Upon the window sill, a pot of tea had already brewed, the temperature now just right.

Chu Yu Zhi rose to fetch it, casually turning over five tea cups and pouring each half full. With a flick of his wrist, the five cups of tea lightly floated down, landing in their proper places.

At this gathering today…

Zuo Guang Shu spoke very little.

Qu Shun Hua, as the hostess, was very enthusiastic in her hospitality, and Jiang Wang, the main guest, was also quite cooperative.

As for Chu Yu Zhi, his performance was rather genuine. He neither concealed his favorable feelings towards Ye Lan Er nor stinted on praise for Jiang Wang. However, his expressions were carefully measured, neither baring teeth and dancing claws nor being overly obsequious. He maintained a distance that never felt offensive.

As for Ye Lan Er…

Jiang Wang watched, not quite understanding, yet not overly curious either.

Perhaps he would only develop curiosity towards Ye Lan Er—curiosity about her strength in the Shen Lin realm—once he too reached that level.

Several people were chatting idly when Qu Shun Hua suddenly asked again, “I heard Guang Shu say, Brother Jiang inquired whether the banquet here could be packed?”

Jiang Wang felt greatly embarrassed.

He had casually mentioned it to Zuo Guang Shu earlier, simply out of habit for stocking up on food for An An. Now that he knew this banquet was hosted by Duke Huai, how could he still have the face to say “pack”?

What was even more infuriating was that he had clearly arrived at Huang Liang Tai with Zuo Guang Shu at the same time, and they had never left each other’s sight. When had this fellow told Qu Shun Hua? How did he say everything?

“Earlier, when I asked Guang Shu, it was because I was somewhat ignorant and uninformed, not knowing much about what kind of place Huang Liang Tai was.” Jiang Wang was a little embarrassed but said sincerely, “I was still thinking of bringing some back for my friends to taste!”

“No problem, leave this matter to me.” Qu Shun Hua smiled and said, “Brother Jiang, when you leave Chu, I will help you prepare it then.”

Jiang Wang had half a mind to refuse. If it were just him, he would absolutely be unwilling to accept favors without merit. But then he thought of the deliciousness of this gathering today…

How could he not let An An taste the deliciousness of this world?

The words reached his lips, and then became: “Then I will not stand on ceremony.”

“Brother Jiang doesn’t treat me as an outsider, that is my fortune.” Qu Shun Hua’s eyes held a smile as she asked again, “Since we are preparing it anyway. How many people does Brother Jiang want to share it with?”

How many people could there still be to share with?

Jiang Wang’s heart was greatly joyful, and he immediately said, “Two people to share, two people!”

Then he thought again. Ling Xiao Pavilion was, after all, the territory of that True Person named Ye. On the surface, he still needed to be considerate, otherwise, wouldn’t their next meeting again be with furrowed brows and raised eyes?

With this thought, he then said, “Let’s still share with three people.”

Immediately, he thought again. That town-sect divine beast, Senior A Chou, he didn’t know its temperament, but generally speaking, one should still show respect. The saying goes, “not worried about scarcity, but about unevenness.” If he invited the Pavilion Master but didn’t invite the town-sect divine beast, would it make it angry? What if it tripped up An An?

Thus, he said, “Four people to share. Right, four people.”

With him changing the number like this, if someone unfamiliar saw him, they would inevitably feel he was pushing his luck, being greedy and insatiable.

Qu Shun Hua, instead, felt that this Brother Jiang was truly a man of character, straightforward and likable. She lightly laughed, “Then let’s still share with five people. I guess Brother Jiang forgot to count himself.”

What a truly good girl!

So suited to Guang Shu!

Jiang Wang, with twelve points of emotion, stood up directly, “What good words can I say to this? Good sister-in-law, I will use tea in place of wine and respect you a cup!”

“Brother Jiang, you mustn’t call me that, we haven’t reached that stage yet.” Qu Shun Hua refused with her mouth, but her face flushed with shyness. She still rose to raise her cup. She even reached out and nudged Zuo Guang Shu a bit, “Brother Jiang has stood up, can you still sit?”

Zuo Guang Shu’s ears were red, but he still held his tea cup and stood up.

This scene was exceedingly like a newly married couple offering tea to elders.

Jiang Wang struck while the iron was hot, “This ‘sister-in-law’ of yours, I have called it fixed! Besides you, I don’t recognize anyone else!”

