Capítulo 63: Interested
*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*
"Senior Wang!"
Wang Yufei, who was leading the soft-faced Jiang, gracefully stopped his movements and looked up to see a woman running toward him.
She was tall and slim, with long black hair cascading down her shoulders to reveal her sparkling eyes that had the two men reflected within them. A lovely smile was written across her face and her eyelashes fluttered in the wind.
"Ah, Junior Chu, what are you doing in the outer circle?" Wang Yufei turned and said with a smile. He didn't really have a relationship with Chu Hua, but was still courteous enough to ask.
"I just had some unfinished business after moving to the inner circle! Anyways, who is this behind you?" Chu Hua turned her eyes to the pale-faced Jiang and asked with a lovely rise in her voice.
Wang Yufei's gaze flashed as he turned and looked behind him for confirmation, however, when he saw Jiang smiling happily while eyeing Chu Hua, he didn't delay any longer.
"This is Cousin Jiang, a good friend of mine. He has just joined the inner circle, like yourself." Wang Yufei said as he stepped aside and let Jiang come forward.
"Oh? Cousin Jiang, maybe we can be friends? I don't know too many people in the inner circle yet so I need an escort!" Chu Hua laughed and said with a friendly portrait.
"It's nice to meet you Junior Chu, but I think I'll be too busy to stroll around with such a pretty junior like you, haha," Jiang spoke freely and without care as he displayed the perfected image of a pretty boy.
"Aww, Cousin Jiang, I'd love to get to know you better..."
Chu Hua spoke as she came in close to Jiang and held one of his arms between her breasts as she bewitchingly gazed up at his sparkling orange eyes. Seeing this, Wang Yufei frowned heavily and seemed to want to say something but choked on his words.
He didn't know his junior sister was such a seductress. And a mighty good one at that. It left a sour taste in Wang Yufei's mouth as he watched her shamelessly prowl around, and his impression of Chu Hua couldn't help but lessen as he frowned.
"I'm really sorry, Junior Chu, but I'm not interested."
Jiang spoke as he pulled his arm away from Chu Hua with his unchanged gaze: interested. He lightly smiled as he walked onwards and past Wang Yufei who was standing there and frowning at Chu Hua.
A surprised expression came across her face as she witnessed him deny her, however, a warm smile came across her beautiful face the next second. She made eye contact with the stone-faced Wang Yufei and met his harsh gaze before he turned.
And even after the two men had walked away amidst the admiring gazes of many girls and the envious gazes of many men, Chu Hua seemed to be still as she stared after them.
'Jiang...what an interesting man.'
...
Wang Yufei led Jiang through the inner circle before they arrived at his new residence. It was a humble building that was only worth the bottom rungs of the inner circle, but Jiang didn't mind at all.
They both entered the residence and away from prying eyes before Jiang turned to Wang Yufei.
"So, Cousin Wang, tell me everything you know about the Freedom Alliance."
Wang Yufei nodded calmly before speaking.
"Well, the Freedom Alliance has thousands of years of history and is one of the oldest powers within the city, being established by His Excellency Zheng Li and his brother over two thousand years ago.
They said that the brother of Zheng Li, Zheng Kang, was obsessed with the sky beyond the rocks and the suns and moons that he could not see ever since he was a boy. Zheng Kang was the main reason the Freedom Alliance ever came into existence.
The two brothers were unstoppable as they crushed any other force beneath them with the lofty goal of reaching the heavens. Many people watched their rise and always thought that they could achieve it, and this city would be a stepping stone for their future achievements.
However, Zheng Kang fell in battle as they fought to become the overlord of the city. And even though his brother had died in the fighting and he was overcome by grief, His Excellency Zheng Li fought with everything he had and brought the Freedom Alliance to the top.
After that, the Freedom Alliance was the absolute overlord of the city for nearly two thousand years before the City Lord and the United Arms Alliance rose to power and dethroned them."
Jiang listened with his chin supported by his hand when he suddenly asked. "And didn't Zheng Li ever fight the City Lord? How could he just be dethroned like that?"
"They never fought openly as they would destroy the city, however, some people thought that they did fight but the City Lord completely overpowered Zheng Li. After that, he fell into the background and let the City Lord take complete control, otherwise..."
"Otherwise?" Jiang asked keenly.
Wang Yufei had a serious gaze as he spoke. "Otherwise he would've been killed by the City Lord."
Jiang seemed surprised. After all, he didn't venture out into the City Lord's territory that much and only ever stayed in his King's city. Besides, he wasn't that old. Other captains like Zheng were countless years older than he was.
And that was one of the reasons why he thought they didn't like him much. That, and the King was his foster father.
"Is the City Lord so strong? They are both in the same realm, so it shouldn't be so hopeless, right? Not to mention that Zheng Li has been the overlord for thousands of years before the City Lord emerged."
Wang Yufei seemed mysterious as he spoke. "Well, nobody knows much about the City Lord other than he is a monstrous genius with even more monstrous battle power. Apparently, he bested Zheng Li with weaker cultivation."
