Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: Lights in Ten Thousand Homes
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In the Wan family's banquet hall, the place was still ablaze with lights and flowing wine, filled with laughter and chatter.
The New Year was fast approaching, and the medicine envoys from the thirteen great families had all arrived: Li Xiaoguang of the Li family, Xia Jie of the Xia family, Yan Yi of the Yan family, Zhang Shouyi of the Zhang family, Yang Luohua of the Yang family, Gao Jian of the Gao family, Xu Fangzhi of the Xu family, Jiang Tu of the Jiang family, Fei Youying of the Fei family, Zhai Baobao of the Zhai family, Cui Zhi of the Cui family, Ma Dingguo of the Ma family, and Gu Xiaochuan of the Gu family.
The group clinked glasses, their laughter ringing out nonstop, smiles plastered across their faces. But if one looked closely, they could see a faint distraction in their eyes, their peripheral vision constantly flicking toward the side, as if waiting for something.
The medicine envoys of the thirteen great families were obscure figures even within their own clans, unremarkable people.
Take Li Xiaoguang, for example. He ranked thirteenth in the main lineage of his sect, with twelve older brothers and sisters ahead of him. All chances to shine had been snatched by his siblings, leaving him no opportunity to make a name for himself.
He lived a reclusive life, rarely venturing out. Aside from his sect's inner disciples, who would even recognize him?
Yet within the sect, he wielded real power, highly valued and carefully nurtured by the clan.
He was no weakling. Still young at just thirty-six or thirty-seven, he had already reached the perfected God Descent Realm, qualified to be dispatched to serve as a high official in the provinces.
A genius from a branch family would have been sent out long ago, but he remained in the ancestral estate in Quanzhou precisely to handle the family's secretive affairs.
The New Year's medicine distribution was one such task.
The others were much the same as Li Xiaoguang in cultivation, wielding internal family power but rarely going out. They had few friends outside their own surnames, kept secretive tracks, and were rarely recognized by the outside world.
They weren't old, yet their cultivations were extraordinarily powerful, each harboring supreme skills.
The thirteen medicine envoys had already learned of the Red Horse Bandits' deeds—slaughtering so-called corrupt officials, robbing the rich to aid the poor. They knew two Red Horse Bandits were present tonight, and that the bandits might come to kill.
The saying went: heroes violate taboos with martial might—they were all reckless fools.
Yan Yi toyed with his wine cup and laughed.
"Every country has its laws, every family its rules."
"Even if Qingzhou has corrupt officials, it's the national laws that deal with them."
"If everyone who suffered a little grievance just grabbed a knife and stormed the yamen at the drop of a hat, wouldn't the world descend into chaos? Thus, the Red Horse Bandits must be executed."
Gu Xiaochuan held a beauty in his arms, one hand delving into her bosom, his face grave as he said:
"The Red Horse Bandits plunder the wealth of rich merchants and use it to buy the hearts of the people—that's supreme treachery! This man harbors rebellious intent and must be eliminated!"
Yang Luohua drank her wine and said:
"Villagers are mostly uneducated fools, so stupid they can be bought with a few dozen taels of silver, praising the Red Horse Bandits to the skies. Truly ignorant rabble—they all deserve the executioner's blade!"
She looked toward Xu Fangzhi.
"Would you be bought with a few dozen taels of silver?"
She looked toward Jiang Tu.
"Or you?"
She looked toward Ma Dingguo.
"Or perhaps you with a few dozen taels?"
Everyone laughed and shook their heads, chiming in:
"A few dozen taels? Even tens of thousands of taels couldn't buy us! We scholars know shame—wealth cannot sway us, poverty cannot move us!"
At that, Gu Xiaochuan hastily withdrew his hand from the beauty's embrace.
"The birds outside tonight are awfully noisy."
His face flushed slightly as he changed the subject.
Everyone heard the crisp birdcalls from outside, like the songs of orioles, and there were quite a few of them.
Strange—where did these orioles come from in the dead of night?
No one paid it much mind and continued drinking and chatting, waiting for midnight.
Wan Shide played host, bustling back and forth behind the group. Though over sixty, he was maintained like a man in his forties, a wine pot in hand. Whenever anyone's cup ran dry, he hurried over on light steps to refill it.
Though over sixty, his body was healthier than many young men's. Just last night, tenant farmer Three Pillar's wedding had sent the bride to his bed, asking him to take her first night.
This was the custom in Qingzhou: when tenants married, they sent the bride to the master's bed for the master to bless.
This was the master granting fortune to the tenants; the next morning, they'd gratefully retrieve their bride—and if one or two generations weren't tamed, five or six would be eventually.
But Wan Shide felt he was indeed showing his age; last night's exertions had left his waist aching.
He wasn't young anymore, after all.
