**Originally translated by Incarneous, with edits
Elder Cui quickly recovered his kindly manner and laughed while shaking his head, “This old man was simply praising a disciple of the younger generation. How can that be wrong?”
He gave Yan Zhaoge a look-over, “However, even though you have a considerable background, you should remember your standing as a member of the junior generation. Just based on your rampant speech just now, this old man can discern that you have no respect for your seniors. Even Elder Yan will not be able to deny your crime of rampant rebelliousness and lack of virtue. Young man, regardless of whether this Internal Crystal Furnace is real or fake, whether or not you are the one who discovered it, regardless of your contributions, you must speak cautiously and proceed prudently. Act with more modesty; that is the proper path.”
Even though Elder Cui maintained a kindly smile, his atmosphere had already become imposingly cold. All the younger disciples present were fearful to the extent of not daring to breath loudly. They could only watch Elder Cui while trembling in fear.
The entire situation had already developed beyond their wildest imagination.
In contrast, Yan Zhao put forth a smile that was much more peaceful and auspicious in comparison, “You, my senior? The clan does indeed place weight on seniority and ranking. I am also someone who venerates the elderly and respects the worthy.”
“It’s just that, even without my father, it is a simple matter for me to not treat certain people as my senior if I so desire.”
“Indeed, I cannot find any fault with your part in today’s matter. However, with regard to past matters, I’m sure you understand. Before today, have you kept your ass clean?”
“I venerate the elderly and respect the worthy on the premise that other person is worthy of respect regardless of age.”
Elder Cui glared fiercely at Yan Zhaoge, “You…”
Yan Zhaoge gave him a sideways look, “I what?”
Elder Cui was rendered speechless. It was only at this point that he understood that the youth in front of him was even more domineering than he expected. Unfortunately, the youth happened to be even pettier than expected as well.
At this moment, he even wanted to fall out with Yan Zhaoge and give him a lesson to remember, just that he realised he didn’t have any way of creating difficulty for him.
He wanted to attack directly, but Ah Hu stood by the side smiling malevolently at him, exposing a set of white teeth. His body stiffened immediately on instinct. He could not retreat, nor could he advance.
Yan Zhaoge spoke tranquilly, “Did you believe you could use a foolish child as a tool? In truth, you yourself are nothing more than a spear in someone’s hand.
“If you had successful entrapped me, the ones standing behind you would protect you at any cost, because they want to buy horse bones with a thousand taels of gold.* Now that you have failed, once my backing moves against you, do you think your backing will still protect you? How much effort do you think they’ll put into protecting you?”
Having said his piece, Yan Zhaoge turned around, completely ignoring the old man, Elder Cui. He glanced at Ye Jing, Sikong Qing and them, before proceeding to leave the Assignment Hall. “Bring your artifacts along; we’re setting off. Our destination is the Sealing Dragon Abyss.”
Ah Hu carried the Internal Crystal Furnace and followed closely behind. He sent a voice transmission, “Young Master, is this killing a chicken to warn the monkeys? It’s just this time, the chicken is a little big and your monkeys are a little small.”
“You don’t understand,” Yan Zhaoge shook his head, turning to look at Ye Jing who had followed him out. The boy was no longer that angry. Instead he looked pensive.
Yan Zhaoge’s mood was peaceful. Even though he had to bear the mistakes of this body’s current owner, the current him still had no grievance with Ye Jing. As such, he would not take the initiative to suppress him.
If the wide road was broad enough for both of them to walk on simultaneously, living in harmony would still be best.
“However, if you decide to oppose me, I will not avoid confrontation either. We can properly pit our strengths against each other and see just who is superior: you, the native ordained son of Heaven, or me, the transmigrant who crossed over. I look easy upon life and death; if you remain unconvinced, we can just fight. I won’t care who you are or what you want.”
Ye Jing gazed towards Yan Zhaoge’s back with his eyes brimming with complicated feelings.
Sikong Qing watched Yan Zhaoge. Her eyes were clear and cold as always, but they now held an additional bit of curiosity.
