Martial Cultivator

Yu Xiyi quickly caught on. “You punk, you must need something from me. Otherwise, would you be this polite?”

Chen Chao put on an earnest expression. “Is this your first day meeting me? Haven’t I always been like this?”

Yu Xiyi let out a cold laugh. “You think I’d believe that?”

Chen Chao smiled bitterly.

This guy had always been a chatterbox, so Chen Chao was used to it. Without wasting time, he got straight to the point. “I heard that Sword Qi Mountain has stopped allowing your Sword Sect disciples to go up and claim swords. Quite a few sword cultivators from your sect went to negotiate, but they were all turned away?”

Yu Xiyi nodded, not bothering to hide anything. “I heard about it on my way to the Divine Capital. But it’s none of my business, our Sect Master brought this on himself.”

Chen Chao chuckled. “You can’t put it that way. The Sword Sect’s Sect Master may have perfected his Sword Dao and doesn’t need any companion sword anymore, but the rest of your sect’s sword cultivators still need swords, don’t they?” ”You’re a sword cultivator yourself. You should know what it feels like not to have a sword that truly suits you.”

Yu Xiyi frowned.

Chen Chao continued, “You’ve become a sword immortal, but are you just going to ignore your junior brothers and nephews in the sect?”

Yu Xiyi fell silent for a moment before sighing. “Sect Master did admit his mistake before he went into seclusion. But some things aren’t as simple as just admitting you were wrong. Otherwise, why would people say ‘too late for regrets’?”

“Before I came to the Divine Capital, the sect also sent me a message asking me to find a way. But damn it, I have no ties to Sword Qi Mountain, and I already owe them a favor. What solution am I supposed to come up with?!”

The Sword Sect was an odd sect. They never relied on external objects or used magic artifacts. A sword cultivator only needed a single lifeblood flying sword to suffice. In the past, they would simply go up Sword Qi Mountain to fetch a sword, owing a favor in return. But now that Sword Qi Mountain had cut them off, they had no alternatives.

Although the Sword Sect’s Sect Master had mentioned before entering closed-seclusion that they could use the swords from the mountain in the future, who would not understand that their own sect’s flying swords are nothing like the flying swords of Sword Qi Mountain?

Chen Chao burst into laughter.

Yu Xiyi suddenly asked, “You know so many things, do you have a solution?”

Chen Chao nodded. “Great Liang and Sword Qi Mountain have a decent relationship. I also have some ties with them. Otherwise, where do you think this bamboo house came from? Helping you with this shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Hearing this, Yu Xiyi turned to take a good look at the pavilion. Only then did he realize that the green bamboo used for the entire structure came from Sword Qi Mountain.

Yu Xiyi raised an eyebrow. “What’s your plan?”

Chen Chao spoke seriously. “About three hundred miles from Sword Qi Mountain, the imperial court controls a stone quarry that happens to produce materials needed for forging swords there. I can authorize them to mine it for ten years in exchange for allowing your Sword Sect disciples back up the mountain to claim swords.” ᚱà𝐍ộ𝐁Εṡ

“Relationships are one thing, and your Sword Sect has admitted its fault. But you still need to give people a way to step down.”

Yu Xiyi raised an eyebrow and asked, “Ten years of mining rights? That’s a hefty price.”

“What do you want from the Sword Sect this time?”

Yu Xiyi knew full well that Chen Chao was never one to do good deeds for nothing.

Chen Chao rubbed his hands together, grinning as he said, “Nothing much, nothing much. Didn’t your Sword Sect’s Sect Master also receive guidance from His Majesty? We’ve been good friends all along, haven’t we?”

Yu Xiyi kept a straight face. “Get to the point.”

Chen Chao grinned. “First condition - you need to stay in the Divine Capital for a while.”

Yu Xiyi sneered, “What kind of person do you think I am?”

Chen Chao looked at him.

“Before coming to the Divine Capital, I had already decided to settle here. I won’t be leaving.”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “Staying here for life?”

Yu Xiyi shook his head. “When war breaks out in the Northern Frontier, I’ll naturally head to the Northern Frontier city walls.”

Chen Chao clapped his hands. “Alright, then let’s pretend I never mentioned that condition. Initially, I was worried two conditions would be too much, but now it’s down to just one.”

Yu Xiyi let loose a torrent of curses.

Chen Chao patted his shoulder. “Yu Xiyi, oh Yu Xiyi, you may be skilled at wielding a sword, but when it comes to making deals, you don’t have the brains for it at all.”

“Then I’ll make just one request. If Great Liang goes to war with the demon race in the future, can the Sword Sect send about a hundred people to fight in the Northern Frontier?”

Chen Chao smiled as he looked at Yu Xiyi.

Yu Xiyi scoffed. “Now I see it clearly, you want my Sword Sect to send a hundred people to risk their lives for just ten years of quarry mining rights?”

Chen Chao corrected him. “Not for me, it’s for humanity.”

Yu Xiyi pondered for a moment before saying, “I can’t make this decision, but I’ll write back and ask for you. I don’t think it’ll be a big problem. You’re making quite the profit here, punk.”

Chen Chao said, “Why don’t you push for more? A hundred is just my bottom line, but when it comes to sword cultivators, the more, the better. Everyone knows that your Sword Sect’s sword cultivators have unmatched killing power in this world; the more, the merrier!”

