Beichen Sword Sect's Headmaster's Secret Records

Chapter 380 The Race of the Powerful Clans

Having acquired the exquisite Thousand-Petal Screen and toiling away for half a day, Huangfu Yi intended to rest and recharge. However, upon arriving at the inn, he was informed that someone from the Weiyuan Escort Agency was looking for him, seemingly on urgent business. He hurried to the agency to meet them.

"Young Master Bai, something terrible has happened! Miss has been kidnapped by that vixen nun!"

Upon entering, Huangfu Yi was immediately struck by the devastating news and quickly inquired about the details.

"A nun? Where did this nun come from? Who told you that?"

"A dog said, uh, that it carried a letter, and it was indeed Miss's handwriting..."

"Oh no, that's it. Dogs don't lie, so it's probably true..."

They took out the book delivered by carrier pigeon and discussed and studied it. It turned out that after being attacked and separated by demons, the Pei family was also very anxious about the whereabouts of their young lady. They rushed back to Jiangzhou to report to Master Pei, while the rest of the family, having recovered from their injuries, immediately followed Huangfu Yi's trail and searched everywhere. After several days, they finally found a dog.

The dog brought Pei Yuhan's letter, saying that she had been rescued by Bai Yi, but they got separated along the way. Unexpectedly, she was kidnapped by a nun who jumped down from the sky. The nun said that she had a divine talent and amazing luck, and that meeting her was fate. She insisted on taking her as her last disciple and passing on her mantle. What could Pei Yuhan, a little girl, say? She could only say, "Do whatever you want."

Fortunately, the nun disliked the dog's smell and claimed that it was inconvenient for nuns to keep male dogs, so she wanted to drive it away.

So Pei Yuhan made an excuse to say goodbye to her family and sent a dog to deliver a message for help, urging her family to quickly raise money to redeem her. After all, her ambition was to become the overlord of the harem, enjoying all the riches and honors, and drinking honey water every day. How could she be willing to squat in a nunnery with a dim lamp and ancient Buddha, eating cabbage and tofu, and spending her whole life alone?

When Master Pei received the news and learned that his daughter was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, seeing that his most capable second-generation son, Pei Yan, whom he had carefully cultivated, had his spine broken and was lying paralyzed in bed like a dead dog, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go into the mountains to ask for directions again.

So the fortune teller in the mountains did some calculations and assured Xiao Pei that there was no need to worry. These mere miscellaneous cultivators from Sizhou dared to steal from Donghua Mountain and violate the boundaries of the Nine Heavens Temple; they were practically defying the Grand Duke Jupiter and showing no respect for the Xuanmen sect. As the saying goes, "Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins are unforgivable." He continued, "We'll immediately issue an urgent mission to the sect, assigning true disciples to lead a team, taking the children out of the mountains for training, and while we're at it, we'll uproot that mountain, cut off all the nuns' heads, and bring our people back."

Upon hearing what the mountain people said, Master Pei became even more worried, sighing inwardly that it was all fate and destiny, and that he was now completely in someone else's hands.

Just when things seemed hopeless, a letter from Qianyang arrived. Realizing the treacherous nature of people, everyone was eyeing his meager fortune. Only a truly good person like Brother Bai Yi genuinely cared about his daughter's safety. With no one else to rely on, Master Pei, desperate, begged Brother Bai for help.

The letter then arrived, stating that the Pei family had already dispatched their old servant, Pei Zhong, to lead a team of disciples from Donghua Mountain to Sizhou. Their plan was to first visit the Pei family residence in Sizhou, and after they had eaten and drunk their fill and made preparations, they would then proceed with the rescue. Therefore, Master Pei also invited Bai Yi to the Pei family residence in Sizhou for a gathering, promising antidote pills regardless of the outcome.

Oh, right, speaking of which, he was also poisoned by the Pei family...

Huangfu Yi then realized what was happening, but then became a little confused.

