Chapter 231: 1 = Countless
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the peak of a mountain, the elder and Chu He stood side by side.
“Now, do you know your ident.i.ty?” The old man said coldly.
Chu He’s expression was calm as he looked down the mountain.
The mountains and rivers stretched as far as the eyes could see.
His fists were trembling. Was he afraid of heights?
No! It was because of rage!
It was because of his unwillingness!
The old man said in a low voice, “You’re the only bloodline of the Great Qi’s royal family! Are you not going to take revenge for the feud of seizing the family and destroying the country, for killing your father and mother? This great empire should have been yours to begin with!”
Chu He closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
The old man looked at him and said coldly, “I originally wanted to tell you when you broke through to the Heaven Rank, so that you could rise to the heavens with this matter! But look at you now, do you still have the same drive when you descended the mountain at that time?”
The old man sighed and said, “I brought you out to escape. Don’t be useless. The only thing I can do is teach you sword techniques! After cultivating bitterly for 20 years, I originally thought that with your Enlightened Sword Heart, you could proceed on a route of challenge and conquest, raising the sword with battle, tempering the heart with killing, and grinding out a peerless sword intent! Who would have thought that you would actually become someone’s guard!”
At this point, he said with a face full of regret, “I shouldn’t have thought of trying breaking through. I’ve been in seclusion for too long, causing you to walk down the wrong path! It’s all my fault!”
“Master, it’s not your fault!” Chu He said in a deep voice. “Furthermore, I don’t think there’s any problem! I’ll make up for the lost time. I don’t need these thousand miles of mountains and rivers, but I can’t not avenge my parents.”
He sighed inwardly. “Young Master, Brother Jin, forgive Chu He for taking revenge first! After the grudge is resolved, I’ll return to the Young Master’s side.”
This period of time was Chu He’s happiest day since he was born.
He would never forget it.
He also did not think that there was anything wrong with a guard.
“Master, I have to give Young Master…” At this point, he paused before continuing, “Su Wen… a letter explaining my absence. Otherwise, Zhao Rui will tell Su Wen that I was abducted. He will be anxious.”
He knew that if he continued to address Su Wen as Young Master, the old man would be unhappy.
“Alright!”
It was all thanks to Chu He’s actions that two letters arrived at the same time to the Flame G.o.d Sect.
One was from Zhao Rui, and the other was by Chu He.
Zhao Rui had made it clear that Chu He seemed to have been abducted by a Heaven Rank expert.
Chu He’s letter was vague. He only said that his master had come to find him, and that he would be following his master back to practice his swordsmans.h.i.+p. He asked that Su Wen wouldn’t worry about him.
After reading the two letters, Su Wen closed his eyes…
Everyone had their own ambitions.
He sighed.
There must be something going on here, but Su Wen couldn’t guess anything. Since he couldn’t see Chu He, everything was unknown. However, since he knew that he was fine, Su Wen was relieved.
Seven days later, Wu Kunhu returned. Along with him were Su Yu and several experts that Su Changqing had nurtured.
One of them was at the 9th Grade, while the other three were at the 8th Grade of Earth Rank.
When the brothers met, there was another round of sighs.
When Su Yu found out that Su Changqing was dead, he cried until his voice was hoa.r.s.e.
“What do you mean by serving the country and the people? Loyalty above all is nonsense!” A ruthless glint flashed across Su Yu’s eyes. “Only when my Su family is powerful will it be the foundation! F*ck the Great Zhou! Su Wen, you must take revenge!”
To Su Yu, this matter was a huge blow to himself.
It could even be said that it completely overturned his ideals.
Although Su Cheng didn’t get along with Su Changqing, he just didn’t agree with Su Changqing’s behavior. He didn’t want others to think that he relied on Su Changqing for everything.
But honestly speaking, he didn’t have much intention of doing anything for the commoners either.
However, Su Yu was different. He loved Great Zhou and its people.
Although it sounded a little pretentious, reality was as such.
He was a true patriot. He wanted to use what he had learned to make the Great Zhou better.
He wanted to be a good official! He wanted to work for the commoners!
Actually, to a certain extent, he was similar to Ji Yuchen.
However, he did not expect Su Changqing to die under the hands of the Zhou Emperor in the end.
This was something he could not accept. In his opinion, even if Su Changqing wanted to leave, he did not say that he wanted to become enemies with the Great Zhou. Why did the Emperor have to do this?
How could he understand the Emperor’s desire to control and his disgust towards betrayal?
Su Wen patted his shoulder and a ruthless glint flashed across his eyes. “Don’t worry! From now on, our Su family will climb even higher! One day, we will step on Zhou Country!”
As the brothers were in conversation…
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Junior Brother Su, Xiang Feiyan has issued a decree.” It was Dongfang Ju.
