Chapter 120 - 119: All Making Their Appearance
When Gu Zhan’s carriage stopped in front of the Prefecture Government,
a constable immediately came out to welcome Gu Zhan and his party into a hall.
At this moment, there weren’t many people inside the grand hall; it was rather quiet. Most present were senior officials of the Prefecture Government. But what surprised Gu Zhan was, he also saw a few unfamiliar faces—judging by their looks, all from the Martial World.
A Prefecture Government official came to Gu Zhan’s side and quietly explained, "Lord Gu, quite a few reinforcements have arrived this time. Aside from General Lifen Jing Zhan, there’s also Yunzhou’s Military Supervisor, the Heir of the Marquis of Chengyang, Ling Jing. This Prince Ling has long mingled in the Martial World, and he’s brought along many friends from the Martial World to assist. They’re renowned and righteous sect leaders from all over Yunzhou, all Innate Martial Artists."
Gu Zhan sized up the group; they were all around thirty, none older than thirty-five. Becoming Innate Martial Artists at such an age—truly worthy of their elite backgrounds; certainly not comparable to the backwater like Linjiang City.
The official spoke softly again: "That Prince Ling also brought along a very prestigious young prodigy from the Martial World, known as Little Sword Spirit. Lord Gu, since you often deal with Martial World people, have you heard of him?"
Gu Zhan asked in confusion, "Little Sword Spirit? I’ve heard of Sword Spirit Qi Baiyu, but who’s this Little Sword Spirit?"
"Hmph, frog in a well!"
Just then, a displeased voice sounded from the doorway.
Gu Zhan turned his head and saw a young man carrying a black long sword, face gloomy, striding in radiating intense hostility. He marched right over and said, "I thought you were some bigshot—with a mouth that arrogant, aren’t you afraid you’ll choke yourself?"
With that, the sword-bearing youth walked to the other side,
and all the Martial World people immediately stood to greet him with ritual.
The sword-bearing youth nodded in return, found his seat, then let out a cold snort in Gu Zhan’s direction.
Gu Zhan was bewildered, no clue what set this guy off.
The official beside him chuckled awkwardly and whispered, "Lord Gu, that’s Little Sword Spirit Qi Qianyu. The Sword Spirit Qi Baiyu you mentioned is his elder brother. The two siblings... don’t get along well. You just admitted knowing Qi Baiyu but not him—afraid you might’ve offended him. Best find a chance to explain later!"
"Explain what?" Gu Zhan replied, deadpan. "Not knowing him makes me his enemy? Then the whole world must be his enemy!"
The official smiled wryly and said, "If it were something else, it probably wouldn’t offend him. But anything related to his elder brother Qi Baiyu is different. Qi Qianyu is highly gifted, earned his fame young in the Martial World, but unfortunately, his big brother is too outstanding. Whatever he does, people only remember he’s Qi Baiyu’s little brother. Over time, he’s grown to hate being compared to his brother."
Gu Zhan chuckled lightly, "But I see he quite enjoys the ’Little Sword Spirit’ moniker—otherwise, why copy Qi Baiyu’s style everywhere?"
Gu Zhan hadn’t met Qi Baiyu, but his reputation was simply too loud; the Martial World’s discussions about him as Sword Spirit were nonstop.
He became a Dao Realm Great Cultivator before thirty, founded a top Yunzhou Martial World Influence, the Celestial Sword Alliance, and entered the Martial World as a teenager, step by step becoming a dominant legend with no defeats to his name—he’d created too many legends.
Throughout the Martial World, countless young people idolize Sword Spirit Qi Baiyu; you run into imitators everywhere—azure robes, a black long sword across the back, hair tied with an ordinary black headband.
Even in Linjiang City, such getups were frequently seen.
And now Qi Qianyu was dressed just like that,
so Gu Zhan found Qi Qianyu rather amusing—always shouting to carve out his own name, yet copying everything from his big brother, almost afraid others wouldn’t recognize him as Qi Baiyu’s younger sibling. And yet he hated being compared to his brother,
the classic have-your-cake-and-eat-it type,
enjoying the aura his brother brought, but resenting the shadow it cast.
...
The official at Gu Zhan’s side also caught the disdain in Gu Zhan’s voice toward Qi Qianyu, and stopped persuading—he knew Gu Zhan’s temperament, after all: the man who made all Linjiang County’s Martial World lower their heads; no way he’d soften up for anyone.
The official smiled, switched topics: "Lord Gu, there’s someone else you need to pay attention to."
Gu Zhan asked, puzzled, "Who?"
"Inspector Shen Minghe dispatched by Yunzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard Zhenfu Bureau," the official said, "He’s brought an Inspection Team to Linjiang City, supposedly to investigate spies in the city. But you know how it is: anyone sent from Yunzhou looks down on our local institutions—especially since your Hundred Households Office falls under direct authority of the Zhenfu Bureau."
Gu Zhan frowned ever so slightly,
This era’s Embroidered Uniform Guard, in many places, are not like the Ming Dynasty’s in his memories. Of course, different times, different backgrounds—a bit of divergence is only normal.
Still, all institutions inside the system are alike,
when a higher branch comes to a lower one, there’s always that innate sense of superiority—just as Linjiang County’s Embroidered Uniform Guard would feel superior visiting a county town.
And Inspector is ranked above Thousand Households.
But Gu Zhan didn’t care much,
everyone has their own mission—keep your distance and you won’t have conflict.
"Anyone else?" Gu Zhan asked.
"No one important," the official replied. "The Crown Prince of Chengyang acts as Military Supervisor, General Lifen is the Main General—they’ll both head to Jiming Posthouse. But Lord Gu, you’ll surely interact with them, since you’re in charge of army logistics and often go to Jiming Posthouse."
Gu Zhan nodded.
Just as the two were chatting idle, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Yang Yuzhi led a group in.
The first thing Gu Zhan noticed was the burly man behind Yang Yuzhi, clad in silver armor, rather rugged-looking, sporting a heavy beard and rough skin. His palms were big and calloused—clearly a battle-hardened veteran,
almost certainly General Lifen Jing Zhan.
A general who had achieved many glorious feats on the battlefield,
and the first Dao Realm Great Cultivator Gu Zhan had met.
However,
Jing Zhan kept his aura tightly restrained; aside from his brimming presence, there was no hint of Cultivation leaking out.
Next to Jing Zhan stood a young aristocrat, quite the opposite: delicate skin, shiny jewels. He formed a sharp contrast to Jing Zhan, the two together distinctly mismatched,
This person’s identity was obvious—the Heir of the Marquis of Chengyang, Ling Jing.
Of course, from Jing Zhan’s openly undisguised look of disgust, you could tell: these two were worlds apart!