From the various actions of the Second Prince before, Chen An had every reason to believe that once he directly switched to the Second Prince's side, at most the Second Prince would just inform the Fourth Princess.
And then?
Most likely nothing much.
By then, Chen An would be dumbfounded.
Even if the Fourth Princess is just a decorative vase, she is the most favored vase by the current Emperor. If her temper flares up, can ordinary people handle it?
Of course, the Second Prince is not afraid, but what about Chen An?
By then, even if he doesn't run away, he would still be peeled off a layer. The reputation he had accumulated would all be ruined.
Don't think it's exaggerated.
From the previous performance, the Second Prince himself doesn't seem to value Chen An much.
He may recruit Chen An, most likely just because he heard of Chen An's reputation, so he subconsciously wanted to recruit him. But in terms of how much he values Chen An, it may not be much.
For Chen An, this is mysterious.
The words just now, spoken by the Third Prince, he believes.
But the words spoken by the Second Prince, Chen An feels that this man will eventually betray him.
Not to mention that the Second Prince still has those people from the Chen Family Mansion by his side.
Unless Chen An's brain is smashed, he wouldn't choose to go to the Second Prince's mansion.
"Did he really say that?"
On the other side, the messenger returned to the Second Prince's mansion and repeated what Chen An had said before.
The Second Prince couldn't help but feel a bit surprised: "So, he refused?"
"According to him, he wants to be loyal to the Fourth Princess."
The messenger replied respectfully.
"Hmph, ignorant fool."
The Second Prince's face suddenly turned cold, then shook his head: "Forget it."
"He can appreciate Cheng Yi's little girl, consider a decoration like this as the main focus, this person may have a big reputation, but that's all, it's not worth mentioning."
"It's also a waste of my good intentions with the Chen Family Duke."
He shook his head, and his face quickly returned to calm.
"Who says no?"
The messenger flattered on the side: "In my opinion, this person who refused the prince's recruitment will probably regret it soon."
"When the day comes for the prince to ascend to the throne, let the Fourth Princess hand over this person, so that he can see the prince's valor with his own eyes."
"Haha, not a bad idea."
The Second Prince laughed and quickly forgot about the matter.
Chen An guessed right, this Second Prince does not actually care much about him. He only tried to recruit him out of the desire to attract talented people, and he doesn't really value him much.
After the incident with the Second Prince, Chen An was able to calm down for some time.
This was actually normal.
After all, in the capital, his days could be considered low-key. Other than attending classes at the National Academy, he rarely interacted with others.
The few times he caught attention were more out of necessity than his own will.
Without gaining attention a few times, he wouldn't be able to achieve his goals.
But now that his purpose had been achieved, there was no need for him to continue like that.
So in the recent period, Chen An lived a particularly low-key life.
However, just when he wanted to be low-key, there were people who didn't want him to be that way.
The most crucial of these people was the Fourth Princess.
Previously, at the residence of the Third Prince, Cheng Zheng advised Chen An to stay hidden in the Fourth Princess's residence first. When the Fourth Princess gradually started ignoring him, he could leave.
At that time, Chen An had a vague feeling that things weren't going so smoothly.
And now, his previous vague premonition had come true.
As time passed, instead of ignoring him, the Fourth Princess began to take more care of him, showing more concern and bringing him along during banquets as if he was her personal guard.
This level of attention exceeded that of ordinary guards.
According to the steward Liu Zhong in the Fourth Princess's residence, he had never seen the Fourth Princess care for anyone so much before.
But now she was different.
In this situation, Chen An felt that the day the Fourth Princess would forget about him was far away.
Of course, he wasn't a fool and knew where the problem lay.
Compared to the Fourth Princess's previous guards, his appearance was too outstanding.
His innate physique was already good, and after years of cultivation and studying, he had developed an impressive figure and demeanor that made him stand out in a crowd.
His charisma was at its peak.
While the Fourth Princess held a noble position, in reality, she was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl who naturally liked someone like Chen An. It was normal for her to want to be close to him.
In the past, because of this appearance, Chen An had gained many benefits.
He was able to easily apprentice under Master Dong Heng, establish relationships easily, and even enter the National Academy. This good appearance played a significant role.