Su Wen was stunned and quickly went out.
He held a royal decree in his hand and said, “Xiang Feiyan gave it to you.”
Dongfang Ju clearly did not have much respect for Xiang Feiyan.
Su Wen took it and opened it.
To put it simply, she wanted to ask Su Wen how he was doing outside and if he felt any discomfort. She also wanted him to return to the capital as soon as possible.
It was not an order, but a negotiation.
Su Wen kept the decree and was about to return to the capital.
But this time, he went to see Ni Hongxiao before leaving.
“You have to come to the capital with me.” Su Wen went straight to the point.
Ni Hongxiao was stunned: “What’s the matter?”
“Hmm… I hope you can help me make a child!”
“Harh?”
Looking at the shocked Ni Hongxiao, Su Wen explained helplessly, “When I return to the capital this time, I want to think of a way to have a child with Xiang Feiyan! This child will be the future emperor of Great Chu and will also be the foundation for our Su family to establish ourselves in Great Chu! He and Su Su will control the martial world and the court. They will echo each other!”
Ni Hongxiao nodded: “Alright! But we need materials!”
“We’ll talk about it when the time comes!”
Su Wen had completely forgotten his promise to Xiang Sheng.
It couldn’t be helped. Humans were selfish. Their thoughts would always change.
At that time, Su Wen only wanted to disrupt the royal court of the Chu Country. However, this time, Su Wen wanted to swallow the entire Chu Country!
He was employing a different method now.
Su Wen set off. There were only a few people when he left, but when he returned, it was grand and imposing.
His mother, Su Nuannuan, and Su Changqing’s concubines were all used to living a wealthy life. Su Wen would not leave them at the sect.
In particular, Su Wen had also already broken through to the Heaven Rank! Although he was only in the 1st Grade, he had already transcended the realm of ordinary people.
He was confident that he could protect his family.
Speaking of which, after his cultivation base broke through to the Heaven Rank, Su Wen’s body underwent another transformation!
The Qi in his body had already been completely absorbed by the ‘sun’ that he had created. It was like a moving dantian that was constantly swimming in Su Wen’s body.
After breaking through to the Heaven Rank, a large amount of Heaven Earth Origin Qi had entered his body.
Su Wen felt as if a restriction between his body and the world had been opened.
However, the large amount of Heaven Earth Origin Qi that surged in was completely absorbed by this sun!
The sun in his body had become bigger. Although it was constantly emitting high temperatures, it did not hurt Su Wen at all.
The funny thing was, Die Yi seemed to be very afraid of that sun. Right now, she was swallowing and spitting out the True Qi as she followed behind the sun.
While the sun was continuously moving, it was not moving in a random direction.
It was all circulated according to the cultivation technique.
When it was moving according to the Heaven & Earth Great Solar Sutra, it would absorb the Heaven Earth Origin Qi. Every time it finished circulating the Heaven Earth Great Solar Art for a week, it would then circulate according to the cultivation technique of the Vermillion Bird Glazed Body. At this moment, it would constantly emit True Qi to fuse into Su Wen’s body to nourish and strengthen his body.
It was completely an autonomous cultivation mode.
Little Die Yi was then responsible for distributing some True Qi from the back.
Su Wen had also tried it out. The biggest difference between Heaven Rank and Earth Rank other than the autonomous cultivation was that with every move he made, large amounts of Heaven Earth Origin Qi would gather into his body and his every attack, greatly increasing their strength.
Su Wen had yet to fight a Heaven Rank expert head-on, so he didn’t know how strong he was.
However, he was confident that he was no weaker than any Heaven Rank cultivator at 1st Grade.
In the Flame G.o.d Sect, they watched as Su Wen’s convoy left.
Dongfang Ju returned to the sect.
The group of Heaven Rank elders gathered together.
“Those guys from the Thunder G.o.d Sect asked us to send Heaven Rank experts to investigate. I don’t think they’re lying.”
“I hope it’s not true. Otherwise, it’ll be another disaster!”
“Sigh….”
Everyone’s expressions turned grim.
It was unknown what had happened.
At the entrance of the Great Chu Capital…
Su Wen arrived after a long journey.
Looking at the tall city wall, everyone in the Su family was somewhat surprised.
After all, everyone thought that the Great Zhou Dynasty was very powerful, but from the scale of the capital city, Great Chu was not weaker at all, and even surpa.s.sed it in some ways.
A group of people entered the city in a grandiose manner. When they heard that it was the family of the Nanli King, the guard did not even dare to ask.
They only watched as Su Wen entered.
The guards started discussing.
“Isn’t this Nanli King His Majesty’s lover? I see that there are quite a few carriages in this group, and most of them seem to be women.”