Everyone else looked at Yan Zhaoge, completely convinced of his ability.
If the Internal Crystal Furnace had allowed them to touch upon Yan Zhaoge’s ability, his direct confrontation with Elder Cui allowed them to understand the true meaning of being domineering.
Elder Cui was a higher-up that would normally cause the younger disciples to be afraid of breathing too loudly. Yet, Yan Zhaoge actually dared to face this person directly; moreover, he had achieved the upper hand with every step, completely dominating the exchange.
Compared to the artifacts from before, the issue with Elder Cui allowed them to truly understand that they could not be considered to be on the same level as Yan Zhaoge.
Yan Zhaoge no longer paid attention to the younger disciples. He forged ahead at his own pace, while Ah Hu followed him closely. Now, Yan Zhaoge looked over at him out of the corner of his eyes.
Ah Hu made a face and let out a silly laughter. Using his inner qi to control sound, he secretly sent Yan Zhaoge a sound transmission, “Young Master, this time, it was my slip up. I really didn’t think that Ye Jing would improve a whole stage in such a short time and successfully establish the qi ocean within his dantian.”
Yan Zhaoge rolled his eyes. This matter, was not a bit outside of his expectations.
The ordained son of Heaven and his Main Character aura; well, it just loved to amaze the world with a single act, bringing enlightenment to the dog eyes of those who underestimated him and beating black and blue the dog faces of who that stood against him.
This type of thing, Yan Zhaoge also enjoyed. Obviously on the premise that he himself was the one doing the beating and not the one whose face was being beaten.
“Instruct my subordinates to investigate and report back quickly,” Yan Zhaoge also sent back a sound transmission, “That old man Cui tried to provoke a grudge between me and Ye Jing. It shouldn’t be just that simple.”
“Even in the worse case scenario, even if I truly moved to kill Ye Jing and left behind evidence directly indicating my guilt before being convicted of acting against clan members, so long as my father still lives, I would still be able to make a comeback.
“Moreover, if I truly decided to act, it wouldn’t be that easy to catch my trail.”
“This would not really help in the competition between second apprentice-uncle and my father, so there must be another reason. Investigate this Ye Jing’s interpersonal relationships. Investigate it carefully, especially his relationships within the clan.”
Ah Hu’s expression had become serious without its usual ingratiating smile, “As you command, Young Master.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded and continued forwards. After walking a while, he suddenly stopped, “Tsk, I almost forgot the main issue. Ah Hu, I need you to make a return trip to the Assignment Hall.”
Ah Hu rubbed his fists and wiped his palms, “If young master feels that he has not vented enough, allow me to act. I will return immediately and beat that rotten old man into the ground.”
Yan Zhaoge waved his hands, “It’s not that. It’s just that I forgot to pick up the details of the clan’s mission regarding the investigating of abnormalities within the Sealing Dragon Abyss. You go back and pick it up.”
Ah Hu, “…”
At a later time, Elder Cui Xin of the assignment hall was relieved of his post due to his accepting of bribes and suppressing of junior disciples. He was further subject to the interrogation of the punishment hall.
In a certain darkness-filled secret chamber within Broad Creed Mountain.
“The rumor was true. The Internal Crystal Furnace possesses such a miraculous ability.”
“Quickly spread this news.
“The current Internal Crystal Furnace is still imperfect. It can only forge low-grade artifacts. Its value, while significant, is still limited. Shouldn’t we wait until there’s more progress before acting? We can avoid exposing ourselves and provoking the attention of Broad Creed Mountain that way.”
“We will remain hidden. However, this is important news that needs to be reported immediately. As for any follow-up actions, we’ll just wait for instructions from the other side.”
“Okay.”
In another place.
“The Internal Crystal Furnace research has already been transferred to the higher-ups of the clan. However, the foundation was built up by that child, Yan Zhaoge.”
“If we had the foundation, we could also attempt to derive the rest.”
“This time, he is leaving for the Sealing Dragon Abyss. He does have bodyguards, but their strength is limited. It will be a good chance for us to send people to block and kill him.”
