Chapter 203 The Da Qi Royal Family
County City Yan?
The three disciples of Zirann were all dumbfounded. What was going on?
Could it be that they wanted to borrow troops?
No way.
As strong as Zhou Heng, did he need to go to the dicine God Sect and also borrow troops from the County City Yan?
Or was it just to be cautious?
They couldn’t figure it out.
However, the person speaking now was Zhou Heng, whose strength at the Lower Third Rank level could be considered the pinnacle of achievent. He was the sixth-generation direct disciple of the Pure Yang Palace, the current head of the Pure Yang Palace, and the junior brother of Yan Shouyi, the leader of the heavenly rankings and the residing True Yang.
Therefore, his suggestion must have been reasonable.
Consequently, the three of them followed behind Zhou Heng, eager to see what this young, rising martial arts master intended to do.
…
The trio from Zirann clearly lacked experience in the Jianghu.
It hardly took any effort for Zhou Heng to nearly drain them of all their background information.
The two n, one twenty-three and the other twenty-four, were at the initial threshold of the Seventh Rank. The forr was nad Song Yingshu and the latter Zhang Jicheng, both disciples of “Flying Dragon Across the River” Yu Lin, a Fifth Rank Sect Master of Zirann.
The woman, just twenty years old and blooming into youthful beauty, was also newly initiated into the Seventh Rank. Her na was Wu Zhimin. She was the daughter and a disciple of another master from Zirann, “Mountain-Carrying Heroine” Qiu Baiyu.
Zhou Heng was unassuming, joking and chatting with them, making the three feel flattered and so exciting that they nearly revealed all their martial arts secrets.
It was only when Zhou Heng, unable to watch any longer, reminded them that they realized their mistake.
In no ti, this group of four arrived in front of the Fangzhou County City Yan.
Compared to the Prefectural city yans Zhou Heng had seen, this County City Yan was obviously much more imposing. Not even stone lions guarded the entrance.
Instead, it was a stone statue of a mythical creature with the face of a human, the body and claws of a tiger, and nine tails.
“Kaiming beast, Luwu?” Zhou Heng was sowhat surprised inside, recognizing the appearance of this mythical creature, which was very similar to so descriptions he had seen in ancient Earth books.
At the sa ti, he thought of another matter that had puzzled him all this while.
This world seed to lack mythical creatures altogether, let alone those that beca spirits or demons. At least, within the territory of Da Qi, it should be so.
What was the reason for this?
Was it due to human influence or the natural rules?
“What brings you gentlen to the County City Yan?”
Just then, a questioning voice rang out. It turned out that the gatekeeping bailiffs of the County City Yan, seeing Zhou Heng and his group approaching without speaking, proactively inquired.
Of course, this was also due to Zhou Heng’s extraordinary aura and obvious high status appearance. The disciples from Zirann behind him clearly didn’t have ordinary backgrounds either; otherwise, the bailiffs probably would have started by driving them away.
Upon hearing the question, Zhou Heng put aside his puzzling thoughts, bowed slightly to the bailiff with a smile, and said, “I am Zhou Heng, a direct disciple of the Pure Yang Palace. I’ve also acquired the title of Purple Lightning Thunder Blade recently and wish to visit the Prefectural Governor. Could you please announce my arrival?”
“Purple Lightning Thunder Blade Zhou Heng? A direct disciple of the Pure Yang Palace!” The bailiff, who initially had an indifferent expression, suddenly perked up, his eyes widening as he scrutinized Zhou Heng, “You’re that Zhou Heng? Impressive, a young hero indeed. Please wait a mont; I will go imdiately to inform the Prefectural Governor.”
Having said that, the bailiff hurriedly turned and entered the gate, presumably to inform the Fangzhou County Prefectural Governor, Chen Xingjiang.
Watching the scene, the trio from Zirann felt both shocked and envious.
For ordinary martial artists and those fresh to their adventures, it would be extrely difficult to et with the Prefectural Governor without a grievance or important matter to discuss.
Yet Zhou Heng rely had to state his identity.
He didn’t even need to specify his intentions.
This was the advantage of fa and strength, the group from Zirann thought deeply.