“Isn’t that so? Look at those women on horseback. They all look so…”
“This Nanli King is really powerful! He wasn’t satisfied even after handling Her Majesty… can his kidney take it?”
“What do you know? The Nanli King is a Heaven Rank expert. You don’t know this, but I heard from them that during the compet.i.tion for the throne, the King actually borrowed heavenly fire from the sky to form a sun. He killed 300,000 people with a single strike! This kind of person cultivates a Yang attribute cultivation technique. It shouldn’t be a problem for him to ‘slaughter’ 3,000 people in one night!”
“F*ck… this is too fierce!”
“Why else do you think he was conferred the t.i.tle of King?”
During the period when Su Wen was not around, the surviving soldiers had already exaggerated what happened that night.
The number of people killed… also became more and more exaggerated. In the beginning, it was still ten to twenty thousand, but soon the numbers swelled up to Su Wen killing more than 100,000 people in the court.
It slowly escalated to 200,000, and now it was already past 300,000.
It also gave him a lot of Emotional Value.
After Su Wen entered the city, he started making arrangements.
He had to take care of everything at home first.
It could be said that he was now the head of the entire Su Household.
The first was the residences.
Although the Nanli King’s Palace could accommodate everyone, Su Wen would definitely not let them stay together.
That would be going against the traditions of that time.
He, who had always looked down on traditions and customs, seemed to have grown up a little after Su Changqing’s death.
They immediately went to look for residences that were being sold.
One for Wu Lie, one for Yan Ze, one for Su Cheng, one for Su Yu, and one for Su Changqing’s “widows.”
The Su family had nothing else but money!
However, that would take time. Before that, Su Wen arranged for these people to stay in an inn for the time being.
He only brought his family back to the Nanli King’s Residence.
Wu Muyu and Zhao Wanrou followed suit. From now on, they were family.
When they arrived at the entrance of the palace, Su Wen smiled and said, “I’ll go into the palace first. Xue Qianxun will lead you in. She’s familiar with this place.”
“Alright.”
Yan Luoying agreed.
Su Wen left.
Xue Qianxun went up to knock on the door of the residence, since the people working within would recognize her.
She brought everyone into the courtyard and started to gather people to help the family move in.
Wu Yuehua was in the residence and followed her out in curiosity.
The sight that greeted her was Xue Qianxun standing beside Yan Luoying and introducing loudly to the residence, “This is the Nanli King Consort, Yan Luoying!”
“This is Madam Cui Yumian!”
“This is Madam Xie Yiyi!”
“This is Madam Zhao Wanrou.”
“This is Madam Wu Muyu.”
She introduced them one by one, but when it came to Ni Hongxiao, she did not say anything.
Instead, Ni Hongxiao introduced herself, “I am Ni Hongxiao, if you have nothing to do, stay away from my room.”
Wu Yuehua’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
So many? And why did Ni Hongxiao, who was originally the Madam, exclude herself?
Finally, Xue Qianxun pointed at Ning Shuang and said, “This is the Inner Residence’s steward. From today onwards, we have to report everything to Sister Ning Shuang!”
The servants in the residence were also stunned.
So many wives had come at once? And even the Queen Consort?
This… wasn’t the Nanli King together with His Majesty?
Wouldn’t that make Her Majesty a complete cuckold?
If this did not go well, he would lose his head.
At this moment, Yan Luoying noticed Wu Yuehan in the crowd.
From her looks and dressing, one could tell that she was not a servant.
Yan Luoying frowned slightly and pointed at Wu Yuehan. “Who is she?”
Xue Qianxun hurriedly replied, “This is the Sixth Peak Master of Flame G.o.d Sect, Wu Yuehan.”
“Hehe…” Yan Luoying sneered. Why was the Sixth Peak Master of the Flame G.o.d Sect in Su Wen’s residence?
And from the looks of it…
“Alright, Slave Xue, bring them to settle down,” Yan Luoying casually instructed. She walked to Wu Yuehan and said, “Sixth Peak Sect Master, right? In the end, you’re an outsider, so it’s inconvenient for you to stay in the inner residence, please move to the outer residence to stay!”
Wu Yuehan raised his eyebrows and said disdainfully, “Who are you? Su Daqiang hasn’t returned yet, and you dare to chase me out?”
At this moment, Wu Muyu came out. “Yo, yo, yo, yo. Where did this aunt come from? Don’t you know who our Sister Yan is? Can’t you tell the difference between the big and small kings in this family? It’s already a kindness to let you stay in the residence. If you bare your teeth again, Sister Yan will slap your big mouth. Don’t think that you can rely on your seniority just because you look old. Our Su family’s rules are very strict!”
Instant fatality!
Fortunately, Wu Yuehan did not pa.s.s out from anger.
