Chapter 242: Chapter 237: Qin Shang’s Request
Mu Chen fell silent at his words. The recent incident with Mo Qing had left him feeling unsettled, and now this news came out of nowhere. For someone like Mu Chen, who was already tangled in matters of the heart, it only stirred his turbulent emotions further.
Qin Shang stared at Mu Chen and sighed. "I’m not telling you this to pressure you," he said. "I’m doing it to prevent my only sister from doing something drastic. So, I need to ask a favor of you."
Mu Chen wasn’t a heartless or ungrateful person. After all, Qin Wu had once saved his life. A debt of gratitude was an elusive thing; sometimes, it was a fuse just waiting to be lit.
"Young Master Qin, just tell me," Mu Chen said, his expression firm. "If it’s within my power, I will do everything I can."
A smile finally touched Qin Shang’s lips, but it quickly faded. He continued, his expression troubled, "This matter may be extremely difficult, far beyond what you can accomplish with your current strength. Even so, will you still agree?"
Mu Chen thought for a moment. "The fact that you came to me means you believe I’m capable of accomplishing this," he said. "Maybe not right now, but I will be eventually."
Qin Shang laughed heartily. "You’re becoming more and more interesting. You’re not wrong, but you are indeed far too weak right now. However, I believe that with your talent, it won’t take more than a few years for you to make a name for yourself across the entire Extreme Martial Continent. But you don’t have that long—only three years. Three years from now, on the seventh day of the seventh month, is the day my sister marries into the Turtle Spirit Sect. What I’m asking you to do is to steal my sister away from the Turtle Spirit Sect and take her far, far away..."
Mu Chen was stunned. "You mean... you want me to crash the wedding and steal the bride?"
Qin Shang nodded. "Exactly. Steal the bride. It’s the only way to save my sister. But the Turtle Spirit Sect is one of the Nine Great Influences at the apex of the continent. On that day, countless Great Powers will surely be in attendance. Your success will depend on your strength and preparation."
Mu Chen was speechless. ’Great Powers from the Nine Great Influences... he must be talking about Saints. Stealing a bride right under the noses of Saints... Is that even possible?’
"It will be difficult," Qin Shang said, "but if the Tingyu Pavilion provides covert support, it’s not entirely without a chance."
Mu Chen didn’t hesitate for long. "It’s like I said," he agreed. "If I have the power in three years, I will do everything I can. Even if I don’t, I’ll still go!"
Seeing Mu Chen agree, Qin Shang’s expression relaxed. "Trust me, three years is enough time for me to make all the arrangements. Your chances of success will be greatly increased by then." With that, Qin Shang patted Mu Chen’s right shoulder, but he inadvertently brushed against Mu Chen’s mangled right arm. Feeling the familiar shape of the wound, Qin Shang’s expression changed dramatically before he instantly schooled his features. Fortunately, Mu Chen was lost in thought and didn’t notice, otherwise he certainly would have found it suspicious.
Patting Mu Chen’s shoulder again, Qin Shang said softly, "Mu Chen, my sister’s future is in your hands."
With that, Qin Shang unfastened a Jade Token from his waist and smiled. "This is my personal Jade Token, a symbol of my identity. With your potential, a small place like the Xuanling Empire can’t possibly contain you. Your ultimate stage is bound to be in the Central State. Take this token; it will be very convenient for you when you arrive there."
Mu Chen frowned. "This must be very important. I can’t accept it."
Qin Shang shook his head. "No matter how important it is, it can’t compare to my sister. Just take it; it will be a great help to you later on." As he spoke, Qin Shang pressed the Jade Token into Mu Chen’s hand and continued, "When you have a moment, try probing this Jade Token with your Spiritual Power. You might make a surprising discovery."
With that, Qin Shang let out a breath. "Well, my purpose here has been achieved. I still have many matters to attend to back at the Pavilion, so I can’t stay any longer. A round trip takes a full month... Being the Young Master really is a thankless job."
With a self-deprecating laugh, Qin Shang turned to leave, but Mu Chen stopped him.
"Young Master Qin... can you tell me the current Martial Artist Realm of the Turtle Spirit Sect’s Young Sect Master?"
Qin Shang faltered. After a moment of silence, he said, "Half a month ago, he broke through to the Emperor Realm."
"And you?"
"Third-Ring Martial Emperor."
After saying this, Qin Shang called out to Elder Qin Yuan and vanished on the spot, leaving a stunned Mu Chen speechless.
’A Third-Ring Martial Emperor at twenty... Is this the power of the Central State?’
...
High in the void, Qin Shang, who had just vanished, took one last, deep look at Mu Chen below. Turning his head, he said, "Elder Qin Yuan, let’s go. It’s time to head back."
Elder Qin Yuan frowned. "But, Young Master, that personal Jade Token was a gift from the Pavilion Master himself when you were a child. To just give it to a boy you’ve barely met... isn’t that a bit too..."
Qin Shang smiled. "Too reckless? Elder Qin Yuan, you are mistaken. If I’m not wrong, this Mu Chen’s background is anything but simple. Do you know what I discovered when I touched the wound on his severed limb?"
"What did you discover?" Elder Qin Yuan asked.
