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Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Steadiness
As Miss Su, having received elite education from a young age, she was very clear about what needed to be done to secure her footing in a new place.
"A new official lights three fires upon assuming office."
It was often necessary to pick one or two people to establish authority.
She understood all this.
The house servant Shu Yi, who had come with her, suggested that she use one of Gu Jinlai’s followers to assert her dominance, but she outright rejected the idea.
The reason?
As a member of the Su Family, being assigned from the bustling Capital of Starlight City to the small Lingxiao City was already an exception; if she appeared hesitant and restricted in such a minor place, where would the face of the Su Family’s descendent be left?
Moreover, to suppress the situation in Lingxiao City with the fastest speed and achieve accomplishments, she had specially requested a letter from her mother and had called upon Su Bieli’s disciple, Yan Xuejian. With this Refining God Immortal present, she could act boldly and establish her merit.
"Vice Town Guardian Gu, you’re not scared, are you?"
Su Tong lifted her chin slightly.
Yan Xuejian also stepped forward and said indifferently, "Ancient Town Guardian, please enlighten me."
Gu Jinlai looked at the two of them, quite surprised.
He had already made peace with the idea of letting the other party gold plate their position, conceding in certain areas, and even if it were somewhat unfair, he had accepted it, planning to endure the year or half and then part ways.
But the outcome...
This Miss Su from the Su Family seemed to have a different idea in mind.
The fact that she brought so many people with her indicated that she was ready for a big fight.
"Heh."
Gu Jinlai gave a slight smile: "Of course I dare not, how can I, a Heavenly Master, be an opponent for a Refining God Immortal?"
"Didn’t you annihilate the Red Blood Demon Sect? The Sect Leader of the Red Blood Sect was said to have the strength of a Great Demon, on par with top Refining Gods."
"The situation is different, the combat method of a Heavenly Master relies on external objects. For you to ask a Heavenly Master like me to face a Refining God Immortal directly is really asking too much of me."
Gu Jinlai looked at this proud woman, and judging by her aggressive approach, he thought that if he didn’t make a stand, she would likely become even more presumptuous.
Thinking this, he continued: "Of course, if the Su Town Guardian is willing to let me choose the battleground, I wouldn’t mind showing you a thing or two about the methods of a Heavenly Master."
"Choose the battleground?"
Su Tong turned her gaze to Yan Xuejian.
Yan Xuejian thought of the power of the gunpowder that Gu Jinlai had refined.
If he chose a sealed area filled with that kind of gunpowder for their battle, one misstep could mean the end for him.
"When you confront someone in battle, your opponent won’t let you choose the battleground."
Yan Xuejian said.
"Aren’t we just sparring? It’s not a fight to the death."
Gu Jinlai said with a smile: "Besides, as a Heavenly Master, if I truly had a deadly enemy, I would of course be prepared to run as far as I could."
"That won’t do, Ancient Town Guardian. You represent the face of Meteor Star Guard. How could you flee without fighting when facing an enemy?"
"Is that so?"
Gu Jinlai laughed: "It seems the Su Town Guardian is prepared to live out this notion, ready to fight to the death even against a Primordial Spirit True Monarch. In that case, I will wait and see."
Su Tong’s face changed color from Gu Jinlai’s words, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, it wouldn’t do for her to have an outburst without reason, so she said: "Vice Town Guardian Gu, this is the Guardian Mansion, the residence of the garrison commander. Are you, a vice garrison commander, set on overstepping your role and taking over?"
"I’ve been responsible for all the important and trivial matters recently, I had no choice. But now that the Su Town Guardian has arrived, these trivial matters from the subordinate counties can be handed over to the garrison commander."
Gu Jinlai said with a smile.
"As long as they are within my duties, I will naturally do my best."
Su Tong stated directly: "As for any welcoming or cleansing of dust, what good things could Lingxiao City have? Besides, I dislike such formalism. Let’s proceed with the transfer of duties."
"All right then."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
He had made preparations before Su Tong’s arrival; there were heaps of cumbersome affairs from the counties under Lingxiao City’s jurisdiction, so much so that the study room of the garrison commander was full of them.
If Su Tong wanted to make a big splash, he would let her keep busy.
"You’re working for Meteor Star Guard, and the Guard naturally cannot be without reward."
Su Tong waved her hand.
Soon someone brought over a treasure box.
