Chapter 702: A New Era
Chapter 702: A New Era
Since achieving the status of a Thirteenth Realm Law Master, time had become almost meaningless to Fang Xing.
Although all worlds had their 'lifespans,' these were numbers so vast as to be nearly infinite.
Only those who transcended the limits of time and space could survive when the cosmic river dried up.
But worrying about the end of a star's life was as absurd for a common person as it was for Fang Xing!
If a common person on Earth could live until the end of the sun's life, it would be almost akin to achieving 'Eternal Life.'
Thus, while delving into the True Martial Dao, Fang Xing occasionally took breaks and enjoyed life for a few centuries.
As for the others who came later? Even Xun Heihu, he didn't bother with them.
This was the indifference of the immortal!
One cannot explain the concept of ice to a summer insect.
Unbeknownst to him, hundreds of thousands of years had passed in the outside world.
Boom!
One day, Fang Xing felt the resonance of the World's Origin!
"Finally... the world has ascended?"
He was somewhat surprised.
The world's upgrade was not something that could be achieved in just a few hundred thousand years; this was a special event in this world!
The distinction between the realms and ordinary large or small worlds was like the difference between the human race and the animal kingdom—fundamentally different.
This world was inherently of the 'realm' level; even in its infancy, it was a human infant, not an animal's offspring.
And now, it had entered a new stage of growth!
"Hmm? It's been 238,600 years already?"
Fang Xing's thoughts merged with the external monitoring of the True Martial Talisman.
Scenes from the past unfolded before his eyes:
"Xun Heihu did well, or perhaps it was a matter of sincerity. Jiang Yuyan and her twin children achieved the Void Realm and extended their lives by a thousand years, living to a ripe old age together..."
"But after a few generations, True Martial Mountain split into two factions: the Disciple Faction and the Xun Family Faction. They fought secretly for control of the True Martial Talisman... Within the Xun Family Faction, there were further divisions between the main and secondary branches..."
"After about ten thousand years, the 'Panwu Legacy' erupted, causing chaos in True Martial Mountain... The True Martial Talisman disappeared..."
As the True Martial Talisman itself, Fang Xing knew that a traitor from the Xun family had stolen the talisman during an invasion by external enemies.
True Martial Mountain fell, but the True Martial Lineage continued to be passed down.
"This traitor, his lineage traces back to Xun Biao? Ha... I knew this would be a problem, but Xun Heihu probably didn't care... After all, it was several generations removed..."
Fang Xing continued to observe.
The traitor later went into hiding, using the True Martial Talisman to cultivate to the peak of the Void Realm, even reaching the semi-transcendent stage...
He hid for about six hundred years, but seeing that he could not break through to the next level, he finally emerged, sweeping the world with his power that was half a realm above the transcendent, and established the Great Martial Dynasty!
The Great Martial Dynasty unified the world and lasted for 39,000 years...
"Hmm... Despite all this time, technological progress has been limited?"
When Fang Xing saw this, his eyes nearly bulged out: "Is the existence of extraordinary martial arts suppressing the development and progress of technology?"
After all, martial cultivation could grant a thousand-year lifespan!
Who would bother with basic research? Talented geniuses would naturally gravitate towards martial arts...
However, there was significant progress in the smelting of advanced metals, the breeding of more powerful beasts, and the cultivation of spirit grains, all of which served the martial arts.
Under the rule of the Great Martial Dynasty, the lives of the common people were even worse than during the Nine Provinces period, a significant regression...
"By the end of the dynasty, the Great Martial Dynasty had become extremely corrupt, like a rotting corpse..."
"The cosmic limits were slightly relaxed, allowing Void Realm martial artists to advance further, but the royal family was filled with complacent individuals, leading to their downfall?"
Even so, the final battle was extremely perilous, with all Void Realm experts participating, nearly destroying the Great Martial capital...
"After the Great Martial Dynasty, it was an era of factional rule, until a martial genius unified the world, and the cycle continued... Of course, during this process, the struggle for the True Martial Talisman was the most brutal and savage..."
"The True Martial Talisman passed through the hands of various martial artists, including righteous heroes, great villains, beggars, courtesans, wealthy merchants, bodyguards, and even chefs..."
"Currently, it is held by the Tortoise and Snake Sect, hidden in the ancestral hall of the Tortoise and Snake School. The founder of the Tortoise and Snake Sect, who once received the True Martial Lineage from the once-glorious True Martial Mountain, left a will stating that the True Martial Talisman must not be revealed and can only be passed to the next sect leader..."
...
Fang Xing's consciousness extended beyond the True Martial Talisman, revealing a stone chamber.
The walls of the chamber glowed with a metallic hue, made of 'stone gold,' a peculiar meteoric metal that could block all auras and prevent mental detection by martial arts masters.
In the center of the chamber stood a large red altar, with rows of ancestral tablets of the Tortoise and Snake Sect.
