Chapter 129: Chapter 128: The Master Arrives
From the stone monument on the official road, heading north for sixty kilometers, the loamy colors abruptly gave way to lush greenery. The dense mountain forest was especially eye-catching at the borders of Yong Province.
Following the valley tracks deep into the mountains and walking about one kilometer, a mountain carved into the shape of a statue suddenly came into view.
The towering statue of the Divine Farmer stood tall among the mountain ridges, overshadowing the surrounding peaks, signifying to whom the land belonged.
Here, was the ancestral land of the Jiang family.
At this moment, under the shadow of the statue, an elderly man clad in hemp lay leisurely on a slab of bluestone, his long gray hair flowing freely, giving him a feral aura. Yet, the middle-aged man fanning him, dressed in fine clothes, exuded an unmistakable air of nobility.
"Clan Elder, tricking Jiang Yang into intercepting Jiang Li, is this really alright?" the middle-aged man asked hesitantly.
"Indeed, it is not very good," nodded the monk-robed clan elder.
"Right? Jiang Yang has been at Seventh Rank for three years now, and three years ago Jiang Li was still a half-grown lad. What if something bad happens? Then what about the Innate Qi?" The middle-aged man showed a look mingled with covetousness and hesitation.
If something bad were to happen to Jiang Li, what would become of the Innate Qi?
"I mean it’s not very good for Jiang Yang."
The clan elder shook his head and chuckled darkly, "Do you think just because Jiang Li is at Eighth Rank, he is easy to bully? He, a mere Eighth Rank, successfully defeated those of Seventh Rank, even slaying our main family’s Jiang Zhuyun. He is also the disciple of that woman from the Gongsun family, and his hands are stained with blood. Those in the Dinghu Sect who wouldn’t follow his commands from the branch family are all dead."
"But isn’t the Dinghu Sect helping him?"
"Having the Dinghu Sect’s help is one thing; having the ability is another. You think just because of the Dinghu Sect’s help one can cultivate Innate Qi and the Divine Farmer’s appearance? Does our Jiang family’s true heritage mean so little?"
At this point, the clan elder spoke with disdain. "Thinking just because he is young, you underestimate him. Blocking news, hoping to monopolize the Innate Qi – with such narrow minds and vision, you deserve to spend a lifetime being ordered around as a branch family."
"Clan Elder, I didn’t mean to monopolize it," the middle-aged man squeezed out a smile and said, "I just had some doubts, he’s a young man after all, wanting to contend with the main family, anyone would have doubts."
"You’re hesitant, but others might not be," the clan elder sneered. "Some people are indeed harboring thoughts of replacing the main family. Heh, they dare to dream. Jiang Li himself, who bears the Divine Farmer’s appearance, doesn’t clamor to lead the main family, yet these insignificant insects who have no right to even contend are harboring such ambitions."
The middle-aged man heard this and also forced a smile, not daring to rebut in the slightest.
Because this was the reality.
People always have ambitions. The Jiang family had suffered a great setback, and the branches too had suffered heavy losses. It was a disaster, but also an opportunity.
There were always a few families whose losses were not so severe; always people who felt there was an opportunity to seize. Moreover, among the branches, there were still those loyal to the main family.
For instance, those from the branch families who had been killed by Jiang Li, their families, for the most part, called for the elimination of Jiang Li, the traitor, on behalf of the main family.
"This..."
The middle-aged man was somewhat embarrassed; he never expected the clan elder to openly speak of these uncomfortable truths.
He had no choice but to change the subject, asking, "Clan Elder, since you want Jiang Li to oversee the branch families, why then deceive Jiang Yang by saying it was someone from the main family coming?"
"To teach that young man a lesson. A true descendant of the Jiang family, yet he turned into a mere bandit. Additionally, it also serves as a warning to Jiang Li. If he truly has the ability, encountering such an incident should make him realize that uniting the branch families isn’t an easy task."
The clan elder spoke leisurely, "And, who said I lied to Jiang Yang?"
"Hmm?"
The clan elder laughed softly, "I said the head of the Jiang family was coming. Isn’t the one arriving the new head of the Jiang family?"
...
...
On the other side, an interrogation was underway.
A big man with a beard had his power sealed and was tightly bound, with Qi Changsheng, Luu Wangji, and Jiang Luo watching him intently.
"Name?"
"Jiang Yang."
"Age?"
"Twenty-five."
"Origin... wait a moment!" Qi Changsheng stared straight at the big bearded man’s face, "You claim to be twenty-five?"
Qi Changsheng himself was also twenty-four this year. There was only a one-year difference between him and the big man, but in terms of appearance, one might believe that Jiang Yang was Qi Changsheng’s father.
"Is there a problem if I have excessive Yang Qi?" the big bearded man, Jiang Yang, retorted irritably.
If it weren’t for his guilty conscience, he would have struck Qi Changsheng the moment he questioned his age.
"He really is twenty-five," Jiang Li said from atop a carriage, nodding as he glanced over.
Though his features seemed hurriedly put together, from the looks of it, Jiang Yang wasn’t lying.
"Yang Qi overwhelms the body, Flame Qi attacks the flesh; this is the Jiang family’s most infamous suicidal Divine Skill ’Nine Blaze Departure Scripture.’ Said to originate from the same source as the Warlord’s Skill, it rapidly enhances one’s power by continuously increasing one’s Yang Qi, but as the saying goes, too much rigidity leads to fragility, extremists often suffer from their excesses. Looking hastily grown is the most basic hallmark," Feng Manlou casually remarked from nearby.
So, there was a reason why Jiang Yang looked hastily put together.
Now somewhat willing to accept that the man before him was only a year older, Qi Changsheng then asked, "After Jiang Zhuyun was defeated, the junior disciples who joined our sect had someone send a message to their respective families, informing them of the disciple possessing Innate Qi. Why then did you still think it was people from the main house who were coming?"
"I didn’t know," Jiang Yang responded with a frustrated expression.
He only knew about Jiang Zhuyun’s death at Dinghu Sect. As for the rest, he was completely unaware.
Including Jiang Li assisting Luu Wangji in cultivating Innate Qi and promising to pass it on to the other branch families, and the impending arrival of Jiang Li in the ancestral land.
"It must have been those degenerates, they hid the news!" Jiang Yang exclaimed indignantly, "And the Clan Elders, they tricked me. That terrible old man is up to no good, probably colluding with those degenerates, even lying to me about people from the main house coming."
[No, perhaps that so-called Clan Elder was trying to warn me. This Jiang Yang wasn’t exactly throwing his weight around.]
[Having such a simpleton play power games doesn’t intimidate, only revealing their lack of confidence.]
Jiang Li took notes, using the information to deduce the situation within the Jiang family.
[It seems the situation with the Jiang’s branch family is quite complicated. Even Innate Qi can’t make them bow their heads in submission. Naturally, there are always those who don’t want mutual benefits; they only think about taking everything for themselves.]
Jiang Li had anticipated this and was prepared.
To subjugate the branch families, one needs to be prepared with both, a stick and honey; Innate Qi was the honey, already laid out. Now, it was time for those bugs to see Jiang Li’s stick.
"Let’s talk about the current situation of each branch family," Jiang Li said.