Chapter 2: The Art of Qi Sight
The vermilion carriage slowly came to a halt. Pei Su and the young woman stepped down.
Before the towering gates of the manor, a middle-aged man in purple official robes broke into a wide grin and strode forward eagerly. He was powerfully built, with stern and commanding features — but what drew the eye most was the empty, dangling sleeve where his right arm should have been.
"Young Marquis!"
He called out with barely contained excitement. Behind him surged a crowd of powerful clan elders and high provincial officials.
The provincial governor of Bingzhou, the military commissioner, colonels, staff officers — every one of them was a figure ordinary people might never encounter in a lifetime.
Yet at this moment, they all wore the most fawning smiles they could muster, gazing eagerly at the young man stepping down from the carriage.
"My father asked me to convey his regards to Lord Liu."
Pei Su smiled warmly and offered a bow.
"How kind of the Marquis to think of me — I am well in every regard!" Liu Gongyun quickly reached out to help Pei Su up. "Young Marquis, there is no need for such formality. Just call me Uncle Liu!"
"Uncle Liu."
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
This formidable and ruthless frontier official now clapped his hands together with the delight of a kindly old uncle.
The assembled officials behind him nearly jumped out of their skins in surprise.
"You two — why haven't you greeted the Young Lord yet?!"
Liu Gongyun turned and shot a stern glance behind him. A young man and a young woman stepped forward and clasped their hands toward Pei Su.
"Greetings, Young Lord."
Both were dressed in fine garments and carried themselves with distinction. The young woman in particular wore a colorful pleated skirt paired with an ornate sash, which only enhanced the noble radiance of her striking face. Her eyes, luminous as autumn water, gazed at Pei Su as though they might overflow at any moment.
"Ha, my son and daughter have been remiss in their manners — please do not take offense, Young Lord."
Though Liu Gongyun had one wife and four concubines, he had only one son and one daughter: the young man was named Liu Yun, and the young woman was called Liu Zhi — both considered the finest talents and beauties in all of Bingzhou.
Pei Su had heard of them on the road here. He gave them a warm nod.
As he withdrew his gaze, however, he paused ever so slightly.
Behind Liu Zhi stood five close guards in black armor — clad in protective gear and combat attire, each with a stern expression and a long saber at their hip. They were clearly the personal guards responsible for her safety.
Among the great clans of Great Jin, it was not uncommon for young noblewomen who did not practice cultivation to be assigned personal guards to ensure their safety when traveling.
What made Pei Su take a second look was the guard standing closest to Liu Zhi. He was exceptionally young — around twenty-five or twenty-six — with a cold expression and eyes sharp as a hawk's.
A long saber wrapped in blue ox-hide hung at his waist. His stance was nothing like the rigid posture of the other guards; instead, he stood in a casually relaxed manner that carried an air of quiet arrogance.
More than that — above the guard's head hovered a faint golden qi vortex, unfurling layer by layer like a blooming lotus.
In this modest provincial capital of Bingzhou, there was actually someone concealing a fortune aura?
It was not particularly dense — thin and faint — but it was nonetheless a genuine fortune aura of the mortal world. Even in the Imperial Capital, where the dragon-qi of Great Jin swirled in abundance, those who bore such an aura were rare.
Pei Su lingered for two breaths before withdrawing his gaze — long enough that Liu Gongyun's daughter lowered her head with a shy blush, fingers clutching the fabric of her dress.
"Come, come! Young Lord, follow me inside to rest — a fine banquet has long been prepared!"
Liu Gongyun waved a broad hand, and the entire party stepped into the manor together.
Along the way, Pei Su stole another glance at the black-armored guard and noticed that the pads of his fingers and the webbing of his thumb were covered in rough calluses — clearly the result of years gripping a saber.
Without a doubt, he was likely a skilled saber fighter.
The reason Pei Su could perceive the elusive fortune auras of the mortal world was that, at the age of fourteen, he had mastered an ancient and mysterious art known as Qi Sight.
The ancient text "Cloud Dream Scripture" states: "Qi is the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, the pulse of the cosmos. To grasp its pulse is to know the workings of heaven and earth. One who practices Qi Sight peers into the very soul of a person and glimpses the measure of their fate."
The practitioner of Qi Sight borrows the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth to catch a glimpse of the source of heavenly destiny.
Such a profound and wondrous art had long since been lost across the Nine Provinces. It was likely that only the ancient thousand-year house of Duke Pei's Manor still possessed an incomplete copy.
And yet, even so, across all the generations, he was the only one to have cultivated it to full mastery.
His father, Pei Jun, was hailed as a martial genius unseen in Great Jin for a century — reaching the Dharma Manifestation Heaven-Man realm within sixty years, a feat that shook the world. According to Qi Guoshi, even he had failed to grasp the essentials of Qi Sight after months of study.
Even Qi Guoshi himself — the Pei clan's resident diviner, versed in astronomy and geography, skilled in arcane formations, the Five Elements, and the Eight Trigrams without exception — had been thoroughly surpassed in this art by the young Pei Su.
