Cheat Cultivator's Ascension - Chapter 471 - 471: Equal
Getting to know the ladies accompanying the immortal-like young man in this abode, both Dongfang Xiang and Dongfang Jing felt quite at home as both of them realizes how easygoing each of them are, the niece getting quite close with the ladies of her age, Hong Lian, Hua Xian’er and Astaria all feeling like they would get along really well with her in the future.
“Looks like our little Jing is getting along well with your ‘family'” seeing the expression of joy and interest in her niece’s face, Dongfang Xiang remarked with a genuine smile on her face, taking a good, long look at her sister’s child, the only junior in their family, before returning her attention to the immortal-like young man once again.
“It’s always good to make more acquaintances, even better, reliable friends,” smiling at the older lady’s remarks, Su Xiaotian replies as he gestures to his mother that he’s going to leave for a while before returning his attention to this royal lady, a duchess of a kingdom whose force more than likely is beyond their current reach.
“While I would sure love to entertain the two of you, I am pretty sure that time is precious for the two of you as well… so why don’t we take business somewhere more convenient?” smiling as he stood up from his seat, reaching out his hand as if to ask for the duchess’, Su Xiaotian invited, his actions making the ladies smile as they thought that it is very like him to act quite polite towards a lady.
“My~~ for such a young talent to invite this weak old lady, I am quite honored~~” responding to his invitation in a positive light, Dongfang Xiang responds cheerfully as she raises one of her fair hands, placing it on top of the young man’s hand right in front of her, after which she lifts herself from her seat before shifting her attention to her niece whose attention is still with the new acquaintances she made.
“Little Jing, looks like you’re enjoying the company of your new friends, I’ll talk with this young man for a little while so why don’t you get to know each other more?” looking at the three ladies of the same age as her niece, Dongfang Xiang smiles towards them as well, her interest apparent given just how high of regards she puts on these ladies of extreme talent.
‘Still, for him to gather around himself all these genius among geniuses…’ following the steps of the immortal-like young man in front of her, this duchess of a great kingdom thought to herself as she looks at the broad, towering back view of the young man, wondering just what sort of existence it is for him to pull towards himself and harmonize people who are supposed to be pointing their blades towards each other.
‘After all, talents like them needs a lot of resources, and no matter the place, it can only hold so much, sometimes not even enough for one person…’ she added in her mind as she shakes her head trying to rid herself of such thoughts, after all, while it might be true that she is extremely curious as to how he managed to gather those ladies around him so harmoniously and peacefully like this, it’s not like something bad will happen to her if she doesn’t know of its reason.
‘Every person has a secret to keep for themselves after all,’ she recalls one of the most common passages that one encounters should they step on the path of cultivation, a line that is way too often forgotten by many, leading them to their own demise.
After walking for a while, she finds herself outside once again, the young man in front of him stopping on his tracks as the two of them arrived in front of a grotto with water flowing inside, the lily pads seemingly aligned so that one can jump on them to keep themselves dry to enter this picturesque cave, the sight making the duchess sigh in admiration all while she wonders just how is it that even atop a towering mountain, something like this exist, pure and beautiful.
“Looks like this place is quite to Duchess Dongfang’s taste” seeing the expression on the royal lady’s face, Su Xiaotian remarked with a smile on his face as well, gesturing at the older lady to sit right where he points to, a chair and a table seemingly carved directly out of the stones of this cave, made comfortable with sheets covering the entirety of the seats.
“Well… even travelling from world to world, it is quite rare to find something like this…” staring up as she admires the luminescent moss that gently lights the inside of the structure, perfectly blending with the small amount of sunlight peeking from the entrance, the duchess replies, only after a few moments realizing how she is acting right now, forcing her to control herself.
Wide-eyed as she realizes that she let herself slip up, she then pretended to be serious as she moved one of her dainty hands towards her lips, covering them as she faked a cough as if clearing her throat, before she started speaking to him.
“Ahem… The place is beautiful and all, but there are more important matters that I want to discuss with you, young man…” as she clears herself of stray thoughts, the duchess enters a state of seriousness that gave Su Xiaotian quite the surprise, though it is a surprise leaning more on how quick she can shift the mood around her rather than anything else.
‘As expected of someone who truly reached the Celestial level… she’s leagues above that old bastard from the Imperial Court…’ feeling the heavy air around the duchess, the immortal-like young man thought to himself with quite the praise, his instinct telling him that should those two fought against each other, victory, or rather, the Imperial Court Ancestor’s very life, will be determined by the whims of this lady in front of him.
“I think I already have a clear idea on what you want to talk about, Duchess Dongfang—” smiling as he maintains composure, certain that despite the heavy air around her, this lady in front of him does not pose any threat, for now, Su Xiaotian was interrupted as the lady raises one of her hands, shaking her head as she corrects him about something.
“Dongfang Xiang, or perhaps even just Xiang will suffice, young man,” the lady corrected before bringing her hand back down, the immortal-like young man quite shocked with the word that came out from this lady’s own mouth.
“I was under the impression that most in power, especially those who were born of monarchy, wants the respect they think they deserve, want to call them with their title, looks like I was wrong” he said, intending to start again, the reply of the lady in front of him finally making him well aware that she might be a little bit different compared to other royalties he had met so far.
“That might truly be the case most of the time, young man; however, the situation makes it so that I shouldn’t, nor do I want to, act like that…” The lady paused as her eyes locked on the immortal-like young man’s face, her expression one of all seriousness as she spoke.
“After all, weak as you might be right now, my intuition tells me that this discussion will only go well if it is a conversation between equals…”
