It was as if the heavens and the earth were torn apart. Nothing could explain the shock Yao Guang Yi was feeling.
As though a clown, he was played in the hands of another by the border. Yao Guang Yi always thought that a master strategist has rendered his help to the Wang Clan, allowing them to see through his ploy in advance.
And it was because of this ‘master strategist’ that Yao Guang Yi suffered from a lack of appetite and insomnia.
It wasn’t a formidable adversary that was fearsome. What was fearsome was an adversary hidden in the shadows. Thus, before this hidden master strategist was found, Yao Guang Yi couldn’t recover from this blow
This was the knot in his heart!
If it wasn’t untied, he would never return to that wise and intelligent strategist he was before.
Just that, despite Yao Guang Yi’s intelligence, he couldn’t have expected that his opponent, the seemingly omniscient ‘master strategist’, was actually a fifteen-year-old child of the Wang Clan, and an unimpressive profligate scion on top of that!
As an important official of the royal court who prided himself on his intelligence, how could Yao Guang Yi accept this?
“Father, how can you be so certain that it was that lad who did me in?”
Yao Guang Yi asked
Under usual circumstances, he would have never dared doubt his father’s words. However, this matter was simply too important to him. If he didn’t untie this knot, it would continue to plague him for life.
“Heh, you still can’t understand it?”
Old Master Yao placed the wooden box on the table in the drawer. With a calm and casual expression, he spoke as though he was revealing the answer to an insignificant matter.
“Given that such a huge matter involving the Wang Clan had occurred by the border and a ‘formidable expert’ had appeared within the Wang Clan, do you think that King Song can resist taking a look?”
“But isn’t it possible for him to know of the matter in advance?”
Yao Guang Yi asked.
Old Master Yao shook his head. If it was the past Yao Guang Yi, he should have long understood the situation by now. However, the matter by the border has crushed his confidence. He was no longer the intelligent general that he once was.
“Think carefully about it. If the Wang Clan had a formidable expert and King Song knew of the matter in advance, do you think that King Qi and your plan would have worked? Do you think that it would have been possible for you two to poach so many people over?”
Hong!
The Old Master Yao’s voice was neither loud nor soft, and it was extremely casual. But to Yao Guang Yi, they sounded like the words of a sage. In an instant, countless lights and thoughts flashed across his head, and suddenly, all of those unsolvable mysteries which had baffled him for a very long time became clear.
“So, the person who meets King Song last at Duke Jiu’s birthday banquet is the person we are looking for!”
“Un.”
Gladdened, Old Master Yao nodded his head. At least this child wasn’t too dumb to be able to understand this.
“Li Chengqi is a smart person, but smart people often get blinded by their own intelligence. He wanted to protect that child, but he didn’t know that in the end, he was the one who revealed to us who it was that did you in.”
Yao Guang Yi stood there in a daze, motionless. His turbid eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and incomprehension, and he felt as though he had fallen into a vortex. He struggled violently, and slowly, he floated to the surface. His murkiness in his eyes gradually disappeared, and his eyes became clear once more.
At the same time, something new struggled out from the confines of his heart.
That confused Yao Guang Yi gradually disappeared, and a confident and majestic Yao Guang Yi took his place.
“I couldn’t have imagined that it was him. This is completely out of my expectations…. I thought that the matter at the Vast Crane Pavilion was only a coincidence, but to think that it was him!”
Yao Guang Yi was truly astonished by this matter.
“Father, the Wang Clan has never been skilled in political schemes, but now, a child who is capable of outwitting me has appeared. This isn’t a good sign.”
“So… Do you intend to get rid of him?”
Old Master Yao turned his head over, and he spoke with steady and composed tone.
Yao Guang Yi was taken aback. In his view, such a threat should be eliminated as soon as possible. However, judging from the old master’s tone, he didn’t seem to approve of such a course of action.
“Father, are you saying that we should keep him for now?”
Yao Guang Yi was surprised.
“This isn’t a matter of whether we should keep him or not!”
Old Master Yao stared at Yao Guang Yi with deep, purposeful eyes.
“If you wish to eliminate that child, and if the Wang Clan exacts vengeance with King Song’s backing, and the Sage Emperor blames us, I can shoulder it all for you. However, are you certain that you want to do this?”
Except for the burning wick in the oil lamp, the room was completely silent.
Yao Guang Yi fell into deep thought.
Old Master Yao shook his head. Yao Guang Yi wasn’t able to clearly see the situation he was in. This child hasn’t fully recovered from his defeat yet.
“Guang Yi… Do you think that our Yao Clan gained power by eliminating all of our adversaries? If that was the case, how are we different from those general clans?”
Old Master Yao spoke calmly and casually.
Weng!
After hearing these words, Yao Guang Yi’s body trembled as several thoughts flashed across his mind.
Suddenly, a layer of cold sweat emerged on his forehead.
“Looks like you understand my words. The crux of this matter is not that child, but you! Do you know why you want to kill him? It’s because you fear.”
Old Master Yao narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t look at Yao Guang Yi. Instead, he gazed at the dancing flame in the lamp.
