Xu Xiaohan was completely stunned.
'I knew Master Su was strong, but I never imagined he was *this* strong! These were five Third-Grade Experts, not some common street-side Martial Artists hired for guard duty. He killed them all by himself?'
'Could Master Su be a Second-Grade Expert!'
'A Second Grade at nineteen?'
'How is that possible!'
His godfather, Zhang Gui, had been considered an unparalleled prodigy for stepping into the Second-Grade Fury Gang Realm at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, causing a sensation throughout the realm. Countless Sects, influential factions, and even First-Grade experts had taken firm notice of the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot.
'If word of a nineteen-year-old Second Grade got out, the entire realm would be in an uproar, and it would likely draw the attention of all the First-Grade experts.'
'Have I gotten this strong?'
Looking at the bodies of the Vice Chief Stewards strewn across the ground, Su Chen was also rather surprised.
Lying low in the Library Pavilion, he rarely took action.
'I always thought I could barely handle a weaker Third Grade, but the moment I acted, I ended up killing five veteran Third Grades. Even if they were old and their bodies were failing, they were still five Third Grades...'
"Master Su, these are all Vice Chief Stewards of the Imperial Palace! You killed every single one of them! If Emperor Jianwu, or Lord First Supervisor, were to find out about this…"
Xu Xiaohan's calves were trembling.
'This is going to cause a massive uproar.'
'The entire Imperial Palace is probably going to be shaken to its core.'
'Third Grades, and Vice Chief Stewards of the Imperial Palace, no less. Every one of them was a powerful and authoritative figure, not some dime a dozen that could be easily replaced. And now they've all been wiped out in one fell swoop.'
"So what if they were Vice Chief Stewards of the Imperial Palace? It's not like I haven't killed one before," Su Chen said nonchalantly.
'Still, I really did kill a few too many this time.'
'If word of this gets out, there will surely be hell to pay. Right now, forget about fighting a First Grade—without the Heart-devouring Powder, I'm afraid any random Second Grade could probably beat me senseless.'
At this thought, Su Chen felt a pang of panic. He hoisted the five bodies onto his shoulders and ran toward the Library Pavilion.
"Master Su."
Xu Xiaohan jogged to keep up.
Fortunately, with Nanyang Commandery in rebellion and a major Sect like the Xuanyang Sect involved, the palace's most elite forces were all guarding the area around the Imperial Study. Su Chen and Xu Xiaohan managed to run all the way back to the Library Pavilion without being discovered.
Digging the pit, burying the bodies—it was all done in one smooth motion.
After tossing the five corpses into the pit, Su Chen buried them with practiced ease.
"Master Su…"
Xu Xiaohan swallowed hard. Watching Su Chen's practiced movements, and seeing the bones faintly visible in the medicinal garden, he couldn't help but shiver.
'Who would have thought that the unassuming Master Su was such a ruthless killer.'
'No wonder the seeds of rare flowers and exotic herbs from all over the world can all be planted and survive in this garden. So it turns out the fertilizer here is just that good.'
"Master Su, I won't tell anyone."
"Please don't kill me to silence me!"
Xu Xiaohan's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground in terror.
"Why would I kill you to silence you?"
Su Chen looked at Xu Xiaohan as if he were an idiot.
After a long moment, seeing that Master Su was still his usual self, Xu Xiaohan breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't resist asking.
"Master Su, when did you reach the Second Grade?"
"Second Grade?"
"I'm only at the Fourth Grade."
"I understand! Master Su, you're at the Fourth Grade."
Xu Xiaohan nodded repeatedly, his expression knowing, as if to say he understood Master Su's real meaning.
Su Chen was left speechless.
'But I really am only at the Fourth Grade!'
'A Second Grade could instantly kill five Third Grades. So was it really that much of a stretch for him, a slightly stronger-than-average Fourth Grade, to take down five Vice Chief Stewards?' Su Chen felt it wasn't a stretch at all.
And so, Xu Xiaohan spent a terrifying night in the Library Pavilion.
Su Chen, on the other hand, was perfectly calm.
「The next day.」
The Imperial Palace was in an uproar.
The five Vice Chief Stewards had vanished without a trace—no sign of them alive, no corpses to be found. Even a complete fool would know something must have happened the previous night.
"Investigate!"
"Investigate everything, thoroughly!"
Emperor Jianwu was furious.
The Forbidden Guard of the Imperial Palace, along with the Hidden Guard, were dispatched to search every corner of the palace, but they found absolutely nothing.
Within the palace, a rumor even began to spread.
