Chang Family

"Didn't you just say I was very special, that I had an unconventional air about me? Why are you despising me now?" Xu Zimo chuckled. "Heh, women."

"You can know a person's face but not their heart, that's all," Ji Baiyu said flatly.

"Then when we have time, let's get to know each other more deeply." Seeing Ji Baiyu's teeth itch with anger, Xu Zimo burst into laughter and left with Shili Changkong.

Watching Xu Zimo's departing back, Ji Baiyu asked indignantly, "Grandpa Blackwood, do you really believe he can bear the Heavenly Mandate?"

"An Emperor is the strongest being of an era. How could just anyone casually bear the Heavenly Mandate?" Old Man Blackwood shook his head.

"Then why did you still make me give him the Imperial Blood?" Ji Baiyu asked in confusion.

"If he had opened the Jade Token just now, perhaps I could have escaped even at the cost of my life. But what about you?" Old Man Blackwood said helplessly. "Don't be fooled by his constant smile. I can tell that someone like him is absolutely ruthless and decisive.

He would definitely kill you, then seize the Imperial Blood."

"Despicable." Ji Baiyu stared in the direction Xu Zimo had left and spoke hatefully.

Meanwhile, Shili Changkong asked curiously, "Was that really Imperial Blood?"

"Do you want to try taking it? One drop can help you attain the Dao and become immortal," Xu Zimo said with a smile.

"Not interested. So what if it's Imperial Blood? In the end, I must walk my own martial path. No matter how strong external aid is, it is merely an aid," Shili Changkong replied proudly.

When the two descended the stairs, they found Lin Ruhu and Guan Zhenhai seated in the private room.

Guan Zhenhai had several girls in his arms on both sides and was having the time of his life.

Lin Ruhu, meanwhile, was wolfing down the food and wine like a starving tiger, completely uninterested in the girls beside him.

"Senior Brother Guan, enjoy yourself slowly. We'll be heading back first," Xu Zimo said with a smile.

"Ah, Junior Brother Zimo, you came down so quickly?" Guan Zhenhai looked at Xu Zimo with an ambiguous gaze. "Junior Brother, you should nourish yourself more. Bad kidneys are no small matter."

"Get lost," Xu Zimo laughed and cursed, then left with the others.

At the same time, in the Chang Family, Patriarch Chang Tianxiong listened to his son Chang Wei, his expression thoughtful.

He was broad and burly, dressed in a light azure robe embroidered with clusters of white clouds along its cuffs and collar.

His face was rugged, yet his mind was meticulous. Stroking his thick beard, he asked, "Did that disciple mention his background?"

"No," Chang Wei shook his head and said. "What kind of status could the fellow disciples of trash like Guan Zhenhai possibly have?

Birds of a feather flock together."

"Don't let your guard down. If they are merely ordinary inner disciples, we have some connections within the True Martial Sacred Sect," Chang Tianxiong said pensively. "But if they are elite inner disciples, or True Disciples, then things will be troublesome."

"Then what should we do?" Chang Wei asked, somewhat frightened. "I only wanted to win over the Third Prince, so I planned to reserve Bright Moon Tower for a banquet in his honor."

"Have the people we sent to inquire at the True Martial Sacred Sect's Branch Hall returned?" Chang Tianxiong asked. "That Guan Zhenhai has accepted no small amount of our favors in ordinary times. It is time for him to be useful!"

Chang Wei shook his head. "The people we sent to the Branch Hall were all driven out. They did not even get to see Guan Zhenhai."

"Then we shall wait quietly for his arrival and see what sort of ox, ghost, or snake god he is." Chang Tianxiong snorted coldly. "Find a way to let the Third Prince know about this. It would be best if we could drag the imperial family into the water."

"I understand." Chang Wei nodded.

That afternoon, Chang Wei was given one hundred strokes of the paddle by the Patriarch in front of many elders and clansmen of the Chang Family.

It was said that Chang Wei had intended to host the Third Prince and reserve Bright Moon Tower, only to come into conflict with disciples of the True Martial Sacred Sect.

This news began spreading wildly throughout the entire Chang Family.

As night deepened, a crescent moon hung in the sky.

Inside a side chamber in the Chang Family's rear courtyard, a Young Man and an Old Man stood by the window.

The Young Man was handsome and wore a blue-and-white robe. An overbearing aura that made others instinctively submit surrounded him; he seemed like a king born to rule.

The Old Man was extremely low-key. If one did not pay close attention, one might not even notice his existence.

He wore a gray long robe, and his eyes were as deep as black holes. White strands mingled with the black hair atop his head, making him look like an old man in the twilight of his years.

"The news spreading wildly outside—what does the Third Prince think of it?" the Old Man asked.

"The Chang Family has provoked the True Martial Sacred Sect and wants to drag me into the water." The Young Man chuckled. "Still, the True Martial Sacred Sect has gone too far. Every one of its disciples is unbearably arrogant."

"Your Highness, please mind your words. There are matters beyond our place to discuss," the Old Man hurriedly shook his head in warning.

"Is the True Martial Sacred Sect truly that powerful?" the Young Man asked skeptically.

He was the Third Prince of the Ziyang Empire. The Ziyang Empire was one of the two largest empires in the Far West Land.

His father was an Imperial Meridian Realm expert, while the nation had nearly a hundred Venerable Meridian Realm experts and countless Empty Meridian Realm cultivators.

Yet the True Martial Sacred Sect pressed down upon them like a mountain. Everyone bowed their heads and submitted to the True Martial Sacred Sect, and the Young Man was deeply unwilling to accept it.

"Your Highness, not to mention you—even if the ruler himself came, he would still have to hold the True Martial Sacred Sect in awe," the Old Man said with a sigh. "Do you know why your An Family was able to become the ruler of the Ziyang Empire?"

"Wasn't it because our An Family ancestors fought step by step to carve out this realm?" the Young Man asked doubtfully.

"The Ziyang Empire has existed for nearly ten thousand years, and many rulers have appeared during that time.

The rulers of the previous generation of the Ziyang Empire did not bear the surname An. The rulers of that generation were too arrogant and obeyed the True Martial Sacred Sect's orders in public while defying them in private," the Old Man shook his head and said slowly. "Later, an Old Man walked out from within the True Martial Sacred Sect.

Within a single day, that generation's ruler, his clansmen, and everyone connected to him were erased from this world.

They never appeared again. Only after your An Family underwent trials were you appointed as the new rulers.

Do you understand? Power, empires, imperial thrones—before absolute strength, they are nothing but a joke."

"I understand. I never intended to clash with people from the True Martial Sacred Sect." The Young Man nodded. "But this time, I came all the way to the Chang Family while competing with several of my brothers for the position of crown prince.

Yet the Chang Family has kept dragging its feet over our proposal, unwilling to make up its mind.

If we can help them resolve this trouble, perhaps we can win them over and make them one of my greatest sources of strength."

"Tomorrow, let us first see what identity this visitor has," the Old Man said after pondering for a while. "If he is an ordinary disciple, it will not matter.

But if he is a True Disciple, then even if we step in, it will be useless."