?
Hongyu was happily swishing meat in the hotpot. At his words, she blinked her peach-blossom eyes, as if to say:
What else?
I didn't bring any money again. If I don't let the man start eating first, what if you turn on your superior and deal with me later...?
"..."
Ye Xingge's gaze darkened slightly. He turned to look at the voluptuous young married woman, thinking she might have to take those clothes off and return them to Auntie Liu on the spot...
Seeing this, Hongyu frowned. Worried that the little bastard might do something rash, she put on the manner of a gentle older sister again and placed the cooked meat in Ye Xingge's bowl.
"My master already gave you the Filth-Severing Whip, and I've given you intelligence and helped you plan. Can't you even bear to treat me to a meal?"
For the sake of the whip and the Heaven-Obscuring Arm, Ye Xingge thought it over and nodded.
"Fine, I'll consider it a thank-you to Heroine Yun."
He picked up the cooked mutton and put it in his mouth, nodding in delight.
"Mm, delicious! The hotpot skills of the eighth-ranked expert in Second Rank really are a little... a little overdone. The slices are thin as cicada wings; next time, eight seconds will do..."
?
Hongyu was baffled, but said nothing about it. She picked up some meat and swished it in the pot herself.
"I called you here because there's something important. With the bracer on you, you don't have to worry about your divine weapon being exposed. Next, you should start cultivating as soon as possible. According to my original plan, you'd reach Third Rank in one month, Second Rank in two, and have the last three months to push for First Rank..."
Huh?
Ye Xingge paused as he poured the wine and said in disbelief:
"Yu'er, even reaching Third Rank in six months would make me extraordinarily gifted, never mind First Rank! Even when people pull up seedlings to help them grow, they don't pull them out by the roots..."
Hongyu gave him a familiar look of disdain.
"Don't tell me you can't do it?"
Ye Xingge felt that little expression was just like the one she'd give an impotent husband!
He pinned down Great Beauty's chopsticks and spoke earnestly.
"Is this a question of whether I can do it? Even with the Filth-Severing Whip, I don't have a Dao companion right now. How am I supposed to reach First Rank in six months? Even if I weren't afraid of dying and went looking for the Fate-Robbing Saber, finding it would take time..."
Hongyu raised a hand to cut him off, pulled her chopsticks free, and put the mutton in her dipping bowl.
"That was my original plan. I'm just mentioning it to you now. Once you've heard it, you can decide for yourself. If you're willing, I'll help you; if not, I'll have one less thing to worry about, and I'll have an answer when Master asks later."
Hearing this, Ye Xingge considered it briefly, then decided to listen with all ears.
"All right, eat while you talk. You're already drooling."
"?"
The delicious aroma had naturally made Hongyu's mouth water. At his words, she frowned slightly and put the cooked meat, coated in scallions and sesame sauce, into her mouth.
With one bite, the numbing, spicy, savory flavor made her peach-blossom eyes widen, as if she were saying, Oh, wow~~~!
"Tch~"
Ye Xingge poured a cup of wine and set it before the little foodie.
"My cooking's impressive, isn't it? Back when I made hotpot at home, the owner of this restaurant came following the smell and begged to buy the recipe. But I was worried the inn would lose business, so I only gave him some pointers. I've got even tastier things..."
"..."
Thoroughly impressed, Hongyu picked up her chopsticks and continued cooking tofu skin.
"Back to business. Hmm... before I came, I'd already arranged for the Mountains and Rivers Association to investigate. Finding the Gold-Chasing Gentleman won't be hard, and getting the Fate-Robbing Saber will be as easy as snatching it with your hand.
"As for opponents to cultivate against afterward, that's even simpler. Those rotten fish and shrimp from the River-Spanning Pavilion dared to plot against my master, so find a way to wipe them out. Then there are the fence-sitters among the Eight Great Sects of the Cang River. Sweep through them one by one..."
?
Ye Xingge thought the plan was rather rough. After some thought, he moved his stool closer, sat down, and spoke earnestly.
"The problem isn't the opponents. It's how to keep things hidden.
"The Heaven-Obscuring Arm can indeed conceal the truth for a while, but the Fate-Robbing Saber isn't like the Filth-Severing Whip.
"With the whip, at worst I can hide at home and dual cultivate. But with the Fate-Robbing Saber, I'd have to go out and fight. The moment I pulled it out, the whole jianghu would know.
"Then the Return to Origin Cult and all the heroes from every quarter would line up at my door to cut me down, not to mention the imperial court's heavenly soldiers and generals. I can't spend my time hiding and acting in secret like the Gold-Chasing Gentleman..."
