Chapter Thirty-Five: The Situation on Xiangyun Street

The broadsword slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Watching this, Yang Ze couldn't help but shake his head; after seven days of training, he still hadn't reached the introductory level of the Swallow Thunderblade Technique.

However, he wasn't particularly discouraged. In terms of finesse, the Swallow Thunderblade was superior to the Black Tiger Blade Technique—greater subtlety meant greater difficulty in mastery. For an ordinary martial artist, it was perfectly normal to spend a year or more just to achieve entry-level mastery of the Black Tiger Blade. This more demanding Swallow Thunderblade would, of course, require even more time just to grasp the basics.

“Time is still too tight,” Yang Ze muttered. “Seven days of practice have only enabled me to barely wield the technique, not truly master it. Without reaching the foundational level, I can’t even begin to unleash its real power.” He shook his head again—not out of impatience, but because time waited for no one.

Wu Yang Martial Academy, which was supposed to arrive in two months, was now only a month away. Although Yuan Heng had promised him a spot, Yang Ze knew that if he couldn’t deliver the Four Directions District to Yuan Heng, the man would have plenty of ways to sabotage him during the assessment.

So, in the coming month, his task was to drive the Feng and Fan families out of the Four Directions District. Both families attached great importance to the area and had each stationed a high-level Qi-Channeling martial artist there—enough to intimidate the other factions.

If it had been the old Yang Ze, he wouldn’t have dared to challenge those two families at this moment. But things were different now; Old Xie had already broken through to the high level of the Qi-Channeling stage, not inferior to the other two families’ guardians.

More importantly, Yang Ze himself had killed a high-level Qi-Channeling expert, Lady Hua, while he was still at the middle stage. Now that he had advanced to the high level, his strength had surely increased. If he joined forces with Old Xie, suppressing the high-level guardians of the Feng and Fan families would be no problem.

But just because he could suppress them didn’t mean he could act recklessly. He still bore the Yang family’s name. If he acted rashly and wiped out the other two families’ forces in the Four Directions District, he would be forcing a complete break with them. If relations between the three sides became irreparably strained, Yang Yuanzhen himself would probably strike him down before the other two families even made a move.

Yuan Heng’s schemes were quite clever—on the surface, he seemed focused on the Four Directions District, but his true goal was to weaken all the various families and factions. If Yang Ze helped him seize the district, the Feng and Fan families’ power would certainly wane, but if he then handed it over to the authorities, the Yang family would gain nothing and all benefits would go to the government instead. In the end, all three families would suffer losses.

Yang Ze understood Yuan Heng’s intentions—perhaps Yuan Heng thought him easy to manipulate. Unfortunately for him, Yang Ze had lived two lives; now, in addition to boldness, he had learned caution and calculation.

Old Xie watched Yang Ze standing there in silence and assumed he was dejected over his lack of progress with the blade technique. “Second Young Master, don’t be disheartened. Martial cultivation is never easy. You’re still young, there’s plenty of time ahead—you’re sure to become a great master one day.”

Hearing Old Xie’s words, Yang Ze snapped back to reality, realizing Old Xie had misunderstood.

“Old Xie, I’m not thinking about martial arts right now. I’m considering how best to move against the Chenglan Street under Feng family control and the Wenjia Street under Fan family control.”

At these words, Old Xie’s face changed dramatically. “Second Young Master, you must not be reckless! We haven’t even secured Xiangyun Street yet—it would be unwise to offend those two families now. Even if we could take Xiangyun Street in the short term, our foundation in North City is too shallow. Any rash move could unite the other factions against us—we might not be able to withstand their combined force!”

Old Xie hastily tried to dissuade him. Yang Ze hadn’t told Old Xie the whole truth, so Old Xie merely thought his young master was growing arrogant after a few recent successes.

Yang Ze hadn’t expected such a strong reaction, but Old Xie’s words did remind him—he hadn’t even secured Xiangyun Street yet.

“You’re right, Old Xie. Go investigate the current situation on Xiangyun Street and report back to me as soon as possible.”

Old Xie’s expression shifted; after a moment, he asked, “Second Young Master, you’re not planning to move against the other forces on Xiangyun Street, are you?”

