Chapter 93: Chapter 89: In my opinion, gratitude such as this is better expressed by adding more, it’s more sincere.
Translator: 549690339
Zhang Xinghe felt he was exceptionally lucky.
An orphan who was adopted by the owner of Extreme Truth Martial Arts Hall, he later demonstrated an innate talent and was accepted into the Martial Hall as a warrior to be trained by the Mi Clan. However, he was punished with ten years of ship work after injuring a young master of the Mi Clan.
But due to that ten years of hard work, he emerged as an exceptional figure among the top warriors who had shed their mortal bound, and amassed significant wealth.
Having reached the peak of mortals and with a profound wealth, he once felt his martial arts dream had already finished.
Until Young Master Shen found him.
“Henceforth, you’ll follow me.”
At that time, Zhang Xinghe was still a wild beast, untamed. If he were willing to be a dog, what reason would he have to rebel against his superiors?
Even after ten years, his audacity persisted just as before, which triggered his disdainful question: “And why should I follow you?”
“A strong man shall not be without power for a day. I will offer you supremacy over thousands.”
Zhang Xinghe still remembers just how brilliant and soul-catching the eyes of the then twenty-year-old Mi Shen were.
Later, Mi Shen took five years to fulfill his promise.
Even though the current residence of the young master has only eight hundred followers, and the total number of servants is merely three thousand, Zhang Xinghe can almost see the power he would wield five, ten years later.
All of this was bestowed upon him by Mi Shen. If the young Zhang Xinghe was confused and fiery, then now, he is undoubtedly resolute and peaceful.
If today Mi Shen asks him to commit a scandalous act that would be reviled by all, he would remain calm and composed.
‘Ghost Hand’ is Zhang Xinghe’s moniker, earned not only due to his strength but also for performing deeds Mi Shen wished to carry out but was unable to do so himself.
Thus, all throughout South City of Xiling, everyone knows that Young Master Shen is kind and generous. If only he didn’t trust Zhang Xinghe, who can be underhanded and ruthless, perhaps his residence would rise even higher.
Everyone thinks so, but the understanding between a master and their servant can be hard for outsiders to comprehend.
The first retainer, in the eyes of others, may just seem like the first martial servant or steward who followed the master.
But if you ask the clan’s young master, they would give you a vastly different answer.
The first retainer is a brother, a confidant, a family member who you can comfortably entrust your property to.
Good swimmers often drown, and accomplished riders frequently fall.
As a warrior, who dares to boast about being invincible for all time?
Sometimes an ambush, an unexpected encirclement, or a lucky shot at a Combined Attack Technique can finish an exceptional warrior off.
The patriarch will have successors who are yet to come of age. Faced with this, the first retainer has not only to protect the properties but also shoulder the responsibility to cultivate the young master.
So, for the noble heirs, the first retainer may not be the most skilled, but certainly the most trusted.
Zhang Xinghe is indeed the real confidant of Mi Shen.
So, on the day when Young Master Shen is out for a duel, all matters big and small of the residence are managed by Zhang Xinghe.
He sits in the place which originally belonged to Mi Shen, dealing with papers, which, in normal times, would be processed by Mi Shen.
In a trance, those who were handling affairs felt as if Mi Shen was still there.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Zhang Xinghe’s expression was indifferent, as he knocked on the table.
“With Master absent and busy matters in Fenling Port, I expect everybody to burn the midnight oil. I’m not as benevolent as the Master, so I won’t tolerate any slacking off. If anyone is found to be loafing, they will be kicked out of the Master’s residence. Understood?”
The collision between two generations of pride, the old and the new, who would be weak and who would be strong?
The peace held too long in Xiling has given way to a fervor for martial arts combat, what’s more, when it is a duel with such pomp and ceremony.
From early this morning, the Jiang Woods located ten miles outside the city were already crowded with no place left to stand.
Although the number of children from both Tang and Mi clans who can enter the Martial Hall for practice is limited, the number of idle clansmen is quite high.
Merely the young masters from these two clans totaled two to three hundred, standing distinctly on the north or south side of Jiang Woods.
Undoubtedly, these people are here to cheer for the pride of their own clan. Despite being weak themselves, they are the ones that wish most earnestly for the clan to flourish and prosper.
Because only with a strong clan can their extravagant lives continue.
And the clan’s ‘pride’, undeniably, is the clan’s representative.
Upon the east and west side of Jiang Woods are the children of mid-to-small-sized families. Their visit here is not to cheer, but to see just how wide the gap between them and the “Pride of Xiling” really is.
As for the common warrior folk who came to enjoy the excitement, they are packed on the outer fringe, and some even climbed up on trees.
After all, for them, such a spectacle might not come even once in decades in Xiling. If they miss it, they would never forgive themselves.
Moreover, due to the legendary deeds of Tang Luo, the people of Xiling have been divided into two intractable camps.
One side asserts that what the Martial Saint from Martial Saint Mountain stated is the truth. If he says Tang Luo is an Innate Hollow Body, then he is, and hence, the pride has fallen.
While the other side argues that without witnessing Tang Luo in person, one should not jump to conclusions. After all, the continent has never seen a Hollow Body cultivate to the Mortal Realm before.
This character, who remains at the center of public discussion, Tang Luo, either stays at the Martial Hall or the Star Pavilion, scarcely showing himself to reveal his skills, thus adding a further air of mystery to him.
Despite that everyone in Xiling talks about him, they are actually extremely curious about his appearance – whether he is tall or short, fat or skinny.
Today, the streets of Xiling are deserted, tens of thousands of people gathered outside Jianglin, with many more rushing over upon hearing the news, all wanting to see the look of the strongest prodigy of this generation.
“Look up at the sky!”