On the day Pei Su achieved full mastery of Qi Sight, Qi Guoshi placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled ruefully —
"Your Highness possesses a brilliant mind and luminous comprehension. From here on, your cultivation of the arts will soar like the great roc riding the wind."
* * *
After entering the manor, the banquet was held in the main hall. The interior was lavishly furnished, with deep crimson pillars and beams that conveyed the imposing grandeur befitting a provincial governor's seat.
Pei Su was surrounded at the center like the moon amid stars, with the high officials of Bingzhou showering him with unceasing flattery.
"Young Lord, you are truly an immortal descended to the mortal world!"
"Extraordinary bearing, unmatched talent — truly worthy of being the Northern Pacification Marquis's son."
"And more than that! The Young Lord's looks — surely there is no equal in this world! What woman could lay eyes on him and not lose her heart?"
"……"
Those officials who normally looked down on their subordinates with cold disdain had now transformed into the most effusive of elders, each hoping to leave even a faint impression in the eyes of the Heir of the Northern Marquis.
If they could forge even half a friendship with him, and have him put in a good word before Chancellor Pei, it would be enough to set their careers on a smooth and soaring path!
Unfortunately for them, Pei Su had heard such flattery more times than he could count since childhood. Nearly every time he dealt with court officials, these words were inevitable.
His well-bred noble upbringing still led him to respond to each one graciously, which delighted many of the officials greatly — and in their hearts they silently exclaimed:
Truly worthy of being the Heir of the Northern Marquis, renowned throughout Great Jin — bearing the most exalted worldly status in the realm, yet without a trace of arrogance, as refined and elegant as fine jade.
"Uncle Liu!"
Pei Su looked toward Liu Gongyun, who was leading the way.
"My father asked me to ask you — have you not been practicing archery these past years?"
The moment those words fell, every heart in the room skipped a beat in unison. With practiced discretion, they all fell silent.
Everyone who had risen to the ranks present was a seasoned old fox. They all knew that Liu Gongyun had once been a battle commander under the Northern Pacification Marquis — yet none of them dared breathe a word of it in his presence.
Never mind mentioning anything related to bows and arrows — whenever Liu Gongyun came to visit, they would hide every bow and arrow in their homes beforehand, terrified of stirring up old memories and causing him needless grief.
Why?
It traced back to the Battle of Tianque Pass twenty years ago — one of the three most massive and brutal campaigns in the four hundred years since Great Jin's founding.
The Northern Pacification Marquis and the Chen King of the North had committed nearly 400,000 troops to Tianque Pass, fighting until the gods and ghosts wailed and blood stained the earth for a thousand li. It was said that the Qian River, which ran through Tianque Pass, ran red for three full months.
Under the Northern Pacification Marquis's command were eight renowned and celebrated battle commanders, of whom it was said —
"Breaker of captives, pacifier of the frontier; spear across the long wind; heaven-bearing cold blade; iron-armored White Feather."
The current Governor Liu was none other than the "White-Feather General" of those days — his archery could pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces, and he had slain three Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators of equal standing. The Chen army trembled at the mere mention of his name.
But later, after General of the Left Green-Guard Zhao Meng — serving under the Chen King — severed his right arm, he was like an eagle with a broken wing, never able to draw a bow again.
He then retired from the battlefield and, on the recommendation of the Northern Pacification Marquis, became the governor of a province — a post he had held for eighteen years.
"Ha, if you said practicing the sword, I do that regularly," Liu Gongyun said, drawing the long sword at his left hip and twirling it in a fluid flourish.
"But archery —" Liu Gongyun gave a rueful smile. "With my right arm gone, even if I wished to practice, I'm afraid my body cannot follow my will."
Pei Su smiled but said nothing.
Liu Gongyun had already been a Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator twenty years ago. Having attained the Heavenly Palace, even without yet gaining a Divine Ability, he possessed all manner of profound capabilities — losing one arm would not truly prevent him from drawing a bow if he wished.
The truth was, he had simply lost the will.
They entered the main hall, and everyone took their seats according to careful protocol.
As the honored guest, Pei Su sat at the head of the hall facing south, with Liu Gongyun beside him. At their table sat the highest-ranking officials and commanders of Bingzhou.
Worth noting was that — whether by design or coincidence — Liu Zhi had been seated on Pei Su's other side, and she would occasionally steal a glance to her left before quickly looking away.
"Come, come! Let us toast to the Young Lord's arrival in Bingzhou!"
Someone raised their cup with great fanfare, composed and at ease, and the rest followed suit with cheerful smiles all around.
Any ordinary person witnessing this scene would have dropped their jaw in disbelief.
Were these really the same stern-faced officials who normally looked down on their subordinates with cold indifference?
Little did anyone know that every one of them was inwardly scheming over how to leave a favorable impression on Pei Su.
The Heir of the Northern Marquis visiting Bingzhou — such an opportunity might come only once in an entire career.
If one were fortunate enough to forge a connection, it could mean a meteoric rise — perhaps even a transfer to the Imperial Capital to serve as a court official!