Ten Thousand Sword Masters

"Okay, then take me to choose some," Yao Xinran said.

Yao Xing, along with Yao Xinran, Zhang Jianyun, and Liu Dong, left the palace to choose a residence.

First, we arrived at the eastern part of Kyoto.

"There are three nice mansions in the East City. I'll take you to see them," Yao Xing said, leading the group to a mansion on Waqing Street in the East City.

"The previous owner of this mansion was Princess Wenying during the reign of Emperor Yuming, so the mansion is called Wenying Mansion. If you choose this mansion, you can rename it Xinran Mansion."

Taking out the key, Yao Xing opened the cyan door.

As soon as the gate opens, the first thing that catches the eye is a small hill, at the base of which stands a pine tree, and behind the hill lies a crescent-shaped lake.

"Don't underestimate this small hill and crescent-shaped lake. The reason why Emperor Yuli wanted to build a princess's residence here was because of this small hill and crescent-shaped lake."

"Is there anything magical about this hill and lake?" Yao Xinran asked.

"It is said that when the crystallists surveyed the terrain, they saw this small hill and lake and said that amethyst might be born here," Yao Xing said.

"What is a Crystal Warrior?" Zhang Jianyun asked curiously, as this was the first time he had ever heard the term "Crystal Warrior."

"Crystal Masters are those who specialize in searching for crystals throughout the myriad worlds," Yao Xinran explained.

Beyond the hill lies a spacious playground, flanked by two screens.

"The entire mansion has 18 rooms, which is enough to support the establishment of the mansion," Yao Xing said.

The group then moved around the mansion, observing the rooms.

"How's it going? If you've seen enough, let's go see the next mansion," Yao Xing said.

"Brother Yun, what do you think of this mansion?" Yao Xinran asked Zhang Jianyun.

"Not bad," Zhang Jianyun said.

"How about we choose this mansion?" Yao Xinran asked.

"Why don't you take a closer look and compare them?"

"No, this is fine."

"Okay, I also think this place is nice."

"So, what should we name this mansion?"

"This is your residence; you name it."

"Is 'Cloud Domain' a good song?"

"Cloud Domain?"

Zhang Jianyun smiled and said, "The word 'domain' is a bit too broad. Let's use a different word."

"Then, what should we change it to?"

Zhang Jianyun thought about Xiaoshan and Crescent Lake, "Let's add March Prefecture."

"March Prefecture ~ March Prefecture ~"

"That's the name."

The next day, the imperial court issued its approval, acknowledging that Yao Xinran's journey across the country was a success.

Next, Yao Xinran will go to the ancestral temple of the Dayu Dynasty, "Hanshen Palace," to receive her vows and officially become a princess of the dynasty.

"Are you going back to Cangxi Town?"

Yao Xinran was shocked to learn that Zhang Jianyun was going to return to Cangxi Town.

"I can go to the Nine Star Guards and have you transferred to Kyoto."

"No need. The Nine Star Guards in Kyoto have heavy and stressful missions, and no freedom. It's not suitable for me."

"Then you can resign from your position as a Nine-Star Guard. I'll arrange a sinecure for you in the March Prefecture, and you can control all your time," Yao Xinran said.

Hearing this, Zhang Jianyun remained silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'm a man, and I find it hard to accept working in your household."

"What's so unacceptable about that? The eldest princess's husband works in his household, and in an important position at that," Yao Xinran said.

"Everyone has different ideas," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Okay, so when are you coming to Kyoto to keep me company?"

"No need to rush. True love lasts forever, regardless of how often we are together. I will come when the time is right," Zhang Jianyun said gently.

"I haven't given you a reward yet!" Yao Xinran said, somewhat flustered.

"I'll leave it with you for now, and you can give it back to me when I come to visit you."

"Okay, I'll keep them all for you," Yao Xinran said.

"Princess, you are about to establish your own residence. You should think more comprehensively from now on," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Yes, yes, I will consider everything carefully." Yao Xinran nodded emphatically.

"You don't need to overthink everything. That will exhaust you. Think things through clearly, and be easygoing about things as they are," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Yes, I understand."

"Okay, then I'm leaving," Zhang Jianyun said.

puff!

Yao Xinran threw herself into Zhang Jianyun's arms: "Without you, I feel like I won't be able to keep going."

"You underestimate yourself; you don't realize how strong you are."

"Am I strong?" Yao Xinran asked blankly.

"You wouldn't be where you are today if you weren't strong. But you don't need to be so strong in the future. You just need to be more thoughtful."

"No, I need to be stronger. Tingting and Yuzhen haven't traveled the world yet."

