Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The door to the main hall on the fourth floor of Qianyang Tower was ajar, and a faint sound of wind breaking could be heard from inside.

Yi Yang was standing in the center of the main room, his body slightly hunched, his hands pressing down in a relaxed manner, performing an extremely slow stance.

His official robes, befitting a candidate for chief eunuch, were casually draped over the back of a chair; he wore only a faded linen jacket. Sweat streamed down the wrinkles of his neck, leaving dark streaks on his back.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Bang, bang, bang." Three knocks on the door, the force neither too light nor too heavy.

Yi Yang didn't lift his eyelids, exhaled a breath of stale air, and slowly closed his stance. "Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Zhao Gang's face, always carrying a touch of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), peeked in, grinning. "Old man, practicing?"

"I've got nothing better to do." Yi Yang straightened up, picked up his coat draped over the back of the chair, and slowly buttoned it up. "What is it?"

"Great news!" Zhao Gang strode into the house, closing the door behind him. He lowered his voice, his smile widening, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Your methods are truly remarkable."

Yi Yang sat down in the armchair, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and casually said, "Speak clearly."

"What else could it be?" Zhao Gang pulled up a stool, sat down, rested his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward, saying, "I heard that old bastard Ye Yang fell three days ago! Just the night before last, the people from the Martial Law Hall dragged him out of bed and took down all his managers and accountants!"

Yi Yang held his teacup and blew on the foam. "Oh? What did you find out?"

"What did they find?" Zhao Gang slapped his thigh, his voice rising a fraction of an inch. "They found a mountain of problems! Falsely reporting losses, colluding with outsiders to resell pills—the deficits alone on paper amount to at least several thousand taels! I heard they even found several unopened boxes of high-grade pills in the cellar of his house, all from our Sky Patrol Division!"

He stared at Yi Yang, his eyes full of admiration, and said, "Now it's all over the place, saying that Deputy Chief Steward Qin handled such a brilliant case so soon after taking office. He's got a tough hand and a sharp eye. The people in the Martial Law Hall all give him a thumbs up when they talk about it."

Yi Yang took a sip of tea, his face expressionless: "That's Deputy Chief Steward Qin's skill, what does it have to do with me?"

"Hey!" Zhao Gang laughed, pointing at Yi Yang with his finger. "Old man, don't pretend with me. Who is Ye Yang? He's been operating in Qianyang Tower for so many years, his roots run so deep. If you hadn't given your approval, would Qin Ju have been able to take over those shady debts so easily?"

He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and whispered, "I heard from some rumors that on the day of the incident, Lord Yi, the master of Qianyang Tower, personally led the people from the Martial Law Hall to ambush Ye Yang in the alley. He caught him red-handed and apprehended him on the spot."

"You're well-informed." Yi Yang put down his teacup, neither confirming nor denying.

"How can you survive in this little corner of the world if you can't hear well?" Zhao Gang chuckled. "But you played this move brilliantly. You let Qin Ju take some of the credit, passed the hot potato to the Martial Law Hall, and hid in the background yourself. You got rid of Ye Yang, a thorn in your side, without directly confronting the Li family."

"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!"

Yi Yang leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest, and said nonchalantly, "I'm just following the rules. If I find a problem, I report it to the relevant authorities. As for how to investigate and how to judge it, that's the business of the Martial Law Hall."

"Yes, yes, rules, rules." Zhao Gang nodded in agreement, but his expression clearly said, "You can say whatever you want, I understand anyway."

He rubbed his hands together. "But then again, with Ye Yang gone, the Li family must be unhappy. Although they can't find fault with you openly, behind the scenes..."

"Secretly?" Yi Yang raised his eyelids. "Secretly, Qianyang Tower is the property of the Sky Patrol Bureau, and I am the candidate chief supervisor of the Sky Patrol Bureau. If the Li family feels uncomfortable, they are welcome to come to the Sky Patrol Bureau to reason with them."

Zhao Gang paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. After laughing, he wiped his face and said with a more serious expression, "But to be honest, old man, your 'using the opponent's strength against them' technique is masterful. Now, everyone in Qianyang Tower has been disciplined and cleaned up. Your reputation is well established. From now on, the income from this tower will truly belong to you."

Yi Yang didn't reply, but simply picked up his teacup again.

Zhao Gang didn't care and continued, "With Ye Yang's crooked tree fallen, the remaining small fry can't cause any trouble. Even if the Li family wants to get involved, they'll have to think twice. After all, Qin Ju is a rising star now, and he has Director Chen backing him."

The main room quieted down, with only the faint sounds of the street market coming from outside the window.

After a long while, Yi Yang finally spoke and asked, "You didn't come here today just to praise me, did you?"

Zhao Gang's smile faded slightly. He looked around and lowered his voice, "Nothing can be hidden from you, sir. There is indeed something else."

"explain."

Zhao Gang leaned forward, his voice almost inaudible. "Do you remember those top four students after the quarterly exams?"

"I remember." Yi Yang nodded to indicate that he hadn't forgotten: "Qin Ju, Wang Qiongyu, Tang Ji, Zhao Tong. Didn't they have a chance to go to Jinyang Temple?"

"Yes, there is an opportunity. But we can't go directly; we have to overcome a hurdle first." Zhao Gang held up one finger. "The two masters at Jinyang Temple have given us a challenge."

