First Treasure

Uncle Tang, whose name was Tang Chuan, was the ruler of Ping'an Prefecture, north of Wangyue Prefecture.

Ning Xuan had intended to host a banquet, but Tang Chuan waved a hand and said warmly, "It's already evening. A bowl of plain noodles will do. As for wine, let's skip it. I know a little about what you want to ask, nephew. We can talk while we eat."

Ning Taiyi smiled. "Xuan'er, people in our line of work pay close attention to our health. We only take a few bites of rich food when we can't avoid it. Forget your Uncle Tang—even your father, have you ever seen me gorge myself?"

Ning Xuan suddenly thought of the president of the Wealthy Merchant Guild. That man was fat and round-eared, and ate nothing but delicacies from land and sea every day. The comparison truly brought out the difference.

He nodded.

Ning Taiyi said, "Your Uncle Tang and I only need two bowls of plain noodles. As for you... eat whatever rich food you should eat. You're different from us."

Ning Xuan smiled and had Xiao Jie make the arrangements.

Before long, three bowls of noodles were brought to the table.

Two were plain noodles, fragrant and steaming, with chopped scallions floating on top and neatly arranged green vegetables.

Ning Xuan's bowl merely had an extra large piece of meat.

The three began eating.

As they ate—

Ning Taiyi said, "Old Tang, you stayed in the Imperial Capital for a long time and only came out in the past ten years. Is there anything you can teach my Xuan'er?"

Tang Chuan said, "The court is carrying out reforms."

Seeing Ning Taiyi's grave expression, Tang Chuan added, "There's nothing taboo about saying it. The court has begun placing special importance on generals, and it has also started specifically cultivating Demon-Plague Warriors with decent self-control."

Ning Taiyi asked, "What kind of importance?"

Tang Chuan said, "I don't know. I have no other generals' descendants to compare with, so there's no way for me to learn more. But nephew will find out soon enough."

Ning Taiyi was exceedingly sharp. He frowned. "You mean that even if I report this to Great General Qin this time, in the end... Xuan'er and my Ning Family will still have to obey His Majesty's deployment?"

Tang Chuan did not answer. Instead, he suddenly asked, "How many years of history do you think the Qin Family has?"

A look of alarm appeared on Ning Taiyi's face.

It was not as though he had never looked into this matter. It was simply that no one dared speak of it so openly.

Great General Qin's residence had stood for over eighty years. Two Sons of Heaven had already died, yet that Great General Qin remained alive. Great General Qin had practically become an evergreen tree of all Vast Province, even of this entire region.

Tang Chuan said, "That is why His Majesty, who has only recently ascended the throne, wishes to make some changes. His Majesty will not pressure newly risen generals. On the contrary, he will grant them considerable benefits. So, Brother Ning, nephew, you can set your minds at ease."

Ning Xuan's head was spinning.

Tang Chuan's meaning was nothing more than that His Majesty wanted to divide the "generals" into "new and old factions." The "new faction" would be closer to His Majesty, while also drawing a line between itself and the "old faction."

Demons and monsters, political scheming...

Couldn't people just live their lives?

He began to worry for his father.

The Ning Family had been preserved.

But the Ning Family's future was still uncertain.

Would his future wife be from General Qin's residence, or would she be one of His Majesty's people?

In any case, he did not regard a wife gained through such a marriage alliance as a wife. They were all spokespersons for their respective interests. As long as she was not ugly enough to disgrace him, that would be fine.

But then he realized that the one saying all this was Tang Chuan.

What had Tang Chuan come here for?

Tang Chuan had come to arrange a marriage alliance.

By saying all this, if his father came to think neither side was suitable to marry into, then wouldn't he end up marrying a daughter of the Tang Family?

They were all old foxes...

Ning Xuan ignored that and instead asked curiously, "Why has Great General Qin's residence been able to endure for eighty years?"

For the Great General's residence to have lasted eighty years did not mean Great General Qin had lived only eighty years. It meant that after becoming Great General, he had lived another eighty years, and even now the residence still stood firm. Clearly, he had not yet grown old.

Tang Chuan did not answer. He lifted his bowl, drained the remaining noodle soup, then reached into his robes and took out a palm-sized jade box. He set it on the table and pushed it toward Ning Xuan.

He smiled. "I originally intended to sell this item to the highest bidder. But I am quite satisfied with your methods and temperament, nephew. Whether we have the chance to become one family or not, this is a gift for you."

Then he said, "Open it and take a look."

Ning Xuan moved his fingers.

The box opened, revealing a palm-sized throwing knife within.

Yet the knife had no handle. Its entire body was forged from metal, and its blade was extremely thin.

Looking closer, he found the metal itself ice-cold and sinister. Faint patterns of dark-blue thorned ice spikes could vaguely be seen within it.

No amount of repeated forging could layer steel into such patterns. This could only mean that the metal itself possessed some special quality.

Tang Chuan smiled. "Try gripping it tightly."

Avoiding the blade, Ning Xuan closed his five fingers around it.

At that grip, he felt a terrifying chill surging outward.

He released his hand.

Slap.

The throwing knife fell to the ground.

Tang Chuan looked at him strangely and said, "Nephew, you truly are cautious. You've been struck by cold—shouldn't you use your qi and blood to resist it?"

Ning Xuan said, "Uncle Tang, don't keep me guessing."

