(Yingxiu's classmates are confirmed safe... Thank you, thank you.)

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...

The voice from the thatched hut was filled with irony and a near-arrogant self-importance, harshly criticizing Qing Kingdom’s lofty siblings, saying, "Imprisonment? Only an idiot would believe that. These two siblings, one playing god and the other playing ghost, have been at it for over a decade. Why would they suddenly fall out? Even if they do, there has to be a reason... The reasons the Qing court is throwing out now, do they even count as reasons?"

Yun Zhilan's knees were aching. He knew his master was happily rambling at the moment, clearly forgetting that he was still kneeling. He rubbed his knees and got up himself, his face full of wry amusement, thinking that his master's life seemed "absurd" most of the time, but he always had a compelling patience on major issues, and occasional strokes of genius in small details – like his youngest disciple.

But now, his master's words were clearly becoming absurd again. Did he really think that the major event in Qing Kingdom's capital was purely because the Qing Emperor and the Eldest Princess had too much time on their hands, and were putting on a show for the world at the expense of the royal family's reputation?

Yun Zhilan couldn't believe this, no matter what. He said a few words to express his opinion.

The Grandmaster in the sword hut fell silent, seeming to realize that his judgment did indeed have some problems. However, in his heart, the people of Qing Kingdom, especially the royal family, were undoubtedly the most vile, shameless, filthy, depraved, and scheming creatures under heaven. It wasn't easy for him to believe that such a large rift had really appeared in the Qing royal family.

He subconsciously thought, was Qing Kingdom preparing to pin some blame on him again?

This realization made him very angry and disheartened, so he couldn't really listen to Yun Zhilan's words.

As the leading disciple of the Sigu Jian lineage in Dongyi, Yun Zhilan, aside from accepting the Eldest Princess's invitation to Qing Kingdom twice without success, had spent the rest of his time representing his master's will, working with the Dongyi City Lord to maintain the peace of the city and the surrounding small countries. He was much more astute in political matters than that Grandmaster, known as an idiot. Since the incident in Qing Kingdom's capital, he had keenly sensed that there seemed to be an opportunity appearing before Dongyi City.

If he could seize this opportunity, the biggest threat to Dongyi City could be eliminated, and they would no longer have to be like a tree straddling a wall, maneuvering and sacrificing between the powerful figures of Qing Kingdom.

Especially the fact that the Eldest Princess hadn't died strengthened Yun Zhilan's judgment, and he repeated it to his master with extreme sincerity.

The thatched hut fell silent again. Sigu Jian didn't say anything, only remaining silent. After a long time, the voice slowly said, "We can't interfere now. Who knows if it's a trap?"

Yun Zhilan said he understood, but was secretly smiling wryly.

He didn't understand that the great swordsman in the hut, that idiotic Grandmaster, wasn't just scared by Qing Kingdom's scheming. More importantly, if Dongyi City wanted to take advantage of Qing Kingdom's internal strife, they needed an excellent opportunity. And Qing Kingdom, as the strongest nation in the world, couldn't have this opportunity created by outsiders, but could only wait for an invitation from the people within Qing Kingdom.

Whether it was Sigu Jian or Ku He, they were both towering trees outside of Qing Kingdom. These two trees couldn't easily express their attitudes, couldn't easily dance with the mountain winds, because once they leaned in one direction, it wouldn't be easy to come back.

"Keep watching, see what tricks the Qing Kingdom people are playing."

The voice from the thatched hut rang out again, issuing instructions to Yun Zhilan, but without telling his disciple that, for a long time, some people in Qing Kingdom had been able to pass on important information to him through certain channels, and he was now weighing this information.

"Yes, Master." Yun Zhilan was preparing to discuss matters with the City Lord's mansion when he suddenly thought of something. He turned back and frowned, saying, "The Eldest Princess of Qing Kingdom has already lost power. Fan Xian should be safe there. To prevent anyone from discovering the identity of our youngest disciple, should we call him back?"

