Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1930 - Imperial Household’s Patriarch, The Plot of The Old Fox

“Tianlong, tell me. Who among our Xia Clan would give hope to the empire if he rules it?

Tianlong seemed to find it quite normal, it seemed like he already expected the old man to ask him this question. Nevertheless, he still hesitated for a while before he replied, “The thirteenth Prince!”

The old man stunned and laughed immediately, “Crown Price Zhang Yang, he lacks the toughness that an emperor requires. On the other hand, the youngest one seemed like he is bound to achieve great things. Unfortunately, even he can only be considered to be clever in trivial matters, which leave only the thirteenth Prince. Though he does seem to have yet to achieve anything, he looks like he might bear the destiny of an emperor. He can be considered to be the one who hides himself the most. Even I, as the Patriarch, almost got deceived by him.”

“Tianlong, about the young man from the Imperial Cuisine Hall, must he stay alive?” The old man asked once again in a calm tone.

“That’s how I feel. If he dies, the Great Confucian Empire will definitely suffer an unfortunate fate. The young man will definitely turn out to be one of the candidates that stand on top of the pyramid.” Tianlong said in a serious tone.

“Tianlong, I suppose this is the third candidates that you have mentioned!” The old man said in a seemingly happy tone.

“Yes.”

“We have missed our chance to interact with the one from the Great Wilderness. As for the one from the Nine Phantom, there isn’t even hope for us to ever take a hold of him. In any case, the two people mentioned above are people who the Great Confucian Empire will never have the chance to get their hands on, no matter what. The Imperial Cuisine Hall, however, is located right within the empire. This is a chance for the empire itself. No matter what, we must maintain a good relationship with this person. Only by doing so will we have a chance to enter the true World of the Nine Continents.”

The old man seemed very excited when he mentioned the true World of the Nine Continents.

“It’s not difficult to enter the true World of the Nine Continents. After all, similar to here, that place is crowded with people. There are also many, many people without any cultivations residing there.” Tianlong spoke slowly.

“It’s different. Being there, they are not able to interact with the true World of the Nine Continents. Yes, there are a lot of people with weak cultivations there, but there are even more people with formidable cultivations. Certainly, we can’t compare these two things together. At the end of the day, the strong come less in quantity than the weak ones. However, because of how largely populated the place is, we will definitely come in contact with fearsome warriors at any time.”

“That place is mixed with all kinds of people. Master, why do you keep hoping for the Great Confucian Empire to step into that domain?” Tianlong was unable to understand the old man’s action.

“The true World of the Nine Continents includes the deep part of Haohan Continent, Great Desolate Land, Nine Phantoms Yin Land, Scarlet Refinement Land, and the Nine Continents Star Ocean Domain. That place was filled with forces from each of the respective continents. It includes each of the continents in the World of the Nine Continents. They have their own respective circles. Wherever you go, only the strongest calls the shot. That place is a very exciting world. It may be very dangerous, but each place is filled with its own opportunity.” The old man spoke very slowly. It took him quite a while to explain all of it.

Tianlong was silent for a while, “At the end of a day, we mustn’t rely on people forever.”

“Haha, on every famous people’s side, it’s normal to have countless outstanding men. Those people occupying leading positions in the Nine Continents World, don’t they have thousands upon thousands of experts around them? Many of them are even more superior than the young man from the Imperial Cuisine Hall.” The old man seemed to be able to take this unpleasant fact fairly easily.

“Master, I feel that this young man is the most outstanding one that I have seen so far among the three candidates. If we ever seek to control people like him, I feel that it is best for us to be more cautious.”

“That’s true. Tell me, how’s this man’s personality? I have never seen him before. Now that you keep mentioning about him, even I am starting to feel the urge to meet him.” The old man looked very happy. Judging by what he said, he would definitely go and meet Qing Shui.

“Through observing the young man, I can tell that he is a person who is amenable to coaxing but not coercion. The people close to him is his most sensitive spot. He is a very affectionate person, the kind of guy who will repay you even if you only give him a drop of water. Also, he takes his words very heavily.” Tianlong explained to the old man. He seemed to be very certain about the things which he said.

