Chapter 137: "Sword Cultivators, Not Strong Enough."

Chapter 137: "Sword Cultivators, Not Strong Enough."

Within the mountain range of the Mock Heaven Sect.

The scholar sat on a hillside, glancing at Chen Qiu, who was playing with a wolf pup in the grass not far away. Smiling, he remained silent as he watched. Establishing a Beast Taming Contract wasn't a complicated process.

All that was needed was to set up a simple Spirit Gathering Formation.

Not even Medium-grade Spirit Stones were required.

A few hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones would suffice to establish communication with the monster and have the contract recognized by the Heavenly Dao. After signing the Beast Taming Contract, the monster would never be able to attack its master, and its cultivation would gradually increase along with its master's growth.

The only drawback was that each person could only contract one monster, and only one with lower cultivation than themselves.

After all, you couldn't expect a monster with higher cultivation to recognize you as its master.

The wolf pup's cultivation was at the Fifth Level of the Golden Core, which was much higher than Chen Qiu's in theory, making it impossible for the contract to succeed. However, there were always exceptions. For some reason, the wolf pup held Chen Qiu in great reverence, and in such a situation, even a monster with higher cultivation could be successfully contracted.

"Hey."

At that moment—

Fat Dragon, also sitting on the hillside, had a blade of dogtail grass in his mouth. Following the scholar's gaze, he murmured in a daze, "By the way, when you were the number one sword cultivator in Great Xia, didn't you do something earth-shattering?"

"Yes, I did."

The scholar spoke softly, "I did many things that I thought were earth-shattering, but most of them went unnoticed. Only some of my battles in public were witnessed by many."

"Actually, I've always wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Fat Dragon asked casually.

"That Stockholm Syndrome you mentioned last time, is it the name of a dog? It sounds like the name of a disease."

"Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

". . ."

After a moment of silence, the scholar continued, "My parents passed away early, but before they died, they left us some things. There wasn't anything too valuable, just a small notebook with some diary entries. The words 'Stockholm Syndrome' were written in it."

"I almost forgot about it, until I heard it from you again."

Fat Dragon suddenly turned expressionless and silent, turning to look into the scholar's eyes for a long time without speaking. This term was only known to those who had crossed over, but why would the scholar's parents have written it in their diary?

Could it be that another crosser had publicly mentioned this term, and the scholar's parents found it intriguing, so they wrote it down in their diary?

"I burned that little notebook a long time ago. I was very young then, and I only remember parts of it. My mother wrote that she was abducted by mountain bandits and taken as a wife in their stronghold. At first, she was unwilling, but later, due to Stockholm Syndrome, she developed love for my father again. Her emotions in the writing showed that she was struggling."

"Later, it was recorded that one day, a righteous cultivator came to eradicate the stronghold. My father told my mother to escape, but she said she wouldn't. That was the last entry."

"Based on the context, Stockholm Syndrome might mean that they were initially forced together, but later, love gradually developed."

". . ."

Fat Dragon twitched his lips slightly, unsure how to respond. He felt that this world was more messed up than he had imagined. If what the scholar said was true, then the scholar's mother was also a crosser, and she gave birth to the scholar.

Rounding up.

The scholar was a hybrid.

He and the scholar were half-brothers.

This explained why the scholar's younger brother didn't speak; hybrids often had some issues, more or less.

Before Fat Dragon could speak, the scholar continued, "Later, I became the number one sword cultivator in Great Xia, even if it was only for a short time. I was still the number one sword cultivator in Great Xia over a hundred years ago, when there was a truly invincible peerless sword cultivator."

"He rose from a small village in the Hundred Nations, a truly remote place. That sword cultivator wore a white robe, his face as cold as a million-year-old snow-capped mountain, unmoved by any emotion. He fought his way up from the lowest ranks to the top in Great Xia and claimed the top spot on the Heaven's Pride Ranking that year."

"Many people admired him, believing he was the strongest sword cultivator in Great Xia's history."

"How powerful was he?"

After pondering for a while, the scholar continued, "I never met him in person, but I've seen records of him in unofficial histories. The official histories of Great Xia barely mention anything, but scattered folk tales record many true events."

"All I know is that as a sword cultivator, he showed no sword intent with each strike, appearing utterly ordinary. But when he swung his sword, the sun and moon would vanish, and the heavens and earth would darken."

"That sword cultivator cultivated up to the Sixth Level of the Golden Core, an extremely powerful cultivator in Great Xia at the time. He could even defeat peak Golden Core cultivators with ease."