Over the past few days, he had gained considerable experience with poisoning, having personally experienced scorpion and snake venom, and even nearly dying from it. But why couldn't he feel the Pei family's poison at all? Moreover, the doctor from Qianyang had examined him before, but couldn't find anything wrong. Could it be that the Immortal Clan's medicine was truly so potent, colorless, odorless, formless, and without any signs of action?
Regardless, Huangfu Yi has cultivated the Five Immortals Sword and has upgraded it multiple times. He should be able to resolve the poison in the Pei family even if it flares up, at least he has some confidence. Considering that the nun only wants Pei Yuhan to inherit her mantle and even sent a dog to deliver a message, there is probably no danger. She will just have to endure some hardship in the nunnery, so he is no longer in a hurry.

However, since it's on the way anyway, let's go to the Pei family in Sizhou first and see what the situation is like in the Central Plains.

So Huangfu Yi replied to Master Pei and agreed to the matter. He also obtained a set of clean clothes, dry food and a map from Weiyuan Escort Agency. He planned to make preparations, rest for a day, and then travel south along the plank road to Sizhou to rescue the people.

To his surprise, the people from Weiyuan Escort Agency advised him to wait a while before leaving.

"Young Master Bai may not know this, but in May of this year, the rebel army sent 100,000 troops to attack Luzhou, intending to occupy the entire Hedong region, control the Qianshui River to the south, and block our Qianzhou troops on the north bank. As a result, they built fortifications around the city and constructed fortified villages, and have been besieging the city ever since. We have been cut off from all communication for more than 100 days."

Meanwhile, the military governors of Qianzhou and its surrounding towns have successively dispatched reinforcements south to relieve the siege of Luzhou. Now that their armies have converged, they will likely clash with the Kanzhou troops in Hedong soon. War is fraught with danger; heading south along the Qian River at this time would likely draw them into the chaos of battle.

Unexpectedly, Huangfu Yi's eyes lit up.
"I have been well-versed in military strategy since childhood and consider myself a descendant of a military family. Unfortunately, I am just a theorist and have never even seen a battlefield. This time, I will take this opportunity to see what great abilities those Kan soldiers really have!"

Ignoring all advice and unable to sleep, he rode at breakneck speed, traveling day and night, straight to Luzhou to watch the play.

As expected, even a peaceful place like Qianzhou was not immune to war in chaotic times. The further south one went, the more one saw iron horses and weapons. Travelers along the way carried bows and crossbows, their hearts filled with the thought of weapons. Huangfu Yi couldn't help but let his professional instincts kick in, and he inquired about the details of the troops in Qianzhou along the way.

After all, Qianzhou had long since rebelled against the Immortal Palace, and no Immortal Kingdom ruler could now ride roughshod over it. The Xuanmen Mountain people were also too lazy to concern themselves with mortal affairs. Therefore, most prefectures and counties were governed by local cultivation families, gentry, and powerful clans who jointly elected their own military governors to oversee military and political affairs. As long as the resources offered to the mountains were delivered regularly, the old Xuanmen who had been in seclusion for hundreds of years naturally did not care who was elected and were re-elected for several terms.

However, in order to guard against the occasional whims of the Celestial Palace invading, each prefecture and city would recruit and train its own guards and soldiers to guard against demons and rebels. But these people could only be considered as guards of the city gates and private soldiers of the military governors. Moreover, most of the resources collected by each prefecture and city had to be handed over to the mountains, and a small portion had to be divided among the powerful clans. There was simply not enough money and food to support the army.

Thus, Luzhou was besieged for more than three months. Reinforcements from all directions were squeezed out little by little, like toothpaste being squeezed out. Soldiers from various places either rode along the plank roads or marched on grain boats. Their numbers ranged from several hundred to over a thousand. They were all mixed up together, and at most, they managed to put together a 'large army' of 20,000 men.

Of course, don't underestimate the small number of soldiers in Qianzhou. After all, the Xuanmen Immortal Palace has been fighting for more than 6,000 years since the Xuan Nu Rebellion. Every man in Qianzhou can draw a bow and crossbow and take a knife to go into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare. However, compared to playing outdated tricks like Gangquan, it is naturally more cost-effective to participate in the introductory competition in the mountains to cultivate immortality and learn the Tao.

