Chapter 1: I Got the Wrong Script!

Translator’s Notes: About this story. It starts a bit slow but quickly picks up. There are character settings that come from other stories but you don’t actually need to read or have any knowledge of the stories they come from. Of course knowing might let you get a laugh out of it, since Xianxia main characters sometimes seem like arrogant amoral self-righteous immortal assholes who deserve a beat down. But that’s just my opinion so don’t mind it.

Central Heaven Region, Heaven Territory, Eight Extremities World.

Outside Broad Creed Mountain, one of the few martial cultivation Holy Grounds of the present era, Yan Zhaoge stood with a black edged blue mantle draped over white clothes. This outfit declared his identity as one of Broad Creed Mountain’s innermost core disciples.

And across from him stood an unconvinced and dissatisfied youth in yellow clothing, “Yan Zhaoge, don’t you freaking just have a good father?”

Yan Zhaoge replied expressionlessly, “What did you just say? Say it again if you dare.”

“I’ll say whatever I want. You think I’m scared of you? Don’t you just freaking have a good father?”

Yan Zhaoge stared at the yellow clad youth and suddenly burst out laughing, “Very good, exactly what you said. I just love it when people say that about me.”

The yellow clad youth became dumbstruck and speechless.

After a long while, he finally managed to regain his senses but he quickly transitioned into rage due to humiliation. Without caring about the consequences, he jumped at Yan Zhaoge.

Full of indifference, Yan Zhaoge stated, “Restrain your blows and don’t kill him.”

The yellow clad youth faltered mid action. Then he felt his entire body go numb and the vision distorted drastically. A long while after, when he returned to his sense, he discovered someone had soundlessly grabbed him by the small of his back and lifted him high into the air.

A very burly man appeared in front of Yan Zhaoge with one hand holding the yellow clad man high in the air like an adult lifting a tiny child.

The large man was all smiles as he said, “Prince, please go ahead.”

Yan Zhaoge simply nodded. Folding his hands behind his back, he leisurely turned and left.

The large man laughed cheekily while still holding the yellow clad youth with only a single arm. Conversely, the youth could only wail.

Yan Zhaoge entered the main gate of his sect. As he walked, the smugness he displayed earlier had already disappeared without a trace. His expression had become completely tranquil.

At a glance, he appeared to possess a calm and steady demeanor.

But the true connotation behind his current state was…

he was absolutely stupefied.

“This script is wrong.” Yan Zhaoge muttered to himself. As a member of the so called crossing worlds army, there must be a problem with his crossing over.

His first cross over landed him in a foreign world with a martial warrior civilization at the peak of prosperity. He ended up in the book storage building of the Divine Palace, which collected classics of all fields from all over the world.

However, soon after, there was a world class calamity that destroyed even the Divine Palace.

What followed was apparently an unexpected second crossing over, where his soul arrived in the same world except countless years later.

At this point, people had discovered remnants that had survived the calamity and re-established a martial warrior civilization. This new civilization was still in its growth phase far from the peak.

With his brain full of rare books and classics from the era of peak prosperity, Yan Zhaoge’s second crossing over to the present era was like a gamer who was used to playing hell mode suddenly finding himself playing the game on easy mode.

That was just way too awesome.

The only problem with the second crossing over lay in the terrible mess left by the original owner of his body.

“Prince, the materials you were searching for have all been found,” the large burly man had once again caught up, “Information about the locations of the ‘Li Flame True Fire’* fire seed has also been found.”

Yan Zhaoge slightly slowed his pace, “This information is indeed hard to come by. Has the precise location been confirmed?”

“It is in the northeast region of the Dragon Sealing Pool. The search area has already been diminished to the utmost. It won’t take long for our people to send back news of a more precise location,” the large man replied with candid laugh.

“Not bad. Not bad,” Yan Zhaoge nodded in satisfaction.

Yan Zhaoge’s father was not only an important elder of the sect with a lot of authority, he was also the current patriarch of the Yan family, which was an illustrious and influential greater clan whose fame resounded across the entire continent. Those who called Yan Zhaoge prince as opposed to martial brother were all subordinates of the Yan family.

If Yan Zhaoge wanted something, he only needed to create a list and there would naturally be subordinates to carry out the task.

In other words, the current Yan Zhaoge is of high class birth, has a ridiculously bullshit dad, and is a genius himself. Everything is perfect and there should only be smooth sailing from here.

But… something doesn’t seem right.

“Prince, there is one more thing-” the burly attendant had wanted to say something else but then suddenly cut himself off.

A middle aged man with a heavily profound aura walked towards them. Each step seemed to shake the world around him.

Once he neared, he and Yan Zhaoge exchanged proper etiquette. The middle aged man said with a slight smile, “It’s only been a few day, martial nephew Yan’s cultivation seems to progress daily.”

Yan Zhaoge smiled and replied, “Skill from diligence. Incompetence from indulgence. I dare not slack off.”

The middle aged man said, “These days, there is movement at the Dragon Sealing Pool. We are preparing to scout out the situation. The elders have decide to send the younger generation first. It so happens that the sect’s youth competition has just concluded. The sect wants to send the eight top ranked disciples along to give them an opportunity to train.

“It’s just that, according to rumor, your old rival is also in the vicinity of the Dragon Sealing Pool. If martial nephew Yan isn’t busy in the near future, you might as well act as squad leader for this expedition.”