Monts later, the bailiff hurried out and, bowing to Zhou Heng, said, “Please follow , Daoist Zhou. The Prefectural Governor is already waiting in the main hall.”
Then he turned to Song Yingshu and the other two, saying, “The three of you, please follow to the side hall to rest.”
The implication was clear; the Fangzhou Prefectural Governor, Chen Xingjiang, intended to et only Zhou Heng. The trio from Zirann, despite their background, naturally did not enjoy the sa privilege.
Given their status and strength, if they hadn’t co with Zhou Heng, they wouldn’t even have had the chance to step foot inside the County City Yan.
Song Yingshu and his companions had no complaints in their hearts and were quite content, well aware of their own limitations.
After all, any Prefectural Governor was at least a Fifth Rank grandmaster, and in fact, most were Absolute Fourth Rank great grandmasters.
The Fangzhou Prefectural Governor, Chen Xingjiang, was an Absolute Fourth Rank expert.
So, in their own view, being able to rest in the side hall was already quite an honor.
After entering the County City Yan, Zhou Heng and the three disciples from Zirann separated. Led by the bailiff, Zhou Heng was taken to a main hall filled with a solemn and majestic atmosphere.
Inside was already waiting a middle-aged man dressed in a dark official robe, with a black cap on his head and a neatly kept long beard. He stood tall and upfront, with a face like a jade carving. Despite his beard, one could still make out that he must have been quite the handso youth in his earlier years.
It was the current Prefectural Governor of Fangzhou, Chen Xingjiang.
“Is Daoist Priest Zhou present?” Chen Xingjiang spotted Zhou Heng in the hall and hurriedly stood up to greet him, even walking directly out of the hall doors to et him outside.
This sudden movent startled the two maids standing by the door; they hadn’t caught clearly what Chen Xingjiang had just said.
All they saw was Chen Xingjiang moving with utmost formality to welco the guest.
In their mory, the last ti the Prefectural Governor had formally stepped out to welco soone with such ceremony was when a mber of the royal family from the Capital City of Zhongzhou visited five years ago.
Could this handso, distinguished-looking young man be a mber of the royal family or nobility?
Upon that thought, the two maids quickly straightened their postures, not daring to slack in the least, not because they harbored any other thoughts, but for fear of making a mistake that would anger a royal family mber and bring trouble upon themselves.
It was said that last ti a royal visited, a servant of the yan who accidentally slighted the royal a bit, lost his life over it, and his body was not found intact.
Once you offended a mber of the royal family, even Chen the Great could not plead for you.
Chen Xingjiang, of course, noticed the change in the attitude of the two maids. He cracked a slight smile and said to Zhou Heng, “Daoist Priest Zhou, your fa has been spreading far and wide in our region of Fangzhou lately.
“During your journey here, you have eradicated nurous Evil Sects, earning the praise and gratitude of many common folks. Please co inside; I’ve prepared so hot tea and have been awaiting your arrival.”
Only then did the two maids breathe a sigh of relief, realizing that he was not a mber of the royal family but the Daoist Priest Zhou Heng, often ntioned by people lately. They heard he had slain many evil demons and destroyed several Evil Sects, and he probably wasn’t a cruel man.
“Prefect Chen is too kind. I have co on this visit because there is a matter I need your assistance with.” Zhou Heng bowed in return and entered the hall with Chen Xingjiang.
…
After so pleasantries, Zhou Heng got to the point.
“Prefect, there is sothing I don’t understand.” Zhou Heng furrowed his brows, looking puzzled, “I heard there’s an Evil Sect called the dicine God Sect about a hundred miles north of the County City. By all accounts, such a close proximity should allow for their easy eradication.”
Although matters of the martial world are generally left to those within it and the Imperial Court’s yan typically does not get involved in disputes among Sects or martial artists, Evil Sects are an exception.
Remote areas with few people are one thing.
But near a County City or Prefectural City, Evil Sects usually don’t exist.
If an Evil Sect master dares to establish a Sect near a County or Prefectural City, nearby Sects and the Imperial Court yan would dispatch masters with utmost speed to destroy them.
Evil Sects are the common enemy of Sects, the Imperial Court, and noble families.
