The Nine Cauldrons

Zhao Danchen

When Xue Xin heard this, he immediately understood the reason why his teacher had done that earlier. “So, Teacher was trying to help me revenge!”

His three enemies were Zhao Xi, Zhao Guangzuo, and Zhaofu who was currently in Qing Hu Island.

“I am Zhao Guangzuo, the County Official of Wuan County.” Escorted by a group of people was an elegantly dressed, tall middle-aged man. He stared at Teng Qingshan and said, “General Li and the others have informed me that… your disciple killed the Representative of Foreign Affairs of Qing Hu Island, Zhao Xi, and you destroyed Madame Zhao’s Dantian. I wonder if General Li accused you wrongly?”

Teng Qingshan stared at Zhao Guangzuo.

“It’s correct. Zhao Xi was killed by my disciple, and I did destroy his wife’s Dantian,” Teng Qingshan admitted with a nod.

“I wonder if you can justify your actions to Qing Hu Island?” Zhao Guangzuo asked with a smile.

“Justify?” Teng Qingshan grinned as his eyes glistened coldly.

However, upon hearing Teng Qingshan’s response, Zhao Guangzuo didn’t say much more. “I didn’t expect this Jing Yi to be such an arrogant person. However, based on their statement, Jing Yi is extremely powerful, and that his Qing Gong is exceedingly fast, strange, and unpredictable. Hmph, I will just let him win for a few days.”

Zhao Guangzuo immediately turned away.

“Let’s go!” Zhao Guangzuo ordered. He led his bodyguards and was about to leave.

“Uncle Zhao.” Madame Zhao grabbed him hastily.

General Li followed behind Zhao Guangzuo, who turned around again. He flicked a glance at Madame Zhao and glared as he scolded her, “We’ll talk about it when we get home.”

“County Official Zhao Guangzuo, I think you should stay.” Teng Qingshan’s laughter resonated in the street as a blurred figure dashed amidst the crowd and rapidly approached the County Official, Zhao Guangzuo.

“Protect the Lord!”

“Protect the Honorable County Official.”

The surroundings became chaotic. Many soldiers immediately tried to protect Zhao Guangzuo. However, no one could stop Teng Qingshan because of his strange body art. Actually, if Teng Qingshan wasn’t trying to conceal his ability, he would have caught Zhao Guangzuo in a single flash.

At this moment, Teng Qingshan was pretending to be an Innate Expert.

However, even so, Teng Qingshan still appeared beside Zhao Guangzuo within only a second and gripped Zhao Guangzuo’s neck with his right hand.

“Lord.”

“Honorable County Official!”

General Li and those soldiers began panicking.

“What-what are you doing?” Zhao Guangzuo could feel his neck was being clutched. He felt slightly nervous and said hastily, “Jing Yi, there’s no hatred between you and me.”

“Command your men to back away,” Teng Qingshan ordered.

“Out of the way! Out of the way!” Zhao Guangzuo ordered quickly. He knew well that… the Innate Experts in the Land of the Nine Prefectures killed with decisiveness. If he hesitated even for a moment, he could be killed.

“Walla~~~”

Many soldiers immediately stepped aside, opening up a path toward the Jing Residence.

Teng Qingshan gripped Zhao Guangzuo’s neck and walked toward the Jing Residence. He soon arrived at the main gate.

“Jing Yi, let the County Official go,” General Li pleaded anxiously.

“Brother Jing Yi, you should let me go.” Even though his throat was being clutched by Teng Qingshan, Zhao Guangzuo still acted benevolently and persuaded him kindly, “There’s no hatred between you and me. It would be fine if taking me hostage brings you some benefit, but the fact is that taking me hostage brings you no benefit.”

Teng Qingshan flicked a glance at Zhao Guangzuo and thought to himself, “This Zhao Guangzuo is able to remain clear-minded amidst this chaotic situation… He’s not a coward.”

If he were a coward, he would probably be frightened to the point of being hysterical.

“Xue Xin, close the door.” Teng Qingshan continued clutching Zhao Guangzuo’s throat as he walked into the mansion.

“Yes, Teacher,” Xue Xin answered loudly.

