Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 8: Constrict then Expand

So What Grade??

TL Note: Changed “Soul Power” to “Soul Force”, and changed the format of Dao Channel Grades to Grade 9 Dao Channels instead of Ninth-Grade Dao Channels. 𝒃𝒆𝙙𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝙡．𝙤𝒓𝙜

“Xu Lingshan, Grade 8 Dao Channels!”

“Xu Jiaju, Grade 8 Dao Channels!”

“…..”

Xu Chen turned his head and said to Xu Xiao, “Young Patriarch, my Yu County branch family has quite a few children with Grade 8 Dao Channels this time. It’s a lot more than previous years.”

The Yu County branch family had a total of 11 children having their Dao Channels measured this time. Among them, there were 2 Grade 8 Dao Channels and 9 Grade 9 Dao Channels.

Xu Xiao nodded his head slightly, then looked at Xu Yan’s branch family.

Xu Yan’s branch family had only two children up for measurement this time: Xu Zhi and Xu Qingcheng. Xu Zhi was dressed from head to toe in a black robe, and had an indifferent expression.

Xu Qingcheng was extremely beautiful since birth, and she was currently 9 years old. Wearing a white dress, she made her way towards the platform, unexpectedly not showing even the slightest signs of stage fright. She cast a glance over at Xu Yan, who nodded back at her in response.

When the little girl in the white dress arrived in front of the platform, the armored soldier from the Zhenhai Army made a move to pick her up, but she lightly waved her hand to stop him. Placing her two hands on the ledge, she gracefully flipped herself up onto the platform, her white dress fluttering in the wind. Although she was still very young, she was already beginning to look very much like a budding beauty. The boys below stared wide-eyed at this sight, completely enamored by this sight.

The Dao Channel Measurement Platform slightly shuddered, and one circle of white light rippled outwards.

Xu Yan’s eyebrows wrinkled, but just as the armored soldier was about to announce that she had no Dao Channels, the stone platform suddenly began to swell with white light. When the brilliant light finally receded, what remained was a total of 6 splendid halos of white light encircling the stone platform!

Xu Chaoyang stood up abruptly, his eyes fixed on the small girl in the white dress atop the stone platform. Almost all the people from every one of the great clans also shot to their feet!

“Xu Qingcheng, Grade 5 Dao Channels!!” the armored soldier from the Zhenhai Army announced in a trembling voice.

“Hahaha, great! My Xu Clan has yet another with Grade 5 Dao Channels!” Xu Chaoyang bellowed, his unrestrained laughter echoing out.

The other people from the great clans all had varying expressions. The arrogant and lofty youth Bai Xiuyu withdrew his haughty expression, and he was now directing a fiery gaze towards Xu Qingcheng.

“This is the third person with Grade 5 Dao Channels in the whole Ruyang Region!”

“The Xu Clan has two people with Grade 5 Dao Channels!”

The aristocratic families began to whisper among each other, casting glances over at the Guo Clan’s seats from time to time. Guo Renhou’s expression was heavy. He took out a secret sealed letter that he had written from within his sleeve and furtively handed it to the attendant behind him.

After the attendant received the letter, he took advantage of a moment where no one was watching and slipped away from the crowd. He quickly mounted a horse and gave it several whips, making his way at a full gallop towards the Guo Clan’s property in the capital city of the Ruyang Region.

Having Grade 5 Dao Channels meant the possibility for the martial artist to break through to the Xiantian stage, and in the entire Ruyang Region, there were only three! As soon as a Xiantian martial artist were to appear in one of the clans, the Guo Clan, who had been slowly weakening over the years, would surely lose their position. The whole Ruyang Region would be overturned!

Xu Yan forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart. In his Yu County branch family, Xu Qingcheng was a niece of his. But when he brought her along this time to have her Dao Channels measured, he never would have guessed that he would get this big of a surprise!

