Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 100: Ninety-three Ghost Fog

Chapter 100: Ninety-three Ghost Fog

Xu Yuan, the Third Young Master who wanted to travel, seemed to have caused quite a stir among the decision-making circle within the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Even though he was thousands of miles away from the Imperial Capital, in Jingjiang Prefecture, Xu Yuan still received some rather perfunctory gifts.

For instance, a whole box of military fasting pills, a cloth bag of various tuned poisons, and a Spirit Beast Egg devoid of any signs of life...

Well... most of them were pretty abstract, to say the least.

But Xu Yuan didn’t pay much attention to this.

He knew very well that not everyone in the Prime Minister’s Mansion liked him, the prodigal son, due to those glorious achievements of his in the past.

Many people sent him gifts only because of his father, as well as colleagues like Lou Ji and Hua Hong, among a few others.

However, compared to those people, the gifts from close elders like Lou Ji were much better.

Like Hua Hong.

This man, as rich as a nation, the old butler who had followed his mother for a lifetime, the chancellor’s most trusted confidante, and the Second Grade Origin Initial powerhouse of the present age, did not skimp on this occasion either, sending directly a thousand taels of Patterned Silver his way.

Waking up to see that, it made Xu Yuan’s day.

This old miser probably knew that sending silver notes would seem too little, so he simply had someone deliver two boxes of actual silver to Xu Yuan’s courtyard door overnight.

Of course, with some being abstract, naturally, there were also reliable ones.

Like Aunt Lou Ji,

And his maternal uncle, the Sword Saint Feng Jiuxuan.

Aunt Lou Ji had Ying’er give him two tokens; if he encountered any trouble during his travels, he could use these tokens to seek help either from Listening Wind Tower or Yujian Pavilion.

Listening Wind Tower, an organization trafficking in information.

Yujian Pavilion, an assassin organization; Ying’er seemed to have come from there.

Feng Jiuxuan, on the other hand, had someone send him a sword called Qingyu, which could be used to learn the protagonist’s Step Forward Slash.

Finally, there was his elder brother, Xu Changge.....

Xu Changge asked him what he wanted before leaving.

Xu Yuan naturally asked to learn his brother’s Causality Sword.

No sooner had the word "causality" left his mouth than Xu Changge flatly refused him.

Xu Yuan was just about to ask why when his brother’s expression changed, filled with eagerness.

If it were not for Ran Qingmo being there at the time,

Xu Yuan even suspected that this brother not only wouldn’t teach him but even wanted to give him a beating before leaving.

The plan to learn the Causality Sword died in its infancy, but Xu Yuan had some vague suspicions because of it.

If it could be taught, his brother wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction.

Perhaps the reason Xu Changge weakened in the later part of the story was due to practicing that type of swordsmanship...

.....

Time passed quickly, and during the period nearing his departure, Xu Yuan, besides his daily gift collection routine, never forgot to cultivate.

After Ran Qingmo had slept on the floor for ten days, he, unsurprisingly, officially made a breakthrough to the Seventh Grade of vein tempering.

The feeling of breaking through as easily as drinking water was truly quite pleasant.

It’s just a pity that the urgency of time meant he no longer had the leisure to cultivate at his own pace.

And during this ten-day period, Ran Qingmo, like him, had been cultivating the whole time.

This Big Ice Lump seemed to really enjoy this kind of life where there was no need to think, just peacefully and quietly staying in the room to cultivate each day.

Of course, the price was steep.

The Source Crystal he had previously given him had been consumed by about a fifth by this Big Ice Lump.

It was pretty much like a gold-swallowing beast.

And after Ran Qingmo had slept on the floor for twenty days, Xu Changge also left.

He had stayed here on account of the Soul Ring, and after the Secret Realm and the cultivation techniques divulged by the Saint’s Remnant Soul were verified as true, there naturally was no reason for him to continue lingering here.

In the plot to ambush the story’s protagonist, the Prime Minister’s Mansion gained much more than expected.

They finished off the remnants of a village massacre, planted a mole, captured a Second Grade Origin Initial alive, and even received a bonus Saint’s Remnant Soul.

The Secret Realms provided by the Saint turned out to be extremely precious resource fields.

Over the past few decades, the industries of the Prime Minister’s Mansion had essentially become closed-loop.

Others entering the Secret Realm might at best bring out the finest bits of loot, and even then they had to act with caution limited by their cultivation levels.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion, however, operated on a completely different level.

With a complete industrial chain system in place, all exploitable cultivation resources from the Secret Realm such as ores, herbs, and Demonic Beasts were transported to where they were needed, quickly broken down and assimilated, thereby strengthening themselves.

