Chapter 547: Fanning the Flames; Lending a Knife (part 1)

Chapter 547: Fanning the Flames; Lending a Knife (part 1)

In the early parts of the war, the Holytides had seized three prefectures. After the war finished, Seventh Prince had accepted their return as part of the surrender. However, to date, they had not been transferred back to Sea-Sealing County.

It was nothing unusual. Seventh Prince had recaptured the provinces, and Sea-Sealing County was prepared to pay for their return. However, Seventh Prince had not been inclined to negotiate the matter before. What was more, he had army forces garrisoned throughout those prefectures. Because it was a human matter, the Holytides didn’t interfere. Another factor was that those three prefectures had mines that produced a lot of spirit stones, as well as other valuable forging materials. Those things would be instrumental in Sea-Sealing County’s future recovery from the war. As a result, the prefectures couldn’t simply be abandoned.

And now, at long last, Seventh Prince had invited Xu Qing to negotiate their return.

“Marquis Yao hopes you can go, but he didn’t give his approval yet. You need to make the final decision, Fourth Sib. In terms of your personal safety, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If anything untoward occurs, Seventh Prince will be held responsible. Given his personality, I doubt he would be so foolish as to allow something like that to happen.”

Master Seventh had pointed out all the pros and cons for Xu Qing to consider.

Xu Qing mulled it over. He thought about the arrangements Marquis Yao had already mentioned, including that other county Sea-Sealing was secretly taking over. Because that county wasn’t on the border, it actually didn’t matter very much to Sea-Sealing County. But it had a different significance to Seventh Prince.

I bet Marquis Yao predicted this was going to happen. He really is quite brilliant.

Another thing to consider was that, since the Captain wasn’t back, Xu Qing had some time to spare.

Marquis Yao wanted him to go. Master Seventh was waiting for an answer. And on his travels, he had personally seen how much everyone was working to keep Sea-Sealing County safe. Considering that he was blessed by the greater part of the county’s destiny aura, it was only natural that he shoulder similar responsibilities.

What was more, once the Captain did get back, they would need to leave. After doing some research, Xu Qing had come to find that the Moonrite Region was far, far away from Sea-Sealing County. It was on the other side of the Holytide Region, separated by Yin Sacrifice River. In the days of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, it had been human territory. But it had subsequently been lost, and was now controlled by the Nightshades. Of course, the Nightshades had a different name for it.

Spirit Garden.

The word ‘garden’ can have different meanings. It could just mean a place with animals and plants. But metaphorically speaking, it could refer to something like a farm where essence is harvested. That said, the information Xu Qing had access to didn’t go into any detail. Presumably, that was why the Captain had felt the need to go out and gather his own information. In any case, Xu Qing felt like it would be good to accomplish some things before leaving Sea-Sealing County, so he agreed to accept the invitation.

***

A few days later, a fleet left Sea-Sealing County under the command of Palace Lord Li Yunshan. The new deputy palace lords from the Administration Palace and the Justice Palace came along, as did six honor guards from the various palaces. Because the Swordsage Palace took the lead in military matters, 20,000 veteran swordsages were picked to join the force.

Kong Xianglong was among them. After the Lieutenant Governor’s Coup, Kong Xianglong stopped drinking as much. He focused his energy on cultivation, and spent a lot of time working in the Secretariat Division, where he had consolidated a lot of authority. Li Yunshan had taken a liking to him, and was grooming him to eventually take over the Swordsage Palace.

The fleet consisted of over a thousand huge warships that cast shadows on the mountains and rivers below as they flew along.

In the lead was an enormous bronze sword, atop which were Li Yunshan and the other Void Returning experts.

Right behind the bronze sword was Master Seventh’s dreadnaught, which was pitch black and pulsed with a somber and desolate aura that gave birth to screaming winds. Xu Qing currently stood on the dreadnaught’s superstructure, looking out at heaven and earth.

