Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

Hidden Emperor Castle.

Atop the castle.

A figure stood pinned to the edge of the battlements, his robes whipping in the night wind.

He appeared to be in his fifties, with a gaunt face and high cheekbones. His narrowed eyes held a faint, dark red glow, making him look like a caged beast or a vicious bird of prey.

This was Xie Jinglan, an Elder of the Celestial Sword Sect, known in the Jianghu as the Sword Madman.

He narrowed his red-tinged eyes, staring fixedly into the dark wilderness southeast of the castle.

However, the night was too heavy, and the distant fields were overgrown with wild grass and tangled trees. Even with his exceptional vision, he could only see twenty to thirty zhang clearly; beyond that was just a blurry darkness.

At noon today.

Dian San and Dao Si, the Registered Disciples he had taken on two years ago, had come to him with unconcealed delight, reporting that they had spotted a suspicious person in Jiangkou County Town.

The entrance this person was searching for was possibly related to the secret chamber hidden by the Pig Emperor years ago.

A secret chamber!

At the time, a sharp light had exploded in Xie Jinglan’s eyes, and the biting Sword Qi around him had nearly burst from his body.

Hidden Emperor Castle was a fat prize. The Celestial Sword Sect had paid an enormous price back then, bribing officials high and low, just to get the Court’s tacit approval to launch an all-out assault on the castle and kill the Pig Emperor.

What they sought was not merely the astonishing annual profits from the Black Market inside the castle.

The underground intelligence network that the Pig Emperor had spent more than a decade of his life weaving, which covered the entirety of Jiangzhou, was also something the Celestial Sword Sect was determined to acquire.

If they could control this network, the Celestial Sword Sect’s reach would be ten times greater, allowing them to seize the initiative in many of Jiangzhou’s affairs.

Unfortunately, during the battle that broke the castle’s defenses, the Pig Emperor’s confidant, Gossip, managed to slip away in the chaos and vanish without a trace.

This priceless intelligence network became a kite with a severed string, and its many moles and secret agents fell silent.

Although they later tortured a few lower-level secret agents and even followed the leads to catch several more, the Pig Emperor had operated with extreme caution. All his secret agents were on single lines of contact, with none of them knowing the others.

Besides the late Pig Emperor himself, the only one who likely knew the full picture was the escaped Gossip.

How could the Celestial Sword Sect let the matter rest?

They pried one crucial piece of information from one of his dying confidants.

Within Hidden Emperor Castle, there was a top-secret location that likely housed a complete roster and the Tokens needed to contact the secret agents.

But the man hadn’t known its exact location.

The Celestial Sword Sect had turned the stone-built Hidden Emperor Castle practically upside down, yet they found no cavity large enough to hide a secret chamber of that size.

Ultimately, they could only speculate that the chamber was not within the castle walls, but underground.

And so, Xie Jinglan turned his attention to those in the Jianghu who specialized in subterranean work.

Dian San and Dao Si, a pair of tomb-raiding brothers with a small reputation in Jiangzhou, came to his attention.

The two brothers were indeed highly skilled, and they were eager to find a patron and leave their criminal past behind. They seized the chance to make a demand: they wanted to join the Celestial Sword Sect.

Xie Jinglan scoffed internally.

In the Jianghu, grave robbing was an act even more despised than common thievery, a deed that easily forged mortal enemies.

He, Xie Jinglan, was called the Sword Madman because the Celestial Sword Sect’s Swordsmanship emphasized channeling emotions into the sword. Extreme emotions created extreme sword techniques.

His own temperament was extreme, and his Swordsmanship followed the path of fury. He fought with a berserker’s frenzy, his Sword Momentum wild and violent, which was how he earned his name.

But this did not mean he was a true madman who acted without regard for the consequences.

’If I were to formally accept these two grave robbers into the sect, what would become of the Celestial Sword Sect’s reputation?’

So, he only granted them the title of Registered Disciple and made them a grand, empty promise.

Even so, Dian San and Dao Si were overjoyed and spared no effort in their search for the underground chamber.

