Chapter 125: Two Options
Originally, most people in the Chu royal city assumed that the youth named Zhou Donghuang might not be stronger than the two Petty Consummation demon golden-crowned eagles in terms of ability, but had subdued them using some other methods.
Now that Xiao Jiancheng from the imperial court of Yunyang had been defeated in the Chu royal city, one thing was clear to the people of the Chu royal city: That youth's ability was actually greater than that of the two golden-crowned eagles!
The two golden-crowned eagles would not have been able to kill Xiao Jiancheng from the imperial court of Yunyang even if they joined forces.
The youth had proven his ability in this battle.
Of course, even though it was well-known in the Chu royal city that the youth had killed Xiao Jiancheng, very few knew that he had been killed in one attack by the youth...
Killing an opponent in one attack and managing to kill an opponent only after using every ounce of effort were two completely different things.
How could it be? That little swine, how could he have such incredible ability?
When Patriarch Yang Yunji of the grand Yang family heard that Zhou Donghuang had killed Xiao Jiancheng, his mood seemed to fall from heaven straight down to hell, and he was so exasperated that he almost vomited blood.
When the patriarch of the tycoon Tang family received the news, he heaved a sigh of relief with even as shock was written all over his face. Seems that I was worried for nothing... I never imagined that Young Master Donghuang had such ability.
That's why he was not bothered when I got the young mistress of the Ren family to warn him... he never was afraid of the imperial court of Yunyang in the first place!
This time, by killing the Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor of the imperial court, he has nothing else to worry about in the imperial court of Yunyang.
Unless... the Connate stage adept that the imperial court of Yunyang could possibly have is proficient in the use of bows.
After all, even if the imperial court of Yunyang has a Connate stage adept, he will only be an ordinary Connate stage adept at most. At that level, he will not be able to do anything to Young Master Donghuang unless he is proficient in the use of bows.
Therefore, even if the imperial court of Yunyang has a Connate stage adept, he might not be able to strike against Young Master Donghuang easily... after all, Young Master Donghuang could order the two golden-crowned eagles to go to the imperial palace and slaughter everyone there when the Connate stage adept is trying to deal with him!
This thought put Tang Liunian completely at ease.
That youth was the benefactor who saved his life and also the benefactor who saved the Tang family, and he naturally hoped that no harm would befall him.
He was happy with the status quo.
Now, the only thing to be worried about was... the imperial court of Yunyang could very well feel that they cannot tolerate Young Master Donghuang and offer some benefits in return for the Connate stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters to take action.
At this thought, Tang Liunian could not help but be slightly worried. In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there were numerous Connate stage adepts... and there were definitely Connate stage adepts who were proficient with the bow.
Moreover, in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there were even Connate stage adepts so powerful that they could kill those two golden-crowned eagles even though they were not proficient with the bow!
Besides that, in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there was supposedly a Connate stage flying demon!
The more Tang Liunian thought, the more worried he became.
Now, I just hope... that the imperial court of Yunyang will be so concerned about its reputation that it will not be willing to seek help from the Valley of the Medicine Masters just to deal with a youth.
Tang Liunian prayed in his heart.
...
The Chu royal family.
After returning from Chuxiu Inn, the Chu king Xiang Xiong gave orders, mobilizing every ounce of the Chu royal family's resources to secure all the valuable herbs that the youth needed.
After all, that youth had only given him three months.
"Your Majesty... is there really no other way to deal with him?"
The royal consort, Fan Ji, had an expression of indignation on her face ever since Xiang Xiong had returned from Chuxiu Inn.
She had expected that the person sent by the imperial court of Yunyang would be able to help her avenge the ocean of blood from when her Fan family was wiped out.
She did not expect that he would be killed by the youth.
"My dear," Xiang Xiong sighed. "That youth is not someone the Chu royal family can deal with... and moreover since the imperial court has already sent someone over, the Chu royal family can no longer pursue this issue."
Now, Xiang Xiong was truly afraid.
Although that youth was not a Connate stage adept, he gave the impression that he was even more fearsome than an average Connate stage adept.
At least, the small metal sphere that could transform into a sword that the youth possessed was not something that he could comprehend. If I'm not wrong... that small metal sphere is a treasure that a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage left behind!
With a treasure left behind by a magnificent practitioner, an average Connate stage adept would not be able to oppose that youth even though he had not yet attained the Connate stage.
However, although Xiang Xiong obviously did not dare to mess with the youth again, he had already sent a messenger to the imperial city at top speed to report the news of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor's death to the imperial court of Yunyang.
The news had already begun to spread, and if the Chu royal family had not reported it by the time it reached the ears of the imperial court, the imperial court would show no mercy to the Chu royal family.
...