He stared at Yan Zhaoge with eyes full of expectation and admiration.

The youth in front of him possessed extraordinary talent, a true chosen son of heaven. He is a well known figure and an acknowledged leader among those of his age group. He is the pride of Broad Creed Mountain’s younger generation.

Only geniuses among geniuses, as in those geniuses that stand most prominent over their same aged peers in the absolute best sects of the Eight Extremities World, can compare to him. They were evildoers, freaks, and people who stand so far above the masses they no longer seemed human.

In the current era, there are four princes who are famous far and wide across the entire Eight Extremities World. One of them is the Broad Creed Prince Yan Zhaoge. Acknowledged by the masses as an elite hero, it is said that so long as he does not die early, he will definitely create a new legend.

“Dragon Sealing Pool is it…” Yan Zhaoge pondered a bit before accepting right on the spot, “There aren’t any important matters on hand, I might as well make this trip. I will naturally look after my junior brothers and sisters a bit.”

Yan Zhaoge understood what the other man meant. There were strong members of the junior generation from other sects also operating near the Dragon Sealing Pool.

If the sect’s disciples are suppressed during an encounter between the younger generation, it would be a blow against the sect’s glory.**

On the other hand, if a martial uncle led the squad, the younger generation obviously wouldn’t be bullied but conversely this would also weaken the prestige and influence of the sect’s younger generation.

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In regards to himself, Yan Zhaoge would happily leave the sect more often. After all, to him this entire world was brand new. He wanted to collaborate the memories in his mind with the world outside.

He would need to go on an expedition to the Dragon Sealing Pool sooner or later. Some of his plans required its unique environment. His current objective was also located at the Dragon Sealing Pool. So this time, he would just conveniently play along.

The middle aged man became even jollier after Yan Zhaoge accepted his request, “For this outing, martial nephew Yan can also act as an example for the younger generation. I believe they can learn many things as a result.”

After taking leave of the middle aged man, Yan Zhaoge continued on his way. The burly man followed beside him and resumed their earlier discussion, “Prince, earlier An wanted to tell you lady Lin’s close door training has apparently been extended. She will not be coming out as scheduled.”

In his opinion, his master should react with regret and dissatisfaction after hearing this news.

However, in reality Yan Zhaoge at this time had the urge to roll his eyes.

This is the terrible mess left to him by his body’s original owner.

During a past training trip, the original owner of this body met a girl.

The girl originally had a childhood friend who also happened to be her sweetheart. However, upon meeting the perfect Yan Zhaoge of that time, she became moved. For the sake of a brighter future, she left her original sweetheart.

Even though the original owner of this body did not intentionally seduce the girl, but he would not refuse any beautiful girl who offered herself to him. This caused a lot of resentment in the girl’s commoner ex boyfriend.

The difference between the body’s original owner and the commoner boy was too large. Even though he did not suppress or make things difficult for the boy, he still held the boy’s hostility beneath contempt.

The girl’s martial talent was truly unusual. Originally she was like a pearl gathering dust in a small corner of the world, but once she followed the body’s original owner to Broad Creed Mountain and became a disciple, her cultivation grew by leaps and bounds.

Sometime after she became a disciple, the girl started closed door training and it was at that time that Yan Zhaoge experienced his second crossing over, taking over his current body.

Admittedly, the girl was an undeniable top class beauty.

She was a beautiful and graceful maiden who even a prince would desire. However, to the current Yan Zhaoge, that was all she was. Her visage was pleasing and warmed the heart, but he had no particular feelings toward her.

The Great Cataclysm he experienced during the first crossing over and the sight of the Divine Palace being destroyed was eternally etched in Yan Zhaoge’s mind.

Even the immeasurably mighty Divine Palace could be destroyed, who between this heaven and earth could stay safe and sound forever?

Some people would giving into despair after witnessing that scene. Live in the moment and enjoy while one still could. However, Yan Zhaoge’s choice was different. He chose to work hard and strengthen himself.

Even though his dad was ridiculously bullshit, his own starting point extraordinary, his background amazing, and his subordinates innumerable, Yan Zhaoge still eagerly treasured every scrap of resource available. He spent all of it without waste on strengthening himself.

He makes the most of every second, every minute.

This has already become his natural instinct.

During the time after his second crossing over, Yan Zhaoge progressively got used to his new identity and environment. As the days passed by, he adapted to the people and things around him. However, some things still could not be changed.

To him, the most important thing is to cultivate rigorously, without wasting his superior environment and circumstances.

In this world where the martial path reigns supreme, the might of a single individual could potentially decide the fate of the entire world. Only strength is respected. Only the victor is king.

But Yan Zhaoge discovered, things are not as simple as they seemed.

At that time, the large man beside him just happened to mention, “Prince, other than lady Lin’s matter, An has also investigated Ye Jing.

“Currently sixteen years of age. A citizen of the Eastern Tang Kingdom, East Heaven Region, Heaven Territory. Both his parents died when he was three years old. He was fostered by relatives. Because he grew up relying on his relatives’ charity, he was bullied.

“He appeared to be an ordinary person without any unusual traits. His martial talent was completely average. Except for the fact he grew up together with lady Lin, there was nothing else worth noting.

“However, after you left together with lady Lin, he underwent remarkable changes. His cultivation soared and his behavior became stunning. First he stabilized his own position within hisclan, then he helped his clan grow stronger and suppress its opponents.