Hongyu frowned and looked at him as though he were a block of elm wood.
"How could you do this in secret?"
?
Ye Xingge sat up straighter and said in disbelief:
"Oh, so with the Fate-Robbing Saber, I'd have to go around openly cutting people down?! How many lives do you think I have?"
Hongyu put the cooked tofu skin into her dipping bowl.
"I told you, I had a plan before I came. In the past, it was hard to reach First Rank with the Fate-Robbing Saber because the major powers had an unwritten agreement not to fight over it, leaving independent cultivators to serve as scapegoats at the bottom.
"If an independent cultivator of the jianghu made a move, they'd be hunted down. If they didn't, they couldn't cultivate, so they couldn't last ten years.
"But things are different now. Do you know who holds the last place in First Rank?"
Ye Xingge knew the answer as well as the treasures in his own home.
"Wu Chenglie, the chancellor of Later Zhou."
"Right."
Hongyu explained earnestly:
"Later Zhou depends entirely on Wu Chenglie to hold it up. If Great Yan wants to cross the river eastward, it has to get rid of him. But his divine weapon is overbearing. With it in hand, no one in Great Yan can shake him. Suppose you were the Emperor of Yan. Faced with the current situation, what would you do?"
"If I were the Emperor of Yan?"
Ye Xingge was taken aback and began to ponder.
More than twenty years ago, Wu Chenglie, then grand tutor to the crown prince, had risked his life alongside Li Guiyong, the palace's chief steward, to flee south with Emperor Ai's son. Besides some members of the imperial family and their wealth, they had taken the Propriety Weapon, one of the five Confucian divine weapons.
The divine weapon's effects were quite brutal:
Uphold Rules and Fix Circumstances forcibly suppressed all powerful fighters in the vicinity to the wielder's own level, leaving them able to compete only in a fair contest of technique.
Choose Methods and Determine the Path allowed its wielder to simulate the course of a fight endlessly in his mind, the equivalent of undergoing countless trials of life and death, and seek the optimal solution on the martial path.
For that reason, Wu Chenglie cultivated only to avoid being eliminated from last place. He spent all his remaining time simulating techniques to refine his mastery, and with the divine weapon in hand, he was essentially invincible.
The great general Cao Xiong, ranked tenth under heaven, wielded the Righteousness Weapon, which was also quite brutal and allowed him to learn an opponent's techniques during a fight.
But no matter how quickly he learned, he couldn't match the speed of the man who wrote them himself.
Cao Xiong had personally led armies on campaign time and again, only to return with broken wings on several occasions. Naturally, the Emperor of Yan wanted to pull out the thorn that was Wu Chenglie.
Wu Chenglie spent so much time on simulations that he was bound to have little left to increase his cultivation. Without his divine weapon, he was no match for any First Rank expert.
Taking away the divine weapon wouldn't directly destroy Later Zhou, but once Wu Chenglie's invincible body was broken, his health bar would show, and killing him wouldn't be difficult. Once Wu Chenglie died, Later Zhou would be all but finished.
The simplest way to strip him of the divine weapon was to obtain the Fate-Robbing Saber, which increased cultivation fastest, overtake Wu Chenglie, and have him eliminated from last place after the end of the year.
Great Yan had been founded only twenty years ago, and had spent its first ten fighting a civil war against the Eight Pillars Hall. By the time it stabilized the situation and turned to attack Later Zhou, Wu Chenglie was already invincible.
The Gold-Chasing Gentleman had also obtained the Fate-Robbing Saber by then, and no one in the world knew where he was. Great Yan had searched for years, but he had only surfaced in recent years.
And now, if someone in Great Yan were acknowledged as master by the Fate-Robbing Saber, and also possessed exceptional talent, a clean background, loyalty to the sovereign and love for the country, and a record of repeated extraordinary achievements...
At that thought, Ye Xingge's expression grew grave.
"As long as I get the Fate-Robbing Saber and serve the court, Great Yan will pour resources into me regardless of the cost, pushing me into First Rank within ten years, or even half a year, to try to bring things to a swift conclusion?"
"Right."
Hongyu gave him a look that said he was a teachable child, then began cooking fish slices.
"But this will mostly depend on your own abilities. I can only provide a little intelligence and help you plan. How things are arranged from here on is up to you."
Ye Xingge knew this was indeed quite in keeping with the current situation. After thinking it over, he poured Great Yu'er a cup of wine.
