Chapter 180 - The Old Tree Is About to Bloom
Chapter 180 The Old Tree Is About to Bloom
In a duel between martial artists, life and death was on the line!
The 9th Grade Earth Rank expert was caught off guard and had his arm broken by Zhao Jin’s Polymer Cannon! Following which, he charged towards Zhao Jin! Zhao Jin let out a strange shout! “Watch my fist technique!”
BAM!
The huge beast arm swung out, and the expert also swung his good arm in retaliation! The two clashed!
Zhao Jin, whose status was clearly only at 6th Grade Earth Rank, actually only took a few steps back! Although he was still in a disadvantageous position, his strength was actually comparable to this expert at 9th Grade. “What kind of monster are you?!” The expert was horrified. “Hahaha!” Zhao Jin began to laugh wildly. Ni Hongxiao’s methods were indeed impressive!
This beast arm did not simply serve as an extension of his body!
There was also an 8th Grade Vicious Beast’s inner core inside! Combined with the powerful muscle strength of the beast arm, as well as Zhao Jin’s cultivation, it wasn’t difficult for him to go against a 9th Grade Earth Rank expert!
“You two go help Young Master! Leave this to me!”
Seeing that this 9th Grade Revered Martial Artist had lost an arm, coupled with Ni Hongxiao’s successful transplant, Zhao Jin’s confidence exploded!
On the other side, Su Wen slashed with his saber and flames surged! The golden holy flames quickly blanketed the area.
The violent heat waves sapped everyone of their ability to breathe properly. Hong long long! The general was unfazed, as he slashed at the blade Qi. At the point of contact, Su Wen’s Qi force instantly erupted. The layers of force overlapped each other. “Pfft!”
This person did not cultivate a Heaven Rank cultivation technique, so his True Qi quality was much weaker than Su Wen’s. Even though his cultivation was two grades higher, he did not gain the upper hand. Instead, he spurted a mouthful of blood.
He did not possess as solid a cultivation base as the 9th Grade expert earlier as well, hence he was unable to extinguish the flames and got burnt instead.
“How is this possible? You’re only a 6th Grade! How, how can you be so powerful?”
The man was horrified!
Su Wen looked at him and sneered. “The disparity between a Heaven Rank cultivation technique and an Earth Rank cultivation technique gets greater the more you cultivate! You are only using an Earth Rank cultivation technique, do you really think you can defeat me just because your cultivation base is two grades higher?”
As he spoke, Wei Guo’an rushed over and said, “Lord, quickly chase after Feng Yuanchun!” That’s right, Feng Yuanchun had already escaped while Su Wen was fighting with the general! He was rushing to the main camp, where there were many experts to protect him! So long as he could reach there, he would be safe!
Su Wen nodded and ignored these people. He leaped away and used his Stellar Transposition to chase after Feng Yuanchun. Above in the skies, the sword wielding Elder’s brows furrowed slightly.
Thirteenth Master however smiled and said, “Aren’t you going to make a move? If you don’t, that Feng Yuanchun is probably going to die! He’s only a 2nd Grade martial artist. If he meets Su Wen, he will definitely die.” The person holding the sword looked at Thirteenth MAster before shaking his head. “I’m not under him. It’s just that… ever since I ascended to the Heaven Rank, I’ve never made a move. I’m rather happy to see you, so why don’t we exchange a move? What do you think?”
“You’re from an aristocratic family?” Thirteenth Master now understood. That person nodded and said with a smile, “of course. The Head has already sent an order. This Feng Yuanchun’s recent actions have disappointed us, so we have decided to let you give him some suffering.
But since you are here, and Feng Yuanchun is so disappointing, it seems like his life and death is no longer something I can stop. Since that’s the case, then just let him die. My Ma Family is willing to serve His Majesty. After all, His Majesty has already forgiven my Ma Family.” As he spoke, he slowly drew his sword and the two of them stood opposite each other. Thirteenth Master had a solemn expression on his face as lightning flashed on his arms! In the next second, the sky underwent an abrupt change!
“Thousand Blades Form a Wall, Nothing Can’t Be Broken!” Countless sword Qi appeared in the sky. With a casual wave of his hand, the sword qi seemed to have found its target. Tens of thousands of sword qi converged into a surging torrent that blotted out the sky and the sun as it surged towards Thirteenth Master! “Hahaha! Good timing! Watch my Violet Lightning Rush!” The ultimate technique that had once been used by the Third Prince appeared once again! However, compared to the Third Prince, this move was completely different in the hands of Thirteenth Master!
The Thirteenth Master opened his arms and thunder roared.
He pressed his palms together and brazenly charged forth!
In an instant, purple rays shone through heaven and earth, directly attacking the sword energy.
