Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 284: A Unique Understanding of Shadow Succession

“By the way, haven’t you eaten yet?” Qing Chen asked, “I have a carefully prepared meal here, still warm. You should eat while it’s hot.”

The Elder looked at the insulated food box in Qing Chen’s hand, hesitating for a moment: “You brought this specifically for me?”

Qing Chen said as a matter of course: “Yes, the cold air is heavy on this Broken Bridge. You’re fishing here; how can you not eat something to replenish your energy?”

“You’re thoughtful,” the Elder calmly took the food box, but saw beef neatly arranged inside, and in one small compartment, there was even twice-cooked pork.

The Elder smiled happily: “The doctor removed twice-cooked pork from my menu a long, long time ago. It’s rare to be able to eat it here with you. Thoughtful.”

Qing Chen smiled, thinking that Li Ke’s meal preparation was quite sumptuous, and the presentation was good too.

Only Li Ke didn’t know that he only went to Bieyuan Courtyard to teach one lesson in the morning, and ate lunch directly back at Flying Cloud Courtyard, so he wouldn’t need this meal at all.

However, Qing Chen didn’t waste it and simply brought it to the Elder.

“Aren’t you afraid there’s poison in it?” Qing Chen asked doubtfully.

“If there were poison, you’d be dead now,” the Elder said calmly.

After hearing this, Qing Chen subconsciously looked towards the woods by the lake, but saw nothing.

Could there be an Awakened One bodyguard with poison-detecting abilities beside the Elder?

“Do you know how many Dragon Fish there are in total in this Dragon Lake?” The Elder asked while eating the twice-cooked pork.

“I don’t know. Such a large lake, there must be at least a few hundred,” Qing Chen roughly estimated.

The Elder sat steadily on the Broken Bridge, shaking his head: “When Knight delivered them, there were only 18 in total. After so many years, there are still 18. These Dragon Fish, after leaving Forbidden Zone 10, no longer breed, nor do they grow any larger. Years ago, one Dragon Fish was secretly eaten, and yesterday you ate one, now there are only 16 left.”

“Wait,” Qing Chen was stunned: “That means I can only eat 16 more?”

The Elder said angrily: “Is that the focus of your attention? Ancestor Knight once said that eating nine Dragon Fish is the limit; eating more won’t benefit you.”

“Oh,” Qing Chen nodded: “You continue.”

The Elder continued: “There are many rare and exotic animals in the Forbidden Zone. At first, we were guessing why those powerful rare and exotic animals never left the Forbidden Zone. They could clearly hunt outside. After raising Dragon Fish, I started to think that the instinct for breeding is written in the bones of all animals. They may simply know that once they leave the Forbidden Zone, they can no longer reproduce.”

Of course, this is just a casual guess.

Qing Chen thought for a while and suddenly said: “Then have you ever considered that it’s possible that when Knight gave them to you, he specifically chose 18 female fish, deliberately making your Dragon Fish unable to reproduce?”

This time, it was the Elder’s turn to be stunned. Qing Chen’s deduction actually has no evidence or basis.

But he inexplicably felt that this was indeed something Knight could do!

Thinking of the years he had waited for the Dragon Fish to lay eggs, and thinking that he might have been played a joke on, the Elder wanted to swear.

Qing Chen comforted: “It’s also possible that I’m wrong. What if they aren’t all female fish? Maybe they’re all male fish.”

The Elder sighed: “If you anger me to death here, you’ll definitely be buried with me.”

“Then consider that I didn’t say anything,” Qing Chen said calmly.

“Speaking of which, you haven’t asked me who I am?” the Elder said slowly.

“Wouldn’t you tell me if you wanted to?” Qing Chen sat on a small stool beside him: “And who you are isn’t very important to me. A loud enough name and a strong enough reputation is enough.”

The young man looked at the old man, whose hands were full of calluses, like dry bark.

He didn’t look like a person in a high position at all, but rather like an old farmer who toiled under the stars in the fields.

“You don’t have much of a young person’s curiosity,” the Elder pursed his lips and added: “But you’re very skilled at using others' power to enhance your own.”

