hold some official position at court?”

Chen Chao nodded.

Wu Xinyue said calmly, “This time, my coming to the Divine Capital to cultivate here has no other intentions. I have no thoughts of probing or investigating anything in the Divine Capital. Your esteemed self may rest assured.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “That much I naturally know. If Miss Wu had impure intentions from the start, you would already be a corpse by now.”

Wu Xinyue was startled at first, then sneered. “Sir has quite the tone. Do you think you are that Lord Warden Commander?”

She did not believe she could so casually encounter that young martial artist famed across the world.

Chen Chao stared at the woman before him and smiled. “I really am.”

As he spoke, a terrifying aura instantly enveloped Wu Xinyue. In that moment, her hair stood on end, and when she looked at the man before her, her eyes were full of panic.

Fortunately, the aura vanished in a flash.

Chen Chao said indifferently, “That glutton from earlier is Yu Xiyi.”

If Chen Chao had said this earlier, she definitely would not have believed it, but hearing it now, she had no choice but to believe it.

At this moment, Wu Xinyue’s dao heart wavered somewhat.

Chen Chao smiled and said, “I also have no ill intent. This is simply to let Miss Wu believe that I am indeed that Lord Warden Commander.”

Wu Xinyue nodded. That aura earlier, though terrifying, indeed carried not the slightest killing intent. She cupped her hands slightly. “Greetings, Lord Warden Commander.”

Chen Chao thought for a moment, then said softly, “Since we have this opening, and I know that Miss Wu bears no ill will toward my Great Liang, then I will speak frankly. First, I will apologize on behalf of my younger brother. He concealed his identity from you. However, Miss Wu also did not give your true name. In fact, could this be considered both sides taking fifty strokes each?”

Wu Xinyue frowned and said, “He truly is Lord Warden Commander’s younger brother?”

In the world today, there were very few cultivators who did not know Chen Chao’s situation. Naturally, they knew that he currently had only one younger cousin, the Crown Prince of Great Liang.

Chen Chao nodded.

Wu Xinyue stopped speaking.

She had encountered the Crown Prince several times before, but had never deliberately investigated his identity, because this journey down the mountain to travel the world had been entirely a matter of chance.

Chen Chao said, “Miss Wu can probably tell as well. My younger brother likes you. But I do not know what Miss Wu thinks?”

Wu Xinyue did not answer this question, instead asking, “With him having this identity, and me having this kind of identity, will there still be any outcome?”

Chen Chao only looked at her and said, “I came precisely to resolve your concerns about identity. We look only at whether you like each other. Nothing else is to be considered.”

Wu Xinyue asked curiously, “How will that be resolved? If the Mountains and Rivers Sect does not agree, will Lord Warden Commander destroy the Mountains and Rivers Sect?”

Chen Chao shook his head and said, “Even when negotiating business, one does not flip the table at every turn, let alone when forming a marriage alliance. The Mountains and Rivers Sect seeks many things. I can choose a few to satisfy them. Presumably, when the time comes, there will be no resistance on their side. As for the rest, it still comes down to Miss Wu’s own thoughts.”

Wu Xinyue was silent for a long time before asking, “Then what about this side? Will a Great Liang dynasty accept a cultivator becoming the Crown Prince Consort? The future empress?”

Chen Chao laughed loudly and said, “Why is Miss Wu so certain that it would be an empress, and not a consort?”

Wu Xinyue glanced at Chen Chao and said softly, “If he were not that kind of person, why would I even ask?”

Matters between men and women were never simple, let alone when their identities involved so many entanglements.

Chen Chao looked at her and said calmly, “All of these matters will be handled by me. As long as Miss Wu is willing, then just treat him as himself, and not as anyone else.”

“However, I only wish to ask Miss Wu for one thing. If in the future you no longer like him, tell him directly. Do not remain silent or make compromises because of his identity. That would hurt yourself, and also hurt him.”

After saying this, Chen Chao smiled and said, “Then I wish the two of you a good outcome.”

“Wait.”

Wu Xinyue suddenly spoke, looking at Chen Chao. “Lord Warden Commander, I have a question.”

Chen Chao looked at her.

Wu Xinyue thought for a moment and said, “In the Lord Warden Commander’s heart, have you never regarded him as the Crown Prince?”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “Everyone under heaven needs to regard him as the Crown Prince, but he does not necessarily like being the Crown Prince that much. So I will probably always treat him like my younger brother. As an elder brother, helping a younger brother block some wind and rain is only natural.”

Others ask whether what you did was right or not; I only ask whether you were tired or not.

Scholars speak of Heaven, Earth, ruler, parents, and teacher. In my view, whether brothers or uncle and nephew, one can cast aside identity and only consider the relationship between them.