"Then, Sister Yu'er, what were you originally planning to do by paving the way for your 'brother-in-law' like this? Unite both the righteous and underworld paths?"
Hongyu blinked.
"Mm... first sweep through the jianghu, then become the Heaven-Observing Decree. That way, the Mountains and Rivers Association would have all of Great Yan's court and countryside in its grasp..."
Ye Xingge's expression turned grave. "Then accept the nine bestowments after three ceremonial refusals and offers, and throw the imperial palace into chaos?"
Hongyu blinked and raised her thumb.
"Ambitious! But I can't help you with that. The Mountains and Rivers Association's resources can get you to the position of grand commander of the Heaven-Observing Pavilion at most. Beyond that, you'll be on your own."
Ye Xingge didn't have such grand ambitions. He merely smiled.
"This is a bit of a gamble. Even if I keep both divine weapons hidden, if I haven't reached First Rank after six months..."
Hongyu picked up some tripe and swished it in the pot, speaking earnestly.
"There are quite a few named weapons of the Heaven-Obscuring line in the world. With the bracer on now, no one would imagine that my master actually gave you her divine weapon.
"But if your cultivation suddenly advances by leaps and bounds later, the Heaven-Observing Decree will easily guess you're hiding a great treasure, and you won't be able to stay in Great Yan.
"With the Fate-Robbing Saber, it's different. Any growth in your cultivation can be attributed entirely to the saber. No matter how fast you improve, there'll be a reasonable explanation.
"So carrying both is actually easier to conceal than carrying one. Besides, the worst outcome is that you fail to reach First Rank after six months and come back with me to become the young master of the Mountains and Rivers Association, bringing two masterless divine weapons with you.
"Weapons are external possessions. It's not as if you can't reach First Rank without divine weapons and sharp weapons. Surely losing your divine weapons wouldn't make you lose your fighting spirit?"
Ye Xingge pondered it inwardly and thought she was right.
Taking the Fate-Robbing Saber and serving Great Yan meant going all in with leverage.
If he lost, Great Yan's investment would go down the drain, while he would lose two divine weapons at most. The loss would be substantial, but the cultivation, root bone, and named weapons he gained over the six months would remain with him; they wouldn't disappear.
And if he won the gamble...
He'd reach First Rank in half a year, rise to the highest position a subject could hold, become famous throughout the world, and marry his first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth choices...
He might even set things right, then destroy Later Zhou, pacify Western Shu, help unite the world, and send the empresses and empress dowagers of Great Yan, Western Shu, and Later Zhou to the harem to be properly settled...
Ye Xingge thought for a moment, then asked:
"What about a way out? What if things get out of hand...?"
Hongyu held her head high and thrust out her chest, her eyes shining.
"Leave the way out to me. I came on Master's orders to guard your path. If anything happens to you or your family, I'll surely be the first to die."
"..."
Faced with those words, Ye Xingge really had nothing more to say. He picked up his chopsticks, intending to cook some tripe for Great Beauty as a reward.
But when he glanced over, half the food had already been devoured...
"..."
Hongyu was about to put some tofu skin in her bowl when she caught Ye Xingge's shocked gaze. Her expression stiffened slightly, and she put it in his bowl instead.
"Your cooking really is good. Have a taste too, and don't just talk..."
Ye Xingge was genuinely curious how Great Beauty managed to keep such a good figure with an appetite like that.
And she's supposed to guard my path?
I'm worried she'll eat me into bankruptcy first...
Still, for the sake of his mother-in-law by association at the Cloud and Rain Tower, Ye Xingge spoke generously.
"It's fine. This meal and the wine are on me. If it isn't enough, we'll just order more. Come, let me offer you a toast, Sister Yu'er."
Hongyu was eating and drinking for free, and it really did taste good, so naturally she couldn't show him any more disdain. She raised her cup and clinked it against his.
Clink~
These chapters have mostly been about the background setting, so there are three updates. Ten thousand characters a day really is a bit much for me to keep up with. r2
Many thanks to [Hongzhong Lao'er] for the Alliance Leader tip!
Many thanks to [You Mi Ying Shi Qiaofu Chui], [Yi Qian Shanshui], [Qingtian Baiyu Zhu], [Jiahai Zijin Liang], [Rixin Yueyi], [Bingbian], [Guanguan Gongzi Kaikai Zigong], and [Jie Huanghun] for the 10,000 tips!
Many thanks to everyone for the monthly votes, recommendations, tips, and support! r2