Martial Cultivator

Only, no one expected Minister Du to quickly change the subject, smiling as he asked, “Then can Lord Warden Commander find some more swordsmiths from Sword Qi Mountain? These one hundred people are not enough.”

This time it was Chen Chao’s turn to laugh in exasperation. “Minister Du, do you think swordsmiths from Sword Qi Mountain are cabbages sold on the street?”

Minister Du narrowed his eyes. “Others may not have that ability, this lowly officials knows that. But if it is Lord Warden Commander, then this matter would not be difficult.”

Hearing this blatant flattery from the Minister of the Ministry of Works, Chen Chao could only reveal more of the truth. “There is no hope from Sword Qi Mountain anymore. First, among these one hundred people, there truly are several extraordinary swordsmiths, figures as weighty as Mt. Tai, and as brilliant as the Big Dipper. Second, they themselves are about to forge a batch of flying swords, and the number is not small, so it is very difficult for them to spare any more manpower.”

Minister Du keenly sensed that there was something unusual here and asked curiously, “This batch of new swords, they are not being forged for us, are they?”

Chen Chao nodded.

Minister Du asked in confusion, “Do we really have that many sword cultivators?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “No.”

Minister Du was just about to speak when Chen Chao laid bare the truth in a single sentence, “We do not have that many sword cultivators, but there are plenty of sword cultivators in this world. I intend to take this batch of flying swords to the Northern Frontier, and I will also spread the word that under heaven, any sword cultivator who is willing to fight side by side with my Great Liang in the Northern Frontier will be given one Sword Qi Mountain flying sword each.”

Minister Du stared with eyes wide open. Clearly, he had not expected Chen Chao to do something like this.

What a flying sword forged by Sword Qi Mountain meant to sword cultivators across the world went without saying.

This was something that most sword cultivators would be willing to gamble their lives for.

“Additionally, I cannot find any more swordsmiths from Sword Qi Mountain for Minister Du, but in Yellow Dragon Prefecture, I have roughly had people invite five hundred passable swordsmiths to come to the Divine Capital.”

Chen Chao said self-mockingly, “If Minister Du still says that is not enough, then this official truly has no other methods. This official’s abilities are limited;this is about all I can do.”

Minister Du asked curiously, “For this matter, what price did Lord Warden Commander pay?”

Chen Chao shook his head and said, “What price could there be? At most, I told them that the swordsmiths of Sword Qi Mountain could occasionally give them some pointers. As for how much they can gain, that depends entirely on themselves. Of course, aside from that, since they have come to the Divine Capital, they must devote themselves wholeheartedly to forging military equipment for Great Liang. There can be no slacking off in this matter. This matter will have to trouble Minister Du to keep a close eye on.”

Minister Du nodded, but then immediately asked another question. “Lord Warden Commander is expending so much effort on this kind of matter. Is it because of the Northern Frontier?”

Chen Chao looked at Minister Du, who back then had also placed second in the imperial examinations, yet chose to do practical things for the common people and thus chose the Ministry of Works, a post scholars were unwilling to choose, and had remained in the Ministry of Works up to this day. He said softly, “Very soon, there will be a great war. One unprecedented in scale.”

The reason for doing so much now was still that there was not much time left. Even if one did not wish to be anxious, one had to be.

Minister Du fell silent for a moment and asked, “Can it be won?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “I do not know. But it must be fought to find out. And even if it cannot be won, it still must be won. If we lose, I find it hard to imagine what Great Liang would become.”

Whether his uncle would be disappointed at that time was no longer important. The displacement of all the people of Great Liang, the shattering of mountains and rivers, and even the extermination of the human race, none of these were things Chen Chao wished to see.

Minister Du sighed with emotion. “The burden on Lord Warden Commander’s shoulders is heavy. Your Excellency must take care of your health. After all, the Great Liang Dynasty cannot do without Your Excellency.”

Chen Chao joked, “Old Minister, how is it that even when you say things like this, they sound so stiff?”

Minister Du merely smiled it off, then let out a long, slow laugh. “Had I known it would be like this, back then this old man should have gone to practice martial arts. What was the point of studying books?”

Chen Chao said nothing and simply left the Ministry of Works’ office.

This trip back to the Divine Capital was said to allow him to stay here for some time, but in reality there were still many things to do. Preparations like these, planning ahead for a rainy day, had in fact been continuously pushed forward even when he was not in the Divine Capital. The dealings with Sword Qi Mountain, the dealings with the Sword Sect, were all like this.

After returning to the Divine Capital, many matters still had to be carried through and put into effect.

To say rest - in truth, it was very hard to truly leave everything unattended.

Born with a fate of constant toil - that was how Chen Chao described himself.

After strolling out from the Ministry of Works’ office, and rarely having a bit of free time, Chen Chao slowly wandered toward the academy. It seemed he had not gone to the academy for quite some time. Leaving other things aside, the current acting academy head was Zhou Gouqi, that fellow. He really ought to go take a look. That fellow had been his neighbor across the way for so many years. Speaking of it, not seeing him, he really did miss him somewhat.

However, when he passed by a honey dates shop, he could not help but think of the girl called Zhu Xia. It had been quite some time since they last met.

But by now, in truth, it was better to meet Zhu Xia as little as possible. After all, he could keep himself from harboring any thoughts, but that girl Zhu Xia might not be able to do the same.

Rubbing his face, Chen Chao muttered, being good-looking really leaves one with no choice. Afterward he bought a portion of honey dates, tossed a few into his mouth and chewed. He still felt they were a bit too sweet. This sort of sweet treat was something women liked;he truly did not like it.

However, along this stretch of the road, as Chen Chao was lost in thought, he failed to notice that the number of common folk around him was steadily increasing. After about half an hour, Chen Chao suddenly bumped into a soft mass. Instinctively he said a quick sorry, but when he raised his head, he abruptly discovered that at some point, quite a few women had gathered in front of him.

Chen Chao stood there in a daze, looking at that cluster of orioles and swallows.

Then in the next moment, his ears were filled with incessant chatter. A group of women, one calling him Lord Warden Commander Chen, another calling him Lord Warden Commander, to the point that Chen Chao’s head began to ache.

After finally fighting his way out of the encirclement, Chen Chao lowered his head and saw that he did not know how many handkerchiefs and the like had ended up in his arms.

Letting out a mournful sigh, Chen Chao looked around, about to destroy the evidence. Right at that moment, a voice sounded by his ear. “Surname Chen, well done, well done. Stepping on seven or eight or nine or ten... too many boats to count. How can you let Your Father’s little junior sister down like this?”

Chen Chao raised his head and looked at that middle-aged man who had nearly become his brother-in-law by bargain. Clicking his tongue, he said, “Zhou Gouqi, Zhou Gouqi, you’re already a saint, yet your mouth is still full of filthy talk?”

After he said this, the man opposite him, for once, did not retort. The two merely looked at each other and smiled.

Damn it, seeing a close friend again, no matter how you put it, just makes one feel at ease.