Martial Path Reaches Divinity

After the terrifying bombardment had raged through, dust filled the air, so thick one could not see one's fingers. The once splendid Hall of Righteous Gathering had been ravaged beyond recognition, on the verge of collapse, as though it might crumble into broken walls and ruins at any moment.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a fierce current of air swept through, dispersing the billowing dust and gradually revealing the battlefield.

Amid the devastation, Xu Yang stood alone, surrounded by severed limbs and pulverized flesh.

"You...!"

With a sound, Yi Feng used his broken sword to prop himself up from the ruins. Blood streamed from his seven orifices, but he paid it no heed, staring fixedly at Xu Yang. "Indestructible... Vajra... Divine Skill?"

"No!"

Before he could finish, he overturned his own conclusion. He stared at Xu Yang in disbelief. "Even the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill could not possibly withstand my Sword Qi. And that Dragon Subduing Palm just now was absolutely not the Dragon Subduing Palm passed down by the Beggar's Gang. Such power has already exceeded the bounds of Gang Qi. You... what exactly are you?!"

Xu Yang looked at him without speaking, clearly having no intention of answering.

This only made him more unwilling. Leaning on his broken sword and forcing himself upright, he spat out another mouthful of blood. "Could it be that above Gang Qi, there is another realm—the power of rejuvenation, immortality..."

"No!"

Xu Yang took over his words and answered him. "There is no realm above Gang Qi. At least, not yet."

"Then you!?"

"Me?"

Xu Yang murmured and looked at his Attribute Panel.

Xu Yang (Li Qingshan)

Cultivation: Gang Qi Realm

Lifespan: 100/280

Skills:

Eating, Sleep, Breathing, Butchery, Hunting, Craftsmanship, Archery, Walking, Hiding, Theft, Reading, Sharpening Knife, Teaching...

Martial Practice (All Kinds of Weapons, Rise and Dance at Cockcrow, Diligence Makes Up for Lack of Talent, Marrow Cleansing and Meridian Washing, Rebirth and Transformation, Yin-Yang Harmony, Eternal Spring and Agelessness, Prolong Life and Eternal Youth, Endless Vitality, Mastery Through Comprehension, Martial Path Reaches Divinity)

Martial Arts: Nine Yang Divine Skill, Nine Yin Manual, Tai Chi, Primordial Qi, Dragon Subduing Palm, Marrow Cleansing Scripture, Muscle Tendon Changing Classic, Dragon Claw Hand, Innate Gang Qi, Eight Divine Sword Forms, Profound Ice True Qi, Great Art of Absorbing Power, Northern Darkness Divine Skill, Vertical and Horizontal Spear Technique, True Martial Seven Intercepting Swords, Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound Art, Cloud Flipping Rain Stirring Sword, Heaven Shaking Sun Shooting Archery, Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, Twelve Heavenly Gates Golden Bell Shield, Golden Pass Jade Lock Twenty-Four Formulas, Eight Desolations Six Harmonies Solitary Supreme Art...

...

Over these past decades, aside from managing Hundred Broken Mountain and challenging the world's masters, Xu Yang had primarily done only two things: practiced martial arts and taught others to practice martial arts.

Through every possible means and channel, he had gathered martial arts from across the land. Decades of tempering, polishing, accumulation, and comprehension had finally brought him to the peak of Martial Path in this world. Looking across the realm, he had no more rivals.

The accumulation of several decades had also caused the skill Martial Practice to develop many strange, even extraordinary traits. They allowed his martial arts to climb one hundred feet up the pole and advance another step, reaching a realm that martial artists of this world could never attain—Martial Path Reaches Divinity, transcending the mortal and entering the sacred.

But this was only the transcendence of martial arts. The skill traits that had emerged so far still could not create something from nothing and help him derive a realm above Gang Qi. Thus, his cultivation remained at the Gang Qi Realm.

As for whether a higher realm truly existed above Gang Qi, Xu Yang could not yet give a definite answer.

But for Yi Feng, this too was an answer.

"There isn't?"

Yi Feng's gaze trembled. His final obsession shattered, and the body he had been forcing upright toppled over, with no more life remaining.

A generation's Sword God had fallen!

Xu Yang glanced at his corpse without saying anything, then turned toward his surroundings.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Another stir arose. From the ruins, several figures struggled to their feet. They were survivors, and Princess Qing Ping and Li Shao Bai were among them.

They had survived not because their martial arts were particularly high, nor because Xu Yang had held back. It was because they were of noble status, had loyal guards, and were clever and alert. They had not joined the earlier siege, instead fleeing early to the Dragon-Slaying Stone at the outermost edge of the battlefield. Only then had they narrowly escaped death.

Though they had luckily kept their lives, the lingering force of the palm strike had still injured them severely. They spat bright blood and swayed unsteadily.

Even so, they forced themselves to stand.

Why not play dead?

Because they knew that before such a figure, feigning death was meaningless. There was only one way to preserve their lives...

"Heavenly King, spare us!"

