"No?" Sun Zhang was sent into a daze for a moment by the answer, he seemed like he had taken a great blow from Marshal Haotian.
Originally, he had thought by virtue of his identity and by personally coming here to the Marshal Mansion to receive Huang Xiaolong as his disciple, Marshal Haotian would agree happily, but he was actually refused.
Sun Zhang's face darkened slightly with unhappiness.
Marshal Haotian saw Sun Zhang's expression and he thought for a moment before replying, "Sun Zhang, this matter, I truly can't make the decision!"
"You can't decide?" Sun Zhang was stunned, "That Huang Xiaolong, isn't he your illegitimate child?"
Illegitimate child? Instantly, beads of sweat and black lines appeared on Marshal Haotian's forehead; this old thing actually thought the Sovereign was his…?!
Marshal Haotian's face was solemn and somber as he said, "Sun Zhang, not to mention me, not even my Master can decide!"
"Your... your Master? Senior Yu Ming, can't decide!" Shock was obvious on his face; Yu Ming was a Tenth Order Xiantian expert! But, Yu Ming can't make such a small decision for Huang Xiaolong?!
Then, what was Huang Xiaolong's real identity?
Marshal Haotian nodded seriously at Sun Zhang.
The truth was, there was something that he didn't say to Sun Zhang and that was even his own Shizu was not qualified to take Huang Xiaolong as a disciple.
Marshal Haotian's Shizu!
Saying it out loud would be too shocking; thus, Marshal Haotian kept it to himself and didn't say it to Sun Zhang.
Although they were good friends, Marshal Haotian had never spoken about his connection with Asura's Gate, so Sun Zhang didn't know he was an Asura's Gate disciple.
Not long later, Sun Zhang walked out from the Marshal Mansion disappointed. He looked up to the blue sky with floating groups of white clouds and the blaring sunlight.
"Didn't expect that little guy's identity to be so not simple." Sun Zhang muttered to himself. "Could he be that Duanren Empire's Prince?" Then, he shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Leaving the Marshal Mansion, Sun Zhang headed straight back to the Academy.
Night arrived.
The day's heat slowly dissipated as night fell and a cool breeze blew in the night.
Huang Xiaolong was sitting cross-legged on the cold jade bed in the master bedroom of the Tianxuan Mansion. Battle qi was circulating in his meridians; however, he wasn't practicing. These past couple of days, a thought stuck in his mind; since his twin dragon martial spirits could fuse to become one and they could separate to become two independent entities, then maybe he could summon them out individually.
And now how was experimenting how to accomplish an individual summoning.
If he could control and summon only one of his martial spirits out, then he wouldn't need to worry about his twin martial spirits being discovered by others. Under normal circumstances or during battle, he would release just the black dragon.
But despite two days' worth of effort, every time Huang Xiaolong summoned his martial spirits, both the black and blue dragon would appear. This was akin to the left and right hand writing different characters at the same time, an impossible act.
Because humans can't focus on two things at the same time.
Huang Xiaolong's attempts failed again and again, but Huang Xiaolong didn't feel discouraged and continued to try after each failure.
The night passed as dawn arrived bringing light. Although he didn't succeed, he found that his control over his twin dragon martial spirits had become more refined.
Previously, he needed at least three breaths to summon his martial spirits, but now he could do it within two breaths' of time.
Coming out from his room into the yard, Huang Xiaolong stretched his limbs a little then heard a loud bellowing voice coming from the backyard. Curious, he strolled towards the backyard to have a look. In the backyard Fei Hou and the newly bought slaves were practicing the Luohan Fist: the fist fighting style he taught Fei Hou and asked, Fei Hou to teach it to the slaves.
Observing the slaves, Huang Xiaolong nodded in satisfaction. In just a few days' time, these slaves had already familiarized themselves with the moves, showing their battle skills and battle qi comprehension were quite good. It was the requirement he had given Fei Hou-- the people he wanted must fulfill two things: number one was loyalty, and second, possessing a certain level of comprehension in battle qi and battle skills.
"Young Master!" Seeing Huang Xiaolong strolling over, Fei Hou quickly went up in greeting.
