Volume 2, Chapter 9 – Brewing a Genuine Way Out when w.a.n.g Mao Visited
“Young Lady Yan, Young Lady Yan, lost, lost…” Ling’er’s anxious voice came through all the way.
Tang Yan, who had been waiting for news in the hut, was unable to contain her joy and constraints when she heard it. She hurriedly opened the door and anxiously asked, “Ling’er, has Zhang Yan been defeated?”
When Ling’er came near the door, she gaped and shook her head repeatedly before she stutteringly answered, “N-No, n-no, n-no, y-yes, w.a.n.g Pan has lost…”
Tang Yan’s facial expression instantly changed as a “snapped” sound was heard, she raised her hand and slapped Ling’er’s face and let out a shrill bellow, “Cut the c.r.a.p!” However, an inexplicable sense of fear unknowingly spread in her heart at this moment.
Ling’er covered her face and replied while crying, “Young Lady Yan, it’s true, it’s true… w.a.n.g Pan has really been defeated, Ling’er didn’t lie…”
Tang Yan suddenly felt coldness engulf her body as if she was falling into an icehouse. She then turned around without a word and shut the door tightly, letting the slapped Ling’er outside; not letting her utter more words. How could a newly opened meridians cultivator kill a Second Stage of the Radiant Qi Realm cultivator? What kind of a monster was this Zhang Yan actually?
Was she really mistaken?
Could it be that she must really lower herself to serve this person? But the thought of how Zhang Yan gave her a cold shoulder and ignored her completely, igniting her hatred greatly. For Tang Yan, who had never had such a treatment in the Dao Master’s place even once, but in Zhang Yan’s place, she had actually been receiving such repeated grievances.
Ling’er’s sobbing voice then pa.s.sed through, “Young Lady Yan, Young Master w.a.n.g has died and no one will protect us from now on. It would better for Young Lady Yan to act slippery…”
Tang Yan’s beautiful eyes, which was originally soulless, immediately changed as she heard these words. She then thought, “It would be better to submit to this person first, so as to avoid this person’s harmful act to me. Should he find out that yesterday I had met with w.a.n.g Pan, I might have no other choice in the future. I just have to lay low and obey him first, only by doing this would my well-being in the future be preserved.”
After thinking about it, she tried hard to breathe once and seemingly wanted to suppress all the tumultuous emotions in her heart. She then put on a smile on her face and turned around to open the door, “Ling’er, help me dress and put some makeup, then we’ll go to see Young Master Zhang.”
Upon seeing that her Young Lady Yan finally changed her mind, Ling’er was surprised and replied in a happy and pleasant voice, “Yes.”
Tang Yan then went to see Zhang Yan at night. However, she rather valued herself too high since in Zhang Yan’s eyes, how would he have the thoughts to even pay any attention to her? And no matter what idea she had brewing in her mind, he was immediately perfectly aware of it. There was only the Great Dao before his eyes right now. As for greed, l.u.s.t, sensuality, and other trivial matters; he would relentlessly throw them aside.
Besides, at present, his mind was fully occupied with the idea to verify his discoveries in the previous fight with w.a.n.g
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Pan.
Refining the Billows Cloud spiritual qi and tempering it with the Pure Yang spiritual qi. This idea was extremely bold but he thought that it was feasible. However, he didn’t rashly practice it to get it done in one fell swoop, and instead experimented it first in the Broken Jade for more than a hundred times until he worked out a feasible method; causing him to be unable to restrain the sense of accomplishment overflowing in his heart.
He first practiced the Billows Cloud spiritual qi with his True Primordial Qi, and then emitted it out from his body, using the Evil Qi to alter it. After which, he absorbed it into his chest and repeatedly a.n.a.lyzed the refinement method from the Taiyi Golden Manual until this strand of Evil Qi was exhausted, and then emitted it out from his body again. In this way, he repeated the process for more than 10 times before he was able to completely purify it and obtain a purer strand of spiritual qi.
