Chapter 156: The Xu Clan Deacon Syndicate

"Five-Eyed Stone Man?" Tang Tian asked with some curiosity upon hearing Gu Xue's exclamation.

"Yes!" Gu Xue nodded forcefully. "About a thousand years after the Scorpion Dynasty, a planet suddenly became very famous called Red-Eye Star. There was a very peculiar thing on Red-Eye Star called the Red-Eye Stone Man. I should have thought of it just now. The combat strength of the Red-Eye Stone Men is quite impressive; they even organized an army of Red-Eye Stone Men to fight everywhere."

"Are they very strong? I thought they were pretty mediocre, just their moves were a bit strange." Tang Tian curled his lips and began to display his usual arrogant demeanor.

Unable to watch any longer, Bing let out a cold snort: "Their martial souls have decayed to this extent, yet after spending so much time, you still have the face to be proud?"

Tang Tian wailed loudly: "I clearly finished the battle before you did!"

Bing sneered: "That's only because you had the Heavenly Crane Gloves. Mind your tone of voice—you don't know the first thing about respecting elders or honoring teachers. Tsk tsk, back in the day, any rookie in the recruit camp facing five such lingering stone men alone would have been more than enough. Making the instructor take action is a disgrace for any recruit! Oh, and you even spent ten tier-six soul cores just to pull out the Ghost Claw. Tsk tsk, a losing business is the greatest disgrace of all!"

"Come on, let's have a proper fight! Let fists decide who is right and who is wrong!" Tang Tian flew into a rage, pointing a finger directly at Bing.

Bing rolled his eyes, a look of even deeper contempt appearing on his face: "Kids these days really have no manners. In our era, there were never youngsters of such poor quality. Challenging your own instructor—oh right, and you haven't even passed your recruit training yet. What an era that tests the limits of lower standards."

"You, you, you..." Tang Tian's face turned beet red.

Seeing Tang Tian and Bing bickering, Gu Xue couldn't help but purse her lips and snicker. To prevent the two of them from actually coming to blows, she decided to continue her story. As soon as she spoke, she captured both of their attention.

"The strength of the Red-Eye Stone Men shouldn't just stop there. According to books, Red-Eye Star rose very rapidly, and their battle records were quite impressive. It's just that later on, they angered the then-Caelum constellation, leading to their annihilation. To protect themselves, Red-Eye Star later destroyed its star gate, and they never appeared again. The period of Red-Eye Star's glory was very short, lasting only ten years. I remember it was because Red-Eye Stone Men were very peculiar—they could merge to form a higher-level existence known as the Five-Eyed Stone Man."

"Is this the one?" Tang Tian spun the little figure around, staring at it with wide eyes as he clicked his tongue in wonder: "It looks really interesting, it actually has five eyes."

Once the initial creepiness faded, Tang Tian resumed his ignorant and fearless true self.

"Mmhmm, Five-Eyed Stone Men are very rare. Although people didn't like Red-Eye Stone Men, Five-Eyed Stone Men were extremely popular and fetched astronomical prices at auctions back then. That's because they have a very magical effect: their five eyes can release different beams of light. These beams can gradually activate the dormant bloodline within your body."

Gu Xue carefully warned Tang Tian: "A-Tian, you must never tell anyone else that you have a Five-Eyed Stone Man."

"Activate bloodlines?" Tang Tian's eyes lit up as he handed it to Gu Xue: "Here, take it! It will definitely help with your recessive bloodline!"

Warmth filled Gu Xue's heart, but she shook her head firmly: "It's too precious! Besides, I don't have the capability to protect it. A-Tian, you haven't awakened your bloodline yet; you need it."

Gu Xue's eyes were as clear as water, and Tang Tian grinned: "I definitely don't have any bloodline. I just swallowed dwarf blood and feather-folk blood, and there wasn't the slightest reaction at all. Giving it to me would just be a waste. With this thing, maybe you won't have to use such a dangerous method to awaken your bloodline, A-Xue."

With that, Tang Tian shoved the Five-Eyed Stone Man into Gu Xue's hand: "That settles it."

Then, without waiting for Gu Xue to speak, he looked at the sky: "It's getting late, we need to head back. Let's go!"

Tang Tian grabbed Gu Xue and soared into the air.

Gu Xue bit her lip hard and remained silent.

As soon as the two returned to the Gu residence, Gu Xue saw the worry etched all over Murong's face. Her smile vanished, and she asked calmly, "What happened?"

A bitter smile appeared on Murong's face: "Word just came in that five days from now, the Xu Clan's Executive Corps will arrive at the Gu residence to investigate the battle on the Long Street, and they require our cooperation."

A rare flash of anger appeared on Gu Xue's face: "Even if that Xu Changtian is a Felin Star executive, how can we allow him to meddle in the internal affairs of the Gu clan?"

"What is an executive?" Tang Tian asked with a curious expression.

Gu Xue bit her lip tightly, her eyes filled with anger as she explained: "Felin Star belongs to the Black Soul. The Black Soul appoints a Star Lord to govern planets like Felin Star. Beneath the Star Lord are three to five executives. Felin Star is relatively small, with only three executives. Both the Star Lord and the executives are experts within the Black Soul, possessing formidable strength."

Tang Tian's eyes widened: "How strong are they?"

"Very strong. They are appointed from above. Xu Changtian's ranking on Felin Star is thirteenth, much stronger than the Hua brothers. Moreover, executives have the authority to form their own executive corps. Although the number of people in Xu Changtian's executive corps is small—only ten—every single one of them is an expert. Three of them rank in the top fifty, and the rest definitely rank in the top one hundred."