Hong long long! There was a loud explosion in the sky. Looking from afar, half of the sky was filled with blue sword energy and the other half with purple lightning The two of them stood in the air, akin to gods. The might of their one attack had already exceeded an Earth Rank’s all out attack by a thousand times! Su Wen, who was in pursuit, suddenly felt his breathing become uneven. As he turned around to gaze at the scene, his right eye had already transformed into the Pupils of the Vermillion Bird. The vast roiling Heaven Qi appeared even more terrifying after activating his pupils. “Is this the power of a Heaven Rank expert?” This was the first time Su Wen had seen a Heaven Rank in action.
He finally felt the difference between Heaven Ranks and those below. It was akin to comparing an elephant to ants. Without reaching that realm, he was nothing more than an ant.
The difference was that even ten thousand ants at 9th Grade Earth Rank could not withstand the might of one Heaven Rank. Hong long long! The huge collision in the air actually exploded into a mushroom cloud-like energy.
Faced with the aftershock, everyone on the ground could not breathe or move. This was still the case when both sides were battling high above in the heavens. If this strike landed on the ground, it was likely that all life would immediately be plunged into misery and suffering!
The smoke from their explosion lasted for a full fifteen minutes. After it dissipated, the two men looked at each other with calm expressions. The sword elder then cupped his hands at Thirteenth Master before leaving. After he left, Thirteenth Master looked at his palm. A faint line had appeared there, with blood slowly oozing out. Thirteenth Master’s eyes were sharp as he muttered, “The younger generation will surpass us in time…
but if we continue fighting, this old man might not lose!” Clearly, the elder was also announcing the Ma Family’s strength! Seeing that the two of them had finished their moves, Su Wen continued with his pursuit. His current speed completely surpassed that of a galloping horse! How could Feng Yuanchun, who was only at 2nd Grade, be as fast as him? Su Wen caught up to them when they were five kilometers away from the Northwest Army camp.
“You! What are you trying to do? I am the King of Li Prefecture!” Feng Yuanchun appeared fierce on the surface, but he was weak on the inside. Su Wen smiled and said, “King? I think you’re out of your mind. You’re just a puppet pushed out by the aristocrats in the Li Prefecture. Without His Majesty’s support, what rights do you have? Without the Court, what rights do you have to claim the throne? You actually want to side with these aristocratic families? Do you really think His Majesty will let you off?”
“His Majesty has already issued a decree to pardon us! What right do you have to attack me!” Feng Yuanchun roared.
Su Wen looked at him and said in a deep voice, “His Majesty pardoned you for your rebellion and pardoned all your evil deeds during the disaster. However, he didn’t say that he pardoned you for your previous crimes. According to the twenty-seven officials, during your time as the governor, you embezzled money from the law and received a large sum of money to help the aristocratic families! Now, I will arrest you!” “You can’t! I have a Heaven Rank expert sent to protect me! If you attack, someone will kill
you!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Wen had already rushed forward and threw a punch.
“Pfft!”
Feng Yuanchun could not even withstand the casual punch and was sent flying. Su Wen fumbled around in Feng Yuanchun’s pockets before finding the Tiger Seal used to command the army. “When you took the money from me, you were destined to part ways with them!” As he spoke, he carried this Li Prefecture King back to the residence.
And in the courtyard, the battle had already ended!
Seeing that he was no match, the 9th Grade expert retreated alone.
In other words, he ran away. Zhao Jin didn’t chase after him, instead helping the others clean up the experts around the residence, killing and capturing them. Su Wen came back and saw that Thirteenth Master had also appeared in the courtyard.
He hurriedly stepped forward and tossed Feng Yuanchun over to Zhao Jin. He then cupped his hands towards Thirteenth Master and smiled, “You’re mighty even at your age. I could feel my heart palpitate when I was looking from afar.”
The Thirteenth Master however shook his head and sighed. “The bureaucracy in Li Prefecture may have been settled, but the battle with the aristocratic families has only just begun. You brat, let me give you a piece of advice. Don’t spend too much time on scheming and plotting.
It’s only right for you to enter the Heaven Rank as soon as possible. If you don’t enter the Heaven Rank, you won’t be able to touch the Ma Family even if you think of something!” Su Wen remained silent. Before he witnessed for himself, he’d never imagined that Heaven Rank experts could be this strong. How should he put it? It was like a human-shaped self guiding missile launcher.
This thing was too unreasonable. No wonder these people were restricted from attacking. Su Wen also understood why Emperor Zhou didn’t want a Heaven Rank war to break out. It was fine if they fought in the wilderness, but if they really fought in front of the two armies or in the city, it would be too terrifying.