“Contact the remnants of the Crimson Spirit Flags. The Crimson Spirit Flags was destroyed in the hands of Yan Zhaoge’s father. The father’s debt can be paid by the son. If they move, it will not cause any suspicion. However, ensure that Yan Zhaoge does not actually die, at least not before we obtain everything associated with the Internal Crystal Furnace. We can hand him over to them afterwards.”
“As for news regarding the Internal Crystal Furnace, don’t let the people of the Crimson Spirit Flags know about it for now; just let them capture the target.”
A large rift valley within Eastern Tang Kingdom, one of the Heaven Domain’s five Regions. The East Heaven Region; this was the goal of Yan Zhaoge’s expedition, Sealing Dragon Abyss.
“Junior apprentice-brother Ye, weren’t you born in the Eastern Tang Kingdom?” a young disciple asked Ye Jing while the group was en-route.
Ye Jing nodded, feeling deeply moved, “Yes, I was.”
In the current era, the strongest clans, also known as Sacred Grounds, ruled the entire world. Each had their own impenetrable ancestral headquarters and large amounts of land under their direct governance. With this land as the centre, their influence expanded to the surrounding areas and thus the entire territory.
For example, Broad Creed Mountain itself directly controlled the heart of the five Regions, the Central Heaven Region, from which its influence to the entire Heaven Territory was spread.
Other than the Central Heaven Region, the other four Regions were occupied by various clans, dynasties and familial powers, each of which was influenced by Broad Creed Mountain. These smaller powers operated on their own, but each acknowledged Broad Creed Mountain as their supreme ruler.
The Eastern Tang Kingdom was one of East Heaven Region’s three largest powers. It also constituted the easternmost edge of Broad Creed Mountain’s territory.
In places like Eastern Tang Kingdom, there would be other smaller powers in the form of clans and familial powers.
Looking at the capital of the Eastern Tang Kingdom, Ye Jing’s thoughts drifted. He had been born in the Ye Family, which was only a small family from a small city within the Eastern Tang Kingdom. Through his efforts, the Ye Family was already the strongest power within that city. However, within the entire Eastern Tang Kingdom, it was still insignificant.
Having left the small city of his birth and gone to the Eastern Tang Kingdom capital, he had truly had an eye-opening experience.
As for after he left the Eastern Tang Kingdom and became a disciple of Broad Creed Mountain, that had been even more of an eye-opening experience for him; he was like a frog which had jumped out of its well and finally been able to see the true boundlessness of the skies.
While he still needed to look up to many of the Eastern Tang Kingdom’s stronger martial practitioners, his return to Eastern Tang this time could still be considered a triumphant return of the youth who left home.
“After entering the city, I will pay a visit to the King. I will also have to visit our clan’s Principal Elder who oversees the Eastern Tang Kingdom to retrieve intelligence on the Sealing Dragon Abyss’s condition in advance.”
Yan Zhaoge, who was walking at the very front of the group, now stopped his footsteps, as his gaze also fell on the Eastern Tang capital.
To everyone present, he said, “Go find a place to rest temporarily. You may do as you wish for the time being. However, we will gather in half an hour before heading out to the Sealing Dragon Abyss. Understood?”
The young disciples replied as a collective whole, “Yes, senior apprentice-brother Yan.”
Ye Jing’s face was expressionless.
* This means to demonstrate one’s attractiveness to talented people in order to get capable followers… basically it comes from a story in a story. The story in a story has a king who is trying to buy a fast horse. He fails at first until some guy brought the bones of a fast horse. The king buys it anyways and suddenly everyone thinks if the king is willing to pay so much for just the bones, then how about a live horse? The king quickly gets his horse. As for the story, King Zhao of the state of Yan has an adviser named Guo Wei. His adviser tells him the horse story and gets him to build a gold terrace for him. Then King Zhao attracted many brilliant minds and the state of Zhao became more prosperous for a time before the king died and the next generation did stupid things. And no, this Zhao isn’t the same Zhao in Yan Zhaoge’s name because it would be stupid to name your prince using the same character as you enemy’s name.