Editor: Areth Kyntaul
This traces back to what happened twelve years ago. Back then, the land was at peace. The emperor decided to go on a tour far away. He brought along people who were almost invincible.
Said people were two of the Ultimate Three, forming the most fearsome incognito travelling team.
They went to see the flourishing scenery in Jiangnan and visited all of the schools of the Seven White Champion Princes.
The Seven White Champion Princes were located in all different parts of Jiangnan. Lushan Jianguan was located at Lushan, Cold Mountain temple was located at Suzhou, and Valley of Yearning was located at Songjiang. None of them was far from the capital, but the first one the emperor visited was Zhenjiang's Gold and Silver Sect.
It's said that the Gold and Silver Sect's wealth could rival the nation's wealth. How rich they were and how they could rival the nation were two things the emperor was always keen to know. Therefore, he went there with his complete team. He didn't want to go to their headquarters as the emperor, but he was stunned when he arrived!
Their headquarters looked simple. They occupied a spacious area with stairs in front of a row of trees.
What shocked the emperor was the row of trees. The tree trunks were made from pure silver. The leaves were made from gold by artisans. There were at least a hundred of those trees.
The emperor hadn't seen so-called golden leaves and silver trees anywhere but at the empress's palace. While he was still stunned, he suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound next to his ear.
A strong and sturdy looking man rushed over from behind.
"Stop! Who are you to dare look at my gold and silver trees?! The Gold and Silver Sect's headquarters are ten yards inside. Who dares stir trouble?!"
It was the old master of the Gold and Silver Sect. At the time, the emperor got into a fight with him. After the fight, they cleared the misunderstanding. The old master was absolutely frightened by the revelation. However, the emperor is a hearty man, and his generous temperament clicked with the old master, so the two of them went from enemies to friends after over three hundred drinks.
At the time, the emperor witnessed the old master's only son Jin Wangsun training with a sabre. The emperor's love for talent surfaced when he saw his good looks and well-trained skills with a sabre.
He was now best friends with the boy's father. But because he was also under the influence, he made a promise with the old master. That was to betroth a princess to Jin Wangsun once he became the master of the sect.
If the Jin family was to become in-laws with the royal family, then the Gold and Silver Sect would forever be friends with the Imperial Court.
Old Master Jin laughed and signed the agreement with the emperor. The name of the princess to be betrothed wasn't written, but it was written that it had to be a princess.
Everybody knew that it was something said while under the influence, though.
Needless to say, the emperor regretted it after he was sober once again. The emperor is the most famous daughter-con in the entire nation, so there's no way he'd marry his daughter off to some spunky kid.
Need evidence? Throughout the entire nation, a girl is suitable for marriage between fourteen to eighteen years of age. However, the emperor insists on raising his daughters until they're twenty before marrying them off. The same applied for Princess Hongzhuang.
The emperor planned to get himself out of the agreement by exploiting a loophole. When he thought about it carefully, he realised that the agreement wasn't established.
Princess Hongzhuang was just eleven at the time, while Jin Wangsun was no older than sixteen at most. The old master wasn't old at the time either.
He was a fit mature man at the time. He had only been running the Gold and Silver Sect for a few decades. He possessed profound internal strength, so it was clear that he could continue running the sect for a few more decades.
Most importantly was that the Seven White Champion Princes were household names with strong foundations, big family businesses and packed with talented individuals. Therefore, those who could become the master of their sect had to be at least forty or over. There had never been a twenty or thirty-year-old individual who could convince their sect to accept them as the master. Hence, it was normal for members of the Seven White Champion Princes to be at a specific age.
After much deliberation, the emperor thought that Jin Wangsun couldn't become the master of his sect until he was at least forty. If he still remembered this after he became the master, then it wouldn't matter, since his children would all be married with kids. He could then marry a betrothal princess to him without any difficulty when the time came.
But never did he imagine that the heavens had another plan in mind! Jin Wangsun managed to become the master of his sect before thirty and he just had to remember the promise!! Worse, he just had to come knocking!!
