Ultragene Warlord

The ninth prince asked, "What's going on?"

Zhang Lie explained, "The third prince needs a partner to take down the crown prince together. From the looks of things, the crown prince will successfully ascend to the throne if he can manage to recover the jade seal, so he wanted to see whether we had any ideas to stop him. However, when you requested land, you basically signaled your intention to leave the capital and to remove yourself from the battle of succession."

The ninth prince ahhed in understanding. "The third prince was trying to make use of us, Master? But you didn't give him what he wanted, so he left in disappointment."

The ninth prince himself was calm. Working together with the third prince was a route to success, but hardly the only one. Victory and defeat would rest with the crown prince and the Jinghun.

Zhang Lie said, "As I've told you, the Jinghun have basically given us the time we need to prepare. You still have a chance at victory."

The mountain that lay to the back of the Wang clan's land was known as Jianzu. [1]

Only a few members of the Wang clan were permitted into this restricted area. All those who retired from the Wang clan would reside in Jianzu and take on the surname Jian, instead. Few of the clan lived in Jianzu, but everyone who did had surpassing talent and strength.

The Wang clan head himself entered Jianzu, stopping at an idyllic patch of land halfway up the mountain, where an old man was farming the fields.

He seemed not at all special. His hair and beard were white, and his skin bronzed from long exposure to the sun. He was just like an ordinary farmer—but an ordinary farmer on Jianzu was surely extraordinary.

This was sacred territory for the Wang clan; no one who lived on Jianzu was anything less than exceptional, and the more ordinary he seemed, the stronger he had to be.

The old farmer's actions were precise and perfect in every respect, and he almost seemed like a robot as he mechanically went about his tasks. His body was perfectly in tune with nature. If the Wang clan head weren't paying attention, he might have overlooked the man completely.

He strode to the side of the field and stood silently until the old man finished with his tasks. Only when he had finished everything did the old man wipe his face with the kerchief hanging by his neck.

He turned to face the Wang clan head. "Ah, child! Why have you come over all of a sudden? Surely it's not to observe my farming techniques?"

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The Wang clan head smiled. "Elder, it looks like you've passed yet another threshold of strength."

The old farmer waved a hand. "Not an elder, no—I'm just a plain farmer."

The Wang clan head smiled. "Elder, please don't be modest. When the Wang clan suffered trial and tribulation, barely hanging on to our last lifeline, you were there. If not for your assistance, our clan would have been wiped away."

Before the king of the realm ascended to his throne, the Wang clan, who supported the king, made an enemy as strong as ten of the Feng clans. When the Wang clan was about to be destroyed by that enemy, an arc of sword energy pierced the heavens and defeated the enemy from afar.

"I was still nothing more than a child back then. Being able to witness such a divine skill was a tremendous honor."

Only when he became the Wang clan head did he learn about the truth behind Jianzu and its inhabitants.

The elder wasn't a genius in his youth, unlike Jian Mo. In fact, his swordwork was only ordinary, and his talent was average. At the time, the Wang clan was being threatened by an enemy clan. Its geniuses fell in battle; its swordsmen were whittled down. Even the bladewielder of the elder's generation had perished.

When the elder was sent to the battlefield, his performance was middling at best. He barely eked out a victory each time—or barely escaped, narrowly avoiding death. It was because of this lack of talent that he survived two whole centuries in the clan, until a new generation of Wangs revived its strength.

When the elder retired, he gave up on his sword and retreated to Jianzu, where he farmed and lived off the land, entirely forgotten by the rest of the clan. Even when older members of the clan retired to Jianzu,they were surprised to see a farmer farming there.

If not for the elder's sole strike on the eve of the Wang clan's defeat, no one would have realized that such an undefeatable existence lived on Jianzu.

The farmer drank from a huge bowl of tea like a cow gulping down water, then sighed in comfort. "There's no need to go around in circles. If you've come to find me, you must have encountered a problem of some sort."

The Wang clan head nodded. "Indeed."

The old farmer sat down on the earth, then picked up a pipe from nearby. "What's the problem?"

"The reputation of the Wang clan."

"I'm not interested."

The Wang clan head frowned. "Elder—"

The old farmer broke him off. "The Wang clan should maintain its own reputation—why bother me? One of the reasons everyone who retires to Jianzu changes their name is to sever our relationship with the Wangs: in hopes that we don't need to control you and rein you in, and that you kids can learn to develop and thrive outside of our influence."

"Jian Mo's dead!"

The old farmer blinked.

The Wang clan head added, "He was killed by an alien."

"Oh, that young fellow?" The old farmer took a pinch of tobacco and lit it with what seemed like a flash of energy with a swipe of his fingernails. He sighed in satisfaction. As he breathed out a smoke ring, his eyes seemed to grow unfocused. "Who killed him?"

The old farmer had quite an impression of Jian Mo, a talented young fellow who was unfortunately too enamored with killing. He hadn't expected that the next time he heard news of him would be about his death.

"An alien..." the old farmer murmured to himself. "Are aliens these strong nowadays?"

The Wang clan head reported, "The man who killed Jian Mo was called Hong Tianqi, and he's going to bbe leaving the capital in a few days."

The old farmer sighed. "It's been a long time since I left Jianzu. I wonder what the world's like these days? I think I'll have a stroll outside."

The Wang clan head bowed deeply in gratitude.

The ninth prince happily ran back to his quarters with golden parchment in his hands. "The imperial edict is here—and the deed to the land, Master!"

Zhang Lie nodded approvingly. "Let's pack up and set off, then."

In truth, there wasn't much to clean up. The ninth prince was poor to begin with, and all of Zhang Lie's possessions were in his extra-dimensional storage. The two of them left the palace carrying nothing. Zhang Lie asked, "Is there anyone you need to say farewell to?"

The ninth prince rolled his eyes. "Master, you know how I'm treated within the palace."

"In that case, let's set off."

Half a month ago, they had rushed back to the palace; half a month hence, they were leaving without a care. Too much had happened in those two weeks, and the ninth prince's life had changed irrevocably. A decade and a half of being a prince had hardly aged him as much.

The last time he was forced to turn away from the palace, he had been caught in one of his brothers' plans. This time, he was turning away from the palace of his own accord, chasing an elusive victory. 

The ninth prince of the present and the ninth prince of the past were hardly comparable...

1. 剑祖, lit. sword-forefather/ancestor ☜