Martial Cultivator

A few days later, tragic news spread through the Divine Capital - His Majesty’s eldest legitimate son, the current Prince Ning, Chen Lin, had passed away in his prince manor due to illness.

Prince Ning, Chen Lin, was His Majesty’s firstborn son, born after His Majesty had been given a fiefdom as a prince. When he was born, His Majesty personally praised him as the son of a dragon and later, Emperor Lingzong bestowed upon him the name Chen Lin. At that time, everyone believed he would become His Majesty’s heir apparent. After His Majesty ascended the throne, with Prince Ning marrying the daughter of the Northern Frontier Great General, everyone once again believed he would become the crown prince.

Yet, things did not go as expected. Over the past decade since His Majesty ascended the throne, he never established a crown prince, and so the First Prince remained the First Prince.

It was not until half a year ago, when His Majesty embarked on a long journey, that the struggle for the imperial succession finally came to an end. The eldest prince was conferred a title as Prince Ning. At that time, there were still court officials who could not understand why His Majesty had deposed the eldest in favor of the youngest. But now, people belatedly realized, His Majesty had long seen that Prince Ning’s body would not last much longer, which was why he had chosen the Third Prince.

With Prince Ning’s passing, His Majesty now had only one remaining son, His Highness the Crown Prince.

Many could not help but think: from the passing of the empress, to the princess, to the sudden death of the second prince, and now Prince Ning, those closest to His Majesty had all died young. Was this Heaven’s punishment for His Majesty seizing the throne from his own nephew?

Rumors began to spread, but were quickly silenced by the common people.

“If this is Heaven’s punishment for His Majesty, then that damn villainous heaven is truly blind!”

“Exactly! With such a good emperor, even Heaven is jealous. Damn this villainous heaven!”

Over a decade of rule had long won over the hearts of the Divine Capital and the entire realm. No slander against His Majesty was tolerated.

On the day of Prince Ning’s funeral, His Highness the Crown Prince, dressed in mourning attire, personally led the civil and military officials to send Prince Ning on his final journey.

However, some observant individuals quickly noticed that among the gathered officials, the newly appointed Lord Warden Commander was nowhere to be seen.

This member of the Chen imperial family, for some unknown reason, had chosen not to appear.

……

……

The young sword immortal stayed in the Divine Capital for some time before leaving, heading south. He traveled slowly because his path lay through mountains and forests, where he killed the demons lurking within as he went.

These demons were not particularly powerful, but they had entrenched themselves just beyond the Divine Capital, within the borders of the Great Liang Dynasty. They frequently raided and plundered, bringing great hardship to the common people.

There were too many demons, spread too widely. Even the Great Liang Dynasty did not have the manpower or resources to completely eradicate them from its territory.

As the young sword immortal made his way south, it was naturally impossible for him to wipe out every demon within the entire Great Liang Dynasty. But he continued to act regardless.

He went from mountain to mountain, killing demons one by one. Perhaps, one day, the demons will be killed off.

He just did not know if he would live to see that day.

But it was unlikely he cared much. He did what he wanted to do. Since he had chosen to do it, why would he concern himself with how far he could go?

……

……

On a large ferry crossing a great river in Changping Prefecture, many merchants were aboard. Having just finished a meal of freshly caught river fish prepared by the boatmen that morning, they were now full and satisfied, gathering on the deck to admire the scenery along the riverbanks.

“In about another quarter of an hour, the ferry will enter Clear River Gorge. That’s when you’ll get to see its breathtaking sights.”

A merchant who had long traveled this river smiled as he introduced the upcoming scenery to those boarding the ferry for the first time.

The person speaking was Lu Yuan, the second-in-command of the renowned Lu Trading House of the Divine Capital. The Lu Family behind it had built its wealth through commerce. Though generations of effort had amassed them a considerable fortune, they had never held much influence in court. For decades, the Lu Family understood well that having connections in the imperial court made things easier. They had worked hard to cultivate their own family members for officialdom, yet no matter how much effort they put in, something always seemed to hold them back. Even when their Lu Family descendants achieved high scores in the imperial examinations, they struggled to rise to high office. At present, the highest-ranking Lu family member in the Great Liang Dynasty’s imperial court was merely a fourth-grade official, and he was stationed in the Ministry of Rites, the most neglected of the Six Ministries.

It was just a fourth-grade official, and that Lu Family descendant had managed to endure for twenty years.

Perhaps knowing that their family would never have any real influence in the court, the Lu Family had been extremely cautious these years, including in their allegiances. They had long since allied themselves with the Xie Family, and as long as the Xie Family did not fall, and they did not cause any trouble, it seemed unlikely they would face any significant issues.

The goods Lu Yuan was bringing this time were not valuable, and since this was a special trip for the younger generation of the family to see the world, he did not take the family’s private ferry. Instead, he chose to board at the ferry terminal.

