Chapter 200: The Battle Between the Lonesome Heaven and the Heavens
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“The status of second young master Tang remains unknown?” asked Qi Zhengyan. His first reaction was to verify this information.
The service boy nodded heavily. “That’s right. It’s said that after the second young master Tang was hurt by the assassin, they both jumped into the water and haven’t been seen since.”
Qi Zhengyan’s usual stone face suddenly bulged up and seemed grim. He instructed his men, “Quickly, report this information to Manager Lin outside the city.”
When the men were out of earshot, they both walked back to the yard. Meng Qi asked, “Is this second young master Tang of great importance?”
Qi Zhengyan nodded gently and replied, “He’s the third generation kin of the eldest branch. If something were to happen to Old Master Tang, he would have been next in line to be the Master of the house.”
“What about his father?” Meng Qi asked in confusion.
Qi Zhengyan proceeded to explain, “Old Master Tang’s branch is the eldest branch, which has always held the position of the head of the family. Old Master Tang has three sons and four daughters. The daughters either have married into other aristocratic families or aligned with other up-surging sects through marriage. As for the sons, well, one died due to illness. Another died in an accident on one of his journeys. Worse still, second young master Tang’s father died through suffering Qi-deviancy Derangement while cultivating Kung Fu when second young master Tang was only a child. Old Master Tang’s only remaining heirs are second young master Tang and Miss Tang Mingyue.”
“I see,” answered Meng Qi. He finally understood Childe Tang’s position within the Tang family. He then asked purposefully, “If he was supposed to be the next in line Master of the Tang family, why didn’t they send a Nine Apertures Master to protect him?”
Qi Zhengyan said without any expression, “As the only third generation kin of the eldest branch, second young master Tang has been spoiled rotten by his grandfather. He’s arrogant, cocky, and immersed in alcohol and women. He hasn’t been able to reach the primary level of his family’s ‘River-Splitting Bladesmanship’, and only opened his Eye Aperture with the aid of elixirs. Later, during an argument with another spoiled brat Master Ye, he declared a duel with Master Ye due to his swollen pride.”
“Master Ye had stolen his family’s Heavenly Vision and Earthly Hearing pill so that he could open his Ear Aperture before the duel. Eventually Master Ye embarrassed second young master Tang in the duel. It’s rumored that he couldn’t even stand after the beating. Afterwards, the prideful second young master Tang felt he couldn’t face anyone, so he quietly left Yi City to wander the world. No one knew his whereabouts, which infuriated Old Master Tang to the extent that anyone who mentioned second young master Tang or his name Tang Jing, would get a beating.”
Meng Qi nodded slightly. “Old Master Tang is already in ill-health; he would probably collapse upon hearing this tragedy. By then, there would be a battle for the position of the head of the family. Who do you think the Huanhua Sword Sect would back?”
Qi Zhengyan placed his hands behind his back and paced. “Of the other branches, only second master Tang, Lord Tang the Fifth and Master Tang the Seventh have the ability to hold the position. And Lord Tang the Fifth has always been friendly with our sect, so I assume Manager Lin would back him.”
“To tell you the truth, I was on the same boat with Child Wan and second young master Tang on my way here to Huan Province. I witnessed their assassinations,” explained Meng Qi. Having understood the whole story, Meng Qi told Qi Zhengyan all about his personal encounters. He included the discovery of second young master Tang’s body and the skin mask. He also shared with Qi Zhengyan his own speculations that second young master Tang had been planning to escape to his hometown to avoid calamity.
Qi Zhengyan fell into a deep muse. It was a while before he added, “Cousin, your speculation makes a lot of sense. Having heard your theory, I remember that a while ago there’re some strangers asking about second young master Tang in Yi City. But they haven’t been seen since.”
Naturally, there was no need to ask about second young master Tang if he had already been assassinated.
“Don’t spread the news about the assassination of second young master Tang. Let the Tang family keep some hope in case chaos erupts.” Meng Qi mused for a second and then muttered, “It’d be best for you to spread the news that Master Ye did indeed hire an assassin and killed second young master Tang because he didn’t want second young master Tang to return home. And the assassin killed Childe Wan to do away with a witness.”
Not everyone would believe this kind of rumor, but it would plant a seed of doubt in people’s minds. Therefore, any potential alliances with the Ye family would think twice. After all, Master Ye was a ruthless person and an enemy of second young master Tang. So if he inherited the Master of the Tang family position after returning home, he could arrange a lot of resources, even Precious Weapons. By then, Master Ye would be in a lot of strife. Though not life-ending, he would be humiliated.
Qi Zhengyan nodded gently and answered, “Good plan.”
He thought for a while and added, “You should lay low for a few days. Under the current climate, any slight movement could cause a chain reaction. Though no one dares to make a move on me, if this enrages the Huanhua Swords Sect, your delicate identity would be exposed. And the Ye family wouldn’t stand to be disrespected in such a way.”