On June 6, 1229 of the Ziyun Era, the messenger sent to the imperial city by the Chu royal family finally arrived at the imperial city and went immediately to the imperial palace to report every detail about the deaths of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor.
Immediately, the senior leadership of the Jiang family of the imperial court of Yunyang, led by the emperor of Yunyang, the patriarch of the Jiang family Jiang Tianchen, convened once more in the golden palace.
"I have just received news from the Chu royal family... Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor have been killed by that youth called Zhou Donghuang."
Jiang Tianchen sat on the dragon throne wearing his golden dragon robe, surveying the senior leadership with a stormy expression as he spoke.
Large as the imperial court was, prior to this moment, only Jiang Tiancheng knew of this.
Therefore, this was a shock to the senior leadership of the imperial court when he revealed it.
"How is this possible? Although Commander Xiao's ability is not the strongest among the Great Consummation adepts in the imperial court... but his specialization in defense is so strong that only a few Great Consummation adepts have the ability to kill him."
Some shook their heads, unwilling to believe this reality.
"How could the Cloud Condor have been killed? It is a flying demon, and together with Commander Xiao, it would have been child's play to kill those two golden-crowned eagles from the Western Ridge of the Chu King!"
Some were suspicious of this.
Unless that youth is a Connate stage adept and one who is proficient in the use of the bow... Otherwise, how could he have killed Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor?"
"A youth and already a Connate stage adept? Impossible! Even if he has somehow obtained a treasure from a Primal Core stage adept, he could not have attained the Connate stage at this age!"
"Your Majesty, I would like to know the details of what happened."
...
As the golden palace descended into an uproar, Jiang Tianchen questioned the messenger from the Chu royal family in a low voice which carried to all the members of the senior leadership present.
"Someone on the ground killed the Cloud Condor a hundred meters in the air with one attack?"
"A metal sphere transformed into a sword, shot into the air and killed the Cloud Condor before it could react?"
"That sword was so fast that even Commander Xiao was caught unprepared and could not react in time?"
"Demonstrating a suspected first-grade swiftness technique to easily counter Commander Xiao's sneak attack? Moreover, killing Commander Xiao with a single sword attack, completely bypassing Commander Xiao's specialized defenses?"
...
The senior leadership of the imperial court was stunned speechless at what Jiang Tiancheng said.
Although this was shocking to hear, they knew full well that the messenger from the Chu royal family would not dare lie to mislead the imperial court.
"This youth... perhaps we can kill him only if the retired emperor personally takes action."
An old man with a goatee like a mountain goat said with an expression of dread, "Moreover, there is only a chance. After all, that metal sphere he has is too strange, it is obviously a treasure left behind by a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage."
"Even if the retired emperor manages to kill that youth, what about the two golden-crowned eagles with him? It has been less than ten years since the retired emperor has attained the Connate Stage, and without being proficient in the arts of using the bow. Without the Cloud Condor, it will be extremely difficult to kill those two golden-crowned eagles. If there comes a time when those two golden-crowned eagles should decide to exact vengeance on the imperial court, how will the juniors of the imperial court be able to resist them?"
Another old man voiced out his concerns.
"Second Elder, you are being overly concerned... if the retired emperor is able to kill that youth and acquire that metal sphere, wouldn't it be simple to kill those two golden-crowned eagles?" a middle-aged man said.
"That's indeed the case."
Someone else agreed.
"I am thinking of two options."
Jiang Tianchen waved his hand, and once the senior leadership of the imperial court had quietened down, he continued in a solemn voice, "The first option is for the retired emperor to intervene personally and kill that youth. But, as Head Elder has said, even so, he might not be able to kill that youth.
"If that youth can bypass Commander Xiao's defense with that metal sphere that transforms into a sword and kill him, it implies that that attack is not weaker than that of an ordinary Connate stage adept.
"If the retired emperor takes action, there is a degree of risk."
Jiang Tianchen stopped here and hesitated before continuing after a pause, "The second option is to report this to the Valley of the Medicine Masters... the Valley of the Medicine Masters will definitely be interested in what the treasure that the youth got from his fortunate encounter with the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage."
"From the metal sphere that the youth possesses, we can further confirm... he definitely had a fortunate encounter with a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage. Otherwise, he could not possibly have come to possess such a treasure!"
"However, once we report this to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it will imply that whatever the youth gained from the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage will not be shared by the imperial court of Yunyang!"
"The first option is risky, but if it succeeds, we can obtain the benefits from the treasure left behind by the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage, and even if we cannot, we will be able to gain possession of that metal sphere if nothing goes wrong.
"On the other hand, the second option is very safe, but the imperial court of Yunyang must give up any claim to the traces left behind by the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage as well as that metal sphere."