Chapter 35 Phantom Step

"The Tang Family humbly awaits Madam Lin's honored arrival..." Tang Ling had never imagined his grandson could be this remarkable, capable of producing such a heaven-defying Pill. For a moment, his heart felt boundlessly at ease.

"Young Master Tang, might I ask where this Pill came from, and whether there is any chance of obtaining one?" Wu Xuan looked at Tang Yan and asked with a smile.

Throughout the great hall, man and woman alike turned toward Tang Yan in that instant. The women especially pricked up their ears, every face filled with longing.

"There is only this one, and I came by it purely by chance. I fear a second cannot be found." Tang Yan laughed inwardly. This Pill was his own refinement, and a single cauldron had yielded six. But a thing is treasured for its rarity. If he admitted he had more, would that not cheapen this congratulatory gift for nothing?

Hearing that there were no more, every woman in the hall let her face fall with disappointment.

After Tang Yan's grand offering, every gift presented afterward seemed to lose much of its color.

It was fortunate that the City Lord's Manor carried itself with a gentle, welcoming air that won people over. The banquet stayed warm and harmonious, wine cups passing back and forth, until it drew to a close only as evening neared.

When the banquet ended and Tang Yan was about to take his leave, the City Lord called out to him. "Tang Yan, come with me a moment."

Amid the complicated stares of the others, Tang Yan and the City Lord left behind two retreating figures that gave the crowd much to ponder.

At this banquet, among all the great families of Yun City, the Tang Family had emerged the biggest winner. Not only had they seized the spotlight, they had also secured a favor from the City Lord's Manor, cowing the other families who eyed the Tang Family with ill intent and buying the Tang Family breathing room for its rise.

The losers, naturally, were the other three great families. And the most beside themselves with rage were the Liu Family. Both schemes they had laid against the Tang Family had been undone by the Tang Family itself. What was more, after the matter with the Qian Family, the lesser clans that leaned on the Liu Family were bound to harbor second thoughts.

The City Lord's Manor.

A lofty pavilion.

Lin Xiao and Tang Yan stood side by side, hands clasped behind their backs, leaning on the railing and gazing into the distance. From here, more than half of Yun City lay before their eyes.

"Tang Yan, in your view, as City Lord governing Yun City, do I walk the benevolent way or the kingly way?" After standing in silence for a while, the City Lord opened the conversation, asking at his leisure.

"Neither." Tang Yan thought for a moment before answering.

"Oh?" City Lord Lin's interest was piqued at once, and he asked with a smile, "How is it neither? Then tell me, what way do I walk?"

"City Lord, you walk no particular way at all. You transform the people through virtue and govern by Non-Interference," Tang Yan said plainly.

"A fine 'Governing by Non-Interference.' Then what road does your Tang Family walk?" the City Lord asked, his words carrying a deeper meaning.

"If others do not offend me, I will not offend them. The Tang Family seeks only to stay free of all strife," Tang Yan answered honestly.

At that, the City Lord narrowed his eyes and asked again, "Then tell me, is my Governing by Non-Interference right or wrong?"

"Nothing is absolutely right or wrong, only fitting or unfitting. As for whether it fits, City Lord, you surely already weigh that in your own heart," Tang Yan replied simply.

In that moment Lin Xiao thought all the more of Tang Yan. He had put the same question to the finest sons of the other families, and every one of them had launched into eloquent speeches, weighing gains and losses, framing it all to suit their own clan's ambitions.

Tang Yan was different. The Tang Family would one day be his, and his words made his stance clear: so long as no one offended him, the Tang Family would never become a threat to the City Lord's Manor. That answer was the most honest of all, and it won Lin Xiao's quiet approval.

"Then tell me, what is the kingly way?" The City Lord seemed to have caught the mood for talk, and asked with a smile.

"If a man won't submit, you crush right over him."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao's expression went still. In all his long years, no one had ever explained it to him quite like that.

The answer was crude and blunt, yet it struck straight to the heart of the thing, and it suited his taste perfectly.

Raising his brows, Lin Xiao pressed on. "Then what is the tyrannical way?"

"The ones who do submit-you crush over them too!"

Lin Xiao's brows jumped again. This answer, too, was something he had never heard, yet it was even more direct, even more clear, and no less overbearing. It fit the question to the letter.

"Then what is the benevolent way?" Lin Xiao asked.

"Before you crush over them, you give them fair warning first."

"Hahahaha..." Lin Xiao threw back his head and roared with laughter, until tears nearly came to his eyes. It seemed he had not been this happy in a very long time.

"Good-well answered!" Only after a long while did Lin Xiao rein in his laughter and cry out his praise aloud.

Lin Xiao did not keep Tang Yan long. In less than half a shichen, Tang Yan stepped out of the City Lord's Manor.

Mid-Autumn was near, and night fell earlier with each passing day. By the time Tang Yan set out along the road, the world around him had already turned pitch-black. By the faint light of evening, he made his way toward the Tang Family.

There was no one on the road in any case, and Tang Yan's thoughts stirred. He had nothing to do once he got home, so why not work on a movement technique? If he ran into a powerful enemy someday, even if he could not win, a way to flee would be more than enough.

Searching through his memories once more, Tang Yan settled on a set of footwork called Phantom Step.

The footwork lived up to its name. Cultivated to great completion, it let one come and go without a sound, nimble as a wandering ghost, and blindingly fast-not only a means to save one's life, but a fine art for killing and seizing spoils.

Good footwork was naturally hard to master. With that strange shifting of stance, Tang Yan had taken barely two steps before his body lurched and he nearly toppled over.

Unwilling to accept it, he tried once more, only to wobble crookedly twice again. This time he put in too much force, lost his balance, and went down with a thud.

Where a man falls, there he rises again. Tang Yan was not one to give up easily. Once he set his mind on a thing, he pursued it without bending.

"Thud!" He fell.

"Thud!" He fell again.

"Thud!" A third time...

It was just as well that no one was around. Anyone who saw Tang Yan would have taken him for a madman, falling more than twenty times across a mere hundred paces.

He had only made it halfway home, and midnight was already near, while Tang Yan by now was caked in dust and grime, a thoroughly sorry sight.

After hundreds of falls, Tang Yan at last caught the faintest knack of it. From his earlier crawling pace, he grew a touch quicker than an ordinary man's walk.

Another shichen passed, and when Tang Yan put the footwork to use, it was already growing Proficient, his speed no different from a man at a full run.

Tang Yan lost himself entirely in the technique. It was truly exquisite-with every step he lifted, his foot could fall in any of eight directions at will, leaving no trail for anyone to follow.

Now Tang Yan was like a child with a new toy, utterly absorbed. He even changed course, and instead of returning to the Tang Family, he ran out beyond the city walls.

Through the dark, Tang Yan drilled step after step, honing every move until it was flawless, then weaving the polished pieces together until they flowed without a break.

It was fortunate he carried a High Spirit Pill, which kept the True Qi flowing endlessly through his body. And under his ceaseless practice, his speed climbed faster and faster.

Then, all at once, Tang Yan's body froze. The hairs across his skin stood on end as an intensely dangerous presence rose from the depths of his heart.

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