Food System in Cultivation World-Chapter 508 - 462: Listening to the Wind of Jade Capital’s Twelve-Layered Tower (Part 2)
The immortal master of Pure Void Daoist Palace gifted me a century-old Life Extension Pill, allowing me to regain my youth.
Now that Master Lan Yue is hosting a banquet in the Twelve-Layered Tower, how could I not go and show my support?"
Xiao Zhengde replied heartily, though the contrast between his aged voice and his youthful face was jarringly incongruous.
But after all, he truly was young again; so what if his voice remained a little old?
On the plaza, astonished exclamations erupted one after another.
Countless envious eyes fell on Xiao Zhengde, and someone could not resist asking:
"Grandpa Xiao, since Master Lan Yue is holding a feast today, you’ve been invited as well?"
"I am a man fated by destiny; naturally, I received the invitation." Grandpa Xiao held his head high, chest out, bold and exuberant.
Someone wanted to speak further with him, but his steps were swift—he spoke as he strode up the stairs, entering that legendary tall tower.
By his side, his family and attendants eagerly clustered around him.
One cried, "Father, slow down, be careful not to slip."
Another chimed in, "Ay, Old Master, if you walk any faster, we truly won’t be able to keep up!"
In the blink of an eye, this group breezed into the Twelve-Layered Tower like the wind.
Only countless yearning and envious gazes remained behind on the plaza.
Someone cried out hoarsely, "The century-old Life Extension Pill is real—so could that eight-hundred-year Feixia Pill be real as well?
But even if the Feixia Pill is real, the twelfth floor of the Twelve-Layered Tower—no one can reach it at the end of the day.
Not even Xie Mingyi could do it; so who in this world possibly can?"
Indeed, who could?
The chattering crowd fell into a brief silence.
Once again, people sighed with longing.
Though they themselves could not enter the Twelve-Layered Tower, let alone ascend to the twelfth floor,
Yet simply discussing and speculating here made them feel as if they could stand alongside those legendary figures within the tower.
A satisfying pleasure in pointing out the grand affairs of the world made them unwilling to leave so easily.
So, someone in the crowd racked his brain and suddenly named a person no one else had considered, saying:
"Even though Xie Mingyi can’t ascend the twelfth floor, he isn’t the mightiest among our Da Li’s young generation.
There is someone else!"
His words only drew ridicule:
"What are you talking about? If Xie Mingyi, ranked first on the Heavenly Roll, isn’t the foremost of our young,
Then who could be?"
"Exactly, exactly—if even the top of the Heavenly Roll isn’t the best, who else could be?"
Many around the scoffer echoed his words.
The mocked speaker flushed deep red, and countered loudly:
"It’s Chen Xu—Chen Xu, the Number One Scholar of Tiannan Prefecture, Chen Xu who oversaw the construction of the Grand Canal connecting north and south!
Gentlemen, can you really say Xie Mingyi can compare to Chen Xu?
Sir Chen is truly Da Li’s premier youth; if he were here at the Twelve-Layered Tower, he might just reach that twelfth floor!"
As his words fell, silence descended on all sides.
No one could dispute him—for even if Xie Mingyi slew a hundred or more Thousand-Eyed Demon Lords, it could not measure up to Chen Xu’s grand feat of building the Grand Canal.
But...
After a long pause, at last someone found his words and objected:
"But Sir Chen isn’t in Jade Capital—no matter how great he is, if he’s not here, he’s fated to miss out on the Feixia Pill as well.
We’ll never get to see anyone ascend that twelfth floor. Alas..."
The speaker sighed, full of genuine regret.
Someone else tilted their head, gazing longingly up at the tower’s spire piercing the clouds, and murmured, "But perhaps that’s not entirely true,
For even if Sir Chen is not here today, he’ll surely come for next spring’s imperial exams.
There’s no way he wouldn’t come, right?
When the time comes and he’s in Jade Capital, won’t he climb the tower and sample the wind atop the Twelve-Layered Tower?
At that time, perhaps, we’ll finally see someone reach the twelfth floor..." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
What this man said was not without reason.
Nearby, those who overheard could not help but be infected by his dreamlike longing:
"Next year’s spring exams... Only a pity, it’s still some months away."
For no particular reason, these months suddenly felt long and hard to bear.
From the square, a few sighs drifted up.
The thronging crowd, amidst their sighs, felt more keenly the excitement and pleasure of comparing the heroes of the realm.
No one noticed that, right at this moment, a sword-bearing youth was making his way through the bustling, noisy crowd.
This youth was tall and straight, dressed in white robes with wide sleeves.
At the hem and cuffs, clouds and flying cranes were embroidered in dark green; as he walked quietly by, he seemed a sword forcibly bound within its sheath.
Truly, his sword aura was fierce, murderous intent flooding forth.
Yet despite such a striking presence, as he passed through the crowd, it was oddly as if no one took any notice at all.
Subconsciously, others just moved aside to let him through.
Not until he had gone by, did anyone start and exclaim,
"Eh? Something’s off, wasn’t there someone who just passed through us and went into the Twelve-Layered Tower?
Now who could that be?"
Another, duller in perception, muttered, "Who? There was no one—don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t see anyone."
"If no one passed through, then why are the two of us suddenly standing so far apart?"
"Huh, this..."
No one realized that the youth in white who had just slipped through the crowd was none other than Xie Mingyi—the very one being discussed as ’not as good as Chen Xu.’
Xie Mingyi had lived more than twenty years, hailed as a genius since childhood.
This was the first time he’d ever heard the world say he was ’not as good as someone else.’
Xie Mingyi wouldn’t stoop to debating with fools; yet somehow, he, too, wished to set foot in the Twelve-Layered Tower again, to proclaim to all, that the wind atop the tower belonged to him alone.
He entered the first floor in silence; inside the banquet hall was music, singing, and the lingering notes of strings and flutes.
At the center of the main hall, on a circular high platform, a young man wielded brush and ink, painting out a vast horizontal scroll.
Part of the long scroll hung down from the edge of the platform—one could see at a glance that the scene showed the splendor along both banks of the Jade Crossing River.
Most prominent were the Twelve-Layered Tower on the east bank, and the throngs of onlookers at its foot.
The landscape on the painting was crisp and clear, the towers and hills staggered, the postures of the crowd all varied—each figure vivid and bustling with life.
Staring long enough, one could scarcely tell—were they gazing from outside the painting, or had they already become figures within it?
The cheers below the stage never stopped. Someone said, "Young Master Du is indeed heir to the painting sage; whenever he picks up a brush, the world cannot help but be astonished."
Another agreed, "With Young Master Du’s art, surely the passage to the second floor will open, and we can all ascend together."
Yet another said, "But Young Master Du is nearly finished, and still the second floor shows no sign of opening..."
Xie Mingyi listened quietly. Suddenly he felt a ripple in his heart—someone was standing beside him, though he hadn’t noticed when they’d arrived.
Following his instinct, he turned his head at once.
At that glance, for reasons unknown, his heart trembled oddly.
The man standing next to him wore azure robes, expression calm and at ease.
But upon his shoulder squatted two little monsters—one a gray mouse, the other a hedgehog.
This person’s aura was well hidden; apart from his handsome features, he seemed almost like an ordinary man with no cultivation at all.
Yet the moment Xie Mingyi saw him, he lost all control—his heart began to pound wildly.
Unable to help himself, he spoke, "Brother, in your opinion, can Du’s painting open the passage to the second floor?"
