Chapter 2209: The Nangong Family
The unknown group was the famous Nangong Family. One of the three surviving Great Families from the Murim Alliance. The other two were the Murong Family and the Shangguan Family.
The Nangong Family was known for their arrogance, but they were even renowned for their sword technique. The Nangong Family’s patriarch was known as the Sword Saint. People compare him with the Sword God, the Murim Alliance Leader.
The current patriarch was Nangong Hao. While they were part of the Murim Alliance, they were rarely involved in the Murim Alliance’s affairs. Even when the Murim Alliance was attacked, they didn’t get involved much in the war against the Heaven Founder.
That family now visited the Thousand Vows Pavilion, bringing their elite along with the current Sword Saint and the previous Sword Saint. The old man in a white robe was the previous Nangong patriarch, the previous Sword Saint: Nangong Xiang Yu.
The man with the blue robe was the current Nangong patriarch, the current Sword Saint, Nangong Hao. The people who wore white and blue robes were the elders and elite of the Nangong Family, the core of the Nangong Family.
The reason for their visit was to meet Tang Shaoyang. Knowing Tang Shaoyang’s history with the Murim Alliance as well as the Great Family. The Bai Pavilion, the Blazing Pavilion, and the Wind Blade Pavilion came down to stop them. That was the gist of what happened.
"I am the person you are looking for! What do you want? Make it quick?"
The Nangong Family delayed his return home, postponing his meeting with his daughter. There was an urge just to beat the shit out of the Nangong Family, but he managed to hold that urge. It seemed the Essence of Tranquility Breathing helped him.
"Is it true that we can pick a technique from the Grandmaster Codex if we join the Thousand Vows Pavilion?"
Tang Shaoyang glanced at the three pavilion heads. Only they and the Ice Pavilion knew about the condition of joining the Thousand Vows Pavilion. The information would not spread unless they spread it out.
Sikong Tan Kai, Bai Jinwei, and Duanmu Liang Yi shook their heads. The last two weeks had been busy adapting to their new life. They were busy rebuilding their pavilion and home, and it was the period where they had to pick the techniques they wanted to learn from the Grandmaster Codex.
It was the busiest time in their transition, so they had no time for other things, let alone spreading the information.
"I know about that from the Thousand Vows Pavilion record from our ancestor. Is it true?"
"It’s true, and you can do one technique every year from the codex. Is that it?"
"Can I see the codex?" Nangong Xiang Yu asked before his son could.
"You can’t! Do you think I will let anyone see the codex just because they want to? Only the Grandmaster can see the codex!"
Nangong Hao and Nangong Xiang Yu exchanged glances. They came with a purpose, and from the look of it, they came to join, or maybe to steal the codex.
Now that Tang Shaoyang thought about it, whether it was possible to steal the Grandmaster Codex or not. The codex was his class, the knowledge of martial arts, which was why his new class was God of Martial.
It meant he inherited a lot of martial techniques, which he interpreted since he didn’t really get any skills from the class, but he got many techniques that he could learn.
So, could someone steal the codex from him? If they could steal it, what would happen to his class? Would he lose his class?
"If we join the Thousand Vows Pavilion, will you grant us the Grandmaster position?" Nangong Hao asked.
It seemed they truly knew the Thousand Vows Pavilion’s structure. They didn’t ask what Grandmaster meant, but that helped him to shorten the explanation.
"I have to check how strong you are first..." As he said, he did Detection on both Nangong Hao and Nangong Xiang Yu. He was surprised to find out that both were at the peak of the True God Realm.
Both were on the same level, but he could sense that the previous Sword Saint was stronger. His internal energy was more refined and sharper than the current Nangong Patriarch. That explained why the Murim Alliance didn’t really hold much authority over the Nangong Family.
"You two will be appointed as Grandmaster if you join the Thousand Vows Pavilion. But remember this, you can join the Thousand Vows Pavilion, but you can’t leave the Thousand Vows Pavilion! The only way for you to leave is as a traitor, or a corpse."
