Gu Zuo was still resting his upper body against his dear big brother’s back. That Fourth Commander didn’t demand that he had to get down, so he naturally pretended to not know anything.
In short, this was where he felt a stronger sense of security — When he found an opportunity to escape, wouldn’t it be even more convenient?
At this time, Gu Zuo captured a phrase among the Fourth Commander’s words.
Meat Viewing Ceremony.
It didn’t sound like it was a good thing. The implications seemed to have a bountiful appearance…that would leave a person with a type of ominous premonition.
He absolutely didn’t want to go and try it.
The group was sent straight to a tavern while under escort.
Yes. This was the same place they previously wanted to stay at. Now, this location no longer was a place to rest. On the contrary, it was a place of house arrest and imprisonment. This truly left people with complicated feelings.
Tianheng and Gu Zuo were immediately assigned to a central courtyard room.
While this room was very spacious, the two of them weren’t the only ones inside it. Rather, there were at least seven or eight other people. On top of that, there was Song He and the other three.
Gao Peng and Jiang Qin were the ones who entered while completely tied up. At this moment, their complexions were very unsightly. In particular, when the gazes of the other occupants were all cast over, their faces practically darkened to the color of pig livers. Since their births, Gao Peng and Jiang Qin felt like they had never lost so much face! Unexpectedly, they cut such sorry figures in front of everyone!
Similarly, from the people who were imprisoned, a martial artist spoke to console them: “Previously, there were also others among us who arrived in bondage. As fellow suffers can empathize with one another, these brothers don’t need to brood about this.”
However, when Gao Peng and Jiang Qin heard this, they didn’t feel happy nor any sense of comfort. They only felt that they had been ridiculed once more. But because their mouths had been blocked up and they couldn’t speak, they could only let out humphs from their noses.
That martial artist originally expressed some goodwill, but was courted with a rebuff in the end. At once, he didn’t have any desire to speak with those two people. And beyond expectations, those two armored soldiers who escorted them over also didn’t have any intentions of at least loosening those things that tied their mouths shut.
Gao Peng’s fury steadily rose, and it wasn’t known how many times he had sliced these two soldiers to ribbons in his mind. For the same reason, Jiang Qin was also incredibly enraged. To this time’s situation, it could be said that his hatred was implacable!
They were only thinking that, if they could enter the Central Continent alive, then one day, they would certainly slaughter everyone here who had watched them in amusement today!
This malice practically condensed into a solid substance&#k2026; Ah, how much did these two fellows hate them?
Gu Zuo sighed. He turned his head, and threw this matter to the back of his mind.
No one cared about Gao Peng and Jiang Qin’s attitudes. Those armored soldiers pushed the two of them into a corner, and made them stay over there obediently.
Immediately following which, the armored soldiers went to keep watch at the doorway.
Back to the matter at hand, the others in the room had embarrassed or unsightly complexions.
All martial artists who could enter the Road of Death were top personages of their respective organizations. Without good cause, they had been threatened by someone to submit, and then they were imprisoned. How could they be willing? But unfortunately, the circumstances were stronger than the individual. They had no other choice but to remain here.
Tianheng carried Gu Zuo on his back as he walked next to the martial artist who had offered some kindness just now. Tianheng sat down, and Gu Zuo was soon picked up by him. Then, Tianheng switched to hugging Gu Zuo in his arms while the pharmacist was perched on his lap.
It went without saying that Song He followed behind them. At this moment, he went with Yao Yao and sat on the other side of Tianheng — He definitely didn’t go to sit with Gao Peng and Jiang Qin.
The martial artist beside them turned his head to look at Tianheng. On his face, there was a bit of teasing intent: “This brother has already reached this degree. Your hands are still reluctant to let go. Your feelings truly must run deep.”
Tianheng faced the martial artist, and smiled: “I naturally have to protect him.”
Gu Zuo listened to the words of this martial artist. For some reason, he felt that there was something odd in the meaning within these words. However, he didn’t think about it too deeply. He only watched as his dear big brother chatted and scouted for information with the other person.
Tianheng spoke a few sentences and exchanged names with that martial artist. Then, he asked this martial artist called Suo Qian about some things: “Brother Suo, there’s some matters that I wonder if it’d be okay to ask you about.”
Suo Qian wasn’t concerned in the least, and opened his mouth: “I know what Brother Gongyi wants to ask. It’s nothing else but that Meat Viewing Ceremony those guys previously threatened you with, and the identity, history, and some of the conduct and style of the Third Prince. Is that right?”
Tianheng smiled and said: “Sure enough, Brother Suo has pierced through to the heart of the matter.”
Suo Qian simply said: “This isn’t something that can’t be talked about. You probably don’t know, but the forces on the Central Continent stand in great numbers. There are countless geniuses who emerge in even larger numbers. The rulers among these geniuses are the pride of heaven, and are marked as prodigies. As the saying goes, a genius is easy to obtain, but a prodigy is hard to find. One day, a fully matured prodigy might be addressed as an emperor. Under the shade of clans and close friends, they would become an individual who stands above all others. Their throne would gather unimaginable power and countless beauties.”