Ye Lan Er, of course, knew Qu Shun Hua’s intentions. Hearing this, she smiled, “I have heard these words!”

Chu Yu Zhi laughed even more, “I bear witness to these words!”

It was a banquet, where I saw both guests and hosts full of joy.

The actual dining did not take much time. Instead, chatting after the meal consumed several hours, and several pots of wine were drunk.

Jiang Wang shared some experiences of traveling the world, Qu Shun Hua recounted some legends of the Chu land. Everyone laughed heartily, filling the atmosphere with joy, before finally leaving their seats.

The carriage drove away from Huang Liang Tai, seemingly taking away that warm atmosphere as well.

In the carriage, Jiang Wang held Zuo Guang Shu’s hand, not letting go, his wine-fueled intoxication showing, “Guang Shu ah, listen to your elder brother’s advice. This Shun Hua is a good girl, you must not let her go.”

Zuo Guang Shu pulled his hand a little disgustedly, unable to pull away, “It was just a meal? How did it get to this extent! You first let go of my hand.”

“How can you say that! Is your elder brother someone who is greedy for a meal? Of course, the banquet at Huang Liang Tai is indeed not bad…” Jiang Wang’s grip tightened even more, “But your elder brother saw Shun Hua’s character! She is very good! Very good!”

Zuo Guang Shu leaned back a little to avoid the spray of saliva, “Of course I know she’s very good.”

“You know, then what?” Jiang Wang sighed with great concern, “Guang Shu, you still need to marry her over the threshold early!”

Zuo Guang Shu was silent for a moment, then said, “Achievements not yet accomplished, how can I establish a family?”

Jiang Wang’s eyes narrowed, very dissatisfied, “You are the dukes of two mansions, top-level nobles of Great Chu, what other achievements do you want?”

Zuo Guang Shu said dully, “Those are the achievements of the Zuo family, not mine.”

“Guang Shu ah.” Having used coercion, Jiang Wang then changed to appeasement, earnestly saying, “Your elder brother is doing this for your own good. Life, say it’s long, it’s long; say it’s short, it’s short. Such a good girl, her pursuers are like carps crossing the river, how many people in the world miss out! If you don’t grasp this well now, I fear you will regret it endlessly later!”

“I have grasped it well ah.” Zuo Guang Shu said unconvinced, “Every time she comes to find me, I accompany her. When I am free, I also often go to find her. Every time I went somewhere, I never forgot to bring her gifts.”

Jiang Wang was a little choked, and then said, “I mean grasp! Do you understand ‘grasp’?”

He looked sideways, his expression experienced and seasoned, “Today’s young people are all not determined. This world changes fast, engagements after scattering, everywhere. Where can you say unwavering? To truly worship the hall and marry, have the status of husband and wife, then it is considered grasped. Do you understand?”

Zuo Guang Shu thought for a moment, and then asked, “You understand very well?”

Jiang Jue Ye was speechless for a moment.

“Unlucky fellow!” He flung Zuo Guang Shu’s hand away, “Don’t listen to your elder brother’s words, suffer loss in front. You just wait to regret it!”

“I didn’t not listen ah.” Zuo Guang Shu was very aggrieved, “But I’m only sixteen years old, marry at sixteen?”

Jiang Jue Ye snorted, “Sixteen is not too early. Aspiration is not in years high, do you understand?”

“Then how old are you, Brother Jiang?” Zuo Guang Shu asked.

The carriage was driving on the long street.

Long Xiang Si sang in its sheath.

Three breaths later, Jiang Wang decided to thoroughly forget this topic.

“Speaking of which…” He was now completely free of any drunken intent and said thoughtfully, “Just now, Qu Shun Hua said she was going to see Yue Chan Shi… Do you know who that is?”

Brother Jiang didn’t immediately talk about marriage, and Zuo Guang Shu was also happy to relax. He casually said, “Sister Yue Tian Nu, invited by the Qu family to assist in the Mountain and Sea realm.”

Yue Tian Nu? This name is quite peculiar…

“What is this person’s strength?” Jiang Wang asked seriously, “What are they good at, what are they not good at, do you know?”

“Their strength should be not bad, peak Outer Tower realm…” Zuo Guang Shu paused here, somewhat suspiciously, “What do you want to do?”