“Leaving home, he headed to the capital of the Eastern Tang Kingdom and achieved considerable fame among the younger generation. As a result, he obtained the right to participate in the Broad Creed Mountain disciple selection exam.

“After he has successfully passed the exam and joined Broad Creed Mountain as a disciple, his momentum seems stronger than even lady Lin. His performance is very outstanding.

“Among the new disciples, he is the very best. Recently, he’s even achieved number one in the sect’s youth competition.”

The large man stopped his citation and released a candid laugh, “However, compared to prince, he doesn’t even qualify to compete.”

Yan Zhaoge, however, twitched his lips. His actual thoughts were along the lines of, “It’d be a miracle if that were actually true.”

It could not be helped. No matter how he looked at it, that thing seemed to be a template main character.

Herein lay the problem. What was his role in main character Ye’s abrupt rise to power?

“Let me think. The current number one genius figure of the younger generation in the same sect. Rich young master. Possesses considerable personal strength. Has a father that can abuse his authority for my sake. Has a significant and influential background. And most importantly, it seems ‘I’ stole his girl?

“My body’s original owner seems to have even plucked the flower of the girl named Lin?

“… yeah, the exterior of this flesh bag of mine also quite excellent, very handsome if I had to say so myself. This body is just perfect for a poser who wants to pull off the false prince act. Hitting or stepping on a face like this would probably create a considerable amount of warm and fuzzies.

“And after that, my old man would try to help me out, becoming another stepping stone just like me. This would create the road that a main character needs to abruptly rise to power. One guy delivers his face to be smash and his whole family follows soon after, free shipping included…”

Yan Zhaoge rolled his eyes.

This script is definitely wrong!

* The ‘Li’ in ‘Li Flame True Fire’ refers to the 离li as in the symbol ☲ in the eight trigrams, which represents fire.

** glory as in face – literally the sect’s face would look bad

More Translator Notes: First, since I don’t have an editor, if you find any mistakes, please leave a comment. Thank you.

Something to note about wuxia is that a lot of terms are actually non-existent in the English language or the characters themselves carry multiple meanings, making a lot of things difficult to translate without losing part of the meaning. For example, in the title we have the word shixiong; I chose to use senior brother as a compromise between elder brother (which might also work, but it sounded a bit too much like older brother as in the normal older brother of a very traditional family) and martial brother (which lacks the ability to indicate whether the martial brother is older or younger). On the other hand, I could just put elder martial brother, but that’s just a tongue twister and the characters say it all the time. ‘Elder martial brother’ is six syllables, which I could use to make a sentence, as opposed to shixiong, which is only two syllables. There’s a lot of things like that and tons of pseudo proverbs making this novel more difficult to translate than some of the others. It also loses a lot in translation, especially the humor, so if you know Chinese, I recommend you not be lazy and read the original. But I really like this story, so I’ll be translating this instead of something else. Anyways, here’s the crux of the matter. Sometimes I won’t be able to decide whether to translate something or maybe I can’t decide how to translate something and then it’ll be up to you to decide.

Here’s the first decision: Guang Cheng Mountain or Broad Creed Mountain.

This is the name of the main character’s sect. The words can be literally transliterated as Broad Creed but it can also be translated as ‘numerous ways to take advantage’ or ‘wide riding’ or ‘multiple sects’ or a bunch of other possible translation, though the general idea behind it taking context into account should be that the sect is very versatile and adaptive in its martial arts.

Another thing to note is the Chinese idea of ‘face’, which doesn’t actually mean ‘face’ but rather a strange type of pride that follows certain rules, such as not bullying those who are weaker, appearing to have strength equal to your rivals, keeping your word, if you say something you shouldn’t go back on it. Face can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Evil cultivators usually treat face as a tool to manipulate Righteous cultivators. At the same time, ironically evil cultivators will hold especially hold a grudge if you make them lose face. Lose face pretty much mean a) to suffer defeat from those you see as weaker than yourself (this is usually an extension of keep your word and the words usually happen to literally be “I am stronger than you” or “I can crush you with one finger”, etc.) and b) subordinates fail to keep their word. The way to gain face is to be generally successful and have your reputation and fame soar. Of course the more famous you are, the easier it is to lose face. But so long as you’re not a revenge driven hick that’s set off by the smallest slight, you aren’t yet suitable material for a wuxia/xianxia villain.

So should I use ‘face’ or should I do my best to translate the concept into pride?

TBC...
Source: History’s Strongest Senior Brother - ExtraNovel.com

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Chapter 2: Dragon against Dragon, a Stand Off Between Kings, Which is the True Dragon?

TN: Once again, please leave comments for any mistakes.

Various voices could be heard as Yan Zhaoge walked along the road.

“I pay my respects to senior brother Yan.”

“Greetings, senior brother Yan.”

These were the voices of various martial brothers as they payed their respects while passing by.

“Martial nephew Yan’s martial cultivation has advanced again. Wonderful. As expected from the leader of the younger generation, a genius among geniuses.”

“Elder Yan has a qualified successor. Truly, a tiger of a father will not have a dog of a son!”

These were the voices of various martial seniors as they continuously sung his praise.

“Senior brother Yan’s aura is becoming more imposing and powerful by the day, and yet he somehow looks gentle without a doubt…”

“Oiya, I feel the same way too. So it’s not just me huh?”

