Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

Qingzhou City, the Gu family mansion.

The house wasn't large, but it was quiet, and everyone in Qingzhou City who knew the news knew that a very important person, Gu Jia, lived there.

Looking around, there were no precious flowers or plants in the yard, only a wisteria vine that climbed all over the wall and an old well that never seemed to reach its bottom.

A middle-aged man with graying temples sat on a stone bench by the well, holding a white cloth in his hand, slowly wiping a sheathed longsword.

His movements were slow, and he wiped very carefully with each stroke, as if he were polishing a piece of priceless porcelain.

"Your Highness, the matter of Hengyue Town was due to my poor planning."

The middle-aged swordsman spoke, his voice as steady as his sword-wiping motion, yet carrying a chilling undertone.

Opposite him sat a young man wearing a moon-white robe.

It was Xia Haoyun, who had appeared in Hengyue Town earlier.

The eleventh prince of the Great Yu Dynasty held his teacup, tracing the patterns on the cup with his fingertips. Hearing Gu Zhaohuang's words, he looked up at the azure sky and smiled, saying:

"Mr. Gu, there's no need for that."

"In the end, the problem stemmed from our unpreparedness."

Xia Haoyun stood up, walked to the wisteria, gently stroked the patterns on the wisteria, and said:

"The Nine Evil Sect is going to cause a big disturbance in Hengyue, and Qingzhou is trying to use this as a pretext to make its move. So I rushed over there. The news spread out layer by layer. How could someone as shrewd as Shang Yu not be suspicious?"

He paused.

"It's normal that he's not coming."

Gu Zhaohuang did not respond, but simply stopped wiping his longsword.

Xia Haoyun suddenly smiled, turned around and looked at the Gu family's grandmaster, saying confidently:

"However, Elder Gu need not worry too much."

"I've done the calculations, and I should be able to master my first supernatural power in at most six months."

"At that time, the royal dragon aura within me will manifest to some extent. Shang Yu possesses the aura of a serpent, and serpents chasing dragons is in his nature. As long as I appear within a hundred miles of him, it will be difficult for him not to come."

"At that time—"

Xia Haoyun stretched out his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched, as if he were grabbing something.

"Let's set another trap and kill him."

Hearing this, Gu Zhaohuang frowned, somewhat worried, and said:

"Your Highness, this is too dangerous."

His tone carried a hint of anxious worry, "You've already risked your life once before, how can we let you put yourself in danger again this time?"

"What if the people behind Shang Yu also come along...?"

Xia Haoyun waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so agitated. "Mr. Gu, do you think that our Great Yu Dynasty still has a foolproof plan?"

Gu Zhaohuang opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Yes.

A foolproof plan?

The White Lotus Society swept across three states in the north, while nine evil cults stirred up trouble in the south, and the Witch Kingdom in the southwest was eyeing them covetously.

This giant ship, named "Da Yu," was already riddled with holes.

What perfect solution is there?

Xia Haoyun looked at him and continued, "If I act as bait, at least we have a chance of winning. If we do nothing and wait for that serpent to grow stronger on its own, then Qingzhou, or even the whole world, will be doomed."

Gu Zhaohuang sat down again, picked up the longsword that was placed aside, held it in his hand, and did not wipe it again.

He was silent for a long time.

Two more leaves drifted down from the fallen leaves in the yard.

"……I see."

Xia Haoyun nodded, stood up from the stone bench, and said solemnly, "Then I'll have to trouble Mr. Gu to set up another killing trap for me."

After he finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Gu Zhaohuang, then turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Gu Zhaohuang stood up to see him off.

At the entrance of the courtyard, a girl wearing a thin veil and a bamboo hat was already waiting there.

Seeing Xia Haoyun come out, the girl silently followed him, and the two disappeared around the corner of the alley, one after the other.

Gu Zhaohuang stood at the door, watching the two figures disappear into the distance, and let out a long breath, his expression returning to its usual indifference.

"grandfather."

Just then, a young voice came from a side room in the house behind him.

A handsome young man dressed in brocade robes walked out.

It was Gu Yanjin, the pride of this generation of the Gu family.

He walked over to Gu Zhaohuang, followed the old man's gaze to look outside, and asked, "Why does this eleventh prince insist on putting himself in such danger?"

Gu Zhaohuang withdrew his gaze, a disdainful sneer appearing on his face:

Why?

"Because he wanted to extend the life of this sinking ship by several hundred years."

A look of confusion appeared on Gu Yanjin's face.

Gu Zhaohuang turned around and walked into the courtyard, his voice drifting over at a moderate volume.

"Shang Yu possesses the aura of a dragon and has entered the realm of a grandmaster. In this chaotic world, he is a fierce dragon that could transform into a dragon at any moment. If we don't kill him now, once he gains enough power, Qingzhou and the world may have to change hands."

He walked to the well, stopped, and looked at his reflection in the well.

"However, in my opinion, it's all in vain."

"Even if we kill Shang Yu, so what? The White Lotus Society in the north has already occupied and infiltrated three prefectures, and it will sooner or later wreak havoc on the Central Plains. As for the Nine Evil Sects in the south, they are like rats in a gutter; once you kill one, another one pops up."

"The Great Yu dynasty has long been rotten to the core."

Gu Yanjin followed behind him, and his heart trembled slightly as he listened to his grandfather's words.

He couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him: "Grandpa, is all of this because... the Martial Saint hasn't shown up yet?"

"The Martial Saint..."

Gu Zhaohuang uttered those two words in a low voice, as if he were talking to himself.

He didn't answer his grandson's question; he simply turned around and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yan Jin, these are not things you should be worrying about right now."

"Your task is cultivation."

"After we kill Shang Yu in the Demon City, the old guys and I will try to extract his serpentine aura. Then, it will be time for you young prodigies to fight over it."

Gu Yanjin's eyes were filled with absolute confidence as he assured:

"Don't worry, Grandpa."

"By then, I will surely have entered the realm of profound understanding!"

……

On the streets of Qingzhou City.

Xia Haoyun and the girl wearing a straw hat walked side by side.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

After walking several blocks, the girl finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother, is there really no other way besides you making the bait yourself?"

"Besides, will killing Shang Yu really end all this?"

Hearing his sister's question, Xia Haoyun paused for a moment.

He looked at a sugar figurine stall on the street, where the vendor was drawing a lifelike phoenix with sugar syrup.

He remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking:

"Killing one Shang Yu will certainly not solve all the problems."

"But he's the only clue I can find right now."

The girl tilted her head slightly, and beneath the thin veil of her straw hat, her eyes held a hint of confusion.

Xia Haoyun withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward while explaining:

"The battle at Dingfeng Mountain remains unresolved. No one can say for sure whether the martial saint disciple who entered the mortal world is alive or dead."

"He may be the only person who knows the inside story of that war on the surface."

Xia Haoyun's voice was very low.

"I need to know what exactly happened to that Martial Saint disciple, and who the Grandmasters who participated in the battle were."

"We also need to know where the Martial Saint is right now."

His hand clenched quietly inside his sleeve.

"Because only the Martial Saint can save the crumbling Great Yu Dynasty."

"Only he can..."

Xia Haoyun's voice faded into the bustling traffic of Qingzhou City.

~~~~~~~~

I won't be able to post the second chapter on time, please don't worry, I will definitely post two chapters today.