Chapter 174: "With My Life, I'll Proclaim My Master's Might." (Part 1)

Chapter 174: "With My Life, I'll Proclaim My Master's Might." (Part 1)



"Spring Wind's Triumph, Swift Hooves, Seeing All Flowers of Chang'an in One Day"

The young man sitting at the desk gazed at the line of poetry on the Xuan paper, unable to resist reciting it silently once more with satisfaction. The poem was truly excellent, and the feeling of youthful success rushed towards him!

He then stood up.

After the ink had dried, he carefully rolled up the Xuan paper and prepared to set off for the poetry appreciation conference held on the 'Flower Boat' outside the capital city tonight. Many scholars and even high-ranking officials would be in attendance.

It was said that several City Lords would also be present.

Among them was even the City Lord of Feiyu City in Haizhou, a powerful cultivator at the Sixth Layer of the Golden Core stage who was extremely passionate about poetry. It was rumored that he had collected many of the State Teacher's poetry treasures.

This time, he had come primarily to show off.

Daxia had a thriving poetry culture for many years.

Numerous exquisite poems had been passed down, gradually making Daxia's poetry culture quite popular. Among the collectors of these poems was the City Lord of Feiyu City.

Tonight, the 'Flower Boat' conference on the outskirts of the capital city was about to begin in one or two hours.

Countless top-tier courtesans and young men and women from various families were heading towards the Flower Boat, preparing to participate in the annual Flower Boat Conference.

Outside the Flower Boat by the shore.

"Yo."

The City Lord of Feiyu City suddenly looked towards the City Lord of Feicheng, who was walking towards the Flower Boat not far away, and smiled, "Isn't this our dear City Lord of Feicheng? It's been a long time. I heard that you stubbornly followed the State Teacher to the Xuantian Continent, but why did you come back?"

"Let me think. If I remember correctly, I think he let you go just before leaving."

The City Lord of Feicheng frowned and shook his head, "Just before leaving, I suddenly wanted to go back home to get something, so I asked the State Teacher, and he agreed. But just as we were about to depart, the State Teacher forgot about me."

"Otherwise, how could you see me now?"

"I'm a Sixth Layer Golden Core Body Cultivator. Following the State Teacher, I don't know how much I would have had to assist him."

"Perhaps you would have already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage by now."

"Hehe."

The City Lord of Feiyu City smiled with satisfaction, "The State Teacher didn't look for me, and my cultivation is not at the peak of the Golden Core stage. I didn't dare to ask the State Teacher either, but when I learned that my good brother was also abandoned, I felt much better."

It was disheartening to be disappointed, but the disappointment of a friend was invigorating.

"Alright, alright."

The City Lord of Feiyu City hugged the City Lord of Feicheng like a child, squeezing his shoulders and proudly taking out a calligraphy treasure from his embrace. He carefully unrolled the Xuan paper in mid-air.

On it were four large characters.

"Strongest City Lord"!

"Look, look, there's still the State Teacher's residual aura on it. This is the State Teacher's certification of me. Do you have one?"

"And this one—"

The City Lord of Feiyu City took out another calligraphy treasure and unrolled the Xuan paper in mid-air again.

It was a poem.

"In the past, there was no need to boast about the mundane, but now, my thoughts roam boundlessly."

"Spring Wind's Triumph, Swift Hooves, Seeing All Flowers of Chang'an in One Day."

"Decades ago, the State Teacher was on this Flower Boat, also at a poetry appreciation conference, and it was just after the beginning of spring. The State Teacher was at the poetry appreciation conference."

"He took seven steps, pondering with his head down for the first three steps, and reciting a poem with each of the next four steps."

"After four steps, this poem was born."

"At that time, everyone thought that the State Teacher was a genius who could compose poems effortlessly."

"Spring Wind's Triumph, Swift Hooves, Seeing All Flowers of Chang'an in One Day. The poem vividly expresses the triumphant youth, and it contrasts sharply with the previous two lines of disappointment. It's so well-written. The State Teacher composed it on the spot, and it's a masterpiece!"

"Later, I learned that the State Teacher had been well-versed in Daxia's poetry culture from an early age. After reading all the poems passed down in Daxia, he created this poem during a burst of inspiration, and it became a masterpiece!"

"It's just a pity."

The City Lord of Feiyu City shook his head regretfully, "Almost all the poems passed down in Daxia are unsigned, and we don't know who the contemporary geniuses were. I don't know why people in the past didn't pay attention to signing their names. After creating such a masterpiece, they didn't even bother to sign their names. They were truly carefree, and there's no record of them in later generations."

