Chapter 297: The Unrest of Prince Ning (1/2)
Chapter 297: The Unrest of Prince Ning
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
However, Zhou Bao did not intend to make them embarrassed.
He raised his hand and unleashed their restraints. ”I will let you go. But I need you to remember that I will show no mercy to the martial arts practitioners who enter here from now on!”
Indeed, Zhou Bao would no longer show them mercy.
He established a sentry post outside of the small town at the foot of Jilei Mountain. The sentry post functioned like a city gate—no matter who wanted to enter the town, he had to get in from the sentry post. If there was someone who did not come in or out from the sentry post, then he would be regarded as an intruder. As for the place where the yard was located, it had become a forbidden ground. Without Zhou Bao's permission, nobody was allowed to enter.
The entire martial arts world was shocked!
It was natural that the martial arts world was astonished. As the famous World Hero Competition had just ended, everybody thought the martial arts world would return to peace for a period of time. However, the reality was quite different, in fact. The first news came that the Li Family of Pingzhou's legitimate son, Li Xiu, had slept with Xining King's Eldest Son, Yan Fei's, fiancee, then he was chased thousands of miles by Yan Fei. He was finally rescued by Zhou Bao when he was in the northwest region. And what was most surprising was that Zhou Bao and Yan Fei fought against each other with Pure Yang Celestial Devices. The fight not only ended with Zhou Bao's success, but he also obtained Yan Fei's Pure Yang Celestial Device, the Octupole Exquisite Pagoda, that he had gotten in the World Hero Competition.
His behavior was so surprising, arrogant, and bold.
While everybody was shocked by Zhou Bao and was keen on seeing how he would manage the pressure that was to come to him soon, one of the interested party, the Li Family of Pingzhou's legitimate son Li Xiu, should have returned to Pingzhou. Meanwhile, he also brought back other astonishing news. The news was that Zhou Bao had sold the Pure Yang Celestial Device, the Octupole Exquisite Pagoda, that he grabbed from Yan Fei to the Li Family of Pingzhou. Maybe other people did not know how much Zhou Bao had earned in this transaction, but Yan Fei had lost face because of it. The royalty also suffered losses from this incident. As for those who could think things through more carefully, by considering Zhou Bao's series of behaviors since he had become known in Jianghu, they had entirely and secretly believed that Zhou Bao belonged to the influences of the well-known family that Tian Long Taoism represented.
Things would have been easy if it had ended there. However, other astonishing news followed. There were many scouts sent by different influences to check out Zhou Bao's Pure Yang Celestial Device after they learned that he had a powerful one. But their actions irritated him—Zhou Bao immediately picked on Prince Ning's expert subordinate who had gone to spy him and beheaded the guy. What was even more surprising was that Zhou Bao only returned the unfortunate guy's body back to them, while the guy's head was hung at the sentry post as a warning to others. Nobody knew how long the head would be there!
Prince Ning was famous for his toughness, hence, what Zhou Bao did was like a slap in his face.
…
…
”Bastard, damn it! This Zhou Bao is too conceited. He dares to humiliate me like this!”
Normally, the Dragon-pressing River was untraversed. But now, countless tents were stationed along the bank of the river, as if an army had arrived.
The fact was that it was not an army, but the tents of the new lords and their subordinates.
One year had passed since Northern Yuan's land was enfeoffed. The northern prairie gradually became busy with the operation of different influences. Although it was busier than before, it could not be compared to the Central Plains. For thousands of years, the nomads lived wherever there was grass, hence, they never built any decent buildings. As for the Central Plains people, they would not change their habits even though they had settled down in the north. That was why rounds of construction projects spread through the north. And before the new city was established, the tents became the best place for them to live.
Then, an outrageous roar came from a very ordinary tent that was buried among the sea of tents.
”Your Royal Highness, please calm down, please calm down!”
A big group of people scattered to the left and right side of the tent, while Prince Ning was standing in front of a desk, slamming his palm onto it.
Those who sat in the left row were all ordinary people. They dressed with grace and no Internal Qi could be found in their body. And those who were in the right row all contained abundant Internal Qi in their bodies. There were even seven or eight guys who seemed to have Gang Qi. They were all experts above Level Seven. As for the black-robed elder named Yuantingyueshi, who stood in the first row, his Internal Qi was deep and plentiful. Obviously, he was an expert at the peak of Level Eight.
If one could see all these people, he would be astonished by the power of this Prince Ning!
He had so many experts whose cultivation was near Level Seven or Eight! The outside world all felt for him as he had lost a Level Seven expert in the northwest. Some even thought that Prince Ning's power had been seriously weakened. But the people did not know that a Level Seven expert did not mean much to him.
The people who were gathered in the tent now already had a power that was beyond most well-known families' in this world. Therefore, if Prince Ning were to become crazy, he could massacre nearly the majority of them.
But for now, he could not think about that. He not only had to hide his power, but also needed to take revenge on Zhou Bao!
It was because he was entirely provoked by Zhou Bao's behavior.