It claimed that a First-Grade Expert from the Xuanyang Sect had conducted a night raid to threaten Emperor Jianwu. Next time, it wouldn't be five Vice Chief Stewards getting killed, but Emperor Jianwu himself.
At first, Emperor Jianwu didn't believe it.
But he had no choice but to.
Because the investigation had truly found no trace of the five Vice Chief Stewards anywhere in the Imperial Palace.
No one suspected Su Chen's Library Pavilion.
After all, who could have imagined that a nineteen-year-old, the sixth Red Robe Chief Steward who supposedly couldn't cultivate, would so brazenly defy imperial authority, kill five Vice Chief Stewards on a whim, and actually possess the power to eliminate five Third-Grade experts?
"Xuanyang Sect!"
"You dare threaten Us!"
"Since it has come to this, We shall let you see the true foundation of Our Great Liang…"
Emperor Jianwu had truly believed the rumor. Late that night, he entered the Tianwu Tower, his once-wavering heart instantly resolving to go to war. The very next day in the imperial court, he set the date for the army's deployment.
Meanwhile, the true culprit behind it all, Su Chen, was calmly sipping tea in the Library Pavilion, acting as if the disappearance of the five Vice Chief Stewards had absolutely nothing to do with him.
"Master Su, after my godfather disappeared, his confidant, the Vice Chief Steward left in charge of the Martial Arts Bureau, betrayed us."
"The loyalty of the Eastern Depot branches outside the capital is also wavering."
"Faced with recruitment offers from various factions, several of my fellow godsons who hold Steward positions in the Eastern Depot are also wavering. I went to investigate that night because I'd heard some whispers…"
"People are even preparing to get their hands on the businesses selling Perfume and soap…"
"The Eastern Depot outside, the Martial Arts Bureau inside, and the businesses that serve as our purse—this is all the foundation my godfather built. Master Su, since you possess such strength and were my godfather's sworn brother, why don't you step forward and take control of it all…"
Xu Xiaohan urged.
Zhang Gui's faction had seemed to be at its zenith, but it was all propped up by its pillar, Zhang Gui himself. With his whereabouts unknown, the vast foundation he had built was already showing signs of crumbling.
It had been less than half a month, yet loyalty was already so unstable. It was clear that Emperor Jianwu had a hand in it.
Zhang Gui was a blade in his hand.
But he was also a pig being fattened for slaughter!
Clearly, Emperor Jianwu also believed Zhang Gui had likely fallen at the hands of the Xuanyang Sect. He was now eager to take over everything Zhang Gui had possessed: his immense wealth, the foundation of the Eastern Depot, and the many Cultivators who had pledged their loyalty to him.
It was even possible that he had a hand in Zhang Gui's demise.
He was the New Emperor. The relatives on his mother's side had long ago been slaughtered by the previous Nine Thousand Years, the Purple Robe, leaving him without a power base of his own.
In Great Liang, a First Grade was powerful enough to be on equal footing with the Emperor.
If Zhang Gui truly became a First-Grade expert, with immense power and countless loyal godsons at his command, Emperor Jianwu feared he would be reduced to a mere Puppet Emperor.
"You've served me for three years. How could you not understand my desire to stay away from conflict?"
"And yet you still try to persuade me with all this."
"You want a piece of Zhang Gui's legacy for yourself, and you want me to be the one to prop you up?"
Su Chen sipped his tea, seeing right through Xu Xiaohan's intentions with a single sentence.
In an instant, his intentions laid bare, Xu Xiaohan felt as if he had been plunged into an icy cavern. He fell to his knees in terror, pressing his forehead to the ground and trembling uncontrollably.
"Master Su, I was wrong! I shouldn't have coveted things I have no right to…"
Within Zhang Gui's faction, Xu Xiaohan had spent years serving at Su Chen's side. He was called Zhang Gui's godson, but it was more like he was Su Chen's. He was constantly pushed aside by Zhang Gui's core group of favored sons, relegated to the status of a marginal figure.
The position of Blue-robed Steward was the highest he could hope to achieve.
If Xu Xiaohan had no ambition, he never would have curried favor with Zhang Gui to become one of his first godsons.
After learning of Master Su's true power that night, the flames of ambition in Xu Xiaohan's heart had begun to burn fiercely. He had spent several nights tossing and turning, unable to sleep. 'We're all godsons, so why can't I get a piece of the pie!'
After a long moment, his eyes filled with determination, and he kowtowed heavily.
"Please, Master Su, support me!"
He dropped the pretense!
'For three years, he, Xu Xiaohan, had been meek and subservient before the other godsons. Today, riding on the coattails of Master Su's power, he would finally rise above them all!'
"Why?"
"Is power so appealing?"