At this moment, in a small town thousands of miles away, a middle-aged man slightly raised his head and muttered to himself, “Just a single exchange? No blood or Qi rushing into the sky, it’s fine, it’s fine. All’s good as long as you don’t kill indiscriminately.” “Uncle, I wanna buy a painting!” “Good! Look at this erotic painting of mine, it’s very impressive!”
When the news reached the capital, Emperor Zhou was overjoyed!
Wei Guo’an then took over Su Wen’s position to allow him to return to the capital and report on his duties.
Su Wen in the end “seized” a total of 10 million taels of loot and left it for the local families to fight over.
This also caused the conflict between the local aristocrats to continue. It seemed like this dogfight would continue for a while.
However, Su Wen also knew that if they really wanted to exterminate the local aristocrats, they would have to fight their Heaven Rank experts, just as Thirteenth Master had said! At the very least, he had to kill that Ma Clan Heaven Rank expert.
However, Su Wen was already very satisfied this time. At the very least, he was able to clean up the government officials of Li Prefecture! Before he left, Su Wen called Wei Guo’an and all the officials from Li Prefecture over. Right now, Su Wen’s prestige amongst the officials of Li Prefecture was quite high! Everyone could see that this fella alone almost wiped out all of the officials here. “Everyone! I’ve left behind ten million taels of silver, these are all the ill gotten gains, and I’ll have to return it to these aristocratic families sooner or later!”
Su Wen looked at everyone showing a different reaction to his words. Many people felt that it was a pity. After all, this was a huge sum of money. Su Wen said in a deep voice, “The matter of refunds will be handed over to the officials from all over the country. However, this money cannot be refunded for nothing.
You must try your best to think of a way to make them spit out the land that they had previously taken over and win over the refugees. Then, you will have to thoroughly investigate these refugees and find those who have lost their household registration! As long as you dangle the benefits in front of the various families and let them fight over it, this matter will be simple. Finally, help to relocate these refugees to a better place.”
Su Wen smiled and said, “All of you have witnessed the methods of the Secret Shadow Guards. Wei Guo’an will stay behind to supervise the officials of Guizhou. I will also keep an eye on these matters. If any of you dare to profit from this or return the money casually, don’t blame us for turning against you!” Su Wen’s words made all the officials’ expressions tense up. Su Wen sighed to himself. He knew that this was all he could do.
After all, he was alone. It was impossible for him to do everything by himself. These officials were the ones best suited to act as nannies and take care of the commoners, so he had to rely on them for many things. But it was good as long as they did something. In any case, he couldn’t take away the stolen money he obtained through scamming the aristocratic families, but he would not return it so easily. They had to pay a sufficient price. It would also allow the citizens who were oppressed by them to lead a normal life again. When Su Wen’s carriage left Li Prefecture once again… His Emotional Value debt has been reduced significantly.
After all, these wealthy families had been cheated of so much money. They cursed and resented him every day. There was a total of nearly 150,000 reduced from his debt.
Hmm… Looking at the remaining 500,000 or so debt, Su Wen wanted to cry but had no tears. This was too much!
Lying on Cui Yumian’s lap, Su Wen closed his eyes. It was just that within his right eye, the Holy Vermilion Flame continued burning. But in the eyes of outsiders, it was not obvious. The fight between two Heaven Rank experts replayed in his mind. In his mind’s eye, he could clearly see the two of them were standing high up in the sky. Many people could not even see their figures clearly, but Su Wen’s Pupils of the Vermillion Bird seemed to be able to see them up close. The scene replayed in his mind like a video. “They are channeling the energy of the world through the True Qi in their bodies, which is why they possess such might…”
“There is a slight fluctuation in the swordsman’s True Qi circulation…”
“It is a pity that the old man did not notice it. On the other hand, he was unable to keep up with the circulation of the True Qi within his body. Thus, his move appeared a little too weak…”
Furthermore, his Pupils of the Vermillion Bird behaved completely different from that of a normal person. The flow of heaven and earth origin Qi was extremely clear, and Su Wen could even perform a slow-motion replay to observe it in detail.
One eye to see through all techniques! The carriage slowly returned to the capital and the family went home, while Su Wen and Thirteenth Master entered the palace together. Emperor Zhou was all smiles when they met up with him. “Su Wen, you did well in this matter. Now that the Li Prefecture is basically under my control again, all that’s left is to clean up these aristocratic families bit by bit. However, this is not an urgent matter. We have to take it one step at a time.” Su Wen smiled. “I understand.”
At this moment, Emperor Zhou looked at the Thirteenth Master and smiled. “It’s been hard on you, Thirteenth Uncle.”
