For the following ten days, Madam Chunhan arranged for maids to deliver meals to him every day.
The food was excellent, basically the same as what she herself ate, but she rarely came by in person—only occasionally to glance in and check if Chu Yin was seriously studying those ancient texts.
It wasn’t that Madam Chunhan was deliberately leaving him aside; she simply couldn’t guide him.
The books on fate divination and fortune-telling were treasures Madam Chunhan had dug out from the manor’s treasury—tribute collections from outsiders.
She was completely clueless about them and even found it hard to assess Chu Yin’s cultivation progress.
But Chu Yin was perfectly content with this sidelined situation.
In this dream world, he had no interest in dealing with many people—it was just a waste of time.
Now that he had a quiet environment to focus on cultivation, it felt incredibly comfortable!
“Talent is really something… how did I suddenly understand this all of a sudden?”
Several of these ancient books were incomplete fragments, and one was the manuscript notes of an unknown senior.
When that senior wrote down his notes and insights, he didn’t consider whether others could understand them.
Many details were skipped with phrases like “thus it is known,” and the content lacked continuity—like solving math problems by giving just the answer without steps.
Yet, Chu Yin understood it all perfectly!
“When I first entered this dream, the self-introduction in my mind seemed to be influenced by fate divination magic, replaying my past life experiences.”
Half a month later,
Without any guidance, Chu Yin had fully mastered the Daliuren—a fortune-telling metaphysical art for predicting auspiciousness and misfortune.
It was only the initial stage of mastery.
Further progress would have to come slowly through time, experience, and moments of enlightenment.
“Maybe it’s not just talent, but also my hard work and sweat.”
Chu Yin closed the ancient texts, no longer researching them.
He had absorbed all the knowledge within.
He stepped out of the room and sat under the pavilion, gazing up at the cool night sky, relaxing his mind and feeling the tranquility of the night.
If Chu Yin didn’t remember what happened before he fell asleep, he would have had no idea which side was reality—it was impossible to find any contradictions.
Even the Outer Sect Disciple’s Yunshui Sword Technique was already mastered by Chu Yin; he didn’t need to retrain it.
As long as he followed his instinctual feeling when exerting energy, he could perform it.
“So the ability I had in reality to manipulate objects remotely actually came from here…”
He formed a sword finger, controlling a long sword inside the room to sheath and unsheath, flying out and slicing a few falling leaves on a tree.
Then the sword made a turn and flew back precisely into the sheath.
The cut leaves hadn’t even fallen to the ground.
“If I can fully bring back my current strength, I might be able to rival an A-grade ability user.”
This was Chu Yin’s level as a Gatekeeper of the Outer Sect.
Although the elders and Madam Chunhan’s evaluation was “a pity,” Chu Yin was really not that bad.
It was just that he was slightly lacking compared to others.
If he stubbornly spent time grinding, he could still reach mid-level of the Inner Sect in this lifetime—but it wouldn’t be worth it.
Judging by his aptitude for self-studying metaphysical arts, if he stubbornly spent his prime years chasing the Luoshui City cultivation system, it would truly be a wasted opportunity—a self-burial.
“I won’t worry about this for now. Now that I have the relationship with the Mistress, once I master the Yunshui Scripture, maybe I can bring back even more power when I wake up.”
He had now completed the task Madam Chunhan assigned and could officially receive her guidance.
But since it was late, it wouldn’t be appropriate to disturb her—he’d visit her tomorrow.
When Chu Yin thought of Madam Chunhan, many doubts immediately filled his mind.
What was her relationship with Aunt Wen in reality?
“Lingqi said Aunt Wen has been dreaming a lot lately—dreams about getting married, then suffering misfortune… and Madam Chunhan seems to have had a similar experience in the past.”
When Madam Chunhan married the City Lord back then, on the wedding day, the City Lord’s enemies secretly sabotaged the event, turning the joyous occasion into a tragedy.
Madam Chunhan narrowly escaped and survived.
But it was still an unfortunate event.
The upheaval was so great that before the wedding even finished, she became a widow.
This experience matched the situation Yan Lingqi described.
But the problem was, according to the dream’s timeline, when Chu Yin first met Madam Chunhan, she was already a widow carrying the burden of Luoshui City.
When Madam Chunhan got married, he hadn’t even entered Luoshui City yet!
Why did Chu Yin vaguely retain memories of getting married, and from the perspective of the groom at the wedding ceremony…?
Chu Yin was utterly confused.
Since he had just mastered the Daliuren, he immediately cast a divination to seek some clues.
[The House of Spouses falls! White Tiger appears at the head; the marriage is ominous, a bloody disaster!]
“Damn superstition!”
“It could also be that after contemplating so many days, my brain is overloaded and my state is off. The divination is inaccurate; I’ll try again after some time.”
Though there was a small hiccup, Chu Yin at least gained a direction.
If Madam Chunhan didn’t mind, he could find an opportunity to cast her fate chart.
Maybe through his divination skills, he could uncover more clues.
After all, in this dream, the only people worth Chu Yin’s attention were Madam Chunhan and cultivation.
As for other matters, let them develop as they will.
When the dream ends, what does it have to do with him?
City Lord’s Mansion, Conference Hall.
Madam Chunhan was discussing Luoshui City’s affairs with several loyal elders.
The most pressing issue recently was the city’s future development plans.
Now that the Toxic Blood had been cleared out, and those with ill intentions had basically left, Luoshui City suffered some damage but it was the best outcome possible.
Those who remained but had wavering hearts were also a hidden danger—they were mentally gone from Luoshui City, so there was no need to lament their departure.
What mattered now was how to proceed in the future.
An elderly female elder with gray hair said:
“Madam Chunhan, perhaps we should establish the legitimacy of the City Lord’s position. While we old folks can still support a bit, we should resolve this matter soon!”
“Right, Madam Chunhan can use her prestige to help find a suitable new City Lord to firmly establish the position,” another elder agreed.
This wasn’t forcing Madam Chunhan to give up the City Lord title.
After all the turmoil, the elders present were united with her.
Madam Chunhan, though in her prime, was still acting as a proxy City Lord.
During the big incident on the wedding day, Madam Chunhan hadn’t even entered the bridal chamber yet, nor had she given birth to any heirs for the City Lord.
She was a figurehead, with a somewhat delicate status.
Those ambitious mid-level disciples who had surfaced before used slogans like “This woman refuses to give up the City Lord position and wants to seize the late master’s legacy.”
Now, the only true legitimate heir of the late City Lord was a foster daughter he had taken in years ago—Zhang Wei.
She was the daughter adopted by the late City Lord’s brother, with a close blood relationship, practically his own daughter.
Zhang Wei was currently placed outside to avoid the turmoil in Luoshui City.
No matter how Luoshui City’s future unfolded, the foremost issue was to settle the legitimacy of the City Lord position.
Madam Chunhan could continue to assist behind the scenes and retain actual power, but there must be a legitimate City Lord publicly in place, so that no disciple could use this as a slogan again.
Madam Chunhan held her tea cup, her lips smooth and moist as she gently blew on the tea.
Carefully considering, she said:
“What the elders mean is that we should find a husband for Wei’er, so the young couple can jointly hold the City Lord’s position, right?”
One elder stroked his beard, nodding in agreement but worriedly added:
“The problem is the candidate is hard to choose. The son-in-law must be trustworthy, with no greedy ambitions. Otherwise, Miss won’t be able to control her husband, and it’ll just bring disaster again!”
“Miss is about to marry soon and will eventually assume this position. We do need to think carefully and plan early!”