Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 301 Dangerous Hairstyle, Four Men and a Father

A sneeze!

At the entrance of Yujian Manor, Yin Tianqi sneezed loudly.

"I have a feeling that someone is talking badly about me behind my back."

Just then, a young man slowly walked in from the doorway. Yin Tianqi quickly went to greet him: "Is the visitor Brother Zhou Ming?"

"Exactly."

Zhou Ming clasped his hands in greeting: "I am ashamed that I have been personally greeted by the young master."

"Eh? You know me?"

"Of course, the young master of Yujian Manor, and soon to drop the 'young' from his title, how could I not recognize such a hero?"

"Hehe, it's not as amazing as you make it sound..."

Zhou Ming smiled broadly, but inwardly he sighed.

Yin Tianqi's personal style is quite unique.

Although there are many people with unique appearances in this world, there are not many people like Yin Tianqi who braid their hair and hang it over their shoulder to form a side ponytail.

The key point is that this hairstyle has a special meaning for Zhou Ming.

In the past, I often saw this hairstyle on anime characters who were portrayed as virtuous wives and loving mothers. Moreover, these characters often had tragic fates, which even led to the meme, "Madam, your hairstyle is dangerous."

So when Zhou Ming saw Yin Tianqi's hairstyle, he couldn't help but laugh.

What's even more hilarious is that Yin Tianqi is about to take over as the head of the manor, but he is very indecisive, habitually relies on others, and is naive and innocent.

In the story, it is because of this personality that she is taken advantage of by others, her father dies, and her sister is misunderstood and driven out of the family.

Such a character and tragic life, and his hairstyle, in a way, really do match.

This further proves the value of this 'dangerous hairstyle'.

"The young master looks to be about the same age as me. I never imagined that he would be the one to inherit the position of master and shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Imperial Sword Manor, while I am still traveling around. I am really ashamed."

Yin Tianqi looked helpless and said, "I didn't expect my father to pass the position of manor lord to me so quickly. I've been looking through the manor's accounts lately, and it's driving me crazy..."

Zhou Ming remained silent.

Can you please stop being so naive and innocent?

This passage directly reveals that the succession of the Imperial Sword Manor was rushed and that the new manor lord lacked ability.

Are we that close? Why do you have to tell me things like this?
This prompted Zhou Ming to quickly change the subject.

He was worried that if the conversation continued like this, people would suspect that he was deliberately trying to get information out of people.

Upon entering the Imperial Sword Manor, one is immediately struck by its ancient atmosphere.

Everything in the villa seems to bear the marks of time.

Ancient trees reach for the sky, and ancient buildings stand elegantly.

The stone tablet here bears the marks of a sword from a hundred years ago.

There are still remnants of a knife blade from two hundred years ago on the artificial hill there.

With a legacy spanning five hundred years, and a manor that has stood for five hundred years, anything of even slight significance within the manor can be considered an antique.

Of course, not all of them can be old.

Many daily necessities are new, and many decorations are also up-to-date.

However, many things that are of commemorative significance are also remnants from hundreds of years ago.

"Hahaha, Changping!"

Amidst hearty laughter, Yin Zhong walked over, patted Zhou Ming on the shoulder, and said, "You must be tired from your journey."

Zhou Ming laughed and said, "Second Uncle is joking. I've been traveling around enjoying the scenery and having a great time. It's hardly hard work."

"Hehe, come here, this is my elder brother, the master of Yujian Manor."

Yin Zhong smiled and pointed to another middle-aged man next to him.

"This humble one, Zhou Ming, greets the Master of the Manor."

Although Yin Hao looked a bit old, he still had a heroic air about him. Seeing this, he smiled and said, "You already call my second brother 'Second Uncle,' so why do you still call me 'Master of the Manor'? Isn't that a bit too distant? If you don't mind, just follow this relationship and call me 'Uncle'."

“If Uncle doesn’t mind, then I naturally won’t object.”

"Haha, your uncle is so happy to have a nephew like you, how could he mind?"

As the master of Yujian Manor, Yin Hao was naturally not as naive as Yin Tianqi.

There must be a reason why she treated Zhou Ming so kindly and even directly recognized him as her nephew.

Yin Zhong's reputation was one factor, while Zhou Ming himself was another.

After all, Zhou Ming is a true genius; in his early twenties, he is already a master of the Innate Realm.

At the same age, Yin Tianqi was far inferior to Zhou Ming.

Yin Hao was well aware of what kind of person his son was, so he wanted to befriend some talented people to leave some connections for Yin Tianqi.

Of course, Zhou Ming's status as the adopted son of the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty also played a part.

But not much.

After all, the Ming Dynasty was quite far from the ancient Shu Kingdom.

