Chapter 384: Siblings
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
30 miles to the west of Jade Cloud Mountain stood a huge lake with ends stretching beyond the horizon. Reflecting the sunset on the surface of the lake, it was a majestic sight to behold. It was almost 200 squared miles in area and was named Leaf Lake.
Although it was a huge lake, there were not many spiritual objects. It was an area lacking in resources. Because there were only a few cultivators here, the few not-so-well-to-do martial artists here began to occupy plots of land and the strongest of them was only a Wu Zong in the Meridian Opening Realm.
“Master’s last descendant must have lived here, right? Master had once used a secret technique and even changed his bloodline. Therefore, even the predictions of dream masters or the curses on his bloodline will not affect anything here!”
Fang Yuan changed his ride to a horse and wore green martial artist robes. He hung a long knife around his waist and adopted the most common of appearances of lone cultivators.
“I previously did not dare to come here due to my background and I feared that the crazy dream masters from Source Seeking Sect would trace me all the way here. But now, I have reached the peak of martial artists and attained True Divine. Now that I can cover up my traces and become undetectable, I can finally come here without any worries.
In the eyes of a high-tiered dream future master, the river of life and fate could be sorted out like how a comb would be able to straighten hair.
Once one becomes a powerful being, one would become like a black hole, absorbing the strings of life and fate. Therefore, one would be able to avoid being predicted.
“It has only been 10 over years. There shouldn’t be many changes!”
Fang Yuan cracked his horsewhip. As his horse neighed loudly, it started to gallop faster.
Four Elements City.
This city was much smaller than Cloud Jade City. The walls were short and parts of it were broken. The armour of the guards were old and tattered, but everything from the city gave off a murderous and evil vibe.
Because of the need to survive, they were forced to their limits to work with whatever resources they had, which was why they were living their lives like scavenging wolves.
Harsh environments would nurture strong people.
“Hold up, the entry fee is one tael of silver!”
Fang Yuan was being halted as soon as he arrived at the city gates.
The greedy look of the officer in charge scanned around from his clothing, horse, a bag of valuables and finally the long knife on his waist. Signalling his intention, the guard by the door quickly stood before Fang Yuan and shouted.
“Here it is!”
Fang Yuan smirked and tossed a piece of silver.
“Get out of my way!”
The officer nodded his head and ordered for the path to be cleared.
It was not that he could not ask for more money. The officer knew from experience that these types of lone cultivators with weapons were not to be trifled with.
Since there were so many others which he could pick on, why would he risk himself to anger this person and put his own life in danger?
In the city, there were very few people. The whole atmosphere felt as though the entire place was in chaos.
“Oh, that’s right, the chaos in this empire is already beginning to pick up…”
Fang Yuan suddenly realised that after living in the prosperous land and 9 Extremes Mountain for long, he had forgotten how it felt like to roam about like a nomad.
After the alliance of the 5 Grand Organisations, the world of cultivators fell into a turmoil. The 99 regions in Da Qian were not spared either and cities with non-cultivators were also facing tumultuous times.
15 years ago, Wu Yue of Yong Region had led 3,000 armoured soldiers to revolt. They had attacked city after city and as of now, he already had control over 2 regions and was known as King Yong!
In the same year, there were rebels from the South as well. They had gathered 20,000 sailors which controlled ships, killing the soldiers from Da Qian. The leader was Zhang Jin. He was known as ‘The Heavenly General’, with 18 cities and the rivers in the South under his control, restricting traffic and trade through these rivers.
Most importantly, near the Jade Capital, there was a rebellion as well and the fight was even brought to the centre of Middle Region, affecting the Jade Capital!
These 3 were the most powerful rebels of the empire. There were 10 other smaller rebellion groups inciting rebellions in various regions. Although their influence was limited, they were still able to create trouble and make it hard for the villagers to live peacefully.
“To think about it… the successful rebellion groups are all supported by dream masters…”
Finding himself a restaurant, Fang Yuan settled down, ordered a plate of beef and another plate of vegetables and two vats of wine before enjoying his meal.
“The chaos which is happening everywhere is within the 6 Extremes Earth Shattering Array. Da Qian is unable to keep the earth dragon under control, resulting in the dispersing of the breath of the earth… The instability of the dragon meridian will lead to further complications, including the uprising of dragons and snakes.”
Although this world was not particular about Fengshui, Fang Yuan could still use the explanation from the Karma World and the pieces of the puzzle would still fall into place. This showed that even though worlds and realms differ, they were ultimately the same.
The location of the restaurant was extremely central and it was the best place to obtain information.
Their culinary skills were commendable as well. The beef was marinated and was charred on the surface. However, the fibres of the meat were chewy and the dish was fragrant. After eating a few pieces of meat, Fang Yuan placed his chopsticks down and sipped on his wine as he gathered his information.
Considering his powerful spiritual will, nothing in the restaurant could hide from him.
“This world is already in chaos. Just yesterday, a relative of mine escaped from Liyang. He claimed that there were already soldiers there, and they belonged to The Heavenly General…”
“Sigh. The battle at Lan River resulted in the death of all the Naval Officers from the Imperial Court. No one else from the South can block the army of The Heavenly General… I’m afraid that Da Qian Empire is doomed!”