"The Overlord Sect’s Overlord Spear Technique," Qin Shang said, a cold glint in his eyes. "And a Celestial Level Overlord Spear Technique, at that."
"What?!" Elder Qin Yuan froze. Known to others as an "old monster," she hadn’t revealed such an expression in many years.
"You must know what this implies, Elder Qin Yuan. That boy’s arm was undoubtedly severed by someone from the Overlord Sect. Which means he’s absolutely not from the Xuanling Empire, but... from the Central State!" Qin Shang gave a slight smile. "It seems he has some history with the Overlord Sect. Mu Chen, Mu Chen. Surname Mu? Haha, how interesting. I’m looking forward more and more to seeing what a stir he’ll cause when he reaches the Central State."
Listening to Qin Shang, Elder Qin Yuan also seemed to have thought of something, a contemplative look filling her eyes. Her hands, however, did not stop. With a swipe of her finger through the void, a massive Spatial Rift materialized out of thin air. With practiced ease, the two of them stepped into it and vanished.
...
The matter on that front had concluded, but 「On the Northern Border of the Xuanling Empire」 an argument was unfolding.
"Who’s Shen Jianxin? Is he edible?" Elder Mu asked, staring at Qin Garden with a blank look.
Qin Garden snorted. "Stop pretending. I have plenty of evidence that you’re Dean Shen Jianxin."
Elder Mu just kept staring at the sky. He let out a huge yawn. "What nice weather today. Oh dear, my stomach’s rumbling. Time to go find some food."
"Do you dare show everyone your right hand!" Qin Garden pressed on, completely ignoring Elder Mu’s attempt to deflect.
At this, everyone was captivated by Qin Garden’s words. Even Xuan Yin and Wu Changqing were starting to believe that this Elder Mu really was Shen Jianxin—if only because they, too, had caught a fleeting glimpse of his right hand moments before.
Seeing he could no longer hide it, Elder Mu finally gave in. "All right, you got me," he said with a sheepish laugh. "Fine, I’m Shen Jianxin. But that was just a name. Is it any different from being Elder Mu? This is such a pain in the ass!"
"You... You’re really Dean Shen Jianxin?" Xuan Yin was aghast. ’But didn’t he disappear a thousand years ago?’
Elder Mu said impatiently, "See? When I denied it, you all insisted. Now that I’ve admitted I’m Shen Jianxin, you don’t believe me. Are you all crazy? I’m going to get some food. Goodbye, kids."
But before he could turn to leave, Qin Garden grabbed his sleeve. "Dean Shen, why did you suddenly disappear a thousand years ago? If you hadn’t, the Xuanling Empire would never have fallen into such a state!"
Qin Garden had become emotional. Xuan Yin and Wu Changqing hurriedly pulled her hand away. "Qin Garden, calm down," they said. "No matter what, Dean Shen is a Saint. You can’t be disrespectful."
Shen Jianxin glanced around, his expression solemn. "There’s no harm in telling you," he said. "But stop with all the formal titles. I don’t like it."
"Yes, sir," the group replied respectfully. ’Are you kidding?’ they all thought. ’He’s a Saint. Even if he tells us not to use titles, we have to maintain basic etiquette.’
"The real reason I disappeared back then was because of the emergence of a certain power," Shen Jianxin explained. "Even though the Xuanling Empire is remote, I’m sure you’ve heard its name—the Divine Hall of Light."
"The Divine Hall of Light?" The others were surprised. They thought it was just a new power that had emerged a thousand years ago without much real impact.
Shen Jianxin continued, "Mm. I disappeared to investigate that power. You must not underestimate the influence of this fledgling faction. If they were to fully emerge, they would undoubtedly disrupt the balance of the entire continent. Saying more would only confuse you and invite unnecessary trouble, so I won’t explain further. That’s the first reason. The second reason is simply that I hate hassle. How could I keep doing something as exhausting as running an academy? So, I snuck off, disguised myself, and came back here to be the administrator of the Library Pavilion—a job so idle you can’t get any more idle—so I could slack off and enjoy a quiet retirement."
"Alright, I’ve said my piece. Can I go now? Oh, right..." Shen Jianxin took a deep breath. "Listen to what I told you, and then forget it ever happened. I’m still just the administrator of the Library Pavilion, and you should all go back to your duties. I won’t intervene unless the Empire is on the brink of collapse. Besides, with that kid Mu Chen around, the Xuanling Empire is destined to rise. I don’t need to worry in the slightest. The neighboring empires won’t dare make a move on the Xuanling Empire now, either. Just go and bring back the evacuated citizens."
"Yes, sir!" Although they didn’t fully understand everything he had said, one thing was clear: the Xuanling Empire finally had a powerful protector.
"Huh?" Elder Mu muttered with a soft exclamation. "Those two are really something else, leaving little Mu Chen behind all by himself. That won’t do. The boy has no Primordial Power to support himself right now. I’ve got to go bring him back." He turned his head and added, "You all should hurry back to your posts, too."
With that, Elder Mu’s body abruptly dissolved, vanishing from the world in the next instant. He left everyone on the city wall staring at one another in blank dismay. Even now, the resolution of the crisis felt like a dream, something too surreal to be believed.
