Chapter 314: Sign of Resurgence (1/2)
[Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach]
Qianye had dared challenge one who was three ranks above him and won; his strength and courage were indeed commendable. But there was no lack of geniuses in this world, and he certainly wouldn’t be able to perform such feats forever. It was quite likely that he would be forced to return in low spirits had he attempted this against the descendants of the other three clans.
From a different perspective, being forced to leap ranks despite one’s low level was a strategic mistake in and of itself.
At the mention of Qianye, it was inevitable that the other Song clan disciples would be brought up. Prince Rui finished a cup of wine and said calmly, “Zicheng isn’t bad. He has a calm temperament and a magnanimous character without foregoing strategic methods. I heard he had formed an alliance with Song Zining since before the examination and, in the end, placed second in the martial assessment and first in the strategic and political assessments. Now, he firmly holds the first place successor position. Zicheng’s talents are upper intermediate, and he’s also diligent and hardworking. His ability in your future military power might not exceed the previous or current situation, but he’s more than enough to preserve familial accomplishments.”
The Song clan people nodded in succession. Even Duchess An was also in agreement.
Afterward, Prince Rui frowned indecisively and only spoke after a while, “As for Song Zining, it’s truly difficult to judge him. It’s said that the Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art is a divination art, but its combat strength isn’t weak at all in Zining’s hands. His realm advancement is in fact quite fast, but he left no traces of an unstable foundation. This is simply too rare, but I sometimes hear that he’s quite indulgent in the female charms? Moreover, he’s engaged to a landowning household?”
Song Zhongnian and the grand elder’s expressions turned rather awkward. This matter was the result of the elders’ collective evaluation. Actually, the power balance within the clan was also a reason.
But no aristocratic clan, even the branch families, would be willing to have their descendant marry someone from a landowning household. Song Zining’s parents belonged to a weak branch and his cultivation talents back then weren’t ranked too high. Yet, he was a lineal descendant by right. [1] As such, he was chosen by the elders. In order to appease the clan members, Song Zhongnian gave them a tacit approval by not speaking up for this grandson. As the clan lord, he had to make some sacrifices for the clan.
Who would’ve thought Song Zining would amaze everyone with such a brilliant performance. One had to know that the resources he had obtained from the clan couldn’t compare to Song Zicheng and Song Zian. And yet, he was able to achieve such accomplishments. If this wasn’t talent, then what was?
After this exam, Song Zining had become publicly accepted as the number one genius of the fourth generation. It wasn’t just limited to the fourth generation—even the previous generation was swept away by him. The Ningyuan Group founded single-handedly by Song Zining also displayed its strength by means of that grade-six equipment set.
Judging from this, Song Zining possessed both martial talent as well as management skills. He could be considered a crane in a flock of chicken, at least among the younger generation of the Song clan. As long as it didn’t affect his cultivation, his romantic temperament and pursuit of miscellaneous arts would only add to his sophistication. Only those who indulged in such things without a solid foundation were considered hedonistic.
But the biggest problem at present was that Song Zining had already been pushed out to marry a landowning family. Those of the imperial aristocracy would never accept a landowning class woman as the mistress of a clan. Moreover, with that prior engagement in effect, no high-class lady would be willing to become his second wife.
Even if the wedding was called off in the future, it could hardly wipe away this blemish. Regardless of the reason for the breach, he would be clearly dishonored, and the social status of his future wife would also fall by a level. At least the imperial clan would never consider such a marriage.
This was Song Zining’s actual shortcoming. A marriage of two families was the merging of two lineages. In this chaotic world where one had to depend on powerful alliances at all times, failing to form a marital relationship with a major clan meant one had lost half of all assistance.
Prince Rui’s first wife was the lineal daughter of Song Zhongnian’s first wife. He was in charge of civil affairs in the imperial court and also required the Song clan’s support in many areas. As such, he had no apprehensions about speaking his thoughts on such an occasion. However, he had no intention to dive too deep into the Song clan’s internal affairs—seeing that the atmosphere had turned awkward, he deliberately changed the topic of conversation.
Prince Rui hesitated for a moment and then said, “Come to think of it, there are some movements that might be worth paying attention to. Firstly, it’s said that Zhang Boqian will challenge the Grand Duke of Profound Order once his injuries are healed.”
Everyone was astonished as soon as these words were spoken!
Due to their ancestral grudges, Zhang Boqian had never concealed his enmity toward the Song clan. However, he had shown little movement due to the presence of Duchess An. But if Zhang Boqian were to successfully advance to the rank of heavenly monarch, many people from different levels of society might get ideas even if the Zhang clan kept on biding its time.
Everyone from the Song clan wore anxious expressions. Duchess An, on the other hand, asked in a seemingly unconcerned manner, “What other news is there?”
Prince Rui replied, “I and a number of other imperial brothers went to observe the various clans and found a batch of young people who had advanced rapidly in the recent years without any signs of an unstable foundation.”
“They didn’t just rely on medicines to catalyze their progress. Almost all of them cultivated champion level secret arts or techniques since the fighter stage and had achieved minor success. For instance, the Zhao clan Duke Chengen’s second young master, Zhao Junhong. Just like Zining, he had ranked up continuously since the Profound Heaven Spring Hunt and had already touched the threshold of a champion. The Far East Wei Clan’s successor had advanced four entire ranks in the past year!
“There are also a number of such cases among the Zhang and Bai clans, as well as few among the other aristocratic families. Perhaps, before long, we will see a batch of champions in their twenties.”
Everyone was visibly moved after hearing this.
The direct major clan descendants had no need to worry about resources as long as they were sufficiently talented. As such, they placed a lot of focus on solidifying their foundations—their advancement speed prior to the champion rank wasn’t fast compared to the descendants of landowning households and humble families. Sometimes, they might even fall behind, but their champion breakthrough rate was much higher, their foundations solid, and their origin power pure. The disparity in combat strength would increase evidently after their advancement.
According to the empire’s past convention, one would be worthy of the title genius if he became a champion before the age of thirty. For instance, Bai Longjia of the Bai clan had reached the champion rank only when he was close to thirty years old. However, he skipped right over the brigadier general level and possessed the combat strength of a major general.
There were two accepted paths when breaking through to the champion rank. One was to advance when the conditions were right. This involved routine cultivation and the condensation of one’s qi into a vortex, followed by a direct advancement. The second method was to suppress one’s level and repeatedly temper oneself during this period in order to refine, condense, and remove all impurities in one’s origin power. The closer one got to the origins of daybreak, the more powerful he would be after breaking through to the champion rank.
But not everyone could take the second path. Most people would fail to contain and control the tremendous origin power when condensing the vortex, leaving them with no choice but to advance. The major clan descendants had various secret methods to attempt a suppression. Normally, those who could suppress rank advancement for a year after the initial vortex formation could be considered a genius. Zhao Jundu was likely the only one in the empire who could stall for an entire five years.
Prince Rui’s words clearly meant that a batch of champions in their twenties was about to appear whose post-champion-rank accomplishments were apparently unaffected by rapid advancement.
Song Zhongnian said in a solemn tone, “Could this be a sign of the empire’s resurgence?”