At this moment, the room was in bloody disarray. Besides the several martial masters of the unorthodox path, there were also a few corpses lying on the ground—all naked young women with obvious signs of violation.
Tang Tianyuan looked at the bodies on the ground, frowned, and asked, "Who did this?"
The unorthodox masters snickered, looking toward Flying Dragon who sat in a chair. Flying Dragon was quite distinctive—tall and powerfully built with a shaved head, his upper body bare and tattooed with a dragon.
"Flying Dragon, it's you again!"
Tang Tianyuan said with displeasure, "How many times have I told you not to cause trouble? Last time it was also you—insisting on fencing stolen goods and exposing your whereabouts, which forced me to kill people and clean up your mess. And what happened? It still attracted a Bounty Hunter who's now staying at my Tang family residence. Do you understand?"
Flying Dragon casually rubbed his bald head and said, "Second Master Tang, I'm not the only one exposing my whereabouts. Aren't these fellows also wandering around outside?"
"How can they compare to you?" Tang Tianyuan said irritably. "Your profile is too conspicuous. You're very likely to attract skilled Bounty Hunters. Do you know that your bounty alone is worth more than all of theirs combined?"
Flying Dragon snorted coldly, "Skilled? How skilled can they be? That blind man staying at your Tang residence? Plus a young girl?"
"That blind man killed Iron Arhat and Abbess Kuye," Tang Tianyuan said gravely.
Flying Dragon sneered, "That only proves those two were useless, getting killed by a blind man yet daring to call themselves masters. Incompetent fools..."
"Enough," Tang Tianyuan waved his hand. "Only two days left. All of you, restrain yourselves. After two days, you can do whatever you want with no one to stop you. But for now, just two days—don't ruin everything we've worked for. The last attempt when Iron Arhat and Abbess Kuye failed to kidnap Tang Buyi has already made my elder brother vigilant. All of you, be discreet these two days. If my brother truly discovers our plan, I will die, but you won't fare any better. I'd like to see how you explain yourselves to the Moon Worship Cult!"
Upon hearing the words "Moon Worship Cult,"
the snickering unorthodox masters suddenly grew serious.
"Fine, fine," Flying Dragon stopped arguing. "I'll behave these two days, Second Master Tang. Our men are ready. We're just waiting for you. Don't let us down!"
"As long as you don't make mistakes, I'll ensure everything goes perfectly," Tang Tianyuan said. "Let me be clear: on the day the divine weapon emerges, I have my own way to prevent my sister-in-law from reaching the sword forge. But you absolutely cannot harm my sister-in-law in any way!"
Flying Dragon smiled, "Rest assured, we'll only kill your elder brother and won't touch your sister-in-law. Second Master Tang, you can be at ease. We're looking forward to long-term cooperation with you, right? We certainly won't offend you."
"Hmph, it had better be so. Don't cause any more trouble these two days. Stay quietly at my place where no one can find you. No one in Zhushan County dares to investigate anyway. I'll say one last time: do not harm my sister-in-law, or you'll get nothing!"
Tang Tianyuan snorted coldly, gave a final warning, and left.
Watching Tang Tianyuan depart, red-haired Fire Ghost Guo Quan's face showed contempt. "What makes this Tang Tianyuan think he can threaten us?"
Flying Dragon chuckled, "In Tang Tianyuan's mind, he's no weaker than Tang Tianhao. It's just that he's a concubine's son while Tang Tianhao is the legitimate heir, which is why Tang Tianhao is the family head. So in his view, whatever Tang Tianhao can do, he can do too. We fear Tang Tianhao, so naturally, he thinks we fear him as well."
Guo Quan laughed coldly, "He truly lacks self-awareness. Big ambitions, little talent!"
"If he had self-awareness, how could we use him to kill Tang Tianhao?" Flying Dragon said. "Moreover, the Sacred Emissary's mission is to control the Tang family. We need Tang Tianyuan to be ambitious yet incompetent. If he were both ambitious and capable, how could we control him?"
Guo Quan twisted his mouth and said, "Still, being bossed around by such a self-important waste day after day is truly infuriating!"
"A few more days, just endure a few more days," Flying Dragon said. "After Tang Tianhao dies, we'll let Tang Tianyuan be your dog to play with. Perhaps then he'll understand that without Tang Tianhao, he, Tang Tianyuan, is nothing!"
"Hey, hey, hey," at this moment, Red-Faced Beast Yang Tang suddenly said, "Haven't you noticed something interesting about this Tang Tianyuan? About his sister-in-law... hehe..."
"Nothing tastier than dumplings, nothing more fun than your brother's wife!"
...
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The atmosphere in the Tang family compound grew increasingly tense during these days. Masters from outside all returned one after another, and weapon forges everywhere began to shut down, fully preparing for the emergence of the divine weapon.
At dawn, before the sky had brightened,
The Tang family compound was already bustling with activity, for the representatives from the Canglan Sword Sect had arrived to receive the sword.
The Canglan Sword Sect was the premier martial arts organization in Yun Province. Looking at the entire Qian Kingdom, it ranked among the most prestigious.
The Qian Kingdom comprised eight provinces, each containing five to nine prefectures. Linjiang Prefecture, located in Yun Province, was among the higher-ranking of the eight provinces, containing six prefectures with innumerable martial arts factions—family clans, sects, gangs, schools, and various other groups.
At the pinnacle were the Three Major Sects, Four Major Schools, and Seven Major Clans, with the Canglan Sword Sect being one of the Three Major Sects. The sect had countless masters, including several with the title of Grandmaster, making it extremely prosperous.
The Tang family had merely obtained the qualification to forge a sword for a Grandmaster of the Canglan Sword Sect, yet this had put the entire family on high alert. Tang Tianhao saw this as an opportunity to elevate the Tang family's status and reputation in the martial world to a higher level—a testament to the Canglan Sword Sect's influence.
The person who came to receive Grandmaster Ye Liuyun's sword was his disciple named Shen Bai. He enjoyed great fame in the martial world, possessed exceptional martial arts skills, and was known as the White Cloud Sword. Though only about thirty years old, he had defeated many renowned masters who had been famous in the martial world for many years.
Shen Bai was already a famous knight-errant, and as the disciple of a Grandmaster from the Canglan Sword Sect, the Tang family naturally didn't dare to neglect him. They prepared a grand reception, with Tang Tianhao personally leading Tang Buyi to welcome him outside the city.
After accompanying Tang Tianhao to escort Shen Bai to the sword forge, Tang Buyi hurried back to the Tang family residence to bring Xia Ci and Xia Xiayin to attend the ceremony at the forge.
"What's that Shen master like?" Xia Xiayin asked Tang Buyi in the carriage. "Is he truly as elegant and distinguished as rumored?"
"I don't know how to describe him!" Tang Buyi said.
"Didn't you go with your father to meet him?" Xia Xiayin asked, puzzled. "Didn't your father introduce you?"
"He did," Tang Buyi said. "I just felt enormous pressure. Really, that Master Shen felt like a mountain to me. I could barely breathe in his presence. It felt like a sword was constantly pointed at me. I didn't dare look at him much. I don't know how to describe it. It's not about whether he's elegant or not!"