Moreover, those who have the ability to serve as city guards in a place like Qianzhou, maintain order, and receive a stipend must at least be outer disciples of this mountain or cave, senior combatants at the Core Formation stage and Divine Body level, truly elite warriors who are good at fighting.

If there were truly a sect leader from a sacred mountain who would be willing to allocate vast resources to recruit troops from Qianzhou and contend for supremacy in the Central Plains, it wouldn't be impossible for them to sweep across the world. It's just that no sect leader is so idle and bored...

Ahem, anyway, this time the rebels made the first move. So, after some calculations, I also felt that if Luzhou were taken and the Qian River were sealed off, there would definitely be all sorts of disadvantages. In the future, even merchant ships would not dare to come, and there would be no more tributes to send. How could this be allowed?

Therefore, although it took many days of procrastination, the nine major sects finally managed to mobilize all their various factions and prefectures in Qianzhou to gather 20,000 troops for a direct confrontation. They also widely issued sect reputation missions, rewarding any sect disciple who participated in the battle, defended the territory, or fought against the enemy with a reward of one soldier's coin. Those who made more contributions would receive additional rewards. It was also rumored that outstanding practitioners of mixed cultivation might be favored by the sect leader and have the opportunity to be accepted as outer disciples and offered sect honors.

Although there were many people coming and going along the way, and we encountered many people from the martial arts world, no one caused any trouble. After all, everyone was going to participate in activities, cough cough, to serve in the front lines, to earn some extra money, and to make a living. There would be plenty of opportunities to fight, so there was no need to start a conflict now.

So Huangfu Yi traveled all day without incident. As night fell, he decided to find a post station to stay at, but he encountered trouble as soon as he stepped inside.

"Oh dear, sir, it's unfortunate. Our guest rooms are full, but we do have a berth in the dormitory. Would you mind making do with that?"

It's fine to sleep in a shared room; Huangfuyi doesn't mind, but some people are not.

"You bastard! Didn't you see I have women here? Tell them to make room for me!"

"Ah..." Hearing the customer in front of him slamming the table and cursing, Huangfu Yi looked up and saw a man and a woman standing in front of the counter. Both were dressed as cultivators, wearing white robes and cloaks, adorned with gold and jade pendants, holding swords, and their faces veiled. Their attire suggested wealth and nobility, and their appearance was impeccably clean and spotless. At first glance, they seemed to possess an otherworldly and refined air, reminiscent of a prestigious sect. However, upon closer inspection, their breathing and energy flow appeared somewhat weak, and their limbs were rather thin, suggesting that their skills were rather meager, probably just low-level characters.

But trash is also a person, so Huangfuyi stood at the back and lined up properly.

However, the couple was difficult to deal with. They kept mocking and complaining to the shopkeeper, insisting on getting a room.

The innkeeper was too lazy to bother with him, simply stating that it was first come, first served, and why should he give up his room to him? Besides, when you're traveling, you're just asking for a favor. Why are you coming to the inn demanding a superior room? Take it or leave it, and don't bother coming back.

As it turned out, he was probably just an ordinary person, and his words were somewhat sarcastic, which angered the other party.

Then, with a loud "clang!", the woman drew her sword and stabbed the shopkeeper through the neck.

This happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that the shopkeeper's family member was completely taken aback. He glanced in disbelief at the pool of blood that had spread across his chest, then fell backward without uttering a sound.

To be honest, Huangfuyi didn't expect that such a trivial matter would lead to such a violent act. He was stunned for a moment, and by the time he came to his senses, the man and woman had already turned around and walked towards the door with swords in hand.

"What are you looking at! Get out of the way!"

Seeing Huangfu Yi blocking the doorway and staring at her, the woman in white raised her eyebrows. She probably hadn't gotten a room in the best room and was still angry. She cursed and swung her sword at him in the chest.