"Unfortunately, that sword cultivator passed away soon after. It's said that he suffered a severe injury in his youth, and after his last appearance in North Province, no news of him ever surfaced again. Countless sword cultivators mourned his loss."

"I wanted to become like that white-robed sword cultivator, which is why I call myself a white-robed sword cultivator."

"Hmm."

Fat Dragon shrugged, "Brother Chen even said that there are too many Heaven's Pride in this world. I don't have such grand ambitions. I'm content with just staying alive. As long as I keep living, one day, I'll become a strong cultivator."

"From now on, you'll be called Little Wolf."

Chen Qiu chuckled, stroking the little wolf pup's head. The pup seemed to like this name, constantly wagging its tail to express its happiness, although the scholar remembered that wolves didn't usually wag their tails to show joy.

But since the little wolf liked it,

He didn't mind either.

It was only after establishing the Beast Taming Contract with the little wolf pup that he learned about its background.

"Nightmoon Wolf Demon."

A very familiar name.

He looked within himself, at his dantian, and found this name on a term.

-

"Term Name: Nightmoon Wolf Demon.

Term Level: Green.

Term Effect: When you sign a Beast Taming Contract with the first Nightmoon Wolf Demon, its body will increase tenfold in size, and it can absorb moonlight essence for cultivation."

This was a term he obtained when he broke through the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, before reaching the Golden Core stage. He had never used it, and he didn't even know where these wolf demons were, not even in the Great Xia Kingdom.

This term was supposed to be his backup self-destruct term.

Unexpectedly, he found it in the depths of an ancient ruin.

After establishing a spiritual connection with the little wolf, he also learned some of its basic information. For instance, the little wolf was still in its juvenile stage, which was incredibly rare. A juvenile monster, through natural growth alone, had reached the fifth level of the Golden Core stage.

When it reached adulthood, its cultivation would undoubtedly break through to the Nascent Soul stage. However, due to the restrictions in the Great Xia Kingdom, it would, at the very least, reach the peak of the Golden Core stage.

This was no exaggeration.

If an ordinary mortal had picked up this little wolf cub, they would instantly gain the qualifications to establish their own sect. In the future, it might even become a powerful cultivator in the Great Xia Kingdom.

He had only signed a Beast Taming Contract with the little wolf; he wasn't a true Beast Cultivator. True Beast Cultivators could even share their cultivation and injuries with their monsters, and by combining their strengths, they could maximize the power of their monsters.

"It seems that both you and I are quite lucky."

Chen Qiu squatted down and gently stroked the little wolf's head as he smiled.

If it hadn't been for him, the little wolf would have starved to death after running out of food. The little wolf must have had an owner before, and someone must have intentionally left it in this ancient ruin, providing it with ample food.

His luck was also good. Meeting the little wolf meant that his "Nightmoon Wolf Demon" term had a use.

However, he didn't plan to use this term right away; he would wait until the little wolf matured.

"Let's go, follow me and take another look."

Three breaths later.

Chen Qiu reappeared at the bottom of this ancient ruin of the Mock Heaven Sect with the little wolf. This was the lowest level, and there was nothing on the green stone plaza below. Only in a rather hidden corner could one see a pile of wolf droppings.

It was unclear what means the little wolf had, but the miasma here severely depleted its spirit qi, yet the little wolf seemed completely unaffected.

He carefully observed the surroundings of the green stone plaza, walking back and forth along the walls, looking for any mechanisms. After all, he felt that an ancient ruin should have more than just this.

And at that moment—

Chen Qiu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Directly in front of him.

"The sect's demise is imminent, it is destined."

"Heaven's wrath upon me, not a sin of battle."

"I am the last Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect."

The first two sentences of the inscription were very familiar. If he remembered correctly, these two sentences were also inscribed on the pillars of the Sect Leader's Hall in the Mock Heaven Sect. Chen Qiu raised his index finger and traced along these two sentences.

As he traced the last character, "sin," he felt that it was slightly soft. Instinctively, he pressed down on it, and the character immediately sank, revealing an irregular gap.

Only this character on the inscription could be pressed down, and it had a gap.

Surprise flashed in Chen Qiu's eyes. He then took out the Mock Heaven Sect Patriarch Token from his pocket. His token was a miniature version of the Sect Leader's chair in the Sect Leader's Hall, and it was also the array talisman for all the arrays in the Mock Heaven Sect.

He held the miniature chair in his hand and examined it carefully.

His gaze fell on the back of the chair, which perfectly matched the gap in the character "sin." This was a detail he had never noticed before; he had only thought that the construction of the chair was unique.

