Chosen Son of Heaven

Heavenly Sword chuckled, shaking his head. "Fair enough. Tell me how you plan to help me catch these Demon Cult fiends." Instead of answering directly, Lianshan Xin followed the example of Wang Jian asking for wealth before going to war. "My lord, this student has heard the imperial court has put out a bounty. If anyone reports a Demon Cult fiend, the reward can reach up to five hundred thousand taels of silver. Is that true?" This was not greedy haggling; rather, it was meant to make Heavenly Sword trust him more. Wang Jian had commanded vast armies and had to ask for riches to set the First Emperor's mind at ease. And if Lianshan Xin wanted to join the Nine Heavens and become one of the court's hounds, he too had to show a desire for wealth. If the court's hounds did not even care for money, what they truly desired was too terrifying to contemplate. Sure enough, Heavenly Sword took no offense, merely chuckling softly. "Since arriving in Jiangzhou, I have yet to achieve the slightest merit and have instead lost face entirely. If you help this seat capture the Demon Cult fiends, five hundred thousand taels will hardly suffice to reward your service. Beyond the silver bounty, this seat will personally appoint you to Bailudong Academy. If you can help capture a core disciple of the Demon Cult, this seat can even bestow a Qi Condensation Pill upon you. The Nine Heavens rewards and punishes with strict clarity, as all under heaven know. You may set your heart at ease." Lianshan Xin did not truly believe the Nine Heavens rewarded and punished with strict clarity, but he did believe Heavenly Sword needed achievements right now and possessed the means to honor his word. He therefore disclosed all his discoveries to Heavenly Sword, merely attributing his innate ability to sharp observation, along with a close watch on the Qu household stemming from Chairman Qu's dispute with his father, which had unexpectedly yielded these findings. When Heavenly Sword and Qi Shiyun finished listening, their eyes both lit up. The bell at Qi Shiyun's waist seemed to sense its master's excitement, giving a soft chime, and Lianshan Xin caught its melodious ring. "Lianshan Xin, is everything you said true?" Qi Shiyun asked, a hint of tension in her voice. Lianshan Xin replied solemnly, "This student would not dare deceive you, my lord. Moreover, this matter is not difficult to verify." Qi Shiyun nodded and said to Heavenly Sword, "My lord, he doesn't seem to be lying." Heavenly Sword had been monitoring Lianshan Xin's qi and blood the entire time and had detected no abnormal fluctuations. Excitement stirred in him as well. "A pleasant surprise indeed. Shiyun, go investigate." "Please wait, my lord," Lianshan Xin said. "Charging in to investigate the Qu household could easily startle the snake in the grass. It would be better to let this student trick Qu Junjie into coming to the academy first. He is Chairman Qu's only son. With him in custody, Chairman Qu will hesitate to act rashly for fear of harming his own kin, preventing the Demon Cult fiends from doing something desperate like cornered dogs leaping a wall." Above all, the Qu household was situated too close to Huichun Hall, and Lianshan Xin worried his parents might be dragged into the fallout. Advancing his own station was one thing, but he could not disregard his family's safety. Heavenly Sword guessed what Lianshan Xin was thinking. He did not become angry, but neither did he agree. "No need for such trouble. You will accompany Shiyun to the Qu household. Rest assured, your parents will not be in danger." Qi Shiyun added, "As long as your intelligence is not mistaken, there is no danger in this matter. When my lord previously vanquished evil and subdued demons, he already heavily wounded their leader. Lianshan Xin, the renown of the Nine Heavens was carved out through slaughter. The Demon Cult fiends merely move in secret; in a direct confrontation, they cannot stand against our Nine Heavens at all." Lianshan Xin believed this much. If rebels were stronger than the imperial court, they would have no need to remain rebels. He simply feared that when immortals clashed, it would be the mortals who suffered. "I still request that my lord place this student's family under protection beforehand," Lianshan Xin insisted. "My lord, I believe the Nine Heavens also wishes for this student's parents to remain alive. If this student were left all alone between heaven and earth, you would find it harder to trust this student as well." Heavenly Sword let out a laugh. "An interesting lad. Rough words, but sound logic. Your thinking isn't wrong, yet your perspective is still too narrow. The rule of the jianghu is that disaster does not extend to family, and this rule was set for the jianghu by the Nine Heavens. Whoever dares violate this rule only brings ruin upon themselves." Lianshan Xin remained somewhat skeptical. Would the Demon Cult actually care about rules? Qi Shiyun told him that the Demon Cult truly had to follow the rules of the Nine Heavens. "The previous Demon Cult did not obey the rules of the Nine Heavens and extended disaster to the families of Nine Heavens members. In the end, the Nine Heavens uprooted them entirely, and the three clans of the Demon Cult's entire senior leadership were publicly beheaded. At that time, the jianghu fell silent, and court and country were shaken to their core. The civil and military officials throughout the court submitted