Chapter 39: The Zhao Family of the Governor’s Household
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“For a 600kg weapon, a typical adept would have to be at least level-five of the gathered qi to be able to use it with ease. Furthermore, even for a adept of level-five of the gathered qi, he could only use it for a short duration. To be able to use it at ease, one would need at least level-seven of the gathered qi.” After Fu left, Zhou Donghuang sat on the bed in the inn, muttering to himself as he stared at the black iron spear leaning against the wall. “At my current strength, to be able to use this heavy black iron spear at ease for even a short time would only be possible with perfect execution of ‘Qi-Stacking.’”
Qi-Stacking was a level-one martial art technique different from the typical level one techniques. For typical level-one techniques, Zhou Donghuang simply could not execute them with his current qi. Even if he managed to execute it, the power would only rival level two martial arts, and his internal qi would be completely depleted with just one use.
On the other hand, Qi-Stacking required one to stack levels of qi for a.s.sault, the more qi that could be stacked, the stronger the power. Qi-Stacking could only stack up to nine levels of qi, but the resulting power would be totally dependent on the strength of the qi of the adept himself.
It was different from typical level-one techniques because even a adept of level-one of the gathered qi could execute it perfectly, only that the power will be much less. Its power was entirely determined by the strength of the inner qi, so those with a higher level of practice would produce a greater amount of power when executed.
For Zhou Donghuang, with his current level-two of the gathered qi, executing this level one martial art “Qi-Stacking” would similarly deplete his qi quickly unless he held back.
“My qi is still too weak, and my training is too slow.”
Zhou Donghuang had trained himself from a commoner with no qi into a level-two adept within less than a month since he had broken free of the “seal.” This rate of training was considered second to none in the country of Yunyang and even Ziyun planet.
But he still found it too slow? One could imagine that if anyone else knew about his complaint, they would definitely feel like killing him.
“I must find a way to get better herbs in order to brew a better qi elixir. That way, my training will be faster,” Zhou Donghuang said to himself. “If not, using the present qi elixir, I would need around a month to be able to reach level-three qi.”
Going from level-two to level-three of the gathered qi would need about a month’s time—too slow! Those were Zhou Donghuang’s thoughts then.
However, even though he found it slow, he still swallowed a bottle of qi elixir, sat cross-legged and began to train the Way of the Four Supremes. He immersed himself in the training.
In Yunfeng County, the biggest family clan would be the Governor’s Household of the Zhao family.
The Zhao family was also a preeminent family. In the many preeminent families in the country of Yunyang, even the Zhao family could only be considered above average, as the family clan only had one adept of level-five of the gathered qi.
For the highest tier of preeminent families, most of them had many level-five adepts, and some of the top family clans even had five or six level-five adepts. Of course, preeminent families could not possibly have adepts with level-six of the gathered qi. This was because any family with one level-six adept would directly become a grand family in the country of Yunyang.
Adepts with level-six of the gathered qi were akin to the face of a grand family, while adepts with level-four of the gathered qi were the face of a preeminent family.
At that same time, in the house of the Governor’s Household of the Zhao family, in a beautiful garden, an old man was reporting something to a middle-aged man. If Zhou Donghuang was there, he would have been able to immediately identify the two men.
The old man was the shopkeeper of The Hall of G.o.ds, Zhao Ruochen, while the middle-aged man was the previous owner of Yunxuan restaurant of Qingshan town, Zhao San.
“Oh? He has come to the prefecture capital?” Zhao San was surprised to hear the news from the old man. “He even went to The Hall of G.o.ds and bought the black iron spear for 140 thousand liang of silver?”
That black iron spear was 600kg heavy and even for him, with level-four of the gathered qi, he would still find it extremely exhausting to use it as a weapon, even if he could carry it. Even his elder brother, Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County and chief of the Zhao family, could only use the heavy black iron spear with ease for a short time, despite him being a level-five adept.
“He not only bought that heavy black iron spear, but he also didn’t even need us to deliver it to him. He picked it up and left… from the second floor to the first, then out the door. It looked effortless to him,” Zhao Ruochen said with a heavy smile.
The Hall of G.o.ds was the business of the Zhao family.
Zhao San’s elder brother had given him the business to run after he had recovered his level-four of gathered qi and returned to the Zhao family household. Zhao Ruochen was the shopkeeper and the direct subordinate of Zhao San. Zhao Ruochen had heard about Zhou Donghuang from Zhao San, which was why he was shocked when he had found out that the teenager at The Hall of G.o.ds was Zhou Donghuang.
“What?!”
Zhao Ruochen had barely finished speaking when Zhao San leaped to his feet in shock, his face flas.h.i.+ng with amazement.
“Elder Chen, do you speak the truth?”
Zhao San’s eyes were filled with shock. Any level-one adept would not be able to even lift that 600kg black iron spear. To be able to bring it from the second floor out of the door so effortless would require at least level-two of gathered qi.
“Master San, I saw it with my very eyes,” Zhao Ruochen vowed.
“Looks like I have underestimated him,” Zhao San said with a sigh. “Last time, he cured me of disease after I had trained too intensely. Then I felt that he was no simple man… but never would I have thought that he would become a level-two adept in such a short time. A seventeen-year-old level-two adept… looks like Fengxia’s t.i.tle of the Best Youngster in Yunfeng County has to be given to him.”
Zhao Fengxia was none other than the son of Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County, and the nephew of Zhao San.
Back in the day, Zhao Fengxia had reached level-two of gathered qi when he just turned eighteen and was publicly known as the most outstanding youngster in Yunfeng County. But now, Zhou Donghuang had reached the same level at just seventeen years of age, clearly outdoing Zhao Fengxia.
“Master San, I believe we can keep this outstanding teenager for our use,” Zhao Ruochen suggested.
“Use him?” Zhao San thought of the sight of that unruly teenager. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and smiled bitterly. “I doubt I myself, or even my elder brother, will be able to subdue him.”
Though that teenager was young, his arrogance was still apparent. To Zhao San, even if someone could subdue him, neither he nor his elder brother would be able to do it.
…
Meanwhile, in the house of the Lu family, Chief Lu Qinghu looked cunningly at the letter in his hands and laughed.
“This Zhou Donghuang! I haven’t even looked for him, but he came knocking at our door.”
Soon, he sent someone to the house of the Ma family and the Fang family and found the chief of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, and the Fang family chief, Fang Jishan.
“So Zhou Donghuang will be coming to the Lu family at noon tomorrow? If he really dares to come, I’ll make sure he won’t be able to return!”
Upon finding out the news, Ma Tianba and Fang Jishan both had an evil, murderous glimmer in their eyes.