Chapter 329: Chapter 328: Jiuyang Villa!
Translator: 549690339
“Brother Du, you’re also going to Jiuyang Manor this time, aren’t you?”
Du Gang nodded, smiling, “Yes, I have some things to do there.”
Things to do?
Huang Yu snorted, Jiuyang Manor is holding a public recruitment for a son-in-law, what could he possibly do there?
This guy is surely secretively romantic.
He grumbled a bit, then smiled, “Well, in that case, let’s go together. It’s good to have someone to count on along the way.”
He was a chatterbox. Originally, he had agreed to come with people from the same province, but due to last-minute urgency which delayed him half a day, the young talents of Tongyin Province had already left ahead of him.
Having traveled alone for a whole day, he was incredibly bored. Seeing that Du Gang was at least a peak power, although not as strong as him, but still qualified to chat with him, he extended an invitation.
“Absolutely!”
Du Gang naturally had no objections; it didn’t matter to him whether he went alone or accompanied Huang Yu. Moreover, there were some questions he could ask along the way.
“We should depart now!”
Soon, the two left the city together. Following the direction on the map, they rushed towards Jiuyang Villa.
“Jiuyang Villa is at the northernmost part of Yangchuan State, that is, in Jiyang County. With our travel speed, it will only take half a day to get there. However, there’s no need to hurry too much...”
Huang Yu laughed, “As the White-robed God King is looking for a son-in-law, whatever the motive, he would certainly want to pick the best. The offspring of some major powers are far away and would need some time to get here. If I were him, I wouldn’t start in a rush...”
Du Gang nodded, “That’s true.”
Although he was going to get the Green Qinyin Stone from Zhang Xinyi, his curiosity about the commotion was not affected.
“Brother Huang, how do you think the recruitment process for the son-in-law will be defined?”
He had grown up seeing marital duels only on TV and had never witnessed one in person.
Huang Yu chuckled, “The recruitment, also called a marital duel...”
“However, in reality, it’s a matter of background competition!”
Du Gang was startled, marital duels are about background competition?
Huang Yu laughed, “I don’t know how other powers hold martial duels, but I have a general idea of how it’s done at Jiuyang Manor.”
“Oh? Brother Huang, how did you find out?”
Du Gang deduced from Huang Yu’s behavior that this was his first time in Yangchuan State and that he had just arrived. He was puzzled by the confident statement Huang Yu just made.
Huang Yu gave a mysterious smile, “Naturally, my master told me!”
“This Jiuyang Manor, in the eyes of common people, is extremely powerful, but in the eyes of top-level powers, it’s just a second-tier force...”
Du Gang narrowed his eyes and asked, “Brother Huang, how do you distinguish between these top-tier forces and second-tier ones?”
Frankly speaking, he was quite interested in the distribution of the powers on the continent. He had always wanted to know ever since he stepped out of his small world. Regrettably, most of the gossip at the tea house was about popular information, while profound discussions were rare.
A smile started to form on Huang Yu’s lips, he had deduced that Du Gang had no significant background. His ordinary upbringing was evident as he didn’t even know these basic things.
However, he was simply probing. After deducing that Du Gang wasn’t from a powerful force, he lost his interest.
“Top-tier forces, the forty-five major forces, you know about them, right?”
Du Gang nodded, “The Heavenly Court, Tianji Pavilion, and the three temples, right!”
“Exactly!”
Huang Yu nodded, “The forty-five major forces are the top-tier forces of our continent...”
Du Gang frowned, “Brother Huang, I heard that many of the God’s clans were left behind by the Supreme, aren’t they qualified to be in the top tier?”
“God’s clans?”
Huang Yu chuckled, “Are you talking about the top hundred God’s clans or the thousand King’s clans?”
He shook his head, “These family clans have long exited from the stage of history...”
Seeing that Du Gang didn’t understand, he laughed, “It is undeniable, these family clans were once glorious...”
“However, when we look at them now, they’re nothing!”
“Let’s take one simple point for example!”
“First of all, in terms of internal structure, family clans are based on bloodline inheritance. Everything is centered around bloodline. If the bloodline is rich, they will be the focus of cultivation, while talent occupies a secondary position...”
It seemed as if Huang Yu was worried that Du Gang might not understand these things, so he laughed and explained, “The disciples that these family clans first raise are all people who share a bloodline with them!”
“Secondly, they assess heroism based on the concentration of bloodline!”
“Thirdly, they confine themselves to one place!”