He thought to himself.
From now on, such tasks should fall to his eldest son, that bastard Wan Gaode. He could only indulge occasionally.
He never consumed the spirit herbs he tended.
Wan Shide knew the rules.
Those spirit herbs didn't belong to the Wan family; they merely helped watch over and plant them. Touching what wasn't yours could cost your life.
His own grandfather, in his later years, had lost his head and secretly tasted the dregs of a spirit herb. Not long after, he died in bed, headless, denied burial in the ancestral grave.
Wan Shide had played by the rules all these years, and the Wan family had prospered.
He looked down on his grandfather. A dog had to have a dog's awareness—what good were those extra years of life?
Better to enjoy himself now.
The Wan family had no hope of becoming a great clan like the thirteen families, so better to leverage their protection and secure some benefits for himself and his descendants.
For instance, opening porridge sheds to daily distribute rice porridge and steamed buns, saving countless lives. Those people would gratefully burn incense and kowtow to the Wan ancestors, and in time, wouldn't that condense divine aspects for them?
With divine aspects guarding the Wan family—wasn't that better than his own hard cultivation?
Moreover, while still alive, Wan Shide had shrines built to him, treated as a living Buddha with endless incense.
When he died, he'd likely condense a divine aspect immediately!
Wasn't that far better than the Red Horse Bandits' killing and looting?
Better than painstakingly planting spirit herbs for a mere two or three extra years of life?
And it was good deeds, too, letting him sleep more soundly than anyone.
Wan Shide saw Zhai Baobao's cup empty and hurried over with a beaming smile, bowing and scraping as he refilled it.
Such tasks could be left to servants, but Wan Shide felt only doing it himself showed how happily he served the thirteen families as their dog.
The masters would be pleased, and the dog would get more rewards.
He had just straightened up when a blade light like an azure dragon flashed from behind.
Wan Shide had cultivated over the years, lazily but with a solid foundation—his tenants provided easy divine embryos, all first-grade, giving him an excellent base. He had reached the Soul Transformation Realm.
Sensing danger, his nascent soul flew out, and his magic treasure was already activated.
His treasure was called the Golden Banner, in three layers. The first, "Blissful Realm," was drawn by a Void Refining Realm expert from the Water-Moon Pure Land. The second was a sutra banner inscribed with the Diamond Sutra, written by that expert's disciple and chanted over for a thousand days.
The third layer dangled treasures the Wan family had gathered over the years: glazed lamps, jade marrow horses, precious swords, ancient skulls, and more, all refined to tremendous power.
His Golden Banner had just risen when a dragon's roar filled his ears, and his nascent soul was cleaved in two!
The azure blade light fell, shattering Wan Shide's body and banner alike!
No Soul Transformation Realm, no Water-Moon Pure Land high monk's crafting, no Wan family living Buddha merits could save him.
One slash, and flesh flew!
"They're here!"
At the banquet, the thirteen family experts roared, channeling their magic power as nascent soul force fields erupted.
The overlapping force fields of thirteen great experts—how could the beauties beside them withstand such pressure? They burst one by one into gory mists, the blood fog then incinerated!
Li Xiaoguang's God Descent Realm nascent soul force field already held a touch of true doctrinal field might.
Only the Void Refining Realm could form a true doctrinal field, infused with the power of the Great Dao.
But Li Xiaoguang cultivated the Li main lineage's secret, untransmissible "Heaven-Bearing Azure Cloud Art" from the "Yian Tang Collection," the pinnacle technique. He couldn't pass it to the next generation—only the confirmed next sect master could cultivate it.
The Heaven-Bearing Azure Cloud Art let him form the embryonic shape of a doctrinal field at God Descent Realm, showing its extraordinariness.
Facing the door, he turned his head—and met the Red Horse Bandit riding a steed treading hellfire. Horse head and body, dragon feet, limbs thick and powerful, covered in azure-red scales, body blood-red, utterly ferocious.
Atop the horse sat a youth with eyes closed, wielding a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, its light like flowing silk as it slashed down!
"Tianqing!"
Li Xiaoguang was shocked and furious. He thought it would be another Red Horse Bandit, but it was Li Tianqing!
The blade light was too fast—one slash toppling a city. The azure glow like azure flame cleaved through the banquet hall, slicing the thirteen experts' overlapping nascent soul force fields!
Those thirteen stacked fields could rival or even surpass a Void Refining expert's doctrinal field. Spells entering would be crushed by the Great Dao power, treasures melted!
Yet this slash, frictioned by thirteen layers of nascent soul fields, only grew fiercer—strong against strength—and cleaved through to above Li Xiaoguang's head!
"Killing me first?!"