However, now, because of the Fourth Princess, Chen An for the first time felt that having such a striking image might not always be a good thing.
But then again, if his appearance wasn't striking enough, he might not have caught the Fourth Princess's eye and thus made a connection with the Third Prince.
Everything has its pros and cons.
Chen An sighed silently, not knowing what to say and could only endure silently.
One fortunate point was that staying in the Fourth Princess's residence actually had its benefits.
At least a significant amount of external pressure was blocked by the Fourth Princess's presence.
If it weren't for the Fourth Princess, it wouldn't have been so easy for Chen An to refuse the Second Prince.
Similarly, the Fourth Princess's presence also provided a disguise for Chen An, making his connection with the Third Prince less conspicuous.
Time continued to move forward.
Soon half a year had passed.
In the morning, the sunlight illuminated the earth.
Chen An stood on the training ground, looking around.
The scattered stones around the ground were directly shot by him, and the powerful internal energy spread outward, producing tremendous power.
The frigid aura emanating from the Profound Ice Power seemed to make the entire residence feel much colder.
His every move affected the temperature within the courtyard, the potent internal energy he possessed was something he didn't have before.
Now he could do it, proving that his internal energy cultivation had advanced significantly.
Chen An's Profound Ice Power had reached the level of internal energy mastery.
In just half a year, he had managed to elevate his Profound Ice Power to internal energy mastery, a speed much faster than he had anticipated.
Based on his estimates, even with his extensive experience in cultivating internal energy, reaching this level would have taken at least a year and a half or more.
But now things had accelerated greatly.
The reason for this was, on the one hand, due to the continuous rewards from Cheng Zheng and the Fourth Princess, allowing Chen An to progress swiftly through his cultivation, saving him a lot of effort.
On the other hand, it was also the Yin Body Technique.
The Yin Body Technique had many similarities with the Profound Ice Power, with quite a few commonalities between them.
This naturally saved Chen An a lot of energy and time, significantly speeding up his cultivation progress.
With internal energy mastery reached, he now had the qualifications to look further ahead.
The seemingly unattainable realm of Qi Energy, the Gateway of Qi, seemed to finally open its doors to him.
"After internal energy, the next step is to condense the seed of Qi Energy."
Chen An pondered on the contents of the Profound Ice Power, falling into contemplation: "But how to condense the seed of Qi Energy is a question in itself."
From Chen An's understanding, condensing the seed of Qi Energy required several conditions.
The first was naturally that the amount of internal energy had to meet the standard.
The second was the concentration of innate qi in the body, which had to reach a certain level.
Neither of these conditions was difficult for Chen An.
The first condition went without saying; he had accumulated enough internal energy over his years of cultivation.
Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to expect the Qi Energy level.
As for the second condition, Chen An had heard detailed explanations from Bai Qing.
Humans are born with innate essence, which carries innate qi and is the essence of the human body.
However, as the body is inherently weak, the innate qi gradually dissipates as one grows older, leading to a loss of these natural qualities.
As people age, the concentration of innate qi in the body weakens, making martial arts practice more challenging.
This was also why it was essential to begin martial arts practice at an early age.
Regarding this issue of innate qi, Chen An's original body might still have some doubts, but this current body, without a doubt, had no issues.
After all, he had been practicing martial arts since he awakened at the age of six. The innate qi in his body had been locked in and had not dissipated much.
From Chen An's current talent perspective, the amount of innate qi in this body should be quite abundant.
Although it might not be perfect, at least there wouldn't be any shortcomings in this aspect.
With the first two conditions fulfilled, the third condition came into play.
That was to sense the innate qi in the body.
"To condense the seed of Qi Energy, one must gather the innate qi and internal energy together to form the embryo of Qi Energy."
"And to mobilize the innate qi, one must first sense the innate qi."
Chen An pondered.
For him, the other hurdles to ascend to the Qi Energy level weren't that much of a problem. Even if there were some deficiencies at the moment, they could be filled in with time passing.
Only the difficulty of how to sense the innate qi was a huge obstacle for him.
Above the Profound Ice Power, there was indeed a method on how to sense the innate qi, but the description was somewhat troublesome.
(End of Chapter).