“We can’t even control Xiangyun Street right now—how can we hope to build a solid foundation? Besides, I just want their intelligence for now. Whether we act sooner or later makes little difference.”

Seeing Yang Ze’s calm demeanor, Old Xie felt a surge of anxiety, but ultimately followed orders. After all, Yang Ze was the master, and he was the servant—even as the steward of the North City outpost, he was still a servant of the Yang family.

Old Xie didn’t keep Yang Ze waiting long. Within a few hours, he returned with the gathered intelligence.

“Reporting to the Second Young Master: There are twenty shops remaining on Xiangyun Street. Fourteen have recently formed a merchants’ association, likely to resist us, while the remaining six belong to four martial factions.”

“What is the strength of these groups? Tell me in detail,” Yang Ze asked.

“The merchants’ association is the weakest in terms of martial power, but the strongest in terms of earning capacity. They’ve recruited ten or so Qi-Channeling experts, including two at the middle stage, banding together out of fear of attack.

As for the four martial factions, each is led by a middle-stage Qi-Channeling expert and commands no fewer than eighty members.”

“Which factions are these? Did you find out? Describe them in detail.”

“Yes, the four are the Black Tiger Hall, the Woodcutter Gang, the Iron Hammer Gang, and the Venom Sect. Of these, the Venom Sect is the most powerful, while the other three are each a match for our Duanshan Gang.

Black Tiger Hall’s leader is Black Tiger himself, a middle-stage Qi-Channeling expert whose Black Tiger Blade Technique is renowned—he’s one of the top fighters on Xiangyun Street, even stronger than Fang Li.

The Woodcutter Gang has a plain name; it was founded over ten years ago by a group of farmers who, after one of their number received martial arts instruction from a master, managed to rise to power. Their leader is Meng Yitian, a skilled fighter, though no one has seen him in action for some time.”

“The Iron Hammer Gang was established eight years ago, comprised of men of great physical strength skilled in hammer techniques. They are known for their temper and frequent troubles. Their leader, Tie Qi, is especially protective of his own.

As for the Venom Sect, its members are all adept at poisons. Their leader, Poison Sheng, is the only one among the four to have reached the high level of the Qi-Channeling stage. Because of his presence, the Venom Sect has long acted with impunity, dominating Xiangyun Street like overlords.”

Old Xie relayed everything he’d learned and handed Yang Ze a dossier with detailed information on each faction and their top fighters.

Black Tiger Hall had two middle-stage Qi-Channeling experts; the Woodcutter and Iron Hammer gangs each had three; the Venom Sect had the most martial strength, with their leader at the high stage and three more at the middle stage. In total, the four gangs counted more than seventy junior Qi-Channeling fighters among their ranks. Altogether, there were nearly a hundred Qi-Channeling experts, not to mention countless ordinary members—should they unite, theirs would be a formidable force.

Noticing how seriously Yang Ze was studying the report—and how he frowned from time to time—Old Xie felt a chill of apprehension. Was the Second Young Master really planning to move against these gangs so soon?

“Old Xie, during our recent struggle for this section of Xiangyun Street, we lost quite a few men. Has the family sent reinforcements?” Yang Ze suddenly asked.

“The family head was very angry when he heard, but he understands our situation. He’s sent two more middle-stage and fifteen junior Qi-Channeling guards and instructed us to recuperate and avoid further losses in the short term. Training so many people is a heavy burden on the family.”

Fearing Yang Ze might act rashly again, Old Xie even invoked Yang Yuanzhen’s authority. He spoke truthfully—the Yang family had rarely lost so many people in a year, but since Yang Ze’s arrival, conflict after conflict had cost them dozens of men. Yang Yuanzhen was worried that if he couldn’t rein in Yang Ze, the entire family’s strength would be depleted.

“Don’t you trust me, Old Xie? Don’t worry—I won’t let our people be wasted. We’re short-handed enough as it is.

By the way, have there been any conflicts lately among those four gangs or the merchants’ association?”

“If you’d asked me that yesterday, Second Young Master, I wouldn’t have known. But during my investigation, I came across several incidents involving the merchants’ association, Black Tiger Hall, and the Iron Hammer Gang.”