"Mm, I understand. You may go."
After pondering for a moment in the courtyard, Zheng Qian waved at Zhou Qingyun.
"Yes, Young Master." Zhou Qingyun immediately bowed and tactfully took his leave.
Only after watching Zhou Qingyun disappear from sight did Zheng Qian withdraw his gaze, his eyes gleaming with concentration.
Regardless of what the royal family was thinking, this was a good thing for him. He had no reason to refuse.
However, he was not a brainless hothead who would rush to the royal city to choose a martial art right now.
That was the royal city—the royal family's lair, a perilous place guarded by two veteran Grandmasters.
Who knew whether the royal family planned to lure him to the royal city first, then surround and kill him?
Therefore, he planned to conduct another simulation and go only after raising his strength a little further.
Three days later, news quickly spread throughout Ziyang City, then at astonishing speed across Xishan Commandery and even the entire Xingyang Dynasty.
The message was very simple:
The Emperor decrees: Grandmaster Zheng Qian is hereby conferred the title of Carefree King of the Xingyang Dynasty, and the entirety of Xishan Commandery is granted as his fief.
The message did not mention tribute, taxes, or Grandmaster martial arts, but even so, it still left countless people utterly dumbfounded.
That was because ninety-nine percent of them did not know who Zheng Qian was, but they recognized the two words "Grandmaster" in the message.
For a time, all sorts of speculation about Zheng Qian ran rampant.
Some said he was a genius from a reclusive family who had now emerged to cooperate with the Xingyang royal family, preparing to help them expand their territory.
Others said he was a powerful figure the royal family had secretly nurtured