“How can you say that,” Qing Chen explained: “As an Instructor at Bieyuan Courtyard, I’m also considering the next generation of the Li Clan. Look at how they’ve raised their children, unable to withstand any hardship. This is only within the Li Clan. If they weren’t children of wealthy families, they would have died on the streets long ago.”

The Elder sighed: “A large family is like a large company; there will always be all sorts of problems, and if you’re not careful, problems will arise. Teach them freely; I’ve already given instructions. The fish bones are hanging there; no one will do anything to you. But I’m curious about one thing: why are you willing to put in the effort to teach them?”

Qing Chen said righteously: “Of course, it’s for the enduring prosperity of the Li Clan!”

The Elder: “…”

In fact, Qing Chen had already figured it out. This matter ultimately still revolves around Shadow Succession.

Now the outside world says that the Qing Family issued a second round of tasks to the Shadow Candidates, precisely to allow the future Shadow of the Qing Family to find their political allies early on.

The key is to slowly learn how to unite and outmaneuver, and how to handle the relationships between Conglomerates.

And Qing Chen? He’s also participating in the Shadow Succession, but the difference is…

Of the remaining seven Shadow Candidates, four are vying for one Li Yino, while he alone possesses 31 young members of the third generation of the Li Clan.

Others have an equal cooperative relationship, but he can use a small whip to lead 31 students.

He can not only whip Li Clan members, but also Shadow Candidate Qing Yi.

The superiority is clear at a glance.

Li Shutong said that there is always a second path to Shadow Succession: kill all other candidates.

Qing Chen is now walking both paths, seizing both opportunities with both hands.

When Shadow Succession truly erupts in City 18, Qing Chen will lead his 31 Li Clan academy students to fight.

He really doesn’t believe that anyone in City 18 dares to use Firearms against so many Li Clan members.

Whoever fights them will suffer losses.

Of course, the prerequisite is that he must first manage these students well. If he can’t win their support, he won’t be able to lead these students.

Qing Chen asked: “Yesterday you did say that you had secrets to tell me. If I come here every day, you telling me one secret a day isn’t excessive, right?”

The Elder sighed: “You want to eat fish and also want to extract secrets from me, how can you want to take the best of everything?”

“Can you go back on your own words?” Qing Chen said: “What secret are you going to tell me today?”

The Elder thought for a moment: “This is a secret only known to the Li Clan. Besides the two known rules of Forbidden Zone 37, a third rule was added 17 years ago.”

Qing Chen curiously asked: “What is it?”

“You don’t know the first two rules yet? I’ll tell you the first two first. The first rule is that you cannot take off your clothes, not a single piece. The second rule is that you cannot smack your lips when eating,” the Elder said calmly: “Since you don’t know these two, then the new one will be the secret for tomorrow.”

Qing Chen said angrily: “There’s no such thing as revealing only half of a secret.”

“I don’t care,” the Elder focused on fishing.

It’s like listening to a story in a teahouse, and just when you get to the exciting part, the storyteller in the teahouse slams the sounding block: to be continued.

Moreover, Qing Chen does know these two rules, because on the way back from Forbidden Zone 002 to City 18, his master, Li Shutong, had told him all the rules he knew, including these two.

In other words, Qing Chen wanted to hear a secret, but he heard nothing.

But he couldn’t say that he actually knew the first two rules. If the other party asks him how he knows, how will he explain?

But speaking of which, the rules of not being allowed to take off clothes and not being allowed to smack lips, I don’t know which talented people left these rules. They probably killed a lot of people.

“By the way, does the Li Clan have any ancestral Cultivation methods? I mean, besides the Meng Hu Sect’s?” Qing Chen was curious: “The Li Clan is large and powerful, and has been passed down for nearly a thousand years. There must be something hidden away.”

The Meng Hu Sect is the one Li Yino cultivates in, but Qing Chen couldn’t make all the Li Clan members into strong men.

The Elder glanced at Qing Chen: “Why are you asking this?”

“As an Instructor at the Martial Arts Hall, just teaching some fighting techniques isn’t proper. If they only have ordinary physiques, even if they learn fighting techniques well, it’s useless,” Qing Chen said: “When you encounter warriors who have taken Gene Medicine, you’re still going to die.”