"The most important thing for a Heavenly Master is the refining formula and the Beast Taming Secret Method, and this is a cultivation method for a Mechanical Tyrannosaurus that our Meteor Star Guard has collected."
She said this with some reluctance.
In the end, he directly said, "Vice Town Guardian Gu, you may as well focus on researching this Secret Technique. I will take care of the Meteor Star Guard matters for you; there won’t be any chaos."
"Exterminating the three families of Lingxiao City and then dealing with the Red Blood Demon Sect has indeed kept us incessantly busy lately. I also need to rest properly for a while, thank you for your consideration, sir."
Gu Jinlai responded sharply.
Soon after, he completed the handover with Su Tong and immediately left the Guardian Mansion, returning to the west of the city.
"Beast Taming Secret Method, a pity it came at an inconvenient time."
Gu Jinlai felt some regret.
His spiritual energy had not yet recovered.
He couldn’t use it.
Even if he could, Artifact Refining of Spiritual Artifacts must take priority.
"Patriarch, Su Tong’s motives... are probably not as simple as we imagined."
Gu Chaoyang said with a grave expression.
"When the soldiers come, block their path; when the waters rise, build a mound against them."
Gu Jinlai said calmly, "We just need to focus on training the newly recruited six thousand soldiers. Once the six thousand soldiers are trained, even if Su Wen herself comes behind her, she won’t be able to harm us in the slightest."
"The soldiers from our clan have also been training for nearly half a year now, should we transfer some of them to serve as lower-ranking officers?"
"That’s possible."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Given the changing current situation, he turned his gaze to his "personal guard" Chi Feng, "During this period, I asked you to investigate those who are committing evil deeds in various counties, how is that going?"
"It’s mostly clear, but those who can dominate a county and still live well, either have considerable strength or have decent connections."
Chi Feng said.
"Decent connections? What do you mean by decent? Organize the information, and I’ll review it. Don’t worry about their connections; capture these people alive and hand them over to me for disposal."
Gu Jinlai said, "As for the people behind them... The Su Town Guardian came to Lingxiao City intending to stir up a big fight, no? The Meteor Star Guard itself is meant to suppress local forces to prevent them from exploiting the masses, so why don’t we hand over these achievements to the Town Guardian."
"Understood, I’ll go right now."
Chi Feng replied affirmatively.
Although they did not know why the Patriarch suddenly ordered them to act against these people, the Patriarch had long established absolute authority in their hearts through the time they spent together.
Where they didn’t understand, they did not fuss; they just carried out the orders.
...
Time flew, and more than ten days passed.
In these ten days, Su Tong behaved relatively restrained, but her subordinates were collecting information about Gu Jinlai and the Gu family members from all directions.
To know your enemy, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.
As a member of the Su Family, she was very clear about this.
Meanwhile, she used her connections in the Meteor Star Guard to quickly win over its members.
Within less than half a month, nearly half of the Meteor Star Guard members, who had originally sided with Gu Jinlai, had shifted their allegiance to Su Tong.
The reason they only persuaded nearly half was that many Meteor Star Guard members guessed that this Miss Su from the Su Family came here for a gold-plating stint and wouldn’t stay long.
On the contrary, it was Gu Jinlai.
After Su Tong left, he was most likely to take over as the Lingxiao Town Guardian; to avoid his retribution come fall, these Meteor Star Guard naturally didn’t dare to take sides lightly.
...
On this day, Gu Jinlai finished replenishing his spiritual energy when Gu Chaoyang hurriedly arrived, delivering a letter to him.
"Patriarch, we have received a message from the Purgatory Sect. They’re quite dissatisfied with us letting Su Tong take charge of Lingxiao City. The letter says that to take Baihe City by surprise, if we expose their plans too soon here... Elder Xue’s two years of planning will be ruined."
"I have already arranged their hiding place. As long as they don’t enter the city with a large army, no one will notice."
Gu Jinlai spoke and then asked, "Has Yang Kan arrived?"
"There’s been a change in Lingxiao City; they have slowed down their actions."
Gu Chaoyang replied.
"Then let’s wait for them to arrive before we discuss further."
Gu Jinlai’s demeanor remained composed.
Just then, a Gu Family Disciple sought an audience outside.
Upon entering the study, he went straight to the point, "Patriarch, there’s been a change in Qiushan Mountain. Ripples appeared in the cave, and it seems like the gap to the Demon Realm is about to open."