Sigu Jian's closed-door disciple in Dongyi City, Wang Shisanlang, who held the green banner, had always been a very mysterious figure. In the past two years, many people, including Yun Zhilan, only knew that the master doted on this youngest disciple, but never had the chance to enter the hut to see what this youngest disciple looked like. It was only during the Ming family's merchant competition in Jiangnan that Yun Zhilan first learned that his master had sent the youngest disciple to Fan Xian's side.

Yun Zhilan was a little puzzled, and even more faintly uncomfortable. After all, within the Qing Kingdom court, that young man surnamed Fan had always been Dongyi City's biggest enemy. In recent years, he had ruined so many things for Dongyi City, and killed so many people from Dongyi City.

Even Yun Zhilan himself had almost died under the assassination of the Supervisory Council. The assassins from Dongyi City had even fought a guerrilla war with the Sixth Bureau of the Supervisory Council in Jiangnan for half a year. So, knowing that his master had changed his attitude towards Fan Xian, Yun Zhilan accepted it, but felt a slight resistance in his heart.

"I know what you're thinking." The voice from the thatched hut said mockingly, "You still think it's wrong for me to help Fan Xian... But you're wrong. It's not that Fan Xian needs our help, but that we need Fan Xian to accept our help."

"Li Yunrui is finished, at least on the Internal Treasury side. We need Fan Xian, and in fact, the Ming family has collapsed in the past few months, but it hasn't affected our Dongyi City. What does this mean? This means that Fan Xian has accepted our help."

Yun Zhilan lowered his head slightly and said, "But in this way, at least 30% of our channels are under Fan Xian's control. This young nobleman of Qing Kingdom is known to change his mind like flipping a book. If he suddenly becomes ruthless, it won't be easy to deal with."

"Why would he become ruthless?" Sigu Jian's analysis in the thatched hut took a wise path, showing no signs of being muddled. "In the past, the two sides were just fighting small battles, without touching the roots. The reason for the conflict at that time was because there was a Li Yunrui in the middle. Now that Li Yunrui has been imprisoned, there is no conflict of interest between me and Fan Xian. Why would he risk a full-scale falling out... become ruthless?"

Yun Zhilan was shocked, understanding his master's phrase "between me and Fan Xian." Didn't this mean that his master had at least acknowledged on the surface that young man Fan Xian was qualified to be on equal footing with him?

"In the past, we could trade with Li Yunrui, and now we can trade with Fan Xian." The voice from the thatched hut rang out again, "Because among the Qing Kingdom court and the common people, the people who are least afraid of the Qing Emperor at heart are these two... Remember, Qing Kingdom is not Fan Xian's. He has no reason to sacrifice his own interests for the sake of Qing Kingdom's interests."

Yun Zhilan thought about it, but still couldn't figure it out. But if Fan Xian was present, he would definitely give a thumbs up to the thatched hut and praise Brother Idiot for his extremely high EQ...

"Before the incident, I asked your junior brother to go and join Fan Xian. This is the so-called attitude." The voice from the thatched hut paused, "Attitude must be in place, so let your junior brother do things himself..."

Yun Zhilan frowned slightly, thinking that his mysterious and pitiful junior brother was just thrown out by his master to do hard labor for Fan Xian. Was it just to show his Dongyi City's attitude?

"Of course, there are other reasons why I sent him to Qing Kingdom."

Yun Zhilan perked up, wondering what secrets he would hear next. But the words he heard made him stunned. After thinking for a long time, he realized that things were indeed like this. There was nothing more important than this.

"When the Northern Qi royal family rebelled, why was that woman from Northern Qi able to hold her son and sit firmly on the dragon throne, thereby gathering the mourning Northern Qi into what it is today?"

"Because Ku He stood on her side."

"Why is it that Dongyi City and other countries are caught between the two major powers of the world, swaying left and right, making compromises and paying tribute, but they can always barely survive? Qing Kingdom's ambition to expand is so great, but they have never tried to use their powerful military force to swallow Dongyi into their belly?"

Yun Zhilan didn't even need to think, saying with a hint of reverence, "Because Dongyi City has you, has the sword in your hand."