This wisp of spiritual qi couldn’t be directly used, as he needed to refine 7 or 8 other strands of the same pureness of spiritual qi and then blend all of them into one. After which, he used the Golden Fire Blazing Inferno to temper it again before he was finally able to obtain a true Pure Yang spiritual qi.
This process seemed very complicated; but in fact, it was only a detailed refinement step. The time needed for this process was actually 2 folds longer than the original, which is directly tempering it with True Primordial Qi. But after he gradually adapted to this refining method, his speed should also become faster accordingly.
On the other hand, refining the Billows Cloud spiritual qi was relatively simpler since it didn’t need the Evil Qi that only erupted three times a day. And due to this, he could use all the time he wanted for this one.
This was his deduction in combining the strong points of the two Dao manuals, which greatly improved the entire prescribed steps of the original cultivation laws, making his practice speed much faster. The original time he needed was 2 years according to the present estimation, but it has been reduced by half a year—6 months faster. He then would be able to refine 81 strands of Pure Yang spiritual qi to officially enter the First Stage of the Radiant Qi Realm.
However, when he was immersed in his cultivation practice wholeheartedly, Zhang Yan didn’t know that the outside world was in an uproar with him as the main subject for discussion.
The news that w.a.n.g Pan lost the duel was spreading out, and many people could not believe it at first before they were gaping in astonishment, finally created an uproar. w.a.n.g Pan obviously had capital and strength to fully crush over Zhang Yan. But how could it turn out that Zhang Yan killed w.a.n.g Pan in the blink of an eye? One must know that an ancient family’s junior’s deeds and conducts did not only represent themselves, but they also must take their family’s reputation into account. w.a.n.g Pan was the rising star of the w.a.n.g Family and his cultivation level was 2 levels higher than Zhang Yan’s. Not only was he killed by Zhang Yan, but he also swept and damaged the Boundless Sh.o.r.e’s w.a.n.g Family’s reputation to a certain extent.
Therefore, everyone was waiting and enthusiastically sat back to see the w.a.n.g Family’s next reaction; whether they would rush to the Sect and incite some trouble for Zhang Yan out of shame, or let the issues die down as to let the big event change into small one. Could they completely ignore it?
At first, the fight between w.a.n.g Pan and Zhang Yan was only spread within a small scope, but now many cultivators in the Sect were waiting for the next scene. Since the matter stands, it was beyond everyone’s calculation as to why the w.a.n.g Family didn’t give a fast response.
After a few days, the w.a.n.g family sent a person to visit Zhang Yan on Spirit Leaf Island.
“Lord Zhang, this one is w.a.n.g Mao, my grandfather is Dao Master w.a.n.g Huiyuan.” This man looked like he was in his 30s with a vigorous spirit, wide face, thick lips, and thick beard that hung to his chest. At first glance, his appearance was somewhat similar with w.a.n.g Pan. However, his stature looked extremely ordinary and seemingly had nothing special.
“Oh, it’s actually the grandson of Dao Master w.a.n.g, please accept my respect.”
Zhang Yan didn’t dare to underestimate this person and with a serious expression welcomed this person to his Immortal Cave personally.
The Dao Master was a t.i.tle given to cultivators who were above the Primordial Nascent Soul Realm. And w.a.n.g Huiyuan was exactly the true reason for the w.a.n.g Family’s rising in the recent years. He was one of the key figures in the w.a.n.g Family’s rise to prominence in the past 100 years. This achievement was extraordinary, and regardless of how Zhang Yan felt about the w.a.n.g Family, he really respected this senior’s achievement.
But that Dao Master unexpectedly sent his own grandson to see him, and he was clueless as to what they would do next.
