Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

Liu Zhu stared at the robed figure attacking him in shock, trying to figure out what to do as they continued to stab at him. After four failed attacks aimed at his vitals, he fully processed the situation and hurriedly rifled through his pockets. Liu Zhu was doomed in head-on combat against this assassin, so he needed someone who could help him. Within a few moments he pulled out a short-distance sound transmission talisman connected to Zhu Chao, immediately tearing it as he sent a message. "Assassination attempt 10 minutes down the road from the Huquang family. Heading towards the Huquang family now."

The sound-transmission talisman scattered into powder after Liu Zhu finished sending his message to Zhu Chao, its duty done. The assassin stopped their barrage of attacks for a moment, wary, but gritted their teeth and decided to redouble their efforts even though their initial attempt had failed. Even if that necklace Liu Zhu was wearing could block their strikes, it was unlikely that it could do so indefinitely. They just needed to make it run out of power before reinforcements arrived.

The assassin chased after Liu Zhu as he ran towards the Huquang family, hoping that the head of the family there could help him. Their family wasn't very strong, but since the assassin was probably only at Qi Refinement or Qi Emission, they'd have a good chance of defeating him. As Liu Zhu ran away constant attacks rained down on him, each one of them being blocked by faint flashes of light from his necklace.

Liu Zhu's attacker spared no effort to try and injure him, but despite his attempts he was making no progress. He was correct in assuming that Liu Zhu's necklace could only last for a limited amount of hits, but misjudged how long it would take to drain the power from it. After a minute under assault the attacker paused, tensing up, and then ran away at an extremely fast speed. Soil flew behind them as they ran away, and in the distance a small figure appeared. The figure rapidly approached Liu Zhu's position, and after a moment it became clear who it was- Zhu Chao! Every step he made caused large piles of soil to appear in the air, and he created small holes in the ground from his every step. As Zhu Chao passed by Liu Zhu he slung him over shoulder, carrying him like luggage as he continued chasing after the assassin.

A few breaths after Zhu Chao picked up Liu Zhu the assassin was in view, trying to trying to run away through the treetops of a nearby forest. A furious expression appeared on Zhu Chao's face as he loudly yelled "Some snot-nosed brat at Qi Refinement can't get away from me!". He launched off of the ground, immediately jumping dozens of feet into the air, flying past the treetops and towards the assassin. The chase lasted only a few seconds after this, as Zhu Chao rapidly caught up and then stopped the assassin by violently kicking him into the ground below.

A small crater was formed in the ground where the assassin landed, blood and broken branches surrounding him. The assassin's robe had been destroyed by Zhu Chao's attack, and he was revealed to be a young man with several scars and a pale, almost sickly-looking face. Liu Zhu was lightly tossed to the side as Zhu Chao pulled the bleeding assassin from the ground. He closely examined him, as if trying to recall something, before snorting and throwing the man to the ground. "I don't recognize you. Were you hired?" The assassin's shallow breathing could be heard before he let out a weak yes. "Who hired you?" The man stayed silent before hesitantly replying. "I can't tell you that. Customer privacy is important in our business."

Zhu Chao glared a hole through the assassin at that response, and an almost-imperceptible chill ran down his spine. In a much more solemn voice, Zhu Chao asked again. "Tell me who hired you or I'll bring you to the brink of death and then make you tell me." The assassin seemed slightly afraid, but stuck to his guns. "I told you, I can't tell you. I'd die." The man was pulled off of the ground again, letting out a groan of pain as Zhu Chao picked him up. "If you don't tell me then I'll kill you myself." He stayed silent, staring at Zhu Chao, before eventually being slammed down again. Zhu Chao sighed, turning his attention to Liu Zhu. "I'll... reeducate him later. For the time being you will stay on the estate. Someone has a grudge against you, and I need to find out who."

The two returned to the estate, captive in tow. Liu Zhu went to train and calm himself down, while Zhu Chao returned to his room. A moment after parting Liu Zhu could hear loud screaming coming from Zhu Chao's room, but after a moment it suddenly stopped. He wasn't sure whether it was because something happened to the man or because Zhu Chao used some sort of special item to muffle the sound, but he didn't want to think about it too deeply.

The assassination attempt was kept a secret as Zhu Chao investigated, and so the only unusual thing to happen on the outside was Liu Zhu cancelling a few meetings. Liu Zhu secluded himself on the estate, cultivating and trying to improve his movement, as Zhu Chao tried to find out who hired the assassin. The morning after the assassination attempt Zhu Chao found out that the assassin was hired through a middleman a couple of cities over, and so he gave the middleman the visit. The middleman was surprisingly unfazed in the face of an expert, and refused to answer Zhu Chao's questions, saying that he'd die if he told on one of his clients. Much like the assassin, the middleman ended up in a state worse than death after resisting, and ended up spilling everything he knew to Zhu Chao after a couple of days.

The person who hired the middleman was apparently a young woman wearing a thick, yellow robe and a mask from a festival. They didn't state why they wanted to order the killing, and simply said that they were willing to pay whatever it took. Zhu Chao was unable to track down any information about this woman and ended up at a dead end, not even knowing whether she was another middleman or someone who worked for the mastermind behind all this.

At the Liu Clan's estate, Liu Zhu's seclusion continued as he patiently waited for things to blow over. During this time Liu Xuan was brought back from Blue Mount City by one of the elders in order to prevent anything from happening to him. He was unhappy about being brought home since he was enjoying his time there, but given the situation he could only grumble a bit before giving in. The situation remained awkward among the direct lineage family of the Liu family and the few elders who knew about it, as they couldn't do anything. Their trail had ran cold and they knew nothing about the assassin. Not the reasons behind the assassination attempt, what lengths they'd go to, or even whether Liu Zhu was the only one they wanted to kill. Discussions remained subdued among Zhu Chao, Elder Chu, and Elder Fan as they decided what to do about the situation.

Eventually, two weeks after this frustrating stalemate began, Zhu Chao visited Liu Zhu. Once they exchanged greetings, Zhu Chao got directly to the point. "Young Master Liu, I was planning on sending you out for experiential training, but the attempt on your life ended up derailing my plans. Still, I feel the need to ask- despite the situation, are you interested in going?" Liu Zhu didn't immediately given an answer, responding with a question of his own. "Wouldn't I be fine training here until things blow over?" A sad smile covered Zhu Chao's face as he replied. "We could do that, but to what end? It's not like whoever's targeting you will just become impatient and give up. Anyways, if you just stay here and cultivate day in and day out, it may work, but it will definitely stunt your growth. Cultivation is built on experience as well as effort, and despite your time with the Yu Clan, you don't have enough of the former- that was more to hone your technique than anything. I think you need to live up to your potential, quickly raise your cultivation, and then eventually reach a state where you can't be killed, even if they want to."

Liu Zhu was initially wary about the idea, but couldn't refute Zhu Chao's words. He thought it over for a minute before slowly nodding. "Alright. I'll leave the Liu Clan then."

Volume 1, A Once-In-A-Lifetime Chance, End

Volume 2, Year in the Northern Wastes, Begin