The group arrived at a pavilion, where flowers were in full bloom and a lake shimmered in the sunlight.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yin Hao asked, "I heard from my second brother that he passed on the Sword Qi Finger technique to you. I wonder how your practice is going?"

Zhou Ming said, "Please enlighten me, Uncle."

With a flick of his fingertip, sword energy appeared, then transformed into a winding dragon. It circled the pavilion twice before plunging into the lake, creating a splash, before emerging from the water and returning to Zhou Ming's palm, where it slowly disappeared.

Wow!

However, Yin Tianqi lost his grip on the teacup and spilled tea all over himself. He hurriedly turned to the side, but fell to the ground.

Yin Hao's hand, which was reaching for the teacup, froze in place as he stared blankly at the scene. He then gave a wry smile and said, "Nephew, your skill is truly remarkable. Just in terms of the Sword Qi Finger alone, let alone me, even among all the masters in my Imperial Sword Manor who have lived for generations, there are few who can compare to your skill."

Yin Zhong remained calm, after all, he had seen Zhou Ming master the Sword Qi Finger technique within a few days.

As long as one's cultivation level is high enough, mastering this martial art to its full potential is a piece of cake.

"To have achieved this, your cultivation level is probably beyond the Innate Realm, isn't it?"

Zhou Ming nodded: "I had some fortuitous encounters and luckily broke through to the Grandmaster level."

"Grandmaster?!"

Yin Hao was startled again.

At twenty years old, he was already a rare genius.

Who was that twenty-year-old grandmaster?
Yin Hao glanced at his mentally challenged son and sighed inwardly.

Yin Tianqi wasn't particularly good at reading people, but he instantly understood the look in Yin Hao's eyes.

There's no other reason; it's simply because I've seen the same look in people's eyes since I was a child.

He gave an embarrassed smile and tried to shrink himself down to avoid attracting the attention of others present.

Although Yin Hao was dissatisfied with his son's progress in martial arts, he naturally wouldn't directly reprimand him in this situation.

He exclaimed repeatedly, "A genius beyond compare! A genius beyond compare!"

Yin Zhong said, "Brother, I made a promise before that if Changping comes to Yujian Manor, I will pass on the rest of the Sword Qi Finger technique to him. What do you think..."

"Let them spread the word. Changping isn't an outsider." Yin Hao nodded in agreement without hesitation.

He already had the idea of ​​doing Zhou Ming a favor and helping Yin Tianqi build up his network of connections.

Now that he has discovered Zhou Ming is even more talented than he imagined, he is even less likely to give up on this idea. He then asked Yin Tianqi to fetch the complete manual of Sword Qi Finger, and after he returned, he handed the entire manual directly to Zhou Ming.

"Second brother, there are many secret techniques in this martial art, so why don't you teach Changping some?"

"Got it, big brother."

With the succession ceremony approaching, Yin Hao is actually quite busy.

It's already quite remarkable that he was able to make time to meet with Zhou Ming.

But he had other things to do, so after giving the order, he left with Yin Tianqi.

Only Yin Zhong and Zhou Ming remained in the pavilion.

Yin Zhongdao said, "The person who's coming over now shouldn't be your true form, right? Could this be your awakened innate ability? A clone?"

Zhou Ming opened the martial arts manual in his hand: "What do you mean by that, Second Uncle?"

Yin Zhong frowned: "Still calling me Second Uncle?"

Zhou Ming said, "If not Second Uncle, what should I call him?"

A flash of anger appeared in Yin Zhong's eyes, but after a moment's thought, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

Having lived for hundreds of years, he has witnessed countless worldly affairs and watched many young people grow up.

Therefore, he understands more deeply than many others that children, nominally belonging to their parents, are actually independent individuals.

Even children raised by their parents from childhood have their own ideas after they grow up.

Parents cannot completely control their partners.

Not to mention someone like him, whose father entrusted Zhou Ming to others to raise since he was a child and who hadn't seen him much in decades.

It's understandable that Zhou Ming wouldn't acknowledge him.

On the other hand, it was also because he clearly realized that Zhou Ming's awakening of his innate ability meant that he had extremely strong talent in magical cultivation.

They could very well become his asset in the future, and might even help him recover from his injuries.

Therefore, Yin Zhong was unwilling to have a falling out with Zhou Ming.

Of course, the fact that Zhou Ming is not in his true form is also one of the reasons.

The clones are separate entities; if they die, they die without harming the original entity.

As for the location of Zhou Ming's true form, it is naturally still in the Ming Kingdom.

With the protection of Grandmaster-level Shi Zhixuan, Yin Zhong really couldn't do anything to Zhou Ming.

After all, his injuries are serious, and he can only exert the strength of a grandmaster at most.

Even if he disregards his injuries and fights with all his might, he can unleash the combat power of a Grandmaster, but he cannot sustain it. Against a true Grandmaster, he will undoubtedly be defeated.

