Chapter 301: Two Swords
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
4th Year of Yong An, Da Chu.
Loading Island, Golden Court Lake.
A noble and virtuous character is capable of great things!
Originally, the island was unnamed, however, once it was occupied by Xu Ting to load goods, it was named as such. Such a name reflected his ambitions.
At that moment, a few big ships were slowly approaching the pier.
A group of refugee families disembarked orderly, while the soldiers, evidently experienced, maintained a basic formation at the sides.
The terrain of the island was rather flat, there was a flat piece of land after a short distance away from the pier. On top of it, furrows were already ploughed and there were a few farmsteads.
The farmsteads and furrows were neatly built and evoked the beauty of a well-planned land.
"Sir!"
At that moment, a few scholarly looking men came forward.
"Hmm… doing well! How's the situation now?"
These men were all outstanding scholars in the family, they were literate and knew how to calculate. With them, they formed the backbone of the clan.
Xu Ting looked at the farmlands and took a deep breath, "This is what I call foundation!"
"We seek your approval in enforcing the Baojia neighbourhood administrative system here. Five families would form one unit, with one leader. Duties would also be clearly allocated. If anyone tried to escape, the whole unit would be implicated. We can currently form hundred of such units and reclaim 3,000 acres of land. Each family has to send out one fit man to join the troop and they would both work on the farm and undergo military training. As the people have both land and sufficient supplies of goods, they are contented and would rarely try to escape…" one of the scholars reported.
"Very good!"
Xu Ting nodded his head, "This time, I have conquered the pirates of 13 Chain Wall. There are 3,000 of them to be deported here, will there be any issue?"
As the place was under military jurisdiction, it was easier to organise and collect information. Hence, after a few moments, the scholar replied with conviction, "The wooden houses are all built, they are just waiting for people to move in. Also, we can reclaim 5000 acres of farmland on the flatlands and at least 800 acres of terraced fields on the hills. When the paddies are harvested, we will be able to feed thousands of fit men!"
This scholar was also a member of the Xu family, as he spoke, his eyes were filled with fervour.
In actual fact, the fit men were elite troops to be!
It was remarkable for them to be able to deploy thousands of troops and even attack other prefectures through the waterway.
Xu Ting was very pleased upon hearing such news.
In all honesty, it was a way for the troops to be stationed there. During peacetime, they worked as farmers, while during wartime, they fought as soldiers. Under military jurisdiction, they did not have to rely on unreasonable borrowing terms from magnates. Even with half the tax rates, it was a good policy and managed to greatly increase the authorities' reserves.
Furthermore, since paddies were harvested there, the yield was plentiful and it was sufficient to feed even more mouths.
As such, he had the capital to rise to power.
"The 13 Chain Wall was the last resistance alliance of the pirates. After this war, there would no more pirates of such scale in Golden Court Lake. Even if small groups of pirates were to appear, we can eradicate them sporadically…"
As Xu Ting entered the conference room, he continued, "Since I trust all of you all, I will say this directly. The world is in an ailing and chaos state right now, wicked ministers are in governance and military occupied towns are appearing everywhere. Our clan does not seek power or riches, we just want to be content with our lives, but to achieve this, we must have strength."
"This Loading Island is our clan's last base. When the situation is not in our favour, we can retreat here. With the protection of the undercurrents and reefs, we would be safe for at least a while here!"
"To rapidly expand the island's strength, there will be no issue even if there aren't any more pirates. We can go to each district and recruit their refugees, they don't even have to be from our prefecture!"
...
Through eradicating the pirates and having control of the troops, the entire island was already under Xu Ting's control, thus, he was not shy to share some classified secrets.
However, the real core and ambition would never be mentioned.
"Brilliant, Sir!"
However, with just those rationale, the crowd was overwhelmed with emotions.
After all, everyone could see how tumultuous the world was in. Since Loading Island was under the protection of natural hazards surrounding it and also had fertile lands, once it could be self-sufficient, people would be contented.
"Nowadays…, Wang Qiao's eagerness is growing even stronger. He even began scheming who would be his ministers, he simply could not be bothered to hide his plans to usurp…. The world is in chaos, however, with this base and troop, it doesn't mean that there's no hope for my clan to further progress!" Xu Ting thought.
Xu Ting gazed into the distance as his heart burnt with fiery.
...
"The uprising of people dao has been progressing quickly…, especially within the different nations, there seems to be a presence of demons…" Fang Yuan thought as he looked attentively at Loading Island from the water.
"In Da Qi and Da Liang, either the princes are fighting for the throne, or they have manipulating ministers in the country. Furthermore, the emperors are all not in good health. How could this be a coincidence? Hehe… the demons are truly easily predictable, just that with how much effort they are putting in, it is just for the good of others' causes!"
With the current situation, he could guess that there were already demons wreaking havoc within the high positions of each country, and these demons wanted the people dao's fate energy to diminish.
However, the heavens had made a fool of them!
These three countries were originally not favoured by the heavenly fate and were bound to decline and descent into chaos. It was a survival of the fittest!
When the demons interfered, it had the opposite effect of speeding up the process. Even the demons' higher beings and saints who predicted the heavenly secrets were muddled and had their skandhas messed up. The heaven made a total fool out of the demons and utterly misdirected them to such an extreme extent!
"I guess the heavenly trend in this realm is more powerful than what I have imagined…"
Fang Yuan's face became solemn as he turned his head away from Loading Island. He then arrived at a cave under the waters.