She would henceforth be taken into the main branch of the clan, but…

“As rewards for Xu Yan’s merits, he will be granted 50 servants, 20 maids, 1000 taels of gold, 100 rolls of silk, 100 good horses, and 10 units of 100-year spirit medicine!” Xu Chaoyang announced in a deep voice.

“Thank you for the generosity, Patriarch!” Xu Yan revealed a delighted expression. Even though he had to split a portion to the parents of Xu Qingcheng, he would still be able to keep a majority of it.

Also, with those gold taels, he could purchase medicinal ingredients to assist with his cultivation, or Martial Skills to increase his combat strength!

“Bring her over!”

“At once, Patriarch!”

Xu Qingcheng was soon brought before Xu Chaoyang. He had Grade 5 Dao Channels himself, so he was fully aware of how fast her cultivation of Martial Techniques would be. A smile appeared on his face as he sized up Xu Qingcheng.

“Qingcheng greets Patriarch!” she chirped sweetly. Although her age was small, she was thoughtful in her etiquette, which gave people a good impression of her.

“No need to be too courteous! You can just call me Grandpa,” Xu Chaoyang said with a chuckle.

If she didn’t possess Grade 5 Dao Channels, Xu Chaoyang would never have even spared this little brat from a branch family a second glance, much less allow her to call him “grandpa”. The rest of the clansmen knew what Xu Chaoyang’s personality was like, and cursed inwardly when they heard this.

“You can stand behind me for now.”

“Yes, grandpa.”

“Continue the Dao Channel measurements,” Xu Chaoyang instructed.

“Understood, Father.” Xu Xiao saw that Xu Chaoyang was in a wonderful mood, and he smiled. Whenever Xu Chaoyang was around, as the Young Patriarch, he would be left with almost no say at all. Now that the pressure had been alleviated somewhat, he turned his head to Xu Yan and told him to recommence the measuring of the Dao Channels.

“As you wish, Young Patriarch.”

At this moment, the only ones who haven’t had their Dao Channels measured yet were the 5 children from the main branch of the Xu Clan, and Xu Zhi, the other from Xu Yan’s branch family who was the same age as Xu Qingcheng.

With an indifferent expression, Xu Zhi walked up to the stone platform and flipped up onto the stage, where he took a seat.

In an instant, the stone platform released a single circle of white light which didn’t show any signs of further change.

The crowd was stunned. It was known that every person in the Xu Clan’s main family and branch families possessed at least Grade 9 Channels at the very minimum, and there were almost no cases where they had no Dao Channels.

“No problem, you can come down,” Xu Chaoyang said with a smile.

Evidently, the fact that Xu Qingcheng had Grade 5 Dao Channels had made him extremely pleased. Xu Zhi was Xu Qingcheng’s little brother, so even though he somewhat lost face for the Xu Clan by having no Dao Channels, he didn’t see it as a big problem.

Xu Zhi’s expression became even more detached, and he jumped down from the platform. Without a word, he returned back to the crowd where the branch family was seated.

The remaining five were the sons and daughters of Xu Xiao, and thus the direct blood kin of Xu Chaoyang. However, in face of the value in Xu Qingcheng’s Grade 5 Dao Channels, Xu Chaoyang actually didn’t hold that much expectations towards these children. Aside from the small boy in the black robe, that is.

That secret had been protected for these last five years. At that time, the elders of the Xu Clan held a meeting and made the decision to raise him as a normal heir, and only when his Dao Channels were measured would they decide on his cultivation agenda. This secret was forbidden to be told to any outsiders, and they even got rid of several soldiers of the Zhenhai Army who happened to be around at his birth in order to hide it. The only remaining people who were privy to this knowledge were the clan elders, Xu Xiao, and his wives.

Xu Xiao’s wives were all heavily guarded. In the last five years, many imperial guards were placed on patrol, and vigilance was demanded of them at all times. This measure guaranteed that even at the slightest hint of trouble, there wouldn’t be any leak of information outside of Zhenhai City.

“Xu Qian, Grade 6 Dao Channels!”

“Xu Ziyu, Grade 8 Dao Channels!”

