Ning Chen chose not to use the Ink Sword so that no one would be able to recognize him because of his weapon. As for his appearance, stick on a beard and some scars and no one should be able to recognize him.
It’s not like he was Pan An or something and had an unforgettable appearance. Besides, the entire world thought he was a dead man so if there was actually someone who would him link his current self to his real identity, he truly had nothing to say to that.
(TL: Pan An was apparently an alias for some really handsome Chinese poet in ancient China.)
It didn’t take long before the steward of the Qing family stepped out to investigate the situation. Seeing the bearded and hideously scarred Ning Chen, he couldn’t but raise his eyebrows. What an ugly person.
“May I ask what is sir’s esteemed name?”
“The Jade-faced Husband, Bai Yutang.” Ning Chen raised his head as he haughtily declared his name. As he did so, the scars on his face twitched in a frightening but mostly sickening way.
“Brother Bai, may I know the purpose of your visit to Qing Manor.” Asked the steward who had to suppress the disgust he felt in order to do so.
“Didn’t I say so already, Little Master wishes to be a guest envoy.” He declared, nose pointed right at the sky.
Giving it some thought, Ning Chen then added, “Little Master is also here to marry Qing Wushuang, that chick.”
He knew that the Qing family had an elder missus named Qing Wushuang. Back when he learnt of that fact, he couldn’t help but wonder, how could there so many thick skinned people in this world. The Qin family in Peerless City had a Qin Wushuang and even the Mongols had a Wushuang of their own in the form of Qing Wushuang.
(TL: Wushuang means peerless, incomparable, etc.)
Yet just as he said that, a cold, distinct voice echoed from within the manor, “Men, have this person thrown out.”
As that was said, a girl with an icy cold expression on her face walked out. Looking at the hideous man within her courtyard, her beautiful eyes couldn’t help but reveal an unbridled disgust.
“So you’re Qing Wushuang?” He asked in an amazed voice. However, that look of amazement only looked that much more disturbing with all those scars on his face.
“Missus.” Before the steward could persuade her, nine men dressed in pure black rushed out and surrounded Ning Chen.
“Bring it on, Little Master’s hands have become itchy as of late. A fight’s just what he’s looking. That chick over there, just wait there quietly, once Little Master has dealt with these brats, it will be your turn next.”
Ning Chen retrieved the broken iron sword in the ground and spun his wheelchair around. After wheeling forward a couple steps, he couldn’t help but praise his own foresight. Thank god he decided to buy a sturdier wheelchair, if he had to rely on that thing Ah Hu created, there was no way he could even fight this battle.
His sword was a broken sword that immediately revealed its flaws to Ning Chen as he channelled his True Qi into it. Having pinpointed the location of these cracks, he promptly retrieved his True Qi and wrapped it around the problematic areas.
Once more, Ning Chen’s arrogance had angered everyone present. Scimitars drawn, the nine black shirt men rushed forward to attack. With each slash, the men made no attempt to hide their ruthlessness as they targeted every fatal spot they could find on the teen.
Behind them, the icy expression on Qing Wushuang didn’t show the least bit of remorse at having ordered that attack. This Bai Yuntang had already committed an unforgivable offence by intruding upon their manor, to think he actually dared to be so disrespectful with his words even after all that. Truly, this man was asking to die.
Working together, the scimitars of the nine men relentlessly slashed at Ning Chen, each more ruthless than the other, each threatening to push the teen further and further towards a cliff. Yet Ning Chen merely let forth a thunderous laugh and with a swing of his sword, deflected three of the incoming scimitars. “Good, good!” He haughtily declared.
As he said that, Ning Chen’s seventh-grade cultivation fully activated itself. It didn’t take long before his empowered sword strikes began to overwhelm the nine men and send them flying with blood spurting out of their mouths.
Seeing that, Qing Wushuang coldly harrumphed before appearing right in front of Ning Chen with a single sashay. Palms raised high, she struck out at the teen’s heart region.
In that crucial moment of danger, Ning Chen hurriedly focused his Qi onto his finger and jabbed at the incoming palm. As palm met with finger, a thunderous bang echoed throughout the courtyard and the winds began to violently blast outwards from the pair. In this showdown of cultivation bases, both sides weren’t able to gain a decisive lead over the other.
Soon, blood started to dribble down their mouths as the stone slabs beneath them began to crack under the sheer pressure of their attacks.
It was a stalemate and this fact startled both of them greatly.