The horned dragon shook his tail and took on the magical clone of a human. He sat cross-legged and had two swords, one green and the other purple, floating in front of him. Both swords had a dazzling shine and were intimidating looking, evidently different from normal swords.
"Go!"
The moment he pointed his fingers, two surges of magical powers appeared and simultaneously turned into flames as it started to crazily form the two swords.
"These spiritual swords were no small matter! Previously, as it was limited by karma, it was close to being formed!"
At that moment, under the flames of magic, both swords floated unsteadily and continued to dazzle brightly. Sharp noises could be heard from the sword and it was as though the swords were giving their last-ditch of effort in resisting.
"Hehe… the last struggle at the point of death!"
As Fang Yuan laughed, powerful magic surged, and along with karma, it finally removed the remaining few traces of imprints in the spiritual swords completely.
"Swoosh!"
The two swords lost all its radiance and revealed a modest looking body. On top of the swords, there were many primitive patterns.
"Good swords! Indeed, they are such great swords, however, they aren't as simple as other rare treasures. In fact, it seems as though there's a faint sense of fate energy converging on it. It looks like it has to go through a round of killer tribulations…"
No matter how good a rare treasure was, as long as it could not be kept in the actualised dream world, it was not really valuable for Fang Yuan as he could only use it for a while in his current realm.
Of course, if Xuan Zhen Sect was to find out, they would be enraged.
"After such a long period of investigation, Xuan Zhen Sect should know my background by now? Also, I'm sure they would be back for their spiritual swords…"
Fang Yuan sneered as he made up his mind.
With a wave of his hands, the two swords landed on his hands.
After the swords lost its radiance, the inscriptions on the sword could be seen clearly. There were ancient characters on it. One was named Purple Suo and the other was named Green Qiu.
"Both men and swords have killer tribulations…, the reason why Xuan Zhen Sect forged these two swords was to use it in numerous battles to kill numerous people in order to pass its own tribulation…"
Naturally, Fang Yuan could easily guess the origins of the two swords. Suddenly, he had an idea. His hand beamed with magic and the Purple Suo sword changed its appearance. The Purple Suo sword became a primitive longsword in a scabbard, it was 40 inches long and had an indistinct purple glow. It was evident that the longsword was an extremely sharp and powerful weapon.
"Demons were their opponents, while their counterparts were their enemies…, does Xuan Zhen Sect really still want to support Xu family?" he thought.
Fang Yuan suddenly came over to the waters near Loading Island and disguised himself under the appearance of a normal young man. A layer of mist appeared as Fang Yuan instantaneously turned invisible, crossed the guards surrounding the island and reached the depths of the island.
...
"Eat more… my birds!"
Inside the dense forest, the daoist priest who fought along Xu Ting was seen feeding his white birds. A tinge of desolation appeared on his face.
Although he was a daoist priest, he had no official sect and did not have any legitimate ancestry. His name was Kong Luo. During a rare encounter with a wandering daoist priest when he was young, he got accepted into his master's sect as a disciple.
Except, such a descent still meant that he had no official inheritance of skills nor denomination. He only possessed the Quelling Bait Technique and the unique ability to raise white birds.
Such lone practitioners often had little or no disciples to pass down their skills and such techniques would become extinct a few generations later.
However, if a rare encounter were to be chance upon, his sect could still rise and be ranked amongst the sects.
Kong Luo spent half of his life wandering with his master before finally settling down at Golden Lake Prefecture. Before his master passed away, by pure coincidence, his master managed to get hold of some heavenly secrets and instructed him to seek refuge with the Xu family. By doing so, he could hone his skills under the protection of fate energy and then further look for opportunities to bring glory to his sect.
At that moment, inside Kong Luo's heart, he was in deep thoughts.
"It's great to practice inside here! With the support of Xu family, my Quelling Bait Technique has already finessed to 2nd Grade. Even master could not go beyond that grade… Nowadays, Xu Ting's fate energy has been prospering. Furthermore, since he is training his group of elite troops, his ambitions must not be small. If I can support him and gain some of his fate energy, my dao powers will greatly improve!"
"There are so many uniquely talented people in this world, my limited skills are actually nothing much…"
Originally, he was heavily favoured and utilised by Xu Ting. However, as time past, Xuan Zhen Sect began investing more and more in Xu family, especially with their own daoist priests, and hence, Kong Luo was edged out and became dispensable.
As Kong Luo felt that his position was threatened, a despondent and worried look appeared on his face naturally.
"Hiss!"
Suddenly, a scent of blood filled the air and noises could be heard from the bushes. A black-coloured giant snake leapt out. Its eyes were filled with savagery and it pounced towards Kong Luo.
"What? Such a big snake? What a monstrous fiend!"
Kong Luo was terrified. The island was cleared before, hence, it should not have any beasts still living in it. Why was there still such a huge snake?
Kong Luo jumped away immediately and summoned a talisman, "Haste!"
"Puff!"
Sparks flashed as the black snake flinched for a moment before it immediately struck its tail at Kong Luo. Kong Luo was knocked back and began vomiting blood.
"Quick, call somebody!"
The white bird on his shoulder flew towards the village while it made ailing shrills.
Kong Luo did not hesitate even for a moment and fled for his life.
"Am I going to die? No! I still have to revive my sect!"
As he thought of his master's last will, Kong Luo mustered all his remaining strength and scrambled down the hill.
As the hill was not far from the village and since the area was under military jurisdiction, a group of soldiers quickly ran over.
"Save me!"
As Kong Luo saw the soldiers approaching, he immediately used his last breath to shout out loud.