Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter 143: Mother-in-Law Declares a Dire Emergency

Takuya Nagato stepped out of Black-Clad Alley and halted at the entrance. Haruko and Sakurako, who had kept their heads lowered trailing behind him all the way, stopped as well. After a long silence, keeping their heads bowed, the two spoke, "Master, we are sorry for failing to find what you desired. Please punish us..."

Takuya Nagato waved a hand to interrupt them, "It was my oversight. I should have foreseen that Wang You would have defensive arrays set up. Given his eighth-tier Later Mysterious realm, the formations he laid are not something the two of you can withstand."

After a brief silence, Haruko asked, "Master, what on earth are the *Amaterasu Scripture* and the *Map of Mountains and Rivers*?"

Sakurako perked up her ears, eager to know as well.

"Sigh!"

Takuya Nagato first let out a heavy sigh before explaining, "The *Amaterasu Scripture* is a legendary supreme martial arts manual passed down from ancient times. It is said that only those in the eighth-tier Later Mysterious realm can practice it, and it is an essential stepping stone for a martial artist to break through to the ninth-tier Martial God realm."

"As for the *Map of Mountains and Rivers*, it is a divine artifact left behind by the founding emperor of Great Qi. It can anchor the dragon veins of the Nine Provinces, stabilize the imperial aura, and serve as the foundation of the realm, while also warding off invasions from other nations. Years ago, my Wa region once signed contracts with numerous deities, attempting to borrow their power to invade Great Da-Min, but before we could act, we were blocked by this very *Map of Mountains and Rivers*."

"That *Map of Mountains and Rivers* was established by the founding emperor of Great Qi. Now that Bai Wan has launched a military coup and changed the country's name to Min, could it still be effective?" Haruko asked.

"It is!"

Takuya Nagato nodded and replied, "It protects not the person sitting on the throne, but the realm itself. My primary purpose in coming to Chang'an this time is actually to track down the whereabouts of the *Map of Mountains and Rivers* and destroy it!"

"As for taking the *Amaterasu Scripture*, that stems from my personal desire to break through to the ninth-tier Martial God realm as soon as possible. As for a rematch with Wang You, it has become far less important by comparison!"

At this point, his pupils slightly constricted as he muttered to himself, "Speaking of martial duels, this Chen Chang'an is truly an unfathomable person. To this day, I still haven't figured out how he managed to neutralize the immensely heavy force of my attacks from the thirteenth blade onward."

He stood erect right there at the entrance of Black-Clad Alley, lost in deep thought, looking very much like he would not leave until he gained enlightenment. His mind settled into deep concentration and Zen-like meditation; everything around him seemed to grow quiet. Takuya Nagato could clearly hear any slight stirrings of the wind ten meters away, a hundred meters away, or even a thousand meters away, with the corresponding scenes manifesting in his mind.

His consciousness traversed through it all, observing the minute details. This was the unique ability of perception and comprehension possessed exclusively by those in the eighth-tier Later Mysterious realm. Moments later, the playful shouts of children from a nearby street corner caught his attention.

Takuya Nagato slowly opened his eyes, ended his meditative state, and walked toward the direction he had sensed. Arriving close by, he saw a group of children, mostly seven or eight years old, holding a soft ball and repeatedly hurling it fiercely into a large water vat, splashing water as they played.

No matter how much force was used when throwing the soft ball against the water's surface, the moment it splashed, it would invariably be rebounded outward.

In an instant, Takuya Nagato experienced a flash of profound realization: "Soft... hard, yielding... unyielding. Softness can overcome hardness, and gentleness can conquer strength. So that is the principle! But... is it useful in martial arts?"

He looked at Haruko and demanded, "Draw your sword and stab me!"

"Master, this..." Haruko was baffled.

Takuya Nagato raised his voice, "Stab me!"

"Understood!"

Daring not to hesitate further, Haruko drew the straight blade at her waist and thrust it toward the heart of her master, Takuya Nagato. Almost simultaneously, Takuya Nagato's straight blade flashed out of its scabbard, tracing a seemingly light and effortless arc before him using a technique identical to Chen Chang'an's.

Clang!

The moment the two straight blades came into contact, sending forth a long string of sparks, Haruko felt herself reined in by an invisible force, stumbling toward Takuya Nagato.

"Junior Sister!" Sakurako hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

Takuya Nagato sheathed his blade and laughed heartily, "Overcoming hardness with softness! Indeed, it is overcoming hardness with softness!"