Tang Chuan said, "Use your qi and blood to fend off the chill, then push back into the knife. That way, you can thoroughly make this throwing knife yours to command. This knife can not only withstand all your strength, but also sense your qi and blood. So long as your qi and blood are not exhausted, it can fly through the air and obey your will completely."

Seeing that Ning Xuan still did not take it in hand—

Tang Chuan said, "Bing'er obtained this item from the Divine Weapon Camp. She couldn't use it, so this time, I brought it out as her father."

A look of surprise appeared in Ning Taiyi's eyes as he praised, "Your daughter actually entered the Divine Weapon Camp?"

Tang Chuan smiled. "Brother Ning, am I sincere enough? Why not let the children spend some time together and see? If they take a liking to each other, all the better."

Ning Taiyi fell into thought.

Tang Chuan remained utterly composed.

Sensing his son's curious gaze, Ning Taiyi explained, "The Divine Weapon Camp is a mysterious force established by the Imperial Capital after demons and monsters appeared. This old man knows little else about it, but I do know that the weapons produced by the Divine Weapon Camp are all extraordinarily formidable."

Tang Chuan smiled. "It wasn't easy for Bing'er to enter that camp. She went through quite a few assessments. Stormy Pear Blossom and Four Generations Together were both part of her assessment works. Only after the Divine Weapon Camp confirmed that she truly possessed talent did they permit her to join."

Ning Xuan slowly clenched the throwing knife.

Cold surged into him.

He pressed back against it with his qi and blood.

Little by little, the cold dissolved, and the throwing knife formed a mysterious connection with him.

The words "refining" instantly surfaced in his mind.

With a thought, he held his five fingers beneath it, and the throwing knife began spinning with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"; with another thought, the spinning knife abruptly stopped; with yet another, it circled once through the hall.

He found it intriguing and grew accustomed to controlling the throwing knife.

As he became more proficient, the throwing knife grew faster and faster, gradually turning into a rainbow gleam that wound around him in circles, like a spindle spinning silver gauze.

He felt the expenditure.

The throwing knife consumed a great deal.

Even more than the expenditure of one of his full-power strikes.

The faster the throwing knife flew, the farther it went, the greater the expenditure.

Ning Xuan tested it simply.

Before long, he extended his palm, and the rainbow gleam landed in it once more.

He stared at the settled rainbow gleam, at the throwing knife patterned with thorny ice spikes, and "Brocade Kasaya" and "Yin Wind Banner" involuntarily came to mind.

Though this throwing knife was merely the simplest kind of weapon that could bear his power, though it lacked the power of the Brocade Kasaya to share and dissolve force, and lacked the Yin Wind Banner's effect of bolstering yin winds, it was already a genuine treasure—and one not formed from incense offerings.

"Thank you, Uncle Tang!"

Ning Xuan rose and said gratefully.

Tang Chuan chuckled, then said, "Bing'er is outstanding, and so are you. Why don't you two juniors spend some time together and see how it goes?"

As he spoke, he looked at Ning Taiyi and smiled. "Brother Ning, how about we take a walk after the meal and talk some more?"

Ning Taiyi smiled. "Very well."

The three of them strolled together through the gardens that came with the residence.

Just as they were chatting merrily, a streak of golden light suddenly surged up from the ground and appeared at Tang Chuan's side. It was a middle-aged celestial master in purple robes.

The celestial master looked at Tang Chuan respectfully and said in a low voice, "Prefect Tang, something has happened."

Tang Chuan frowned. "Can't you see I'm having a pleasant conversation with Brother Ning and Nephew Ning?"

The celestial master said gravely, "Prefect, it is a major matter. A great many demons and monsters have appeared west of Ping'an Prefecture. Black smoke is billowing everywhere—it is practically a demon tide."

Tang Chuan froze.

Ning Taiyi said, "Then Brother Tang should attend to your affairs first."

Tang Chuan nodded, then said, "Brother Ning, Nephew, I'll go attend to official business first."

The three bid one another farewell.

Immediately afterward, the purple-robed celestial master took Tang Chuan with him, and the two vanished from where they stood.

Ning Taiyi looked at the fading golden light and said, "Every family sweeps the snow from before its own door. After all, if you clear the snow, you reap the benefits; if you cannot clear it, you must bear the disaster yourself—unless a deal was made beforehand, or there are arrangements from above."

He was explaining this to Ning Xuan.

Even if the demon disaster next door had turned the world upside down, even if he and Tang Chuan had a good personal relationship, he would not help without cause.

Tang Chuan clearly understood this as well. Thus, even though the celestial master had practically written the word "panic" across his face, he had not asked this readily available "nephew who was a prospective general" for help.

Such were the rules.

Ning Xuan stretched and said, "I'm going to grab a bite."

Ning Taiyi smiled. "You brat, where do you want to find yourself a wife?"

Ning Xuan said, "I want to marry Xiao Jie. No trouble at all."

Ning Taiyi said, "Don't worry. Your father will do everything in his power to help you keep watch."

Ning Xuan waved a hand. "All right, old man. Do as you please."

With that, he returned to his usual dissolute, playboy demeanor.

Watching his retreating back, Ning Taiyi's smile gradually faded. He coughed heavily several times, weakness filling his eyes. He murmured, "Your marriage is the final move I can place for the Ning Family before I die. I will place it well... I will not let the Ning Family be destroyed."