The crowd looked towards the source of the sound.
The Yexie Luan Carriage arrived, windborne, as if a Saint King was traveling.
Five green and red Luan Birds were pulling the carriage frame made entirely of Yexie heavy silver, shimmering with silver light. The whole carriage was surrounded by a hundred carved dragons and a thousand tassels, extraordinarily luxurious.
Sitting in the heavenly silkworm canopy, a white-clothed young master sat, resembling an exiled Immortal, controlling the wind and clouds, calmly descending.
As the carriage drew closer, people could finally see just how large the spread-winged Luan Birds were, the strong wind knocking people over sideways, even the tall trees were unnaturally bending under the wind pressure.
The Yexie Luan Carriage stopped in the center of Jianglin, the heavenly silkworm canopy slowly lifted, and a white-clothed young master stood in front of the carriage, appearing celestial.
Those eyes like stars and the moon, a mere glance would make people avert their gaze.
The sheer presence of someone at the peak of Mortal Realm was displayed without any attempt at concealment, the five Luan Birds started to shriek loudly, making “Li! Li!” calls.
As the crowd was astounded by the power of the young master’s arrival, a chorus of boos echoed from the north side where the Tang Family stood. “What shameless bastard, using a war chariot for a duel!”
“Indeed, no wonder they call him Mi Shen, the genius of the heavens. Even when challenging an opponent who is ten years younger, he uses a war chariot. What a sight to behold!”
“Absolutely right, after all, the renowned Young Master Shen, is always prudent in his actions. If he couldn’t defeat someone ten years younger, how could he dare to call himself superior to all young talents?”
“Ah, Brother Luo has the bad luck of not having thick skin. If he could just bring out their Carriage of Beasts with golden rim, showing these hicks of the Mi Clan who exactly has the number one war chariot in Xiling.”
The young masters of Tang Clan didn’t lower their voices at all when making these taunts, on the contrary, they were yelling at the top of their lungs so that the whole Jianglin could hear.
A prestigious prodigy of the last generation, borrowing a carriage from home to have a duel, sure is eye-opening.
Although the rest of the clans’ young masters dared not openly mock Mi Shen as much, the derisive and sarcastic expressions in their eyes sufficiently showed their feelings.
Even those standing on Mi Shen’s side also felt ashamed, cursing to themselves silently.
You, a twenty-five-year-old at the peak of Mortal Realm, are you really so timid? Despite how you look at it, even when Tang Luo isn’t an Innate Hollow Body, he has only been in the Mortal Realm for a year. You actually arrive here on a Feng Carriage; is this not absurd?
You should know, as the Mi Clan’s number one war chariot, it belongs to the high elder Mi Yang and is only mobilized during a major battle. Yet here you are, Mi Shen, driving this carriage just for a simple duel. If this isn’t bullying the weak, then what is?
Although they were confident that Mi Shen would not lose this duel, this unexpected extra element popped out of nowhere. When Tang Luo refuses to fight upon seeing the Luan Birds, it will be hard for people here to say anything.
That’s because the five Luan birds combined could fight against entities in the Fierce Realm. Are you asking a young man at nothing more than the Mortal Realm to face death head-on?
So there, the Yexie Luan Carriage quietly sat in the center of Jianglin, but the eyes which used to admire and worship were now filled with mockery and ridicule.
As time continued to pass minute by minute, with Tang Luo still not reaching Jianglin, Mi Shen’s face started to look grim. He had an uneasy feeling and suspected that many things weren’t going as expected.
He intentionally arrived as late as possible, with the purpose of letting Tang Luo first park the Carriage of Beasts with golden rim in Jianglin, waiting for his arrival on the Yexie Luan Carriage. At that time, the crowd would have admired his calculation and tact instead of the mockery and ridicule they now showed.
But the one who should have arrived earlier for the duel was nowhere to be seen. Here he was, the first one to arrive on a Luan Carriage. If the other party arrived without a carriage, he would undoubtedly lose face.
And if all of these were calculated by his opponent, then his aim would not be as simple as merely making him lose face.
Mi Shen’s face turned cold, he was about to give the command for the Luan Carriage to move.
But the noise coming suddenly from the north side of Jianglin halted his action.
“Tang Luo is here!”
Mi Shen silently dropped his spell, putting his hands behind his back, and prepared for Tang Luo’s arrival.
A pathway was parted in the crowd, a teenager in practical clothes carrying a large bag walked towards the center of Jianglin.
Tang Luo and Mi Shen were no strangers, they had met before in the Martial Saint Mountain recruitment test. Back then, Mi Shen, as one of the representatives of the Mi Clan, was sitting on the high platform and had seen Tang Luo.
A year has passed, the boy has matured a bit, grown taller a bit, other than that, there was no major change.
Tang Luo stood in the center of Jianglin, laying the big bag on the ground, slightly raised his head, looking directly at Mi Shen, his aura of Mortal Realm erupted without holding back.
Young geniuses of two different generations of Xiling, neither giving an inch in their stand-off.
“The challenger is late, this is against the rules,” Mi Shen said, accusing the boy in front of him.
“Tsk.” Tang Luo shook his head, squatted down and disdainfully said: “They say the young master Shen is unrivaled in intelligence, I thought you would know where I went.”
Tang Luo’s tone was very disappointed, and the radiant starry eyes of Mi Shen who had his hands behind his back, were suddenly full of shock.
The giant bag was opened, a few severed heads rolled out onto the ground.
Tang Luo picked up one of them, held it high towards Mi Shen, and asked, “Look, does he look familiar?”
In his hand was the head of Zhang Xinghe, his first follower.
Mi Shen’s face turned icy cold, fury was swelling within him, impossible to contain..
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