Since a Foreign Official had been killed in the Ye mansion, how could they ask other Foreign Officials to work for them if they could not even protect them?
Killing a relative of a Huanhua Swords Sect disciple would also infuriate the sect. Because if a sect couldn’t protect their own disciples’ families, there would be doubts about the sect’s reputation and cohesiveness. That was why Li Sui hadn’t killed Qi Zhengyan’s cousin and only cut his tendons, assuring his ability to lead a normal life albeit unable to practice Kung Fu. Of course, there would be exceptions, like if the disciples’ relatives had initiated trouble and suffered vengeance, then the Huanhua Swords Sect was unlikely to get involved. Because then, their dignity would also be questioned.
“Fine. I was planning on peacefully cultivating Kung Fu anyway.” Meng Qi answered earnestly, then he looked at Qi Zhengyan with a smile. “By the way Senior Brother Qi, we never got a chance to spar. And there’s no better time like the present, what do you reckon?”
He really wanted to see the power of the “Book of Chaos”.
Since Qi Zhengyan could not yet reveal the origins of his Kung Fu and usually just practiced the “Book of Chaos” on his own, he could only harness it during Samsara tasks. He was unsure about the current Death Task, for he was afraid of the lack of battle experience. So when Meng Qi proposed a sparring session, he instantly agreed. “Let’s go into the practice room.”
He had smashed through all the walls of the wing room, and turned it into a spacious studio for practicing Kung Fu so as to avoid prying eyes.
The floors were laid with bluestone with a layer of iron ore spread on top. Meng Qi knew straight away that this setup was to accommodate the cultivation of the Kunlun Crush.
He did not say much more but took out the Evil Ordeal blade from his backpack and tossed it aside. He then drew out his sword and held it in his left hand. With his sword in one hand and the blade in the other, he dared not underestimate Qi Zhengyan.. com
In all of his previous battles, apart from An Guoxie and You Huanduo, though his opponents were of higher realms, their Kung Fu had not been considered elite. They could not compare with the top 10 ranked masters of the List of Young Masters. Their skills were based on Divine Skills, which was why their overall strength was somewhat lacking. Yet the “”Book of the Chaos”” could rival in ranking with the Peerless Godly Kung Fu Scripts of the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms. It was also on par with the Swordplay Sutra of Supremacy and the Advent of Ajati Matriarch. Since Meng Qi had only reached the primary level of the Enlighten the Acupores chapter of the Eight Nine Mysteries, he dared not underestimate Qi Zhengyan though Qi had not opened as many acupores.
Qi Zhengyan drew his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword. Streams of cloud-like energy surrounded the sword. The waves of energy from his sword headed for Meng Qi.
Meng Qi knew the unique power of the “”Book of the Chaos”” and the Dragon Stripe Golden Sword. Hence, he activated the heart sutras of the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship so that he could guard his soul and project his spiritual will outwards, while integrating the body imprint of the Immortal Pressing Art. Images of everything around him began reflecting in his mind. Compared to the fuzzy and obscure images from before, the images were now much clearer. He could even get a firm idea of the Qi Zhengyan’s genuine Qi flow around his body and the energy flowing around his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword.
This was the result of incorporating the Immortal Pressing Art with genuine Qi and spirit. If it weren’t for the fact that Meng Qi had Transformation Strategy as his foundation, he could not have reached the primary level this quickly.
Rays of sunlight energy emanated from Qi Zhengyan’s body. The rays of energy were red like burning flames, bright like the lotus flower and their form was like that of Gods.
“Watch out for my sword!” screamed Qi Zhengyan. The rays of energy emanating from his body started vibrating, making his voice sound like it was reverberating down from the heavens, penetrating right through to his heart.
There was no lack of God shattering sounds from such a complete Peerless Godly Kong Fu like the “”Book of the Chaos””.
Meng Qi felt a moment of haziness before coming to his senses. If it weren’t for the Transformation Strategy and the Immortal Pressing Art, the scream alone would be enough to put him to rest.
Suddenly, streams of white smoke had covered the surroundings. Meng Qi couldn’t see anything through the smoke, not Qi Zhengyan nor his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword.
But with the aid of his genuine Qi and spirit, a ray of red flying light was reflected in his mind. He could roughly sense which parts had more distribution of genuine Qi and which parts were weak.
Meng Qi then struck with the sword in his left hand. A crisp clanging sound was heard after the seemingly aimless sword strike. It had landed on the ridge of the Dragon Stripe Golden Sword that came at him.
Meanwhile, Meng Qi cut with the blade in his right hand. Energy emanated from his blade like sunlight reflected in water, glittering and ever-changing.
This blade attack wasn’t flashy, but its power was dynamic and unpredictable, giving off an indefensible sense.
