Armipotent

Chapter 2224: Hidden Family (1)

People might think Nangong Huang was shameless to make such a proposal after breaking the agreement. However, the Grandmasters were well aware that Nangong Huang was going to commit suicide, and were not willing to implicate the Origin Sword Pavilion or the Nangong Family outside.

The Grandmaster could feel the change within Tang Shaoyang after a year. The aura emanating from Overseer Tang was that of someone at the peak of the True God Realm. Within a year, Overseer Tang Shaoyang managed to achieve the True God Realm, getting even stronger with the assistance of the God Realm’s system.

Going against Overseer was the same as suicide, especially when Nangong Huang just broke through to the fifth-stage True God Realm.

Tang Shaoyang could sense Nangong Huang’s determination to die with the challenge through Absolute Sense. The emotion that surged within Nangong Huang became as clear as day. This was enough for Tang Shaoyang to show leniency to the guy.

He chuckled, shaking his head, “The punishment for the Origin Sword Pavilion will be doubled for failing to discipline their member, and Nangong Huang will be stationed on our border to the Eternal River Empire for a hundred years.”

The punishment was about taking disciples and raising them to the True God Realm. It meant the Origin Sword Pavilion must take at least four hundred disciples and raise a hundred of them to the True God Realm within a year.

If they followed his instruction to level up in the God Realm or sent their disciple to the Dimensional Tower. It was not impossible to raise a hundred True God Realms within a year.

The punishment was not an impossible task. It was just a matter of whether they wanted to change or not. Despite his persuasion about the benefits of accepting the system. The two pavilions seemed too reluctant and didn’t show much interest in visiting his empire to clear out the dungeon or try the Dimensional Tower.

“Do you accept the punishment?”

It was directed to Grandmaster Nangong Hao and also Nangong Huang.

Nangong Huang was about to say something, but Nangong Hao pulled him. He stepped up and bowed, “The Origin Sword Pavilion accepts the punishment. We are grateful for your generosity, Overseer Tang Shaoyang!”

Tang Shaoyang could sense that Nangong Hao was relieved with the situation. If it proceeded with the duel, Nangong Huang would die without a doubt. Nangong Hao was relieved, a little happy that his cousin had been spared.

“However, may I clarify something, Sir?”

Tang Shaoyang nodded, “Go on.”

“Does that mean Nangong Huang is still part of the Thousand Vows Pavilion?”

Tang Shaoyang didn’t specify whether Nangong Huang could remain in the Origin Sword Pavilion. It only mentioned the punishment.

“That’s for him to decide. If he wishes to stay, then he will still be part of your pavilion. Or he can leave after serving his one hundred-year punishment, but he needs to take an oath that he will not share the technique he learns from you, even to his own descendant!”

He hoped the mercy would quicken the Origin Sword Pavilion’s integration into the Thousand Vows Pavilion. There would need to be a change, too, with the handing-down technique from the Grandmaster Codex, something that would make them work in earnest for the pavilion.

An idea quickly popped into his mind, a viable idea, but he needed people to work on the details so it didn’t get exploited.

He kept it for himself as he waited for Nangong Huang to respond, “If you decide to leave, you have to take the Divine Oath right now. If you want to stay, you still have to take a new oath anyway.”

“I…” Nangong Huang looked at Tang Shaoyang, then he looked at his cousin. There was a conflicting emotion stirred in his eyes, something that weighed his mind to make the decision.

He had an obsession with bringing his sword further, but he also cared for the Nangong Family outside. It was hard for him to make the decision.

“We can try to persuade them to be the Origin Sword Pavilion’s disciple, Brother Huang. We need to recruit disciples, after all,” Nangong Hao nodded.

“You can’t ask me for time. You need to make the decision now. My wife doesn’t have as much free time as you guys. This is the only time you can change the oath!” Tang Shaoyang was merciful with Nangong Huang, but he was not going to give more than that.

“I wish to stay…” Nangong Huang made his decision after a little hesitation.

Selena held the Divine Oath Ceremony right after, renewing the oath to make sure there would be no loopholes anymore.

