42. A Personal Audience

"Old Zhou, is there a young man in your shop? Try to find out what he's looking for. Don’t turn off your phone—let me listen in." After considering for a moment, the sharp-eyed man called the owner of Ming and Qing Gallery.

Not long after, conversation could be heard through the phone: "Young man, our Ming and Qing Gallery is a century-old establishment, specializing in antiques from the Ming and Qing dynasties, though we also have items from earlier periods. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?"

"Thank you, sir. I’m just browsing."

"To be honest, there aren’t many young people like you who are interested in antiques. Most of our regular customers are older, some buy things to decorate their homes, others collect."

"I’m an archaeology student at Capital University. I’m very interested in studying these antiques, but I can’t afford to buy any, so I’m just looking. I hope you don’t mind, sir?"

"Of course not, of course not. Every guest is welcome here. If you need any introductions, I know a little about most of the items in my store."

"Oh, that won’t be necessary. If you have things to do, go ahead. I’m just observing, trying to verify some ideas of my own. I won’t damage anything, you can rest assured."

"All right then, take your time. If you need anything, just call me." Seeing as the young man declined further conversation, the owner had no choice but to leave him be. Once outside, he took out his phone.

"Second Master, did you pick up anything? I just felt he didn’t want me around or care for my introductions. It seems his research talk is just an excuse."

"You’re right," replied the sharp-eyed man. "That kid isn’t a student at Capital University at all. He only just took the college entrance exams this year and was the top liberal arts scorer in the province. So his story doesn’t check out."

"Second Master, what should I do? Should I throw him out?"

"Don’t do anything. Just keep an eye on him. Note which items he spends more time on, then bring those to me. Remember, don’t alert him—act as though you know nothing about his background," the sharp-eyed man reminded him.

Not long after, the owner called back: "Second Master, the kid left. I saw him go into South Moon Pavilion next door."

"What did he look at in your shop?"

"There are thousands of items here. He looked at maybe a hundred or so, but never for long. He just picked each one up briefly and put it down, never more than half a minute."

"And among those items, did you notice anything unusual?"

"Nothing at all. Among the pieces he handled, there are genuine antiques and replicas. I have no idea what his selection criteria were."

"Remember, I’ll come by later to look at the items he examined."

The sharp-eyed man was somewhat frustrated. Chen Fengyun had visited over a dozen shops that day, looked at thousands of items, and, according to each shop owner, he would randomly pick up a few objects, glance at them quickly, then put them down.

"Strange, there’s nothing special about these items. Could he really be here for research?" The man was puzzled, though he did see in the news that Chen Fengyun had registered as an archaeology major at Capital University.

"Old Eight, tell me again about the time Chen Fengyun took those things from you. Did anything seem off?" That evening, the sharp-eyed man called Eighth Master.

"Second Brother, nothing seemed strange. He picked up every item, looked at them, then just took two."

"Old Four, think back to when you gave Chen Fengyun that jade piece. What was his reaction?" the man then asked Yang Wanshi.

"When he saw the jade piece, he showed no special expression—just put it away," Yang Wanshi recalled.

"He didn’t examine it carefully? Didn’t ask where it came from?" the man pressed.

"No, he just accepted it and put it away, as though he’d seen that kind before. Oh, and he asked if I practiced any cultivation techniques, and was certain I hadn’t succeeded. Second Brother, do you think he’s like Thirteenth Uncle—a Qi Cultivator?"

As Yang Wanshi remembered, a wild idea surfaced and he quickly shared it with the sharp-eyed man.

But even Yang himself found it hard to believe. As a key figure of the Southern Sect, he knew well how difficult it was for Thirteenth Uncle to achieve even a minor breakthrough in Qi cultivation.

Moreover, since Thirteenth Uncle, no one in the Southern Sect had managed to become a Qi Cultivator in decades, and even Thirteenth Uncle himself hadn’t made progress in all these years.

"He really asked you about our cultivation methods? During your fight, did you sense the same aura Thirteenth Uncle has?" the sharp-eyed man asked excitedly.

"Perhaps a trace, but I can’t be sure. It was faint—maybe not even there. Second Brother, if he were a Qi Cultivator, he’d have been able to seriously injure me with a single move. Why would our fight last so long?" Yang Wanshi answered uncertainly, though when Chen Fengyun occasionally activated his Golden Bell Shield, there had indeed been faint spiritual energy fluctuations.

"We can’t be certain—better inform Thirteenth Uncle and let him judge for himself."

The sharp-eyed man made up his mind. For decades, the Southern Sect had sought to train a new Qi Cultivator to succeed Thirteenth Uncle, but no one had succeeded. Now, unexpectedly, there was hope.

"What? You think you’ve found a young Qi Cultivator? And both Old Four and Old Eight were no match for him? You must treat him with utmost respect and find a way to bring him to Hangzhou—I want to meet him," Thirteenth Uncle exclaimed in shock upon hearing the news, urging them not to offend the youth. Given his age, he could not travel easily, but hoped Chen Fengyun might come to Hangzhou to see him.

"I’ll see him myself tomorrow," the sharp-eyed man decided after some thought.

...

After becoming the top scorer in the college entrance exams and enrolling in the archaeology program at Capital University, Chen Fengyun discovered that all the spiritual seeds in his miniature grotto had sprouted.

Meanwhile, the ordinary seeds had grown over a foot tall. Nourished daily by spiritual spring water, frankincense, Paris polyphylla, and tea saplings were growing at a speed more than ten times faster than in the outside world.

"It seems cultivating medicinal herbs in the miniature grotto is a great idea. Tomorrow, I’ll look for seeds of other rare medicinal plants—if I can find any. Maybe I should set aside a plot for vegetables and fruit; they should taste much better than those outside."