memorials demanding that the Nine Heavens be abolished to appease all under heaven." At this point, Qi Shiyun sneered. "Yet the Nine Heavens remains the Nine Heavens today, while the Demon Cult was replaced by an entirely new one, and five of the censors who submitted memorials to impeach the Nine Heavens were beaten to death with staves. From then on, no one dared touch the families of Nine Heavens members ever again, and even across the jianghu, people began to uphold the principle that disaster does not extend to family. Such is the deterrent power of the Nine Heavens." Heavenly Sword added, "We possess intelligence on many senior figures in the current Demon Cult, including their families, but we have chosen not to carry out targeted strikes. The cult's leadership knows this, so they follow the rules even more strictly than you do. The moment someone breaks the rules, the first to eliminate them will be the Demon Cult's true leadership." Lianshan Xin understood, and he believed them. He did not ask Heavenly Sword why the Nine Heavens held intelligence on the families of the Demon Cult's leadership yet chose to leave them untouched. A clever man never asked such questions; he only practiced two words with all his heart—loyalty! "Cooperate with Shiyun to verify the intelligence on the Qu household, and your parents will naturally receive the protection of the Nine Heavens. If you can become a full member of the Nine Heavens, you will have even less reason to worry about your parents." Hearing Heavenly Sword's promise, Lianshan Xin felt an even stronger desire to join the Nine Heavens. It was not merely that he wished to rise in status. As a son, who wouldn't want their parents to live in peace and security? "Lianshan Xin, if you truly help me capture the Demon Cult fiends hiding in the Qu household, I will look out for you from now on." Qi Shiyun took full charge of the matter with generous swagger. "With me around, I guarantee no one in Jiangzhou will dare make trouble for you." Her tone was rather grandiose, and Lianshan Xin's gaze instinctively betrayed a flicker of disbelief. Then he heard Heavenly Sword speak. "Shiyun, a gentleman's word carries the weight of a thousand gold. This promise of yours is too grand." Huh. Heavenly Sword had merely remarked that her promise was too grand, not that she was boasting. Lianshan Xin seized on the key point instantly and asked, "Master... is more formidable than Brother Kong?" Judging by her age, she seemed roughly the same. Qi Shiyun and Heavenly Sword both burst into laughter. After a moment, Heavenly Sword formally introduced Qi Shiyun to Lianshan Xin. "Lianshan Xin, standing before you now is the third on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, third on the Peerless Beauties Rankings, the tanhua of the court's military imperial examinations three years ago—Tanhua Qi, known to many as Third Under Heaven." Good grief. Lianshan Xin joked, "The room is almost too small to hold all those people." A few more titles, and she could almost rival Erfeng. Qi Shiyun raised her slender, swanlike neck, doing her best to suppress the urge to boast, and kept her tone flat. "It's just passable. There's still plenty of room for improvement." "Winning Tanhua Qi's favor is no easy feat," Heavenly Sword said. "Back then, I wished to take her as a disciple, and she didn't even spare me a glance." Heavenly Sword's words genuinely astonished Lianshan Xin. "Tanhua Qi has lofty ambitions." Qi Shiyun hurriedly explained, "I simply have no talent for the way of the sword." Heavenly Sword nodded. "And so she took Heaven's Chosen as her master, earning the moniker Chosen Daughter of Heaven. As long as Tanhua Qi doesn't perish prematurely, she will surely ascend into the Nine Heavens in due time." Heaven's Chosen, like Heavenly Sword, was one of the Nine Heavens. Lianshan Xin was filled with newfound respect. "I hope Tanhua Qi will look after me often in the future." A smile appeared on Qi Shiyun's face. "Easily done. I possess supreme wisdom, and you possess supreme martial might. Together, our success is assured from the very start." Lianshan Xin: "?" Something about those words felt distinctly off. "I think highly of you. You are the next Chosen Son of Heaven," Qi Shiyun said, her tone suddenly turning serious. "Do not let this title down." Lianshan Xin took a moment to process what he had just heard. Did I just become LeBron? Qi Shiyun assumed he was simply stunned with joy, waved her fair hand, and gave her instructions. "Go outside first and deal with Kong Ningyuan. I'll make a few brief preparations, and then we'll head to the Qu household." Realizing Qi Shiyun and Heavenly Sword had matters to discuss in private and that this was effectively an order to leave, Lianshan Xin bowed readily and departed. Once Lianshan Xin closed the room door behind him, Qi Shiyun produced a small notebook. Heavenly Sword leaned back in his chair, watching Qi Shiyun write down Lianshan Xin's name, and asked with mixed feelings, "Shiyun, have you said those exact words to everyone written in that notebook?" Qi Shiyun nodded. Heavenly Sword's tone grew even more complicated. "Just how many people is that now?" Qi Shiyun answered without missing a beat, "Lianshan Xin is the ninety-first Chosen Son of Heaven. In my book, his code name is 91 Young Master Xin. Very easy to remember." Heavenly Sword: "..." All of a sudden, this "Chosen Son of Heaven" didn't feel quite so valuable anymore.