“In the long history of our Yao Clan, we have weathered through innumerable storms. Many were figures even more formidable than that child. Was Zhou Chang weaker than him? Was Li Yu weaker than him? Was Wang Gen weaker than him?… There were so many formidable individuals who we didn’t eliminate, yet you chose to direct your killing intent toward this child. This is because you feel fear! You are terrified!”
“…And your opponent is just a child!”
As though a light drizzle, cold sweat dripped off Yao Guang Yi’s forehead. Every single sentence spoken by Old Master Yao added another layer of dampness to it. Eventually, by the time Old Master Yao finished his piece, Yao Guang Yi was already soaked throughout.
“Meeting an opponent isn’t fearsome, our Yao Clan never fears a rival! If we meet one, we will just defeat him with our wits. If you fear him, it implies that you lack the bravery to face him with your intelligence. Guang Yi, you better think it through. Do you truly intend to eliminate that child?”
The room was silent for a long time before a long sigh sounded.
“Father, I was wrong!”
“It’s not too late for you to realize this. That child of the Wang Clan must be eliminated, but not in this way. The Consort Taizhen incident is a good opportunity. Utilize your wits to assist King Qi and win his trust.”
After saying those words, Old Master Yao closed his eyes.
“…Yes, father!”
Yao Guang Yi lowered his back and slowly retreated from the room respectfully. When he came, he was filled with worries, but when he left, he felt as though he was stripped of all his burdens!
…………
Wang Chong knew that neither the Consort Taizhen incident nor the regional commanders policy could be resolved swiftly.
The ruckus in the royal court would surely continue for a very long time.
But all of these had nothing to do with him.
After his grandfather’s birthday, Wang Chong’s life reverted to back to normal; he would visit the Ghost Tree District everyday before working on his cultivation. Gradually, it became his daily routine.
As for the second seven chi long slender Wootz steel katana, he had already completed the design and handed it over to Tuoba Guiyuan to handle the primary work.
(2.33m)
As for the crucial steps such as quenching and tempering, Wang Chong would deal with them personally later on.
“…Origin Energy Tier 6. Perhaps it’s time for me to choose a secret art to boost my strength.”
Training alone in the flower garden beside a fake hill, a thought suddenly flashed across Wang Chong’s mind. It was on his battle with Xu Xuan.
Even though Xu Xuan lost to him, his ‘Ferocious Elephant Technique’ left a deep impression. The Xu Clan was a duke’s clan in Great Tang, so naturally, the martial arts the Sage Emperor bestowed them was extraordinary.
Compared with the techniques that many other general clans practice, 《Ferocious Elephant Technique》 was ranked among the top of the strength boosting secret arts. It was also because of this technique that Xu Xuan was able to stand out among his peers.
If not for the ‘Herculean Punch’, Wang Chong might not necessarily be a match for Xu Xuan in a battle of strength!
Origin Energy Tier 6 opened up a whole new world for a martial artist. One would have the choice to specialize in speed, strength, or dexterity.
Many people would choose strength, and Wang Chong was no different. However, this wasn’t because Wang Chong wanted to go down the path of a strength-type martial artist, but because he had no other choice.
At Origin Energy Tier 6, he could only learn strength-type secret arts.
Wang Chong dived into his memories and browsed through all of the techniques he had learned in his previous life.
The first thing that Wang Chong did was to eliminate the ordinary strength-type secret arts. To him, the technique must at least be on the level of 《Ferocious Elephant Technique 》, or even better, exceed it.
“Found it!”
Wang Chong suddenly recalled one ultimate secret art which he learned after he became the Great Marshal of the Central Plains.
To the expert he was then, it wasn’t a particularly powerful technique, but to Origin Energy martial artists, it was an ultimate secret art which could augment one’s strength swiftly.
Ire of the Barbaric God!
This was the technique which Wang Chong worked together with numerous experts to create back then. It was the fastest, strongest, and best method to augment a martial artist’s strength.
Based on their estimations at that time, this technique could grant the human martial artists strength to rival the foreign invaders or even subdue them. Thus, their original intention was to propagate it in the Central Plains.
If it succeeded, they could turn the tides of battle and send those foreign invaders back from where they came from!
The successful creation of this technique left the commanders and old elders of the Central Plains military excited for an extremely long time!
But eventually, this plan was scrapped.
The reason was simple. Even though Ire of the Barbaric God was powerful, and the strength enhancement was great as well, they found a fatal flaw in it.
——One had to have the root bone of ‘Tiger Bone’ level to cultivate the Ire of the Barbaric God!
Most martial artists didn’t meet this criteria, and those who could cultivate this technique only numbered a handful. Furthermore, the cultivation of the root bone was an extremely lengthy and difficult process. Thus, they could only put this plan aside.
But putting aside the flaw, even Wang Chong, who had once become one of the greatest experts of the Central Plains, couldn’t help but admit that this technique was the best strength-based secret art for martial artists of the Origin Energy realm, True Martial realm, and even up to Profound Martial realm!