Du Gang looked confused, “Brother Huang, I heard that these family clans also seem to recruit disciples of other surnames...”
“Hum...”
Huang Yu waved his hand dismissively, “What they call recruitment of disciples of other surnames is nonsense!”
He chuckled again, “The disciples of other surnames that they recruit, they never seriously cultivate or focus on!”
“You don’t know, these God’s clans and King’s clans are like the corrupt dynasties, the internal power struggles are extremely severe. When an out-of-family disciple joins in, if the talent is poor then it doesn’t matter, but if the talent is good, it can easily invite the targeting of many legitimate descendants...”
“I have often heard that some illustrious people were recruited into these family clans only to sink completely, their whereabouts and existence unknown.”
Huang Yu sighed, “While it’s true that not all powerhouses in the Human Ranking come from major forces, there are also some who are the chosen ones with a very strong destiny that make it to the list. Among them, some have been recruited by the family clans, but in the end, they disappear without a trace and eventually fade into oblivion.”
“If you look at the forty-five major forces, the single idea of not considering the background and looking only at talent is enough to crush all family clans!”
Huang Yu laughed, “Think about it, the forty-five major forces embrace the entire continent, regardless of your background. Whether you are a commoner or a child of a certain family clan, they indiscriminately welcome all, accepting them all as disciples.”
“Even more commendably, these sects and powers have a public cultivation standard. As long as one is a top talent, they will get the top cultivation resources!”
He lamented, “On one hand, you have these clans who limit themselves to one place and harbor suspicions about out-of-family disciples, whereas on the other hand, there are these sects who embrace diversity, with divisions all over the continent.”
“If you compare carefully, who other than these family clans would decline?”
Du Gang nodded, he understood all these things, but he wasn’t certain about the contrast between the two sides’ strengths.
“Those God’s clans have inherited from the Supreme, in this world where strength is supreme, shouldn’t they be stronger than the newly rising sect powers?”
Huang Yu snorted, “In this era, when Supreme saints and sages are absent, what use is their deep background?”
“In the present time, the strongest power is at the God King Level. These family clans, if fewer have a God King, and if many, not more than a hundred, how strong can they be?!”
Not more than a hundred?
Du Gang paused, which meant to say...
“You mean, the God Kings of the forty-five major forces are many more times than those of the family clans?”
“Of course, yes!”
Huang Yu laughed, “Even though the forty-five major forces seem to have risen only recently, they actually had a foundation during the mythological era, have accumulated over time, and have gradually grown stronger...”
“At that time, these family clans despised these sects, considering them beneath them and of lower status, and did not take them seriously...”
“However, as time changed and the Supreme saints and sages gradually disappeared, these sects steadily rose to prominence!”
Talking up to this point, Huang Yu took a pause, and then said with a grin, “Do you know, who was the one that created the 45 Great Powers’ One Dynasty, Two Pavilion Three Temples, all the way to the Nine Alliances?”
Du Gang shook his head, “I don’t know!”
Huang Yu broke into laughter, “Truth to be told, this categorization was actually created by those ancient clan families!”
“In the beginning, they had never cared about these sect forces until the final sage disappeared, and they began to start worrying!”
“By then, the sect forces were far more than just forty-five. New sects sprung up all over the world, amassing up to about eight or ten thousand, considering those that had a God King!”
“That was a dazzling era!”
With a sigh, Huang Yu reminisced, “During that time, there were grassroots emerging from all over the world, starting from scratch. Some had chance encounters, some had their own creations, in any case, it was easy to prove God King in that era!”
“Back then, the ancient clan families were somewhat afraid of the rise of these sects, so they thought of a solution to limit them!”
“Then, they came up with a division, by following a sequence of one, two, three, four ... up till nine!”
“Initially, there was no Jiuli dynasty, that first ‘one’ was supposed to indicate ‘One Court’, which was the Heavenly Court...”
Feared that Du Gang wouldn’t understand, he laughed and stated, “The history of the Heavenly Court is older than these clan families. But after these families emerged, the history of the Heavenly Court maintaining control over all realms gradually disappeared. By the time the sects arose, the strength of the Heavenly Court had already dwindled to almost nothing...”
“At that time, the ancient clan families thought it was a good idea to rank the sects with a sequence of one, two, three, four, placing the Heavenly Court at the top. Their intention was to provoke competition for ranking amongst the sects, leading them to battle against each other!”
Huang Yu sighed with deep emotion, “The plan indeed seemed like a good idea at that time, but the outcome was actually quite moving!”