Huang Xiaolong nodded. Then he pointed at Beastman Boli who was practicing Luohan Fist in the square, saying to Fei Hou, "You guide Boli more so he can guide the other leaving you time for your own practice."
"Yes, Young Master!" Fei Hou replied respectfully.
'Let's go. Accompany me for a stroll outside." Huang Xiaolong said to Fei Hou. He had been in the Luo Tong Kingdom's Royal city for some days and had yet to take a good look around. Thus, Huang Xiaolong decided to go out.
Also, he would be going to the Silvermoon Forest two days later and would stay inside for five months. So, he wanted to buy a few things and visit Li Lu as well as the Li Family's silk shop. He had grown taller since he left Huang Clan Manor, reaching one hundred and fifty centimeters tall, so he might as well have a few sets of new clothes made there.
Huang Xiaolong, Fei Hou, and the four Marshal Mansion guards stepped out of Tianxuan Mansion and walked along the streets.
The morning was bright, and the air fresh. Huang Xiaolong was in a good mood as he walked along the street as it got busier with the common folks, and the shops were also opening for business for the day.
The truth was, living an ordinary life is also a kind of happiness.
Going through several streets, the six of them finally arrived at the Li Family's silk store shop.
Because it hadn't been a week since the Academy lessons had started, so Li Cheng who accompanied Li Lu over to the Royal City hadn't gone back to Canglan County. When he saw that Huang Xiaolong's group of people came, he quickly came out from the inner hall to meet them.
"Xiaolong, Senior Fei Hou!" Li Cheng greeted full of smiles.
Huang Xiaolong nodded and called Li Cheng 'Uncle' as he entered the shop with Fei Hou and the others.
Li Cheng invited them into the inner big hall, quickly ordering the servants to serve tea. This time in the presence of Huang Xiaolong, Li Cheng's actions were a little stiff, and when he sat down, his hands were trembling not knowing what to do with them.
Seeing this, Huang Xiaolong guessed that Li Cheng already knew about what happened during the new students' assessment-- that he nearly turned Jiang Teng into a waste. Li Cheng probably also heard the rumors that he had some indeterminable connection with Marshal Haotian.
It was already spread to the whole Royal City, he being connected to Marshal Haotian was no longer a secret.
As for what kind of connection it was, the public continued to speculate and many different versions came out.
"Uncle, I came to order a few sets of clothes." After sitting down, Huang Xiaolong explained his purpose.
"Make a few set of clothes?" Li Cheng blanked for a moment then quickly stood up. He personally went to the measurements tool to record down Huang Xiaolong's measurements. Huang Xiaolong laughed, asking him to let the servants do it. However, Li Cheng insisted on doing it himself which left Huang Xiaolong feeling embarrassed and awkward.
As he watched Li Cheng taking his measurements, Huang Xiaolong couldn't help but think of his parents in Huang Clan Manor, Huang Peng and Su Yan. If they knew he was in the Royal City, and Li Cheng was taking his measurements personally, what would they think?
It was done quickly, and they both sat down. After he thought about something for a moment, he said to Li Cheng, "Uncle, my mom and dad don't know that I'm here in the Royal City. For the time being, I would like to keep this from them in case they worry too much. When you return, please don't mention this to my parents."
Understanding the underlying meaning of Huang Xiaolong's words, Li Cheng reassured him with haste, "Xiaolong, don't worry. I won't say any of these things when I return."
Huang Xiaolong nodded his head. Otherwise, when he returned at the end of the year, both of them definitely would pester him with many questions about this.
At this time at the storefront, there was a sudden commotion and angry shouting voices.
Huang Xiaolong frowned at the loud noises-- he could tell that someone was trying to make trouble outside. Also, Li Cheng's expression wasn't nice when he heard the angry, scolding voices from the store front.
These past few days, there was someone who intentionally came to make trouble, even aggressively assaulting and injuring the shop workers. He didn't expect that they would show up again today.
Note:
Shizhu- lit. Master Ancestor; higher than Grandmaster.
Yu Ming is Haotian (a Second Order Xiantian) and Fei Hou's Master.