“Don’t be too happy, Grandmaster Hao! You need to make up for Nangong Huang’s mistake. You must persuade or get rid of the people who learned the technique from Nangong Huang. I want the result by tomorrow!”

Tang Shaoyang reminded me of the Origin Sword Pavilion. To be honest, he didn’t really care about the techniques, but he must uphold the rule. Or else the other pavilions might think they could get away with it as well.

“We will depart right away, Sir!”

Nangong Hao was about to pull his cousin to leave right away. He stopped when he heard Tang Shaoyang’s voice.

“Wait! I have an announcement for you! Return to your seat!”

Once everyone returned to their seats, Tang made the announcement.

“Once we have eight pavilions, we will hold a yearly tournament. Only disciples of each pavilion get to participate; you old men could not join.”

There was no enthusiasm from the Grandmasters. It wasn’t until they heard the reward for first place.

“If the disciples from your pavilion win the tournament, your pavilion will get to learn three new techniques instead of one. The second-place pavilion will get to learn two techniques. The rest will only learn one technique!”

The moment they heard those, all the Grandmasters’ eyes lit up. But they quickly realized the key to the tournament. It was their disciples, not them. It was clear what the Overseer wanted them to do. They were expected to nurture the disciples properly, giving them the motivation so they wouldn’t neglect the disciples.

Tang Shaoyang had another objective. It was so these people could accept his method of cultivation, for them to integrate with the System. If they followed the system, they would gain an energy pool that would help with their cultivation. Just like him, he had a Chaos Energy Pool that helped him to cultivate. The reason why he could open all his meridians so quickly, transformed his constitution, and reached the peak True God Realm within a year.

The pavilion that adapted to the way of his cultivation would win the tournament, benefiting from two energy sources, having a higher status, which meant a better constitution.

He mentioned that once they had eight pavilions. They thought it would take a while to add two more pavilions, but Tang Shaoyang had a candidate for the next grandmaster. One of them was Zaneos. The Demon Swordsman fully benefited from the cultivation and reached a new level. The reason he quickly gathered one hundred God Shards was to take the Trial of God.

The second candidate might be Lu An, though it would be hard for him to hold the double functions as Grandmaster and Division Head of TEID.

Yu planned to create a pavilion as well, but he would not participate since his focus was on alchemy. The Alchemist was too busy with his newly gained resources and recipes. He was currently busy improving his potion and created a new, whole recipe with the new ingredient from the Sacred Realm.

The dwarves were too busy with their work to split their attention with the cultivation of Fire Essence that might assist them in their craft. The Dwarven Confederation was busy building its underground kingdom, the God Realm.

On top of that, the number of dwarfs increased. President Engin focused his attention on them to ensure the newly arrived dwarves could assimilate with his own people. He didn’t want a second Dwarf Confederation under the Tang Empire, after all.

Of course, he didn’t include those in his announcement, but it seemed his idea was well-received. That was good enough.

“There would be more details and rules for the tournament, but that’s for later. Is there any question?”

Since the details would be announced later, no one had a question. The meeting was over with the announcement that the Origin Sword Pavilion, led by Grandmaster Nangong Hao, had left the Thousand Vows Pavilion to visit their family.

At the same time, Xiyue returned. He almost forgot about her because of Nangong Huang. The Phoenix’s appearance above the floating island caused a disturbance.

The Grandmasters were on the move only to find out the phoenix was not an enemy, but Overseer Tang Shaoyang’s friend. They thought the mythical beast attacked them, only to find out the phoenix was tame.

A realization dawned upon Tian Zhong. He had an exchange with Tang Shaoyang once, and he ended up suffering injuries. While he was weaker, he thought the gap was not that big. But he quickly realized that if the phoenix joined Tang Shaoyang’s side, he had no chance to stand his ground.

Tang Shaoyang was having a telepathic conversation. Xiyue was so excited, telling him about the hidden family’s location. Her excitement made him forget to recall her. Thanks to her appearance, people gathered around him.

‘Wait… Maybe they are interested in joining to test out their new technique.’

He turned around toward the Grandmasters, “Are you interested in fighting a hidden family?”