“Xu Yufeng, Grade 7 Dao Channels!”

“Xu Xuan, Grade 7 Dao Channels!”

Xu Qian was the only one with Grade 6 Dao Channels, and the others all had Seventh or Grade 8 Dao Channels, yet this result wasn’t shocking in the least to the crowd.

There weren’t many with Grade 6 Dao Channels, but to these great clans who passed on their blood for hundreds of years, they weren’t necessarily considered that rare either.

Xu Disheng was constantly circulating his Soul Force throughout his body’s circuit this whole time, starting from the Shenque meridian point, going up to the Jianggong meridian point, and lastly to the Baihui meridian, where it would congregate within his sea of consciousness.

At this moment, he opened his eyes and stood up, and began to walk slowly towards the stone platform. Jin Yu’er was watching him unblinkingly, while Xu Qingcheng, who was standing behind Xu Chaoyang, looked on at Xu Disheng with interest. Only Xu Chaoyang and Xu Xiao’s expressions had a hint of nervousness in them.

Xu Disheng lightly flipped onto the stone platform and sat down cross-legged upon it. He felt a strand of foreign energy spring up from the platform below, which entered his meridians and circulated around, then disappeared back into the stone platform.

This was the probing technique of this stone platform Martial Treasure, which could only be refined by those in the Xiantian stage. It was also a Martial Treasure distributed by the Grand Chu Dynasty, so as expected, it wasn’t an ordinary item.

Xu Disheng was trying to use his Soul Force to feel out the strand of probing energy, but he was completely blocked. After a while, he stopped trying and let the strand of energy wander about in his meridians several times. The Dao Channel Measurement Platform suddenly started shaking, and the white circle of light constricted, where it was stuck closely to the top of the platform.

The crowd was completely flabbergasted. They had only ever seen the white halo of light expand outwards, and had never seen it constrict inwards like this. The halo of light kept shrinking smaller and smaller, as if it would expand outwards violently in the next second.

“Expand?!” Xu Chaoyang began to feel inwardly that something bad was going to happen, and he wanted to fly to the front, but he was already too late.

A phantom image of a hand suddenly appeared, covering the Dao Channel Measurement Platform. The white light that looked like it was about to explode was contained within the palm, and after it closed into a fist with a firm grasp, there was no more sound.

An eagle-eyed elder appeared on the platform, his appearance somewhat similar to Xu Chaoyang.

“Respect to the Great Elder!”

“Greetings to Grandpa Elder!”

Everyone from the Xu Clan still couldn’t wrap their heads around what just happened, but when they saw the eagle-eyed elder, they suppressed their astonishment and each of them immediately began to greet him with respect.

This person was the Great Elder of the Xu Clan, Xu Qinying. He was the previous Patriarch and also the father of Xu Chaoyang. It was rumored that he had long since reached the half-step to Xiantian stage, and he was known for possessing incredible fighting prowess. However, Xu Qinying had long since withdrawn from the main stage, and over 20 years ago, he had retired to the Council of Elders. Many people thought he was already dead, but now he had suddenly showed up to interrupt this Dao Channel Measurement Ceremony.

“This time’s Dao Channel Measurement Ceremony is over!” Xu Qinying declared in a deep voice. He glanced at Xu Disheng, picked him up, and then flew off.

The crowd had all kinds of expressions on their faces, but they soon began to say their farewells to Xu Chaoyang in turn, wanting to return to their own clans as soon as possible. The Zhenhai Army and Imperial Guards began to direct people to make a methodical exit.

Those children who were measured to have Dao Channels stayed in the capital, and their parents received their rewards, returning home to have their celebratory feasts. But for the numerous aristocratic families of the Ruyang Region, as well as the four great clans, stormy undercurrents began to brew. The Ruyang Region was about to experience a great change.

Xu Chaoyang wants her to call him 叔爷爷, which literally means “grandpa from uncle’s side”, but it doesn’t quite translate so I decided to leave it as “grandpa”.