Faced with such an exquisite, essence of the Blade Tao, blade attack, Qi Zhengyan did not know how to defend against it. There was no way for his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword to keep up with Meng Qi’s ever-changing blade.
However, the “Book of the Chaos” was an art of the overpowering kind. So he was not nervous. He pressed on his Long Sword and all the iron ore stones on the floor flew towards Meng Qi with a howling sound.
The dark gold glow on Meng Qi’s skin started flowing. He was not worried about the attack but attacked again with the Evil Ordeal blade.
As the iron ore stones hit his body. Most were repelled by the dark gold glow. The few stones that managed to hit the vital parts of Meng Qi’s body seemed to lose their momentum and dropped lightly to the ground.
The evil ordeal blade suddenly gathered speed like an outside force was driving it. The blade heavily cut into the rays of sword energy.
The red rays of energy seemed as if they were dancing, blocking the energy from the blade. But as if Meng Qi’s Evil Ordeal blade had a life of its own, the blade light danced with the flow of the sword energy, eventually cutting straight through!
Qi Zhengyan roared and struck with his left palm. The gust was like frost, hitting on the ridges of the blade and defusing its momentum.
He then sliced with his Dragon Stripe Golden Sword. A cold, crystal-like flying light erupted, heading towards Meng Qi.
Meng Qi suddenly turned his body and most of the cold light ricocheted off his body. Meanwhile, he sliced downwards with his Evil Ordeal blade, the force of which was formidable.
He had figured out the essence of this move while cultivating the “Purple Thunder Bladesmanship”; it integrated the Outline of Heavenly Knife. Meng Qi had discovered a different type of Blade Tao element!
Qi Zhengyan lifted his sword to block but it was slashed by the Evil Ordeal blade. The force of the blade was like a jolt of thunder. The Dragon Stripe Golden Sword bounced away, giving Qi Zhengyan a cold chill.
The Evil Ordeal blade moved with the “flow of genuine Qi” and sliced through the red energy rays. Though by now the blade had lost most of its force, Meng Qi took advantage of the moment and pushed his sword through.
Meng Qi then retracted both his blade and sword. Then he conducted his Qi to rid the cold energy from his body. Qi Zhengyan’s Icy-snow Genuine Qi was unlike normal genuine Qi. Not only was it concentrated but it could also freeze ones blood lineage. Even with Meng Qi’s Immortal Pressing Art, his meridians were somewhat affected. If it weren’t for the fact that he had cultivated the Eight Nine Mysteries and the Golden Bell Shield, Meng Qi would not have been able to make the last strike.
“Damn, its cold.” Meng Qi said. He sheathed his blade and sword and rubbed his hands together. “Cousin, when you open your Nose Aperture, I’ll not be able to win unless I use the Exterior level tricks.”
Since Qi Zhengyan was practicing with the “Book of the Chaos”, he could rival a master of Half-step Exterior Scenery level, albeit a poor man’s version.
Though Qi Zhengyan had lost, he was not at all discouraged, even quite happy. In his mind, Junior Brother Meng Qi was definitely ranked top 20 in the Ranking List of Young Masters. So when he battled Meng Qi to the extent that he did, Qi Zhengyan knew that he had the ability to be on the Ranking List of Young Masters too. For an ordinary disciple who, not long ago, had had no direction, this was something to celebrate.
After a couple more sparring sessions, they had both gained a lot from each other. By lunch, Manager Lin sent someone with a message.
When Qi Zhengyan saw the note, he frowned and exhaled.
“What did he say?” asked Meng Qi raising his eyebrows up and down.
Qi Zhengyan answered in a sullen voice, “He blames us for stirring trouble and not taking the general climate into account.”
“How are you planning to reply?” asked Meng Qi, smiling and not caring too much.
Qi Zhengyan replied expressionlessly, “I’ll say that the Ye family made false accusations. And if they don’t believe me they can send Uncle Masters to investigate themselves.”
“That’s the attitude I’m looking for.” Meng Qi replied with a grin.
Qi Zhengyan glanced at him and added, “Manager Lin still doesn’t believe that my cousin was murdered by Li Sui, which is why he thinks I’m causing trouble. Cousin, how come you believe me?”
“Because you’re my cousin.” Answered Meng Qi with a crooked smile. Then he added seriously, “We’ve been through life and death together. And you wouldn’t use me for something you could do yourself. If I can’t even trust you, then who can I trust? The Ye family? I’m not an arrester of the Six Fan School, so I don’t care for the details. The fact that I know you and your cousin have been wronged is more than enough.”
When asking for directions, he verified this information.
In the days that followed, everything was calm. Meng Qi focused on practicing and did not step foot outside, until Lord Tang the Fifth sent the letter to invite Manager Lin and Qi Zhengyan.