Jiang had a serious expression as he thought. Was the City Lord so terrifying? After all, Jiang's King's goal was to dethrone the City Lord and kill him, taking his territory for himself. But, if the City Lord was such a monster, could it still be done?
'Ah, now I understand why the King is attacking the other Stage 6 powers, he wants to enslave them and use them to fight the City Lord... But still, even the King needs to do so much to fight one person?' Jiang thought with understanding. Out of the captains, he was the one who probably knew the least.
He was still a little disbelieving that the City Lord was so strong, but he didn't doubt his King's orders. After all, time had passed and now the City Lord had even stronger cultivation than Zheng Li, which meant that it would just be a slaughter if the two fought.
"Enough about this, tell me about the battle power of the Freedom Alliance," Jiang said.
"Yes. You know already that the Alliance is split into three circles, the outer, inner and core. The outer circle has disciples that are Stages 1 and 2 as well as outer elders that never managed to become inner circle disciples before the age limit. The inner circle has inner disciples, like you, and inner elders. The core circle is home to the Stage 5 elders and the protectors of the Alliance as well as their disciples, otherwise called core disciples, like me."
"I don't need to know that, just how many Stage 3, 4 and 5 combatants there are." Jiang seemed to bore of the lecture and his brows creased.
"Ahem, well I don't know the exact numbers but I can make a guess?" Wang Yufei seemed e, embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head and asked sheepishly.
"Well, who knows the exact numbers?" Jiang walked over and sat down exasperatedly.
"Only trusted elders and Zheng Li know that. After all, if anybody wanted to attack..." Wang Yufei's voice trailed off as he suddenly looked at Jiang with surprise. He seemed to choke on his words and gulp as he looked at the annoyed expression of the young-looking Jiang.
"You...you..." Wang Yufei stumbled.
"Shut up and answer me. If I wanted to become a trusted elder, how do I do that?" Jiang said the words slowly and with a warning to Wang Yufei. Seeing that, Wang Yufei gulped before the golden brands across his body suddenly started to brightly shine and burn his skin with steaming noises.
Seeing his slave rebelling, Jiang snorted as he waited for the formation to do its job and force the answer out of Wang Yufei's mouth.
The veins on Wang Yufei's neck bulged as his creamy skin started to turn purple as if he wasn't breathing. Eventually, he spluttered and started heaving, the brands fading away and stopping the burning of his skin.
He opened his mouth to speak and one could see the blood covering the inside of his mouth.
"You...you can't." Wang Yufei said with difficulty. His handsome face had already malformed into something unpleasant from the strain.
"What do you mean I can't?" Jiang narrowed his eyes cruelly as he started at the pathetic visage of Wang Yufei and asked.
"Only the core disciples that show extreme loyalty can become elders. The rest only become protectors." Wang Yufei said with a sneer as he seemed to foil Jiang's plans. As soon as he found out that Jiang was going to attack his Freedom Alliance, he immediately became hostile.
"Core disciples..." Jiang thought for merely a second before he smiled widely and his eyes turned to crescent moons. "Core disciples like you?"
Hearing Jiang's words, Wang Yufei's face seemed to pale as a shocked look came into his eyes. He didn't know what to say, but in the end, he could only lower his head and mutter.
"Yes..."
"Perfect! Then I'll just wait for you to become Stage 5 and that will be it!" Jiang seemed very pleased as his task didn't seem so hard anymore. All he had to do was wait until his slave became an elder, and then all the information would be known to him!
"Can the elders also have the key to the formations across the Alliance?" Jiang asked. Other than information, he also needed to acquire inside control so the army of his King wouldn't be slaughtered by a single killing formation as soon as they entered.
"Elders can act as they please, they are the envoys of Zheng Li himself and are carefully chosen." Wang Yufei replied weakly. He seemed to have lost all colour on his face as he realised he was going to be the weapon that destroyed his Freedom Alliance.
But alas, he was a slave and there was nothing he could do.
"Brilliant! Wang Yufei, I want you to cultivate wholeheartedly from now on! You must become an elder as soon as possible, hopefully within thirty years!" Jiang seemed so happy he could be bouncing.
Wang Yufei was non-responsive and only stood there weakly.
"Oh, one more thing, who is that junior sister of yours? She has piqued my interest." Jiang stopped Wang Yufei who was about to leave.
"She is called Chu Hua and she recently joined the Freedom Alliance, a little under three weeks ago. She is my junior sister and we are both the disciples of Elder Lan Pi Xing. had heard she was a bit of a mischief-maker, but it seems she is also an improper woman. It's best if you don't give women like that the freedom to play with you, Cousin Jiang." Wang Yufei said carefully before leaving Jiang's residence and going to cultivate in his master's pavilion.
Jiang was left alone with his thoughts after Wang Yufei had walked out.
'Chu Hua, huh? How did she become a core disciple if she had only entered the Alliance a little while ago? As I thought, there is more to her than meets the eye. I must find out, besides I need someone to play with, right?'
Jiang laughed as he convinced himself to go and find Chu Hua. He wasn't concerned about cultivation resources or pills like other newly joined disciples and he only sought entertainment.
