Jiang Chen remembered by searching Ning Chen’s memory that the Ning Mansion was composed of east, south, west and north courtyards.
The east courtyard was where he was then. It was also where the successor lived.
The other three courtyards belonged to his father’s brothers, namely his uncles.
The one who lived in the west courtyard was his second uncle, but he was only Ning Qingyu’s half brother, and they didn’t get along well.
Ning Chen’s grandpa was in charge of the whole Ning Mansion. Nevertheless, since the events in Black Dragon City, he had stopped meeting people and had been excusing his absence by claiming that he was sick.
Now those from the west courtyard were coming in a threatening manner.
“Hello, aunt!”
A 17 or 18-year-old young man in a white silken robe let himself in without knocking. He was a tall upright figure, quite good looking, although he seemed very mean when his lips were pressed into a thin line.
“Ning Jian, are you forcing your way in here with your people?” Gao Yue coldly and majestically asked.
Jiang Chen, who was next to her, could instantly tell that she was not just an average woman. But Ning Jian did not. He started to chuckle. “Aunt, the east courtyard is where the Ning Mansion’s successor lives. Since uncle was caught and imprisoned and Ning Chen is disabled, there is no one left in your branch. Shouldn’t you move away from this place?”
“Move?” Jiang Chen couldn’t believe such a thing had happened when he had just arrived here.
This Ning Jian grew up with Ning Chen, but they didn’t get along. He wanted to compete with Ning Chen in almost everything.
Even if he couldn’t win, he would just try to insult Ning Chen with mean words.
“It is not up to you to decide,” Gao Yue answered.
“Aunt, this is a simple matter. Uncle isn’t here. And it’s impossible for grandpa to pass on the position of lord to this disabled man. Even if you give birth to another son, it has to be uncle’s biological son. However, he is being imprisoned in the Black Dragon Pool now. ”
“How dare you!”
He was touching her sore spot in such a careless way. Gao Yue suddenly stood up and waved her sleeve. A strong wind started and swept over the ground.
Ning Jian was unable to withstand it. He was blown out of the door.
“Aunt, you…” Ning Jian got scared. He had always seen Gao Yue as an ordinary woman. He had never thought that she had such abilities.
Jiang Chen was surprised, too. According to his memory, his mother had never acted like this before.
She is at least in the Mind Wander State. Jiang Chen had never practiced, but he could tell.
No matter which plane you were in, if an ordinary being wanted to gain strength, he had to take in the spirits of the universe and accumulate them in his body to get stronger and stronger.
In this process there was a system to differentiate various states of strength.
In the Nine Heavens Continent, the best known were the Condensing Qi State, the Gathering Yuan State, the Mind Wander State and the Reaching Heaven State.
The Condensing Qi State was where everyone starts. In this state you needed to gather the spirits of the universe, convert them to genuine qi and store it in you. There were nine levels. The highest level is the Cloud Nine, where your genuine qi will be boiling. In just one more step, you will achieve the Gathering Yuan State.
“It’s adult business. You don’t get to talk about it! If you really want us out, ask your father to come!” Gao Yue was teaching him a lesson without showing any mercy.
However Ning Jian didn’t leave. He rolled his eyes and then said, “Aunt, maybe my attitude is not good enough. But did I say anything wrong? Even if you kill me, the east courtyard is still doomed to sink.”
This was a malicious comment. Gao Yue didn’t know how to retort. Her shoulders were slightly shivering.
Jiang Chen knew it was time for him to do something. He got off the bed and shouted, “Ning Jian, you don’t get to decide whether I am disabled or not.”
“Ning Chen, you are awake! Your holy pulse was robbed. Your remaining pulse isn’t strong enough to support your practice. You are doomed. Are you still able to achieve anything?”
Without giving Jiang Chen any chance to speak, he continued, “I am now in Cloud Seven of the Condensing Qi State. You used to be in Cloud Nine. But now, you are no higher than the Cloud Two!”
Ning Chen achieved Cloud Nine before, but after his pulse was robbed, he had lost much of his genuine qi; as a result, he was only in Cloud Two now.
“This is only temporary. No matter what state the east courtyard is in, you don’t get to clamor here!” Jiang Chen said in rage.
Ning Jian got angry, but suddenly burst into laughter. He said in a cunning manner, “It will be the winter hunt in a fortnight. You are already an adult and will have to take part in it. But with your current situation, people won’t know whether you are disabled or not until then.”
“Oh, really? Let’s wait and see.” Jiang Chen didn’t intend to beat him in words, but expected him to leave as soon as possible.
“You just never say uncle!” Ning Jian curled his lips and finally left. He didn’t want to rush. Just like what he had said, the winter hunt was about to come.
That was when the show would begin.
Jiang Chen was a 16-year-old man now. If everything went well, he would take part in his first winter hunt.
However, just as Ning Jian had said, his current situation was no better than that of a disabled man.
It would be quite dangerous if he couldn’t achieve Cloud Six of the Condensing Qi State.
As soon as Ning Jian left, Gao Yue sat down, fatigued.
“Mother, don’t worry. There’s no way I would give away the East Courtyard.” Jiang Chen was watching his mother’s face while he spoke, and he felt confused.
Gao Yue found that her son had changed a lot, as if he had grown up just in one night.
But it made sense. After such a misfortune, he had to grow up quickly, Gao Yue thought bitterly.
“Mother, don’t worry. I will break father out of prison,” Jiang Chen said again.
Gao Yue’s eyes opened wide. She couldn’t believe what she had heard and looked over at him. What she saw in her son’s face was a firmness that she had never seen before.
Jiang Chen’s current body was very weak. His state had been lowered to Cloud Two of the Condensing Qi State.
But it didn’t matter, since Jiang Chen wasn’t the person he once was any more.
He was from the Over Cloud Palace of the Sacred Zone, where there were countless precious books. He had everything in his mind. He made an effort to memorize things that he couldn’t make use of only to know their strong and weak points, so that he could offer help to others when they had to fight.
He had never thought that one day he would be able to practice!
…
The Ning Mansion wasn’t simply a mansion with four walls. It covered the whole mountain.
The location of the four courtyards corresponded to their names.
At this moment, Ning Jian had returned to the west courtyard. He was talking to his father, the lord of the west courtyard, about what had happened.
“I am too useless to drive them away.”
“I didn’t really expect that you could make this happen. Let it go. My intention is to sound your grandpa out. But it’s quite surprising that that woman has practiced.”
Ning Tianxiong was a big, middle-aged man. He was wearing a fur robe, and he had a square face, a patchy beard, and bright eyes.
He didn’t realize how powerful Gao Yue was. After all, his son was only in the Condensing Qi State, so anyone was able to blow him away.
“To sound grandpa out?” Ning Jian looked at his father, full of curiosity.
“There is no one left in the east courtyard. Of course your grandpa will expect me to inherit the Ning Mansion for the sake of the whole family. But he is afraid that people will gossip and those of the east courtyard will be bitterly disappointed. That’s why he locks himself in his room and refuses to meet people. In a situation like this, it will be perfect if the east courtyard can petition from their side.”
Ning Jian got angry and said, “But it looks like Ning Chen won’t give up.”
“So what? We will take over the east courtyard’s property little by little. It is all the Nings’ property, so your grandpa won’t mind. Speaking of Ning Chen, in a fortnight it will be the winter hunt. You must behave well and make that Ning Chen ashamed of himself. Then I will take the opportunity to petition your grandpa. There will be no problem for us to move into the east courtyard then.”
“Trust me, father. I can guarantee you success.”
Ning Jian was very confident. Ning Chen was a threat to him no more.