After several teleportations, the fleet reached what had once been the western front. At that point, the flying ships stopped for a short time. Everyone looked down at the shattered lands that had not yet been restored to their previous condition. They saw the huge gully that had been carved out by Palace Lord Kong, and they also saw... the spot where he’d fallen in battle.

Everyone bowed their heads and observed a moment of silence.

Xu Qing clasped hand and bowed deeply. Kong Xianglong stood next to him, his face expressionless and his eyes closed.

Eventually, the ships started moving again. They left the battlefield and continued into Holytide territory.

Seventh Prince didn’t seem to care about Kong Xianglong’s behavior. Looking at Xu Qing with admiration in his eyes, he raised his voice and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Xu Qing of Sea-Sealing County, who you have all heard so much about. He was rewarded personally by my father the emperor. He was given a golden medallion, a yellow robe, admittance to the Imperial University, and grade-one battle credit.”

With that, Seventh Prince started introducing everyone else to Xu Qing.

“Xu Qing, this is Zhou Tianzhi, an elite chosen from the Yearmaster College in the imperial capital. He brims over with talent.

“This is Luo Jinsong, a descendant of Heavenly Marquis Luo Yun.

“Over here is Immortal Fairy Gemspirit from the Creation Mansion, a place that specializes in the research of gods. Our Dawning Sun is largely their handiwork.

“Next is the grandson of Minister Meng, the Minister of War.”

Smiling the entire time, Seventh Prince went on to introduce everyone. Most everyone present was nobility of some sort. They were either from families that had once produced heavenly marquises, or currently had family members in high positions of government. Those who were not like that were famous people from the imperial capital.

“Right here is Huang Kun. Xu Qing, you and Brother Huang have a bit of a connection already. You’re both swordsages. You see, his grandfather is a grand honor guard in the Swordsage Division, one of our dynasty’s Five Greater Celestial Divisions.”

Every person who was introduced nodded and smiled at Xu Qing. He saluted them all courteously.

There was one person who caught Xu Qing’s attention in particular.

“Xu Qing, you’ve definitely never seen this fellow before, but he’s actually from Sea-Sealing County. He’s Zhang Qifan, a chosen from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect. Thirty years ago he traveled to the imperial capital to study, and has come back as part of the princess’ retinue.”

The middle-aged Zhang Qifan stood and clasped hands in Xu Qing’s direction, his expression a mix of wistfulness and admiration.

Finally, Seventh Prince’s expression turned very serious as he stood, clasped hands, and bowed to the cold young woman seated next to him.

“Xu Qing, this is my dear older sister, Princess Anhai.”

Without batting an eyelid, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed. “Well met, Princess.”

Kong Xianglong also bowed formally in greeting.

Princess Anhai’s expression remained cold. She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Seeing that, Seventh Prince’s eyes narrowed very slightly, and only for a moment. Smiling, he invited Xu Qing to sit.

Xu Qing nodded. Together with Kong Xianglong, he sat on the right side of the banquet, at a table at the far end near the door.

The singing and dancing resumed, as did the laughter and chatting. Seated across from Xu Qing was Zhang Qifan from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect. Raising his drinking vessel, he offered a toast. His smile seemed sincere and slightly tinged with sorrow. [1]

Xu Qing noticed his gesture. Raising his drinking vessel to join in the toast, he took a drink.

“Xu Qing,” a voice said from next to him, “considering it’s our first meeting, I really shouldn’t be this bold, but I can’t help but be curious about... the Grand Emperor’s assessment of the heart. What answer did you give to get that amazing 30,000-meter pillar of light?”

1. Zhang Qifan: Zhang is listed #3 on the top 100 surnames. It’s the same surname as people like Zhang San and Zhang Siyun. Qi means “strange, surprising, wonderful, weird, extraordinary” and Fan means “ordinary, mundane, mortal.” Madam Deathblade says it sounds like the name of someone amazing who stands out from the crowd. ?