The Qing family really had crouching tigers and hidden dragons within their midst as he had expected. As that thought occurred to him, Ning Chen’s eyes grew colder. Yet, even if it meant that he had to infiltrate a dragon’s nest and tiger’s den today, he was going to find a way into the Qing family.
Qing Wushuang was just as shocked by what she witnessed today, however, she didn’t dare to withdraw her power and instead activated another 30% of her Qi.
Seeing that, Ning Chen coldly snorted and activated his cultivation base as well, clearly not intending to relent one bit.
As the spectacular showdown raged on, more and more of the top brass began to notice the fight occurring in the courtyard. Shortly thereafter, a fearsome palm strike descended upon them and forcefully separated their ongoing stalemate.
Amidst the resulting dust storm, a middle aged man stepped out of the settling rubble and looked at the hideous teen. “You wish to marry Wushuang?”
“I wanted to just now but now I’ve changed my mind, maybe I might change my mind in the future, it all depends on my mood.” Ning Chen continued putting on that irksome expression amidst a show of unrestrained arrogance.
The middle aged man frowned and said, “Whether you want to marry her or not, you must first pass the test of the Qing family and uphold the tenets of the Qing family before you can join the clan.”
“What test, what tenets?” He asked in a doubtful tone.
“The test is really simple, defeat a blue shirt disciple. As for the tenets, we can talk about that once you pass the test.” Having briefly explained himself, the middle aged man left for the manor.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more.” Tightening his grip on the broken iron sword, Ning Chen followed the man into the manor.
*ugh*
Not long after the two of them left, Qing Wushuang’s body suddenly lurched forward and a gout of fresh blood gushed out of her mouth. To think she actually came out short in that showdown.
“Missus.” The steward immediately rushed forward in a show of concern
“I’m fine.” Qing Wushuang waved her hands to show that she was fine, though as she did so, there was a noticeable trace of fear in her eyes. Without a doubt, she had underestimated that young man known as Bai Yutang just now.
She had taken half a step into the eighth-grade for a while now and yet she still suffered at the hands of that young man. Such a cultivation base wasn’t something you could easily even if one searched the entire Mongolian empire.
At the back hall of Qing Manor, Ning Chen had just entered the hall not too long ago closely following the lead of the middle aged man. What greeted him as the sight of four old men dressed in blue tunics. Turning to look at them, he found that each and every one of them had a cultivation more terrifying than the other. Even the weakest among them was a ninth-grade.
‘Looks like I’ve entered the thieves’ den.’ Ning Chen quietly mused to himself, his lips breaking into a smile as he did so. Yet in the midst of all that, he had forgotten that he was still playing the part of a arrogant as*hole and even more so, he forgot that his face was uglier than a donkey’s butt right now.
Thus, his smile ended up being more frightening than he had intended. Even the stalwart wills of the four elders were affected by his hideous face. Looking at his face, they couldn’t help but get a little annoyed while they thought to themselves, how could be such an ugly person in this world?
“Which of you are going to fight me or are you all going to just come at me together?” Ning Chen pointed at the crowd with his broken iron sword.
It was then that Qing Wushuang stepped into the back hall and laid eyes once more on the arrogant young man. However, she said nothing this time around but instead walked up to one of the blue shirt elders and whispered in his ears.
“Head Elder, keep him here.”
Hearing that, the head elder was surprised for a moment. Eyebrows raised, he asked, “What’s the reason for that?”
With his cultivation level, he was obviously able to discern that the cultivation of that young man was merely at the seventh-grade. While he could be considered an elite of the younger generation, it wasn’t to the point where the Qing family should try and poach him at all costs.
“I lost just now.”
Hearing that, the head elder was more surprised than before. Eyes narrowing, his mind furiously worked to digest the shocking implications of her loss. More than anyone else, he knew the strength of Wushuang.
She was nearing the eighth-grade and with the Qing family’s unique cultivation technique, she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even if she faced up against a bonafide eighth-grade. To think that she would lose to such an unassuming man today.
“Number Seven, go test him.” Said the head elder, having suddenly changed his mind.
“Head Elder, that doesn’t comply with the rules.” Eyebrows furrowed, the middle aged man who brought in Ning Chen swiftly chimed in with his objection.
The rules of the Qing family state that, in order to join the Qing family, one just had to defeat a blue shirt disciple. If that blue shirt disciple was an elder instead, no doubt all the applicants would find that process a lot harder.
Ning Chen was just as startled by what he heard. He was merely running his mouth just now, did they really intend to send out a ninth-grade geezer to fight him?
Did they even want their face anymore?
“He merely has to survive five strikes.” The head elder flatly stated.