“Analyzing the opponent ah.” Jiang Wang said as a matter of course, “Know yourself and know the enemy, then you can win a hundred battles!”

Zuo Guang Shu was stunned.

What kind of person is this?

Just now he was still urging me and Qu Shun Hua to marry quickly, how did he turn around and see her as an opponent?

“What are you thinking?” Jiang Wang reached out and waved in front of Zuo Guang Shu, “We haven’t married yet? Then we are still two families. In the Mountain and Sea realm, we will compete fairly! Tell me, what is the background of that Yue Tian Nu?”

Zuo Guang Shu was stunned for a moment, but still obediently said, “She is a high disciple of Xi Yue An.”

“Xi Yue An?”

“A large sect in the North Domain. The Qu family formed a friendship with them in their early years. Does Brother Jiang know?”

“Oh, not very familiar.”

“This sect is quite mysterious and doesn’t often interact with the world. So relatively speaking, their fame is not that prominent, but the foundation is there, they won’t be weak…” Zuo Guang Shu explained, then advised, “Brother Jiang, you mustn’t go testing others’ skills.”

“Alright then, since you say so.”

Zuo Guang Shu nodded happily, then was stunned again.

Eh, so agreeable this time?

“Tell me about others! I fought with Xiang Bei today, someone I should know, they must all already know.” Jiang Wang asked, “Who are the people participating in the Mountain and Sea realm this time?”

“You already know them all,” Zuo Guang Shu said.

Jiang Wang thought, “Dou Zhao, Zhong Li Yan, Wu Ling, Xiang Bei, you, Qu Shun Hua, Chu Yu Zhi?”

Zuo Guang Shu nodded.

“Are there only seven entry quotas for the Mountain and Sea realm altogether?”

“The opportunity to enter the Mountain and Sea realm is obtained through the Nine Chapters Jade Wall. This time, it’s just the seven of us.” Zuo Guang Shu said, taking out a piece of snow-white jade wall with a phoenix pattern from his bosom and handing it to Jiang Wang, “Each person who owns a Nine Chapters Jade Wall can also bring one person with them to enter the Mountain and Sea realm, which is what we call the assistant.”

Jiang Wang took this piece of jade wall and carefully examined it in the carriage.

This piece of jade wall was palm-sized, crystal clear without flaw. The edges were carved with phoenix patterns. Among them, a vague kind of power wandered, giving it a lively feeling. But if one examined it carefully, they wouldn’t know where that power was.

“Isn’t it called the Nine Chapters Jade Wall? How are there only seven quotas?” Jiang Wang asked casually.

“In the earliest times, there were nine chapters, but later two chapters were lost.” Zuo Guang Shu explained, reaching out and lifting the carriage’s skylight a little, “You shine it with sunlight, and then look.”

Jiang Wang thus placed this piece of jade wall under the sunlight. After taking it back, text surprisingly appeared hidden on the jade wall. It was clearly a poem, engraved in the flower-carrying style of Chu text, with the title 《Ju Song》.

Its text read—

“After the emperor’s fine trees, the orange comes to serve xi.

Receiving the order not to move, born in the south country xi.

Deeply rooted and hard to relocate, it has one more will xi.

Green leaves plain glory, abundant is its joy xi…”

The world’s texts were originally of one family, all born from expounding the Dao. Cultivators who had experienced the texts of the Dao would not be slow to learn the texts of each country. Jiang Wang, who had bitterly memorized 《Shi Dao Zao Hai》, was even less unfamiliar with the Chu text commonly found in the southern domain.

This piece of poem was fresh and elegant, with a unique style, a fine work wherever it was placed.

However, Jiang Jue Ye had no ability to appreciate poetry, only feeling…

Anyway, it was better than Xu Xiang Qian’s great work.

That’s all.

“Which two chapters were lost?” Jiang Wang asked with some curiosity.

“《Ai Ying》 and 《Bei Hui Feng》.”

“《Ai Ying》?” This name aroused Jiang Wang’s interest.

Ying was the capital of Chu, the king city. What could be mourned?

“It is a mourning poem made by a former sage after Ying was attacked in history.” Zuo Guang Shu said, and involuntarily recited, “Birds fly back to their old home xi, foxes die must head to their mound.”

Jiang Wang had not yet read about the history of the Chu capital being attacked. But he understood this sentence.