“Jing Yi, let the County Official go!” General Li shouted anxiously once more.

However, the response was…

“Clang, clang, clang~~” The main doors closed slowly.

“Clang!”

The gates of the Jing Residence were now completely closed. The several thousand people on the street outside the mansion and the soldiers who encircled the Jing Residence all awaited General Li’s order.

“General, what should we do?” The few officers beside General Li asked.

General Li was filled with rage. He cursed and shouted, “What can we do? Go back! Let’s go back first! It’s all Zhao Xi’s fault… Just when did he provoke an Innate Expert?! Now, there’s nothing we can do when the situation has become like this!” Since County Official Zhao Guangzuo was now in Teng Qingshan’s hands, there was nothing they could do.

Madame Zhao, who was at the side, didn’t dare to speak.

Immediately after, General Li led the over four thousand people and left pathetically.

In the inner court of Jing Residence:

“Jing Yi…” Zhao Guangzuo’s throat was still being gripped by Teng Qingshan. He pleaded urgently, “No! Lord Jing Yi! There’s no hatred between you and me! Why are you torturing me?”

Teng Qingshan flicked a glance at Zhao Guangzuo.

“If Lord Jing Yi is willing to let me go… I will make Zhao Xi’s death seem as though it never happened.” Zhao Guangzuo had a completely different attitude at this moment.

“Oh?”

Teng Qingshan appeared surprised and happy.

“Lord, rest assured. I will do everything. It’s just a single Zhao Xi. If I want to settle this matter, I just have to work things out with Zhao Xi’s wife. There is nothing I cannot solve in Wuan County,” Zhao Guangzuo said confidently.

However, at this moment, Xue Xin was glaring at Zhao Guangzuo.

“Hm, you are smart. Unfortunately—”

Teng Qingshan shook his head and swung his palm.

“Boom!”

He struck Zhao Guangzuo’s stomach. Zhao Guangzuo’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and a wisp of blood seeped from the side of his mouth.

“You-you…” Zhao Guangzuo’s eyes widened. He glared at Teng Qingshan and muttered, “You destroyed my…”

That one strike ruined Zhao Guangzuo’s Dantian.

“It is true that there’s no hatred between you and me. Unfortunately, there’s a great hatred between you and my disciple.” Teng Qingshan turned and walked away. At the same time, he commanded, “Xue Xin, I will let you handle the rest. You can deal with this Zhao Guangzuo.”

“A great hatred?”

Zhao Guangzuo turned and glared at Xue Xin as he said, “Who-who are you? I don’t know you. Have you mistaken something? No… Maybe this hatred is between you and my subordinates. The things that my subordinates did have nothing to do with me.”

Xue Xin sneered coldly and said, “Zhao Guangzuo, listen closely. My name is Xue Xin!”

When Zhao Guangzuo heard this, his eyes widened greatly, and he became utterly speechless.

Upon hearing the two words, ‘Xue Xin,’ Zhao Guangzuo knew he was doomed… Back then, he had judged as the Xue Clan as the surviving members of Tie Yi Hall and ordered to have the entire Xue Clan executed. Something this major had naturally needed the order of the County Official.

“Zhao Guangzuo… County Official Zhao… Hmph, thanks to your order, all the members of the Xue Clan died!” Xue Xin’s eyes reddened to the extent that wisps of blood emerged at the corners of his eyes.

When Zhao Fu had endeavored to obtain the Flowing Cloud Manuscript, Zhao Xi had been the one who came up with the ideas, but Zhao Guangzuo had been the one who issued the order!

“Didn’t you say that my Xue Clan are the remaining evil members of Tie Yi Hall? Today, this evil member will repay you properly.” Xue Xin swung his palm forcefully.

“Smack!”

Xue Xin’s palm slammed against Zhao Guangzuo and sent him flying. Zhao Guangzuo smashed onto a pole beside the pavilion and tumbled onto the ground.

His face was deathly pale as he shouted loudly, “Help! Hel—” The mournful voice became suddenly silent.

This was because Xue Xin was stepping on Zhao Guangzuo’s mouth. In such a moment, Zhao Guangzuo’s face was filled entirely with terror.