Upon seeing the local customs and culture of the Central Plains, Huangfu Yi stopped talking and pointed, unleashing a burst of Yangming sword energy. The sword swept across the throat of the woman in white, severing her head. Blood gushed from her head, and she collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Musk! Moon! No—!!!"

Upon seeing this, the man cried out in pain, wailed in anger, and wailed bitterly!

Huangfu Yi looked at him.

"Die!!"

The man appeared to be insane, his face contorted in rage, shouting and yelling as he drew his sword and charged forward!
With a flick of his finger, Huangfu Yi cut the man in two with a burst of sword energy. The man then collapsed to the ground, howled for a moment, and died.

Rubbish……

Huangfu Yi shook his head, stepped over the two corpses, and checked the shopkeeper lying on the ground. Fortunately, the woman's skills were too poor, and the sword had not pierced the heart. The person was still breathing, so he used acupressure to stop the bleeding, stuffed a Ziyang Rejuvenating Pill into his mouth, and took out Ganlu Die San to stop the bleeding and heal the wound.

"Oh—you actually dared to kill someone from the Wang family! You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, you're dead!"

Huangfu Yi turned his head and saw a disheveled old man who looked like a beggar appear at the door at some point. He was shaking his head and laughing strangely. He skillfully stripped the dead man and woman on the ground completely naked, removing all their clothes, cloaks, swords, jade pendants, shoes, socks, and trousers. Then he sorted them and picked them up one by one into a tattered bag.

Finally, even the two corpses were stuffed into the bag, which was then filled with all sorts of things. Despite being stuffed with so many items, the bag remained empty and tattered, dangling at the waist without any bulge, clearly indicating that it contained treasures like Qiankun bags.

Huangfu Yi stared intently, but could not discern the man's true nature at all. Could he be some kind of reclusive master...?

The system thought, "Hmph, useless thing."

Useless? Then isn't that on par with the Flame Fist? Truly a reclusive master...

Huangfu Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately prepared to fight to the death.

But the old beggar was too busy to call back. Instead, he hopped onto the counter like a toad, looking at Huangfu Yi with curiosity.
"Hey kid, you've never even heard of the Wang family?"

But believe it or not, Huangfu Yi had actually heard of him.

"Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao were the leaders of the four powerful clans."

No matter how far they were from the Central Plains and how cut off from news, the Huangfu family still knew who was truly in charge of the immortal clans. Besides, they had also learned a lot of secrets about the immortal palace from that little girl while carrying Pei Yuhan all the way.

In short, the Pei family can only be considered a declining minor noble family, a country bumpkin. Only those who can rise to the level of the Immortal Clan can be considered the first tier of aristocratic families.

At this point, it's no longer about how many Nascent Soul cultivators a family has, but about how many rulers, generals, high-ranking officials, and powerful ministers there are. They are players participating in the chessboard of the world, discussing the distribution of benefits.

But at this moment, standing at the pinnacle of the Three Realms Immortal Clans, ranking first among the four clans, is the Wang Clan. And the four great clans are a level above, vying for the most dangerous and difficult, yet most lucrative, path within the Immortal Palace.

Yes, it's that project that everyone wants to participate in.

The Empress Dowager who made the final decisions in the Ziwei Palace back then, and the former overlord of the harem, was none other than Lady Wang.

Of course, the Empress Dowager passed away sixty years ago. Since the court moved south, the Immortal Emperor has formed a marriage alliance with the Xie family of Nanjun. The Three Dukes, the Lord General, and countless seals of office have been sent to the Xie family in exchange for the full support of this top family in the South. Only in this way could they stand firm against the onslaught of the Stone Dragon's raging storm. In all calculations, the peak of the Wang family has passed.

But that's alright. Even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and besides, family competition isn't limited to just one or two generations. The Celestial Palace has endured for tens of thousands of years, with its four empresses and eight concubines, nearly 30% of whom come from royal families. This is a precipitous lead over those ranked second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth. So, do you think they wouldn't become the head of the Celestial Clan…?

"It's the enemy."

Pei Yuhan said it.

(End of this chapter)