After shouting a few times, his expression suddenly turned gloomy and cold, a hint of viciousness curling at the corners of his mouth: "Chen Chang'an! For this person to be able to transform and apply simple everyday principles into sword techniques is truly unimaginable. Coupled with entering the third tier of martial arts within sixty days and awakening the sixth prime art, Inverse Matrix—with such talent, he might well become a grave menace in the future!"

...

"What the hell!"

In the compound of the Black-Clad Guards, on the training grounds, Chen Chang'an froze upon hearing this. With a very surprised look in his eyes, he glanced at Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong, only to find that the two vice-commanders looked equally astonished.

Cao Wu explained to Chen Chang'an, "Every year, after new recruits complete a full year in the Black-Clad Guards, a comprehensive evaluation is held. Those who perform the best are rewarded and promoted to Earth-rank Black-Clads, effectively becoming leaders among the newcomers."

"I see!"

Chen Chang'an nodded. In other words, this was akin to a student council president in later generations—but wasn't it not yet a year? He looked up toward the ninth floor of the Weapon Treasury Pavilion and said, "Commander... Commander Wang, wouldn't this be somewhat inappropriate?"

"Unwilling?" Wang You's voice drifted down from the Weapon Treasury Pavilion.

Chen Chang'an replied, "Since there are rules that evaluations for all newcomers take place after a year, doing this now is indeed a bit too early. Many outstanding individuals were recruited this generation; I am certainly not the only one!"

He offered a polite refusal. As the old saying goes, a tree standing tall in the forest will be battered by the wind; jumping too high invites the jealousy of those around one.

"Hmph, neither arrogant nor impatient—truly rare!"

Wang You's voice rang out resplendently, "In that case, you and all the new recruits of the Black-Clad Guards must diligently heed the instructions of Vice-Commanders Cheng and Cao."

After a brief pause, his tone shifted, "Cao Wu, Cheng Mulong, autumn is coming—by my count, that's a little over a month away. Until I emerge from seclusion, I leave all matters, large and small, of the Black-Clad Guards in your capable hands."

"Understood!" they answered in unison.

Not a sound came from the ninth floor of the Weapon Treasury Pavilion anymore; Wang You had re-entered seclusion. After a brief moment of silence, Cheng Mulong walked up to Chen Chang'an and asked, "Just now, how on earth did you block Takuya Nagato's attack? That set of sword techniques was wondrous indeed!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gaze locked onto him. What Cheng Mulong was asking was precisely what everyone else wanted to know: how could someone at the third tier engage in a pure sword duel with the eighth-tier Takuya Nagato and manage to remain undefeated for a hundred moves?

"Uh... well... about that..."

Chen Chang'an returned his sword to its scabbard, placed his hands behind his back, and assumed a profound air. "Actually, it's a very simple principle: overcoming hardness with softness, deflecting a thousand catties with four ounces!"

"Overcoming hardness with softness, deflecting a thousand catties with four ounces?"

"Overcoming hardness with softness... four ounces... deflecting a thousand catties?"

"Overcoming hardness with softness, deflecting a thousand catties with four ounces!"

Hearing this, the crowd began repeating it inwardly over and over again, deeply pondering the martial philosophy contained within those few short words. The more they thought about it, the more magical and profound it felt.

However, for Cao Wu, who was at the seventh-tier Life and Death realm, grasping the core essence was quite easy. She patted Cheng Mulong on the shoulder and said, "Hey, hit me if you've got guts!"

Cheng Mulong was momentarily dumbfounded, staring blankly for a second before asking, "Why would I hit you?"

Cao Wu narrowed her eyes coldly, "I told you to hit me, so hit me. Refusing means you have no guts."

No guts... Cheng Mulong was provoked. He threw a ferocious punch straight at Cao Wu's face.

Cao Wu stood her ground, letting his heavy fist approach. When it was less than half a foot away, she swept her right hand in a slow, seemingly powerless slanted arc. The instant her hand intersected with Cheng Mulong's fist, a yelp was heard as the latter's entire arm was caught by an adhesive, pulling force that spun him three hundred sixty degrees in mid-air before he was flung backward and crashed heavily onto the ground in a sorry state.

"Clatter!"

Cheng Mulong coughed as he climbed up in disarray, wearing a look of utter shock. The most profound sensation he had just experienced was that the moment his fist collided with Cao Wu's palm, his strength seemed to instantly dissipate into nothingness, leaving his body feeling weightless and completely out of control.