Putting everything else aside, at her age, she was indeed a little old and could not compare to these young ladies.
However, it was a different matter if someone were to expose her so mercilessly.
She immediately flew into a rage and berated, “Little girl, you’re courting death!”
As she spoke, she rushed over to slap her!
Wu Muyu did not panic at all. She held a token in her hand and flashed it over.
“Yo, yo, yo! My father is a 5th Grade Heaven Rank! He just became a Heaven Rank elder of the Flame G.o.d Sect! Auntie, you’ll be spanked by the sect master when you get back if you dare lay a hand on me!”
“Flame G.o.d Token!?” As the Peak Master of the Flame G.o.d Sect, Wu Yuehan naturally recognized this item.
The Flame G.o.d Token could only be issued by the sect’s special protectors. Generally speaking, only the children of Heaven Rank elders and super geniuses could receive it.
For example, Su Wen had one previously.
And now, Wu Muyu had one as well?
If it weren’t for the fact that Wu Muyu saw she was from the Flame G.o.d Sect, she might not have stepped forward.
But now, the little girl was clearly going to eat her up!
Wu Muyu kept calling Wu Yuehan ‘Aunt here’ and ‘Aunt there’, piercing her full of figurative arrows.
However, Wu Yuehan did not dare to make a move and froze on the spot.
She sized up Wu Muyu as she thought to herself.
“5th Grade Heaven Rank? Even in the sect, they can be considered a top expert! Furthermore, he just joined the sect? I can’t afford to offend this little girl. And this little girl is actually convinced by someone else to let out the position of first wife? Then what background is the official wife from?
Her thoughts were already running wild.
Moreover, she could not understand Yan Luoying’s aloofness.
“Humph! Then I’ll take my leave!” Wu Yuehan left directly.
At this moment, Wu Muyu walked to Yan Luoying’s side and smiled. “Sister Yan, aren’t you afraid that your husband will be angry if you chase him away?”
Good lord, she was the one who chased her away, but now Yan Luoying was the scapegoat.
However, Yan Luoying did not care. After all, Wu Muyu was fighting for her, so it was only right for her to take the blame.
She smiled and said, “I’ve asked your Brother Su. He said that no one has entered the residence yet. Since there’s no one, there’s naturally no need to give me any face. Could it be that I have to respect any wild woman that comes from anywhere?”
Yan Luoying’s magnanimity was also dependent on people.
Su Wen did not intend to accept it, so she could not be bothered to feign civility.
Su Wen did not know that there was already an internal and external war within the residence.
Right now, he had just entered the palace.
Since he had already made up his mind to usurp the throne, Su Wen naturally had to coax Xiang Feiyan…
In reality, Xiang Feiyan had also received the news.
When she heard that Su Wen brought a large number of family members over, she was also stunned!
Why did so many family members appear when he was only returning to the Flame G.o.d Sect?
Su Wen entered the palace and did not even need to report. He just strode in like he was at home.
He went straight to Xiang Feiyan’s chamber.
The moment he entered, Xiang Feiyan waved her hand, and the palace maid tactfully withdrew.
When the two of them met, Xiang Feiyan looked at Su Wen and smiled. “Daqiang, shouldn’t you say something to me?”
Su Wen nodded. “Of course!” His face transformed and revealed his true appearance.
“This is my true face!”
Needless to say, Su Wen looked much better than his disguise.
Xiang Feiyan gulped in response.
Su Wen continued, “My name is Su Wen, the son of Prime Minister Su Changqing of the Great Zhou!”
“Right now, I’m the Nanli King of Great Chu!”
The meaning behind his words was very simple. He had already decided to seek refuge in Chu.
“My father… was killed by Emperor Zhou! But my family survived.”
“My father-in-law, Yan Ze, came along as well! He’s a general of Great Zhou and is at the peak of the 9th Grade.”
Xiang Feiyan’s jaw dropped.
“My wife, Yan Luoying, is his daughter…”
“And I brought my two brothers…”
“And a brother-in-law…”
Su Wen began to report everything!
Only then did Xiang Feiyan understand… why Su Wen was so good at fighting in the royal court!
After saying that, Su Wen looked at Xiang Feiyan and said with deep emotions, “I brought them here this time because I really intend to seek refuge in Chu. I can’t leave you…”
Xiang Feiyan leaned into Su Wen’s embrace and looked up at him.
He muttered, “Can your disguise be changed at will?”
“Of course…”
“Hehe… 1 = countless… but I still like Daqiang! Change back later, Brother Wen!”
“Haha! Up to you!”
Su Wen suddenly thought of something… Could this Transmogrification Mask be put on for her as well? This was a freaking divine artifact!
A perverted aura began to spread from him.