"So powerful!" Tang Tian drew a sharp breath. Three of them in the top fifty meant that under Xu Changtian, there were three experts comparable to the Hua brothers.

"Yes! Logically speaking, the executive corps does not interfere in internal family affairs; this is an unwritten rule of Felin Star. After all, we pay our tributes in full every year." Gu Xue's complexion was very ugly. Forcing herself to calm down, she looked up at Murong and said, "Uncle Mu, go and inquire whether you can find out why the executive corps is coming to the Gu residence."

Murong nodded heavily: "Alright!"

Without any hesitation, he turned and sprinted out.

Tang Tian comforted Gu Xue: "Don't worry too much, A-Xue. If they try to pull any bad stuff, I'll beat them to a pulp!"

Gu Xue managed a forced smile: "Mhm. A-Tian, I have to go take care of some things first."

Seeing the worry in Gu Xue's eyes, Tang Tian understood completely and said, "Alright, go ahead."

Seeing Gu Xue's flustered expression, Tang Tian tilted his head in thought, walked into the inner courtyard, and found Ling Xu, who was practicing with his spear. "Hey, little Xu-Xu, do you know about the Xu Clan's Executive Corps?"

Ling Xu stopped, frowning: "You provoked people from the executive corps? Those people are a bunch of lunatics, very troublesome!"

Tang Tian immediately wore a look of contempt: "Turns out you're scared of these people!"

"Bulls**t!" Ling Xu instantly bristled like a startled cat, flying into a thunderous rage: "What are they even worth? I'll poke them into a sieve with a single spear thrust!"

"Poke them into a sieve with a single spear thrust?" Tang Tian was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, but thinking about Ling Xu's sea of spear tips, he felt the description was quite apt.

Tang Tian, who was often driven to fury by Bing's sarcasm and torment, appeared entirely at ease in front of Ling Xu.

"Uncle Mu said that in five days, Xu Changtian's executive corps is coming to investigate the battle on the Long Street," Tang Tian shared the news he had just received.

The furious Ling Xu quieted down, a look of disgust surfacing in his eyes: "Xu Changtian? Of the three executives, that guy is the greediest! His actions are tyrannical, and the executive corps under him are just like him—no good! They come with ill intentions!"

"Ill intentions..." Tang Tian snorted at the words, his expression sinking: "They better know what's good for them, otherwise, don't blame my fists for not showing mercy!"

"Aren't you going to participate in the Star Gate Trial? If you offend Xu Changtian, you can forget about passing," Ling Xu glanced sideways at Tang Tian.

Tang Tian looked at Ling Xu with utter contempt: "I thought you had turned over a new leaf and rediscovered your sense of justice. Turns out you're still the exact same!"

Ling Xu had offered kind advice only to be mocked by Tang Tian, and fury instantly ignited within him: "A little punk like you dares lecture me about justice? Come on! Cut the crap! Let's have a real fight, and I'll poke your backside full of holes..."

Tang Tian rolled his eyes, waved his hand, and turned around with great flair as his voice drifted back.

"You're so grown up and all you know is fighting every day. Young man, can't you have a little ambition? I don't have time to play with you. You should learn from a youth like a god. Do you know why you can't beat me? Don't you dare make excuses, young man—genius is ninety-nine percent sweat..."

Ling Xu's face turned beet red, shaking all over with anger.

The last time Tang Tian beat him, it was because he didn't have his spear in hand. Yet this jerk kept using the phrase "don't you dare make excuses," nearly giving him internal injuries.

And another thing, sweat my foot, you jerk! Who was the one practicing here all day long, and who was the one running off to play...

You jerk!

***

After teasing Ling Xu, Tang Tian couldn't possibly feel better! All his worries were cast to the nine heavens, completely unaware that some of his behaviors had imperceptibly been infected by Bing.

As soon as he entered the recruit camp, Tang Tian tossed the executive corps to the back of his mind; all his attention was focused entirely on martial arts. Instead of entering the Hunger Valley immediately, he struck a pose and began practicing on his own.

The five postures of the five Red-Eye Stone Men from earlier in the day felt particularly special to him.

He imitated the flower-holding hand gesture of the flower-holding stone man, and the moment the gesture formed, a trace of true force within his body suddenly stirred. Though extremely faint, he was certain it wasn't an illusion.

Oh, there's something to this!

Tang Tian's spirit suddenly lifted.

He remembered the five gestures very clearly and imitated them one by one. Each gesture caused true force in different parts of his body to react. Although the reactions were very weak, Tang Tian's intuition was strong enough that he still perceived them.

After a moment of thought, he formed the flower-holding gesture, cleared his mind, and remained completely motionless.

Half an hour later, a wave of warmth gradually rose from the Yongquan acupoint at the soles of his feet. Tang Tian felt as though he were bathing in sunlight; his entire body grew warm and comfortable beyond words, and a smile surfaced on his lips.

Bing had been keeping an eye on Tang Tian the whole time.

When Tang Tian first began imitating the gestures, Bing had frowned. He strongly disapproved of Tang Tian recklessly trying out these unfamiliar things because it could easily be dangerous. However, he didn't stop him immediately, intending to thoroughly emphasize the danger to this fellow once Tang Tian failed and returned empty-handed.

But...

When that warm smile appeared on Tang Tian's face, Bing's body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and a fierce, brilliant light burst from his eyes!

In that very instant, Tang Tian had completely vanished from his perception! (To be continued)