Yet after six months of digging and searching around Hidden Emperor Castle, they had accomplished nothing but collapsing a dilapidated section of the wall.

Afraid they might damage the castle’s foundations next, Xie Jinglan had no choice but to call a halt to their efforts.

’So the secret chamber really is outside the castle... No wonder we couldn’t find it all those years ago!’

Xie Jinglan narrowed his red-tinged eyes. Understanding dawned on him, and a fiery, unyielding determination surged through his heart.

Now, he stood watch at the castle’s highest point, a patient hunter waiting for his prey to walk completely into the trap before he delivered the killing blow.

Time trickled by.

The warning flare he had arranged for Dian San and Dao Si to set off had yet to appear.

Xie Jinglan was not impatient.

The Celestial Sword Sect had already waited over two years. A little more time made no difference.

He had to wait for them to find and enter the secret chamber, to retrieve the most critical items. Only then could he strike, ensuring a flawless victory.

Outside the castle, an inescapable net had long been cast.

The main routes leading out had been sealed by two Divine Hall Realm Elders and their elite disciples.

He himself was positioned at the central hub, ready to provide support at a moment’s notice.

In his eyes, tonight’s infiltrators were trapped birds in a cage, with no hope of escape.

Unless... they had a Grandmaster among them. And it would have to be a Void Transformation Grandmaster to even have a chance.

Xie Jinglan scoffed internally.

’Grandmasters aren’t cabbages; they don’t just pop up everywhere.’

’Besides, if it really were a Grandmaster, they would have come and taken what they wanted long ago. Why wait two years?’

The night deepened. As 3:00 AM approached, the clamor from within the castle, which had lasted half the night, began to die down.

The Black Market held within the castle tonight was drawing to a close.

Warriors from all corners of the Jianghu, their transactions complete, began to depart in twos and threes.

The trading area, once bustling with people and ablaze with light, quieted down with visible speed.

A strange unease began to surface in Xie Jinglan’s heart.

The appointed time had passed, yet there was no signal. The stretch of darkness to the southeast was utterly silent, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Master."

A low voice spoke from behind him.

A man of about twenty-five or twenty-six, clad in green robes with a cold expression and a Longsword on his back, had silently ascended to the top of the castle.

It was Luo Hanfeng, Xie Jinglan’s Closed-door Disciple and a true heir of the Celestial Sword Sect, known in the Jianghu as the "Little Sword Madman."

He took a few steps forward and whispered, "It is nearly 3:00 AM, and there is still no activity. Should I have a few junior brothers sneak over and investigate?"

Xie Jinglan’s brows knitted together.

’Did Dian San and Dao Si act carelessly and get found out? Have they already been dealt with?’

’Or... did those two opportunists betray me for a better offer?’

Either way, it meant his carefully laid trap may have already spun out of his control.

The night wind swept past.

Xie Jinglan hesitated no longer. He nodded, his voice as cold as ice. "Hanfeng, take some men and approach yourself. Be careful."

"Yes, Master!"

Luo Hanfeng’s figure flickered. He swept down from the rooftop like a nighthawk, vanishing into the darkness below.

...

「Underground.」

A secret chamber, roughly ten zhang square.

Its four walls were built from heavy blocks of bluestone.

From the stone ceiling, two egg-sized Luminous Pearls cast a soft glow.

Three pine-oil torches, wedged into the walls at an angle, crackled softly.

"Boss, don’t just stand there reading! Come give us a hand. This gold... there must be seven or eight thousand taels of it. And all these secret orders! Good heavens, we’ll work ourselves to death moving all this."

Bai San and Gossip were frantically stuffing the contents of several open wooden chests in the center of the chamber into burlap sacks they had brought.

Inside the chests, gleaming gold ingots shimmered dazzlingly in the torchlight.

Beside the chests were several small boxes containing Tokens of various shapes and materials, as well as a number of sealed Wax Pills.

The clinking of metal made a heavy, muffled sound.

