Shaking Down Jia Xingtian

Jia Ma Empire, Imperial Capital, the imperial gardens.

Jia Xingtian had been feeling uneasy lately. He did not know whether it was because the Misty Cloud Sect now had a Dou Zong, its strength officially surpassing the Jia Ma Imperial Family, or because his own breakthrough remained elusive. He was getting on in years, yet he had not even touched the threshold of Dou Zong.

In any case, he decided to clear his head on the hill behind the imperial gardens.

There was a pond on the hill behind the imperial gardens, fed by flowing water from an underground river. Fish often surfaced there.

Today, Jia Xingtian had risen bright and early, donned a bamboo hat and straw rain cape, and brought his fishing tackle and bait here specifically to fish.

Fishing was the finest way to temper one's mind, for fish were not as obedient and accommodating as people. Whether you were the ruler of a nation or a towering authority in your field, if you were destined to come home empty-handed, empty-handed you would come.

A fine rain fell steadily, pattering merrily against Jia Xingtian's bamboo hat and straw rain cape.

Jia Xingtian sat there all morning, wasting plenty of bait without seeing so much as a fish's shadow.

He could not help sighing. Looking up at the gloomy sky, he murmured to himself, "Heaven refuses to grant a man's wishes..."

High above, a little black speck was rapidly approaching. The newcomer made no attempt to conceal his aura, brazenly barging straight in.

Several Dou Wang experts of the Imperial Family sensed a dangerous presence. Their figures flashed as they spread the wings formed from Dou Qi on their backs. They were about to soar into the sky to investigate when a wave of pressure descended from above and slapped them back down.

"Ah, that old fellow..." Jia Xingtian sighed. By now, every expert in the Imperial Capital had noticed someone barging unrestrained into the hill behind the imperial gardens.

By rights, Jia Xingtian should have flown into a rage, charged up to stop this arrogant fellow, and argued the matter out to defend the dignity and standing of the Jia Ma Imperial Family. But Yun Congxin had not come alone. He had also brought along, bound, the four-man team Jia Xingtian had secretly sent to Wutan City to do some dirty work. That left Jia Xingtian without a leg to stand on.

"Is he deliberately flying this slowly with our people tied up so he can parade them through the streets?" Even knowing he was in the wrong, Jia Xingtian was still a little angry. "He won't leave us even a shred of dignity. Is his Misty Cloud Sect really so clean? Is there not a single fault to be found with it?!"

Yun Congxin descended through the air. Behind him, four ribbons formed from pale blue wind fluttered upward, each with one of the men Jia Xingtian had sent to Wutan City tied to its end.

They looked like four bobbing balloons, utterly ridiculous.

"Sect Master Yun, I trust you've been well. What brings you to my hill today?"

Jia Xingtian put on an air of perfect composure. With his back to Yun Congxin, he held his fishing rod motionless, as though he really were an old man wholly absorbed in fishing.

"Drop the act, old fellow. You know perfectly well why I'm here." Yun Congxin neither negotiated nor beat around the bush. With a casual wave, he released the four men from their bonds and sat down beside Jia Xingtian.

"What have you fellows done to upset Sect Master Yun so?" Jia Xingtian continued playing ignorant despite knowing the truth. "Hurry up and apologize to Sect Master Yun!"

The four men dropped to their knees with a thud behind Yun Congxin. Yun Congxin smiled and said, "Old fellow, you don't honestly think I came here just to amuse myself with you, do you?"

We're both thousand-year-old foxes. Why are you trying to spin fox tales for me?

Those four fools wouldn't dare set their sights on my Misty Cloud Sect even if you lent them a few extra sets of guts!

Naturally, Jia Xingtian knew such perfunctory excuses would never send Yun Congxin away. He was only saying these things to buy time to consider how steep a price he would have to pay to satisfy him.

Withdraw the elite army stationed at the foot of Misty Cloud Mountain?

This old fellow has already advanced to Dou Zong. Even if that army stays at the foot of the mountain, it's nothing more than a piece of meat sitting beside the Misty Cloud Sect's mouth. He probably doesn't care whether it's withdrawn at all...

Open the treasure vault and let him take his pick of an earth-tier Dou Technique or cultivation method?

That would sting, but it would still be barely acceptable.

As Jia Xingtian chuckled awkwardly, he settled on his bottom line. Then he said, "A misunderstanding. This is all a misunderstanding."

With that, he tossed aside his fishing rod and turned around, making a show of scolding them. "You bastards! All I said back then was that I worried the actions of that youngster from the Xiao Clan might cause trouble. How dare you run off to Wutan City to stir things up?"

Yun Congxin paid no attention to their performance. He watched the drizzling rain fall onto the lake, sending out layer upon layer of ripples, a scene at once fragmented and beautiful.

"Drop the act, old fellow. I haven't even said where they caused trouble yet..." Yun Congxin picked up the fishing rod Jia Xingtian had thrown aside. "This was originally a minor matter, hardly worth a personal visit. But your people went a little too far. If they'd merely fanned the flames, that would've been one thing. After all, my Misty Cloud Sect has been lax in disciplining its members over the years, and trouble is bound to crop up. If your people found an opening to exploit, I'd credit you for your skill."

"But ordering those locals in Wutan City to injure my Misty Cloud Sect's former junior sect master—aren't you showing a little too much disregard for me?"

"What?" Jia Xingtian finally lost his composure. His expression changed drastically. "Yanran? That girl from the Nalan Family? Why was she in Wutan City?"

"When someone from the Misty Cloud Sect does wrong, they must own up to it. She went there on her own back then and trampled on the Xiao Clan's dignity, so naturally she had to go apologize and admit her mistake in person," Yun Congxin said. "But I never expected your people to be so outrageously bold that they'd actually try to destroy my Misty Cloud Sect's junior sect master in Wutan City!"

"That child Yanran was surrounded and attacked by the locals of Wutan City. If I hadn't arrived in time, her fragrance would have faded and her jade shattered!"

"Now she's gravely injured, lying in a clinic in Black Flame City. If I can't uphold justice for her, how could I have the face to hear the sect's disciples call me their old sect master?"

Jia Xingtian opened his mouth, but the words on his tongue never came out.

Although Yun Congxin had startled him at first, he was a thousand-year-old fox, after all, and soon caught on.

Apologize, my ass. Back when she went to trample on them, she knew to bring the Misty Cloud Sect's deacons along. Now she suddenly doesn't understand that principle?

This old devil must have seen through my arrangements and prepared this whole act well in advance!

I'm going to have to bleed heavily this time... Jia Xingtian muttered bitterly to himself.

"My old friend, this really is a misunderstanding..." Jia Xingtian said. "You know I've always been fond of that child Yanran. Why would I send people specifically to harm her? Those locals in Wutan City must have acted on their own and run amok!"

"How about this, my old friend? I'll personally ask Chairman Fa Ma to come out and treat Yanran. I guarantee she'll be safe and sound!"

Seeing Yun Congxin holding his fishing rod, unmoving as a mountain, Jia Xingtian gave a bitter smile.

When the drizzling rain came within half an inch of Yun Congxin's body, it automatically slid away, as though he were wearing an invisible rain cape.

Jia Xingtian could sense that Yun Congxin had not activated his Dou Qi. The raindrops could not touch him because the power of space, which Jia Xingtian dreamed of mastering, was at work.

So this was the power of a Dou Zong expert?

"This matter was an oversight on the part of our Imperial Family. I offer you my apologies here, my old friend."