The middle aged man frowned again but said no more. The four elders were the ones in charge of examining the guest envoys in the first place so he couldn’t interfere too much.
The seventh elder was the youngest of the elders, however, no matter how young he was, a geezer was still a geezer.
If he was a ninth-grade as well, he would definitely bash him up till his mother couldn’t recognize him, Ning Chen quietly griped to himself. The problem however, was that he was only a seventh-grade!
To think that these geezers were actually capable of sending out a ninth-grade geezer to bully a seventh-grade cripple like him!
“Hmpmh, who’s afraid of who, bring it on then!” Ning Chen fiercely roared as a way of bolstering his morale.
“Young man, after you.”Said the seventh elder, lips smiling as he slowly stepped out.
“Old geezer, don’t mind if I do.”
Just as those words left his mouth, Ning Chen slapped his wheelchair and launched his body forward, sword pointed forward in a stab.
“Young people are always so hasty.”
In midst of saying that, the seventh elder suddenly sidestepped and reached to grab the sword in Ning Chen’s right hand. Yet, just as he did so, he felt the sword turn in midair and rush straight for his throat.
*clang*
Sword met with palm. The seventh elder applied more force onto his hands and the sword promptly began to shatter. Once more, its shoddy workmanship was rearing its ugly head.
Seeing that, Ning Chen’s heart couldn’t help but ache at the thought of losing those three taels. Yet before it could ache any further, the seventh elder waved his hands and transformed the shattered iron fragments into rays of light that blasted outwards like a fan of knives, each mercilessly diving straight for a fatal point on Ning Chen’s body.
Still in midair, Ning Chen naturally didn’t have the time to dodge the fragments. However, he still had one more trick up his sleeves. Activating the dark yellow Qi whirlpool within him, he activated the Qi of dense earth within him. Immediately, his body sank like an anchor and narrowly avoid the rays of light.
The seventh elder frowned as he saw his attack fail. He tried to reach out for Ning Chen once more but the latter gave a forceful push against the floor and launched himself off the ground at a strange angle. Sword finger primed with Qi, Ning Chen swiftly stabbed at the man’s heart meridian.
*bang*
The seventh elder shifted his arm in the nick of time to block the finger strike. At the same time, he fully activated his ninth-grade cultivation and by using the ensuing burst of Qi, forcefully deflected the lethal strike.
Ning Chen was immediately thrown backwards by the blast but instead of resisting it, he allowed himself to be thrown back. Taking this opportunity to retreat, he guided himself back onto his wheelchair and looked up just in time to see the seventh elder rushing towards him. Instead of panicking however, he smiled a smile as radiant as the sun itself. “That was the fifth strike!”
Hearing that, the seventh elder abruptly halted his momentum and softly harrumphed before turning around to return to his seat. That brat’s skills were truly unsettling to deal with, the elder muttered to himself. There was no pattern to be found between each strike and each of them seemed to have been even created on the fly.
“Bai Yutang, from today onwards, you are the guest envoy of the Qing family, all the rules will be explained to you by Wushuang.” The head elder declared. Despite his earlier impudence, the elder knew that the Qing family needed experts like him who were brimming with potential.
At the side, Qing Wushuang didn’t show much objection to that outcome. She was the one who asked for the man to recruited so naturally she had to be the one to show the ropes as well.
“Follow me.” She coldly said while glancing at the teen.
“Little woman, don’t think you can keep that arrogant attitude of yours for long, one of these days, this Little Master will show you who is boss.” Whispered Ning Chen. However, his voice wasn’t masked at all, meaning that everyone present had heard his declaration.
An icy glint flashed across her eyes as he did that but she merely smiled thinly and said, “Let’s see if you can take on the surname of Qing first.”
In a courtyard at the backyard of Qing manor, Ning Chen was promptly left to his devices by Qing Wushuang after leaving him with a simple instruction.
“Meet me in the front hall, tomorrow morning.” Having said that, she turned away and swiftly walked away without turning her head around; the last the she wanted to do was spend another second looking at his ugly face.
Staring at the cold, departing figure, Ning Chen merely shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance and shut the door to his own room after entering it. With nothing left for the day, he collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep slumber instantly thanks to his fatigue. Truly, putting on a show in front of others had to be the most taxing thing ever.
The strength of the Qing family had shocked him greatly. Just looking at their elders alone, they actually had four ninth-grade experts. Not only that, that didn’t seem to be all of them as well. Never had it crossed his mind that the obscure Qing family would have such a deep foundation hidden beneath its surface. In light of that, his mission had just gotten a lot more troublesome.