The situation was now clear.

Chen Qiu took a deep breath, prepared for battle, and cautiously pressed the back of the chair into the gap of the character "sin." It fit perfectly, and when the chair was completely embedded in the gap, a stream of milky white spirit qi quickly slid along the wall.

Immediately, a white vortex appeared in front of him.

He was very familiar with this vortex.

Stepping into this vortex would lead to either a little world or a mystic realm.

"Let's go."

He waved his hand, signaling the little wolf to jump into his arms, and then placed it on his shoulder. With firm steps, he entered the white vortex before him. Whether it was a dragon's lair or a tiger's den, one had to explore to find out.

A flash of white light.

He appeared in an extremely narrow secret room.

It could barely accommodate a dozen people shoulder to shoulder, and it was even smaller than the disciple dormitories in the Mock Heaven Sect. In the corner of the room, there was a narrow bed with messy bedding that seemed to have a lived-in feel.

However, there was no longer any human presence in the air, indicating that no one had entered here for a long time.

There was no dust, either.

The room was completely sealed, and even the air didn't circulate, let alone dust.

The little wolf seemed quite familiar with this secret room. It immediately jumped down from Chen Qiu's shoulder, leaped to the end of the bed, and used its wolf claws to dig a small pit in the bedding before lying down contentedly.

". . ."

Chen Qiu narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the room. Aside from the small bed, there was only a table, and on it were numerous documents—a rather strange sight. Usually, important information was stored in jade slips, which not only had better confidentiality but could also be stored for longer periods.

This room was obviously meant to be extremely hidden, so why were there paper documents?

Nonetheless, he walked to the table and began to read through the documents. Behind him, the white vortex had disappeared, but there was also a depression in the shape of the character "sin" on the wall, indicating that he could leave the secret room by pressing the token into this depression again.

"Hmm?"

Just a glance at the first line of the yellowed document in his hand caused Chen Qiu's heart to tremble, and a hint of horror flashed in his pupils.

"They once called us outsiders and demons."

He took a deep breath and carefully read through the ancient document in front of him.

After a long while, Chen Qiu silently placed the already yellowed document deep inside his storage ring, never expecting that he had inadvertently stumbled upon an ancient ruin.

It revealed the truth about this world.

The truth about Great Xia.

And also the truth about the Mock Heaven Sect.

Long, long ago, perhaps tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, a large number of people from Blue Star had crossed over to this cultivation world. Through their mantras, clothing, and personalities, these crossers quickly gathered together and established a sect—

"Mock Heaven Sect!"

From the Supreme Elder and the Sect Leader down to the outer disciples and miscellaneous disciples.

Everyone in this sect was a crosser, and it was once an extremely powerful sect on Xuan Tian Continent. Whenever they learned of new crossers arriving on Xuan Tian Continent, the Mock Heaven Sect would always send people to welcome them and recruit them into the sect.

Arriving in an unfamiliar world, it was only natural that people from the same hometown would feel more at ease.

At that time, almost everyone in the Mock Heaven Sect was a Sword Cultivator! Coupled with their strong cohesion, their strength was unprecedented!

Perhaps it was their overwhelming power that made the crossers at that time unafraid to reveal their true identities, which led many people to refer to the members of the Mock Heaven Sect as outsiders and heavenly demons.

And so, after a long period of resentment—

A great war between the crossers and the native cultivators broke out.

With a bang, the Mock Heaven Sect, no matter how powerful it was, was still just a sect. How could it possibly stand against the alliance of nearly eighty percent of the sects? At the start of the war, the Mock Heaven Sect, relying on its millions of Sword Cultivators, temporarily deterred countless sects from approaching.

But eventually, they ran out of strength, and the Mock Heaven Sect gradually retreated.

More and more sect members died.

Finally, the Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect ordered some sect disciples to sacrifice themselves to buy time, while he led most of the sect's disciples to retreat to a remote corner of Xuan Tian Continent and set up the Heaven-defying Array, hiding there.

This grand array could protect the Mock Heaven Sect from being discovered by the powerful cultivators of Xuan Tian Continent. It essentially divided a small portion of the world of Xuan Tian Continent, occupying a separate little world. Since this little world was acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao could also manifest here.

The little world of the Mock Heaven Sect was not acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, so it was just a separate space, without any manifestation of the Heavenly Dao, nor would there be any Celestial Mandate Scrolls or mystic realms.

In other words—

The cage that imprisoned the Mock Heaven Sect was set up by the sect itself, using the combined strength of the entire sect, with the sole purpose of hiding their tracks.