The old man seemed to have gone into contemplation upon hearing what he said. After that, he smiled, “Alright, that’s great. Tell the Thirteenth Prince that we will help him find a master tomorrow.”

Upon hearing what the old man said, Tianlong’s expression changed. He stunned before moving on to reveal a happy smile on his initially calm face, “Knowing this master must be the result of the good fortune which he has been accumulating for several lifetimes! But I wonder if he will accept it…”

“Yes, he will definitely. We are not making him take it for free.” The old man said in a confident tone.

“Master, then how shall we settle the things with the crown prince and Little Prince?” Tianlong remembered the crown prince and Little Prince who came before.

“After a while, even if they truly want to lay their hands on the Thirteenth Prince, they will no longer have the strength to do so. As for the Barbaric King, since the brat has promised to cure him, he will definitely do it.

“I will tell everyone that the Thirteenth Prince will be the one taking over the Great Confucian Empire from the Great Emperor. Added on that the Thirteenth Prince has already found himself a master. Do you think the Barbaric Emperor will lay his hand on the disciple of his benefactor?” The old man said in a happy tone.

“You have a point!”

At the end of the day, the older the ginger, the hotter it would be. For an old fox like this old man, he had already seen through most of the things in the world.

……

On the next day, early up in the morning, the Crown Prince and Little Prince both received orders. All of the experts under them have all been summoned back to the State Masters Hall. The State Masters from the State Master Hall weren’t controlled by anyone. They were only responsible for the Palace Lord of the State Master’s Hall. They took orders from him. Inside the hall, there was Grand State Master, State Masters, Country Protector Immortal Master and a few decent State Masters who retired. These doddering old men mustn’t be underestimated as they were existences that built the stable foundation for the Great Confucian Empire.

The Crown Prince and Little Prince had yet to recover from the shock they received. Following on, another order was dropped down. Their thirteenth brother had become the person who would take over the empire from the Great Emperor. Even him, as the Crown Prince was not announced to be the person who would take over after the Great Emperor.

Right at this moment, the old man took Tianlong Dihu and the Thirteenth Prince into the Imperial Cuisine Hall.

The Thirteenth Prince was a bit older than the Little Prince. The Great Emperor was actually quite old. He also had more than one wives. Hence, his children could have a very huge difference in age. It was normal if they were ten years, 20 years, or maybe even 30 and 40 years apart… The eldest one could even be a hundred years older than the youngest one.

In terms of his appearance, the Thirteenth Prince still shared some resemblance with the crown prince and Little Prince. In comparison to them, the Thirteenth Prince looked even tougher. His brows were very thick and his eyes looked full of spirit. He seemed to be younger than the Little Prince. However, he was actually a bit older than him.

He was very tall, slightly taller than even Qing Shui. He should be roughly two meters if he was to be measured with the units from the previous incarnation. He had a huge figure and bore a majestic appearance. His choice of clothings was very simple. Overall, this was a young man who seemed to be quite serious. Based on how he kept his mouth tightly shut, it came to show that he was a bit persistent and strong.

On Qing Shui’s first look at the young man, he felt as if the entire world was going crazy. He could roughly tell that the Thirteenth Prince should be a Battle God Inheritor. Not only so, after examining him with the Heavenly Vision Technique, Qing Shui was able to detect yet another violet clouds of gas behind him. Though not as large as the Barbaric Emperor’s, compared to his, the young man’s was even brighter and more abundant.

“Sorry for coming without any invitations. I hope you don’t mind about it.”

Initially, Qing Shui was shocked by the young man. It was only when he moved his sight onto the old man that he found out about the visitors. The people who came today were all famous characters, especially the old man who possessed mountain-like aura. Not only him, but the other two old men beside him also had auras as big as mountains. Even the current Qing Shui was unable to sense their exact strength. After all, his current most formidable feat. laid in his defensive capability. Though his normal offensive prowess was quite decent, there should be quite a lot of people whose offensive strength surpassed his. The old men in front of him at the moment was the prime example of them.

“Absolutely not. Please come in. For the past two days, I have been having quite a few unexpected guests. In fact, I have already gotten used to it.” Qing Shui smiled as he welcomed the old men in.