“But… but… the more he’s like this, the more I…”

“Right? Right?”

“He he, right what right? Shameless little girl.”

“Senior sister! You… you… aren’t you the same!”

Okay. And those were the sounds of various martial sisters experiencing their first awakening of love.

Yan Zhaoge smiled at those martial sisters splendidly but at the same time he kept repeating himself in his mind, “Stay reserve. Keep cool.”

The burly man beside him released an extremely hearty laugh, “Prince…”

Yan Zhaoge who was already used to his usual antics looked at him sideways, “Is there something else?”

The large man was his devoted personal attendant whose loyalty was beyond a doubt and tasked to follow him everywhere.

Logically, as someone who crossed over, Yan Zhaoge should avoid the close associates of the body’s original owner in order to avoid being exposed.

However, that kind of action was originally a double edged blade. Conversely, staying close to those associates would assist him blend into the present world more quickly.

Fortunately, Yan Zhaoge received more than just the body from its previous owner. He also received that person’s memories.

Otherwise, just the local language would become an insurmountable challenge.

“Prince, An has already investigated that Ye Jing person. Even though he suddenly showed massive improvement, but he is still not someone worth noting. But the grudge he has against you, why don’t we…”

Yan Zhaoge could not resist quickly rolling his eyes. His speed ensured nobody noticed his odd behavior. “Yeah, without a doubt, it’s this pattern as expected.”

The attendant and entourage would act first to incite conflict. Once the lower thugs were defeated, the malicious young master would act personally because he felt his pride had been stung. The young master would be beaten until not even his mother would recognize his face, which would incite his father’s involvement and his entire family’s involvement. In the end, the entire group would be annihilated.

Sounds like a perfectly plotted out script, right?

“Perfect my ass!” Forced to become villainous canon fodder, Yan Zhaoge simply could not feel a single speck of positive emotion towards to the role he had been assigned.

He had apparently gone from free and leisurely second generation genius who never even needed to work hard to a background canon fodder who served as another stepping stone on the ordained son of heaven’s road to the top.

The thoughts appearing in Yan Zhaoge’s mind at this time were rather silly and nonsensical.

Even the more fortunate enemies of the ordained son of heaven would barely receive a better end. They would act as the rival figure, the type that was as resilient and undying as a cockroach. They never die and after each defeat the next time they show up their strength would have improved. In reality, these rival figures were simply reusable products that helped the main character gather experience and equipment.

As for those less fortunate enemies, it’s doubtful whether they could survive even a couple chapters before dying or worse.

And in normal cases, someone like Yan Zhaoge who had the right background to summon forth an even mightier father is simply the mini-boss that comes before the big boss. Mini-bosses were not likely to live for more than a couple chapters before going down the route of canon fodder.

Also, the idea of he who strikes first gains the upper hand fails to apply. In accordance to the rules that govern these ordained sons of heaven, any main character who suffers such a fate would simply be suppressed for a while before rising once more with even greater momentum than before. That was often equivalent to gifting them a large fortunate encounter, allowing them to grow stronger at an even faster rate.

In the end, those main characters won’t have a scratch. On the contrary, they will have grown stronger at an unthinkable rate. At this point, they will hurry back and aim for the villainous young master’s face.

The main character destiny is just that tyrannical and unreasonable. If it wants to flatten the canon fodder then the canon fodder will be flattened. It can even flatten you in a hundred and eighty unique and original ways.

“As for this main character Ye, what will his magical plot device turn out to be? A secret skill book from before the Great Cataclysm? Or perhaps a supreme divine tool. Or even a portable wise old grandpa? Or maybe he’s someone’s reincarnation?”

Yan Zhaoge’s smile was slightly unnatural. He gave a hand wave, “There is no need to be concerned about him.”

The big man scratched his head, “As you say, prince.”

“Even though there seems to be a problem with the script. However, your elder brother, I, also have a magical plot device.”

The Great Cataclysm created a new era. This is because there were differences in the world before and after the Great Cataclysm. The route of martial cultivation was more or less changed. Even physiology of people’s bodies was not exactly the same. Thus Yan Zhaoge needed to adjust the various records and skill books within his mind to suit the current era. Were it not for this point, his cultivation would have soared at an even greater rate.

After his arrival, except carefully adapting to the new world and his new identity, most of Yan Zhaoge’s efforts were focused on actualizing real life applications of the knowledge stored within his mind.

And now, his efforts had borne fruit. It was time to soar.

So far Yan Zhaoge has only converted knowledge applicable to the cultivation levels of his current self and his past self. His cultivation had only ever reached certain realms, it wasn’t possible to convert his knowledge into practical application broadly across the entire cultivation process.

Food needed to be eaten one mouthful at a time and journeys needed to be taken one step at a time.

Regardless, as his cultivation progressively increases, theory can be integrated into practical application leading to more possibilities and vaster potential. And now, Yan Zhao was already prepared to realize the first step.

Not only did he possess expertise in the martial path, his knowledge in other fields such as artifact refinement and medicinal pill alchemy were also sufficient to create large waves in this era.

The investigation of the ‘Li Flame True Fire” carried out by his subordinates just happened to be associated with those fields.

If his experiment were successful, then he would undoubtedly receive immense benefits.