However, as time passed, much information was lost in the river of time, and by the time it reached the last few Sect Leaders of the Mock Heaven Sect, these leaders had completely forgotten that the cage was set up by their own sect. They only believed it was arranged by outsiders, and they tried every means to break out of this cage.

It had been too long.

As time passed, the Mock Heaven Sect unknowingly disbanded, and no one remembered it anymore. Those who were once disciples of the Mock Heaven Sect had long since branched out, forming cities, and eventually, the concept of nations emerged.

". . ."

Chen Qiu sat silently in his chair, deep in thought, taking a long while to process this information.

In other words,

In the entire Great Xia, there wasn't a single native.

They were all descendants of crossers.

Where could there be natives? The natives were all on Xuan Tian Continent. Great Xia was a land left for the crossers to recuperate and thrive, and the Nascent Soul Shackles were also set up together with the Heaven-defying Array.

The Four Forbidden Zones were also set up by the predecessors of the Mock Heaven Sect.

They had extremely strong external defenses, making it almost impossible to enter. Internally, there were only four Nascent Soul-stage puppets. Yes, the Nascent Souls in the four forbidden zones of the east, west, south, and north were not real cultivators but merely four Nascent Soul-stage puppets.

The method to break out of the array from within was also simple.

With Peak Golden Core cultivation, one could slay the four puppets, and the array would be broken.

The Mock Heaven Sect's intention in setting up this array was very pure. If one day, a descendant with the strength to slay four Nascent Soul-stage puppets with Golden Core cultivation appeared, then even if the array was broken, this person would surely be able to re-establish the Mock Heaven Sect's reputation on Xuan Tian Continent!

In the past, millions of crossers had almost all joined the Mock Heaven Sect.

For them, in this unfamiliar world, the Mock Heaven Sect was their only faith.

Even after their defeat.

Which led to their self-imposed imprisonment, but they believed that among their descendants, there would surely be a peerless celestial genius who would shock the Xuan Tian Continent for tens of thousands of years and restore the glory of the Mock Heaven Sect.

They waited for a long time.

Perhaps ten thousand years, perhaps twenty thousand years, perhaps even longer.

They waited until no one remembered this matter, until the Mock Heaven Sect had disbanded and was forgotten, until even the position of Sect Leader was left unclaimed. They still hadn't waited for this peerless celestial genius who could slay four Nascent Soul-stage puppets with Golden Core cultivation.

The long wait caused the last Sect Leader of the Mock Heaven Sect to even forget how to break out of this cage.

". . ."

After a long silence, Chen Qiu suddenly felt like smoking. In his previous life, he had a smoking habit, but it wasn't strong, and after crossing over, he had forgotten about it. But now, he suddenly felt like having a cigarette.

He didn't know why, but he just wanted to smoke one.

From other documents, he learned that before he crossed over, this cage was almost broken.

A hundred years ago.

A white-robed sword cultivator, who rose from humble beginnings, was unparalleled in the world. With his sword, he claimed that he could slay all under the heavens. He called himself Sword One, with the ambition to conquer everything in the world with a single sword.

This secret room was once the place where the white-robed sword cultivator had endured arduous cultivation.

That sword cultivator was truly invincible in the world.

With just a Sixth Stage Golden Core Realm cultivation, he could instantly kill those at the Golden Core Apex Great Perfection stage. He traveled west, climbing the ten-thousand-foot snow mountain, and encountered the Nascent Soul Realm puppet in the west.

At that time, the white-robed sword cultivator had only one thought in his mind.

To break out of this prison.

To uphold the name of the Mock Heaven Sect.

With his Sixth Stage Golden Core Realm cultivation, he fought with the Nascent Soul Realm puppet for hundreds of rounds, but ultimately, he was no match and retreated with severe injuries.

On the verge of death, he left behind a message in the secret room before departing, his whereabouts unknown.

"Sword cultivators are not strong enough."

A man once considered the strongest sword cultivator in Great Xia left behind these words about the weakness of sword cultivators as his final testament.

However, from these documents, he learned that when the Mock Heaven Sect set up the Heaven-defying Array, due to their fanaticism for sword cultivation, they specifically added a rule to the puppet, allowing only sword cultivators to completely defeat it.

This was to prevent future disciples from straying onto the wrong path and abandoning sword cultivation.

The Mock Heaven Sect was an absolutely pure sword cultivation sect.

Only when ten thousand swords are released, with the might of a dancing phoenix and roaring dragon, can one be considered a true sword cultivator.

"Huff!"