Tianheng raised an eyebrow: “In that case, that Third Prince…”
Suo Qian said: “He’s precisely one such prodigy. Moreover, he isn’t a prodigy from an iron-ranked organization. Rather, he’s a prodigy of a bronze-ranked organization!”
Tianheng’s voice lowered: “I’d like to hear the details. What else can you tell me about all this?”
Suo Qian grimly said: “An elder of this Suo’s family once entered the Road of Death, and told us about some matters. Among it all, the one that had the highest importance was the distribution of the forces on the Central Continent. They are roughly divided into five ranks.”
Tianheng slightly inclined his head: “Iron, bronze… After that, could there be silver and gold?”
Suo Qian commended: “That’s right. In addition, there’s a nonconventional rank — In reality, the ranks that can be recognized only number four. And the nonconventional rank, which is lower than iron, is only there for the sake of having a term of address. In fact, a force that reaches the iron-rank can be called a large organization on the Central Continent.”
Gradually, Suo Qian talked about many things. Moreover, apart from Tianheng, the others all eventually listened intently. They almost forgot about the humiliation they suffered.
Because, as far as they were concerned, an opportunity to understand the Central Continent was very rare. It needed to be cherished.
“A large organization can shelter countless people, but resources are only one aspect. The only ones who can truly protect an organization’s people and do so for a long time are those long-lived, exceptional powerhouses — There’s no need for doubt that exceptional powerhouses are basically equivalent to the organization itself. Thus, the ranks of these large organizations are related to the realms of the exceptional powerhouses.”
Gu Zuo inwardly thought: This is very easy to understand. I wonder what kind of rank Qingyun Sect could have if it was on the Central Continent.
Suo Qian continued to speak: “For the people of our Peripheral Continents, a person usually would never realize the end of the path of martial arts all their lives. Meanwhile, there’s somewhat of an explanation to this on the Central Continent. The realms of the path of martial arts are divided into Houtian, Xiantian, Immortal, Atomic, Ascendant, Celestial, Noble, Royal, Cosmic, Lesser Emperor, and Greater Emperor — These eleven realms. Among these, if an organization wants to be considered an iron-ranked organization, the weakest of their powerhouses have to be at the Ascendant Realm. These Ascendant Realm powerhouses are capable of protecting the organization for a thousand years…”
After that, bronze-ranked organizations needed to have Royal Realm powerhouses to watch over things. The lifespan of a Royal Realm powerhouse was five thousand years. As a result, even if an organization wasn’t able to nurture another Royal Realm, that bronze-ranked organization would have a lifespan of at least five thousand years. For the same reason, the exceptional powerhouses of silver-ranked organizations were Cosmic Realms who could protect their organizations for eight thousand years. And the exceptional powerhouses of gold-ranked organizations were Lesser Emperors who could protect their organizations for 9,900 years.
As for the Greater Emperor Realm…
It was said that the lifespan of a Greater Emperor was infinite. However, there were also some people who’d heard that exceptional powerhouses of the Greater Emperor Realm could live for 129,600 years, which was precisely the length of a world cycle. Their lifespans were over thirteen times longer than that of an exceptional powerhouse at the Lesser Emperor Realm! While this wasn’t an infinite lifespan, it was close enough.
— Moreover, apart from Greater Emperors, no one could live past ten thousand years.
Gu Zuo listened with a dumbstruck look on his face.
First of all, there was no need to mention the conjectures surrounding those Greater Emperors who lived to 129,600 years — One just had to talk about those Lesser Emperors! What kind of concept was living for 9,900 years? Previously, he’d heard of the phrase, “May the emperor reign for ten thousand years and ten thousand by ten thousand years”. In this place, it truly wasn’t a joke to say that a Lesser Emperor could live for close to ten thousand years.
Although Gu Zuo already knew that the stronger the martial artist was, the longer their lifespan would be, his three world-views as a modern man had still sustained a strong impact at this moment…
After Suo Qian rambled for a long time, he finally reached the main topic: “…The Third Prince is the third prodigy of a bronze-ranked empire, who has the qualifications to obtain the title of a prince. Therefore, the exceptional powerhouses of the forces within are Royal Realms. If there aren’t any accidents, after a certain number of years, and with the Third Prince’s innate talents and the support of his forces, he will most likely advance to the Royal Realm and proceed with consolidating a bronze-rank organization. In addition, if his fortuitous encounters are sufficient, he could also obtain the training of even larger forces due to his value. In the future, he could break through to the Cosmic Realm, and it would be possible for his own forces to be upgraded to the silver rank! And once an organization reaches the silver rank, it can seize even more resources. At the same time, it can also improve the nurturing of the children within that organization…
He continued: “All of those large organizations are usually borne from a single prodigy who attains a certain realm advancement ahead of the others. After that, such a large organization can nurture countless prodigies. Finally, after years of accumulations, its position will be stabilized.”
Although, it should be said that a possibility existed where exceptional powerhouses reached the end of their lifespans and failed to raise a second one.
As Gu Zuo listened, he felt that something wasn’t right. How could this Brother Suo Qian, while talking with his big brother about some important pieces of information about the Central Continent as well as the matter of the Third Prince, still seamlessly laud the Third Prince’s forces and that man’s capabilities?
Which side was this guy on?!
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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