Main Text, Chapter Ninety-One: The Estate Headquarters

The Song family surely had more than one master of the third realm.

Jiang An was no longer the man who had returned to Earth with his eyes in darkness. With the intelligence networks of the Guardian Manor and the Yu Gate at his disposal, he could learn many things. It was only because time had been too short, or because he had not cared to look into them, that his knowledge seemed less formidable than that of the other great powers.

From what he understood, one of the conditions for becoming a prominent clan was that the family must have at least one grandmaster of the third realm. And as for a lineage even higher than a prominent clan? It was no surprise at all to have two such masters. Song Han, the head of the Song family, was already one of them, so there must surely be others lurking in the shadows. The only question was why they had not come out to relieve the siege; perhaps they felt it was unnecessary.

Seeing Jiang An ask, Song Han did not hide the truth. “Indeed. Besides me, there is another elder in the clan who is a master. He entered the third realm decades ago. At his level of cultivation, one often ignores worldly affairs and instead seals himself away in deathly retreat, giving all his strength to breaking through the bottleneck to grandmaster. Unless it truly comes to a crucial moment of life and death for the Song family, he will not come out even if he knows about it. The last time I saw him was twelve years ago.”

This answer did not surprise Jiang An. On the path of cultivation, the farther one goes, the harder the road becomes. For those with profound cultivation, a single retreat lasting decades or even a hundred years was nothing unusual.

The three of them spoke back and forth, and their relationship was no longer as distant as before. Watching Jiang An’s expression, Song Chengzong suddenly asked, “Brother Jiang, pardon my boldness, but did you obtain the method of cultivating that venomous sorcery Tang Chou used?”

He had been keeping this in his heart and could no longer bear it, so he simply asked outright.

“I did!” Jiang An said without changing expression, candid and direct. “But this venomous art is exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Just think: Tang Chou was a direct descendant of the Tang family, and even with a grandmaster’s body, he still needed more than ten years to master it. That tells you enough about its difficulty. So even if you obtain the method, it is almost as good as not obtaining it at all. Moreover, this poisonous technique has a flaw when it is used. Once the insects regain their activity, they disperse into the air and must enter the host through breathing. Yet they carry a faint odor. If it were a grandmaster, he would certainly notice the anomaly and stop breathing; in that case, the harm would be limited. The reason Tang Chou succeeded this time was that he used the aroma of the dishes at the banquet to cover the odor. Only then did it work. After saying all this, does the eldest young master want the cultivation method for this venom art?”

Jiang An wore a faint, ambiguous smile. Song Chengzong gave an awkward laugh and shook his head. “No, no. I was just asking out of curiosity.”

“Rest assured. That kind of venomous art will never spread beyond these walls. I, Jiang, have no regard for such despicable means.” Jiang An said lightly, caring little whether Song Chengzong believed him or not.

Indeed, if Jiang An wanted to control someone, he would simply strike them with the Four-Colored Finger of Heavenly Punishment. That would leave them begging for mercy and obedient as a lamb. Why bother with such nauseating poison?

...

In the quiet chamber, the three were chatting, while in every important corner of the Garden of Vast Prosperity, masters stood at their posts, dutiful and vigilant. But the Hall of Ten Thousand Ages was in an uproar. A few hundred people had been noisy enough already; add several hundred live pigs into the mix, and the spectacle was truly beyond words.

It did not take long before all the items needed to remove the poison had been prepared. Song Qi came to ask for instructions, and only then did Jiang An and the others go out to handle the matter.

By the time night had fallen and the work was finally done, the guests were able to breathe again and go rest in their own quarters. Rest, so-called, was only in name; each of them was busy sending reports. Everything that had happened here today spread at incredible speed across the nation and even abroad.

A birthday celebration, revenge, poison, a royal lineage, a challenge letter—every one of these was explosive news, and together they were even more sensational. Among them, one name was mentioned most often: Jiang An.

Who was Jiang An?

Many who had no prior knowledge, upon hearing the name, would first have that question arise in their minds. And then their attention would be seized by another matter.

Through the Song family, Jiang An had formally stated that he accepted the challenge from the Japanese Onmyoji, Shengu Masato. The two would fight on the second day of the second lunar month, the day the dragon raises its head, at Great Lone Reef!

The news spread like it had grown wings, flying into the ears of every interested party across the world. Everyone was paying attention, everyone was discussing it, and many wanted to witness the battle in person. A clash of this magnitude had not appeared in many years—how could anyone miss it? It was nothing less than a grand martial event.