The Nangong Family was known for their obsession with the sword. It was proven with the current situation that they were willing to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion just to perfect their technique with the knowledge from the Thousand Vows Pavilion.
However, as Tang Shaoyang said, the moment they joined the Thousand Vows Pavilion, they could not leave. Meaning, the Nangong Family would cease to exist. They would stand as one of the pavilions from the Thousand Vows Pavilion.
They had to sign a contract and take a Divine Oath. The contract was to keep them checked for a sign of betrayal, and the Divine Oath was a direct punishment.
Bai Jinwei remembered something as the topic of joining the Thousand Vows Pavilion was brought up.
"Sir! The Sword Manor is currently staying in our place, and they also express their willingness to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion!"
He said it in a whisper, but there was no way the Nangong Family’s people missed it when they were this close. That gave Nangong Hao and Nangong Xiang Yu a jolt, surprised to hear that. They certainly knew the Sword Manor, the only one they took as a rival.
Unfortunately, the Sword Manor closed their gate to the public and remained hidden. The Nangong Family could not find them unless the Sword Manor wanted to be found. It shocked them to hear that even the Sword Manor wanted to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion.
"I don’t have that much time to wait, especially a time to wait until you can make a decision," Tang Shaoyang clicked his tongue and turned toward Bai Jinwei, "Give them a place to stay for now. I will give you one day to come up with a decision. If you don’t have an answer for me by tomorrow, you’d better leave the Thousand Vows Pavilion."
"Also, tell the Sword Manor what I tell them and tell them to make up their mind by tomorrow. I will return tomorrow to officiate them with the contract and oath."
Tang Shaoyang’s figure blurred and returned to the floating island. He headed straight to his home after.
*** ***
Nangong Hao and Nangong Xiang Yu used the one day given to them to discuss their future. However, it was more like Nangong Hao’s decision than his father, the previous Sword Saint.
Nangong Xiang Yu had already made up his mind to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion even if the Nangong Family decided against it. He no longer had a responsibility, and the only drive he had was toward the sword. This was his chance to pursue the path of the sword further, so he had already made up his mind on the spot.
Nangong Hao and the Elders of the Nangong Family were discussing their future intensely, and the Elders’ opinions were split. Half of them wanted to join; it was the Elders who rarely cared about the Murim affair, but some Elders liked playing politics, and they didn’t want to lose the Nangong Family’s status.
In the end, the decision was in Nangong Hao. It was hard because his decision would end the historic family that had existed for thousands of years in the Sacred Realm.
However, Nangong Hao was the direct descendant of Nangong’s bloodline. Just like his father, he wanted to perfect his sword too, and this was his chance. He felt it; if he missed this chance, it would not come for him again.
After discussing it for one day, Nangong Hao decided to step down as the patriarch. His son was next in line, but his eldest son also expressed his desire to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion. Not just him, but all his sons and daughters decided to follow him to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion.
That one day became a historic moment for the Nangong Family, where the one who took the patriarch seat was not from the direct bloodline.
Nangong Hao’s cousin, one of the Elders, Nangong Yang Lin, took the patriarch seat. An issue came up, where Nangong Yang Lin tried to prevent the Nangong Family’s main force from leaving the Nangong Family to join the Thousand Vows Pavilion.
They were the core of the Nangong Family, and the Nangong would become much weaker if they also left. However, Nangong Hao fought for it and insisted that Nangong Yang Lin could not force them to stay with the Nangong Family.
A crack formed between the current leader and the former leader. Of course, Nangong Yang Lin had to yield in the matter because he was short in terms of influence and also strength.
However, another conflict broke out. This time, it was between the former Nangong Family and the Sword Manor. The conflict stemmed from the name of their pavilion.
The Sword Manor wanted to name their pavilion as Sword Pavilion, and so did Nangong Hao and Nangong Xian Yu. The sword was their identity, and they didn’t want their rival to take it from them.
