Chapter 67: Three Blades of Tianwen
Rong Yichu still wanted to persuade him, "Grand Elder..."
"Enough, Yichu," the Grand Elder directly cut him off and said, "Now that the patriarch is gravely ill, you may be acting as patriarch, but you’re still young and inexperienced. Matters of the Rong family are best decided by us old men!"
Rong Yichu opened his mouth, sighed in frustration and defeat.
Although the direct lineage of the Rong Family supported him, the direct lineage had now fallen greatly, mostly made up of mid-level members and a rare few high-ranking ones, while most of the actual power was in the hands of the collateral line.
Knowing there was no way to stop this, Rong Yichu kept silent.
The Grand Elder turned to a middle-aged man who hadn’t spoken, and commanded, "Third Brother, gather some men. Tonight we’ll go to South City to arrest someone; there’s no time to lose. There are quite a few of Gu Zhan’s people in the Hundred Households Office—better act before word gets out."
The middle-aged man nodded, stood up and left the room.
Witnessing this, Rong Yichu knew the matter was decided. He could only rise, salute the assembled elders, and turn to leave.
Returning to his own courtyard, Rong Yichu let out a long sigh, saying, "These collateral relatives are getting more and more arrogant. They’ve all forgotten the old saying: fortune and disaster find no doors, only people bring them on themselves!"
"Patriarch," Rong Yichu’s bodyguard said softly, "please don’t worry. Third Master is an Innate Martial Artist, the Grand Elder is an Innate Martial Artist, and they have quite a few first-class martial artists under their command. With them escorting Young Master Hao to South City, no matter how fiery Gu Zhan’s temper is, he wouldn’t dare make a move—at most, they’ll offend him. With our Rong Family’s power, offending a backgroundless Hundred Households won’t cause any big trouble."
Rong Yichu frowned deeply and said, "Gu Zhan rose up very quickly. I deliberately investigated before—his conduct is very bizarre, and his temperament is extremely arrogant. I’m worried that if he’s driven into a corner, things might escalate out of control. Those old men in the collateral line only care about their own interests, without any thought for the bigger picture."
"But with the Grand Elder and Third Master there, what could Gu Zhan do, even if he goes all out?" the bodyguard asked.
Rong Yichu’s brows remained tightly knit. After pondering a long time, he spoke: "No, this whole situation is clearly Wan Yan leading our Rong Family by the nose. I don’t know what scheme he really has behind all this, but there’s no way I can let him succeed."
The bodyguard was puzzled, "But at most, this will just lead to enmity with Gu Zhan. It won’t have much impact on our Rong Family."
Rong Yichu shook his head. "Judging by Wan Yan’s way of acting, I really don’t believe it’s that simple. We just haven’t thought through his intentions."
"But, the elders have already decided. How could you stop them?" the bodyguard said helplessly.
Rong Yichu furrowed his brow and said, "Send someone immediately... No, I’ll go to the South City Hundred Households Office myself!"
...
Hundred Households Office, in a long corridor,
Wan Yan quietly stood, looking up at the star-filled sky. Behind him, crimson lanterns swayed in the night breeze, and the waning moon in the sky appeared and disappeared among the clouds.
"My lord!"
A personal guard appeared from the darkness, cupped his hands and reported, "The Rong Family is on the move. Rong Hao has mobilized fifty to sixty Embroidered Uniform Guards. Two Innate Martial Artists, four First Grade martial artists, and a dozen or so experts from the Rong Family have also been dispatched."
A faint smile appeared on Wan Yan’s face. He said, "Good, choosing the Rong Family as my breakthrough point was truly the right decision. Since this patriarch of this generation fell ill, the Rong Family has fallen into disorder—a clan ruled by a bunch of old men is nothing but a sunset noble family."
The personal guard was puzzled. "But, my lord, even if the Rong Family is somewhat uninspired, they’re still a noble family. At most, this trip to South City will just mean they become enemies with Gu Zhan. It won’t really affect them, will it? Could it be you simply want to use them to force Gu Zhan into our ranks?"
"That’s impossible," Wan Yan replied. "Even though I’ve only met Gu Zhan once, I can see he’s the kind who responds to kindness, not coercion. If we spoke to him frankly, we could negotiate. Using force against him will only backfire. Tonight isn’t just about making the Rong Family enemies with Gu Zhan—I too will be utterly alienated from him."
The personal guard grew more confused. "Then... what’s the point? Forcing the Rong Family to offend Gu Zhan won’t really cause them any lasting harm, will it?"
"No harm?" Wan Yan let out a cold chuckle. "Do you believe the Rong Family won’t be destroyed by Gu Zhan? Do they truly think, with Gu Chuan gone, that Gu Zhan is some minor figure who can be easily manipulated?"
"Wrong. Previously, when Gu Chuan caused an uproar in Linjiang City, everyone thought Gu Chuan was leading Gu Zhan, but if you really analyze it, you’ll see Gu Chuan broke the deadlock because he relied on Gu Zhan. The one who truly brought upheaval to Linjiang City wasn’t Gu Chuan, but Gu Zhan."
The personal guard was surprised. "Gu Zhan is really that formidable?"
"Just watch," said Wan Yan, "The Rong Family is in for trouble. The moment they underestimated Gu Zhan, their troubles began. Do they think South City is some vegetable market they can just enter or leave as they please?
Heh, the Rong Family is going to stumble hard!"
...
South City Hundred Households Office, rear courtyard.
Because the office had been busy lately, Gu Zhan had stayed at the Hundred Households Office for convenience, rarely returning to Qingping Lane.
After visiting the Thousand Households Office today, he came straight back.
Linjiang City was vast.
Even though he traveled by horse, it was already the end of the Chou hour—a couple more hours and dawn would break—by the time he returned to the Hundred Households Office.
Inside his room,
Gu Zhan didn’t sleep. Instead, he quickly browsed through the swordsmanship secret manual he obtained from the Thousand Households Office.
This saber technique was called the Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes.
It was a Profound Tier Middle Grade saber technique, one that could even match Profound Tier Upper Grade martial arts in some aspects.
Martial arts were divided into four tiers and twelve grades,
Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow—each tier divided further into upper, middle, and lower grades.
Typically,
Postnatal Realm cultivators practiced Yellow Tier martial arts, Innate for Profound Tier, Dao Realm for Earth Tier, and so on.
Because these martial arts had specific requirements, it was very difficult to practice those of a higher tier.
For example, Profound Tier techniques required True Qi.
Postnatal practitioners simply couldn’t cultivate them. But there were exceptions,
For instance, Gu Zhan’s Jinghong Saber Technique. Once mastered, it could already be called a Profound Tier Martial Art, yet its strict requirements meant almost no one could master it—otherwise, it wouldn’t be unrivaled in the Postnatal Realm.
Similarly, Gu Zhan’s Golden Bell Shield and Meteor Arrow Technique were much the same; at Great Success Level, both equaled Profound Tier martial arts, but their cultivation was so extremely demanding that not one in ten thousand could succeed.
That’s why cultivation level matches martial arts tier. The noble family young masters have profound secret manuals, but it’s not that they don’t want to learn them—they simply can’t. Those who can cross tiers in cultivation are all true geniuses, one in ten thousand.
In his room,
Once the system recorded the Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes, Gu Zhan immediately began to use the system to add points:
[Used 1000 experience points]
[Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes upgraded to Entry Level]
[Used 3000 experience points]
[Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes upgraded to Minor Success Level]