From the various actions of the Second Prince before, Chen An had every reason to believe that once he directly switched to the Second Prince's side, at most the Second Prince would just inform the Fourth Princess.
And then?
Most likely nothing much.
By then, Chen An would be dumbfounded.
Even if the Fourth Princess is just a decorative vase, she is the most favored vase by the current Emperor. If her temper flares up, can ordinary people handle it?
Of course, the Second Prince is not afraid, but what about Chen An?
By then, even if he doesn't run away, he would still be peeled off a layer. The reputation he had accumulated would all be ruined.
Don't think it's exaggerated.
From the previous performance, the Second Prince himself doesn't seem to value Chen An much.
He may recruit Chen An, most likely just because he heard of Chen An's reputation, so he subconsciously wanted to recruit him. But in terms of how much he values Chen An, it may not be much.
For Chen An, this is mysterious.
The words just now, spoken by the Third Prince, he believes.
But the words spoken by the Second Prince, Chen An feels that this man will eventually betray him.
Not to mention that the Second Prince still has those people from the Chen Family Mansion by his side.
Unless Chen An's brain is smashed, he wouldn't choose to go to the Second Prince's mansion.
"Did he really say that?"
On the other side, the messenger returned to the Second Prince's mansion and repeated what Chen An had said before.
The Second Prince couldn't help but feel a bit surprised: "So, he refused?"
"According to him, he wants to be loyal to the Fourth Princess."
The messenger replied respectfully.
"Hmph, ignorant fool."
The Second Prince's face suddenly turned cold, then shook his head: "Forget it."
"He can appreciate Cheng Yi's little girl, consider a decoration like this as the main focus, this person may have a big reputation, but that's all, it's not worth mentioning."
"It's also a waste of my good intentions with the Chen Family Duke."
He shook his head, and his face quickly returned to calm.
"Who says no?"
The messenger flattered on the side: "In my opinion, this person who refused the prince's recruitment will probably regret it soon."
"When the day comes for the prince to ascend to the throne, let the Fourth Princess hand over this person, so that he can see the prince's valor with his own eyes."
"Haha, not a bad idea."
The Second Prince laughed and quickly forgot about the matter.
Chen An guessed right, this Second Prince does not actually care much about him. He only tried to recruit him out of the desire to attract talented people, and he doesn't really value him much.
After the incident with the Second Prince, Chen An was able to calm down for some time.
This was actually normal.
After all, in the capital, his days could be considered low-key. Other than attending classes at the National Academy, he rarely interacted with others.
The few times he caught attention were more out of necessity than his own will.
Without gaining attention a few times, he wouldn't be able to achieve his goals.
But now that his purpose had been achieved, there was no need for him to continue like that.
So in the recent period, Chen An lived a particularly low-key life.
However, just when he wanted to be low-key, there were people who didn't want him to be that way.
The most crucial of these people was the Fourth Princess.
Previously, at the residence of the Third Prince, Cheng Zheng advised Chen An to stay hidden in the Fourth Princess's residence first. When the Fourth Princess gradually started ignoring him, he could leave.
At that time, Chen An had a vague feeling that things weren't going so smoothly.
And now, his previous vague premonition had come true.
As time passed, instead of ignoring him, the Fourth Princess began to take more care of him, showing more concern and bringing him along during banquets as if he was her personal guard.
This level of attention exceeded that of ordinary guards.
According to the steward Liu Zhong in the Fourth Princess's residence, he had never seen the Fourth Princess care for anyone so much before.
But now she was different.
In this situation, Chen An felt that the day the Fourth Princess would forget about him was far away.
Of course, he wasn't a fool and knew where the problem lay.
Compared to the Fourth Princess's previous guards, his appearance was too outstanding.
His innate physique was already good, and after years of cultivation and studying, he had developed an impressive figure and demeanor that made him stand out in a crowd.
His charisma was at its peak.
While the Fourth Princess held a noble position, in reality, she was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl who naturally liked someone like Chen An. It was normal for her to want to be close to him.
In the past, because of this appearance, Chen An had gained many benefits.
He was able to easily apprentice under Master Dong Heng, establish relationships easily, and even enter the National Academy. This good appearance played a significant role.