“The methods of trading goods, I’m sure someone in the family has already explained to you all. I won’t repeat them. But this time, I’ll only tell you one thing, when you’re out in the world, always remember to stay humble and low-key. Don’t offend people you shouldn’t, and don’t say things you shouldn’t. Once you leave the Divine Capital, your status won’t matter much anymore. No matter how prestigious you are, outside, not many will care. If you provoke the wrong people, they might just retaliate by fighting it out with you. Even if you somehow manage to escape once, you’ll live in constant fear, worrying about whether their friends and family will come after you. Sure, your goods and money might be robbed, but more often than not, you could even end up in danger of losing your life.”

Lu Yuan looked out at the river scene and said with a heavy heart: “So, the key is enduring, and knowing when to give in. That’s what you need to do when you’re out in the world. No matter what, protect your life first. As for everything else, it can always be rebuilt.”

The youths of the Lu Family nodded in agreement. After all, nothing was more important than life and death.

Lu Yuan sighed but quickly smiled and said: “You’ll probably need a few more years to stand on your own. I honestly don’t know what the world will be like by then.”

A young man spoke up: “I think no matter how hard it gets, it can’t be worse than what Uncle is going through right now.”

This was a younger descendant of a side branch of the Lu Family. His branch wasn’t particularly important, but this young man named Lu Xin had shown extraordinary business acumen when he was young. He had been noticed by many influential figures in the Lu Family. They had entrusted him with managing one of their shops in the Divine Capital. To everyone’s surprise, after a few years, he had managed it very successfully.

This further solidified the Lu Family’s intention to nurture him. Otherwise, they would not have let Lu Yuan bring Lu Xin along this time. It was important to note that among the people traveling with them, except for him, all the others were direct descendants from the main branch.

Lu Yuan shook his head and said, “It’s not so difficult now. The hard times were before His Majesty ascended the throne. That period was the hardest to endure. Not only did we have to guard against demon attacks, but foreign cultivators also frequently raided us. But now, while demons still exist, foreign cultivators are no longer so quick to act. Small sects and factions don’t dare to provoke us anymore.” ”So, in such a world, we must remember the Emperor’s kindness.”

Lu Xin asked, “Uncle, will the world get better in the future?”

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment as he was about to respond, when a commotion arose from the back of the boat.

Lu Yuan glanced over, recognizing some of his own family members in the crowd. He frowned and instructed, “Go see what’s going on.”

An elderly man who was thin and frail immediately left to check the situation.

Before long, a middle-aged man returned with a somewhat unnatural expression, saying, “Second Master, it’s the cultivators from the Green Algae Sect who got into a quarrel with our people. They’re being unreasonable, demanding that we pay money to settle the matter.”

Lu Yuan asked, “What exactly happened?”

“The young master from the main branch was admiring the river’s beauty and, upon seeing an unknown woman, gave her some compliments. The woman then accused him of being disrespectful to her, and soon after, over ten cultivators from the Green Algae Sect appeared, demanding an explanation. The young master, provoked by this, became a bit angry and said some words he shouldn’t have. Now things have escalated, and they’re refusing to back down, insisting that we pay them money to settle the issue.”

The middle-aged man did not seem surprised. Given that the Lu Family was one of the most prominent commercial families in the Great Liang Dynasty, the foreign lands knew they were wealthy, so it was only natural that such things happened from time to time.

However, in the past, the Lu Family had their own cargo ships, so such incidents rarely happened on board.

Lu Yuan had traveled across the south and north for many years. What kind of storms and waves had he not seen? Therefore, he did not think much of it. He simply spoke, ”Let Retainer Xiao handle the negotiation. If the price is reasonable, just pay it. There’s no need to make a big deal out of this.”

He did know of the Green Algae Sect, a medium-size sect within Changping Prefecture. It was not far from the Divine Capital, and usually kept a low profile, rarely causing trouble. He was not sure what had happened today for them to suddenly act up.

The goods Lu Yuan was carrying were not valuable to begin with. Whatever price they demanded would likely exceed the value of the goods themselves, which meant this trip was likely a loss. But Lu Yuan did not mind. Over the course of a year, the Lu Family’s business saw both profits and losses, and he was not the type to fuss over such small matters.

Besides, the most important thing for this trip was to return with these young people safe and sound to the Divine Capital. As for other matters, there was no need to argue over right or wrong.

But it seemed things weren’t going as planned. Soon, the middle-aged man returned with a troubled expression, saying, “Second Master, they’re asking for an outrageous sum, 100,000 skygold coins.”

Lu Yuan furrowed his brow and said, “100,000? Who gave them the courage?”

The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile and then delivered some bad news. “There’s the sect leader from the Green Algae Sect on this ferry. Apparently, he broke through to the Nepenthe Realm at some point in time.”

Nepenthe Realm.

Hearing those two words, Lu Yuan’s heart sank.