No matter what others thought, on this day Jiang An was to make a trip to the main headquarters of the Guardian Manor.

Originally, he had intended to leave the Song family as soon as the birthday banquet ended. But now, with one unexpected event after another, he could not放心, and did not dare let Song Wan Shuang and Xi Xi return alone. So he stayed at the Song residence for a few more days. After all, this place was still quite safe, so long as no traitor stirred up trouble again.

“Patriarch Song, Grandmaster Jiang, long time no see.”

Ouyang Shi, whom Jiang An had met before, came to the Garden of Vast Prosperity specifically to take him to headquarters.

Song Han nodded to him, and Jiang An asked, “Grandmaster Ouyang, so it was you who came? I thought it would be Grandmaster Wang.”

“Wang Bixuan was sent out on an assignment. Since the higher-ups considered that I had met you before, they arranged for me to come specially. Please, both of you, get in.” Ouyang Shi gave a brief explanation, his face stern and unsmiling.

Song Han was not one to stand on ceremony. He got into the car from the Guardian Manor, and they headed toward the little-known Red Hill in the capital.

On the surface, Red Hill was merely the site of a research institution, but ordinary people had no idea that it concealed another world entirely: it was the headquarters of the famed Guardian Manor.

After about an hour of travel, they arrived at Red Hill.

They followed the winding, narrow path upward, the winter wind bleak all along the way. But once they reached the summit, Jiang An’s expression changed.

“Grandmaster Ouyang, if I am not mistaken, there seems to be a formation here.”

Jiang An’s words surprised Ouyang Shi. “Grandmaster Jiang also knows formations? That’s right. The manor’s headquarters is actually enclosed by a massive concealment formation. This formation is called the Xuanwu Radiant Light Grand Array. It was laid out by the Xuanwu Lord according to ancient formation methods, and its power is immense.”

“I see. I wonder if the four envoy lords are at headquarters today?” Jiang An asked again.

“I’m not entirely sure about that, but usually at least one envoy lord is in residence.”

The Guardian Manor was divided into commanders, honored protectors, and envoys. Aside from the elusive pillar of the mountain and sea, Lord Xiang, the highest tier was the Four Great Envoys: the Azure Dragon Envoy, the White Tiger Envoy, the Vermilion Bird Envoy, and the Xuanwu Envoy. Every envoy was a master of the third realm, and none of them took part in the contest for the Divine Rankings. The current number one on the Divine Rankings, and the next Azure Dragon Envoy, according to rumor, was simply waiting for the present officeholder to retire before becoming the day-to-day supreme leader of the Guardian Manor. That alone showed just how vast the manor’s strength truly was.

As for this Xuanwu Envoy, legend had it that he was an exceptionally formidable master of the arts. As for the “massive” formation Ouyang Shi had mentioned, Jiang An only took it as a courtesy and listened without much thought. In his experience, formations stretching for a million li were not uncommon at all.

As the car prepared to enter the gates, Ouyang Shi’s expression turned somewhat hesitant. After some thought, he suddenly said, “Grandmaster Jiang, since this is only our second meeting, I’ve taken you as a friend. So I feel obliged to tell you something. I’m afraid your trip to the manor may not go smoothly, or rather, it may bring some trouble.”

Jiang An lifted his eyes. “How so?”

“Did you offend someone from the Yuan family in Lincheng?”

“The Yuan family? If you mean the Yuan family whose member serves as Lincheng’s party secretary, then yes.”

“In that case, I’ll speak plainly. There is a very powerful honored protector at headquarters who belongs to the Yuan family. To be precise, he is the Yuan family ancestor. Once word reached him that you had injured the Yuan descendants and caused the Yuan family to lose face, this Protector Yuan wanted to trouble you. He was only stopped later by Lord Azure Dragon. But now that you’ve delivered yourself to his doorstep today, he won’t be polite.”

“If this Protector Yuan wishes to seek a spar with me, I, Jiang, am willing to accompany him at any time.” Jiang An did not seem overly concerned.

“It would be best if he challenged you openly and aboveboard. The problem is that he knows you’re coming and has already prepared his methods. This man is widely connected and has much influence. I’m afraid he may harm people from the shadows. I only heard a little of the wind about it, so I thought I should tell you in advance, give you some preparation, lest you have to deal with it in haste and fall into a trap.”

“Many thanks for the warning, Grandmaster Ouyang. Since I know now, I will make my own arrangements.” Jiang An smiled.

“That’s good.” Having achieved his aim of building goodwill, Ouyang said no more.

With that, they arrived at the manor.