Yet, the dicine God Sect seems to be quite brazen, not only located a hundred miles outside of the County City, but even their leader dares to lead people into the County City to kill; this is lawlessness.
Without a doubt, there’s a hidden story behind this.
Thus, Zhou Heng decided not to go directly to the dicine God Sect, but first to visit the yan of the County City to inquire about the situation with Prefect Chen Xingjiang.
At the sa ti, he intended to borrow so soldiers.
He wasn’t planning on facing the dicine God Sect alone.
“The dicine God Sect…” Chen Xingjiang heard this and gave a wry smile, saying, “I am ashad to say that I failed to fulfill my responsibilities concerning dicine God Sect, which by rights should have been eradicated long ago on the grounds of sentint, reason, and law.”
“Then who doesn’t wish for the dicine God Sect to be eradicated?” Zhou Heng questioned sharply, without beating around the bush. He feared no one, thus he spoke without reservations.
“This…” Chen Xingjiang was clearly troubled, his expression twisted with hesitation before he finally said helplessly, “Alas, it’s not exactly a secret among the upper echelons of Fangzhou—dicine God Sect is connected with the Sixteenth Prince.”
“The Sixteenth Prince?” Zhou Heng was astonished.
He hadn’t expected that a seemingly insignificant Sect like the dicine God Sect would be linked to the Central Zhongzhou Royal Family, the most powerful “noble family” that ruled over Da Qi in na.
However, he wasn’t particularly daunted.
While the royal family was strong, it was just strong—that hadn’t reached the point where it could suppress the world invincibly.
And in terms of overall power, the Pure Yang Palace would not be inferior to anyone.
“Five years ago, the Sixteenth Prince went traveling and asked for a piece of land to ‘play around with’.” Chen Xingjiang sighed, “I initially thought the Prince wanted to construct a traveling palace just for a whim.
“Little did I expect that the Sixteenth Prince would co into possession of an Evil thod Secret Manual, and the land he requested was actually to establish an Evil Sect for amusent, which is the current dicine God Sect.”
“Start an Evil Sect… for amusent??” Zhou Heng was shocked. It was his first ti hearing such an audacious act, and he incredulously said, “Doesn’t the Prince know the kind of harm an Evil Sect can cause the nearby commoners?
“Is he not afraid that such actions, once widely known, could tarnish his reputation as a Prince? This is far too reckless.”
Zhou Heng finally understood why the dicine God Sect’s Master, Lu the dicine Master, was so blatant. It turned out there was support from above—a Prince provided backing.
“The Sixteenth Prince promised that the secret manual he provided would only reach up to the Seventh Rank, with no risk of getting out of control,” Chen Xingjiang explained, smiling lightly, “With my supervising to a certain extent, the dicine God Sect should not cause any major trouble or bring harm to the people.
“As for the reputation of the Prince, ha, Daoist Priest Zhou, you must be joking. Who among the commoners dares to speak carelessly about a Prince? Ordinary people from the martial world wouldn’t touch on this sensitive issue either.
“And the noble families, prominent Sects, why would they concern themselves with such trivial matters? Rest assured, Daoist Priest, a re Evil Sect with at most a battle power of Seventh Rank, with watching over, won’t cause any waves.”
He spoke lightly, evidently not considering this to be a serious matter at all.
“The dicine God Sect captures people for experints, arbitrarily leads n into the County City to slash and kill, and you don’t consider this harm, this isn’t causing waves? And you can still smile?” Zhou Heng’s brows rose, and he stood up abruptly, his gaze scrutinizing Chen Xingjiang as he said,
“Prefectural Governor, you are the shepherd of a province, one of the thirty-two important officials of Da Qi, the Absolute Fourth Rank Great Grandmaster who has cultivated the Yang God’s Dharma Body; in all of Da Qi, you are a significant figure of great influence.
“Chen Xingjiang, Prefect Chen, let ask you, had you firmly opposed it, would that Sixteenth Prince have been able to establish an Evil Sect here?”
“He likely couldn’t,” Chen Xingjiang said with a smile as he shook his head, thereafter his countenance abruptly turned grave, and he stated lightly, “But why should I oppose it?”
Reviews
All reviews (0)