After the two had sat, and upon seeing that Zhang Yan didn’t speak, w.a.n.g Mao then took the initiative to open the conversation as he cupped his hands over, “Lord Zhang, please ease your doubts, this w.a.n.g’s intention to come is not to carry out some punitive expedition, but instead to discuss some matters with Lord Zhang. w.a.n.g Pan was my younger cousin, and he was too overconfident this time and tried to s.n.a.t.c.h Lord Zhang’s woman. Even if his body and soul have disappeared, he had only himself to blame and not anyone else’s.”
Zhang Yan actually waved his hand and solemnly spoke, “Senior Brother w.a.n.g’s words are mistaken. Even though this one had a “Deathmatch Duel” with Senior Brother w.a.n.g Pan; however, the duel was but under the fair and just regulations by the sect. So there was neither hatred nor enmity between each other. Also, none was wrong or right here. Had the one that was defeated was this Zhang Yan, this one could only regard it as own bad fortune, so this one cannot blame Senior Brother w.a.n.g.”
He had to stop the main issues after the other party’s statements. Regardless of the true cause for the duel between Zhang Yan and w.a.n.g Pan, it was nominally in accordance with the Sect’s rules, and none was beyond the rules. However, according to w.a.n.g Mao, it was for the beauty; of which hinted that the duel was a private fight. To this point, the significance was clearly different, even if in the future the w.a.n.g Family would not follow the rules and acted against him secretly. Some people would think that it was a matter of course. Therefore, this discussion’s main issue must not be withheld by the other party and instead had to be altered by this just principle.
w.a.n.g Mao was slightly surprised, he did have the intention of digging for some issues. But Zhang Yan, although he was young, didn’t get carried away and responded quickly, leaving no trace for flaws. He secretly nodded. It seemed that w.a.n.g Pan’s defeat in the hands of this person was not a coincidence.
Since the both of them understood each other’s meaning, then continuing it further would be useless. So he cupped his hands over and apologized, “It is indeed my mistake, Lord Zhang is right, this one’s arrival today is to talk about another matter.”
Zhang Yan said, “Lord w.a.n.g, please do say.”
w.a.n.g Mao stroked his beard and pondered for a moment and seemingly thought as to how he should pick his words. After a while, he slowly spoke, “Since w.a.n.g Pan had lost, all of his possession are transferred to Lord Zhang. However, my w.a.n.g Family has been based in the Sect for more than 300 years, so we absolutely will not incite any scenes. But our w.a.n.g Family has been managing almost everything on Scarlet Cloud Island for hundreds of years. And although this Immortal Cave is but under the name w.a.n.g Pan as it’s host; however, excluding him on the island, there are more than 10 w.a.n.g Family’s junior that have been closed up and cultivated in seclusion there. This one would like to ask Lord Zhang’s benevolence as to not hand down a severe punishment. My Boundless Sh.o.r.e’s w.a.n.g Family is willing to exchange this Immortal Cave with concocted pills, flying swords, magic tools, and Dao manuals. Lord Zhang can open the deal if need be.”
Upon hearing these words, Zhang Yan was greatly moved. He also knew that the Scarlet Cloud Island was but only a Pure Manor grade Immortal Cave, while his Spirit Leaf Island was a Blessed Land grade. So this place did not arouse his interest and he actually disdained it. Moreover, although he had won against w.a.n.g Pan, but this place was not w.a.n.g Pan’s private property. Having it to be exchanged with some concocted pills and magic tools was quite practical and brought more advantages.
Zhang Yan smiled and said, “This one has no objections with this. But this one has other condition. The Immortal Cave can be receded. However, since w.a.n.g Pan had lost, everything on the island must be transferred to this one. Although there are still other juniors from the w.a.n.g Family cultivating there, they have no status within the Sect. Therefore, all magic tools, flying swords, concocted pills, and Dao manuals on the island must be left behind.”
w.a.n.g Mao also revealed a faint smile and said, “This is justified principle.” Although his mouth easily spoke these words, he couldn’t help but feel some anxiety and pain in his heart. There were many things in the Scarlet Cloud Island that belonged to the w.a.n.g Family. He originally intended to bully Zhang Yan due to his young age and ignorance about many affairs and redeem the Immortal Cave using his status to get it back. But he had never thought that this Zhang Yang was actually so tight and firmly pressed him.