“The Li Clan definitely has this kind of thing, but you underestimate the Cultivation path. Even though the Li Clan is large and powerful, they don’t have much stock,” the Elder said slowly: “The path of inheritance is the greatest secret of every cultivator. Many people would rather take it to their graves than let it fall into the hands of a Conglomerate. For example, Knight, to this day, the outside world still doesn’t know what needs to be done besides Qingshan Cliff and Yun Hai's Fall. And it is said that Knight also has unique inheritance breathing techniques. Without that, even if you know what Knight needs to do, it’s useless.”

Qing Chen said strangely: “The Li Clan are descendants of Knight, don’t they know Knight’s secrets?”

“You underestimate their devotion to inheritance. Even if it’s their own son, if they don’t qualify to become Knight, they can’t know Knight’s secrets,” the Elder said lightly: “Of course, there are also some cultivators who don’t have such strong backbone, so the Li Clan has some Cultivation methods, but the problem is that those who don’t have strong backbones… their Cultivation methods are not very good. They may Cultivate for more than ten years, but they’re only a D-Class.”

Qing Chen was even more curious: “Isn’t there a better Cultivation path? I don’t believe it.”

The Elder looked at him: “There is one Cultivation method that is said to be able to Cultivate to B-Class, but no one can inherit it now. If you want it, I’ll have someone get it for you to try.”

Qing Chen suddenly realized that for people in the Inner World, a Cultivation path that can Cultivate to B-Class is already very powerful.

No wonder so many people want to become Knight.

“Okay,” Qing Chen nodded: “But why can’t anyone inherit it?”

The Elder looked at him: “I’m not a cultivator, how would I know?”

More than an hour had passed, and Qing Chen had been waiting for the Elder to catch a Dragon Fish.

As a result, whether it was the Dragon Fish or the Elder, no fish had been hooked.

Qing Chen muttered: “Can you still catch a fish today? Is your technique not good enough?”

The Elder widened his eyes: “I’ve been a master angler for decades, and this is the first time someone has questioned my fishing skills.”

“Okay, I won’t question it,” Qing Chen circled the Elder, pulled out a fishing line from his fishing tackle bag, and tied a hook to it.

Qing Chen wanted to pinch some bait, but the Elder suddenly became vigilant: “What are you doing?”

Then, the Elder put the metal box containing the bait in his arms.

“How stingy are you, you’re a big shot, do you need to be like this?” Qing Chen was unhappy.

“No, do you know that groundbait fishing is a skill? My prepared groundbait can’t be used with just any bait,” the Elder said.

“Okay,” Qing Chen squatted by the side of the Broken Bridge and casually threw the hook into the water.

With a splash, Qing Chen felt a tightening of the fishing line in his hand.

The Elder was stunned.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said: “Although I’ve never fished before, I guess there’s a fish on the hook.”

Then, he pulled slightly on his hand, and pulled a Dragon Fish larger than yesterday’s out of the water.

The Elder looked at the Dragon Fish flapping in Qing Chen’s hand: “You’re cheating, right? Come and show me the hook in your hand, are you cheating?”

Qing Chen happily held the Dragon Fish and turned to run: “Don’t be so angry, I was just lucky.”

Then, the young man had already run far away, leaving the Elder alone in the cold wind on the Broken Bridge in a daze.

This time, Qing Chen did not encounter any traps saying that he had stolen fish on the way back.

It seems that many people have become accustomed to this strange new sight.

Only a few informed people silently counted, after eating this one, there are only 15 Dragon Fish left in the Dragon Lake.

I wonder how many more this young man will eat?

There have been rumors that eating Dragon Fish can strengthen bones and muscles. What will the effect be if all the remaining 15 are eaten?

On the way back, someone suddenly blocked his path and handed him a black box.

It was a middle-aged man who walked silently. After handing him the black box, he turned and left.

Neither of them said a word.

…

…

Return Countdown 89:00:00.

Morning, 7 o’clock.

The fourth day since he came here.

Many Leaders, after learning about the academy, sought information from the Secretariat, wanting to know who this new Instructor was.

However, they didn’t find out anything, only receiving a unified response: If you don’t want to attend the Li Clan academy, you can attend the public schools in the three districts, the teaching quality is also very good.

