Chapter 163: Jiuyang Commandery City
Not quite normal?
Hearing that, Xu Yuan’s expression turned sowhat strange.
Those two sects did not sound like demonic or heretical paths, yet judging from Shangyang Qingyu’s expression, she seed to hold them in rather low regard.
“Lastly, there are the two great martial families, the Ye Family and the Wang Family. They have entrenched themselves in the commandery city for several hundred years. They possess inherited family techniques, have produced quite a few experts of the martial world, and have deep connections. Their businesses are spread throughout Jiuyang, and they are even tied to martial forces in other commanderies. They must not be underestimated.”
Shangyang Qingyu concluded, “The relationships among these forces are complicated. They check and oppose one another. There are also so subordinate forces besides them. Once you arrive, you will gradually co to understand them.”
After hearing that, Xu Yuan’s expression grew solemn.
From just those few brief sentences, one could already tell how deep the waters of the Jiuyang Commandery were.
Then, as though rembering sothing, he asked, “Then what about the authorities and the imperial court?”
“The imperial court?”
Shangyang Qingyu lifted a brow and let out a light laugh. “You have not read the founding history of Great Chu, have you?”
Xu Yuan nodded sowhat awkwardly.
Ever since coming to this world, he had either been cultivating bitterly or struggling to climb upward. How could he possibly have found ti to read such things?
Shangyang Qingyu gave him a bland glance and said in the tone of soone looking at a poor student:
“Before the Great Chu Dynasty, there was a nation called Great Yan that ruled the world for more than nine hundred years. For a dynasty, that was not a short period of ti. And the reason for its fall was inseparable from the martial forces.”
“During the Great Yan Dynasty, in order to strengthen central authority, it harshly suppressed martial forces across the land. The authority of the imperial court grew day by day, and its control over the realm reached a peak. Then it encountered a massive uprising...”
Xu Yuan fell into thought. This was the classic pattern of a dynasty’s eventual decline. Under all kinds of accumulated pressure, internal contradictions erupted, and in the end, destruction followed.
“And the founding emperor of Great Chu was himself raised to the throne by martial forces. Because of that, he was extrely tolerant toward them, which is why the imperial court now occupies a comparatively weak position.”
Xu Yuan suddenly understood. Only now did he realize why the forces of the authorities, despite being the mouthpiece of the imperial court, did not even dare to provoke certain martial families.
“It is only that, from what I have heard, the newly enthroned emperor seems to have so ulterior intentions...”
At that point, Shangyang Qingyu stopped speaking, glanced at the sky, and said, “That is enough for now. As for the specifics, once you arrive at the sect, you can investigate them yourselves.”
With that, her feet shifted slightly. Without any visible exertion, her entire figure moved farther and farther away, giving others the sense that she could be seen, yet never touched.
The four great sects...
The imperial court...
Xu Yuan stood there, digesting all this information. Only after a long while did he walk back toward the camp.
...
In the following days, all they did was continue traveling.
The convoy moved eastward. After leaving the territory under Yuquan Prefecture City’s jurisdiction, they pressed on for another hundred li or so.
Nearly half a month passed. Just as everyone was growing terribly bored, soone suddenly cried out in alarm.
“We’re here!”
“My heavens! It’s huge! Is that the commandery city?”
“It looks even more majestic than our Yuquan Prefecture City.”
Xu Yuan followed the sound and looked ahead. When the outline of an unimaginably vast city slowly erged on the horizon, even with his firm will, he could not help holding his breath.
Jiuyang Commandery City!
From a distance alone, it exuded a vast and heavy aura that rushed straight at him.
Its city walls stood more than ten zhang high, built from huge blocks of neatly cut, unyielding stone, each bearing the marks of ti and chisel.
The gate towers lood like crouching giant beasts. Their flying eaves and upturned corners pierced the clouds, while banners snapped in the wind and billowed like a surging tide beneath the daylight, giving off an atmosphere of austere grandeur.
Even more shocking were the waterways that encircled the city.
Several broad canals, as wide as great rivers, crisscrossed and linked together in winding paths, their rippling surfaces reflecting the sky.
Beyond that, rchant ships stretched in an unbroken line like a long dragon, while elegant painted pleasure boats drifted like flowing clouds. Boats and oars moved ceaselessly back and forth, and the creaking of oars mingled with shouted calls into a constant roar.
