Damon's Ascension-Chapter 106: War In Xiangyang 7

Hearing what Damon said, the clerk blinked in surprise, then blinked again as his body began to tremble and just as his lips parted to stammer a response, a voice came from the side entrance.

"Well, well. What a surprise. A barbarian foreigner with silver."

The drawl belonged to yet another silk-robed dandy, this one with an embroidered crane on his chest and a jade ring that practically screamed ’my uncle is someone important’.

Damon’s eyes narrowed slowly in confusion and a hint of disbelief.

Again?

He didn’t even bother to look at the fellow, instead whispering toward Sun Liang behind him. "Is this one actually important and not just another fool?"

Sun Liang shook his head, grimacing. "That’s Zhou Ping, the youngest son of the County Registrar. He is known for slandering others, drinking bad wine, and failing his scholar exams twice."

Zhou Ping swaggered forward and slammed a scroll down on the desk. "I am here to purchase the Crane Ridge Villa! A proper estate, worthy of someone with culture and not some random wanderer carrying black iron boxes."

He glanced at Damon’s group with a smirk. "I’ll offer you a tael or two of real hard-earned money out of pity if you need legitimacy."

Damon exhaled slowly, pondered slightly, then rolled his shoulders and raised his hand to which the clerk instinctively ducked beneath the counter, thinking a slap was coming.

Instead, Damon flicked another tael onto the desk and smiled faintly. "Make sure it’s delivered with a proper receipt along with the land deed. I’m buying the Crane Ridge Villa, in full."

Zhou Ping’s grin faltered. "You... what?! You can’t—!"

However, the clerk—who wanted to get these two young ancestors away from him as fast as possible—had already begun scribbling frantically.

"I-It’s perfectly legal, sir! The estate goes to whoever pays in full first...!"

Damon turned to Zhou Ping and leaned forward just slightly.

"You’ve failed two exams, which means you can’t even win against paper. Do yourself a favor and retreat before I really educate you."

Zhou Ping stood frozen for a moment, twitching like a wind-up puppet that lost its spring. He opened his mouth for a comeback—

Then thought better of it and stormed out in a flurry of silk and wounded pride, muttering about "barbarian sorcery" and "bias against local talent."

Chen Yuan snorted. "Is it always this fun traveling with you?"

"No," Damon replied dryly.

Thinking back to the ’nightmare’ difficulty dungeons when he offended the Universe Will, he then added: "Usually it’s worse."

With the deed in hand and the receipt signed, Damon and his team set out for their newly purchased villa.

The Crane Ridge property sat on a modest hill on the outskirts of town, overlooking the town river and surrounded by walled gardens.

It was clean, private, and—more importantly—elevated.

As they approached the gates, Damon looked at the structure, already making plans for how to turn it into a proper base of operations.

The moment the fancy gates of Crane Ridge Villa opened, Damon stepped in first with arms behind his back, eyes scanning the estate with slight interest.

The manor was surprisingly larger than expected as the exterior was a two-story structure with curved tile roofs, red-painted eaves, and latticed windows that opened into internal courtyards filled with plum trees and koi ponds.

Walking inside through the front door, one could see that the interior was dusty but intact, with lacquered floors, faded silk drapes, and rows of empty guest rooms waiting to be filled.

Chen Yuan gave a low whistle. "This place used to belong to an old sect elder who retired from the Azure Sword Pavilion. They say it’s got good Qi flow and a balanced Feng Shui."

"No better place for planning rebellion and scaring off dandies," Sun Liang muttered, already claiming a sunlit study for himself.

Xue Rou dropped her travel sack in the courtyard and looked around with narrowed eyes. "We’ll need to clean, reinforce the gates, and figure out where to store weapons. The west wing looks good for training."

Damon nodded. "Use ten taels for labor and supplies and keep track of all expenses. We’ll be here a while."

After everyone had picked their rooms and gotten settled, he called the trio together on the rear balcony overlooking the town.

As tea was poured for everyone, the atmosphere became calmer since the breezy wind and the silence allowed the tension of the day to seep away.

Damon leaned forward. "I need a summary of the local sects. Start with the five major ones in Jing Province and don’t hold anything back."

Chen Yuan took the lead. "Five main sects hold sway here, not counting minor clans or traveling cultivators."

Sun Liang took over. "First, the Heaven Dew Sect. They’re known for their elegant cultivation methods which focus on graceful movements, energy refinement through breathwork, and ranged qi attacks.

