In the end, Yunyin understood that all the ideas and all the calculations behind talent didn't matter for now. His current talent was just fine, there was no need to invest into his talent. The best course of action would be to put his influence in either the county or the clan.
Just as he was thinking about it, the carriage suddenly halted.
"Master, we've arrived," Heiluan called out to his master who had regained his focus.
"Hm," Yin hummed in agreement and waited for Heiluan to step out of the carriage before he did so too.
Stepping out of the carriage after him, he walked forward and entered the opened courtyard, his mind still focused on a few things.
But just as he entered, he felt a different presence!
"Who!" he shouted as he looked at his courtyard, shocking both Heiluan and Bailuan who had just stepped forward.
No one answered for a moment – a strong aura spread from Yunyin, his wisdom feeling everything in his surroundings, as if trying to understand what had changed.
"Official Jie is very perceptive," suddenly, a voice came from a small corner as a man in full black clothes revealed himself, garnering the attention of all three present.
Yunyin, Heiluan and Bailuan instantly churned their wisdom, and in that short moment three mental tools manifested!
Yunyin's abacus floated in the air, Heiluan's bookshelf was positioned in front of them like a shield, and Bailuan held his registry in his hand, about to shout.
"Official Jie, you don't need to be so aggressive!" the veiled figure said, throwing out a small wooden token to the ground – it was engraved with the word "War".
"I was just sent-" the man was about to continue when he was suddenly interrupted by a shout.
"Presumptuous!" Yunyin shouted, his abacus trembling with power as he looked at him, "Presumptuous!" he shouted once more, anger flaring on his face.
"Truly, viciously presumptuous!" he shouted a third time as the pebbles in the abacus suddenly shot out!
White pebbles like jade pieces shot out one after another, all aiming at the stunned martial artist!
Bang
Bang
The power behind these pebbles was immense, like iron bullets, yet they hit the arms of the martial artist who barely blocked it.
"Presumptuous! You dare sneak into the courtyard of an official! Where did you get the guts to do so!" Yunyin shouted once more, his expression extremely stern.
Bailuan raised his hand and slammed it on the registry, commanding, "With no registry in this household, you are labelled a criminal!"
Instantly, chains formed from hidden corners of the courtyard, stretching out to catch the criminal.
"Official Jie!" the man shouted in shock as he dodged the bullet-like pebbles and avoided the chains, "I have been sent by the Ministry of War!"
"You dare!" Yunyin shouted in response, "Impersonating staff of a ministry, you dare?!"
"No! I-" the man was about to say something when Heiluan suddenly kicked the bookshelf in front of him, throwing it right towards the martial artist!
The martial artist was about to dodge when he saw pebbles coming from above and chains approaching from all sides.
He had an idea and instantly jumped up, about to kick the bookshelf away –
Right then! Books flew out of the bookshelf and opened up in front of it, blocking the kick and allowing the bookshelf to smash him right to the wall.
Yunyin seemed to have found an opening as the pebbles fell from the sky like artillery, smashing into the man's shoulders, directly crippling him!
The chains there formed around him, binding him tightly to the wall.
"Hah, a mere martial artist dares to attack an official in broad daylight!" Yunyin looked truly angry at this sight!
He had become an official, 30% of the reason being that officials were the most closely protected profession in the world!
Any harm to them would be tantamount to disrespecting the court and the emperor, yet a person actually dared to attack him right in broad daylight.
He looked at the token with the "War" engraving, using his wisdom to raise it and put it into his robe, then turned to Heiluan and told him, "Go and report it to the capital's yamen! I want to see if this person dares do something like this again!
Hah, never mind. The number of people who attacked officials and escaped unscathed are less than the fingers on my two hands!" he scoffed as he looked at this man.
No matter what plan he had, he actually sneaked into his own courtyard. He, Jie Yunyin, would never allow any trespassing to happen!
So what if he was sent by the Ministry of War? If they wanted something, they could send an invitation, deliver a visitation card or even if the martial artist waited outside and asked to come in, that would've been fine –
Who asked them to break into his courtyard for no reason?
He had to make it clear that he would never accept such a thing now, so that in the future, other officials would understand not to do it.
It would also allow him to strengthen his persona as a strict and stern official who followed rules and etiquette and didn't care for who went against them.
"Official Jie, you can't do this! The Ministry of War-"
"What are they going to do? Official Lu, are you going to retaliate against me because a martial artist broke into my home suddenly, spouting nonsense about being part of the Ministry of War, without even showing any identification?" Yunyin suddenly asked as an official was brought in by Heiluan who had just gone out.
"Official Jie, how can this be? We of the Ministry of War would never send out such a presumptuous person. This must be a vagrant martial artist who tried to ruin the relationship between our two ministries!" Official Lu, the young official led by Heiluan, directly denied any connection with this martial artist.
Looking around, he saw no token, thinking to himself that this Official Jie was quite an understanding person, not taking any drastic measures and only warning them not to repeat it.