Chapter 58: The Guardian! The Ruan Family of Youzhou, Ruan Nanzhu!
Chapter 58: The Guardian! The Ruan Family of Youzhou, Ruan Nanzhu!
As soon as Chen Daoyan finished speaking, Chen Zhixing was momentarily stunned.
He had considered secretly forming a faction to serve him, knowing that in the future, he would need many people to gather techniques for him. However, the thought of leading the Chen family had never crossed his mind.
"Patriarch, I’m still young. Isn't it a bit premature to discuss this now?" Chen Zhixing pondered for a moment before speaking.
Hearing this, Chen Daoyan paused briefly and then laughed, "You're right. I got a little too excited and ahead of myself."
He then looked Chen Zhixing up and down, growing more satisfied the longer he looked, and his eyes gleamed as he said, "Indeed, it might be too early to talk about leading the Chen family, but you should start familiarizing yourself with it."
"How about this—our Ziwei Chen family has ten spiritual veins in Yan State. I'll assign five of them to be managed by your Third Peak. What do you think?"
Before Chen Zhixing could respond, Chen Daoyan continued, "Hmm, the Third Peak has too few people. I'll arrange for three clan elders at the peak of the Spiritual Wandering stage to guard the Third Peak and ensure its safety. If you have any questions about cultivation, you can consult them."
"Oh, and you are currently our family's only hope, so we cannot afford any mishaps."
"You should have some protective means."
At this point, Chen Daoyan looked behind the main hall and called out, "Elder You."
As soon as he spoke, an endless black mist silently emerged from behind Chen Daoyan. The mist quickly transformed into an old man with a decaying and sinister appearance.
"Patriarch," the sinister old man cupped his hands towards Chen Daoyan, then looked at Chen Zhixing and nodded slightly, "Third Young Master."
"Junior Chen Zhixing greets Elder You," Chen Zhixing stood up and bowed.
He had vaguely heard of this sinister old man before. It was rumored that the Ziwei Chen family patriarch, Chen Daoyan, had two peerless experts protecting the family in secret, known as the "Two Elders of the Netherworld." This Elder You should be one of them.
"Elder You, from now on, you will no longer stay by my side. Follow Zhixing's orders in everything," Chen Daoyan instructed Elder You.
Clearly, Chen Daoyan was concerned that Chen Zhixing might face unforeseen dangers like Chen Zhaosheng, so he wanted to arrange a guardian for him.
"I will strictly follow the Patriarch's orders," Elder You glanced at Chen Daoyan, then turned to Chen Zhixing with a smile, "Third Young Master, I look forward to your guidance."
Seeing this, Chen Zhixing hesitated. He had too many secrets, and having a guardian could prove inconvenient.
"Zhixing, you must not refuse this. Elder You is a half-step Nirvana stage expert. With him by your side, I can rest a bit easier," Chen Daoyan said, pausing for a moment before smiling, "You needn't worry about Elder You following you around all the time. If you need some privacy, you can ask him to step away."
Hearing this, Chen Zhixing could only cup his hands and say, "Thank you, Patriarch."
"We're family—no need to be so formal," Chen Daoyan replied with a smile. Then, with a wave of his right hand, a spotless, snow-white robe appeared in his hand.
"This Snowfeather Robe was mine once. Wearing it can withstand at least three full-force attacks from a True Self realm expert. It saved my life many times back in the day. Take it."
Chen Daoyan then took out a few True Self realm artifacts and handed them to Chen Zhixing, solving a pressing need for him.
At the moment, Chen Zhixing lacked neither techniques nor cultivation. What he was missing were some defensive artifacts for protection.
An entire hour passed before Chen Daoyan finally ended their conversation, still somewhat reluctant to do so.
Just as Chen Zhixing was about to take his leave, Chen Daoyan seemed to remember something and smiled, "Oh, Zhixing, if you have time in the next few days, make a trip to Youzhou."
"Youzhou?" Chen Zhixing raised an eyebrow.
"That's right," Chen Daoyan nodded. "The Ruan family of Youzhou is a vassal family of our Ziwei Chen family. They've always been obscure until recently."
"This time, however, the Ruan family has produced a remarkable young woman named Ruan Nanzhu."
"She's only sixteen, but she's already made a name for herself in Youzhou. Not only is she extraordinarily beautiful, but her cultivation has also reached the seventh level of the Luminescence stage."
"Such talent and cultivation, while not comparable to yours, is still outstanding in today's cultivation world!"
"The Ruan family head has sent me several letters, hoping to send Ruan Nanzhu to our Chen family for further training. You should go and bring her back."
At this point, Chen Daoyan paused and gave Chen Zhixing a meaningful look. He cleared his throat and said, "Zhixing, with your unmatched talent, it's time you considered marriage and ensured the continuation of our Chen family."
Chen Zhixing didn't respond immediately. Instead, his mind was shaken when he heard the name "Ruan Nanzhu."
Youzhou? Ruan Nanzhu? The one later known as the woman who dominated Youzhou, whom thousands of soldiers feared?
Chen Zhixing's pupils constricted slightly.
In The Great Cultivation, there are nine main storylines. The one involving Ye Chen, whom Chen Zhixing had killed earlier, was called the "Sword God Arc." In this arc, Ye Chen was the undisputed male protagonist, who ultimately became the new Sword God thanks to the Sword God's legacy and the Immortal Sword. Qing'er was the female lead in this "Sword God Arc."
Ruan Nanzhu, on the other hand, was the main female lead in another storyline called the "Retainer Arc"!
In the The Great Cultivation forums of his previous life, Ruan Nanzhu had a massive following. Her popularity ranked among the top three in the entire story!
[Immortal Body! Unparalleled Techniques!]
[In the last five hundred years, Ruan Nanzhu could be considered the most extraordinary woman in the world!]
[At seven, I caught a cicada and thought I had captured the entire summer; at seventeen, I held a sword and truly grasped the entire martial world!]
[She once laughed in the face of thousands of soldiers and said: "The Eight Great Kings, the Four Minor Demons!"]
[She once, under the moon at Kunlun, beheaded the Evil Sword God, an elder of the Sword Dao!]
[She once, during a song with the moon, asked with a smile: "How do you, Heaven's Lord, compare to me?"]
Ruan Nanzhu may only be a female lead, but her brilliance is no less than that of any protagonist of destiny!
As Chen Zhixing was lost in these thoughts, Chen Daoyan's curious voice brought him back to reality.
"What's wrong? Are you not interested in Ruan Nanzhu?"
"No, I was just thinking about something else," Chen Zhixing said, clearing his mind.
As the saying goes, where there is a female lead, there must be a protagonist of destiny! Now that Ruan Nanzhu's talent is emerging, it won't be long before she truly stands out and gains fame throughout the Eastern Xuan Domain!
Chen Zhixing wasn't particularly concerned about Ruan Nanzhu. Although he had admired this character in his previous life, he currently had little interest in romantic affairs.
But… he couldn't miss the protagonist of destiny! The main character of this "Retainer Arc" should have already appeared in the Ruan family, likely as an exceptional retainer by now.
"Hmm, then you should go there in the next few days. If you can form a Dao partnership with Ruan Nanzhu, it would bring great peace of mind to this Patriarch," Chen Daoyan said with a slight smile.
"Understood," Chen Zhixing replied, cupping his hands before taking his leave.