Li Xuan was so happy today that he even ate two extra bowls of rice.
After many days of arduous cultivation, he finally made a breakthrough. Li Xuan also took a rare day off for himself, spending the entire day playing with Ankang Princess in Jingyang Palace.
You don't know until you play, and once you play, you're shocked.
Li Xuan and Yu'er jumped and played various games with Ankang Princess in Jingyang Palace.
As a result, they found that Ankang Princess's physique had become so healthy now.
When running and jumping, she was already almost indistinguishable from healthy children her age, and perhaps even more energetic.
While playing, Li Xuan secretly checked Ankang Princess's body.
He found that there were no longer any signs of weakness on her.
Aside from some remaining coldness in her body, Ankang Princess was already a healthy twelve-year-old girl.
Li Xuan couldn't help but secretly marvel at the miraculous nature of Ankang Princess's physique.
But at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if this physique would continue to improve like this.
She was already at the level of a healthy person.
But if her physical quality kept increasing, even if she couldn't cultivate Qi and Blood Power, wouldn't she eventually become a female superman?
Thinking of this possibility, Li Xuan couldn't help but be amused by his own wild imagination.
"It's not that exaggerated."
"As long as the little girl can be healthy, that's enough."
Li Xuan shook his head, no longer thinking about it.
Yu'er, however, was deeply comforted watching Ankang Princess play happily.
Seeing Ankang Princess gradually stand up from her wheelchair until now, playing happily and healthily like the other Imperial Princes and Princesses, she felt waves of tears welling up.
But now Ankang Princess was having fun, so Yu'er naturally had to hold back her tears of emotion and couldn't ruin the atmosphere at this moment.
Ankang Princess played wildly until someone delivered dinner, only then stopping reluctantly.
Yu'er saw that Ankang Princess hadn't had enough fun and quietly said to her, "Your Highness, eat well later and get a good night's sleep tonight."
"Tomorrow, Yu'er will continue to play with you, okay?"
Ankang Princess, with her face flushed, her eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Yu'er, let's pinky swear."
Li Xuan watched from the side as Ankang Princess and Yu'er pinky swore to continue playing tomorrow.
...
Starting from the second day, Li Xuan didn't continue to accompany the two girls in their wild play.
The two girls played tossing stones in the courtyard, which was Stone Flicking Technique.
Speaking of which, it was quite interesting.
Yu'er, who had the cultivation of a Ninth Grade Martial Artist, was actually just evenly matched with Ankang Princess.
Li Xuan could see that Yu'er wasn't holding back.
But the number of consecutive hits they could achieve was very consistent, generally staying around three times.
That is, they could hit the red dot three times in a row, and then either they deviated from the red dot, or the stones attached to the board started to fall off.
Occasionally, when they were lucky, they could achieve four consecutive hits.
The highest score was Ankang Princess's five consecutive hits, but that time was genuinely lucky; at the same time as the fifth hit, the stone also fell off the board.
Perhaps Ankang Princess's Stone Flicking Technique was more suitable for this game than Yu'er's stone-throwing method.
Ankang Princess and Yu'er were having fun, but Li Xuan was facing a problem.
He found that after breaking through to the Qiangshen Realm, his cultivation methods had a gap.
Li Xuan didn't have the cultivation method for the next stage, and he didn't even know what the next realm was called.
At this point, he realized that compared to ready-made cultivation methods, he needed knowledge about the entire Human Race cultivation system even more.
Otherwise, if he were to just randomly learn cultivation methods now, he wouldn't know which ones led to the next realm.
For example, the Great Strength Vajra Legs he learned from that little Imperial Prince last time, he dared to practice it with confidence precisely because he knew it was a Body Strengthening cultivation method.
If he were to learn a cultivation method that crossed realms and blindly cultivated it, whether he succeeded or not, there was a risk of qi deviation.
"This is troublesome."
Neither Deng Weixian nor Yu'er were anywhere near the Qiangshen Realm.
Originally, Deng Weixians Godfather, who was now Zhao Bugao, was the best cultivation path.
Zhao Feng, who was responsible for teaching Yu'er, was actually not bad either, but Yu'er had only just started learning Flying Dragon Sleeve a few days ago, and there was still a considerable distance before she could start learning the final Jade Dragon Transformation.
"No, I need to find a new Master."
"At least I need to figure out what the Seventh Grade is called and how to cultivate it."
"If that doesn't work, I can find books to read myself."
"I just don't know if there's a place like a Scripture Depository in the Imperial Palace?"
Li Xuan found a corner for himself, flicking his tail and grinding the progress of Flying Dragon Sleeve.
His tail, after being strengthened, was now like a steel whip when he flicked it with full force.
It was tough yet flexible, truly an excellent ribbon.
This was how Li Xuan had always cultivated Flying Dragon Sleeve.
Aside from being a bit short, this tail had no other flaws.
And when attacking, it was more flexible and concealed.
Li Xuan had thought about practicing cultivation by reading books before.
In fact, if he could find the Scripture Depository within the Imperial Palace, he wouldn't have to worry about cultivation methods in the future.
But the problem was, his strength was relatively weak before, and self-preservation was an issue; he even had to avoid mentally unstable Eunuchs and palace maids.
But now it was different. After Li Xuan broke through to the Eighth Grade, he felt that he might be able to explore new areas.
Of course, if he encountered experts of Zhao Feng's level, Li Xuan would most likely still be out of luck.
Based on Zhao Bugao's previous words, Zhao Bugao was at the Fifth Rank, and Zhao Feng was at the Fourth Rank.
As for Zhao Feng's Godfather, Chief Steward Shang, Li Xuan guessed he should have a higher cultivation, the so-called Upper Three Ranks strength.
But how high Chief Steward Shang's cultivation was, Li Xuan couldn't be sure.
