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Chapter 2: Ancient Legend

Chapter 2: Ancient Legend

TL Note: Decided to change Xu Family to Xu Clan, and hereafter use the word ‘clan’ to describe extensive families with successors and exclusive cultivation techniques, etc.

The capital city of Zhenhai was flourishing and lively, with many shops and businesses dotting the townscape. Yet the city was still neat and tidy, which was evidence of the Xu Clan’s strict governance in upholding the public order.

Several Imperial Guards patrolled the streets, and those who saw them either flashed ingratiating smiles or respectfully made way for them. There was one person who resembled a leader figure amongst them, wearing the standard uniform of the Imperial Guard. He said to the two behind him laughingly, “I heard that there were two new stunning beauties at the Fragrance House. Are you guys interested in checking out some ladies tonight?”

When the two people behind him heard what he said, they silently cursed under their breath. This petty captain was clearly implying for them to cover the bill as always. One of them, a tall, lanky Imperial Guard with an ugly expression on his face, said in a small voice, “The day after tomorrow is the payday for the Meng Squadron, so how about us two treat you to have a good time then?”

The other one, a chubby Imperial Guard, nodded his head repeatedly.

“How’s that gonna be okay? This great captain of yours is bringing you guys out to experience the wider world, so it should naturally be me treating you two brothers of mine. What do you guys take me for?” The captain Meng Mo said with a stiff expression on his face after hearing what they said, playfully feigning anger.

“No, no, you take care of us every day, Captain, so this much is to be expected of us,” the tall Imperial Guard replied.

“Well since you guys insist, I won’t be overly courteous. I’ll take you guys up on your offer. Then the day after tomorrow, we’ll go to the Fragrance House in the evening. Next time I’m free, I’ll go make a booking!” The captain said, beaming magnificently. The two of them once again let out a torrent of curses in their mind, but on the surface they remained smiling, repeatedly nodding in agreement.

In fact, an Imperial Guard was a rather coveted position since the salary was high, earning as much as 2 taels of silver each month. Plus, even though they were only considered the bottom rungs of the staffing structure, all they had to do each day was patrol the streets or stand guard. Both of these tasks were pretty much just idling about, yet they were still considered personnel of the Xu Clan.

On top of that, a vast majority of these Imperial Guards were martial artists that possessed Grade 9 Dao Channels, and could only cultivate Martial Techniques to a basic level at the highest. Their progress was slow, and their path forward was pretty much blocked.

Even though they were much better off than ordinary citizens, they spent each day muddleheaded, and had long lost their drive to forge ahead and improve. The Xu Clan was also extremely generous towards martial artists, conferring each of them arable land and incorporating them into their ranks. As a result, they wasted their time away every day, and bullying the commoners was a typical occurrence.

A spotlessly white carrier pigeon suddenly swooped down and landed on Captain Meng’s shoulder with a flutter of its wings. He undid the slip of paper attached to the leg of the carrier pigeon, and read the slip. His expression changed drastically, and exclaimed in an anxious tone, “Quickly gather at the main street at once! The Young Patriarch is going out. We must quickly clear the streets!”

This scene was merely one perspective in the main street of the prefectural capital.

Xu Xiao’s luxurious horse-drawn carriage had just left the Rain Listening Pavilion. Before he even left the pavilion courtyard, all of the Imperial Guards had received the news and were dispatched to clear the main street. They stood in two orderly rows along the street, leaving a broad path down the street.

Leading the way at the front on horseback was the Vice Commander of the Zhenhai Army, Xu Cheng, covered from head to toe in an imposing set of black armor. Behind him was a luxurious horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by fifty martial artists of the Zhenhai Army. They were also all fitted in black armor, inspiring awe and grandeur.

The Imperial Guards, citizens, and traders alike were all bowing their heads, displaying their utmost respects. The Zhenhai Army couldn’t be compared to those Imperial Guards at all. The Zhenhai Army was the core strength behind the Xu Clan, and most of them were martial artists who possessed Grade 8 Dao Channels, and there were even some with Grade 7 Dao Channels!

There were Nine Grades of Dao Channels, but each Grade was marked by a difference between heaven and earth. No matter which Martial Technique it was, if one wanted to cultivate it to a higher level or get stronger, it required the foundation of naturally endowed talent.

For example, for the Xu Clan’s Heavenly Dipper Martial Technique, which allowed the cultivator to gain the strength of an elephant from completion of the 1st Rank, it would take someone with Grade 9 Dao Channels three to four years to reach completion of the 1st Rank. But for someone with Grade 8 Dao Channels, it would only take them one or two years!

For someone with Grade 9 Dao Channels, it would become harder and harder to cultivate further. For completion of the 2nd Rank of the Heavenly Dipper Martial Technique, it would take them eight years, while it would take someone with Grade 8 Dao Channels only three to four years!

In the end, how much time does a person have in their lifetime?

These Imperial Guards mostly wasted their days away, pushing around their own weight, and the number of diligent cultivators amongst them was few. As a result, there were even some who wasted 20 years, still stuck at a bottleneck on the 1st Rank as they withered away, continuing to lead a confused existence, bullying the citizens.

Yet these people were still necessary existences in serving as the Xu Clan’s lowest rung, tasked with the duty of supervising the fiefdom and watching over the citizens. Therefore, for these martial artists with inferior natural talents, the Xu Clan was quite magnanimous.

Xu Xiao’s carriage procession proceeded quickly due south, leaving the capital of Zhenhai Prefecture. After traveling 30 li out, they arrived at the ancestral domain of the Xu Clan.