"That's right. The title of Grandmaster may not mean much, but it's good for scaring people and using as a weapon." The voice from the thatched hut suddenly seemed a little lonely, "Have you ever thought about it... If Ku He dies, if I die, what will the world be like?"

Yun Zhilan's back went cold. Of course, everyone in the world had thought about this kind of scene, but no one had ever dared to say it, because they knew that with Qing Kingdom's powerful military strength and the zeal for expansion rooted in the hearts of Qing Kingdom's people, once the two Grandmasters who didn't belong to Qing Kingdom passed away, the entire world would definitely fall into war again. Not to mention Northern Qi, at least Dongyi City would be extremely difficult to protect. He said sincerely and firmly, "Master, you will not die."

"What a joke! Is there anyone in this world who doesn't die?"

The voice from the thatched hut became even more lonely, "Even if they don't die... people will eventually get old. Ku He is also getting old, and I'm not young either. Do you think an old man who is running out of energy, whose trembling hands can't even hold a sword... is still a Grandmaster?"

...

...

"But... what does this have to do with junior brother entering Qing Kingdom?" Yun Zhilan said, voicing his question after a moment of silence.

"There are no Grandmasters in the world." The Grandmaster in the thatched hut said coldly, "It only gradually started thirty years ago, and then a few monsters like us appeared. There weren't any before, and I don't know if there will be any in the future... But at least for now, among the young generation of experts in the entire world, the only people who have the chance to approach this realm are only a handful."

Yun Zhilan's heart stirred slightly as he stared at the calmly closed door of the thatched hut.

The voice inside the door laughed, "Unfortunately, you're too old. It's difficult to have this possibility. Many people have crawled out of the sword pit of our Dongyi City, even the most ninth-rank experts in the world, but if you want to say who has the chance to become a new generation of monsters... perhaps only your youngest junior brother."

Yun Zhilan's mouth was slightly open. He had faced Wang Shisanlang head-on in the Suzhou City merchant competition for a moment. At that time, he knew that this junior brother had already entered the ninth rank at a young age, which was already very shocking. But he always felt that the junior brother's realm was far from being as perfect as his own. How could he be the most likely candidate to be promoted to Grandmaster in his master's mouth?

"This is a matter of xinxing (heart and mind)." Sigu Jian's voice finally became confident and indifferent like a Grandmaster, "To be extremely focused on something, you must not care about that thing. You can't do it, and that knife-wielding guy named Lang Tao under Ku He can't do it either... In fact, in recent years, Ku He and I have probably been troubled by the problem I mentioned earlier. What will happen to this land behind us once we get old and die? So we must solve this problem before we die."

"I chose your youngest junior brother. Ku He, he chose Hai Tang."

"It's a coincidence that they are both each other's closed-door disciples."

"And even more coincidentally, Ku He sent Hai Tang to Fan Xian's side..." Sigu Jian's voice had a hint of mockery, "Even if he didn't send her, he must be very happy about what happened between Hai Tang and Fan Xian. Since he can send her, of course I can send one too. It's just that Hai Tang is a girl, which gives her a big advantage."

Yun Zhilan was dumbfounded, completely unaware of the Grandmaster Seed Cultivation Program, and didn't understand why Ku He and his master, these two Grandmasters, were sending their closed-door disciples to Fan Xian one after another.

"Are there really only four old monsters in the world?" Sigu Jian asked softly, "Yes, maybe there are only four old monsters. That monster never seems to get old... You should know him, that blind man..."

Yun Zhilan's heart went cold, knowing that his master was talking about a mysterious figure who had secretly traveled in Dongyi City many years ago.

"But you don't know that Fan Xian is that blind man's disciple." The person inside the thatched hut laughed, "Isn't this a very interesting thing? The closed-door disciples of the old monsters should all get together, fight, talk, and let them all improve a lot. This is the so-called tempering... Of course, I think Ku He and I have the same idea, sending disciples to Fan Xian's side is also to get a little bit of good luck."

"Luck?" Yun Zhilan stared at the tightly closed door of the hut.

"What conditions are needed to become an old monster? Intelligence, wisdom, xinxing, diligence... But the most important thing... is luck." Sigu Jian sighed, "There are countless martial artists in the world, but in the end, only a few of them have achieved success. Is it because the Dao is unfair, or what? Actually, it's just that our luck is better than others."

