BXBX NOVEL Chapter 86 - 85: Inquiry
However, Pei Xuanjing is unbothered by Jiang Bin’s attitude. His interaction with the latter revolves more around collaboration than friendship, and as his own strength grows, his advantage in this cooperation becomes more apparent. He is confident that he can avoid any backlash.
“Mr. Pei, what are your plans going forward? How about you come back with us?” Jiang Bin extends an invitation to Pei Xuanjing.
After some consideration, Pei Xuanjing politely declines: “My fight today with the King of Equality was instructive and I’ve gained a lot. I should not disturb you further.”
Hearing Pei Xuanjing’s excuse, Jiang Bin nodded in agreement indicative of understanding.
“In that case, I should head back. The emperor is waiting for our report.” Jiang Bin excused himself then.
The reason he came today was that the emperor took an interest in this matter, otherwise, there would have been no need for him to show up here.
Upon hearing this, Pei Xuanjing nodded, and they parted ways.
But as soon as Pei Xuanjing returned to the Martial Academy and freshened up, he found Vice President Qingyang Zi waiting for him in the hall.
He was casually conversing with Pang Hong.
“My apologies for not being able to greet you, Mr. President; hope you won’t take offense.” Pei Xuanjing greeted him with a salute.
Qingyang Zi laughed, “You keep surprising me.”
Seeing Qingyang Zi shift his attention, Pang Hong couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Both men were acutely aware of Pang Hong’s actions, but neither acknowledged it outright.
After Pang Hong served another cup of tea to Pei Xuanjing, he quietly retreated.
Pei Xuanjing waited quietly for Qingyang Zi to speak, but oddly enough, Qingyang Zi took his time, merely sipping his tea in silence.
After a while, Qingyang Zi suddenly said, “Less than two years.”
Pei Xuanjing was puzzled, not knowing what he meant.
Qingyang Zi continued, “In less than two years, you’ve advanced from the Third-grade realm to the
Second-Class realm. This speed is utterly astounding.”
He looked at Pei Xuanjing and asked, “Do you know how long it took me?”
Before Pei Xuanjing could respond, Qingyang Zi answered his own question, “It took me ten years, and many considered me a genius for it. But compared to you…”
His fellow disciple, acknowledged as the only one in the history of True Martial Sect to rival their founder in talent, took nearly five years to progress from the third-grade to second-grade realm.
With the talent that Pei Xuanjing was displaying, if someone were to say he could reach first-grade before turning thirty, few would doubt it.
Pei Xuanjing lowered his head to sip his tea, choosing not to respond. There was just no way to respond to such a remark.
The simulator was an outrageously powerful tool, and without its help, he might not even have progressed beyond the seventh-grade in two years.
Given his age now, it was doubtful whether he could even reach seventh-grade.
He might even have ended up meeting an unfortunate end somewhere, grass-overgrown grave and all.
Qingyang Zi wasn’t bothered by Pei Xuanjing’s silence though. More than conversing with Pei Xuanjing, he was simply expressing his astonishment at seeing a genius rise before his very eyes.
He knew that Pei Xuanjing was keeping secrets, and he wasn’t the only one. Everyone who was familiar with Pei Xuanjing?s rise knew this.
But what did that matter? Pei Xuanjing was a Second-Class martial artist now and had personally slayed a Yanluo from the Underworld, earning great renown.
Save for the rare First-grade martial artists, no one could force him to reveal his secrets, nor would anyone risk offending him to dig into those secrets.
Because, no one knew what price they might have to pay for discovering these secrets.
Besides, what martial artist who has reached this realm isn’t a genius? What genius doesn’t have secrets?
Qingyang Zi wasn’t a man of the Demonic Way. And having interacted with Pei Xuanjing for some time now, he knew the latter wasn’t one for evil deeds. So he was happy to witness the rise of a genius, especially since Taihe Mountain had already extended their friendship towards Pei Xuanjing.
Seeing Pei Xuanjing’s silence, Qingyang Zi chuckled, “I guess old folks like me do tend to ramble on, almost forgetting the main issue.”
He composed himself and asked, “You’re aware of the recent happenings in the court, yes?”
Pei Xuanjing nodded. Although he mostly kept to himself in the Martial Academy, he wasn’t completely oblivious to the outside world and had heard about the events in court.
Qingyang Zi said, “While you were surrounding the Underworld stronghold today, the debate in the court came to a conclusion.”
Recalling the results of his multiple simulations, Pei Xuanjing said, “Was that proposal vetoed?”
Qingyang Zi nodded, “Correct, the proposal of the Commander was shot down. Most of the court officials, and even several noble officials, opposed it. Ultimately, the issue was dropped and the
Commander was ordered to reflect on his actions.”
Though his explanation was succinct, the undercurrents of the debate were far from simple.
Furthermore, the Commander of the Brocade Guards being a confidant of the emperor, his forced seclusion clearly indicated that the emperor lost this political showdown, necessitating a show of reprimand.
While Pei Xuanjing wasn’t fully aware of the details, he had a rough idea of the situation. All he could say was, “The civil officials sure wield a lot of power.”
Qingyang Zi waved him off, “There’s no need for us to worry about these issues. After all, this situation has been in place for some time and it’S beyond our control.”
Pei Xuanjing agreed wholeheartedly, “The civil official faction has deep roots and has been around for a long time. It’s not something that can be resolved overnight.”
On hearing Pei Xuanjing’s words, a look of approval flickered in Qingyang Zi’s eyes. However, he didn’t linger on the topic. Instead, he broached a different subject.
“The emperor is quite displeased with the situation and has proposed a tour outside Tiandu. What are your thoughts?”
Pei Xuanjing shook his head, “I don’t know.”
What were his thoughts? He wasn’t the emperor, what could his thoughts even be?
Even if he had reached the Second-Class realm, he didn’t have the power to decide the emperor’s actions. If the emperor wanted to embark on a tour, could he possibly prevent it?
Seeing that Pei Xuanjing had misunderstood his question, Qingyang Zi clarified, “What I mean is, I’d like you to accompany the emperor on his tour to ensure his safety.. What do you think?”