He said while laughing, “Back then, although the number of sects in the world was above ten thousand, they were just a scattered force, not too different from the ancient clan families, all being divided across various places and unable to coalesce into a tremendous force!”
“However, the cunning move carried out by the ancient clan families, in creating a kind of division according to one, two, three, four, led to internecine struggles between the sects and, ironically, brought about their glory!”
“If the series of one, two, three, four were initiated by the sects themselves, it would have been justifiable. But it was actually put forward by the ancient clan families!”
“What does this fall under?” Huang Yu paused and then asked Du Gang with a counter-question.
Du Gang was taken aback, he had no idea what it fell under, all these confidential matters were stuff he heard for the first time.
In response, Huang Yu laughed and said, “In this world, there are indeed specific protagonists of different eras!”
“During the time of Heavenly Court, the protagonist of that era was the Heavenly Court!”
Du Gang nodded, “Indeed, if they attracted the attention of other top forces, a few God Kings would be enough to cause trouble!”
“Exactly!”
Huang Yu nodded, “Not only do the forty-five great forces pose a threat, even with the first-grade forces, Jiuyang would not dare to provoke them!”
“Therefore, in all probability, they will choose a second-grade force, whether it is a royal family, or any of the seventy-two Earthly Fiends, all are possible!”
Huang Yu laughed, “I have a pretty high chance this time!”
“The forty-five great forces are well-aware of Jiuyang’s intentions, and they did not send their strongest heavenly prodigies. They only sent some practicing disciples!”
“The first-grade forces did the same while the second-grade forces, with potential alliance ideas, sent top heavenly prodigies!”
Du Gang looked at Huang Yu and laughed, “Brother Huang, who is listed in the Human Rankings as over two hundred, you came personally. It seems you are determined to win this marriage deal?”
Huang Yu laughed heartily and nodded, “Yes, we, White Rainbow Manor, are one of the second-grade forces. Sending me this time indicates our intention to ally with Jiuyang Villa!”
Du Gang was stunned. He had assumed this fellow was also a member of an aristocratic family, after all, this man kept talking about his elders at home.
As if sensing his thoughts, Huang Yu proudly said, “I might as well tell you, one of the two God Kings of our White Rainbow Manor is my ancestor!”
Du Gang nodded, explaining why he had such disdain for aristocratic families. His own family was a small clan within the sect, which is why he was always talking about his family.
He asked, “With Jiuyang Villa’s situation, aren’t there many second-grade forces willing to form an alliance with them?”
From his point of view, Jiuyang Villa was an appetizing bun.
Firstly, Zhang Youwei only had one daughter, and secondly, Zhang Youwei was a man of deep affection, who had remained unmarried for so many years after the death of his wife.
So, no matter who marries his daughter, the other allied forces have basically gained an extra God King!
“Exactly!”
Huang Yu sighed, “There’s been plenty of movement from the seventy-two great forces, besides, some royal forces have also started to act!”
“Royal forces?”
Du Gang was taken aback, “Aren’t the aristocracy and the sect in opposition? How come someone was sent?”
“They’re just competing!”
Huang Yu chuckled, “Over the years, because of their pride, the aristocracy has suffered a lot. They’ve learned to be smart. They would strive for what they can strive for. So on issues like these, royal forces will spare no effort to compete!”
“However, the possibility of the royal forces winning is not high!”
He laughed, “Even though Jiuyang Villa is seeking a marriage alliance for safety, they won’t just marry their daughter to anyone!”
“His daughter, Zhang Xinyi, ranks 765th on the Human Ranking and is a contemporary figure of influence. Do you think he would invite someone his daughter can’t defeat?”
Huang Yu burst into laughter, “As far as I know, here in the noble houses, the ones who can make it onto the Human Ranking are few and far between, and even fewer exceed Zhang Xinyi!”
“The top hundred divine tribes, however, have several members who are ranked above Zhang Xinyi, but they are first-class and won’t get involved in this kind of affair!”
“And the remaining thousands from the royal families, anyone of them who ranks around seven hundred, naturally, should not be taken seriously!”
As he said this, he paused, “Not necessarily, I’ve heard that those families always hide their strongest talents, so there could be some people who have never made a public appearance!”
Du Gang suddenly realized why this guy had stopped him, a stranger, to chat.
It turns out, there’s a good chance he’ll be marrying Zhang Xinyi this time!
While the world at present is largely talent-oriented, it also implies that those with good talents have already joined major powers.
At least half of the high-level Human Ranking come from the forty-five top powers.
The rest is divided among various top-tier and second-tier forces.