He finally said, "The facts of thirty years ago have proven that to become a Grandmaster, to have this kind of luck, you must touch the blind man... But no one can find the blind man. In that case, you can only touch the blind man's closed-door disciple."

Yun Zhilan was confused by these mystical words, and after a long time, he asked the question he cared about the most: "Junior brother, Hai Tang, Fan Xian... Master, who do you think is most likely to... succeed?"

Among these three top experts of the younger generation, except for Wang Shisanlang who was still unknown, Hai Tang and Fan Xian, this couple, undoubtedly stood at the peak of their age group. At such an age, they had already entered the ninth rank, and each had excellent teachers and conditions, and at different times, the world always thought they were people with celestial meridians.

So when people talk about who will be the next Grandmaster, the first thing they think of is Fan Xian and Hai Tang Duoduo.

"Hai Tang." Sigu Jian's judgment came so simply, "Because she is very good, so she is very fast."

"What about junior brother?"

"It's also possible. The clarity of that child's mind is no less than that of Hai Tang."

"What about Fan Xian?"

The thatched hut was silent for a moment before saying, "Fan Xian is the least likely."

"Why?" Although he hated Fan Xian very much, Yun Zhilan subconsciously objected: "Although his realm is still hovering in the middle of the ninth rank, and is very unstable, not as good as Hai Tang Duoduo, his speed of progress can really be called inhuman. Especially in the aspect of xinxing, according to my observation, there are very few young people in the world who are as determined as him. As for diligence, although he was born into nobility, he has been constantly practicing since he was a child, and has suffered a lot."

"He has all the conditions, but Fan Xian lacks the most crucial link." Sigu Jian made a final conclusion, "He has no heart. This young man has no heart for this world at all. Since he has no heart, naturally there is no xinxing. If he wants to enter the realm of the Dao, unless he gives up everything in his hands... Is he willing to give it up?"

Fan Xian is a common man. Naturally, he is reluctant to give it up.

"Although that blind man is a very remarkable person, and is very capable of bringing luck to his opponents, his own luck is not very good, and he... can't be a good teacher."

Sigu Jian finally said, "I miss the blind man very much, but unfortunately, after he disappeared for more than ten years, he came out to find that bald Ku He. Hmm, it's a pity."

Yun Zhilan heard the sound of a sword vibrating out of its sheath in the hut.

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Among the Grandmasters, Ye Liuyun was a carefree person who never accepted disciples, but Sigu Jian accepted a wide range of disciples. If even the registered ones are counted, there are at least fifty or more, so the level of disciples is uneven. Although there are ninth-rank experts like Yun Zhilan, and mysterious young people like Wang Shisanlang, there are also many unsuccessful ones. As for the Northern Qi National Teacher Ku He, he doesn't accept many disciples, but each one is a top expert, such as the martial arts teacher of the Northern Qi Little Emperor, Lang Tao, a ninth-rank expert, and Hai Tang Duoduo, who wears flowered clothes and is rumored to be a celestial meridian person.

Of course, Uncle Wu Zhu, the blind man, also has a disciple. It's just that his first disciple and his closed-door disciple are the same person, Fan Xian.

Sigu Jian is right. Grandmasters are also human. They also have to consider the problems behind them, so these monsters have invested a lot of energy in their closed-door disciples. Of course, they only invest secretly, and don't want this pressure to interfere with their disciples' practice.

Hai Tang, Fan Xian, Wang Shisanlang have not appeared in the same place at the same time so far. If there is such a day, it must be a very interesting sight.

It's just that Sigu Jian got one thing wrong, or rather, he subconsciously didn't remember one thing - Northern Qi National Teacher Ku He reopened the mountain and accepted disciples again last year. Borrowing the auspicious omen, he accepted two female disciples, one entered the palace to become an imperial concubine, and the other cleaned up the medicine garden in the mountains. In this sense, Hai Tang is no longer the closed-door disciple of Tianyi, Fan Ruoruo... is.