Qin Zhuofeng talked a lot.
From his words, Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng slowly understood many things.
Back then, after the Central Continent and the Peripheral Continents separated, there wasn’t any contact between them at first. Very many friends and family were mournful after the landmass had split up and parted. Time passed over the years, and gradually, they divided into numerous cadet branches, and the bloodlines separated.
Afterwards, there eventually came a day when the people of both sides realized that, once every three hundred years, they could connect between the Central Continent and the Peripheral Continents. At once, numerous martial artists from the Peripheral Continents who were ladened with familial ties proceeded towards the Central Continent in search of relatives. There were also many powerhouses who wanted to use this excuse to pass through this pathway.
However, things weren’t so easy.
The higher the strength of the martial artist, the harder that person was obstructed. It was enough to break through on the Peripheral Continents, but that passage could only accommodate martial artists who were at the mid Immortal Realm at most.
As for those powerhouses who thought they could use all kinds of methods to forcefully cross over, without exception, all of them were turned into puddles of blood and muddy paste in that passage.
After that, the Peripheral Continents’ powerhouses were unable to take a single step further. After approaching the end of their lifespans, they died. Because the ambient qi of the Peripheral Continents was deficient, no matter how good their aptitudes were, it was difficult for those who came after to attain the strengths of the powerhouses of yore — Unless, when this pathway opened, they too used it to enter the Central Continent!
Gu Zuo recalled that Great Tomb of the Human King from before.
Although there were all kinds of legends, that time’s Human King should’ve forcefully come over. But after coming over, she placed the great tomb into the void of this “barren land” and completely perished.
Otherwise, it would be very hard to reconcile what he was hearing right now.
However, this wasn’t important. Gu Zuo continued to listen.
He was...fascinated by that Central Continent.
During the early periods, the Central Continent didn’t stop the people of the Peripheral Continents from coming over. On top of that, because many blood-related people could trace their lineages to a common ancestor, relatives and family members could see each other again. It was a wonderful thing. But after a long time passed, the relatives who should’ve gone over had already gone. As for the other people of the Peripheral Continents, because their strengths were relatively weak and because they basically had no friends or relatives, they often received many setbacks. Once they became powerful, they caused lots of disturbances.
Following this, the Central Continent set down rules.
Those who were capable of crossing the passage were assigned to a nine-rank system. Those with the highest-ranked aptitudes could be accepted as disciples of the Central Continent’s forces. The lowest-ranked ones could only fend for themselves. As for the mid-ranked ones... It depended on luck.
Thus, many things became unfair in an instant.
To obtain the qualifications to enter these organizations, the geniuses who had slightly inferior aptitudes started to take action against those with the best aptitudes. Martial artists struggled for their fates against the heavens. While they didn’t necessarily want to kill the members of their own sects, they didn’t have the least bit of pressure towards the people of other forces. And the ones with the best aptitudes didn’t simply sit still and wait for death. They counterattacked their would-be killers even more fiercely. The outcome was indeed pleasing. Those who died were all the ones who had insufficient strength or poor luck. Those who survived all had good aspects, and were treated with sufficient importance. Afterwards, the majority were able to make good achievements.
Slowly, the pathways, which were originally called the Roads of Heaven’s Chosen, became passages that symbolized death. In those places, there were many whom one needed to guard against, and even more people who would die. It was filled with blood and great danger!
Qin Zhuofeng said: “A dense fog lingers on the original Roads of Heaven’s Chosen. It’s said that this fog is the embodiment of the energies of that natural disaster. Every three hundred years, the energies transform into fog, and this lowers the obstruction. However, the fog itself is a type of energy with very strong invasive properties, and it can restrain a martial artist’s strength. Only by wearing a Heaven’s Eye Stone can one resist it.
“However, each piece of Heaven’s Eye Stone can only last for half a month, and the time that the Roads of Heaven’s Chosen close is also only fifteen days. After fifteen days have passed, the fog will disappear and transform back into the obstructive energies of that natural disaster. At the same time, not a single martial artist will be capable of entering the passage again.”
After Gu Zuo finished listening, he slowly sighed.
He felt that these Roads of Death were truly...quite frightening.
An entire road that caused people to slaughter one another!
But unfortunately, such a delicious cake like the Central Continent was a bait that people couldn’t help but want to swallow down when placed before them! It truly left one speechless.