Jin Wangsun smiled and said, "Wangsun has prepared a humble gift. Wangsun hopes that you will accept it, Your Majesty."
The emperor and Eunuch Wang exchanged eye contact. Then he replied, "Permitted!"
His six servants behind him carried an iron container. The container didn't look large, but it appeared it was very heavy for the six. The six of them placed it down on the ground gently. It made a loud thud when it landed on the ground, making people wonder, 'I wonder something so heavy could be.'
There was a mechanism on the container. Jin Wangsun opened the lid gently, revealing a flash of gold. A sharp aura from inside virtually burst forth from the container. Inside was a thick large sabre with a handle made from half-gold and half-silver. The handle was long. It was made according to an ancient style. The blade was flat and smooth like a mirror. The blade reflected light from all directions as soon as the container was opened. The sharp blade lay there.
Jinluan Hall paled in comparison to how majestic the blade was!
Jin Wangsun chuckled, "You have travelled the lands and have seen many rare items, Your Majesty. Therefore, I also had trouble coming up with a gift idea that would show uniqueness. If my Gold and Silver Sect is to give a gift, this Golden Crow Moon Eater blade is the only item that can express sincerity."
The emperor had guessed it was the Golden Crow Moon Eater blade when he first saw it. After Jin Wangsun confirmed his suspicion, he suddenly said, "I thought it was the legendary Heaven's Blade of Peace! Great! I finally got to see it today! Wangsun, your sincerity is far too precious!"
The Golden Crow Moon Eater blade has extraordinary origins. Back when the founding emperor established the nation, he went through great adversity. The seven divine weapons were unmatched in his era. The next generation referred to them as the Seven Blades That Create Heaven.
The Golden Crow Moon Eater blade was the blade that the ancestors of the Gold and Silver Sect used to help the founding emperor establish this nation. His blade is called the Heaven's Blade of Peace.
The legend of the seven blades has existed for a long time, but not even the emperor had seen one of them before. The seven blades were taken away by their owners before he could even consider collecting them.
Nobody in the pugilistic world doesn't love superior weapons, let alone a blade one couldn't ask for.
This Golden Crow Moon Eater blade is very precious. It is a treasure passed down within the Gold and Silver Sect. It was among the three treasures that were not to be used unless there was a very special case.
Having gifted the emperor with a family heirloom treasure, the emperor couldn't easily get rid of him after he showed that much sincerity.
"You need not worry, Your Majesty. We will be a family once Wangsun marries Princess Hongzhuang. Therefore, this Golden Crow Moon Eater blade will naturally become Wangsun's betrothal gift."
"I see." The emperor got a little flustered, "Erm, about this…" His gaze shifted to the empress to plead for help.
Normally, the empress would definitely roll her eyes at him and say, "That's your fault for getting drunk and making thoughtless promises!"
However, the emperor did save the Orange Prince's life.
While Princess Hongzhuang wasn't the empress's biological daughter, she doted on her a lot, usually, so she helped out, "Wangsun, do you still remember me?"
Jin Wangsun saluted her, "It has been a long time, Your Majesty."
The Seven Champion Princes had always interacted to some degree.
The empress is the cherished daughter of Lushan Jianguan, who had deep bonds with the Seven Champion White Princes. She met them many times in the past annually.
"Your visit is sudden. His Majesty and I both knew that you came to be conferred a title, but we never expected a wedding. Further, Princess Hongzhuang is His Majesty's beloved daughter, while you are the leader of a sect. Marriage is a major event, not a game. So why not patiently wait for a few days?"
"Of course. For the sake of marrying a beauty like a flower…" Jin Wangsun placed his hands behind him. His gaze shifted over a little to look at Princess Hongzhuang by the side. After seeing her utterly shocked state, he finally decided to pull back, "Wangsun is very patient. Wangsun shall await the good news. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Wangsun has been rude."