Now many Leaders panicked, because others might not know, but they knew one thing clearly: Only those who graduate from the Li Clan academy can hold important positions in the family.

This means that if they quit the academy, their children’s future is gone.

The Secretariat’s reply also indirectly raised the status of this new Instructor. All Leaders must abide by the rules honestly.

After all, being able to eat Dragon Fish and having the Li Clan Intelligence Agency protect them in this way, it seems that they must be a favorite of the Old Master.

Some even maliciously speculated that this could be the Old Master’s illegitimate child outside, or the illegitimate child of some important figure?

Ban Shan Mountain Estate is very large, if students need to walk to school, it will probably take more than half an hour.

It is early winter now, and the river is about to freeze. If you walk in the manor for half an hour, won’t you freeze into an ice stick?

The lesson at Bieyuan Courtyard is at 8 o’clock in the morning. The Leaders thought the Instructor wouldn’t arrive too early, so they would send their children early, so that the children could at least save some time.

So, at 7 o’clock in the morning, there were already Flying Cars carrying students landing at the entrance.

However, the students didn’t get out of the car. The servants saw that it was still early, so they told their young masters and misses to sleep for a while with the heating on in the car.

However, they hadn’t slept for a while when the servant in the driver’s seat slowly turned his head and met Qing Chen’s gaze outside the window.

Qing Chen, smiling, was waiting at the entrance of Bieyuan Courtyard early, holding a ginkgo branch in his hand.

He knew that some student Leaders would take shortcuts, so he left early today.

When the students in the car saw Qing Chen, their faces turned pale.

They quickly got out of the car honestly and stood at attention at the entrance of Bieyuan Courtyard.

After a while, the students seemed to have a tacit understanding. Half of them came in advance in Flying Cars, and then were taken by Qing Chen to stand at attention.

The servants were also taken away and stood in a separate row.

No one dared to say anything.

Qing Yi and Li Tongyun, who came with Qing Chen, waited idly.

Qing Yi was actually worse off. He was pulled up by Qing Chen at 6:30 in the morning and was sleepy as a dog.

But at this moment, seeing that others were not only standing at attention, but would also be whipped by Qing Chen later, he didn’t know why, but suddenly felt a sense of superiority…

This sense of superiority was strange. He clearly hated Qing Chen, but now his superiority came from Qing Chen.

Thinking of this, Qing Yi felt a little awkward.

After a while, Headmaster Li Liheng rushed over with a book under his arm. He looked at the students and servants lined up at the entrance and didn’t say a word.

He didn’t expect that Qing Chen actually managed to subdue these students!

Li Liheng greeted Qing Chen, and Qing Chen nodded in return.

At one point, the Headmaster felt that the young man in front of him was becoming more and more like a Headmaster… at least more than he was.

When everyone was present, Qing Chen asked the students to turn around one by one, then gave each of them five lashes, immediately causing the students to cry and howl.

No one said “Do you know who I am?” today. Everyone had received temporary training from their parents at home. They only cared about one thing now: They couldn’t drop out, and they couldn’t be expelled.

“I hope everyone will learn a lesson,” Qing Chen said with a smile: “You are here to study and to suffer. Don’t think that because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you can do whatever you want. Okay, go to the Martial Arts Hall, get ready for class.”

The students looked dejected and silently walked into the Martial Arts Hall. They suddenly noticed something unusual: Yesterday, only a string of Dragon Fish bones was hanging, but today there are two strings…

They eat a Dragon Fish a day?

The color of the fish bones today is lighter, perhaps the braising method has been changed to steaming…

In the Martial Arts Hall, Qing Chen stood calmly in front of the ginkgo tree: “Many of you will be wondering, now that it is a technologically advanced era, is it useful for ordinary people to learn martial arts? Li Ke, tell me your thoughts.”

Li Ke thought for a moment: “I aspire to join the Federation Group Army after graduation, so I hope that I will not only learn martial arts, but also be able to embark on the path of Cultivation in the future.”

Qing Chen looked at Qing Yi: “What about you?”

Qing Yi said lazily: “If you’re smart enough, you can command thousands of warriors. Why bother learning martial arts?”

Qing Chen said seriously: “Your thoughts will soon change.”

Qing Yi had a bad feeling again.

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