As the convoy slowly approached, they arrived before a massive and imposing gate.
Xu Yuan sharply noticed that even these ordinary city guards were, for the most part, at the seven-ridian level.
As for the leader in the distance, he was an Extraordinary ridians martial artist.
After entering the city, the scene inside was even more dazzling.
The streets were broad and clean, all paved with fine blue bricks that reflected a jade-like sheen beneath the sunlight.
Buildings lined both sides in dense succession, rising to varying heights and showing many different styles, filled with a sense of inclusiveness.
A casual glance revealed nurous martial artists coming and going. Their strengths varied, but most of them carried sharp and fierce auras.
Looking at the group, Shangyang Qingyu smiled and said, “How does this place compare with Yuquan?”
“It’s far too magnificent!”
“From now on, I can temporarily count as a person of the commandery.”
“Where in the world have I been brought to? Is this still Great Chu?”
Xu Yuan also sighed and said, “The difference is like heaven and earth.”
The carriages continued onward and finally stopped outside an inn.
Shangyang Qingyu instructed them, “I am going to visit soone. You are to remain inside the inn and not wander about. Tomorrow, we will return to the sect.”
Naturally, the group nodded in agreent.
Once the few of them had put their things in order, Xu Yuan and Yan Wuguan’s group of four ca down to the first floor to prepare for their al.
Just as they were exchanging pleasantries, they suddenly heard a burst of conversation from nearby.
“That bunch of bald monks from the Vajra Monastery ca preaching again not long ago. They swindled dozens of taels of silver from !”
“Keep your voice down. If they hear you, that’ll be trouble.”
“That’s nothing. The people from the Sword-Nurturing Pavilion are even worse. Yesterday, a lunatic ca running out, asking questions everywhere. If anyone answered a single sentence wrong, she tried to kill them!”
“Ah, only the Fangcun Sect and the Houtu Sect are relatively normal.”
“Oh, right. I heard that the Fangcun Sect’s newly promoted true disciple just went to the Sword Pavilion to pick a fight...”
A newly promoted true disciple?
Xu Yuan’s heart tightened. Could it be Shangyang Qingyu?
But when he looked up again, the discussion had already stopped abruptly.
A woman in white suddenly walked in from outside. A longsword was strapped to her back, her expression cold, and her whole manner gave off the feeling that strangers should stay away.
The mont she entered the inn, the surrounding guests reacted as though they had seen sothing inauspicious and hurriedly moved elsewhere to sit.
Xu Yuan found this sowhat curious, so he asked a middle-aged man nearby, “Friend, what is going on?”
The man saw him speak and imdiately raised a hand to signal silence. Only then did he lower his voice and say, “You don’t even know that? You must be from out of town, then.”
“That is a disciple of the Sword-Nurturing Pavilion. Their minds have never been quite right, yet their strength is formidable. If one of them latches onto you, it is extrely hard to get away!”
The Sword-Nurturing Pavilion?
Xu Yuan frowned. Shangyang Qingyu had specifically ntioned that force to him earlier, yet he had not expected to encounter one so quickly.
At that mont, seeing the surrounding crowd scatter, the woman in white stood up and walked toward the nearest person.
Thunk.
She slapped the longsword she carried onto the table, narrowed her long, slender eyes, and asked, “Have you ever saved a fox on a snowy mountain?”
The man she questioned was not very old and clearly had heard of the Sword-Nurturing Pavilion’s reputation. His face imdiately turned fearful.
“Answer .” The woman’s gaze grew colder.
“I haven’t... N-no, I have! I saved one!” The young martial artist saw her shake her head and hurriedly changed his answer.
“Wrong answer.” The woman smiled brightly and suddenly drew her sword.
A flash of light streaked past. The young martial artist felt a chill at his throat, then collapsed to the floor with a choking sound as blood gushed out at once.
Crash!
The crowd was instantly thrown into panic and fled outside in haste.
Xu Yuan and the others found it even more unbelievable. The people of the Sword-Nurturing Pavilion were far too erratic. They killed at the slightest disagreent?
Did the commandery not care about this at all?
At that mont, the woman in white slowly turned her gaze toward Xu Yuan and the others.
Her eyes swept across the faces of all five of them one by one, as if selecting prey, and finally settled on Xu Yuan.
“You.”
She lifted her chin and said in a commanding tone, “Co here.”
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