"I'm still here, at worst I'll go with them."

"No, they have to find and meet their own destiny."

After chatting for a while, Liu Dong came to a short distance in front of them and urged Yao Xinran to meet with some people so that they could build up their team.

"Remember to message me often." Yao Xinran raised the back of her hand.

"I'll text you every day," Zhang Jianyun said, his voice slightly raised.

"If you ever fail to send me a message, I'll fly to Cangxi Town and cause you trouble," Yao Xinran said loudly.

With reluctance, Yao Xinran disappeared from Zhang Jianyun's sight under Liu Dong's constant urging.

Standing there, Zhang Jianyun pondered how to use his hostility points to acquire a group of sword masters and have them join Yao Xinran's residence. This would put him at ease.

Thinking of this, he chased after the place where Yao Xinran disappeared.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!

After a quick run, Zhang Jianyun caught up with Yao Xinran.

"Why are you back?" Yao Xinran asked excitedly.

"I'll go with you to meet those people, otherwise I won't feel at ease," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Jianyun, what are you saying? All the people who came to apply were personally begged by me. These people won't work for you just because you're a princess," Liu Dong said, frowning.

"I'm not saying these people are anything special, I'm just worried about not being able to get them to join, so I wanted to come along and see for myself," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Alright, then you can come along. But since you haven't lived in Kyoto for long, you shouldn't say too much in front of these people, lest they think we're out of touch with Kyoto," Liu Dong advised.

"Don't worry, I can stay silent," Zhang Jianyun said.

"It's not that I shouldn't say anything, but I shouldn't say too much, because too much talk leads to mistakes," Liu Dong said with a smile.

Following them to the reception hall of the March Mansion, Zhang Jianyun, seeing a room full of talented people, suddenly abandoned his idea of ​​using hostility points to control them.

For the first time, he felt that even if he used hostility to control these people, he would not use them like he would his left and right arms. He would suffer a backlash. He even felt a sense of destruction, as if these people would choose to self-destruct after he used hostility to control them.

In an instant, Zhang Jianyun began to think: what was it that made these people have such emotions?

The reception room at this time was not in the usual arrangement, with two main seats in the center and two rows of seats on the left and right. Instead, it was arranged in the shape of a round table, with Yao Xinran still sitting in the very center.

Liu Dong only introduced Yao Xinran, but did not introduce the other heroes present.

Looking at the calm gazes cast upon her by the unfamiliar crowd, Yao Xinran instantly felt nervous, and all the opening remarks she had prepared in her mind vanished.

Seeing that Yao Xinran still didn't speak, Zhang Jianyun and Liu Fei became a little nervous.

"Thank you all for coming today, I'm truly grateful!"

"During my travels around the world, I witnessed all walks of life, gained a lot, and had many ideas born."

"In this world, demons run rampant, strange creatures abound, gods stand tall, nations wage war, and gangs fight each other. How cruel is the world we live in!"

As Yao Xinran spoke, the expressions of those present became more serious.

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"Gentlemen, I now establish my own government. I am willing to use my three-foot sword to strike down the bandits of the world, unite the people's wishes, accomplish great things for the world, and bring peace to the world."

"Gentlemen, our Great Yu Dynasty has been established for over three hundred years. Although each princess who established her own residence was not perfect, they all dedicated themselves to the cause of the people."

"My friends, the road ahead is right before us, and the journey is about to begin. I am willing to walk with you all until death do us part."

After Yao Xinran finished speaking, she looked into the distance, not daring to look at anyone present. She was genuinely worried that no one would choose to join her mansion.

"Princess, if you were to encounter injustice from the dynasty in the future, how would you deal with it?"

After a long silence, a young cultivator spoke up and asked a question.

Yao Xinran glanced nervously at the person who had asked the question, and after a moment of rapid thought, she said, "I will choose to become powerful so that the dynasty will have no chance to treat me unfairly."

After Yao Xinran finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

After a long while, a middle-aged man stood up.

"Princess, I am delighted by your invitation. I was thrilled to hear you speak today, but I need to go back and reflect for a while. Please forgive my departure." The middle-aged man said, bowing slightly to Yao Xinran before turning and slowly walking away.

Once the first person leaves, a second and a third will follow.

As she watched people leave one by one, Yao Xinran's heart pounded with anxiety.

Zhang Jianyun and Liu Dong were both very worried and began to fear that everyone would leave.

Time passed slowly, and finally, after a while, no one left.

Zhang Jianyun counted the remaining people; there were seven.

These seven people did not know each other, but they kept exchanging glances. No one spoke, but the atmosphere was getting more and more heated.