Chen Qiu let out a long breath, turned his head, and looked at the little wolf, who was curled up and sleeping soundly on the bed. His expression was complex, and he remained silent, not speaking. The little wolf seemed quite familiar with this secret room.

It was likely that he had been here before and had even stayed for a long time.

Could the little wolf's previous owner be the strongest sword cultivator in Great Xia? The timeline didn't match up; that strongest sword cultivator had passed away a hundred years ago. According to the food provisions in the Spirit Artifact that the little wolf was holding in its mouth, it could be estimated that the little wolf's previous owner had left about three years ago.

He now had many doubts in his mind.

The nine great legacies had existed for over a thousand years. If the strongest sword cultivator in Great Xia was so powerful, why didn't he take the sword cultivation legacy? If he had taken that legacy and improved his cultivation from the Sixth Stage Golden Core Realm to the Golden Core Apex Great Perfection, he might have been able to defeat that puppet.

Moreover, why did he challenge the puppet at the Sixth Stage Golden Core Realm? Even if he was no match, why didn't he retreat immediately? As far as he knew, there had once been a sword cultivator at the Golden Core Apex Great Perfection stage who had explored the east, west, north, and south directions. Although he returned severely injured each time, at least he didn't lose his life.

This meant that if one wanted to escape, those Nascent Soul Realm puppets wouldn't take their lives.

"Sword cultivators are not strong enough."

". "

Chen Qiu slowly closed his eyes and gently rubbed his temples. He had a vague idea of what the National Teacher was thinking. In his heart, he had always suspected that the array cultivator guarding the legacy, the old man Cao, was the National Teacher.

The National Teacher's intentions were clear.

He wanted to cultivate Chen Qiu to become the strongest spell cultivator in Great Xia, severely injuring the four Nascent Soul Realm puppets.

Then, he would cultivate Liu Zide to become the strongest sword cultivator in Great Xia, and Liu Zide would deliver the final blow to the four Nascent Soul Realm puppets.

In this way, the prison would be completely broken.

As for why the strongest sword cultivator a hundred years ago didn't take the sword cultivation legacy, Chen Qiu still couldn't figure it out, nor could he guess the identities of the Nascent Soul Realm guardians of the nine great legacies.

After a long silence, Chen Qiu carefully searched the secret room but found no other items or information. He left the secret room with the little wolf and returned to the little world. After pondering for a moment, he still didn't tell Liu Zide about this matter.

The impact was too overwhelming.

He took Fat Dragon to a corner and shared the information with him.

"Huh?"

Fat Dragon, who had listened to the entire story, unconsciously opened his mouth wide in shock. After a long while, he finally regained some composure, picked up his jaw that had dropped to the ground, and muttered.

"Brother Qiu, do you mean that everyone in Great Xia, and even in the hundred countries, are descendants of time travelers?"

Chen Qiu paused for a moment before replying softly, "You can understand it that way."

Fat Dragon fell silent for a long time. After a while, he looked up at Chen Qiu with a complex expression, "Brother Qiu, give me a moment, I'm a bit stunned. According to what you said, tens of thousands of years ago, a large number of seniors traveled to the Xuantian Continent."

"But in the history of Blue Star, humans were still in the pioneer era at that time. That's a long time ago."

"I haven't quite figured it out either."

Chen Qiu shook his head, "But I don't want to think about it too much. The more I know, the more confused I become. For me now, the most important thing is to improve my cultivation and then try to break out of this prison."

"I also want to go out and see."

"See the world that our predecessors once set foot in, see the traces they left on the Xuantian Continent, see the peerless beauties of various sects recorded in the documents, and see the reputation they once established."

"By the way—"

Chen Qiu suddenly smiled, "I suddenly feel that everything is quite coincidental. My name happens to be Chen Qiu, which is three water droplets and a prisoner, which means water prison. And 'qiu' itself means swimming."

"Swimming in a water prison and trying to break out of it has a nice symbolism."

"Alright."

He patted Fat Dragon's shoulder, "Let's not think about these things for now. Whether that old man Cao is the National Teacher or not, and whether some of my opportunities were created by him, it doesn't matter. At least, the National Teacher and I have the same goal."

"Once my cultivation reaches the Golden Core Apex Great Perfection, I can enter the palace and confront the National Teacher face to face."

"At that time, everything will be revealed."

"Your most important task now is cultivation. You are the Great Elder of the Mock Heaven Sect, so don't embarrass the sect after you leave."

"Spend more time on cultivation. That Fifth Stage Golden Core Realm demoness will be enough for you to use for a long time."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end