On his way to the Wanxing Hall, Zhuang Xun recalled the information he had gathered from Yang Ling.
Yang Gai, the City Lord of Zechuan City.
Thirty years ago, he was the most outstanding disciple of his generation in the Jiyi Sect. He had reached the Zenith of martial arts at the age of twenty, possessing a talent that could only be described as peerless. The deceased former Sect Master of the Jiyi Sect had once praised him as having boundless prospects, destined to reach the Innate Realm in the future.
Unfortunately, that very same year, he was ambushed by the Shengxue Cult and severely injured. The physician who treated him later declared that his foundation had been damaged beyond cure, and his path of martial arts was forever severed.
From then on, Yang Gai fell into a state of utter despair, spending his days drinking and losing his temper. Not long after, he voluntarily left the Jiyi Sect and brought the Yang family to Mount Dazhou.
After a few more years on Mount Dazhou, Yang Gai's beloved wife passed away due to unforeseen circumstances, making his actions even more erratic and crazed. He searched everywhere for ways to resurrect the dead, even conducting human experiments. At the same time, he imposed exorbitant taxes throughout Mount Dazhou, squeezing the commoners dry and plunging them into misery.
Some members of the Yang family could no longer tolerate his behavior, so they joined the Wanxing Martial Academy under the leadership of Yang Meng.
This matter finally came to a temporary close after Yang Gai received a stern warning from the Jiyi Sect.
“This veteran is probably still thinking about resurrecting his deceased wife. Let me observe him from the shadows...” Zhuang Xun entered the Wanxing Hall and found the Principal, who had not yet left. He asked about the City Lord's visit just now and what they had discussed.
The Principal smiled and said, “He wants to organize a martial arts tournament for the younger generation of Mount Dazhou to reallocate the interests of the various factions. With you here, my disciple, isn't our Wanxing Martial Academy guaranteed to win? After thinking it over, I agreed.”
Hearing this, Zhuang Xun raised an eyebrow. What kind of scheme was this veteran trying to pull? Yang Gai clearly knew that Bai Yujing was at the Third Rank but possessed the strength of a Second Rank martial artist, making him the undisputed number one among the younger generation in Mount Dazhou. Yet, he still wanted to hold this tournament.
Zhuang Xun asked further, “Master, did you agree on a specific time?”
“It seems to be... Eh? Disciple, aren't the lights in my Wanxing Hall a bit too glaring? Yes, they're making me quite uncomfortable. I'll have Elder Su send someone to replace them again... What did you say just now, disciple?”
Helpless, Zhuang Xun repeated his question.
The Principal said, “It seems to be in March. I don't remember very clearly. We'll just wait for him to send someone to notify us when the time comes.”
“More than two months from now...” Zhuang Xun thought to himself. Even if there was some conspiracy, it wouldn't be much of a problem. By then, one of his clones would have already left Mount Dazhou with Yi Xiaoxiang and traveled far away.
Could he be planning to launch a sneak attack while the academy was down one Zenith expert? Well, with Master and Elder Guan around, it shouldn't be a big issue. Let's see if this old geezer can keep up his act when the time comes.
Up until now, Zhuang Xun still had not obtained any information regarding the Innate Law from the Principal.
He had asked about it before, but the old geezer had actually turned around and asked him in surprise what the Innate Realm was, wondering if martial arts didn't just end at the Zenith.
And when Zhuang Xun tried to explain it to him, the old man kept zoning out.
...
Soon, the New Year passed, and the day approached for Yi Xiaoxiang to take Yi Wangyou and Zhou Ziruo to the Sword Sanctuary of the World.
On the night before their departure, Xia Xingmian tugged at Yi Wangyou's sleeve, her eyes welling with tears.
“Brother Yi, are you leaving tomorrow?”
“That's right. Are you happy?”
Xia Xingmian shook her head. “No, I'm not. Will you come back?”
