Chapter 12: True Monarch Nanhua’s Lack of Culture

Yin Li returned to the room and lit the oil lamp.

After a while, Jiang Niannian entered with two bowls of noodles.

The noodles were crystal clear, with a hint of oil and green onions floating on top, emitting a fragrant aroma.

Seeing Yin Li’s puzzled expression, Jiang Niannian said, “I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s eat together?”

“Mm.”

Jiang Niannian smiled and handed him the chopsticks.

The noodles were very chewy, each strand translucent and glistening.

Yin Li kept his head down, his back hunched but with an unbreakable stubbornness, his neck slightly bent as he devoured the noodles, clearly starving.

Jiang Niannian watched with a smile, then lowered her head to eat her own bowl.

—

The soft sunlight warmed the forest as a pig’s squeal pierced the bamboo grove.

“Wow! Pig butcher, you have no heart!”

Jiang Niannian nodded, speaking gently, “In the end, Niannian went carnivorous and braised the pig with a guilty conscience. Save your strength; my little cub needs to build up his body. I’ll be gentle and let you die in peace.”

An hour later, the family of three sat at a stone table in the courtyard, enjoying fresh pork belly soup.

The coal ball was impatient. As Jiang Niannian was about to blow on the pork belly to cool it before giving it to the coal ball, it snatched it up in one bite.

“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof—” The coal ball’s mouth kept moving, trying to spit out the food but unwilling to let go.

Jiang Niannian was startled.

How did eating pork belly make it bark like a dog?

She carefully asked, “Did the pork belly burn you?”

“It was hot,” Yin Li said lightly, glancing at the coal ball with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Why did Niannian feed it but never feed him?

After the meal, Jiang Niannian instructed a maid, “The pork is all prepared. Just stew it for lunch. The young master is weak and needs to eat on time. Don’t be careless.”

She then handed over fifty spirit stones.

Though reluctant, the maid agreed.

“Where are you going?”

Yin Li stood behind her, his hands clenched at his sides.

“I’m going to Baiqi Peak to buy a sword. Otherwise, going up and down the mountain every day makes my feet ache.”

Baiqi Peak, as its name suggests, is where True Monarch Nanhua and his disciples live.

All weapons in the sect are made here.

Yin Li seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, “Come back early.”

“Okay.”

Another hour later, Jiang Niannian looked at the building with “Jiba Pavilion” written on it, stunned.

“Did I come to the wrong place?” Jiang Niannian muttered.

“Are you here to buy weapons?”

A male cultivator working at the forge asked as he set down his tools.

“Yes.”

“Then you haven’t gone wrong.”

He leaned closer and whispered, “Our True Monarch Nanhua may be a master at crafting weapons, but he’s a bit of a blockhead and hasn’t read much. He’s all brawn and no brains. His own weapon is the renowned Qiankun Halberd. When he named it, he intended to call it the Halberd Overlord Pavilion. But since he didn’t know how to write ‘halberd’ and ‘overlord,’ he randomly wrote two similar-sounding characters. Don’t bring it up in front of him; he doesn’t like it.”

(T/N: The Halberd Overload Pavillion is (戟 霸 阁/Jiba pavillion), but what is written on the building is (几把阁/Jiba pavillion), which can be translated as Several Handle Pavillion.)

“I see, thank you.”

Jiang Niannian was about to enter the building when a familiar male voice came from behind, “What are you doing here?”

Three parts surprise, seven parts annoyance.

“Senior Brother.”

The male cultivator from before called out to the newcomer.

Jiang Niannian turned around to find it was indeed Xi Fan.

Remembering his previous actions toward her little cub, Jiang Niannian’s expression darkened, “I’m here to buy weapons, of course.”

“You?” Xi Fan put his hands on his hips, looking at her disdainfully.

“A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator probably can’t even wield a sword properly. What nerve you have to come here to buy weapons.”

“What does it matter to you whether I buy a sword or not?”

“Of course it matters. Look around; this is Baiqi Peak, my territory. I won’t sell anything to you. What, are you going to buy a sword to protect that little waste… Hmph.”

A surge of spiritual energy hit his abdomen, catching him off guard and sending him flying several meters.

Jiang Niannian didn’t want to engage further.