It was pretty much a sweeping success.

Therefore, Xu Yuan had no psychological burden as he again requested three Source Crystals from his elder brother.

After all, Ran Qingmo’s cultivation speed was too fast,

So, on the afternoon that Xu Changge set off to return to the Imperial Capital, Xu Yuan also packed his luggage and, together with Ran Qingmo, left the Jingjiang Prefecture city where they had stayed for several months.

...

...

Once again, it was an early morning.

The habitual biological clock gently woke Xu Yuan, but the sight that greeted his eyes was no longer the familiar bed curtains of past days.

A moment of dazed shock, and memories of the previous day flooded his mind like the tide.

Only then did Xu Yuan realize that he had left Jingjiang Prefecture and was currently sitting in a carriage on the way to the "Demonic Beast Breeding Base" deep in the mountains outside Jiuyuan City, where something left by Xu Changge awaited him.

It was said to be a treasure capable of restoring the Soul Power of the Saint’s Remnant Soul, "Mr. Luo."

Glancing sideways, Ran Qingmo’s flawless profile came into view.

The carriage—ahem, cart—was not spacious, less than ten square meters and rectangular in shape, but it was compactly and elegantly arranged.

A large bed, two cushions, a tea tray, and an ancient zither.

Ran Qingmo was still sitting upright on the other side of the large bed, cultivating.

Because the space in the cart was limited, the large bed served both as a couch and as a seat.

Last night before Xu Yuan went to sleep, Ran Qingmo had been sitting there cultivating; he hadn’t asked her to move, so she simply kept sitting on the bed and cultivated all night.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Ran Qingmo also opened her eyes:

"You’re awake?"

"Hmm."

Xu Yuan slowly rose, still somewhat weary. Seeing Ran Qingmo looking so full of energy after a sleepless night, he let out a deep sigh.

He was somewhat envious of Ran Qingmo’s constitution that required no rest.

Upon reaching Fourth Grade Integration Body, the physical enhancements brought about by cultivation would perfectly meld with the body, achieving a return to mortality.

Of course, the "return to mortality" mentioned here did not mean that one’s physique would become like that of a mortal but rather that unless Origin Qi or Will-Spirit deeply probed, other methods would have difficulty discerning any difference from mortals.

Beyond this, a Fourth Grade cultivator was completely seen as a celestial being in the eyes of mortals.

No need to eat, no need to sleep, and no more worries about damaging the meridians during cultivation; they could simply enter seclusion in the deep mountains like celestials, undisturbed for decades.

The heavens were hazy, and the cold winter morning wind blew through the cart’s window frets, pulling Xu Yuan back from his reverie.

He subconsciously reached to lift the blanket, intending to get up, but stopped abruptly.

The morning breeze filtered through the tall forest; getting up directly would not be very proper.

Ran Qingmo paid no mind to his slightly odd movements, simply saying softly:

"Xu Yuan, it seems we’re almost there."

At her words, Xu Yuan was taken aback, then quickly pulled back the window curtains to look outside.

Outside the window, the flaming-hoofed carriage travelled along a dense forest path. On both sides of the narrow path, the deep, boundless forest persisted with no sign of any man-made structures.

With a hint of bewilderment in his eyes and before he could ask,

"Kid, it’s an Illusion Array. A hundred meters ahead on this path is the entrance to the Illusion Array. Take out the token your brother gave you," a deep voice suddenly echoed within him.

At this, Xu Yuan was startled and swiftly took out a Purple Gold Token from his Sumeru Ring.

A hundred meters distance passed in a moment.

"Hum————"

A prolonged humming sound resonated in Xu Yuan’s ears. As the sound ceased, it seemed as though he had passed through some sort of formation.

Once Xu Yuan collected his thoughts and looked outside again, everything around had completely changed.

The deeply shrouded forest had disappeared, replaced by a colossal sinkhole a hundred meters away.

The entire sinkhole was circular in shape, with a diameter measuring at least a thousand yards; looking out across it, it seemed almost impossible to see the other side. The carriage carrying the three of them stopped next to this vast abyss, appearing entirely like a tiny ant!

What was more unnerving was that from inside this abyss, a strange and disturbing black mist constantly billowed forth.

Fortunately, there seemed to be a formation set up above the abyss, which immediately lit up with a fiery red barrier to prevent the mist from spreading whenever it rose.

Xu Yuan watched the black mist for a few breaths and spoke softly:

"This mist..."

Ran Qingmo’s eyebrows lightly knitted, and she remained silent.

The Saint’s Remnant Soul fell silent for a moment before releasing a sigh, as if in lamentation:

"This... should be the Haunted Mist."