Daqian Martial Saint

After handling the exchange for the Treasure Artifacts at the Weishui Garrison, Chen Ping’an returned to the Elegant Garden Courtyard.

For the next few days, his thoughts and energy were mainly focused on getting Chen Erya settled.

Although he had lived in Weishui County City for a long time, his position had been too low for most of it. Ironically, his status had only truly risen during the period he was away.

As a result, his roots in the County City were still shallow, and he wasn’t well-connected. Even though his official position now opened doors, arranging for schooling and lodging still took considerable effort and time.

However, Chen Ping’an’s attitude was relaxed. The Earth Crocodile Golden Flame Saber was being transferred from the State Garrison Treasure Vault, and in any case, he would have to wait a few days. Spending some energy on the little girl’s matters was hardly a waste of time.

It was worth mentioning that after he had rejected the invitations from the city’s major powers, quite a few sent invitations once again, including the Four Great Noble Families of the Inner City.

The Liu, Mu, Fang, and Fu Families.

Previously, Chen Ping’an might have hesitated. Faced with such enthusiastic invitations, he might have considered whether to accept. But now, he had no such inclination whatsoever.

First, his ambitions lay elsewhere. He couldn’t be bothered with these social functions and had no desire to get entangled in their roundabout dealings.

Feigning civility and exchanging pleasantries with the Clan Elders of these Noble Families was not what he sought. In the past, when he was weaker and lacked a firm footing, he might have found it difficult to refuse for the sake of appearances. But today, he had the power to do so.

If he was in a good mood, he might attend. If not? Then too bad—he would refuse.

Second, he had no interest in being recruited by these Noble Families.

With his true combat prowess already among the absolute top tier, he had no need whatsoever to rely on these Noble Families. Even if a day came when he needed to join a faction, it wouldn’t be a mere Noble Family restricted to a single county.

As his status continued to rise, his horizons broadened immensely. His perspective on the world had undergone an earth-shattering transformation and was no longer what it once was.

This world was vast and full of wonders; he would never confine himself to one place, viewing the sky from the bottom of a well.

Third, he was genuinely busy and had no time.

Aside from dealing with the little girl’s affairs, he also needed to maintain a high-intensity cultivation regimen.

Techniques like the Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill and the Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger required him to train arduously and tirelessly, day in and day out.

Every bit of progress he made was earned with every drop of his sweat.

...

「Weishui. The Mu Family.」

After Chen Ping’an rejected the Mu Family’s invitation for a second time, the news reached the clan, and the Mu Family’s upper echelons gathered for a heated discussion on the matter.

"He refused?"

"It seems Feiyu and the others’ actions at the last banquet offended him!"

"Rather than blaming Feiyu, shouldn’t we be blaming those among you who instigated it!? Without your tacit approval, would the younger generation have dared to be so unruly?"

"We couldn’t have expected it! Who could have known that in just three months, he would leap from the bottom of the Rising Star Chart all the way to twenty-first place!"

"’Couldn’t have expected, couldn’t have expected!’ Everything is ’couldn’t have expected’! Our Mu Family was the first to discover him! We should have had every advantage, but now? You people..."

"Us? Don’t pretend you weren’t part of it! If I recall correctly, when Wan Jun first proposed a marriage alliance, you were one of the ones who opposed it!"

"You! That was then! Didn’t I change my mind and support it later? But you! During our clash with the Fang Family, you were the one who insisted on abandoning Mang Blade!"

"And you also... sigh... let’s not talk about it! Hindsight is twenty-twenty. It’s too late for regrets now."

"..."

Among the Mu Family’s Clan Elders, the senior members were in a flurry of discussion. Though they occasionally touched on countermeasures, the overall atmosphere was one of regret and recrimination, with negative emotions spreading throughout the clan hall.

If Mang Blade’s initial appearance on the Rising Star Chart had garnered their serious attention—enough to make them willing to pay a hefty price to recruit him—then the Mang Blade of today was driving them completely wild.

Twenty-first on the Rising Star Chart! The sheer weight of that ranking was immense!

After all, Liu Ziming, previously hailed as Weishui’s number one prodigy, was only ranked seventy-fifth! The gap between seventy-five and twenty-one was unbelievably vast!

To be only twenty-one years old, at the Celestial Rain Descending Realm Perfection—the Third Gate of Inner Qi—yet able to unleash the combat power of a veteran Profound Light expert... such talent was enough to draw immense attention even in Canglong State City, to say nothing of Weishui County City!

Mang Blade Chen Ping’an!

Mu Tianxiong’s brow furrowed tightly as he listened to the clamor and arguments of the Clan Elders.

"Alright, that’s enough! Saying all this now is completely pointless!"

"Do you have a plan, Patriarch?"

"At this point, our only choice is to have Wan Jun go."

At Mu Tianxiong’s suggestion, the eyes of the Clan Elders in the hall lit up.

"Yes, have Wan Jun go! Mang Blade owes her for discovering him. Even if she can’t win him over, she’ll at least be able to speak with him."

"Exactly. Quick, go get Wan Jun."

"I say, since Wan Jun and Mang Blade have a good relationship, we should give it another push. See if there’s a chance for her to marry him! If that succeeds, it would be as good as recruiting him!"

"You think we don’t want to? We already had that idea last time. Didn’t it end on a sour note? From the looks of it, Mang Blade doesn’t seem interested in that sort of thing."

"We can try again! It’s an option, either way!"

"Sigh, I suppose it’s our only choice! If we had just recognized Mang Blade’s talent sooner, we wouldn’t be in this position now!"

"Let’s not dwell on that. We need to focus on the here and now. Even if we can’t recruit Mang Blade this time, we must at least foster some goodwill with him! Everyone, think! What bargaining chips do we have?"

The Clan Elders present discussed among themselves and quickly reached a consensus, sending someone to summon Mu Wanjun. Watching the Steward leave the clan hall, one of the elders couldn’t help but recall the earnest words Mu Wanjun had spoken so passionately back then.

"Esteemed Elders, please see the truth of this young prodigy! Give him time, and once he achieves greatness in the Martial Dao, our Mu Family won’t be the only one trying to recruit him! If we miss this opportunity, we will regret it beyond measure!"

’Yes, regret beyond measure.’

...

The Mu Family’s Steward left the clan hall and walked along a covered walkway toward the residential courtyards. As he passed through a garden, he saw a woman sitting at a stone table not far from the path.

The woman was gazing up at the sky, a distant look on her face.

The Steward recognized her, paused for a moment, and bowed slightly in greeting.

"Miss Zhi Xuan."

The woman remained lost in thought and didn’t hear him. The Steward paid it no mind; seeing she hadn’t responded, he continued on his way.

He was a long-serving man in the estate and had attended to the Clan Elders for years. Though a servant, his status was by no means low, and he was quite well-informed about the estate’s goings-on.

He knew, for instance, that the Clan Elders had once intended to betroth Miss Zhi Xuan to the now-famous Mang Blade Chen Ping’an. But later, it seemed Chen Ping’an ran into some trouble, the situation changed, and with Miss Zhi Xuan’s own indecisiveness, the matter eventually fizzled out.

’If only Miss Zhi Xuan had been a bit more insistent back then, perhaps...’

The Steward felt a pang of regret as he continued down the path, gradually disappearing into the distance.

’With Mang Blade’s status today, for her to have married him would be like a sparrow transforming into a phoenix—not a dream, but a reality!’