The princess had become unhappy ever since Jin Wangsun appeared to ask for her hand in marriage. Now she was annoyed and disgusted because he had his eyes on her. However, she was sensible enough to maintain her composure and prioritise the bigger picture, hence she didn't shout out loud in front of everyone that she objected to the marriage, thereby, fortunately, allowing there to be leeway.
Jing Wangsun then said, "Your Majesty, I like to train sabre arts. Sabre arts cannot be mastered in a day. Please allow Wangsun to borrow a few stilts from Liu Shan's Elites Rankings so that Wangsun has something do during Wangsun's spare time."
By stilts, what he meant was punching bags. In other words, people who he could chop up with his sabre.
However, forget a young skilled fighter like Jin Wangsun, few grand-masters of schools would treat top-tier fighters as punching bags. Yet he had called for the warriors ranked on Liu Shan's Elites Rankings first thing.
His arrogance was blatant for all to see, causing even the emperor to become somewhat unhappy.
However, Jin Wangsun then went and pointed at one of the people in the hall, "How about him? I have seen his skills before. His skills are passable. He makes a perfect punching bag."
Of course, the person he pointed to was none other than Tang Ye.
Tang Ye bluntly replied, "Be my guest, but we are yet to know who the punching bag is."
He gripped the Heaven Shocker sword in his hand, so it was evident he wasn't afraid of Jing Wangsun at all.
The emperor could immediately tell that the two of them had butted heads with each other, so he rushed to stop them, "Minister Tang is an important minister of the nation and is highly skilled. He is not suited for you to practice your sabre skills on. I am afraid that it would ruin the harmony in the Imperial City. How about this: I will give you three Yi ranked warriors to spar with."
As soon as Jin Wangsun left with a few Yi ranked warriors, Princess Hongzhuang gave a 'hmph' before turning around and leaving.
The emperor panicked, "Hong'er! Hong'er!"
It's true that Princess Hongzhuang is sensible and knows how to keep the big picture in mind. However, she had done the emperor a favour already, so she didn't show him another one. She left without sparing him a look.
The emperor had never been given attitude like that by his daughter. His expression changed in a blink of an eye, "Listen in, come up with a way to resolve this for me! What would I be feeding you all for otherwise?!"
The emperor suddenly remembered the three individuals Shen Yiren recommended to him. There was Tang Ye who was skilled and brave, and worthy of an official post appointment, making him a pillar. Then there was the innocent and pure Su Xiao with a limitless future. The last one was unexpectedly sly and slippery and always managed to come up with ideas.
"Ming Feizhen! Call Ming Feizhen in!"
Su Xiao and Tang Ye exchanged eye contact, 'Great. Big Brother Ming couldn't escape in the end.'
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The emperor was reluctant to go to the Flying Fish Pavilion after going through the revolt staged there.
Although there was no longer an audience there or thick wooden rings, it was still used as a place for performing martial arts.
"Ha! Thanks for going easy!"
With a backhand swing upwards, Jin Wangsun had his blade right at his opponent's throat. Any more force and his opponent's head would be separated from his body.
"You are a Yi ranked warrior? I think you are not worthy of the rank, do you not agree?"
The warrior got utterly defeated by Jin Wangsun within ten moves. It was no sparring match. It resembled a duel to the death.
"I'll fight you."
This individual was also an Yi ranked warrior. He immediately went on the offence with his iron rod as soon as he approached him. He swung down on his head with his might.
Jin Wangsun was currently using the large and thick sabre called Yun Tou. This sabre was an imitation of the Golden Crow Moon Eater blade, made by the Gold and Silver Sect. However, it wasn't easy to make an imitation. This was the only successful imitation after many years' worth of attempts, so it was truly a rare blade.
Despite the thick and wide nature of Yun Tou, Jin Wangsun wielded it as if it was light as a feather. His title as Jiangnan's Number One Sabre King wasn't for nothing. A casual upward raise clashed with the iron rod coming down.
