<h4>Chapter 690: Packing Up</h4>


    The ninth prince asked, "What''s going on?"


    Zhang Lie exined, "The third prince needs a partner to take down the crown prince together. From the looks of things, the crown prince will sessfully ascend to the throne if he can manage to recover the jade seal, so he wanted to see whether we had any ideas to stop him. However, when you requestednd, you basically signaled your intention to leave the capital and to remove yourself from the battle of session."


    The ninth prince ahhed in understanding. "The third prince was trying to make use of us, Master? But you didn''t give him what he wanted, so he left in disappointment."


    The ninth prince himself was calm. Working together with the third prince was a route to sess, but hardly the only one. Victory and defeat would rest with the crown prince and the Jinghun.


    Zhang Lie said, "As I''ve told you, the Jinghun have basically given us the time we need to prepare. You still have a chance at victory."


    The mountain thaty to the back of the Wang n''snd was known as Jianzu.


    Only a few members of the Wang n were permitted into this restricted area. All those who retired from the Wang n would reside in Jianzu and take on the surname Jian, instead. Few of the n lived in Jianzu, but everyone who did had surpassing talent and strength.


    The Wang n head himself entered Jianzu, stopping at an idyllic patch ofnd halfway up the mountain, where an old man was farming the fields.


    He seemed not at all special. His hair and beard were white, and his skin bronzed from long exposure to the sun. He was just like an ordinary farmer—but an ordinary farmer on Jianzu was surely extraordinary.


    This was sacred territory for the Wang n; no one who lived on Jianzu was anything less than exceptional, and the more ordinary he seemed, the stronger he had to be.


    The old farmer''s actions were precise and perfect in every respect, and he almost seemed like a robot as he mechanically went about his tasks. His body was perfectly in tune with nature. If the Wang n head weren''t paying attention, he might have overlooked the manpletely.


    He strode to the side of the field and stood silently until the old man finished with his tasks. Only when he had finished everything did the old man wipe his face with the kerchief hanging by his neck.


    He turned to face the Wang n head. "Ah, child! Why have youe over all of a sudden? Surely it''s not to observe my farming techniques?"


    The Wang n head smiled. "Elder, it looks like you''ve passed yet another threshold of strength."


    The old farmer waved a hand. "Not an elder, no—I''m just a in farmer."


    The Wang n head smiled. "Elder, please don''t be modest. When the Wang n suffered trial and tribtion, barely hanging on to ourst lifeline, you were there. If not for your assistance, our n would have been wiped away."


    Before the king of the realm ascended to his throne, the Wang n, who supported the king, made an enemy as strong as ten of the Feng ns. When the Wang n was about to be destroyed by that enemy, an arc of sword energy pierced the heavens and defeated the enemy from afar.


    "I was still nothing more than a child back then. Being able to witness such a divine skill was a tremendous honor."


    Only when he became the Wang n head did he learn about the truth behind Jianzu and its inhabitants.


    The elder wasn''t a genius in his youth, unlike Jian Mo. In fact, his swordwork was only ordinary, and his talent was average. At the time, the Wang n was being threatened by an enemy n. Its geniuses fell in battle; its swordsmen were whittled down. Even the dewielder of the elder''s generation had perished.


    When the elder was sent to the battlefield, his performance was middling at best. He barely eked out a victory each time—or barely escaped, narrowly avoiding death. It was because of thisck of talent that he survived two whole centuries in the n, until a new generation of Wangs revived its strength.


    When the elder retired, he gave up on his sword and retreated to Jianzu, where he farmed and lived off thend, entirely forgotten by the rest of the n. Even when older members of the n retired to Jianzu,they were surprised to see a farmer farming there.


    If not for the elder''s sole strike on the eve of the Wang n''s defeat, no one would have realized that such an undefeatable existence lived on Jianzu.


    The farmer drank from a huge bowl of tea like a cow gulping down water, then sighed infort. "There''s no need to go around in circles. If you''vee to find me, you must have encountered a problem of some sort."


    The Wang n head nodded. "Indeed."


    The old farmer sat down on the earth, then picked up a pipe from nearby. "What''s the problem?"


    "The reputation of the Wang n."


    "I''m not interested."


    The Wang n head frowned. "Elder—"


    The old farmer broke him off. "The Wang n should maintain its own reputation—why bother me? One of the reasons everyone who retires to Jianzu changes their name is to sever our rtionship with the Wangs: in hopes that we don''t need to control you and rein you in, and that you kids can learn to develop and thrive outside of our influence."


    "Jian Mo''s dead!"


    The old farmer blinked.


    The Wang n head added, "He was killed by an alien."


    "Oh, that young fellow?" The old farmer took a pinch of tobo and lit it with what seemed like a sh of energy with a swipe of his fingernails. He sighed in satisfaction. As he breathed out a smoke ring, his eyes seemed to grow unfocused. "Who killed him?"


    The old farmer had quite an impression of Jian Mo, a talented young fellow who was unfortunately too enamored with killing. He hadn''t expected that the next time he heard news of him would be about his death.


    "An alien..." the old farmer murmured to himself. "Are aliens these strong nowadays?"


    The Wang n head reported, "The man who killed Jian Mo was called Hong Tianqi, and he''s going to bbe leaving the capital in a few days."


    The old farmer sighed. "It''s been a long time since I left Jianzu. I wonder what the world''s like these days? I think I''ll have a stroll outside."


    The Wang n head bowed deeply in gratitude.


    The ninth prince happily ran back to his quarters with golden parchment in his hands. "The imperial edict is here—and the deed to thend, Master!"


    Zhang Lie nodded approvingly. "Let''s pack up and set off, then."


    In truth, there wasn''t much to clean up. The ninth prince was poor to begin with, and all of Zhang Lie''s possessions were in his extra-dimensional storage. The two of them left the pce carrying nothing. Zhang Lie asked, "Is there anyone you need to say farewell to?"


    The ninth prince rolled his eyes. "Master, you know how I''m treated within the pce."


    "In that case, let''s set off."


    Half a month ago, they had rushed back to the pce; half a month hence, they were leaving without a care. Too much had happened in those two weeks, and the ninth prince''s life had changed irrevocably. A decade and a half of being a prince had hardly aged him as much.


    Thest time he was forced to turn away from the pce, he had been caught in one of his brothers'' ns. This time, he was turning away from the pce of his own ord, chasing an elusive victory.


    The ninth prince of the present and the ninth prince of the past were hardlyparable...


    1. 剑祖, lit. sword-forefather/ancestor