Nine Dragon Continent.
Heavenly Show Manor.
Inside and outside the manor, everything was draped in white mourning cloth. People came and went, most of them wearing sorrowful expressions.
These were guests who had come to pay their respects. From time to time, hushed discussions could be heard:
"Young Master Shenxiu actually died in the prime of his life. Heaven truly envies outstanding talent..."
"I heard that this child possessed peerless brilliance, a genius unseen on the continent for millions of years. What a pity..."
"Even so, he made his name throughout the world and surpassed all the heroes. His journey through this life was not in vain..."
Heavenly Show Manor! Zhong Shenxiu!
He was a chosen son born beneath an auspicious sign from Heaven, and from childhood onward, he had always been the proverbial child from someone else's household.
Being able to walk at one month old and speak at three months, astonishing others as a Child Prodigy, was merely the beginning.
As he gradually grew up, Young Master Zhong Shenxiu became proficient in the Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting, medicine, divination, astrology—there was nothing he did not excel at, nothing he did not understand. His Martial Arts had even reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Not only that, his appearance was heavenly, captivating tens of thousands of young maidens.
Because of him, the former Heavenly Sword Villa had even changed its name to 'Heavenly Show Manor'!
Since entering the martial world, Young Master Zhong Shenxiu had constantly been the center of attention.
He had once shaken the Hundred Sages with an essay in the capital, then defeated the Four Talents of Jiangnan and the Eight Masters of Jiangbei with the Six Arts of the Gentleman.
He had once gone boating on the great lake and used a poem titled 'Ode to the Moon' to win the title of top courtesan for the world's number-one courtesan, Ji Xixi. He had even stirred this great beauty's heart, prompting her to declare that she dared not become his wife and was willing to be his concubine or maidservant.
What had caused the greatest uproar throughout the world was his battle atop Mount Yandang, where he challenged heroes from every corner of the realm, subdued them all, and claimed the title of 'Number One Martial Artist Under Heaven'. He had also created the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings to appraise the world's heroes.
But... in the end, he had still died...
Everyone felt that Zhong Shenxiu's death was... utterly speechless.
The Martial Arts of this world focused on tempering the flesh, blood, tendons, and bones. Those who achieved great mastery possessed the strength of nine oxen and two tigers and the valor to stand against ten thousand men. Yet in truth, when surrounded by a true army, they could only kneel!
It was said that Zhong Shenxiu's Martial Arts had reached the heavens, with nowhere left to advance. He had even conceived an unprecedented idea and sought to create an entirely new path of Martial Arts—the Xiantian qi-refining path!
However, on the very day he created the Shenxiu Treasure Tome, the sky and earth had darkened. Thunder had descended, striking straight through Heavenly Show Manor.
Hundred Knowledgeable of the martial world had once said that this was Heaven's jealousy.
In ancient times, Cang King had created writing, causing ghosts and spirits to weep through the night, because he had seized the transformations of Heaven and Earth.
Now, Young Master Shenxiu had created a cultivation method, and Heaven had sent down a Thunder Tribulation. This showed just how earth-shaking and heaven-wailing the Shenxiu Treasure Tome was, and how it had seized the workings of creation!
A peerless technique written by the world's number-one martial artist would naturally attract no small number of covetous eyes.
The following night.
A cool breeze drifted past, yet the water remained still.
At Heavenly Show Manor, guards and guests alike... suddenly collapsed one after another, unconscious and motionless.
A black-clad figure sauntered into the mourning hall. Gazing at the memorial tablet and the coffin behind it, he let out a sinister chuckle.
"Duke Tiandu truly possesses profound poison arts!"
Several others stood beside the black-clad man. Each one was as steady as a deep pool or towering mountain, rare Great Grandmasters in the martial world. One of them, a middle-aged scholar dressed like a literatus, smiled and spoke in an unhurried voice.
"Heh heh... I'm merely an old man secluded in the Eastern Sea. What am I worth? Still, I hear that besides the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings, Young Master Shenxiu also created an 'Alarming List'. When the people on this list appear, the whole world trembles! And you, Brother Hundred Knowledgeable, rank only third. Young Master Shenxiu judged you thus: 'With one word, he can invigorate a nation; with one character, he can plunge a country into chaos. The one who will disrupt the martial world is certainly this man...'"
Duke Tiandu spoke with a beaming smile.