Gu Zuo twitched his mouth again.
[To be honest, isn’t the Central Continent just unwilling to allow this side’s people to come and fight over resources with them? The Central Continent’s people are shady enough. A restriction that causes more than half of the Peripheral Continent’s travelers to drop dead not only gathers this side’s geniuses, it also gets rid of the remaining ones who show promise. It restrains the development of the Peripheral Continents in a worry-free way.]
Tianheng listened to Gu Zuo’s unconsciously-transmitted ridicule, and his eyes held a smiling expression.
On the contrary, he understood that this actually wasn’t a hidden conspiracy, but rather an open conspiracy.
For each and every genius, it didn’t matter if they didn’t know about the Central Continent. But once they found out, how could they be willing to limit themselves to this small pond? It was natural that people would want to move to bigger and better places.
Of course, this side’s people eventually developed certain countermeasures of their own. To some extent, they also left behind some cornerstones...
Qin Zhuofeng spent several hours clarifying the affairs of the continents on both sides.
And after Tianheng finished listening, he revealed a hint of a smile: “Senior Sect Brother Qin, these secrets shouldn’t be matters that everyone may know, right?”
Qin Zhuofeng laughed and said: “Junior Sect Brother Gongyi is sharp.” He nodded his head, “Correct. Because the Roads of Death only open once every three hundred years, it’ll cause unrest if everyone knows about it.”
Tianheng kept smiling: “The Sect is considerate.”
Gu Zuo thought about it.
Ah, right. With it being only once every three hundred years, if everyone knew about it, then wouldn’t people’s hearts be alarmed? The agitation of those who could go and the jealousy of those who couldn’t go — Many things would have subtle changes. At that time, everyone would want to go to the new continent in search of fame and fortune. What would happen to this side’s development?
However...
Gu Zuo glanced at Tianheng and Qin Zhuofeng over here.
What mysteries were these two unravelling?
Then, he heard Tianheng ask a question: “Senior Sect Brother Qin, are the Roads of Death going to open soon?”
Qin Zhuofeng sighed with feeling: “&#k2026;That’s right.” He stared firmly at Tianheng, “There’s less than two years left.”
Gu Zuo understood in a flash.
No wonder! It was just under two years! Now it made sense why Chongyun Sect came here and acted so rampantly!
— Eh, wait a minute.
Two years?
Rays of light twinkled within Gu Zuo’s eyes.
The meaning of two years! Was his big brother going to —
Off to the side, Qin Zhuofeng didn’t keep them in suspense: “This Qin knows that Junior Sect Brother Gongyi reached Xiantian in only a year. If you have two more years, this junior only needs to fight a few Immortal Realm disciples to obtain a quota to enter the Road of Death. Only, is Junior Sect Brother Gongyi interested in this quota?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Tianheng said: “Naturally, I’m interested! Senior Sect Brother Qin, many thanks for your pointers.”
Qin Zhuofeng smiled and said: “The quotas are bestowed by the Sect Master.” His tone was somewhat meaningful, “Junior Sect Brother Gongyi, although you normally keep a low-profile, true talent is hard to conceal... Some of this junior’s accomplishments have been seen by the Sect, and it has noted them down. This quota was originally something that this junior deserved, too.”
Tianheng remained calm and collected. He only said one sentence: “Senior Sect Brother Qin must be joking.”
Gu Zuo: “...”
[Big brother! Could it be that they know all about it? What are we supposed to do about our secret?!]
[Ah Zuo, rest assured. They certainly don’t know about the most crucial secrets. Otherwise, their attitudes would’ve changed. It’s just that your elder brother was seen doing some things in the Sect. But this doesn’t matter. Now that the Sect views me as someone who can be cultivated, and that they have placed high hopes upon me, this is within expectations.]
Gu Zuo listened to Tianheng’s transmission, and finally set aside his worries.
This was okay. Things that could be covered up would be kept hidden.
But suddenly, Gu Zuo thought of another matter. He hastily looked at Tianheng, and couldn’t help calling out: “If big brother wants to go to the Central Continent, then I...”
Qin Zhuofeng glanced at the two in surprise.
Didn’t these words mean that he wasn’t willing to separate?