The True Martial Talisman, where he had taken refuge, was hidden in a secret compartment at the very top.
"Not only that... I can sense... the True Martial Meditation and the Xuanwu True Art spreading in the outside world... Although there are many branches and variations... they have indeed been passed down."
Fang Xing murmured with a mix of emotion, "The tide of the era is about to arrive..."
This time, the world's leap was not as simple as raising the limits of martial arts by a grade or two over a long period!
It was an exponential explosion, a fundamental transformation!
"The door to immortality has been pushed ajar... In other words, this era might give rise to experts at the Eleventh or even Twelfth Realm?"
Such experts were not far from the minimum requirement of the Thirteenth Realm for Panwu's revival.
Even more, he could faintly sense the terrifying presence of Panwu!
'This era might be quite spectacular...'
'Unfortunately... it's not the true Golden Age. The more talented one is, the more tragic their fate...'
Fang Xing sighed.
Time ticked by.
The door to the secret chamber suddenly opened, and a middle-aged man with a turtle-like back stepped inside. He wore a dark blue coat, with a rugged and square face, and his eyes were piercingly sharp.
He was none other than the current leader of the Tortoise and Snake Sect—Gui Yanian!
His gaze first swept over the ancestral altar, and after a mental scan confirmed that the True Martial Talisman at the top was safe, he let out a sigh of relief and picked up three incense sticks.
Without lighting them, the incense tips ignited, and wisps of blue smoke rose into the air.
Gui Yanian held the incense sticks with both hands, raised them above his head, and bowed three times before the altar, then placed them in the incense burner.
After performing this series of rituals, he respectfully took out the True Martial Talisman and sat cross-legged.
...
In the True Martial Space.
It was still a small room, and the stone stele had remained unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years.
For Fang Xing, this was just a short period of time.
Gui Yanian wasted no time and began his practice.
The Tortoise and Snake Sect had obtained part of the True Martial Lineage, and while they did not have the core Xuanwu True Art, they did have a copy of the True Martial Meditation.
In addition, the various sect leaders had poured their hearts into creating unique techniques such as the Tortoise and Snake Stance, Coiling Snake Eighteen Hands, and Tortoise Shape Qigong, making the Tortoise and Snake Sect a prominent sect in the current Dalu Dynasty.
Moreover, the Tortoise and Snake Sect remained extremely low-profile, and no one knew that their leader, Gui Yanian, was already one of the greatest experts in the world.
After completing his daily practice, Gui Yanian began to demonstrate martial arts.
However, the martial arts he displayed were quite basic, with many flaws, as if he was using the True Martial Space as a place to create new techniques.
Rumble!
His palm technique was extremely slow, like grinding a millstone, subtly blending the essence of Yin and Yang.
But with each palm strike, the void itself seemed to tremble.
In the end, it carried a trace of void power, striking the gray mist covering the walls.
The gray mist absorbed the palm strike, which could have destroyed nine out of ten martial artists, without a single ripple.
"Every time I come here, I feel my own insignificance."
Gui Yanian sighed, "This True Martial Space is perfect in every way, except it's too small... it's difficult to practice movement-based martial arts here."
Rumble!
At that moment, the stone stele in the True Martial Space slowly sank into the ground.
"Hmm?"
Gui Yanian's eyes widened.
If the disciples of the Tortoise and Snake Sect saw this scene, they would find it hard to believe that this man, whose mouth could fit a goose egg, was the same sect leader who remained calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain.
Rustle!
The gray mist dispersed, revealing a True Martial Space that was a hundred times larger.
Stone steps extended upward, leading to a throne at the top.
On the throne, a figure with a face shrouded in gray mist was watching him.
That gaze seemed heavier than a mountain, forcing Gui Yanian to kneel involuntarily.
'Who is that... a deity?'
'No! I can't kneel!'
Gui Yanian roared in his mind, his joints cracking, but he was ultimately forced to bend inch by inch, forming a ridiculous posture.
Fortunately.
Just as he was about to fall to the ground in a full prostration, the gaze withdrew, "Hmm, peak Void Realm... not bad. What year is it?"
"Year 8 of the Dalu Bao Yuan era. Who are you?"
Gui Yanian looked around in disbelief. There was no record of this in the sect's archives, and his master had never mentioned that there was someone else inside the True Martial Talisman.
"It seems Xun Heihu is dead..."
Fang Xing sighed.
People are always wary of the unknown. To put the host at ease, he shouldn't act like he knows everything.
"Xun Heihu? Could he be... the first Void Realm expert? The True Martial Ancestor?!"
Gui Yanian's eyes widened, "Who are you, exactly?"
"Me? I am the spirit of this place, a sleeper... I have only occasionally seen a few bearers of the True Martial Talisman, one of whom was named Xia Mang, and the other was Xun Heihu..."
"The Martial Ancestor and the True Martial Ancestor..."
Gui Yanian was lost in thought...
(End of Chapter)
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