Princess Qing Ping's pretty face was deathly pale. Clearly, she had been badly injured, yet she still forced herself to cry out, "Qing Ping was blinded by greed before and did not know that the Heavenly King's divine art was unmatched beneath heaven. For harboring such a gravely disrespectful thought, I deserve ten thousand deaths. I beg the Heavenly King, in your great magnanimity, to spare this little woman once. When I return to court, I will certainly report this to His Majesty and decree—no, respectfully invite—the Heavenly King to become Grand Preceptor, with Hundred Broken Mountain named the Sacred Gate of Protecting the Nation, to enjoy glory and wealth, unchanged for ten thousand generations..."

"Demoness, shut your mouth!"

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Li Shao Bai, the Young Master of the Sacred Fire Cult, who was equally dusty and bedraggled.

Li Shao Bai forced himself forward and said, "Heavenly King, do not believe this demoness's deceitful words. The Imperial Court is now without virtue; its halls are full of incompetent rulers and corrupt officials. With the Heavenly King's peerless stature, if you became that dog emperor's so-called national preceptor, would that not be lowering yourself?"

With that, his knees bent and he directly knelt on the ground. "The Sacred Fire Cult's creed is that the strong are honored. Therefore, Shao Bai dares to beg the Heavenly King to become the master of our Sacred Cult and lead our tens of millions of followers to overthrow that unjust incompetent ruler. When that time comes, the realm will surely answer the call, greeting the king's army with baskets of food and pots of drink!"

"Heavenly King!"

Before he could finish, another person was seen crying as he knelt. Looking toward the sound, it was that burly man.

Kneeling on the ground, he wailed, "We were blinded by lard, believing that old bald donkey Kong Jian's nonsense and joining the attack on Hundred Broken Mountain to disrupt the Heavenly King's hundredth birthday banquet. We truly deserve ten thousand deaths! To atone for this crime, the Giant Whale Gang, from top to bottom, begs to enter the Heavenly King's service. From now on, we shall obey the Heavenly King's commands, plunge into boiling water and tread through fire without hesitation!"

"Heavenly King, both the Imperial Court and the Demonic Cult harbor ill intent. With your stature, why lower yourself to them? We are willing to honor the Heavenly King as our master, serving before your saddle and behind your horse, charging into battle, and achieving the grand cause of unifying the martial world and the realm!"

"Heavenly King, they still have two forces stationed below Hundred Broken Mountain. We are willing to serve as the vanguard and break these rebel scum for the Heavenly King!"

"..."

The survivors were mostly quick-witted people, so without a second thought, they all knelt and begged to surrender. Princess Qing Ping and Li Shao Bai watched with twitching mouths and had no choice but to shout even more fervently.

Xu Yang ignored them. With one raised hand, he sent out a palm strike that shattered the Dragon-Slaying Stone at the main hall's entrance, then walked straight outside.

He was not a bloodthirsty person. To him, killing was merely a method, not an end to be pursued.

Therefore, if he could avoid killing, it was best not to kill. After all, dead people could not create value as living people could.

There were still many things in this world that needed him to accomplish, many potentials awaiting development. How could manpower, such an important resource, be squandered so easily?

It had to be put to good use!

At the same time, below Hundred Broken Mountain, cold moonlight shone into the forest, faintly revealing a troop of armored soldiers lying in wait like a coiled snake.

Bzzzz!

Smack!

"Damn it!"

At the center of the formation, a Pale-faced Youth viciously slapped dead the mosquito that had bitten his neck, then said irritably to the man beside him, who remained utterly still, "This godforsaken place has so many mosquitoes. It's torture!"

The man wore battle armor and looked heroic and extraordinary. He gave him an indifferent glance, then said, "I told you long ago not to come. You cannot even endure this little hardship—how will you lead an army alone in the future? No wonder Father always says you are disappointing!"

"Hmph!"

The Pale-faced Youth snorted. "Yes, I'm disappointing. But Big Brother, for all your promise, haven't you failed to get any good looks either? The Old Man is biased. He gives all the good assignments to Second Brother and has us work as his assistants. I do not care, since I am useless anyway, but Big Brother, you..."

"That is enough, Third Brother!"

The man interrupted him. "Do not say things that should not be said. What Second Brother? You should call him Second Brother!"

After saying that, he raised his eyes toward the mountains. "Second Brother is sharp and capable enough to bear this important task. Father's plans run deep; they are beyond you and me. We only need to carry out our duties properly."

"What important task? Just a group of mountain bandits and one old man who refuses to die. What is so remarkable about that?"

The Pale-faced Youth was disdainful. "I really do not know what the Old Man is thinking, taking a band of mountain bandits so seriously that he even sent a great army to encircle and suppress them. Wouldn't it be better to use this effort to seize a few more cities?"

"What do you know?"

The man glared at him. "Hundred Broken Mountain stretches in an unbroken range, vast in depth. And now it is the End of Dynasty—the realm is in chaos, and the people cannot live in peace. Who knows how many commoners have fled into these mountains and become fugitives and bandits? Once this place is taken and managed for several years, an army of one hundred thousand mighty soldiers can be raised. It may be called the foundation of King's Path!"