Li Xiaoguang raged, dodging sideways as his spell formed. At that moment, the missing Green Dragon Crescent Blade halted, the light wheeling half a turn, casual as scooping an ear.
Li Xiaoguang's head flew.
Simple move.
Incredibly simple.
But effective.
A hundred thousand or ten thousand slashes in one breath were less effective than one full-force strike.
This slash directly bisected Li Xiaoguang!
His head hung in the air, still dazed:
"The one killing me—is it Li Tianqing, or a Red Horse Bandit?"
Li Tianqing slashed Li Xiaoguang, spurred his horse into the nascent soul fields, whirled the blade—the crowd scattered in all directions, evading the light and forming an encirclement.
The horse didn't stop, charging through the Wan estate.
The crowd pursued in the air, maintaining the surround.
At this moment, Li Tianqing didn't know if he was dreaming or awake.
He saw
himself
galloping wildly, blade felling Wan Shide, cleaving Uncle Thirteen Li Xiaoguang.
He saw the other twelve medicine envoys leap back, treading the void, raising nascent souls and treasures.
Their varied reactions, activated techniques, mobilized spells—all reflected clearly in his mind.
Across the Wan estate, birds flitted like his eyes, observing the battle from every angle.
These birds were leaves he had blown into form yesterday, a transformation technique from Cold Mountain Hermit's Thousand-Li Flying Sword Art.
The hermit gathering had already begun then; he hadn't invested as much as Chen Shi in this art, so it lacked Chen Shi's wonder, and he controlled few birds. But they served as his vision.
Now, like in a dream, eyes unopened, he saw all around through the birds.
And it seemed Guan Sheng the Emperor Lord shared their vision too.
Jiang Tu struck from behind, sword drawn—one breath. The Jiang sword arts were called Dao Swords, swift light, rampant sword qi, unstoppable wherever the force field reached!
Attacking from behind, a cold gleam reached Li Tianqing's nape.
Guan Sheng dragged blade, wheeled horse—Jiang Tu, treasure sword, nascent soul field all cleaved in two, neat as measured by ruler!
The crowd's hearts chilled.
But Fei Youying, Zhai Baobao, Xia Jie, Yan Yi, and others seized the chance, closing from all sides to bombard him and horse alike!
Guan Sheng turned, eyes opening.
Fei Youying met that gaze—firelight assailed her face, knife-mountain fire-sea all around. The god amid the flames opened eyes, blade light descending.
Fei Youying cried out; she who should have struck froze in place.
Guan Sheng spurred past her.
Fei Youying seemed unharmed outside, nascent soul and soul intact, body still breathing—yet consciousness shattered by the blade qi from Guan Sheng's opened eyes.
The Red Horse was lightning-fast, overtaking Zhang Shouyi. Blade flashed—Zhang activated the Zhang escape art, becoming a streak of fire to flee, but the fire was severed. His upper body flew hundreds of li, exiting Qingzhou City, emerging amid mountain flames hundreds of li away.
His lower body stayed in the Wan estate, still trailing fire, crashing into a rockery before halting.
Guan Sheng held blade—the Red Horse shattered Gu Xiaochuan's nascent soul field. Gu activated the Gu Nine Harmonies True Body, passed from ancestor Gu Jiuhe: fusing Daoist true body, Dao body, Buddhist golden body, and Taiji true qi into a Great Scholar True Body, unbreakable once activated!
Blade fell; Guan Sheng spurred on, dragging blade.
Gu Xiaochuan thudded to his knees, head rolling from neck.
The Gu Nine Harmonies True Body couldn't withstand that slash.
The Emperor Lord cleaved Gao Jian in the Plum-Picking Garden, bisected Zhai Baobao at the Ten Thousand Scrolls Hall, trampled Yang Luohua beneath horse at the Withered Pine Pavilion, slew Ma Dingguo at the Spring Beauty Hall, chased Xu Fangzhi and Yan Yi to the Horse-Tethering Hall—two slashes, men and treasures shattered.
Xia Jie had seized the chance to flee the Wan estate, soaring into the sky toward the city outskirts. Flying hundreds of li, he heard hooves clopping behind. Glancing back, he saw aerial fire blazing: one man, one horse, blade descending.
An azure-dragon blade light flew—ahead, Xia Jie's nascent soul, flesh, head separated.
The Emperor Lord reined in, standing in the air.
Below lay Qingzhou.
The air rang with neighs.
Countless gold and silver treasures from the Wan vaults flew up, following the God of Wealth behind the Red Hare Horse toward the distance.
Midnight had passed; the New Year neared another day.
In the night's Qingzhou, every household lit lamps—for the Red Horse Bandits had come to distribute money again.
This night in Qingzhou, it wasn't just the Wan family lighting fires, but lights in ten thousand homes, like scattered stars.
End of chapter.