But a Fourth Rank Zhao Feng could completely control Li Xuan.
If he encountered other Great Inner Experts while searching for the Scripture Depository, Li Xuan might not be able to get away easily.
Who knew if they would give him face like Zhao Feng did?
"Is there a more secure way?"
Li Xuan flicked his tail, pondering deeply.
Actually, Li Xuan's urge to explore new areas was greater.
His paw prints hadn't actually covered the entire Imperial Palace; there were many places he had never set foot in.
The Imperial Palace was very large. Jingyang Palace, where Li Xuan was located, was in the West Palace.
The West Palace was where the Emperor and Consorts lived, but besides that, there was the East Palace.
The East Palace was the Crown Prince's residence, but because Great Xing's heir apparent position was vacant, it had always been empty.
Li Xuan had also heard of the Forbidden Garden, which was the palace garden, housing rare and exotic beasts and some rare plants that couldn't be planted in the Imperial Garden.
The autumn hunt was a big event every year, and the Imperial Palace was always discussing it at that time.
Li Xuan had heard about it so much that he had some impression.
Moreover, the Forbidden Garden was separated from Jingyang Palace by just one wall.
It wasn't just a courtyard wall, but one of the Imperial City walls, awe-inspiring.
This was also one of the main obstacles preventing Li Xuan from exploring other parts of the Imperial Palace.
If he wanted to leave the West Palace, he had to pass through the walls and gates guarded by Imperial Guards.
That was different from Li Xuan visiting neighbors within the West Palace on a normal day.
The area around the city gate was completely open, with nothing but Imperial Guards.
If he, a cat, appeared there so abruptly, he would definitely be caught.
The level of vigilance of those Imperial Guards was different from the people strolling around inside the West Palace.
With Li Xuan's current jumping ability, crossing the city wall wasn't a big problem.
When he first ate the Chasing Wind Rabbit, he even jumped high into the air at once and overlooked the Imperial Palace.
The problem was how to avoid the perception of those Great Inner Experts in places where cat tracks were rare.
Inside the West Palace was fine; the nobles kept all sorts of strange and exotic pets.
Therefore, even if some cats and dogs passed by, the Great Inner Experts in the West Palace wouldn't particularly care.
But outside the West Palace, it was hard to say.
Places with more people were okay, but the open areas in between were a bit troublesome.
"No, no, I should first explore the entire West Palace completely."
There were a few places in the West Palace that he couldn't get close to before, but now that his strength had increased, it was a good time to see what those places were.
"After I finish exploring the map of the West Palace, I will gather information about the outside properly, and then decide based on the situation."
Li Xuan had planned his next steps and prepared some activities for the night.
Otherwise, just waiting for the progress of Deng Weixian and Yu'er would be too slow.
Collecting cultivation methods from the outside was something he could do. Even if Li Xuan couldn't use them later, he could use them to teach Ankang Princess.
Because of her physique, her need for cultivation methods was much higher than Li Xuan's; she needed a supply of both quantity and quality, otherwise she would face the awkward situation of being unable to activate the cold energy again.
Just as Li Xuan had sorted out his thoughts, there was a knock on the door outside Jingyang Palace.
From outside the door came the announcement of a Flower-Clothed Eunuch:
"Princess, Chief Steward Shang requests an audience."
The Three Little Ones all stopped what they were doing and were momentarily stunned.
"Chief Steward Shang is here?"
Yu'er tidied up Ankang Princess, then quickly pushed a wheelchair from the room and had Ankang Princess sit down.
Li Xuan also obediently burrowed into Ankang Princess's arms.
Yu'er quickly put the chessboard and stones on the table, arranging them to look like a game in progress, and then hurried to welcome Chief Steward Shang in.
Chief Steward Shang had waited outside the door for a long time, but he wasn't impatient, remaining as calm as ever.
"This old servant greets Princess."
Chief Steward Shang bowed respectfully.
"Chief Steward Shang, you are too polite, please rise quickly."
Ankang Princess quickly said courteously.
When Chief Steward Shang got up, he noticed that Ankang Princess's face was somewhat flushed, different from usual, and quickly asked:
"Your Highness's complexion seems a bit off, are you feeling unwell?"
Ankang Princess was startled for a moment, touched her face, and indeed it was a bit hot.
She had been playing vigorously just now, so she naturally sweated a lot.
Now that she had just sat down, how could her temperature drop immediately?
But Ankang Princess, with a red face, calmly replied, "Thank you for your concern, Chief Steward Shang, but the weather has just turned warmer recently, and my body is a bit dry and hot."
It was already early summer, and the weather had indeed warmed up a lot. Today was also sunny and pleasant, so Ankang Princess's explanation was not unreasonable.
Although Chief Steward Shang was still a bit puzzled, seeing Ankang Princess say so, he didn't press further, merely echoing casually:
"Indeed, after entering summer, there hasn't been a good rain yet."
"The weather these past two days has indeed been a bit dry and hot."
"Your Highness still needs to take good care of yourself."
Chief Steward Shang cupped his hands and said.
"Certainly, certainly."
Ankang Princess readily agreed.
Her face was red from playing; what need was there to take care of herself?
To exaggerate, Ankang Princess was now as strong as an ox; it was hard to say who needed to take care of themselves.
"By the way, is there a reason for Chief Steward Shang's sudden visit today?"
Ankang Princess wanted to quickly send Chief Steward Shang away so she could continue playing games with Yu'er.
Just now, she had performed poorly, deviating from the target after two consecutive hits. She could use Chief Steward Shang's sudden arrival as an excuse to act shamelessly with Yu'er and get another turn.
"Doesn't count, this round doesn't count."
Speaking of which, Yu'er had actually learned this line from Ankang Princess at the time.