And so, after resting the night and waiting for morning, Jiang put on his new robes of an inner disciple and left to find Chu Hua.
Even though Jiang knew it would take somewhere near thirty years for Wang Yufei to reach Stage 5 with his talent, he was not annoyed in the slightest. In truth, he was prepared to spend decades in the Freedom Alliance before attacking. After all, he was told that one of the captains had infiltrated the Qing Family of the Temple hundreds of years before he was born.
The plan that Jiang's King had was only in its first phase and yet it had been ongoing for many years. And it was all for taking control of the city that the City Lord controlled. The next pawn in the plan was none other than the illustrious former overlord, Zheng Li.
"Oh my goodness! Look over there! How handsome is he?!"
"Kyaaa! I want to marry him!"
"I wonder what his name is, junior sister, go up and ask!"
As he was thinking, Jiang was oblivious to the dozens of young females that eyed him lustfully. They followed him like hungry dogs and before long a large crowd was formed behind Jiang without him even knowing!
Jiang would've carried on walking if not for a large-bodied male with relatively handsome features, yet a cruel gaze, who stood before him and cast a large shadow. Jiang looked up and saw a cruel smile directing his way, making him lightly laugh.
"Oi, you! What do you think you're doing, trying to steal others' dao companions like that?!" The large man sounded wronged and Jiang could clearly see that he had higher Stage 3 cultivation, which was greater than his cultivation which had been suppressed to a mere lower Stage 3.
"Look, look! The pretty boy is going to fight with Senior Tang!"
"He's definitely screwed, after all, Senior Tang has the cultivation of two minor realms above him!"
"For sure, he's going to be humiliated here."
Jiang merely snorted and attempted to walk past the large man, however, there was a daring glint in his eyes.
And as he expected, a large hand was placed on his chest and aimed to push him back. However, with a quick jerk of speed, Jiang gripped the large man's wrist and crushed it to the width of a pencil!
"Aaaaaaaa!!"
The miserable cry of the man who came to start trouble echoed all around the inner circle before he knelt on the ground before Jiang with horror-filled eyes.
What was going on?! This pretty boy clearly had lower Stage 3 cultivation, right?!
The inner thoughts of the man were in turmoil and he was about to open his mouth to speak, however, a palm hit him straight on the forehead and jerked his neck back, sending him unconscious.
Seeing the large man knocked out mere moments after he had laid a hand on Jiang, the crowd were stupefied before they were in an uproar!
"What, did you see that?"
"Yes, I saw! He defeated Senior Tang in less than a second!"
"Waaaa! He's so strong and so handsome!"
Jiang ignored the crowd, after all, they were just a bunch of weaklings that didn't deserve his attention. He was going to continue walking before another man jumped out of the sea of people and stood before him with a ferocious expression.
"Oi! Don't think you're getting out of here unscathed, boy." The man was similarly large and had a gruff appearance as he stared daggers at Jiang who was unmoving.
"That's Senior Go, Senior Tang's sworn brother! I heard he just advanced to Stage 4!"
"Oh? If that's the case, that pretty boy is definitely going to fall."
"Yeah, before he caught Senior Tang by surprise, and even though he is two minor realms weaker, he managed to defeat Senior Tang. But now that the difference is an entire major realm, and Senior Go is ready, there's no way he can win."
People observed the fight with eager eyes that lusted for entertainment. They all thought that Jiang, the pretty boy, would definitely break a few limbs.
And just as Jiang smiled maliciously, and the crowd was eager for things to start, a voice suddenly shouted.
"Stop!"
The voice was lovely to hear and very feminine, making people's hearts flutter when they heard it. Looking over, they saw a pale-faced, black-haired female walking over with swaying hips and a troubled face.
"Look, it's Fairy Chu!"
"Fairy Chu is here, she will definitely scold that pretty boy for starting fights with Senior Tang and Senior Go!"
"Yes, I heard she is on very good terms with both of them!"
However, what no one expected was Chu Hua walked right past Senior Go and stood before the pretty boy.
"Cousin Jiang, are you alright? It looks like you're already in trouble only after a day." Chu Hua smiled beautifully as she sounded concerned as she spoke to Jiang.
"These pathetic people can't trouble me, Junior Chu. You don't have to worry about me." Jiang replied with a wide grin.
"What? Why is Fairy Chu speaking to him like that?"
"Did he call her Junior Chu?! The audacity!"
"Argh! It just makes me want to fight him!"
Chu Hua frowned as she heard the mutterings of the crowd, so she turned around and spoke with a booming voice.
"Everyone! Cousin Jiang is a good friend of my senior, Wang Yufei! Anybody starting trouble with him is starting trouble with my master, Pi Xing's, pagoda!"
Her words shocked the crowd and even Senior Go who was prepared to fight Jiang backed away with a lowered head.
Jiang turned to Chu Hua as he spoke with gratitude. "Thank you, Junior Chu."
"Actually, I was just looking for you."
"Oh? What for?"
"Well, I was just bored so I was hoping to accompany you, hehe."
*3,078/3,000 words*
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