Bai San shot a glance at Chen Li, who was standing calmly under a torch in the corner, flipping through a thread-bound book. "Boss, we need to hurry!" he urged. "What if those bastards from the Celestial Sword Sect realize something’s wrong and block the tunnel we used to get in? We’ll be trapped like turtles in a jar, with no way out!"

Chen Li raised his gaze, looked at Bai San, and said evenly, "Let them block it. We aren’t going back the way we came. What’s the rush?"

"Huh?"

Bai San froze, nearly dropping the gold ingot in his hand. "Not the way we came? Didn’t Old Bao say the other tunnel leads into Hidden Emperor Castle? Isn’t that more dangerous? We’d be walking right into the lion’s den!"

Chen Li didn’t explain, just turned his gaze back to the book.

But Gossip, who was standing nearby, seemed to have an epiphany. He couldn’t help but exclaim, "Boss, brilliant. Truly brilliant! A classic feint... misdirection at its finest! It’s a wonderful plan!"

Bai San was still confused. "Old Bao, spell it out for me!"

Gossip quickly explained, "Brother Bai, think about it. Since those two bastards Dian San and Dao Si are lapdogs for the Celestial Sword Sect, who knows how many eyes are watching for us outside.

"We can’t escape their watch, no matter when we leave. But what about *inside* Hidden Emperor Castle?"

He couldn’t help but grin as he continued, "The Black Market is running, people are coming and going, it’s a total mess of friend and foe. They have to worry about catching us outside *and* defending their own turf. They can’t possibly have the manpower for both.

"The ones left on guard inside are likely just ordinary disciples and Stewards with limited strength. If we pop out from within, catching them by surprise, and then slip away in the chaos, it’s actually much safer. It’s the old ’hiding in plain sight’ trick."

Realization dawned on Bai San’s face. "Hey, that makes sense! The boss is always two steps ahead!"

A short while ago, after the Dian San and Dao Si brothers had finished digging the tunnel, they had been in a hurry to leave.

Their behavior immediately aroused Chen Li’s suspicion.

Without batting an eye, he had quietly used A Dream of Millet Porridge on them.

After a brief interrogation, the truth surfaced.

The two brothers were actually Outer Disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect and, moreover, Registered Disciples of Xie Jinglan—the Sword Madman, the Elder and Chief Steward of Hidden Emperor Castle.

They had taken the job from Bai San only to immediately report it to their master, Xie Jinglan.

Xie Jinglan had instructed them to feign cooperation and to send a signal once they located the secret chamber.

The Celestial Sword Sect would lay an inescapable net, making absolutely sure that Chen Li and his two companions could not escape.

When he learned of this, Bai San had broken out in a cold sweat, his face turning deathly pale.

When Chen Li’s gaze had fallen on him, he dropped to his knees with a THUD and swore to the heavens, "Boss! As the gods are my witness, if I’d known those two bastards were dogs of the Celestial Sword Sect, I would never have gone looking for them. I just thought they were skilled and would save us some work... I honestly had no idea about their other identity!"

Chen Li watched him for a moment but did not use A Dream of Millet Porridge.

From what he knew of Bai San, the man was slick, lecherous, greedy, and afraid of death, but the chance that he would betray him was extremely low.

This blunder was most likely caused by his own laziness, a product of not wanting to do the digging himself.

Besides, he himself had also been too complacent.

’If I had gone in person to test them with A Dream of Millet Porridge back then, this whole mess could have been avoided.’

"Boss, so... are we still going down there?"

Bai San had asked cautiously.

Chen Li’s gaze had swept over the dark mouth of the tunnel.

His purpose here was twofold: first, the fortune left behind in Hidden Emperor Castle, and second, the network of secret agents the Pig Emperor had established. He was determined to have them both.

Besides, the one guarding Hidden Emperor Castle was merely a Grandmaster. What did he have to fear?

He had activated his Power of the Divine Soul again, cleanly and decisively ending the lives of Dian San and Dao Si.

Such liabilities were better off dead.

Then, he’d had Gossip lead the way, and the three of them entered the passage.