"Their legacy technique is the Thousand Petal Mist Art, which can cripple large groups by suffocating their meridians. Don’t be fooled by their ’heaven dew’ name, they’ve assassinated more nobles in history than most rebels." He concluded with a hint of dread.

Xue Rou crossed her arms. "Then there’s Iron Banner Hall, which is made up of mostly muscle heads. They are masters of all kinds of weaponry as well as extremely competent siege fighters. Their style, the Iron Banner Overrun, turns their internal force into a crushing wave through heavy weapons. They can swing warhammers like they weigh nothing and break formation lines with sheer martial force."

Chen Yuan nodded. "They recruit from blacksmith clans and former soldiers, emphasizing a brutal but disciplined system."

Sun Liang lowered his voice. "Ghost Valley School is more... complicated... especially since their origins are murky. They teach stealth, illusions, poisons, and spiritual arts. They say their Phantom Vein Technique lets them shift between reality and illusion mid-combat, making them dangerous people. Half their disciples vanish before completing training, with some saying they had been sacrificed for forbidden knowledge."

Xue Rou added, "They’re the only sect with deep roots in both the martial world and the underworld. Informants, spies, assassins... that kind of crowd."

Damon sipped his tea. "That’s the one with a significant chance of holding the missing judge. Interesting."

The trio blinked but didn’t ask how he knew.

Chen Yuan looked northward. "Azure Sword Pavilion is the most traditional sect as they focus solely on the purest of sword arts, heavy on form and flow. Their main technique, the Azure Horizon Flow, combines footwork and slashes into a fluid dance and is at its strongest when used in open terrain. Their disciples are proud and uptight, but rarely unjust."

Sun Liang muttered, "They love duels... and posturing... and folding fans... sometimes all at once."

Finally, Xue Rou spoke with a subtle frown. "There’s the Zen Sect, but they are hard to read. They were once a Buddhist martial order, but after some kind of internal conflict, they became more... extreme. Their legacy art is the Empty Soul Palm, where each strike disrupts the opponent’s spirit energy instead of their body. It’s useless to block this attack as one can only evade to be safe, and when hit, the effects are hard to recover from."

Sun Liang added, "They’re neutral... officially. But a lot of monks have shown up recently and this is notable because they are quiet. Those bald donkeys always love to preach and say ’amitabha’ all the time, so for this to happen... it’s worrying."

Damon leaned back in his chair, watching the clouds drift lazily across the late afternoon sky as his thoughts spread.

There was a crowd control and debuff skill in the Heaven Dew Sect’s Thousand Petal Mist Art.

There was a versatile offense and defense weapon-based skill in the Iron Banner Hall’s Iron Banner Overrun.

There was a developed evasion and step-in footwork skill in Ghost Valley School’s Phantom Vein Technique.

There was a stable and elegant offensive method in the Azure Sword Pavilion’s Azure Horizon Flow.

Finally, there was a powerful and unblockable offensive method in the Zen Sect’s Empty Soul Palm.

Well, it seemed this Instance had everything he needed and he only had to pick and choose which ones he wanted.

"So to summarize what you all have said, we have a sect of poisoners, one of hammerheads, one of sword dancers, one of monks with grudges, and one of assassins living in illusions," Damon mused aloud.

Chen Yuan gave a half-smile. "Welcome to Jing Province."

Damon chuckled softly, then stood.

"Good, then we start from the shadows first. Sun Liang, get me everything you can on the Ghost Valley School’s known members, movement patterns, and rumored hideouts. If they have Qian Weimin, I’ll find him."

Sun Liang rose as well, grabbing his ink scroll. "It’ll take a day or two to gather quietly. The Ghost Valley folk don’t like being watched."

"Then don’t watch. Eavesdrop," Damon replied simply, walking toward his private quarters.

"Chen Yuan, gather up any known rebels with useful skills and hire them in the capacity of my personal guards. We shall train them up into a suitable force to stir up the province." Damon continued to give orders.

"At once, master," Chen Yuan said with emotion, feeling that something big was about to happen this time.

"Xue Rou, you handle the manor’s affairs. Hire the necessary maids and servants to maintain operation and secure goods as well as supplies for the long term. You will also be our funds manager," Damon instructed as he entered his bedroom.

Xue Rou’s eyes flickered as she hummed in acknowledgment and walked away to see it done. Maybe... she might actually have a chance to seek revenge for her father in this lifetime.