"Overcoming hardness with softness, deflecting a thousand catties with four ounces—it really is so!" Cao Wu muttered to herself as she examined her palm, clearly very satisfied with the experimental results.

As for Cheng Mulong, the test subject, belatedly realizing what had happened, twisted his features into an expression resembling one who had just swallowed feces: "..."

He awkwardly picked himself up and waved his hands to disperse the crowd, "What are you all standing around for? Scatter, scatter! Go on back to whatever you were doing."

"Hahaha!"

"Vice-Commander Cheng looked so cute when he was thrown out just now, truly."

"Shh, keep it down! Watch out for being heard!"

The onlookers chattered amongst themselves as they dispersed. Meanwhile, Chen Chang'an looked at Li Bai, made a heart shape with his hands toward him, and loudly hummed, "I heard I should thank you, because of you, the four seasons are warm..."

Li Bai slapped him across the head, knocking it aside, "You're sick!"

With that, he turned and strode away. Su Dingfeng gazed at Li Bai's retreating figure with an expression of worship until he vanished from sight, then flicked his fingers to make his iron sword hover once more. He tilted his chin at Chen Chang'an and said with aloof coolness, "Let's go, time to head back!"

Chen Chang'an nonchalantly glanced toward the residential quarters of the female Black-Clad Guards and said, "You go ahead, I still have work to do!"

Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong reminded him in unison, "You were injured in the line of duty yesterday and have already been approved for leave. You can go home and rest."

Chen Chang'an turned his head away, "Then I shall rest inside our Black-Clad Guards headquarters."

"Go to hell!" His brother-in-law Su Dingfeng grumbled as he flew off alone on his sword.

Chen Chang'an chuckled, bowed to Cao Wu and Cheng Mulong, and walked toward the female quarters within the Black-Clad Guards. Upon reaching the door of the Grade-A Room 1 that had been assigned to him earlier, he knocked heavily on the wooden panel: thump, thump, thump!

"Screech!"

Soon, the door was gently opened from the inside by a young woman wearing a light blue dress, her long hair cascading loose, adorned with beautifully applied eye makeup. She was one of Chen Chang'an's three female roommates, Dong Xinlan—the other two being Wen Jing and Ruan Jingchu, both old acquaintances.

"Hello there, I'm here to sleep!" Chen Chang'an greeted her.

"Get out!"

"Bang!"

Before he could even finish speaking, Dong Xinlan inside slammed the door shut heavily and rebuked him coldly.

Chen Chang'an: "..."

He kept banging and shouting noisily: "Hey, this room is shared by the four of us! Vice-Commander Cao assigned it personally back then, right? Let me in."

"No way. Let me in!"

"Screech!"

The door opened again, and Ruan Jingchu stepped out, smiling as she tossed his bedding at him, "Sleep outside! We never said we didn't want you!"

Chen Chang'an: "..."

Even Ruan Jingchu, with whom he had the best relationship, said that. Realizing that rooming with his female colleagues was basically impossible, he could only trudge home dejectedly. Who would have thought that the moment he arrived at the courtyard gate and prepared to step inside, Su Dingfeng slammed the door shut with a loud *bang* and grumbled angrily, "Didn't you say you weren't coming back?"

Chen Chang'an: "..."

He was dumbfounded on the spot. Was this really a brother-in-law? He was simply too petty! Left with no choice, he crouched by the door and earnestly rattled off every cliché in the book—*such a sword belongs only in the heavens, how many times in a mortal's life can it be seen; had heaven not birthed Su Dingfeng, the path of the sword would be an eternal dark night; who claims the peak at the end of the path of swords, one glimpse of Dingfeng renders all martial paths empty*—almost grinding his tongue to dust before finally earning some goodwill and coaxing Su Dingfeng into opening the door.

Around the You hour (5 PM to 7 PM), after finishing his meal, Chen Chang'an sat in a rattan chair in the courtyard, rocking back and forth as he peacefully enjoyed the summer evening breeze and dusk, deeply cherishing the leisure earned by stabbing the Prince of Jing'an a few times.

"This is bad... Oh dear, something terrible has happened, hurry, hurry!"

Just as he was delightfully lost in comfort, his mother-in-law Qin Furuo came rushing over from across the courtyard, panicking as she lifted her skirt, the twin mounds of flesh on her chest bouncing violently. When she was half a meter away from Chen Chang'an, she slipped on a banana peel he had tossed aside and took a disastrous tumble, plunging straight into his embrace.