Yu Xiyi looked at Chen Chao and said seriously, “They are people too, with their own thoughts. Instead of getting more, you should focus on finding those who truly want to go.”

Chen Chao was silent.

“But I will do my best to make this happen. When the next great war comes, I’ll see to it that our Sword Sect has sword cultivators standing atop the city walls.”

Yu Xiyi smiled. “But even if they don’t come, I’ll still be there.”

Chen Chao was silent for a moment, then looked at Yu Xiyi and sighed. “Since that’s the case, I won’t hide it from you anymore. I’ll tell you: Great Liang isn’t just planning to defend against the demon race’s southern expeditions. Once I’m done with my business in the foreign lands, perhaps humanity will see its first northern expedition within these past thousand years.”

”Northern expedition?”

Yu Xiyi was shocked too. He had never considered such a thing, yet here was Chen Chao, already planning for it.

Chen Chao shook his head. “This isn’t just my idea. To put it another way, ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, this has been in the works. But there’s much to be done before that, so for now, it remains a future concern. Right now, what we need to do is settle past matters first. The disgrace of the thirty thousand miles of desolate north, perhaps in our generation, we can wipe it away for good.”

Yu Xiyi said sincerely, “His Majesty is truly remarkable.”

Chen Chao smiled bitterly. “And yet, he still dumped the mess on me.”

Yu Xiyi smiled and said, ”Since that’s the case, count me in.”

Chen Chao nodded his head.

……

……

After bidding farewell to Yu Xiyi, Chen Chao glanced at the sky and prepared to head to the academy.

Yesterday, Xie Nandu had sent word back, the academy had seen Zhou Gouqi appear once more. Many academy tutors had already met with him, and the general sentiment was that with the academy being leaderless, it was the perfect time for this newly ascended Saint to serve as its acting dean.

Some had even sent letters to the Northern Frontier, seeking the opinion of the Dean.

In reality, many tutors still could not accept the fact that the Dean had gone to the Northern Frontier.

Especially since there was no war at the moment, why did the Dean go?

Yet no matter how they tried to persuade this Confucian Saint, he refused to change his stance.

In the end, Zhou Gouqi even suggested appointing Xie Nandu as the new dean of the academy.

This proposal left many tutors hesitant. Though Xie Nandu had proven her abilities in recent days, she was still young, and it was uncertain whether she could convince the masses.

“There’s no need to worry too much. Keep in mind that Chen Chao is also of a similar age, yet he is already our Great Liang’s Lord Warden Commander. Young talents emerge, why should this be a problem?”

Looking at the elderly tutors, Zhou Gouqi said softly, “I truly have other matters to attend to and likely won’t be staying long at the academy.”

A tutor asked, “Then can’t we simply wait until you’re finished, Sir?”

Zhou Gouqi shook his head and smiled. “The matters I must handle... once they’re done, returning to lead the academy would no longer be appropriate.”

Hearing this, the tutors felt a tinge of disappointment. Some wanted to press further, but by then, Zhou Gouqi was already preparing to send them away.

Once the tutors had left, a young man dressed in black stood outside the door, carrying two jars of wine. He laughed loudly, ”Auntie, I’ve come to see you!”

Hearing this, a figure hurriedly rushed out from inside the house, it was none other than Zhou Gouqi’s wife, who had grown visibly slimmer.

Seeing Chen Chao, the woman’s face lit up with a smile. She quickly came to the door, grabbed Chen Chao’s sleeve, and sized him up before gesturing with her hand and lamenting, ”You’ve grown a lot taller, and you look much sturdier than before.”

Back in Tianqing County, although every meeting between Chen Chao and Zhou Gouqi always ended in an argument, he had always gotten along well with this woman.

During those days when he would go hungry, this woman had often helped Chen Chao.

Chen Chao chuckled awkwardly and glanced at the two jars of wine in his hand. He had come in a hurry this time and had not managed to bring any proper gifts.

The woman was quick-witted and immediately noticed Chen Chao’s hesitation. She quickly smiled and said, ”You coming here is enough. No need to bring anything, aren’t we family?”

Chen Chao grinned. ”Next time for sure.”

The woman nodded and teased, ”Well, if you come next time and don’t bring anything, Auntie will be mad.”

Standing in the courtyard, Zhou Gouqi watched this exchange and said huffily, ”You dare ask him for things? This brat is now the top military official of the Great Liang Dynasty. If you piss him off, do you think it will be a good thing for you?”

The woman, who had been all smiles, instantly lost half of her smile upon hearing those words. The remaining half was only maintained through sheer effort. Otherwise, there would have been none left at all.

It was only then that she realized, the young man standing before her was no longer the boy who used to quarrel with her husband in the alley every day.

But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Even her own husband had somehow become some so-called Saint, so it seemed only natural that this young man had also become someone remarkable.

Seeing the change in her expression, Chen Chao reached out and gently held her wrist, smiling as he said. ”Auntie, things are just the same as they were back then. Don’t act like we’re strangers, or I’ll really be sad.”

The woman forced a smile.

Chen Chao reassured her, ”My parents died early, and when I came to Peach Blossom Alley all those years ago, I truly saw Auntie as half a mother. If we start acting distant now, that won’t do.”

Hearing this, the woman finally relaxed and laughed. ”Then wait here, Auntie will make you something to eat.”

Chen Chao smiled. It felt as if he had returned to that narrow Peach Blossom Alley once again.