Chapter 305: Revelation of the Spirit Vein! (2/2)
”And if he refuses to budge, we'll just get rid of him and clear away his men here.”
Phantom Hands' thoughts were extremely rational. It seemed like it wasn't the first time he had conducted such a deed.
”... But what if the other party has a powerful background?” a guard asked.
”Hmph!” Phantom Hands sneered in disdain as a cold, piercing gleam shone from his eyes. ”Do you think that there's anyone with a background larger than the Third Prince?”
”Understood!” everyone lowered their heads and responded.
Without alarming anyone, the group carried Mister Taijia and descended the mountain.
They were unaware that several li away, a pair of eyes was silently staring at every single of actions of theirs. Only when they finally left with Mister Taijia in their hands did the Demonic Emperor Old Man sigh deeply and close his eyes.
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Surprisingly, it didn't take them much effort to uncover the identity of the man they were looking for in the Court of Judicial Review. There was a map of the geographical terrain around the capital there.
They only had to point at the location of the mountain to receive the information they wanted.
Phantom Hands and the others had hypothesized this situation numerous times, but when they heard the name of the owner of the spirit vein, they were still stunned.
”Wang Chong?”
”The man who caused a huge uproar in the royal court via the regional commanders incident, alarming even the Sage Emperor?”
”Duke Jiu's grandson?”
”The offspring of the Wang Clan?”
Everyone, including Taijia who had barely awoken, was startled to hear the answer.
That was truly a person who a strong background!
No one had expected the Wang Clan to actually be involved in this matter.
The Third Prince was a son of the royal family, a potential successor to the throne. In the Central Plains, all powers were nothing more than a joke before him.
This was also the reason why Phantom Hands had no fear at the start.
But if the Wang Clan was involved...
This would cast some doubt on the matter. No one could say what the result of the clash would be.
The Wang Clan didn't have any members who possessed the royal bloodline, but their standing was comparable to one, perhaps exceeding it even. When the Sage Emperor was younger, it was the old master of the Wang Clan who supported him taking the throne.
The Sage Emperor had said on more than one occasion that if not for the old master of the Wang Clan, Duke Jiu, he wouldn't have achieved so much in his lifetime.
Great Tang wouldn't be as prosperous as it was, either!
In fact, even after the old master of the Wang Clan retired, the Sage Emperor even established a Four Quarters Embassy to house him so that he could seek the other party's advice whenever required.
Through this, one could see the standing of the Wang Clan in the royal court.
If the old master of the Wang Clan were to report a complaint to the Sage Emperor regarding the Third Prince, the Third Prince would be in trouble.
Everyone suddenly felt hesitant.
They dared not make a move at all!
The Wang Clan mustn't be offended!
Even if the Third Prince learned of this matter, he would surely stop them from doing something as risky as this.
”What is going on? How did that fellow learn of the spirit vein's existence? Is that son of the Wang Clan that formidable?”
Phantom Hands was a person who wouldn't even blink when a blade was pressed against his neck, but at this moment, a deep frown surfaced on his forehead. He suddenly realized that this matter was far more complicated than he had expected.
”Lord, what do we do now?” the leader of the guards asked.
”We should lay low for the moment and reconsider our options. The Wang Clan is not a power we can trifle with at the moment, we can only find another solution to this matter, ”Phantom Hands replied as he grabbed his aching head.
”So the owner of those structures is him?” At the same time, many thoughts were whirling inside the awoken Master Taijia's head.
He had spent his life around the royal family and the nobility of the capital. However, at this moment, he suddenly felt a strong interest in the legendary fifteen-year-old child of the capital.
A person who could result in the failure of his divination couldn't possibly be someone ordinary. No matter what, he was determined to uncover the secrets hidden on that young man.
With such thoughts in mind, Master Taijia, Phantom Hands, and the others left the Court of Judicial Review.
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Three days later, an earth-shattering news took the entire capital by storm.
A massive spirit vein was found amidst the mountain range less than thirty li beyond the capital.
The spiritual energy gathered on the spirit vein was tenfold more than Shenwei, Longwei, and Kunwu, as well as the spirit veins located around the capital.
Even if they were to take the entire world into scope, there were probably very few spirit veins who could compare with it.
Ten days of training on the spirit vein could easily match several months of hard work elsewhere.
As soon as the news hit the street, a huge uproar rose in the capital.
And along with the news, another familiar name also reached the ears of the crowd——
Wang Chong!
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Tl Notes:
The term for destiny used here is 命格 (ming ge).
There is a traditional belief that luck played a role in one's ultimate fate, and this ”luck” is often determined at birth. If you have watched Chinese or Korean historical drama often, I am sure you have come across plotlines where a new 'Star of the General' rose into the sky when a child was born or something along that line. Take Consort Taizhen as an example: she is said to be born with the 'destiny of the Phoenix', which hints that she will eventually take the role of the queen in Great Tang (or an equivalent position).
Besides that, there is also the concept of the resilience of one's ”destiny”, which refers to the chances of the prophecy being fulfilled. For example, one might hold the 'destiny of the Phoenix', but it doesn't mean that she will definitely take the role of the queen. Thus, it will be more exact to call destiny as a possibility in this case.
Divination is an act that interferes with ”destiny” because it reveals the unknown and allows it to be reshaped. If you view it in another manner, you are challenging the destiny of another. For example, if you divined that Consort Taizhen has the 'destiny of the Phoenix' and you decide to kill her, then you will have changed her destiny. In this case, Master Taijia failed in the challenge against Wang Chong's destiny when he tried to divine him.
Basically, those with resilient destiny are often those who achieve great things in the future. For example, remember how the Sage Emperor cannot be divined, and his aura protects those around him (Back in Consort Taizhen's arc)? That's an example of that as well.
Hehe thanks to RED for rushing these chapters out in a day's time. I only completed the current batch of chapters starting from 305 on Saturday and Sunday, and he's already done editing them.