So after searching, Yin Zhong stopped worrying about it.

"Fine, call me whatever you want. What level have you reached in cultivating the Dharma cultivation method I gave you before?"

Zhou Ming said, "Thanks to my second uncle, I have just entered the realm of witch priests."

"What? The level of a shamanic priest?"

Yin Zhong, who hadn't cared much about Zhou Ming breaking through to the Grandmaster level before, was truly shocked this time!
"In just over a year, less than two years, you've already reached the level of a witch priest?"

"good."

Zhou Ming activated his Heavenly Eye and released his spiritual power.

A silver mark also appeared between Yin Zhong's brows, indicating that he had activated his Heavenly Eye and his spiritual power clashed with Zhou Ming's.

"You've reached more than just the level of a witch priest; you're not far from the next level! Hahaha... Good! Excellent!"

Zhou Ming smiled faintly.

Because of his talent, his mental strength is always a level higher than his cultivation level.

However, as his cultivation level in the Dharma increased, the gap between each level also widened.

This advantage was gradually caught up with and erased.

Currently, he is at the level of a witch priest, possessing considerable spiritual power, but he has yet to reach the next level.

"You should cultivate diligently. If there's anything you don't understand in this matter, feel free to ask me."

Yin Zhong patted Zhou Ming on the shoulder, very pleased.

"I have some questions about this Sword Qi Finger manual, and I would appreciate your guidance, Second Uncle."

Zhou Ming handed over the manual he was holding.

Yin Zhong glanced at it and said, "Hehe, this is the hidden lock left behind by my Imperial Sword Manor..."

The Sword Qi Pointing technique, the innate part is relatively easy to understand and not exactly a top secret.

However, the later parts about the Grandmasters can be considered one of the treasures and heritages of the Imperial Sword Manor, and cannot be easily passed on to outsiders.

To prevent theft, the manual contains many hidden clues. Simply reading the literal meaning makes it impossible to grasp the true significance of these clues; attempting to understand them by force can easily lead to incorrect practice and even demonic possession.

Only the people of Yujian Manor know the true meaning of these hidden clues.

This practice can be said to be a common method used by most sects in the martial arts world.

For example, the famous Shaolin Golden Bell Cover Kung Fu.

This technique is one of the four great divine skills of Bodhidharma, and it is divided into twelve levels. The first few levels are widely known in the martial arts world and are easy to find. The manual not only does not contain any hidden or misleading interpretations, but also includes some explanations.

However, the later floors are only found in the Shaolin Temple, and they are also decorated with hidden latches for security purposes.

In the evening, Yin Hao prepared a grand meal to welcome Zhou Ming.

Unfortunately, there were indeed fewer people; only four people were sitting at the table.

Indeed, Yin Tianxue, the only woman in the Yin family and Yin Tianqi's younger sister, still has not shown up.

In ancient society, where men were superior to women, women were not only forbidden from eating at the table, but even showing their faces casually was considered impolite.

Of course, people in the martial arts world often ignore these messy etiquette rules.

Although Yujian Manor is a martial arts sect, it has been passed down for hundreds of years, and in this respect, it is somewhat old-fashioned.

Moreover, Zhou Ming's identity is special. Although he is young, he is very strong. Therefore, Yin Hao treats him as a truly respected guest and treats him with even more respect.

However, the fact that Zhou Ming did not see Yin Tianxue does not mean that Yin Tianxue did not see Zhou Ming.

After learning the news, the woman had already been secretly observing Zhou Ming.

Seeing that he and Yin Zhong had a good relationship, she felt a sense of unease.

Of the three members of Yin Hao's family, Yin Tianxue is the smartest.

Yin Hao never doubted his younger brother, Yin Tianqi, who was naive and innocent.

Only Yin Tianxue noticed something was wrong with Yin Zhong when she was young.

Clever as she is, she has learned to hide herself without any instruction, to the point that even Yin Zhong has not discovered her true colors, which have already been partially revealed by her little niece.

"I've heard that Pei Ju, the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, is also a treacherous minister who deceives the emperor and monopolizes power. His son has such a good relationship with Yin Zhong, so he can't be a good person either!"

Yin Tianxue labeled Zhou Ming and said with concern, "There are only a few days left until the succession ceremony. What is the purpose of this person traveling all the way from the Ming Kingdom?"

Could it be that my second uncle is about to be deprived of my father's position as head of the manor?

Forgive Yin Tianxue for her limited knowledge, but this is the only thing she can think of.

However, this is normal.

After all, who would have thought that Yin Zhong was actually an immortal god and demon who had lived for hundreds of years, and that the entire Imperial Sword Manor was made up of his bloodline?

(End of this chapter)