Yan Zhaoge twitched his lips, “Dragon against dragon, a face off between kings, let us see who the true dragon is. Perhaps this Ye Jing isn’t actually some main character propped up by destiny. Maybe I’m just being oversensitive and over imaginative. Let’s observe the situation a bit more first.”

Rather Yan Zhaoge was more troubled by the tricky matter of how he should face the girl who got eaten by the former owner of his body.

To the current him, his first priority was to improve himself, both his personal strength and his position within the sect.

As for beautiful women, he would not waste any time deliberately pursuing them, but neither will he deliberately reject those who pursue him.

The problem left behind by the original owner of his body was truly a pain in the ass.

Despite cursing and bemoaning on the surface, in truth Yan Zhaoge did not actually take this problem to heart. He shook his head and appropriately dealt with the tasks at hand before leaving to recuperate at his own residence. He sat in meditation and refined his qi until the next day arrive. Soon after, he left for the sect’s assignment hall.

Yan Zhaoge’s arrival immediately attracted everyone’s interest. Their eyes all focused on him.

Yet Yan Zhaoge’s expression remained natural. Taking a quick glance around, he found an incomparably gorgeous young girl with a slender figure walking towards him.

This girl looked to be sixteen or seventeen years of age. Her features were already world class, even superior to the Lin girl. She seemed like a heavenly fairy, a creature that did not consume the food of mortals. Her only flaw lay in a pair of eyes that were a rare icy blue, which granted her entire person a cold and detached air.

Si Kongqing, she was another outstanding latecomer from the younger generation. Although she was rather young, her fame had long since spread. Her martial talent was extraordinary, only inferior to Yan Zhaoge himself. She had been acclaimed as another child of heaven of Broad Creed Mountain, receiving the attention of many elders at an early age.

When Yan Zhaoge saw her, he once again had the urge to roll his eyes.

From what he knew, after being left behind by the Lin girl, Ye Jing somehow encountered Si Kongqing even before he joined Broad Creed Mountain. Due to some type of fateful encounter, there was even a pretty good relationship between the two.

At the moment, their relationship remained at the level of pure friendship. But according to a certain script, she is a girl from a good background; her talent was good; her beauty was overflowing; she was a true ice lady without any feminine emotion, yet despite this she happens to look favorably upon a seemingly average person.

Under the influence of Ye Jing’s main character aura, in time, this beauty who exceeded lady Lin in every category will very likely become the empress to Ye Jing’s emperor.

And beside Si Kongqing, there happened to be a scrimpy youth who stared at Yan Zhaoge with all his might.

This scrimpy youth was naturally Ye Jing.

Yan Zhaoge could distinctly detect flames that had been constrained for a long time from Ye Jing’s gaze and these flame seemed like they could explode forth at any time.

TBC...
Source: History’s Strongest Senior Brother - ExtraNovel.com

Chapter 3: Performing a Great Play

TN: I don’t actually have a schedule but I’ll try to update often. This chapter was extremely annoying to translate with all the looks, glares and glances. There’s only one word in Chinese but as a rule, English doesn’t like repetition so I needed synonyms. Of course, there’s less of that in future, but this time I was really troubled by the wording of some of these sentences.

Si Kongqing looked towards Yan Zhaoge and seemed to examine him closely.

They were heading towards the Dragon Sealing Abyss, an infamous danger zone. Should Yan Zhaoge decide to make life difficult for Ye Jing as the leader of this expedition, then it would be difficult for Ye Jing to survive the trip.

The thoughts of the others were much simpler. Some were glad that someone as strong as senior brother Yan was leading the training expedition. Others stared at Yan Zhaoge fervently because they wanted to befriend and curry favor with him.

The few in the know were looking at Ye Jing as if waiting to watch a good show.

Ye Jing’s eyebrows drew together tightly, after joining the sect, he had already learned of many things.

The slightly older youth before him not only had higher cultivation and strength, but he also possessed deeply profound backing within the sect.

Yan Zhaoge’s father was an elder who happened to be one of the highest authority figures of Broad Creed sect. Even without accounting for martial strength, his position and authority within the sect was solidly top five. He was also a direct disciple of the sect leader and a strong contender for the position of sect leader’s successor.

Ye Jing’s fists gradually tightened. His eyes focused on Yan Zhaoge without hiding or showing weakness.

“Are these the so-called eyes full of unyielding flames?”

Without knowing whether to laugh or cry, Yan Zhaoge shifted his line of sight towards the doorway leading to the side chamber, “Greetings, elder Cui.”

A white haired old man appeared in the doorway. Ye Jing and the other hurriedly bowed and paid their respects upon seeing him, “Disciple greets honored elder.”

This white haired elder happened to be a deacon elder of the assignment hall just like the middle aged man who requested Yan Zhaoge the day before.

To Ye Jing and the others, whether it was his cultivation or his position both signified that he was a powerful figure deserving of respect.

The old man regarded Yan Zhaoge with a smile on his face, “Martial nephew Yan, you already arrived? Very good. Very good.”

Yan Zhaoge replied, “Elder Cui, in that case I will leave the task of disseminating information regarding the matter of the Dragon Sealing Abyss to you, please.”

Allowing his gaze to fall upon Yan Zhaoge, Ye Jing, Si Kongqing and others like them, Elder Cui smiled and said, “An unexpected surge up suddenly occurred in the Dragon Sealing Abyss. The local forces have already performed the initial handling. Your task this time is to help investigate the abnormal behavior of the Dragon Sealing Abyss by entering the pool itself.”