As a noble and the Jin Emperor's son since he was a born, when had he suffered so much?
Even His Highness the Prince of the Jin, his elder brother, had not made him suffer so much. Although his brothers competed with each other using both open and secret means, no one ever dared to slap him in his face so flagrantly!
Who was Zhou Bao? He was merely a wild boy who had come from Ten Thousand Huge Mountains. But he dared to slaughter his subordinate and hang his head on the sentry post. It was more than a slap in his face, it was more like a provocation. If he could not regain his face, he would have nothing to depend on in Jianghu or the Jin, let alone compete for the position of emperor. That was the reason why he was so outraged and swore to get his face back.
A young man who was in the left row comforted Prince Ning, saying, ”Your Royal Highness, please calm down. We need further consideration on this matter!” The man who spoke had a handsome face and a scholar's style, with wisdom filling his eyes.
”Further consideration, you want me to have further consideration on this matter? But, Zhou Bao has slapped me in my face. Tell me, how can I have further consideration on this matter?!” Prince Ning roared, ”No, I have to regain my face back. I have to!”
”Surely, we have to get our face back, but the loss would outweigh the gain if we expose our actual strength!” The intellectual continued unhurriedly while Prince Ning was angry. ”Zhou Bao is very powerful. He is the most powerful man among the youngest generation. He only has a Level Seven cultivation, but his combat capability is at the peak of Level Eight!” As he spoke here, he took a glimpse at the black-robed elder who sat in the first row on the right side. Then he smiled and continued, ”Moreover, he has a Pure Yang Celestial Device. I believe that Zhou Bao can even face a Level Nine expert with it. Hence, it is not easy to deal with him!”
”Surely that doesn't mean that I'll be afraid of him!”
”Of course, you don't have to be afraid of him. But you have to deal with him carefully. Your Royal Highness, you also know that Zhou Bao is only a wild boy from Ten Thousand Huge Mountains. So he can't grow so rapidly even though he has a panacea. Therefore, there must be a powerful influence behind him. And I'm sure that the influence is neither from the Wu Family nor from Tian Long Taoism!”
”Why?”
”It is easy to eliminate the Wu Family, for it is only a mid-level well-known family. Although it's rich enough to turn against a country, Tian Long Taoism is its backer. Its own power is not strong. Only one Level Seven Elder had existed in the Wu Family before Zhou Bao. Hence, if the Wu Family has the ability, they no doubt won't spend so much effort on a disciple who doesn't have the Wu's family name. As for Tian Long Taoism, they do have powerful strength, and Zhou Bao is very close to Wang She. But Zhou Bao isn't Tian Long Taoism's disciple, so he can't obtain such big benefits like the Pure Yang Celestial Device from them. What's more, if Zhou Bao is Tian Long Taoism's disciple, he won't give the Octupole Exquisite Pagoda to The Li Family of Pingzhou. A Pure Yang Celestial Device still means a lot for Tian Long Taoism. And there's another thing, Your Royal Highness, I don't know whether you have thought of it. Zhou Bao once fought with the Cool Breeze Gang and destroyed the organization by himself. When the Cool Breeze Gang intended to deal with his family, some people were secretly protecting his family. Although we don't know who they are, I am sure that they are all Level Seven experts and they don't belong to Tian Long Taoism.”
”I know what you mean. This is nothing more than Zhou Bao having a powerful influence behind him, so it is not a good time to turn against him. However, this time, he is too extravagant. If I don't fight back this time, I may not get the chance again.”
The young intellectual nodded. He knew that Prince Ning was telling the truth. Face was an easy matter to talk about, but for him being in a high position, often was the case that, once he lost his face, his prestige would be destroyed in a minute. And he would hardly have the chance to earn his face back. That was why what Zhou Bao did to him made him furious and he almost lost his mind. Zhou Bao was diabolical, he had no scruples about Prince Ning at all. Hence, Prince Ning had to get his face back.
”I also understand the reason, however, you don't have to deal with Zhou Bao in person!” The Younger smiled gently and said, ”The only thing that is concerning is whether Your Royal Highness is generous enough!”
”Generous about what?”
”Zhou Bao's Pure Yang Celestial Device!”
His words evoked a slight disturbance.
”Please explain your idea clearly!”
”As Zhou Bao has a Pure Yang Celestial Device and he also has his own strengths, it is uncertain if we can succeed even if we use all our power to deal with him.”
As he spoke here, the people who sat opposite him all smiled. ”I hope my words haven't offended you. If Zhou Bao is alone, things won't be difficult. But when he uses his Pure Yang Celestial Device, I suppose we might lose a lot even if all of you fight him together. Elder Sun, what is your opinion?”
”I agree with you. The Pure Yang Celestial Device's power is unimaginable. You don't have to find excuses for us. If he has a Pure Yang Celestial Device, it will still be difficult for all of us to beat him!”
Elder Sun was the black-robed elder, whose cultivation was at the peak of Level Eight. He opened his eyes and glanced at the young intellectual peacefully.