Thirteenth Master shook his head and said, “It’s not hard at all. Su Wen, this brat, is good at handling matters. Ying Hua served me well during this entire journey.” Speaking up to this point, he said to the Zhou Emperor, “Oh right, I don’t feel like staying in the Martial Arsenal anymore. Get me a house in the city. Ying Hua and I will move there in a few days.” After saying that, he looked at Su Wen and said in a deep voice, “Ying Hua will be mine from now on. Don’t treat her as your servant anymore. Take good care of her for the next two days. If Ying Hua suffers any grievances in your residence, I will hold you accountable!”
Emperor Zhou frowned. “Ying Hua? Who is it?”
Su Wen’s jaw dropped. What was this old man doing? Did he play so much that he got addicted? That Ying Hua… I wasn’t planning on letting you stay with her forever either. Moreover, upon hearing the identity of the old man, haha, the Emperor’s Thirteenth Uncle…
If the old emperor knew the identity of Ying Hua…
Before Su Wen could reply, the Thirteenth Master spoke in a deep voice, “Ying Hua is this brat’s maidservant. Although her background is a little poor, she is a good girl. She is gentle and kind. These days, with her serving me, I feel as if I have returned to my youth. I think that my cultivation in martial arts has roughly reached the peak.
It’s useless to stay in the Martial Arsenal anymore. I might as well spend the last of my days in comfort. I’m getting old, so I intend to take Ying Hua in as my wife and give birth to a son and a daughter to enjoy the happiness of a family.” Emperor Zhou’s jaw dropped. This Thirteenth Uncle of his… When he was young, he was obsessed with martial arts.
He did not get married, and had only been cultivating in the Martial Arsenal for many years… Why did he suddenly have such thoughts? Seeing that the emperor was in deep thought, the Thirteenth Master said angrily, “What, do you have a problem with that, brat? Why is it so difficult to ask you for a residence?” “No! No objections! Please go back and rest first. Su Wen and I still have something to talk about…
As for the matter of the residence, don’t worry. I’ll get someone to settle it now. Do you have any other requests?”
“It doesn’t have to be too big, but it has to be elegant. Arrange for servants as well… Ying Hua will go in as the Madam of the family. It’s fine if she serves me, but you can’t just let her do all the other chores!” The old man wasn’t polite at all. Seeing that he had finished speaking, Emperor Zhou instructed the old eunuch, “Quickly note it down and make arrangements.”
“Yes!”
The old eunuch responded, and Thirteenth Master swaggered off in satisfaction. After Thirteenth Master left, Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen coldly and shouted angrily, “What happened? Where did this Ying Hua come from?”
How could Su Wen dare to tell the truth? He quickly said, “I… I was thinking that Thirteenth Master would need someone to take care of him on the way here, so I arranged for a maid… I didn’t think that these two would… become like this…”
Emperor Zhou rose to his feet and paced back and forth. “Thirteenth Uncle originally had hopes of breaking through to the 3rd Grade of Heaven Rank. Do you know that every three grades is considered a major hurdle? If he breaks through, our nation’s strength will increase by quite a bit! But look what happened now! He’s going to get married and have children! You’re ruining my plans!” Su Wen said in a low voice, “There might be benefits in them having a union…”
“What benefits! Do you think everyone is like you, sticking their heads into women’s bellies all day long and neglecting their proper duties? You brat, you’ve been away for a few months, but your cultivation hasn’t increased at all! Are you slacking off again?”. When this matter was brought up, Su Wen could only smile bitterly. After awakening the power of the Vermillion Bird, his absorption of heaven and earth Origin Qi became extremely fast. Logically speaking, he should have broken through.
The problem was that the Golden Gu cocoon kept absorbing his True Qi as though it had no limit. It was good enough that his cultivation did not drop during this period of time. To even think of raising his cultivation, in his dreams! Su Wen pursed his lips and said aggrievedly, “If it wasn’t for your secret order for Yan Luoying to come with me, resulting in chaos within my inner residence, those concubines wouldn’t have followed me either. How could I still have time to work and cultivate every day? Your Majesty, you can’t blame me for this!”
Hearing this, Emperor Zhou flew into a rage. Wasn’t this brat throwing the blame on me? “Hehe, did I ask you to bring them along?” Emperor Zhou gritted his teeth and said, “Then let me ask you, is Yan Luoying pregnant?”
“No!” Su Wen shook his head. Emperor Zhou mocked, “Then! Your cultivation level hasn’t increased, and you haven’t even gotten a child from sleeping with a woman. What can you do?” Su Wen disapprovingly said, “Who would want a child? I’m still so young!” “You! You! Are you trying to anger me to death? How old are you? 19! 19!! How old do you want to be when you have your first child?”
Su Wen looked at his furious expression and couldn’t help but retort, “Doesn’t the Third Prince also have no children… Instead of rushing him, you came to rush me… Isn’t that… meddling in other people’s business?” “Get lost! Get lost quickly! Rascal, get lost quickly! Go back and think of a way to ruin this marriage for me!”