Seeing this scene, Yao Xinran opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to speak, and looked to Zhang Jianyun for help.

Zhang Jianyun shook her head at her, signaling her not to speak.

Yao Xinran instantly calmed down, stopped thinking about speaking, and began to think about how she would deal with the situation if everyone chose to leave.

While exchanging glances, those present began to seriously scrutinize Yao Xinran.

After her eyes met those of these people for a moment, Yao Xinran immediately looked into the distance, avoiding eye contact with them.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the remaining people stopped exchanging glances and fell silent.

Then, a young man spoke up.

"Princess, what kind of treatment will you give us?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Xinran was overjoyed and excitedly looked at Zhang Jianyun and Liu Dong, her face instantly turning red.

So Yao Xinran and Liu Dong began to discuss compensation with those who stayed.

Seeing this, Zhang Jianyun felt relieved. After exchanging a few glances with Yao Xinran, he quietly left.

As Zhang Jianyun walked out of the Sanyue Prefecture and onto the street, he saw an old man in white robes coming towards him.

After passing the old man in white, Zhang Jianyun turned around, wanting to take another look at him, but found that there was no one in white in the group.

Zhang Jianyun was somewhat surprised. The old man had disappeared?

After some thought, Zhang Jianyun went to buy a fine horse, rode it away from the capital, and came to a dense forest, where he summoned Mo Dun.

"You stay here, organize your forces, develop them secretly, protect the princess for me, and escape into the space if you encounter danger," Zhang Jianyun said.

"Rest assured, Master, I will protect the princess," Morton said firmly.

I believe you can do it.

Afterwards, Zhang Jianyun rode back to the capital to find a caravan heading to Lingzhou.

Before long, he found a caravan heading to Kaiyang City.

Find the caravan leader and ask to join him.

The caravan leader was a lean, middle-aged man. He looked at Zhang Jianyun and said, "Our caravan is about to depart. You've only just found me. I can't make any arrangements." "I don't need your protection. I just want to travel with you so I won't be lonely," Zhang Jianyun replied.

The team leader thought for a moment and said, "If you encounter danger on the road, our guards won't care whether you live or die."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of my own safety."

"Alright, you don't need our protection, you're just a fellow traveler. Then pay 200 silver coins."

Zhang Jianyun thought for a moment, "200 taels of silver isn't expensive, okay, I'll give it to you."

"It wasn't expensive to begin with. Although I won't have guards look after you, having an extra person will still slow us down. I can't just abandon you halfway, right?" the team leader said.

"That seems to make sense," Zhang Jianyun said with a smile.

They set off with the caravan to return to Lingzhou.

Along the way, the caravan encountered numerous attacks from demons and monsters, as well as attacks from bandits and mountain thieves.

The caravan easily dealt with the demons and monsters they encountered, but on two occasions they encountered bandits, and the caravan suffered heavy losses on both occasions.

Throughout the entire process, Zhang Jianyun only intervened once when he was surrounded and attacked by bandits, killing the bandits who were attacking him. The rest of the time, he just watched the two tigers fight.

More than ten days later, the mountain team arrived at a mountain peak and was attacked by bandits once again.

This time, the caravan suffered exceptionally heavy losses, with only about twenty guards remaining.

The team leader had to change the route and go to a nearby city to replenish the manpower.

Just as they were about to reach the nearest city, the caravan encountered an exceptionally powerful walnut monster, resulting in the complete annihilation of the caravan. Zhang Jianyun also hid in the system space.

After killing all the caravan members, the Nut Monster left without a word, as if he only wanted to kill and had no interest in the caravan's goods.

Zhang Jianyun emerged from the system space, looked at the caravan's wealth scattered on the ground, collected all the wealth into the system space, and then headed to the nearest city.

Having arrived at the city smoothly, Zhang Jianyun gazed at the words "Qingxia City" on the city gate for a long time, feeling that the three characters were written in a fresh and elegant style.

Upon entering the city, it was already late. Zhang Jianyun found an inn to rest and only began searching for caravans heading to Kaiyang City the next day.

After finding the caravan, they returned to Kaiyang City safely with it.

While still on his way back, Zhang Jianyun received a summons from the Kaiyang County Public Security Bureau, instructing him to meet Deng De upon his return.

Upon arriving in Kaiyang City, Zhang Jianyun first sought out Yang Changping to gauge the situation before heading to the county bureau.

Upon arriving at the county bureau, Zhang Jianyun, led by the clerk, went to Deng De's office.

"Master Zhang, please wait a moment. The commander is meeting with a gang leader and will be back in his office shortly."

I like the Ten Thousand Swords Master.