“Don’t worry. I will avenge my grandmother, father, mother, second uncle, second aunt, and sisters slowly.” Xue Xin dislocated Zhao Guangzuo’s jaws and carried Zhao Guangzuo to the cellar.

Teng Qingshan sat cross-legged with the enormous Six-legged Bladelike Chi before him. It stared at Teng Qingshan with a pitiful expression, hoping that Teng Qingshan would practice his fist art. However, Teng Qingshan was pondering about something.

“Zhao Guangzuo is a County Official. His command can easily execute an entire clan! I wonder how many people fear this Zhao Guangzuo.

“And now, he has become a prisoner.

“All of these things happened because of his status and strength.”

Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly. One’s status depended upon one’s ability!

In Teng Qingshan’s previous world, ordinary people thought that money was equivalent to one’s status. In the Dark World of Teng Qingshan’s previous life, rankings were important. A SS-ranking hitman and a A-rank hitman would receive totally different treatment. If Teng Qingshan had been a SS-rank hitman in the beginning, his wife Cat would never have died!

While in this life…

If he had been an Emptiness Realm Expert since the beginning, Little Blue wouldn’t have died either!

“Power! All of these happened because of one’s power.” Teng Qingshan thought to himself, “If one wished to negotiate, one must at least have the ability to negotiate!

“Hm…

“This time, I have taken Zhao Guangzuo hostage. Zhao Guangzuo is the County Official. Therefore, this matter will definitely concern Qing Hu Island.” A smile crept up onto Teng Qingshan’s face as he said to himself, “Zhao Guangzuo is part of the Zhao Clan in Qing Hu Island… In that case, it seems like that Zhao Danchen is also a member of the Zhao Clan.”

……

For a super powerful sect with a history of over a thousand years, it was natural for factions to exist within it. Likewise, it was very normal for the factions to be in the form of clans.

The Zhao Clan was a rather powerful clan in Qing Hu Island.

Now, the most powerful member of Zhao Clan was the one-armed Zhao Danchen. The fact that Zhao Guangzuo had been able to become the County Official showed that the Zhao Clan had an extremely high status within Qing Hu Island.

……

In Danchen Pavilion of Qing Hu Island:

This was a pavilion which had been built specially for Zhao Danchen. Outside the pavilion, there were azure-cloaked disciples sweeping the floor.

When the azure-cloaked disciples noticed someone approach, they got a fright and hastily stood in a respectful posture. Then they bowed while greeting, “Island Lord!”

Three people had approached the disciples. The frontmost person walked with a majestic gait. He had golden hair and eyes which seemed to flash with lightning. It was the Lord of Qing Hu Island, Tie Fan. With the two people following behind him, Tie Fan walked into Danchen Pavilion.

At the center courtyard of Danchen Pavilion, a silver-haired and handsome one-armed young man was performing sword art slowly. The sword art he performed was actually producing flashes of blurred images.

“Chi!”

Zhao Danchen sheathed his godly sword. Then as he looked at the approaching person with a bright smile, he greeted, “Island Lord.”

“Elder Zhao.” Tie Fan smiled helplessly and said, “Something big has happened to your Zhao Clan.”

“What?” Zhao Danchen was astonished. The things an old man valued the most were his clan and descendants, so Zhao Danchen immediately shot a glance at the old man behind Tie Fan and shouted, “What happened?”

“Great Uncle,” the old man answered hastily with respect, “There’s an Innate Expert named Jing Yi in Wuan County City. He allowed his disciple to kill Zhao Xi. When Guangzuo went to find this Jing Yi with many men, Jing Yi seized him and dragged him into his mansion. Now, we have no idea if Guangzuo is alive or dead.”

Zhao Danchen’s facial expression turned grim.

Currently, he was he only Innate Expert in the Zhao Clan… If he were excluded, then Zhao Guangzuo would be the one with the highest status.

“Elder Zhao, it’s not that simple. Even the Dantian of Senior Martial Gu Yong’s disciple was destroyed,” Tie Fan said. “Jing Yi was that one who did it. Therefore… we have to ask Elder Zhao for help.”

“Don’t worry. Let me handle this!”

A cold glint flashed in Zhao Danchen’s eyes.