“Who cares what would happen to Da Qian. Even if the king were to change, as long as we villagers listen to them and pay taxes, the new king would not force us to death. Why bother ourselves with such troubles? Let’s drink!”
…
Most of the people in the restaurant were discussing the current affairs and were speaking softly. After a few sentences, they would stop talking and start drinking, which disappointed Fang Yuan.
At this point in time, two cultivators in the disguise of martial artists walked in, arousing Fang Yuan’s interest.
It was a pair of young men. They had long swords with them and were decent looking. They gave off the vibe of young heroes as they had requested for a private table and ordered plenty of food and wine.
“Brother, the fight between the head of Sha Sect and master of Thunderclap Palm, Elder Han, is going to be interesting!”
The younger of the both of them wore green robes and seemed excited. “Years ago, Elder Han had brought his entire family to Four Elements City and ruled the city with his Giant Thunderclap Palm before becoming established. In these 10 years, Elder is still fit as a fiddle and is not any weaker than he was years ago! However, the Sha Sect seemed fierce and determined. They are also an experienced sect. Now that the sect head of Sha Sect is eyeing on the assets of Han Family, a fight is inevitable!”
“Brother, that is logical!”
The elder brother sounded more matured and seemed around 15 years old. He was wearing blue. As he held his cup of wine, he smiled unnaturally. “Master has instructed us to descend the mountain and train but did not ask us to get involved in all these. Know what we are supposed to do, and remember it! Throughout the journey, you have caused many problems for me already. If you carry on, I will be sure to tell master about it.”
Hearing his tone, it was as though he was already aware of his brother’s antics and was giving out a warning.
“Ah, brother, forgive me! I will never do it again!”
The young man in green seemed to have come to his senses as though he was extremely fearful of his master.
“Alright, after this meal, let’s look for the Han Family and watch the show!”
The man in blue quipped. “The sect head of Sha Sect, Sha Lifei and Elder Han of the Han Family are experienced Wu Zongs. Although they have not reached the Meridian Opening Stage, they have a wealth of experience and this fight will be interesting…”
“But both of them are not your match!”
The young man in green laughed.
“That’s hard to say. After all, since we are at the same cultivation level, our techniques, secret moves and combat experience will all come into play…”
The young man in blue smiled and sounded confident. “However, if it was one-on-one, I am still rather confident.”
“Hmph, you’re too confident!”
Upon hearing the man in blue, a pair of siblings sitting at another table were enraged. The elder brother immediately slapped the table. “What are you saying? You’re young and you don’t know anything. How will you know the power of my family’s Thunderclap Palm ?”
“You’re from the Han Family?”
The man in green robes examined them before revealing a sly look. “Brother, I did not cause this.”
“Yes, we are!”
The man in blue rolled his eyes. Never would he expect to offend the Han Family with a single sentence.
However, the Han Family had already lived here for 10 over years and their influence had already spread far and wide. Therefore, it was only normal to bump into the people of Han Family.
“Hmph! I am Han Jingfei of the Han Family. Apologise, or…”
This young man from the Han Family stretched out his right hand and smacked the table. As he mustered his strength, the perfectly sturdy table immediately broke into half, demonstrating his strength. From the looks of it, Fang Yuan predicted that he was in the realm of the 4 Heavenly Gates and was an ordinary martial artist.
After all, Fang Yuan was at a stage where he had already killed countless Wu Zongs. Those under the realm of elemental force was nothing to him!
However…
Looking at the siblings of the Han Family, Fang Yuan then proceeded to examine the two young men. One of them was a Wu Zong and the other one was at the peak of the 12th Gate. Fang Yuan was speechless. ‘The people of Master’s race seem to be ignorant and too full of themselves!’
“Brother!”
A young lady tugged at Han Jingfei’s sleeves. “Let’s go home, otherwise Father is going to be angry.”
“Ling’er, wait here. I have to teach these two fools a lesson!”
Han Jingfei exclaimed.
The shopkeeper of the restaurant could recognise Han Jingfei and knew him as the one who would always cause trouble. However, he stood by the side and smiled, with no intention of stopping the fight.
“Aiya… I’m really afraid!”
The young man in green picked up a piece of wood. As he tightened his grip, wood shavings began to slip through his fingers.
“Eh?”
Han Jingfei was stunned.
Although he was reckless, he knew a powerful martial artist when he saw one. With this simple demonstration, he already knew that his opponent was much stronger than him and therefore, he could only feel helpless.
‘These two young men are around the same age as me, so who would think that their cultivation would be so much higher than mine? If the younger brother is already so powerful, is his elder brother a Wu Zong?’
Sweat started to trickle from Han Jingfei’s forehead. He was unwilling to concede. With a flushed face, the situation came to a stalemate.
“Brother!”
Han Ling’er’s face turned pale as she pleaded her brother to look at his surroundings.
Resembling a helpless rabbit, the young man in green robes was elated. “Forget it… I shall not pursue the fact that you have shown us disrespect. As long as you get your sister to serve us three cups of wine as an apology, we can forget everything that has happened. How’s that?”
“Mmm!”
Han Jingfei remained silent. The man in blue lowered his head and felt that his younger brother had finally matured.