Tianheng smiled, and placated Gu Zuo. Then, he asked Qin Zhuofeng with sincerity: “Ah Zuo is my adopted brother. If I leave him behind, I really can’t rest easy. Would I be allowed to bring Ah Zuo along when I go to the Road of Heaven’s Chosen?”
That so-called quota should’ve meant that he could obtain a Heaven’s Eye Stone. When these words of his were uttered, he hoped that another Heaven’s Eye Stone could be given to Gu Zuo.
Gu Zuo silently sighed.
If he had known about this matter earlier, he would’ve switched one request for a Heaven’s Eye Stone when he first made his requests to the Sect. But since he didn’t know about it at that time, he couldn’t be blamed for being thoughtless, right? Otherwise, he would’ve returned a stalk of spirit medicine and switched it for a Heaven’s Eye Stone.
Qin Zhuofeng heard Tianheng’s words, and pondered a little bit.
There had never been such a precedent like taking along a pharmacist. However, the statements he got from the Sect greatly affirmed these two’s contributions.
As such, it wasn’t necessarily impossible to achieve.
Qin Zhuofeng didn’t dare to make any guarantees, but he did state clearly: “I’ll go make some inquires on behalf of these two juniors.”
Gu Zuo was ecstatic, and hurriedly expressed his thanks.
Tianheng also wore a grateful expression.
After Qin Zhuofeng and Tianheng exchanged information, the following days were very busy. Gu Zuo and Tianheng cultivated here for a period of time until they finally returned to their own hilltop.
For the time being, Xu Lingxiu, Xi Yangyun, and the others didn’t go looking for them.
Because Gu Zuo hadn’t done much pill refining previously, he took advantage of this time to completely go through all the medicinal pills he could refine for a few rounds. He vigorously accumulated medicinal qi, and continuously improved his own psychic power.
Later on, there came a certain day. Gu Zuo was originally in the middle of pill refining when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He stopped what he was doing.
The medicinal pills inside the cauldron were scrapped just like that, but this wasn’t the important point. The important thing was that Gu Zuo sensed that the land under his feet had a slight tremor — Crap, this wasn’t an earthquake, right?! Could it be that this world also had earthquakes? It didn’t matter if earthquakes existed, but how could there be an earthquake inside Qingyun Sect?
Following this, another suffocating feeling suddenly jolted the land. Even though Gu Zuo’s psychic power protected his body, he still felt his blood boiling. Subconsciously, he lifted his foot and walked outside.
Sure enough, at this moment, the Gongyi Clan children, Tianlong Guards, and some subordinates on the hilltop had fallen to the ground under the shaking just now. For some of those with weaker constitutions, blood was seeping out of their orifices!
Gu Zuo was greatly alarmed. He ran with haste, and took out medicinal pills to distribute.
The Tianlong Guards’ resistance was comparatively strong. They stood up right away, and helped Gu Zuo to examine the health of the others.
Fortunately, their qi and blood had only been shocked. There weren’t any other abnormal conditions... Merely, what was going on with that shaking just now?
Tianheng also came out of the building. His face wore a seldom-seen trace of solemnity: “You guys, be careful and keep your guards up.”
Then, he called all of the Gongyi Clan children who had yet to reach Xiantian to his side.
Everyone listened and diligently obeyed his command. Soon after, they discovered that the surfaces of their bodies were covered with a thin layer of some unknown power. Their heartstrings loosened.
This power wasn’t only Tianheng’s true qi, but also Gu Zuo’s psychic power, who likewise stood beside Tianheng. It was double the protection in order to guard against the unexpected.
Sure enough, following that, another jolt arrived. Like the sound of an enormous drum being struck, it smothered one’s heart, making a person want to spurt out a mouthful of blood.
This time around, they were prepared for it. Everyone only felt stuffy, and didn’t suffer injuries like before.
At the exact same time, numerous figures flickered through the empty sky above the Sect!
Those were Immortal Realm martial artists! They were in the middle of patrolling the surroundings!
A voice echoed out: “Qingyun Sect has treated its guests inconsiderately! This guest won’t stand for it! We’re leaving!”
Immediately following which, an aged and unfamiliar voice spread out: “If you’re leaving, then leave. Why must you injure my Sect’s disciples? It isn’t that my Qingyun Sect has treated its guests poorly, but that these guests are despicable pests! We can’t account for everything!”
Up above, that voice coldly harrumphed: “They can’t bear just this much aura? As expected, this Sect sure has fallen from grace!”