The Xu Clan’s ancestral domain was also a group of pavilions and buildings with several extravagant palace buildings in the center, rising up out of the townscape. The current Patriarch was the resident of this palace, and this was the place where he meditated.

Xu Xiao was the eldest son of the first wife, and although he was the Young Patriarch, he originally wasn’t supposed to take up this role so early. However, the Patriarch of the Xu Clan, Xu Chaoyang, was a single-minded, ascetic cultivator with an unusually high natural aptitude. He possessed Grade 5 Dao Channels, and he had cultivated the Heavenly Dipper Martial Technique to the 6th Rank. His strength was at the perfect completion of the Houtian stage!

He was already the pinnacle of martial artists in the Ruyang Region, but after he reached perfect completion of the Houtian stage, he entered closed door cultivation here with the intention of breaking through to the indescribably lofty Xiantian stage.

It had to be mentioned that every time a Xiantian martial artist appeared within a clan, it was a world-shaking event. The Ruyang Region was part of the You Province, which was under the command of Prince Xing, and he highly valued Xiantian martial artists. As soon as one appeared, he would immediately grant them an entire region as their fiefdom, along with all kinds of natural resources, money and treasures, spirit medicines, and beauties.

The current Official of the Ruyang Region was called Guo Ruping, but he actually wasn’t a Xiantian martial artist. Several hundreds of years ago, the ancestor of the Ruyang Region’s Guo Clan was a Xiantian martial artist, and he was enfeoffed with the Ruyang Region at that time. Their ancestor grasped control of the region, established his clan, and exerted a firm rule over the capital city of the Ruyang Region. Governing over thousands of li of land, he was a man of mettle.

Eventually, time flowed onward and the world changed, as several hundreds of years went by. The Guo Clan’s ancestor remained stuck at a bottleneck in the Xiantian stage without any further breakthroughs, and he silently grew old and wizened. Even in the later generations, the Guo Clan failed to produce a Xiantian martial artist, but they remained in control of their fiefdom according to the imperial order, and they continued to pass down their family’s wealth from successor to successor throughout the years.

However, the Xu Clan’s fiefdom was a part of the Guo Clan’s Ruyang Region, and was under their command. Therefore, even though Xu Chaoyang had already cultivated right up to the brink of the Xiantian stage, he was still unable to replace the Guo Clan. If he wanted to strengthen the position of the Xu Clan, the only path he had left was to make a breakthrough to the Xiantian stage.

Inside the luxurious horse-drawn carriage, Xu Xiao was carrying a baby within his arms. The baby’s eyes were closed, and he was fast asleep. Xu Xiao lowered his head to look at the infant in his embrace, but his thoughts were far and distant.

Since the power of the clan fell into his hands, he was rather fickle in love, having married several wives and sired 11 sons and 3 daughters. He divided and conferred some of the county official positions to his younger brothers, but controlled the principal seat of power in the Zhenhai Prefecture himself.

No matter how generous one person could be, after sharing among each and every person, there naturally wouldn’t be much remaining. But Jin Yu was different. She was the sole daughter of the Jin Clan, and her marriage into the Xu Clan was arranged. Her dowry had been exceedingly generous.

The Jin Clan was the third biggest clan in the Ruyang Region, and as soon as Xu Chaoyang made a breakthrough into perfect completion of the Houtian stage, Jin Hai made the decision to marry off his only daughter to the Xu Clan to show his goodwill. Xu Chaoyang was still quite young, and he cultivated to the perfect completion of the Houtian stage at only 46 years of age. Along with his Grade 5 Dao Channels and natural aptitude, he was a genius in the Ruyang Region that only appeared once every 100 years. His future prospects were bright and promising, and provided he could make a breakthrough into the Xiantian stage, his status would skyrocket as he would then be able to rule over an entire region.

Although many people were stuck at the peak of the Houtian stage their whole life without any way of making a breakthrough, Jin Hai still chose to make the gamble to marry off his only daughter to the Xu Clan. Now, he had cast his lot with the Xu Clan, and whether they rose to new heights or fell to an all time low, his position would follow right along with them. But there were so many choices and decisions in life; when would it not be a gamble?

Clasped within his hand was the small and exquisite jade flute, pulsating with cyan light. At this moment, its brilliant resplendence had dwindled as it contained the light within. It continued to glow mystically, the light shining mutedly as it pervaded throughout the jade. Xu Xiao bowed his head in contemplation, recalling a legend his father told him when he was little. It was said that only an Innate Saint would have a Xiantian Companion Artifact.

For example, the ancient legends told that these heavenly beings would guide the people to break free of the shackles of their fate and establish an imperial court to rule the heavens, ruling over all races, forcing heaven and earth to submit to their power. Among those supreme beings, every one of them possessed a Xiantian Companion Artifact.

Even though this was just a legend and might be nothing more than hearsay, this Xiantian Companion Artifact was truly too bizarre. He had to first report this matter to his father before he could make a decision.

“Reporting to the Young Patriarch, we have now arrived at the ancestral domain, Western Ravine Palace,” Xu Cheng’s voice resounded respectfully from outside of the carriage. The carriage procession had already traversed into the group of buildings and pavilions, stopping before the gate to the large palace hall in the center of the domain.

Xu Xiao roused from his thoughts, putting away the jade flute before stepping out of the carriage with the infant still fast asleep in his arms. After casting a glance at the sign in front of the palace with the three characters, “Western Ravine Palace” on it, he strode into the palace hall.