Chapter 344: Chapter 255: Secret Talks and Riddles, Ancient Nine States! The True Reason Behind Jian Province’s Backwardness!
"After you left the Tianpeng Academy, which place did you challenge next?"
Tian Jing was taken aback.
On Yan Chuan’s journey from Jian Province to Cang Mountain, he had been closely monitoring Yan Chuan. However, since Yan Chuan lost to ’Elder Tianluo’ at Tianpeng Academy, he hadn’t resurfaced. Logically, with all those injuries, it shouldn’t be like this!
Seeing Tian Jing’s inquiry, Yan Chuan took the opportunity to explain. Tian Jing was knowledgeable and might know about the background of the four swordsmen who appeared with Yang Yingxue: "On the night I entered the Yunling Mountain Range, Yang Yingxue, one of the ’Eight Great Heroes’ from the Purple Beard Sect, suddenly ambushed me. Just as Wang Zhengyi and I were about to subdue her, four swordsmen suddenly appeared, wielding a swordsmanship as cold as ice. Their swords were extremely fast, and their strength was formidable, unaffected by my ’Lion Roar’. Brother Wang’s Big Palm Print that even Ninth Grade Experts dared not easily withstand not only failed to wound them but instead backfired."
Yan Chuan recounted the night of the ambush by Yang Yingxue and the four swordsmen.
Then he explained the grievances between Fu Yunzhan and the Purple Beard Sect, as well as his activities at the foot of Purple Beard Mountain, detailing the causes and background to Tian Jing.
"Purple Beard Sect."
"Yin Huaidao."
As an All-Knowing of the Traveler Department, Tian Jing naturally was aware of this figure: "Yin Huaidao is just a step away from innate mastery, similar to my previous self, poised to step into innate status at any time, but without the right opportunity, he might never take that step his entire life."
There are many people like Yin Huaidao out there.
Previously, Tian Jing was well-known for this.
Including Jiang Bianliu, who was also stuck at the peak of limit-breaking, unable to break through for a long time. Yet, he dedicated himself to studying ’Guangling Fist’, remaining low-key and unnoticed.
Not only them.
Additionally, the court also has plenty of limit-breaking peaks and postnatal peaks. For example, the fifteen All-Knowing members of the Traveler Department used to be at this level, but only Tian Jing advanced first.
Not just the court.
There are also such individuals in Jianghu.
For example, among ’Purple, White, Gold, Green,’ the Four Great Dharma Kings in the Black Hawk Sect, one of the Six Great Sects, ’Golden Lion King’ and ’Green Winged Bat King’, they remain unable to advance to innate status, held back.
There are too many people like this.
Yin Huaidao is one of them.
"The ’Earthly List’ of the ’Weapon List’ that the ’Traveler Department’ is about to compile, specifically ranks the strength of postnatal peaks and limit-breaking peaks. Yin Huaidao is a popular candidate, even more favored than the two Dharma Kings of the Black Hawk Sect within the Traveler Department, at least among the top of the ’Earthly List’."
"Even I, before advancing to innate, might not be his match."
Tian Jing spoke of Yin Huaidao, affirming his strength very highly.
Hearing Tian Jing mention the ’Earthly List’ through Yin Huaidao, Yan Chuan felt puzzled: "Great Yan Buwu has only lasted for eleven years, and the court was the first to grasp information and access to the ’Mountain and Sea Realm’. Logically, experts should mainly come from the court. The Black Hawk Sect, being one of the Six Great Sects, has long cooperated with the court, so having masters is normal. But how did the Purple Beard Sect and Yin Huaidao progress so quickly in cultivation with such significant improvement?"
This was what had puzzled Yan Chuan before.
He had seen the top figures in Guangling and Jian Province, but even the leading figure Gu Shengyan of the Guangling Academy’s Ten Elders only advanced to Fourth Grade, Four Layers during the Jian Province Competition.
Then look at others—
Wang Kuan, Jian Rong, Shao Yancong,...
All these people are lingering at the first and second ranks, their strength very lacking.
This was still within the Academy.
Looking at Jianghu, at the sects, it was almost impossible to find anyone capable enough; Jianghu wanderers and sects, though few could even find a limit-breaking cultivator.
Based on the presence of the ’Mountain and Sea Realm’.
Based on the court’s initial contact with the ’Mountain and Sea Realm’.
Yan Chuan could comprehend why most experts would come from the court, as it belonged officially, like Ni Mengtong, Li Mingshan, and Sima Feng. He could accept the strength of these individuals.
And then to Jiang Bianliu, Elder Jiang, who was obsessed with martial arts, proficient in boxing techniques, spent half of a life to achieve enlightenment into innate mastery; this was also understandable.
Then onto the ’Weapon List·Human List,’ where heroes of the world emerge in our generation, the Fifteen States of Great Yan, the changing generations bring forth these brilliant figures, which is reasonable.
But Purple Beard Sect!
Yin Huaidao, Yang Yingxue!
Purple Beard Elders!
Four Great Swords!
Eight Great Heroes!
Then the younger generation with Yin Ye, Xu Yue, Gu Shiyou, and others.
Them!
Why?!
...
"Why?"
"Haha!"
"Of course, it’s because of the deep roots and heritage passed down from generation to generation."
Tian Jing laughed heartily and asked Yan Chuan, "Does my wise brother really think this ’Mountain and Sea Realm’ was only discovered a decade ago?"
"Of course not."
Yan Chuan wasn’t that naive.
Eleven years ago, Great Yan Buwu.
At that time, the court either already had a firm foothold in the Mountain and Sea Realm, possessing enough experts within the Fifteen States to suppress everything.
Or likely ’Star Gates’ frequently appeared, causing situations that the court found challenging to handle or that could induce panic among the high ranks, forcing the court to establish Martial Arts Academies on a large scale to cultivate New Martial Artists.
But regardless of which, the first close interaction between Great Yan and the Mountain and Sea Realm could not possibly have happened just eleven years ago.
Perhaps a few years earlier.
Maybe even a decade or more earlier.
Or even several decades before.
"Third brother means that not only did the court come into contact with Mountain and Sea Realm early, but so did the Purple Beard Sect?" Yan Chuan understood.
Tian Jing smiled and said, "Actually, the emergence of the Mountain and Sea Realm might have been even earlier than you imagine."
Hmm?
Even earlier?
"More than a century ago, Fu Jiushou’s so-called ’Thirty-two Swords of Qi Yun Mountain’ and ’Sixty-four Swords of Qi Yun Mountain’, invented after observing Qi Yun Mountain, known for the ’most incisive swordsmanship in the world’, according to research by the ’Archaeological Department’, actually originated from the Mountain and Sea Realm. Back then, Fu Jiushou mistakenly entered the Mountain and Sea Realm from Qi Yun Mountain, acquiring the ’Ninety-nine Swords of Ailao Mountain’. However, due to different world conditions at the time, the ’Ninety-nine Swords of Ailao Mountain’, which could be perfectly executed in the Mountain and Sea Realm, could not be carried out or performed once brought back to Great Yan. Thus, Fu Jiushou had to simplify them into the ’Sixty-four Swords’ for ease of execution. Following Fu Jiushou, his successors were even less skilled, or perhaps due to environmental constraints, even the ’Sixty-four Swords’ could not be perfectly executed and had to be further simplified into the ’Thirty-two Swords’, but by then its power had significantly diminished, far from being as stunning as before."