However, now, because of the Fourth Princess, Chen An for the first time felt that having such a striking image might not always be a good thing.
But then again, if his appearance wasn't striking enough, he might not have caught the Fourth Princess's eye and thus made a connection with the Third Prince.
Everything has its pros and cons.
Chen An sighed silently, not knowing what to say and could only endure silently.
One fortunate point was that staying in the Fourth Princess's residence actually had its benefits.
At least a significant amount of external pressure was blocked by the Fourth Princess's presence.
If it weren't for the Fourth Princess, it wouldn't have been so easy for Chen An to refuse the Second Prince.
Similarly, the Fourth Princess's presence also provided a disguise for Chen An, making his connection with the Third Prince less conspicuous.
Time continued to move forward.
Soon half a year had passed.
In the morning, the sunlight illuminated the earth.
Chen An stood on the training ground, looking around.
The scattered stones around the ground were directly shot by him, and the powerful internal energy spread outward, producing tremendous power.
The frigid aura emanating from the Profound Ice Power seemed to make the entire residence feel much colder.
His every move affected the temperature within the courtyard, the potent internal energy he possessed was something he didn't have before.
Now he could do it, proving that his internal energy cultivation had advanced significantly.
Chen An's Profound Ice Power had reached the level of internal energy mastery.
In just half a year, he had managed to elevate his Profound Ice Power to internal energy mastery, a speed much faster than he had anticipated.
Based on his estimates, even with his extensive experience in cultivating internal energy, reaching this level would have taken at least a year and a half or more.
But now things had accelerated greatly.
The reason for this was, on the one hand, due to the continuous rewards from Cheng Zheng and the Fourth Princess, allowing Chen An to progress swiftly through his cultivation, saving him a lot of effort.
On the other hand, it was also the Yin Body Technique.
The Yin Body Technique had many similarities with the Profound Ice Power, with quite a few commonalities between them.
This naturally saved Chen An a lot of energy and time, significantly speeding up his cultivation progress.
With internal energy mastery reached, he now had the qualifications to look further ahead.
The seemingly unattainable realm of Qi Energy, the Gateway of Qi, seemed to finally open its doors to him.
"After internal energy, the next step is to condense the seed of Qi Energy."
Chen An pondered on the contents of the Profound Ice Power, falling into contemplation: "But how to condense the seed of Qi Energy is a question in itself."
From Chen An's understanding, condensing the seed of Qi Energy required several conditions.
The first was naturally that the amount of internal energy had to meet the standard.
The second was the concentration of innate qi in the body, which had to reach a certain level.
Neither of these conditions was difficult for Chen An.
The first condition went without saying; he had accumulated enough internal energy over his years of cultivation.
Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to expect the Qi Energy level.
As for the second condition, Chen An had heard detailed explanations from Bai Qing.
Humans are born with innate essence, which carries innate qi and is the essence of the human body.
However, as the body is inherently weak, the innate qi gradually dissipates as one grows older, leading to a loss of these natural qualities.
As people age, the concentration of innate qi in the body weakens, making martial arts practice more challenging.
This was also why it was essential to begin martial arts practice at an early age.
Regarding this issue of innate qi, Chen An's original body might still have some doubts, but this current body, without a doubt, had no issues.
After all, he had been practicing martial arts since he awakened at the age of six. The innate qi in his body had been locked in and had not dissipated much.
From Chen An's current talent perspective, the amount of innate qi in this body should be quite abundant.
Although it might not be perfect, at least there wouldn't be any shortcomings in this aspect.
With the first two conditions fulfilled, the third condition came into play.
That was to sense the innate qi in the body.
"To condense the seed of Qi Energy, one must gather the innate qi and internal energy together to form the embryo of Qi Energy."
"And to mobilize the innate qi, one must first sense the innate qi."
Chen An pondered.
For him, the other hurdles to ascend to the Qi Energy level weren't that much of a problem. Even if there were some deficiencies at the moment, they could be filled in with time passing.
Only the difficulty of how to sense the innate qi was a huge obstacle for him.
Above the Profound Ice Power, there was indeed a method on how to sense the innate qi, but the description was somewhat troublesome.
(End of Chapter).