To the warrior's surprise, Jin Wangsun wasn't shaken at all. Jin Wangsun then laughed and slashed upward. The warrior couldn't match him at any point of the slash, therefore switching him from attacker to defender within a single move.
Jin Wangsun knew that this warrior wasn't as skilled as his previous opponent, so he immediately lost interest. Consequently, he chose to raise a leg up and kick him out.
Luckily, Jin Wangsun didn't intend to cause him harm and thereby didn't put excessive strength into it, or else that kick would've ruptured his organs.
His skills were superior to the three 'punching bags', so he soon got bored and annoyed.
"You can all go. I'll have my slaves train with me."
The three Yi ranked warriors left with anger.
Jin Wangsun continued holding Yun Tou in his hand. He neither wiped nor intended to continue training.
One of his slaves slowly went up to him.
"Young Master, it seems that His Majesty does not intend to betroth the princess to you."
"Of course I'm aware of that. He made the promise back then purely out of a moment of impulse. It was merely a game. Go and see the agreement for yourself. You can still smell the aroma of wine on it."
"But, Young Master, does that not mean…"
"Hmph, it's not that easy to go back on his words. Even commoners understand the three letters and six etiquettes. I have His Majesty's betrothal letter, which he personally wrote, in my hands. He can't brush it off. Marrying a princess is far too important for me to mess up."
Jin Wangsun regained his composure, ending his streak of arrogant borderline misbehaviour today. He revealed a cautious expression, "That's why I must not be haughty to him or act unbearably insolent so that His Majesty cannot underestimate my Gold and Silver Sect. Otherwise, he will cancel the betrothal, which is as simple as a turn of the hand."
He then looked at the warriors that left and snickered, "I heard that the inner section of the palace was filled with highly skilled fighters. It is claimed that the fighters on Liu Shan's Elite Rankings are all top-tier fighters, but they're nothing special. We've already dealt a blow to the warriors of the Imperial Court as we wanted to."
An individual was running for dear life outside the Forbidden City.
"Shut! Shit! Shit!!!"
Ming Feizhen ran extremely fast. When he noticed that the folding doors were beginning to close and with just enough room for a single person to get through remaining, he exclaimed, "Fuck! The doors are closing!"
Left with no options, he kicked a rock up, sending it through the air. Ming Feizhen, however, moved even faster than the rock. He then positioned his body sideways, with his head facing the door and his feet in the opposite direction.
Ming Feizhen took aim and kicked the rock with his internal energy concentrated at his feet, thereby shattering it to dust. He used it as a launch pad to launch himself forward.
This was one of the techniques within Night Steps, a straight high-speed body launch, Night Rain.
"Aaahhh!!!"
With that, he was able to slip in through the doors right before they shut.
The door guards had no idea what happened. All they had heard was somebody crying out overhead. When they looked up, there was nobody to be seen.
Ming Feizhen knew the way to his destination, so he ran like a madman to Wuying Hall.
Jin Wangsun saw an adult's silhouette suddenly become large in the distance. The individual's movement skills were without question extraordinary.
That stirred him, making him feel filled with the joy of hunting. He shouted, "A skilled fighter!"
However, his target was, frankly, too fast so he couldn't stop him. As a result, Jin Wangsun slashed at him as soon as he reached him!
"Take this!"
Ming Feizhen didn't even bother to evade the slash. He let the slash land on his body. Yun Tou was unexpectedly unable to cut into him!
"What the fuck are you slashing at me for?!"
Ming Feizhen moulded an overwhelming amount of internal energy into his left hand and hammer fisted the tip of Yun Tou sabre. Jin Wangsun felt as though his hand exploded, causing him to lose control of his entire body. He flew away as fast as a peal of thunder, a speed he never imagined in his life. He was already unconscious and foaming at the mouth by the time he landed.
Glossary
*Three letters and six etiquettes is the Chinese practice of parents selecting an acceptable wife for their son. The name comes from three letters, and six common customs performed by the groom-to-be.
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