For a person like Huang Yu, a child of second-tier forces, ranking over two hundred is among the highest in the second-tier.
“As it turns out, Brother Huang could become the last man laughing this time!”
Huang Yu immediately revealed a triumphant smile. He had paved the way so long and even explained the world’s major trends for this moment, hadn’t he?
“Haha, when I succeed, Brother Du must come for a drink at the wedding!”
“Absolutely, absolutely!”
Next, the two chatted about some interesting things and walked towards Jiuyang Villa in a relaxed manner.
“Why is everyone crowding here?”
The two were stopped by the bustling crowd just before entering Jiyang County.
Seeing this, Huang Yu quickly stopped someone to inquire about the situation.
“Hey, Jiyang County is actually just one force, Jiuyang Villa. The entire Jiyang County is built around the mountain...”
“To enter the county, there are only three routes. Now, the God Spirit Level sons of Jiuyang Villa are blocking the way into the mountain, claiming to be guarding the gate for their junior sister!”
Du Gang and Huang Yu exchanged glances and shared a laugh.
Everyone could see Zhang Xinyi’s status in Jiuyang Villa.
And these male disciples of Jiuyang Villa regarded her as a princess.
If they were to choose a son-in-law internally, they might not act this way. But now, the resources are about to flow to outsiders, how could they not be upset?
Although they understand that foreign marriage is necessary, it doesn’t prevent them from taking out their frustration on these suitors!
Du Gang laughed, “Their Villa Master didn’t stop them. It seems that they tacitly approve of this method to eliminate a large number of people with insufficient strength!”
Here, not having enough strength also means not having enough influence.
Though not always the case, it is mostly so.
Take the Human Ranking for example, real grassroots heroes are few. Most of them actually have deep backgrounds.
“Let’s go and take a look up front!”
Soon, the two made their way through the crowd and reached the front to get a clear view of the situation.
The road up the mountain was not as narrow as one might imagine, but instead, it was very spacious, over a thousand feet wide.
Yet at this moment, thousands of swordsmen in white blocked this thousand-foot road.
In front of these swordsmen, there were over a hundred fighting platforms, behind each at least a hundred swordsmen stood.
“What’s the meaning of this, a martial arts competition?”
“Could it be that you have to defeat everyone behind one platform?”
Just as the two were confused, a youth who had arrived early laughed and explained: “It’s not like that, you can pass by any of these hundred platforms. All you need to do is defeat one person!”
“Those behind them are all substitutes!”
So that’s it!
The two suddenly understood!
“Hmm?”
At this moment, Huang Yu suddenly looked at a certain platform.
Du Gang followed his gaze.
He saw a kid who was only about a meter tall standing on the central platform.
“What’s going on? Even children are participating?”
Du Gang was somewhat dumbfounded. Why would a child come here for the matchmaking event of Jiuyang Villa?
“That’s not a child!”
Huang Yu narrowed his eyes, his face became serious.
“I didn’t expect him to come!”
Hearing this, Du Gang frowned, “Brother Huang, do you know him?”
Huang Yu nodded, “I’ve met him before. He’s ranked 98th on the Human Ranking. His name is Dong Cheng, from the Brahma Heaven Sword Sect!”
Du Gang shivered a little, “Brahma Heaven Sword Sect, one of the six sword sects?”
“Yes!”
Huang Yu frowned, “Why did he come? I thought top powerhouses didn’t participate?”
Du Gang, however, was more intrigued by the child’s appearance, “His height?”
Huang Yu spoke, “I heard that when he was young, he was quite gluttonous and ate one of his mother’s Ever-youth Pills!”
Du Gang was taken aback. His mother’s?
Huang Yu added, “I’m not cursing. I mean his mother’s Ever-youth Pill...”
He repeated it, still not clear enough, so he continued, “No, what I mean to say is, his mother had an Ever-youth Pill, which he stole and ate, and he ended up like this...”
The Ever-youth Pill is not common. It’s surprising that his mother had this kind of thing.
Huang Yu nodded, “His mother is indeed very strong, one of the Sword Masters of the Brahma Heaven Sword Sect!”
“Among the Brahma Heaven Sword Sect, the head of every sword is a God King. His mother is a senior God King and even among the sword heads, she is in a mid-level position.”
Du Gang understood now. This Sword Master is equivalent to a God King. The Brahma Heaven Sword Sect probably has over a hundred God Kings, and this kid’s mother is one of them.
Just then, a voice came through.
“Who’s discussing me behind my back?!”