Another clearer and brighter voice echoed out: “There’s no need for small talk. Please desist!”
In the sky, the power of the voices appeared to form circular ripples. The people from Chongyun Sect seemed to want to do something, and after a soft sigh, those ripples expanded some more.
However, right at this moment, a gigantic hand protruded out of nowhere, and only gave a light slap in the air.
In a split second, these ripples all scattered. That gigantic hand made another wave, and a violent hurricane stormed out. What resounded was a muffled groan from that original voice.
Clearly, they received a slight injury.
Next, Gu Zuo heard the Sect Master’s voice: “If you still won’t go, do you want this venerable one to send you off?”
That person didn’t utter another word.
Gu Zuo stared blankly.
The Sect Master didn’t appear eye-catching, but he was unexpectedly so bold and assertive when in front of those vile guests.
Gu Zuo rubbed his face, and his heart felt gladdened.
High in the air, it seemed that many qi emissions disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Immediately, everyone knew that those quarrelsome people from Chongyun Sect had finally left Qingyun Sect!
They came and caused so much trouble, but in the end, they were the ones who cut sorry figures. This kind of result was enough.
The entire Sect was brimming with a joyful air as well as feelings of longing and excitement for the Sect Master and all the Grand Elders.
What subsequently followed was the motivation to rise up even more — All the disciples were doing their best to practice martial arts. This time, the Sect Master took action. The next time, they definitely couldn’t allow themselves to fall into a situation where they were continuously defeated again!
Gu Zuo and Tianheng released their defenses, and each of the Gongyi Clan children went to cultivate.
Tianheng ruffled Gu Zuo’s hair: “Ah Zuo, we still have a long way to go.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “Big brother’s right.”
For the next year and eight months, everyone cultivated painstakingly.
Because they had obtained a psychic power method, the pharmacists in the Sect also started cultivating their psychic powers. Gradually, the functions of psychic power became clear.
The present psychic power method that Qingyun Sect obtained was called the <<Wave Folding Psychic Power Refining Method>>.
As the name implied, when one’s psychic power was cultivated to the end, it was like layer upon layer of surging waves. It was incomparably vast.
Xu Lingxiu previously came over to practice his psychic power with Gu Zuo.
He believed that Gu Zuo had been cultivating longer than him, so Gu Zuo was certainly capable of letting him figure out some mistakes in his usage of psychic power. And after losing a few spars with Gu Zuo, he endeavored to work even harder.
Gu Zuo also discovered that Xu Lingxiu’s progress was very fast.
Even though Xu Lingxiu started cultivating this later, because he had built up a good foundation early on, he now had reached the Coalescing Psyche Realm. However, this was unlike Gu Zuo who had been immersed in this realm for a long time. Xu Lingxiu had just reached the Coalescing Psyche Realm — And he was almost at the level where Gu Zuo could initially produce one silver awl.
As for Gu Zuo himself, launching thousands of silver awls wasn’t a problem.
This psychic power cultivation method also had a special characteristic. It was that any attacks or defenses were “surging waves”. On defending, it was naturally more effective to protect oneself with layers of folding waves. However, on attacking, if one’s psychic power wasn’t valiant to a certain degree, a person wouldn’t be able to form ocean waves — As a result, when at the second realm, the attacking power wasn’t that great. What appeared were mostly attacks like jets of water.
The present Gu Zuo had already studied the Spirit Transforming Chapter. Unbelievably sturdy daggers, shields, and other objects could all be derived and constructed. Of course, a simple and rough transformation such as a stream of water was nothing difficult.
During these battles with Xu Lingxiu, he also didn’t arouse the slightest bit of suspicion.
In this period of time, the strengths of the Sect’s pharmacists underwent a qualitative leap.
Currently, top grade medicinal pills weren’t as rare as they were in the past. For many pharmacists who were originally still practicing the Spirit Devouring Pill Refining Method, because their psychic powers rose, they were even more meticulous with its usage, and their control over this pill refining method grew stronger. Within the internal exchange system of the Sect, it looked as if this kind of top grade pill wasn’t something that could only be look upon without any hopes of obtaining. At the same time, no longer did pharmacists hole themselves up in their rooms to persistently refine pills. Now, they met up more often. Just like Xu Lingxiu and Gu Zuo, they also conducted psychic power sparring sessions with one another.