"Yes," the City Lord of Feicheng, standing next to him, looked at the two calligraphy treasures in the hands of the City Lord of Feiyu City with envious eyes and sighed, "It's been three or four decades, but I don't know why it feels like it was just yesterday."

"At that time, I was the Deputy City Lord."

"I had just entered the Golden Core stage, and it was my first time seeing the State Teacher's talent for poetry. But after that, the State Teacher rarely composed poems in seven steps. The State Teacher truly had a talent for this, but his aspirations lay elsewhere. The State Teacher's ambitions were too great."

"But the State Teacher succeeded," the City Lord of Feicheng said with a smile.

"Isn't that so?"

"Yes."

The City Lord of Feicheng sighed, "Daxia has only produced one State Teacher in all these years, and there has been only one person like him from ancient times to the present."

"But I don't know if the State Teacher will ever return or if there will be another chance to meet him."

"He will."

The City Lord of Feiyu City spoke with certainty.

"Why?"

"After achieving success, what's the difference between not returning to your hometown and dying in a foreign land?"

The City Lord of Feiyu City turned his head towards the brightly lit Flower Boat in the distance, where people were already starting to board, and said, "For the past hundred years, countless people have dedicated themselves to a single task for the State Teacher's plan.

"Many even gave their lives."

"We are willing to serve the State Teacher without expecting any rewards, but if the State Teacher doesn't return to see us after achieving fame and success, then how can we old brothers know what we have accomplished over the years?"

"Take you, for example. Because of the State Teacher's order, you've been in that cold place near the boundless ice fields in Feicheng for thirty years. Only you know how bitter it has been."

"And the State Teacher has never let us old brothers down."

"So I believe the State Teacher will definitely return, and when he steps into Daxia again—"

"All living beings in Xuantian Continent will surely sing the State Teacher's name with utmost reverence!"

"Let's go."

The Flying Fish City Lord patted the Fertile City Lord's shoulder and said with a sigh, "Let's see if there are any Heaven's Pride who can compose good poems tonight. Although we can't expect them to be at the State Teacher's level, even if they have a fraction of his talent, it would still be quite remarkable."

In the Heavenward Sect within the Daxia Kingdom.

After Zhao Dezhu left, the Great Elder of the Heavenward Sect took the position of Sect Master. Although the loss of the Peak Golden Core Elder greatly reduced the sect's strength, other sects were in a similar situation, and everyone returned to the same starting line.

However, a few sects were quite clever. They didn't send their Peak Golden Core Elders to Xuantian Continent with the Mock Heaven Sect, choosing instead to stay in the Daxia Kingdom to be the big fish in a small pond. As soon as the Mock Heaven Sect left, these people rushed out, intending to occupy the territories of other sects and completely take over the Daxia Kingdom!

But four Peak Golden Core cultivators emerged in the Daxia Kingdom and ruthlessly killed these ambitious individuals.

Not all the Offering Elders went to Xuantian Continent with Chen Qiu.

The Daxia Kingdom wasn't just about those eight Offering Elders.

Even without them, the Daxia Kingdom's collection of array plates, talismans, and other resources over the years was enough to secure its position.

At that moment—

In the rear mountain of the Heavenward Sect.

Zhao Yishi sat sullenly in the forest, his head towering above the treetops of eight out of ten trees in the forest. After the Sect Master left, the Heavenward Sect completely abandoned him.

All cultivation resources were cut off.

Even his meals were reduced, and he had to hunt and kill ferocious beasts in the forest himself.

He wasn't in the mood to bathe in hot springs anymore.

How could he think of lust when he wasn't even full?

He sat there all day, not knowing what to do, feeling that life was a bit dull. He missed the Sect Master.

In the Daxia Kingdom, within the royal palace.

The seventh prince stood on the Green Stone Square, his face cold as he held a sharp sword and looked towards the nearby Golden Core Level Five sparring partner. "I hope you won't hold back, or you'll really die."

"Your Highness, be careful."

The Golden Core Level Five sparring partner took a deep breath, and his spirit qi surged out, covering his body. With a roar, he swung his right fist towards the seventh prince.

He was a Body Cultivator.

If this full-force punch landed on the seventh prince, it could shatter his defensive aura and send him flying!

However—

Just as he charged towards the seventh prince, about to smash his fist into the prince's face, he saw the prince's vast spirit qi and dense sword intent surge into the green blade in his hand, and it lightly stabbed towards his abdomen.

"Puchi!"

A large amount of blood sprayed from his abdomen.

His full-force punch, weakened by his injury, mostly hit the seventh prince's shoulder, but the prince didn't activate his defensive aura, and he firmly withstood the punch!

"Boom!"