Su Chen sipped his tea, his expression impassive as he asked calmly.
"Master Su!"
"Master Su! I started as a beggar, always trampled underfoot. My life was as worthless as a blade of grass; no one would have cared if I died! But after entering the palace, following my godfather, and meeting you, Master Su, I finally learned what power is! What glory is!"
"I am rootless now, and have no family! I want to become a Vice Chief Steward, then a Chief Steward, to hold authority in my hands! To wield power! I want it so that no one will ever dare to look down on me, Xu Xiaohan, again!"
Saying this, Xu Xiaohan kowtowed heavily once more.
"Please, Master Su, support me!"
In a daze, looking at the wild ambition in Xu Xiaohan's eyes, Su Chen was reminded of Zhang Gui when they first met. He had worn the very same expression.
Xu Xiaohan was not a child anymore.
He knew what he wanted.
With a flick of his finger,
Su Chen sent a stream of Longevity True Qi from his body into Xu Xiaohan's.
"Tonight, you will break through to the Third Grade. You are certain to succeed!"
"The day after,"
"Go and see Emperor Jianwu and declare your loyalty. He needs to make an example to attract talent, and you are the perfect candidate…"
Tears streamed down Xu Xiaohan's face as he kowtowed heavily.
"Thank you, Master Su!"
He had even been prepared to be cast out, to never be favored by Master Su again. He never imagined that Master Su would actually help someone as insignificant as him.
His aptitude was only average; attempting to break through to the Third Grade would have been certain death for him.
And there was no miraculous method in this world that could guarantee a person's success in reaching the Third Grade.
But he believed in Master Su.
That very night, he began his attempt to break through to the Third Grade.
This caused a huge stir within the Martial Arts Bureau and among the other Eunuch Stewards.
"Xu Xiaohan? Heh, everyone knows his talent is average. He only reached the Peak of Fourth Grade at his age by relying on pills, completely exhausting his potential. And he still dares to attempt Gang Condensation from the Violent Qi Realm…"
"Tsk, he truly is arrogant and doesn't know his own limits. He's just asking to die!"
"Well, this is good. Another Blue-robed Steward position will open up. I bet he dies from shattered heart meridians when he tries to force his way to Third-Grade Gang Condensation."
Countless mocking and scornful gazes fell upon Xu Xiaohan.
But Xu Xiaohan entered seclusion regardless.
「The next day.」
Xu Xiaohan successfully emerged from seclusion and went straight to the Imperial Study. After prostrating himself three times, he had a long, personal talk with Emperor Jianwu.
And then, Emperor Jianwu personally appointed Xu Xiaohan, now at Third-Grade Gang Condensation, to the position of Vice Chief Steward of the Martial Arts Bureau, granting him the authority to act as Chief Steward and oversee all the Cultivating Eunuchs and Blue-robed Stewards within it!
From the Red Robe Chief Stewards down to the common eunuchs, the entire Imperial Palace was in an uproar, utterly aghast.
"That Xu Xiaohan, with his mediocre talent, didn't die from his Gang Qi going berserk and shattering his meridians, but actually became a Third Grade? And as a Third Grade, he's the acting head of the thousand-plus Cultivating Eunuchs in the Martial Arts Bureau? The last person with that kind of power was Zhang Gui…"
"What kind of dumb luck is that!"
"He gambled on breaking through to the Third Grade with his mediocre talent, a one-in-a-thousand chance, and he actually won."
Countless jealous gazes seemed ready to devour Xu Xiaohan.
「In the Library Pavilion.」
Su Chen's sixty-eighth strand of Longevity True Qi had finally, after a day and a night, finished regenerating.
Over these past few years, he had been consciously reducing his use of Longevity True Qi.
Before him, Xu Xiaohan, dressed in the inner blue-and-red robe of a Vice Chief Steward, stood respectfully at his side. Observing the etiquette of a son, he was weeping with gratitude as he prepared to brew tea for Su Chen.
"Master Su…"
Xu Xiaohan knew in his heart that if not for the technique Su Chen had used on him the previous night, he would have been torn to shreds by berserk Gang Qi. He never would have had the chance to tame his Gang Qi and stabilize his cultivation in the Third Grade Realm.
'Master Su had actually done it. He had single-handedly raised my cultivation to the Third Grade and secured me the position of Vice Chief Steward! The Vice Chief Steward of the Martial Arts Bureau, no less—a position second only to the Chief Steward of the Imperial Palace.'
'Last night, I was just a lowly Blue Robe. Today, I am the Imperial Palace's hottest new up-and-comer, Vice Chief Steward Xu.'
'And Su Chen had accomplished all of this with a mere flick of his wrist.'