She left a parting shot, “Dare to insult my young master, your mom~,” and was about to enter the Jiba Pavilion when a fierce gust of wind came from behind.

“How dare you hit me, I’ll kill you!”

Jiang Niannian swiftly dodged.

The large palm grazed her cheek, and the spiritual energy created a large hole in the wall behind her.

That was close!

She frowned slightly and quickly executed a move to break his leg.

Xi Fan seemed to be in great pain, emitting a few trembling sounds.

Before he could recover, Jiang Niannian condensed spiritual energy in her hand and slapped his face with a powerful blow.

“Smack!” The loud sound shocked everyone present.

What kind of person is this woman, daring to slap Senior Brother like that?!

Xi Fan staggered back, his right cheek swollen and his clothes and hair in disarray.

He shouted, “Quickly tell me, what kind of evil technique did you practice to advance from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core in just three days?!”

Although Jiang Niannian and Xi Fan were both at the Golden Core stage, Jiang Niannian had a slight advantage, mainly due to Xi Fan’s lack of vigilance.

She was almost ready for a proper fight but still had some way to go.

Seeing the killing intent and anger in Xi Fan’s eyes, Jiang Niannian felt a bit panicked.

“You little brat, causing trouble again!” A deep, resonant male voice boomed.

“Master…” Xi Fan turned around tremblingly, looking at the fierce-looking man in iron armor behind him, and explained weakly: “Master, she was the first to attack…”

Jiang Niannian calmly observed the old man.

This must be True Monarch Nanhua Ji Yufeng?

“Don’t whine here. I saw you attacking a little girl from behind as soon as I arrived.”

Ji Yufeng slapped Xi Fan, sending him staggering, then smiled at Jiang Niannian.

“Little girl, what’s your name?”

“My name is Jiang Yan, but you can call me Niannian.”

“Ah, a good name… What was it again?”

“Jiang Niannian.”

“Mm… What’s Niannian again?”

“… Jiang Niannian.”

Big Brother, my name is only three characters long, and there are two repeating ones. How can you not remember?

“Jiang Niannian.”

Ji Yufeng nodded, seemingly remembering, and continued, “My disciple is naturally mischievous. Don’t take it to heart. Come, go to my Jiba Pavilion. Pick any weapon you like; consider it compensation.”

Jiang Niannian was a bit surprised.

“Isn’t that too much?”

“Don’t be polite.”

Xi Fan, still unwilling, protested, “Master, it’s clearly this woman…”

“Enough. Don’t think I don’t know your character. Go copy the ‘Disciple’s Code’ ten times.”

“… Yes.”

Inside Jiba Pavilion.

The walls were adorned with various finely crafted weapons, some scattered in corners, and the floor was littered with mechanical parts, half-finished products, and tools like saws, axes, and files, all gleaming and extremely sharp.

It didn’t look like a proper weapon pavilion; rather, it resembled a personal workshop.

On a table lay a stack of wrinkled papers.

Jiang Niannian picked up three sheets and glanced at them.

The first paper had the phrase, ‘In life, to be a hero among men; in death, remain a hero among ghosts.’ written on it, with the characters for “zuò” and “sǐ” circled.

The second paper had “Plum blossoms compete in spring and refuse to fall; the poets put away their brushes and stop commenting on poems” written on it, with “sāo” and “bǐ” circled.

The third paper read, ‘The principles of soaring and sinking are self-contained; what can comfort my sincere heart?’ The characters “zì” and “wèi”are circled.

Ji Yufeng looked over and laughed, “My wife is about to give birth soon. A while ago, I had Shi Jing calculate the fortune, and it’s a son. I’m just preparing a name in advance.”

Courting death, shameless writing, masturbating…

(T/N:

(zuò sǐ): “courting death” or “asking for trouble.”

(sāo bǐ): can be translated as “shameless writing” or “vulgar writing.” It can describe writing that is considered vulgar, provocative, or shameless in nature.

(zì wèi): “Masturbation” or “self-comfort.”)

He might seem cultured, but if he had read more books, he wouldn’t have come up with such names. Yet he seemed to have carefully copied a few lines of poetry.

Jiang Niannian twitched her mouth.

Big Brother, names aren’t chosen like this.

If your son sees this name after he’s born, he might just crawl back into his mother’s womb.