The Four Noble Clans

As the four carriages went their separate ways, Lord Yan was still seated in his throne, quietly pondering over what he had just learned. Suddenly, his son, Yan Lang, spoke up.

"Father, I'm... I'm going to rest in my room", he said meekly.

Looking at his son, he sighed and stood up to go as well.

"Sure, make sure to leave with your guards, Lang'er."

"Ye-yes, father."

Lord Yan didn't spare another glance at his son before going. On one end, he was happy to see his son no longer causing trouble but... now he had become quite pathetic.

"Haah, damn it, a disappointment no matter what happens to him. Just where did I go wrong with my son?"

Sighing, he retired to his quarters, sitting behind a desk. Looking around, the city lord stared at a painting of a beautiful woman. Most likely, it was a painting of his wife.

"Ruijing, do you think that I am a bad father? What would you do? What should I do?" he asked the painting, looking at it longingly.

Unfortunately, it didn't respond back to him. His expression seemed to drop as he looked down at his desk quietly.

He lingered in those thoughts before moving on.

"The four Noble Clans: Wei, Jin, Xu, and Chen... To think that they've grown to such power, especially with those four geniuses of theirs. I need to find some sort of backing. It would be great if I could meet that expert but if not, I'll need to find someone else", he muttered.

Lord Yan was no idiot, he knew that they had power and that his position was threatened but what could he do? After all, his own son went from being an uncontrollable menace to a trembling coward. Who would want that as the new city lord?

"Maybe... I could contact a martial sect. I wonder if any of my juniors have any connection to one. Those clans might be powerful but none of them have the support of a sect. If I remember correctly, the Wei Clan's Wei Wu is making preparations to enter Clear Sky Sect. I have to find a force of that same caliber."

Thinking this, he grabbed a new piece of paper, writing a letter to send.

This city was his and he wouldn't let go of it so easily.

Things were going to be more turbulent and it was only going to get worse from here. Especially as the city was within Xue Lan's sight, she stopped in the middle of her journey to look at it from afar.

"So this is what it looks like from the outside, I never did have the chance to explore", she said to herself.

Si Xiang City wasn't the largest city but it wasn't small either. It was one of the dozens of other cities within the Qing Kingdom. That much she knew.

Looking at it, she watched open gates, seeing the streams of people coming through.

"I've always wanted to do it, see the world. instead, I chose to settle down and have a family. I don't regret doing that but now, I can do as I please. I don't have to go in. Though it's strange, I feel nothing now. The pain of losing my own husband and child, where did it go? Now I just... I just want to kill."

The red in her eyes glowed just a tad. Her desire for the blood crept up just a bit but she had to hold back.

"I probably shouldn't, I don't want to become a target by the Four Noble Clans just yet."

That much she knew, after all, who wouldn't know about the Four Noble Clans?

Each one controlled a portion of their city and the four geniuses were practically living on gold spoons. If it weren't for Lord Yan, perhaps they would've fought for control over the city.

"Hm, what was it? Jin, Wei, and Chen have their young masters while the Xu Clan has a young miss. What were their names again? Jin Shan, Wei Wu, Chen Bao, and Xu Jiu, I think" she thought carefully, trying to remember.

"Any one of them could probably kill me, let alone all four, or even their clans. If I kill them, Their clan will just hunt me down. So... I have to be stronger, strong enough to destroy their clans. But that means that I'll have to kill more. I... don't even know how strong I am."

It had only been a few days since she had awakened as a cultivator and there was still much that she didn't know.

"There must be some sort of book that will give me what I want, it's probably in the city, maybe one of those stores."

Having lived in the city, she knew where the stores selling cultivation materials would be. Luckily for her, she recently came across quite a bit of money.

Knowing what her next move was, she made her way toward the city, waiting until it was nighttime to sneak in. It was simple for her now, all Xue Lan had to do was get over the wall. And so, she ran up the side of it, quietly landing on top before dropping down into the city before the guards even noticed.

As she did, she quickly checked her surroundings to see if anyone had seen her before making her way through the side streets.

She didn't enter the main roads yet, making her way through one of those said "stores" using the alleys.

"That one seems good enough."

Eyeing one of the stores, Xue Lan swiftly moved through the streets, trying her best not to be noticed. As luck would have it, a drunkard bumped into her.

"Woah there, such a beauty! Are you here to give me a good time? Hehehe."

He was sloppily dressed and smelt of sweat and wine, no doubt this man had drunk more than his fill. Leaning onto her, there was a stupid grin on his face as he reached and groped her chest, feeling the cold metal armor.

But as he looked up, a shiver went down his spine as he was met with a pair of piercing red eyes. He tried to back off but she grabbed him by the shoulder, nearly crushing it under her grip.

"Are you sure you want me to do that? It'll be a night that you'll never forget."

She smiled and looked down at him. She was taller by a few inches but that difference was put to full use here.

"I- I- uh, I think I've had too much to drink. I'll take my leave now, sorry for bothering you."

He sobered up almost immediately, recognizing the danger that he was in. Her stare lingered for a few more seconds before she let go and left, quickly entering the store before anything else.

The drunkard merely looked at her with fear but certainly, he couldn't hide the lust within his pants. Suddenly, he heard murmuring and giggling, looking around to see people pointing and laughing. Realizing where he was and what he was doing, the embarrassment came and he quickly covered himself and ran.

As for Xue Lan, she entered the store without any more interruptions.

It was a large store but not as extravagant as other stores. Rather, it resembled more like a library than anything with shelves and shelves worth of books.

There were very few people in the store, a stark contrast to the busy streets of the night markets. The woman stood by the doorway, trying not to be overwhelmed by the store. The establishment itself was large and spacious, there were hundreds if not thousands of books for sale.

She was silent, looking at the first floor before gazing up at the upper levels.

"There's five of them, each one must be for each Realm."

She realized that there were very few people on the second floor while the third, fourth, and fifth floors were empty.

"Hm, since I didn't have too much trouble with the Azure Flag group, I should be higher than the Fifth Stage of the Mortal Realm. Am I perhaps at the Spirit Realm?"

Thinking this, she headed for the stairs at the back of the store, it was a spiral staircase that connected all five levels. Walking up to it, she took the first step and felt a powerful force weighing down on her.

"Ugh, what is this? Restrictions? Does this mean that I'm not at the Spirit Realm yet?" she thought.

Though she wanted to go further, she felt several stares at her and retreated.

"I'm not here to test my limits, I just need to gather information."

Reminding herself of this, Xue Lan began to walk through the isles, looking at the titles of the ocean of books before her.

"Yellow Thunder Sword."

"Lotus Sabre Technique."

"Iron Bull Body Cultivation."

"Sealed Clouds Meditation."

Despite the interesting names, none of them were what she was looking for. They were all more specialized, not some generic guide that had the basic information that she lacked. Even worse, there didn't even seem to be anyone around to ask for help.

"Hah, at this rate, I might be here for a while."

But as she thought this, she noticed a title that seemed useful.

"Compendium of Cultivation?"