Within this short period of time, their self-defensive capabilities likewise made leaps and bounds — At the very least, if martial artists used weapons to carry out attacks, they would completely release their psychic powers to protect themselves for a short duration. While inside this kind of protection, they could hold on until their guards arrived to help.
Nowadays, the Sect was a flourishing scene. Xu Lingxiu once vaguely mentioned that those old antiques inside the Pharmacist Hall had also finished transforming their psychic powers. Their present strengths already allowed them to assume important responsibilities.
This was undoubtedly an enormous headway.
As one could well imagine, if other organizations really came to invade in the future, then not only would Qingyun Sect have ten exceptional powerhouses out in the open, it would have some hidden pharmacists who could support the Sect, too!
It was also in the past two years that Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo’s realms both rose to Xiantian stage nine.
Gu Zuo’s Spirit Transforming Chapter had already been practiced to a fairly profound degree, but the deeper parts had yet to be studied meticulously. The bone pearls in Tianheng’s body had produced three variations. One type was a reddish-gold power. Another was a power of fiendish poison. And the other type seemed to have been drenched in blood.
At the same time, Tianheng comprehended many new martial skills. The correlation between the martial skills didn’t seem to be too big, but they corresponded with the powers of each set of bone pearls. Each type of power was especially powerful.
During this time, Tianheng’s reputation also skyrocketed.
Although he didn’t challenge the Sky or Earth Leaderboards on the outside, a large portion of those secluded disciples in the Qingyun Mountain Range had already been challenged by Tianheng.
Merely, Tianheng himself was also well aware of the situation. At most, the ones he challenged were mid Immortal Realm martial artists. Currently, those high and peak Immortal Realms weren’t his opponents.
What made Gu Zuo happy was that, although Tianheng’s body ran at a higher temperature than normal, the overall health of the Tiandu Body was still taken care of. There weren’t any problems at all with the follow-up treatments. The frailest meridians had been constantly ruptured and repaired, becoming much more robust — Even if it couldn’t be compared to his IQ, his body wasn’t the least bit inferior to ordinary geniuses.
Nothing could’ve been more satisfying to Gu Zuo than the wellbeing of Tianheng’s physical body.
From beginning to end, Tianheng didn’t forget his jaunts with Huang Ji through the Deer Blood Mountain Range, and he fought with those wild beasts, which were comparable to Immortal Realm martial artists. Over the course of many days, he accumulated lots of blood essence from Spirit-Level wild beasts, which Gu Zuo used to temper his body. At last, Tianheng’s physical body had reached incomparably sturdy levels from inside out!
At this time, Tianheng was considering the matter of leaving.
First of all, the people on his hilltop needed to be entrusted to a suitable candidate — As Tianheng’s biological younger brother, Gongyi Tianyang gradually matured through motivation. Naturally, he was unwilling to pass on his responsibilities to others. In addition, there were the Tianlong Guards to assist him, as well as Xi Yangyun and other influential people in the Sect to lend him a hand. If Tianyang’s strength could smoothly and continuously break through, then he could stand on his own.
The only thing that concerned Tianheng was Gongyi Mingxia.
However, after asking about Mingxia’s own aspirations and promising to develop Huang Ji’s Heavenly Beast Body, Gu Zuo advised Huang Ji so that he was capable of unearthing the potential of his special constitution on his own. Thus, Huang Ji finally accepted Mingxia as his apprentice. From then on, Mingxia was under Huang Ji’s protection, which put Tianheng at ease.
When they were on the verge of leaving, Gu Zuo refined countless medicinal pills of all kinds that were suitable at the Xiantian and Immortal Realms. Then, he gave them for Tianyang to keep — His psychic power and realm had risen dramatically up until now. To the numerous Immortal Realm medicinal pills, he could handle all of them skillfully and easily. Just like this, lots of assorted things were prepared.
Tianheng’s strength had finally obtained recognition. After that, someone from higher up passed along a message that they were being summoned.
T/N: A quick reminder for the ages of the MC and ML. Gu Zuo was fifteen and Tianheng was eighteen at the start of the novel. Tianheng celebrated his twentieth birthday before the timeskip, so now, Gu Zuo is around nineteen and Tianheng is around twenty-two.
There are only two more normal-length chapters until the end of the third volume.
Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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