He paused for a bit before looking towards Yan Zhaoge, “In principle, this task only requires a simple report after verifying the situation. However, should your group encounter an unexpected situation that requires prompt decision making, this old man has faith in your abilities. Martial nephew Yan, please act at your discretion.”

Yan Zhaoge laughed, “Elder Cui overpraises me.”*

Elder Cui laughed along, before his gaze shifted towards three people including Ye Jing, “You three should have each received an artifact as a reward from youth competition. How have you progressed in nourishing them and figuring out their function?”

Ye Jing and the two others replied together in respectful tones, “Ever since receiving the artifacts, we disciples have been continuously nourishing them even as we keep up our training. We can already control them on a basic level.”

In this world, ordinary weapons and defensive equipment were called mortal tools. Above mortal tool grade, there existed demi artifacts, artifacts, spirit artifacts, and even sacred artifacts. These can provide a power boost for warriors like adding wings to a tiger.

High level weapons and defensive equipment were even mighty on their own, fully capable of piercing the heavens or sundering the earth.

Unfortunately, normal craftsmen can only create mortal tools. Any equipment above mortal tool grade required martial warriors to create it themselves. In addition, in order to refine artifacts of certain rank, proportional strength is needed in the form of a certain level of cultivation.

Not only that, artifact refinement was not something just anyone could learn. Its methods were exceedingly difficult to comprehend. The materials required were also scarce. Overall, the current world had fewer artifacts than martial warriors of the equivalent rank.

Nevertheless, Holy Grounds like Broad Creed Mountain were affluent enough to award their disciples with artifacts.

Ye Jing and them just happened to win the first three places of the youth competition for new disciples. The artifacts they received were enough to fill their peers with envy.

Elder Cui nodded, “Artifacts possess spirit. If you nourish them consistently without slacking off, then they will help you demonstrate additional might when time comes to face the enemy.”

Ye Jing and the two others promptly nodded. Even though the rewarded artifacts were only low grade, but for the current them, these artifacts were already world-changing supreme treasures.

Actually their current cultivation was only enough to control demi artifacts. The artifacts they had could be considered extremely luxurious equipment.

There was only a limited amount of good equipment. If they were not members of Broad Creed Mountain, simply owning a demi artifact would be heaven’s grace.

There were countless people with cultivation levels similar to Ye Jing and them in this world who could only depend on mortal tools.

Elder Cui looked towards Si Kongqing, Ye Jing, and the others, “These eight are all new disciples. They might have also undertaking training tasks, but their experience is a bit lacking. You eight, remember to take extra care.”

Si Kongqing calmly said, “This disciple complies.”

The other seven hurriedly voiced their agreement as well.

Elder Cui examined the sixteen young disciples assigned to this expedition as he stroked his beard. His gaze suddenly fell upon Ye Jing almost as if in surprise, “Hmm? Your cultivation… you’ve already successfully established your dantian’s qi ocean?! You weren’t at this stage earlier during the youth competition. In such a short time, you’ve actually improved by a realm?”

Acting neither servile nor overbearing, Ye Jing replied with a smile, “The techniques and resources provided by the sect are much superior to those of my clan.”

“You’ve only joined the sect for a short time. This is mainly a result of your outstanding talent,” praised elder Cui.

Th young disciples who joined the sect together with Ye Jing underwent a slow change in opinion at that moment, “Before, he was already number one in the youth competition, but in a short time, he has once again advanced another step. I used to think I could catch up at least a little, but who would have thought the difference actually became bigger.”

“Even though his background isn’t as good as senior brother Yan, but… this is also a true genius!”

Almost as if he suddenly realized something, elder Cui continued to ask, “This old man just thought of something. If I remember correctly, you should have cultivated for barely three full years, correct?”

Ye Jing replied, “Yes, honored elder. In my youth, I struggled by myself to strengthen my body and build my foundation. I truly came into contact with cultivation techniques and martial skills at the age of thirteen.”

Elder Cui burst out with abnormally genial laughter, “Good! Very good!”

Yan Zhaoge stood on the other side observing this act, his lips twitched strangely.

“I just knew it wouldn’t be this simple. So it was waiting for me here.” Yan Zhaoge glanced at elder Cui with a shadow of a smile.

Some of the other young disciples suddenly seemed to realize something and secretly sneaked peeks at Yan Zhaoge.

Elder Cui looked between Yan Zhaoge and Ye Jing and stated with appreciative sigh of admiration, “If I still remember correctly, martial nephew Yan trained for barely three full years before successfully establishing the qi ocean in his dantian. The heavens are assisting my Broad Creed Mountain. Another genius among geniuses has appeared!”

Everyone’s expressions gradually became restrained and ambiguous. Their gaze shifted back and forth between Yan Zhaoge and Ye Jing.

“We didn’t understand Ye Jing’s circumstances before. In truth, he only officially cultivated for only barely three years!”

“This Ye Jing is actually someone comparable to senior brother Yan. What frightening talent!”

“No wait. Senior brother Yan grew up in Board Creed Mountain with the personal instruction of elder Yan. His cultivation environment, conditions, techniques, resources, and legacy, no matter which aspect, they are all superior to Ye Jing’s.”