He secretly sighed once before speaking, “If so, when can it be possible to redeem the Immortal Cave?”
Zhang Yan replied, “Half a month then.”
w.a.n.g Mao thought for a moment and said, “Good.”
Having discussed up to here, all matters had been finished and w.a.n.g Mao then prepared to bid a farewell. However, Zhang Yan suddenly asked, “Lord w.a.n.g previously said, that this one had a duel with Senior Brother w.a.n.g Pan for a beauty. Who was saying it actually?”
A forced smile was drawn on w.a.n.g Mao’s face as he replied in a vague sentence, “This world has no shortage of busy people.”
Zhang Yan nodded as a light flashed in his eyes, he then asked in a deep tone, “Then, this one asks Lord w.a.n.g, would the w.a.n.g Family want to clear the reputation?”
w.a.n.g Mao instantly frowned; he stared at Zhang Yan as he sat up straight and said, “If Lord Zhang has something to say, please say it.”
Zhang Yan smiled and said, “Since the rumors outside this matter was caused by my beautiful maidservant, how about I send this woman to the w.a.n.g Family. Whether the w.a.n.g Family would like to punish, scold, or even kill her, those are at your disposal. What does Lord w.a.n.g think?”
w.a.n.g Mao’s facial expression greatly changed as he then blurted out, “What are the conditions?”
Zhang Yan put a long face before replying, “Senior Brother w.a.n.g spoke before he died and said that he was willing to exchange my maidservant with concocted pills and magical tools. This matter should be known by many people. But this one can make a public declaration as my respect to the w.a.n.g Family’s high reputation, that she will be sent to the w.a.n.g Family, how is Lord w.a.n.g’s thought?”
For him, having killed w.a.n.g Pan had served his intention to show his standing to Ning Chongxuan, which meant Tang Yan’s role had been greatly reduced. It was an opportunity to throw these troublesome matters away. Not only could he ease the relationship between himself and the w.a.n.g Family, but in return, he could also receive a handsome wealth, so why not? As for how the w.a.n.g Family would deal with Tang Yan, it was not in his consideration scope.
w.a.n.g Mao couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Yan with some appreciation, the previous contempt rooted in his bones had vanished in an instant.
This matter was caused by Tang Yan, and as long as Zhang Yan had publicly declared and sent this beautiful maidservant to the w.a.n.g Family, this meant that this gave the w.a.n.g Family a stair. In the eyes of the outside world, not only was the w.a.n.g Family not using their power to oppress others, but had carefully taken care of the matter by a gentlemen’s words’ understanding. Redeeming the Immortal Cave and preserving the Prominent Family’s graceful manner. Which Zhang Yan, on his volition, took the initiative to send the beautiful maidservant. This way, not only could the w.a.n.g Family restore their reputation, they would also reap some praises.
With this idea, he had no means to even refuse it.
w.a.n.g Mao seriously cupped his hands over and said, “Lord Zhang truly has wonderful means, this w.a.n.g really admires.”
He had long heard about Tang Yan had brewed a plan against Zhang Yan based on it. But now his mind was very clear and bright just like a mirror. He couldn’t even think of about how to brew this open intrigue.
Quickly, the two of them had understood each other’s intention. Contrary to his previous expectation, all parties’ disadvantageous position had gone, and deep in his heart, he couldn’t help but look at Zhang Yan in a new light.
Zhang Yan also cupped his hand over to return the courtesy as he faintly smiled and said, “Doesn’t dare, it’s just that Lord w.a.n.g is truly honorable.”
The two of them glanced at each other and then burst into laughter together.