Birds fly a thousand miles, ultimately to return to their own old home. When a fox dies, it always faces the small hill where it was born.

Who can not miss their homeland?

Jiang Wang was silent for a moment.

Zuo Guang Shu secretly glanced at him and proactively asked, “Do you know how to enter the Mountain and Sea realm?”

In an instant, Jiang Wang smoothed out his emotions and asked with a smile, “How do we enter?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? Many places in the Tai Xu Illusion Realm reference our Chu country, including the way to enter the Tai Xu Illusion Realm!” Zuo Guang Shu said, “At that time, we entered the Mountain and Sea realm directly through the Nine Chapters Jade Wall. Isn’t it very similar to entering the Tai Xu Illusion Realm through the Moon Key?”

“So you’re saying…” Jiang Wang asked, “The Mountain and Sea realm is also a place for divine soul projection?”

“Not at all.” Zuo Guang Shu shook his head, “The Mountain and Sea realm is entered with both the flesh body and divine soul.”

Jiang Wang laughed, “Then in this point, it’s the same as many secret realms.”

Zuo Guang Shu also laughed. It was indeed not very convincing to say that the Tai Xu Illusion Realm referenced the Mountain and Sea realm just because the way to enter was similar.

“No matter where you are, can you enter when the Mountain and Sea realm opens by relying on the Nine Chapters Jade Wall?” Jiang Wang asked.

“It should be so,” Zuo Guang Shu said, “Historically, someone hid in the Yong country to avoid disaster and still participated in that Mountain and Sea realm by relying on the Nine Chapters Jade Wall. So theoretically speaking, if I take this piece of jade wall to the Qi country to find you, you can also participate in the Mountain and Sea realm.”

Jiang Wang laughed, “It’s just that this piece of Nine Chapters Jade Wall might not be preserved.”

Zuo Guang Shu also laughed, “That’s the reason!”

Jiang Wang thought for a while, then said, “So you’re saying, the Mountain and Sea realm is also spread out across the entire current world, just like the Tai Xu Illusion Realm?”

“It’s possible there are differences,” Zuo Guang Shu shook his head, “But specifically what the differences are, we probably have to go in ourselves to know. After all, everyone has only recently started openly discussing the Tai Xu Illusion Realm. In the past, perhaps no one compared it to the Mountain and Sea realm.”

“What is the death rate in the Mountain and Sea realm?” Jiang Wang asked again.

Zuo Guang Shu shook his head, “Almost no one dies.”

Jiang Wang said strangely, “With the flesh body and divine soul entering together, how can no one die?”

“There are rules within the Mountain and Sea realm itself. Those who are ‘killed’ are eliminated,” Zuo Guang Shu said, “But although they won’t truly die, their divine soul origin will be cut off by three percent.”

“Cut off by whom?” Jiang Wang asked sensitively.

“By the rules of the Mountain and Sea realm, of course. Anyway, for everyone who is killed in the Mountain and Sea realm, their divine soul origin will be damaged, and it’s always three percent, no more, no less.”

For cultivators, having their divine soul origin cut off by three percent is also a very serious loss and will directly affect their path to Shen Lin.

But compared to the risk of death in battle, this outcome is undoubtedly much easier to accept…

Jiang Wang calmly analyzed, “If it’s truly entering the Mountain and Sea realm with both flesh body and divine soul, then there must be a method to thoroughly kill an opponent, preventing the Mountain and Sea realm’s rules from protecting the killed person in time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t say ‘almost’. ‘Almost’ means someone has truly died in the Mountain and Sea realm before, right?”

“…” Zuo Guang Shu was dumbfounded, “Jiang, Brother Jiang, who do you want to kill?”

Ps: 1, 《Ju Song》, 《Ai Ying》, 《Bei Hui Feng》 are all chapters from Qu Yuan’s 《Nine Chapters》. I borrowed them as the key to the Mountain and Sea realm.

2, I am already very satisfied.

In four days, everyone has rewarded more than forty alliances. Many readers have come to Qidian to supplement their orders.

I can say that the support of the sincere readers for “This World” is more than that of the readers of any other book. Look at the monthly list, in just these four days, the fan value of the ninety-ninth name is already fourteen thousand. Ten thousand fan value can’t enter the top hundred for the month! Look at the book review area, how many people are active.

What else can I say?