“Looking at it that way, isn’t this Ye Jing even more… even more… my god, how is that possible?”

Ye Jing took a deep breath. He raised his eyes and calmly stared towards Yan Zhaoge with his back straighter than before, as if he were a javelin that would pierce the heavens.”

Yan Zhaoge conversely did not look at him. His interest had gathered upon the still smiling elder Cui.

Other disciples of the younger generation might not know this man’s bottom line, but how could Yan Zhaoge not know?

This old man was someone backed by his second martial uncle, who was his father’s competitor for the position of successor and next sect leader of Broad Creed Mountain.

Yan Zhaoge slightly squinted his eyes for a moment. Then he started laughing soundlessly.

*This line xhuoxiao ‘说笑‘ transliterates to ‘elder Cui is making a joke’ or ‘elder Cui is telling jokes’ or ‘elder Cui is trying to make me laugh’ but actually this line is simply a modest response to praise. You can think of it as a type of etiquette. You’ll be seeing more of this in future.

TBC...
Source: History’s Strongest Senior Brother - ExtraNovel.com

Chapter 4: A Yan Zhaoge Who Does Not Follow the Script

TN: Starting with this chapter, I will be using ‘face’ as opposed to pride or glory.

The old and white haired elder Cui maintained his kind and benign act, all smiles while looking towards Ye Jing. Almost as if he did not realize at all the impact his words had on his audience.

Yan Zhaoge watched elder Cui, and then looked towards Ye Jing. Suddenly, he found this entire situation laughable.

The ordained son of heaven when faced against an opponent that the current him stood no chance against would often received the passive or active backing of certain forces. These forces would become his protection providing time and opportunities for growth, at least until that ordained son of heaven charged out of beginner village.

‘Enemy of your enemy is your friend.’ These people were usually those who stood opposite to the villainous canon fodder.

Once the ordained son of heaven completes his growth, these forces could just sit and watch as he starts a massacre of epic proportions. As allies, they will naturally benefit a hundred fold in return.

Normally, these people would be known as… the hero faction?

“He truly performs with the air of an well rehearsed actor. This is a perfect implementation of the scripted scenario.”

Yan Zhaoge sized up elder Cui and Ye Jing. He did not hide his action nor was he polite about it.

Elder Cui did not miss this, but rather than becoming angry, he was secretly delighted.

“As rumored, those who are domineering and ostentatious will seek to avenge every slight,” the white bearded old man smiled without any indication of his true thoughts, “Having lost face in front of these people. Even though there are only sixteen here but the news will spread quickly, one to ten, ten to a hundred. Now that the thorn has been planted, this child won’t be able to take this slight lying down. Whether he explodes here or endures until the Dragon Sealing Abyss. Both outcomes are acceptable.”

Yan Zhaoge watched elder Cui, and then looked towards Ye Jing again. Deep inside, he was laughing derisively.

“First I express my disdain. Next Ye Jing expresses his unyielding spirit. Then I become angry because I lost face when he contradicted me. Finally I send my thugs in the form of servants or juniors to teach him a lesson, only for them to be beaten so badly that they end up searching for their teeth all over the floor. In this situation, unless the opponent commits an obvious offense, otherwise even if I act openly, I can only exchange pointers or compare skills.”

So long as someone of lower cultivation does not issue a challenge, on the whole using your cultivation to suppress someone will earn a reputation of bullying the weak.

And it just so happens, the ordained son of heaven possesses the main character aura, which grants the innate divine skill to bypass rank when slaughtering villains and be unrivaled against opponents of the same rank.

Sending a single small fry does not work. Sending a mob is also ineffective for the most part. On the contrary, there’s even a possibility of them turning into large amounts of experience points, increasing Ye Jing’s growth rate.

“Maybe, if he keeps fighting, he’ll even level up on the spot?”

This was a very valid possibility.

“At that time, because my thugs have been beaten black and blue, I’ll fly into a fit of rage. Without caring whether I’m bullying the weak, I’ll try to teach this Ye Jing a lesson. Even though Ye Jing is currently much weaker than me, but his unyielding staunchness will allow him to withstand several exchanges letting him to show off his brilliance.

“Perhaps, he’ll even use his magical plot device to make me suffer a small defeat.

“And when I finally get serious and decide to beat him half dead, this elder Cui or another character will speak up and overturn the situation. As for me, I would spout some cliché lines, ‘tiny scum, consider this your lucky day’ or something like that. And like that, wouldn’t today’s performance would come to an end?

“Even if I win this fight, there’s no glory to be had. Most people would think I’m using my strength to bully the weak. Wouldn’t their sympathies would go to Ye Jing instead?”

Yan Zhaoge twitched his lip, “This script… do you think I’m an idiot?”

Elder Cui beamed ever so innocently at Yan Zhaoge and Ye Jing. Si Kongqing looked at Yan Zhaoge guardedly. Everyone else stared at Yan Zhaoge with both apprehension and expectation, wondering how he would respond.

“The Dragon Sealing Abyss, only a few among you have gone there before. Even so, you should all know its fearsome reputation,” in the face of everyone’s expectations, Yan Zhaoge finally started speaking, “With your cultivation, even without entering the depth, merely by nearing the edges, you will experience grave danger. Even though I will travel alongside you, but the true purpose of this trip is for you to train yourselves. It is not a scenic tour. I will act with propriety, but you will also need to persevere.”

Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s words, elder Cui let out a slight smile. He thought to himself, “It seems Yan Zhaoge will wait until the Dragon Sealing Abyss before acting.”

Ye Jing and Si Kongqing both felt a chill in their hearts.

However, at this time, Yan Zhaoge suddenly changed his tune, “You and I will journey together. Thus I will naturally look after you. As they say, to do a good job, you need good tools…”

Yan Zhaoge snapped his fingers, “Ah Hu.”*

A tall and sturdy figure appeared in the doorway, “Yes, prince?”

Yan Zhaoge said, “Bring me sixteen second grade products. Yes, and mainly choose the sword and defense types.”

“As you say, prince,” replied Ah Hu, this man was the burly large attendant who followed at his side earlier.

Not long after, Ah Hu returned from his task with his arms full of objects, which he then placed in front of everyone.

An entire field of magnificent light flashed and flickered so brightly that the young disciples were unable to open their eyes. Furthermore, strong waves of spiritual qi caused their blood and qi to heave.

“Artifacts! They’re all artifacts!” each and every person expressed their shock, “Senior brother Yan, these artifacts…”

Yan Zhaoge continued as if nothing happened, “These are from my personal collection and not from the sect. I have decided to grant them to you. There are a total of sixteen artifacts, one for each of you. Now you may come forth and pick your own artifact in order of seniority.”

The entire hall was suddenly silent. A couple vague noises sounded in the background as if someone was swallowing their saliva.

To these new disciples with their lowly cultivation, these artifacts were rare treasures. Ye Jing and the other two were only granted artifacts after facing heavy competition in the sect’s youth competition to take the top three places. And even so, they only received a single artifact each.

How much effort did they spend? How great was their glory as they were bestowed their artifact at that time?

But now, suddenly, everyone was given an artifact each.

Even though Ye Jing and them already possessed artifacts, but how could any one reject more of this kind of precious treasure?

It was just that Yan Zhaoge brought out sixteen artifacts without blinking an eye, as if these were not the artifacts that the younger generation yearned for even in their dreams, but rather a pile of scrap metal.

Moreover, Yan Zhaoge did not use his identity to obtain these from the sect’s reserves. Instead, this was his personal property.

Everyone’s attitude towards Yan Zhaoge suddenly changed from before, their regarded him with increasingly greater enthusiasm.

Ye Jing tightened his fists instead. The anger in his eyes could not be hidden.

He felt as if Yan Zhaoge had humiliated him, as if Yan Zhaoge was purposefully flaunting.

Si Kongqing looked towards Yan Zhaoge and slightly shook her head in displeasure.

Elder Cui was intially surprised, but soon after, he started laughing inside, “What is this supposed to be? Using wealth to make friends. Bribing others to isolate Ye Jing while showing off his wealth at the same time?”

“Admittedly, this is an excellent hand. The results aren’t bad either. He managed to regain the face lost earlier. However, this course of action is… is… ha ha, truly the actions of a hedonistic silk pants…”**

“This child is not someone to fear. In the future, he will definitely cause trouble for his father.”

Elder Cui smiled while shaking his head. He picked up and examined a set of armor, before speaking to Ye Jing and them, “The Dragon Sealing Abyss is indeed dangerous. This is also a kindness from your senior brother Yan.”

Facing everyone’s expectant looks, Yan Zhaoge continued to speak steadily without any change in demeanor as if he didn’t notice their reactions, “These things are my gifts to you, thus I will not ask for them back. They are yours now. However, I request that you report the performance of these artifacts to me. Whether you are nourishing them, refining them, or using them, please keep proper records of their performance. That way I can separate the wheat from the chaff and make proper adjustments when I refine the next batch of artifacts.”

The disciples all agreed to Yan Zhaoge’s request simultaneously. Then they suddenly realized something was strange. A moment later, everyone focused their attention on Yan Zhaoge. Their expressions were unnatural as if they had just seen a ghost.

Elder Cui trembled involuntarily. The artifact in his hand almost fell out of his loosened grip. “What did you just say?”

*This is not his name. It is a combination of 阿 ,which shows familiarity and hu or “tiger”, the name of the burly attendant.

**Silk pants are spoiled hedonistic rich young masters with rich and powerful parents. They’re called silk pants because they tend to wear expensive and comfortable silk pants that aren’t suited for any type of physical labor. You might have seen this term in ISSTH, during the demon sect arc. Or in the Otherworldly Evil Monarch, where the main character took over the body of a silk pants before pretending to be a silk pants for the longest time.

TN: This author has the horrible habit of mixing the protagonist’s thoughts into the dialogue despite not writing in first person limited. In fact, it should be a mix of third person multi perspective and third person limited. Please forgive me for being lazy and not fixing this mistake. I’ll justify myself by saying it’s actually really difficult to separate the character’s thought and the narrative, especially with the character’s thoughts occasionally placed in quotations, which indicates what the author thinks should be the character’s thoughts as opposed to the occasions when the narrative suddenly becomes first person but not really due to the differences in pronouns and lack of tense in the Chinese language. The good news is that everything including the style gets better after the first 10 or so chapters. Until then, bear with me. It’s like some manhwa that start out with really bad art but seem to improve with every chapter.

TBC...
Source: History’s Strongest Senior Brother - ExtraNovel.com