"This..."

The Pale-faced Youth was startled by this. "It is that formidable?"

"Otherwise, why would Father have us lead this great army here?"

The man snorted and muttered, "This place is truly crucial. Look at how they have traded between north and south these past years, how much grain, wealth, and property they have accumulated. Then there is Li Qingshan, who is generous and righteous, taking in fugitives from all quarters. Now, within Hundred Broken Mountain..."

Halfway through, he suddenly stopped, his heart filling with a touch of alarm.

The Pale-faced Youth looked puzzled. "What is in the mountains?"

"..."

The man fell silent, then shook his head. "Nothing. I was merely thinking that it is fortunate Li Qingshan is obsessed with martial arts. Under his management, Hundred Broken Mountain is only a martial sect. If he had ambitions to contend for the realm, then our Li Family... would likely have gained an utterly terrifying opponent!"

"Is that so?"

The Pale-faced Youth froze, half understanding and half not. But he soon stopped caring. "Honestly, I do not think there is anything worth fighting for in this realm. From ancient times to now, what dynasty has not vanished like smoke in two to three hundred years? There are no dynasties that last a thousand years, only clans that last a thousand years. Wouldn't it be better for us to become a thousand-year clan? Why waste time and effort fighting for the realm and end up here feeding mosquitoes..."

"What do you know?"

The man glared at him, speaking with the frustration of iron that would not become steel. "What thousand-year clan? Listen less to those ignorant crooked theories. Do you think it is so easy to become a thousand-year clan, that it can be achieved just because you say so? Do you think you are one of the Great Luo Immortals, with the power to reach the heavens and pierce the earth?"

"This..."

The Pale-faced Youth looked bewildered. "What is the problem?"

"Hmph!"

The man snorted. "The great tide of the realm lies entirely in one word: contend. In an age of great contention, in the contest of a great era, everyone is fighting. If you do not fight, you will die. You will be trampled beneath others' feet. What nonsense about a thousand-year clan? If you became emperor, would you allow any clan to stand above your head?"

"This..."

"In this realm, everyone is fighting. You only see that the dynasties of each age vanish like smoke in two to three hundred years, but have you considered how many clans are reduced to ashes in those two to three hundred years, how many entire families are executed?"

"Without sufficient strength, you simply cannot stand for a thousand years. And once you have that strength, do you think you can still peacefully hide behind the scenes and manipulate everything? After others seize the realm, would they tolerate the existence of someone like you?"

The man sighed and said faintly, "Under the great tide, one cannot act as one wishes. Even if you do not want to contend, others will push you, force you, and make you contend. If you do not contend, you will die, because everyone knows that when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact!"

"Our Li Family is the very example. Our family is far too large—mouths upon mouths waiting to eat, people upon people waiting to be fed. Outside, tigers and wolves eye us greedily; within, hidden dangers lie buried. If we do not contend, if we do not seek every way to advance another step, then what awaits us will be someone else's butcher's knife!"

"That is why Father led us to this point today. Do you understand?"

"This..."

The Pale-faced Youth was deeply shaken. After a while, he finally recovered and repeatedly said, "I understand now, Big Brother. This little brother was thoughtless. I never knew there were such hidden intricacies within."

"You must not only understand—you must remember. Carve it firmly into your heart."

The man nodded, his gaze stretching into the distance toward King's Peak, brilliantly lit amid the darkness. "Look at Hundred Broken Mountain. It is a bloody lesson. With such size and such wealth, yet it does not know to forge ahead, content merely to be a martial sect. In peaceful times, that is fine. But once the realm falls into chaos, it becomes fat meat coveted by every side and is bound to be divided up and devoured!"

As he spoke, the man sighed again. "I had thought that Heavenly King Li was a heroic lord of his age, able to build such an enterprise from the status of a bandit. But now it seems he is merely a hero of the moment. Sitting atop such a foundation of King's Path, yet not knowing to scheme and advance—he has truly wasted a hundred years of life!"

After saying this, he raised a hand and clenched it before him, as if trying to seize something. Only after a long while did he relax his hand and say faintly to the youth beside him, "Blooming flowers, frying oil with fierce fire—how long can such splendor last?"

"Haha!"

Hearing this, the youth laughed. "I heard that Li Qingshan was born a lowly Mountain Household. It is only natural that he has no great ambitions. Such a foundation of King's Path ought to be seized by us brothers, to achieve an eternal hege—"

Pfft!!!

Before he could finish, a muffled sound abruptly cut him off.

"Third Brother?"

The man froze and looked up. The youth beside him had fallen backward heavily onto the ground, a Black Arrow planted in his mouth!

"Third Brother!!!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The cry had barely risen when it was drowned out by the Locust-like Whistling Sound. Arrows Like Rain poured down in a torrential shower, engulfing the entire forest.

At the same time, crimson firelight surged up from every mountain peak, illuminating countless ranks of Strict Iron Armor pouring forth across the mountains and fields.