Yi Yang looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"The task is to find someone," Zhao Gang uttered four words. "Find Wang Gongqin, the Grand Deacon of the Nine Evil Cults, who is hiding near Yunlin County."

Yi Yang's eyes flickered slightly, and the hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

"The first person to find his trail and confirm his whereabouts will pass," Zhao Gang continued. "I only heard about this a couple of days ago. Those four gentlemen are really putting in their best effort now."

Yi Yang put down his teacup, his fingers unconsciously tracing the rim. "So, all this commotion lately is because they're looking for Wang Gongqin?"

"It's more than just a big commotion!" Zhao Gang clicked his tongue. "It's practically turned the entire Yunlin County upside down. Zhao Tong of the Sanyuan Society mobilized all the trusted informants within the society; Wang Qiongyu of the Wang family even spread the word that the terms he offered were incredibly tempting."

"What are the conditions?"

"Whoever can help him find clues about Wang Gongqin, he'll take them into the Wang family, give them a managerial position, and their descendants will enjoy the Wang family's protection and have the opportunity to learn the Wang family's traditional martial arts." Zhao Gang said, a strange expression on his face. "Old man, don't you think these conditions are tempting?"

After a moment of silence, Yi Yang said doubtfully, "Isn't this just being a dog for the Wang family? How can that be considered tempting?"

"A dog?" Zhao Gang scoffed. "Old man, your idea won't get you anywhere in this county. The Wang family is one of the three great families of Yunlin County, with roots firmly planted for two or three hundred years. Countless people would kill to be their dogs, but none have the connections. Once you're in the Wang family, you'll have a powerful backer. You won't have to worry about food, clothing, or cultivation resources. It's far better than licking blood off the front lines outside."

He shook his head. "In this world, being a dog with an owner is sometimes much better than being a rootless savage."

Yi Yang didn't speak, he just looked at Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and touched his nose. "Of course, I don't care. I'm used to being free."

"You didn't come to see me just to talk about this, did you?" Yi Yang steered the conversation back on track.

"No, no." Zhao Gang waved his hand, his expression becoming somewhat subtle. "The matter of finding Wang Gongqin was originally a competition among the four of them, and had nothing to do with us small fry. But that's where the problem lies."

"What's the problem?"

"They searched for more than ten days, mobilized so many people, and even raided several bandit strongholds that colluded with the Nine Evils, but they still couldn't find a trace of Wang Gongqin." Zhao Gang lowered his voice, "Wang Gongqin seems to have vanished into thin air."

Yi Yang frowned almost imperceptibly.

"But just two days ago, we got a lead." Zhao Gang changed the subject. "It wasn't them who found it themselves. It was Tang Ji, the former deputy chief of the Sky Patrol Division. One of his guards accidentally bumped into a suspicious remnant of the Nine Evils Cult in the mountains. After following him, he discovered that the person seemed to be delivering supplies to some important figure."

"Tang Ji felt this was an opportunity, but he couldn't handle it alone, so he wanted to bring Qin Ju, who was also in the Sky Patrol Division, along with him. After discussing it, the two felt it was a safe bet and decided to join forces."

"But somehow the news leaked out." Zhao Gang shrugged. "Wang Qiongyu and Zhao Tong got the news almost at the same time. The four of them, from four different factions, were unwilling to give in to each other. In the end, they had no choice but to temporarily unite and go to the bandit stronghold that Tang Ji had discovered."

"And then?" Yi Yang asked.

"And then?" Zhao Gang chuckled. "Then they messed up. They led their men in a grand procession into the mountain stronghold, shouting and fighting for a whole day. They did find a high-ranking deacon of the Nine Evil Sect, but once they found him, they discovered that it wasn't Wang Gongqin at all, but another high-ranking deacon, and..."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further: "He's at the sixth level of Qi and Blood."

Yi Yang tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest.

"Sixth level of Qi and Blood!" Zhao Gang exclaimed. "The strongest of those four, Qin Ju and Wang Qiongyu, were only at the fourth level of Qi and Blood perfection. Even with the four of them and the skilled fighters they brought, they still couldn't defeat him, suffering heavy casualties. In the end, it was Master Jingyuan from Jinyang Temple who arrived and finally captured that Grand Steward."

The main room fell silent again. The noise outside the window seemed to have faded away as well.

Zhao Gang took a sip of his now-cold tea and smacked his lips. "Now that we've caught the guy, trouble's started too."

"What's the trouble?"

"Ownership," Zhao Gang uttered two words. "This person was discovered and attacked by four people together, and in the end, it was the master from Jinyang Temple who captured him. Whose credit is it? Who takes it to hand over? This is going to cause a lot of trouble."

He stood up and brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes. "Alright, old man, this doesn't concern us much. I just came to let you know. I heard that the head steward is being escorted back to the county town in a couple of days."

Yi Yang also stood up. "Thank you for informing me."

"Don't mention it." Zhao Gang walked to the door, turned back and smiled. "You go ahead with your work, I have some things to take care of. I'll find you for a drink another day."

"it is good."

Zhao Gang pushed open the door and went out, his footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Yi Yang stood by the window, watching the flow of people coming and going on Qianyang Street below. His gaze passed through the bustling crowd and landed on the hazy horizon in the distance.

He stretched out his finger and gently brushed away the dust that had accumulated on the window frame.

Wang Gongqin, where are you? I can't get rid of this heartache until you get rid of me!