Zhuang Xun replied, “I'm not sure. I'll probably return whenever Master returns. But the journey is so far, so I doubt I'll come back often.”
“Waaah~” Xia Xingmian began to cry. “If you don't come back, then when I grow up, I'll go to the Sword Sanctuary of the World to find you.”
Zhuang Xun asked, “Why look for me?”
Xia Xingmian's sobs hitched. She lowered her head, wiping her tears as she whimpered, “Because... because... I want to see you! I will train hard for your sake! Once I turn fifteen, I'll join the Wanxing Martial Academy. My father promised me that as long as I reach the Zenith of martial arts before I turn twenty, he'll let me go to the Sword Sanctuary of the World to find you.”
“Your father has no intention of letting you go at all...” Zhuang Xun didn't want Xia Xingmian to go either. He had only been kind enough to play with her during the New Year; he didn't want her to become clingy.
“Why do it for my sake? Do it for yourself.”
“Yes!” Xia Xingmian said with determination. “Then so that I can see you, I will train hard! Brother Yi, wait for me!”
Zhuang Xun said helplessly, “Well, do your best then.”
“Yes!” Xia Xingmian nodded heavily, then started crying again. “Then, Brother Yi, you mustn't forget Xingmian when the time comes.”
“How tedious. I'll probably forget you by tomorrow...” Zhuang Xun hadn't even bothered to remember his primary, middle, high school, or college classmates whom he had spent years with in his past life. How could he possibly make an effort to remember a temporary playmate he had only spent a dozen or so days with?
Besides, there were plenty of kids who followed him around to play during the New Year; she wasn't particularly special among them.
It was only because Xia Xingmian was closely related to Yi Xiaoxiang—her grandmother and Yi Xiaoxiang's mother were biological sisters.
Out of respect for his master, Zhuang Xun had looked after her a little.
Zhuang Xun nodded. “It's a bit difficult. Remind me when the time comes. I need to go pack my bags. See you tomorrow, bye.”
With that, he ran off, though he could still hear Xia Xingmian's shouts of “Don't forget me!” from afar.
Returning to the courtyard where Yi Xiaoxiang resided in the Zhou Manor, Zhuang Xun pondered if there was anything else he needed to bring along.
He had already packed most of his luggage before leaving the Posuo Courtyard. He had transferred the Innate Creation Lotus and the Qiankun Chicken to Bai Yujing and Yan Pingsheng respectively.
The Innate Creation Lotus had been handed over secretly.
The Qiankun Chicken, on the other hand, was given openly under the pretext that the Little Overlord had grown tired of playing with it and didn't want to raise it anymore, so he asked Senior Brother Yan to take care of it.
This was highly consistent with Yi Wangyou's usual behavior, so no one found it strange. They only envied Yan Pingsheng's incredible luck.
“Once my clones are far apart, we won't be able to share resources at any time. I need to get something capable of spatial teleportation.”
Zhuang Xun thought for a moment and recalled that the rare beast ranked second on the Rare Beast Ranking of the Xietian Mountain Range seemed to possess spatial teleportation abilities.
He added the capture of this rare beast to his task list, deciding to head deep into the Xietian Mountain Range to search for it after breaking through to the Innate Realm.
Zhuang Xun looked around the room, unbuckled the chair on Bengbeng's back, picked the rat up by the scruff of its neck, and stuffed it into his small backpack.
“I'll just take you with me.”
...
The next day, Zhuang Xun and Zhou Ziruo followed Yi Xiaoxiang to the Luoshui Ferry.
A massive ship was docked in the Luoshui River. It was larger than two courtyard houses stacked together, its exterior constructed from iron plates and wooden planks, resembling a giant beast.
In the middle of the ship stood a pipe-like structure, which served as the engine for the entire vessel.
The energy source it utilized was a rare stone called Water-Steam Stone.
The moment it came into contact with water, it would release a massive amount of steam and heat.
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