Chapter 8: Disaster
Looking at the mute Jian Chen, Changyang Mingyue blinked a few times. She walked up to Jian Chen’s shoulder and said, “Fourth brother, please don’t feel too sad. If anyone in the future bullies you, tell your older sister and I’ll beat them up.” Changyang Mingyue thought that Jian Chen was feeling sad because he was a cripple and that he didn’t have the ability to defend himself from anyone that would mock him.
Hearing what Ming Yue had said, Jian Chen couldn’t help but lift his head to smile at Changyang Mingyue, “Don’t worry second sister, I won’t be an easy person to bully.”
Only Jian Chen understood that it wasn’t because he was unable to cultivate Saint Force, it was due to the fact that he had been incorporating the Saint Force into the cells of his body. Because of this, his body was essentially an empty shell, with no Saint Force remaining in his body. If he hadn’t used this method, then today’s Saint Test would have had a different result.
It was unfortunate that Jian Chen wouldn’t be able to explain this situation to people. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to explain how he came about this method. Not to mention that if he were to talk about Azulet Sword Law, then Jian Chen feared that the the history of both the technique and himself would become a great problem.
Although Jian Chen had understood that because of this situation, his status within the clan had taken a major hit. He didn’t care at all for that however and had secretly wanted a situation like this to happen. If things had progressed as well as they did just now, then in the future he would be able to leave the Changyang mansion with more ease. If he had still been stuck with the label of a genius, then departing from the mansion would not be as easy. At the very least, as long as he didn’t have their approval, they would ignore his trips in and out of the mansion.
“Xiang’er…Xiang’er…” A voice came calling out from the bed, Jian Chen’s mother had finally awakened.
Right after hearing his mother call his name, Jian Chen’s mind was jolted back to consciousness. He immediately turned around to look at her, “Mother, your son is here, everything is fine now.”
Bi Yuntian had a complicated look on her face as she gasped, “Your mother is fine, but Xiang’er…ai….” As she spoke, a myriad of expressions were shown on her face ranging from sorrow, sadness, and even pain.
“Fourth sister, please don’t trouble yourself too much. Xiang Tian has been highly intelligent since birth, so although it is regretful that he cannot cultivate Saint Force, but in my opinion, Xiang Tian is not so simple. After all, no child in the clan is smarter than him.” Bai Yu Shuan was trying to console the still grievous Bi Yuntian.
Bi Yuntian lifted her head slowly, “I had already understood this fact,.” Looking a Jian Chen, she gently started to caress the back of Jian Chen’s head. “Xiang’er, don’t feel sad, what your second aunt said is correct. Although you cannot cultivate Saint Force, you are still a very intelligent child, we still don’t know in what areas you would be best suited for.”
Jian Chen hesitated when he heard his mother speak, even though his mother was awake, he was not feeling all that much better. In reality, he had really wanted to tell the truth to the people there, his mother most definitely. He wanted to say that he wasn’t a cripple that couldn’t cultivate Saint Force, but Jian Chen chose to endure this. “Mother, don’t worry, your son won’t disappoint you.” Compared to his mother’s love for him, Jian Chen had utterly cherished it.
He would later spend the whole day by the bedside of his mother before leaving at night. Periodically, Changyang Ba would drop in to see his wife but he would then leave just as quickly as he came. When it came to Jian Chen, Changyang Ba’s attitude towards him had been completely different these days in comparison to before. With each passing time, Jian Chen could clearly see that Changyang Ba had been treating Jian Chen with a colder expression.
In the blink of an eye, four years had passed after Jian Chen’s Saint Test. During the days that he wasn’t busy, Jian Chen would shut himself in his room to continue training. The amount of training he needed nowadays was considerably longer than in the past; so much longer, that sometimes, Jian Chen would not be seen walking out of his room for the entire day.
In those four years, Jian Chen’s status in the clan had dropped immensely as expected. Changyang Ba had been treating him more coldly now, and no one had ever bothered to take the initiative to seek him out first. It was vastly different than from his mother who saw him everyday, her love had never wavered at all.
Early one day, Jian Chen slowly opened his eyes from his crossed-legged position once more to show that he had finished last nights training. Immediately extending both arms palmside up, a light round ball gradually came into view. He flipped the beautiful ball into the air from his hands and watched it fall towards the ground where it came to a stop as both his hands were focused on it.
Hearing only the slightest of sounds, Jian Chen clapped his tiny hands together as if they were 2 steel plates and started to do pushups on the normally soft ground, occasionally bringing his head so close to the ground he could kiss it and even left an imprint on the ground afterwards.
Looking at his own hard work with a joyous smile, Jian Chen laughed. Half a year after the Saint Test, Jian Chen had already finished the cultivation stage of the first principle of the Azulet Sword Law. This meant that he officially started to cultivate the Saint Force without having to assimilate it into his own body. His cultivation rate was extremely fast, so fast that in the span of a just few years, he had already reached an astounding result. As he was now, he could use the Saint Force that was stored inside of him to reinforce his hands so that they could break through stone without effort.