The seventh prince was instantly blasted away several zhang, slamming into the Green Stone Square and leaving a mottled trail of blood.

"You..."

The Golden Core Level Five sparring partner, feeling the dense sword intent stirring in his dantian and causing his vitality to rapidly deplete, covered his abdomen with his hands, but he couldn't stop the blood from flowing through his fingers.

He looked up at the blasted seventh prince in disbelief and said in a trembling voice.

"Your Highness, you didn't activate your defensive aura and channeled all your spirit qi and sword intent into that sword. If I hadn't lost some strength from the impact, this punch would have killed you!"

"Cough, cough."

The blasted seventh prince staggered to his feet, took out a healing pill, and looked at the sparring partner whose vitality was rapidly depleting, saying indifferently.

"My master taught me."

"A Sword Cultivator doesn't need a defensive aura."

"Only a Sword Cultivator who lacks confidence in killing their opponent with a single strike would use a defensive aura."

"A single strike decides life and death; either you die, or I die."

"This is what it means to be a Sword Cultivator!"

He then waved his hand and said coldly, "Take him away to recover."

Soon, a group of black-armored imperial guards rushed forward and pulled the heavily injured sparring partner away. The entire process was smooth and efficient, and they had gone through this countless times in recent days.

The seventh prince stood in his original spot, holding the green blade at an angle, looking up at the starry sky in the distance. After a long silence, he lowered his head to look at the blood dripping from the tip of the sword and murmured.

"Master."

"You once told me that when I can defeat that Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator puppet by myself, I can go find you."

"I'll wait for you, Master. At most, ten years, and I'll be out soon."

"I'll let the whole world know that I'm a Sword Cultivator personally taught by you, and I'm no weaker than anyone else!"

"I will use my life to uphold your prestige."

North of Quzhou.

A moment passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Qiu felt a darkness before his eyes, and when he reappeared, he found himself in a secret realm.

At the same time.

Across the entire Xuantian Continent, all cultivators who had reached the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, or Divine Transformation stages also experienced a moment of darkness and disappeared from their original locations.

This was a very confined secret realm.

Chen Qiu surveyed his surroundings. It was roughly the size of the Green Stone Square in the Daxia Imperial Palace. For ordinary people, it might take a long time to run across, but for Nascent Soul cultivators, this distance was so short that they couldn't even fully activate their movement techniques.

If they were to fully activate their movement techniques.

And if their divine sense wasn't sufficiently proficient, or if they weren't very skilled in this movement technique.

The outcome would be:

They would crash into the barriers of the secret realm.

At the center of the square stood a small flag. Apart from him, there were nine other people standing at the corners of this secret realm. The rules were simple: within a thousand breaths, whoever held the flag the longest would pass.

It was that simple.

"..."

At this moment, everyone was still immobilized. Chen Qiu used his divine sense to probe the barriers of the secret realm. He found himself enclosed in a milky-white, bowl-shaped barrier of spiritual energy, which was quite sturdy.

It was not something he could break.

This meant that this secret realm couldn't be handled like the Daxia Heavenly Pride Ranking, where one could directly break the barriers of other platforms and eliminate the competition in one fell swoop.

While everyone was immobilized, one person seemed unhindered and rushed out first, his face beaming with joy as he tightly gripped the flag. Clearly, this person possessed the "Seize the Initiative" entry.

But soon, the joy on his face faded, his expression changed slightly, and he clenched his teeth, still holding the flag tightly. He ran to a corner, eyes wary, and watched the others who were still immobilized.

Chen Qiu glanced at this man and then averted his gaze. Clearly, although this man had the "Seize the Initiative" entry, which allowed him to break free and grab the flag first, the secret realm hadn't officially begun yet, so the timing hadn't started. This meant that even if he had the flag now, it was of no use. At most, he would gain the initiative when the secret realm officially began.

Of course, he would also be the first to face the concentrated attacks of everyone else.

Advantages and disadvantages.

Speaking of the "Seize the Initiative" entry, it seemed quite common. He had seen it many times before. While this man could break free and grab the flag first, the secret realm hadn't officially started, so the timing hadn't begun yet. This meant that even if he had the flag now, it was of no use. At most, he would gain the initiative when the secret realm officially began.

Of course, he would also be the first to face the concentrated attacks of everyone else.

Advantages and disadvantages.

Speaking of the "Seize the Initiative" entry, it seemed quite common. He had seen it many times before.

"..."

Chen Qiu slowly closed his eyes and began to patiently wait for the immobilization to dissipate. Perhaps his luck was good, as everyone in this room was at the early Nascent Soul stage, posing no threat to him.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end