Early in the morning, Jian Chen walked out of his room to wander around the Changyang Mansion alone. However, a group of patrolmen were walking around at the time spotted him, with each member having a different expression on their faces. Some had a mocking look, while some looked at him with disdain, but very few looked at him with pity. The fact that Jian Chen was a cultivation cripple had long ceased to be a secret within the clan, and so even the guards that patrolled the mansion had started to look at him differently.
But Jian Chen turned a blind eye towards them. His stomach was growling from hunger, and so Jian Chen had decided with a small sigh that it was time to head towards the kitchens.
It had been a long time since he had accompanied his mother to the dining halls to eat together. Nowadays, he would go to the kitchens himself to eat breakfast, and would only eat lunch and dinner together with his mother and some of his aunts.
When Jian Chen reached the kitchens, over a hundred servants could be seen running about. The kitchen was a tremendous mess due to the stove where it stood like a smoking hot steamer basket.
“Oh! Isn’t this the fourth master? The fourth master has come to the kitchens! Ai, this isn’t the proper place for someone as pampered as fourth master to be. The kitchens are for lowly servants like us, so why have you come here?” The teasing voice of a 20 year old servant came calling out. Judging by his odd tone of voice, it was clear to tell that he was mocking Jian Chen.
Another voice continued straight after the first servant, “If my guess is correct, then fourth master came down to the kitchens to get some steamed buns. But that’s weird, why isn’t the fourth master eating at the dining halls with the rest of the clan? Has he wronged himself and so wanted to eat the steamed buns from the kitchens? These steamed buns are only fit for us lowly servants and guards to eat however.” Another 30 year old servant continued to sneer at Jian Chen.
Upon hearing the two people talk, the other servants in the kitchen all started to look at the spectacle. Both of these servants had the support of some of the superiors; for example, the 20 year old servant was not only introduced by Changyang Ba’s first wife Ling Long, but he was also the servant of Jian Chen’s eldest aunt. Rumors had it that Ling Long had hired him because he was a family relative, but because his body had lacked the power, he could only work in the kitchens.
As for the 30 year old servant that spoke second, his brother is the group leader of the Changyang mansion guards.
Hearing the two servants mock him, Jian Chen could only narrow his eyes slightly as anger flashed through his eyes. Biting back any sort of rebuke, he moved towards the giant steamer basket and held his hand out to take off the lid of it before all of a sudden, two giants hands came out of nowhere and quickly moved the steamer basket away from him.
“I should really bring these steamed buns to the guards right away, our honored guards haven’t yet eaten breakfast yet after all.” Whisking away the basket, the servant muttered out loud as he exited from the kitchens, “What a crying shame, the fourth lady gave birth to a good for nothing cripple.”
At that last remark, Jian Chen went rigid. At last, the anger within his heart had finally broke free! Without saying a word, his legs blurred as both of his legs stamped across the ground. Reaching the servant with the steamer basket within a few seconds, he raised one fist and brought it down onto the servant’s back!
“Bang!”
Completely caught off guard, the servant carrying the steamer basket was sent staggering to the ground. The basket he had carried dropped to the floor and with a great big smash, the nice and plump steamed buns scattered across the floor in four directions one by one.
Everyone in the kitchen stared at this unforeseen event with a shocked look. Seeing where Jian Chen now stood, no one could believe what they saw. No one had saw clearly how fast or even when Jian Chen had moved. For the 7 year old fourth master to have brought down the 30 year old servant with a single punch to his knees, it was inconceivable. Although the steamer basket had been dropped and the food wasted, everyone was still amazed by this show in front of them.
“Hahaha, Brother Qiu Er Lao, you really amaze me. Even though you are an expert that has reached the 3rd layer of Saint Force, yet you were knocked down by the fist of a little child! Did you waste too much energy with a girl last night to become this weak?” Looking at the servant at the ground, the first servant who had made fun of Jian Chen was now roaring with laughter at the second servant.
The servant called Qiu Er crawled up from the ground, his eyes burning with fury towards Jian Chen as the words of his younger servant friend reached his ears. For a 7 year old child to push him down to the ground, especially a child that was a cripple in the ways of cultivation, this was the ultimate form of humiliation and shame for him. After all, although he had not yet condensed his Saint Force into a Saint Weapon, he was still a practitioner that had reached a level far above that of the cripple!
Shaking his head in rage, Qiu Er had forgotten in that moment that Jian Chen still held the status of being the fourth master. With a snarl, he jumped towards where Jian Chen stood and sent a punch towards his stomach.
Watching Qiu Er’s fist get closer, Jian Chen had a look of disdain on his face. To him, this punch that he had thrown out was full of mistakes and openings, and so he dodged by moving to the side very slightly to avoid the fist. Throwing himself forward, Jian Chen’s right leg arced in a beautiful way and kicked Qiu Er firmly on the nose.
“Ah!”
Qiu Er let loose a blood curling scream as his clasped his bloody nose with his hands. Even then, a small steady flow of blood leaked through his hands. Jian Chen’s leg had not been merciful, Qiu Er’s nose had been kicked in and broke. The acute pain in his face had already drained it of color.