Hundred Knowledgeable's expression changed. Looking at the black-faced strongman beside him and the middle-aged nun wielding a sword, he forced a laugh. "Hahaha... How could this younger brother harbor any ambition to disrupt the martial world? Young Master Shenxiu was overthinking it..."
"Enough idle chatter... Today, the Eight Alarms of the World have gathered. Counting the one lying there, we're complete..."
From beneath the ground came another sinister voice: "That Young Master Shenxiu once charged into Mechanism Valley and broke all eighteen of my arrays and mechanisms, making me lose a tremendous amount of face. Heh heh, today I'll make him pay off that old debt..."
At these words, the other six people all looked displeased.
Some of them were heads of great sects, while others were lone magnates. They had always prided themselves on being superior and had never even cared about the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings of the martial world.
Yet, of all things, there was a Zhong Shenxiu in the martial world who had come knocking on each of their doors and given them a thorough beating.
The Alarming List had said it plainly: among the Eight Alarms of the World, Shenxiu ranked first!
"Why are you wasting so much breath? Let me reduce this brat to ashes first!"
Sword Nun snorted coldly. Her long sword quivered, and she struck first.
Her temper had always been mild, and she generally would not go so far against anyone in the martial world. But Young Master Shenxiu was different, because he had truly... humiliated her beyond measure!
Looking across his rise, there was not a single step that had not trampled across the faces of famous experts. The more powerful the master, the harder he trampled them—and he just had to choose occasions watched by all, even turning the stories into ballads for people to sing!
Sword Nun had originally been the leader of a reclusive sect. Most of its members were women who cultivated in seclusion; only when the world fell into chaos would it send its successors into society to support the true ruler, vaguely holding the reins of the Orthodox Path.
But Young Master Shenxiu had not only bewitched the current saintess into betraying the sect, he had even exposed the location of its mountain gate. He then brought a group of male heroes—young, middle-aged, and old—who claimed to have been spurned by successive saintesses to demand an explanation. He smashed through the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation, subdued the sect, and even presided over weddings for numerous resentful couples on the spot. Sword Nun had spat out a mouthful of old blood right there, so humiliated and enraged that she wished she were dead. Her Dao Heart had even fallen into demonic obsession.
Her attack now was naturally ruthless and merciless.
Crack!
The finest coffin shattered into pieces, revealing a white-clad figure within.
He was in his twenties, with a face like carved jade and unmatched handsomeness. It seemed that the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth had gathered upon him. He was indeed Zhong Shenxiu!
"Hahaha... you're finally dead..." Sword Nun roared with laughter.
At that moment, Zhong Shenxiu's swordlike brows twitched. He actually opened his eyes, revealing lifeless pupils, and stiffly hooked up the corners of his mouth, exposing a strange smile.
"Woe is me... Young Master Shenxiu has risen from the dead!"
Sword Nun shrieked as the Seven Alarming Ones immediately retreated...
Several days later, shocking news spread throughout the martial world.
At Heavenly Show Manor, a strange turn of events had occurred in Young Master Shenxiu's mourning hall, and the Seven Alarming Ones of the martial world had been wiped out in a single battle!
"Hey! Have you heard? Young Master Shenxiu had faked his death! He did it to wipe out those seven scourges in one fell swoop!"
"Nonsense! This old man has a little fame in the martial world as well, and I went to Heavenly Show Manor to pay my respects. Young Master Shenxiu really was dead, but he refined himself into a zombie. His divine abilities advanced greatly, allowing him to kill seven peerless experts in one stroke..."
"No, I heard he used poison—the number-one poison under Heaven, the Life-Severing Powder..."
"In any case, after this battle, even though Young Master Shenxiu is gone, no one will dare provoke Heavenly Show Manor!"
"Heh heh, who would dare provoke Heavenly Show Manor? The world is in turmoil now. Of the original Seven Alarming Ones of the martial world, four had joined the Imperial Court. Now all four have been maneuvered to their deaths by Young Master Shenxiu. The world has fallen into chaos, and seventeen rebel kings have risen. In this Daoist's opinion, Heavenly Show Manor may instead have the destiny of a true dragon..."
"Why did I hear that the battle shook Heaven and Earth, yet only six people died? In the end, Mechanism King relied on a strange earth-burrowing art and managed to escape alive?"
The disturbances of the martial world need not be mentioned. Heavenly Show Manor, relying on the arrangements Young Master Shenxiu had made beforehand, eventually seized the entire realm and founded a dynasty that lasted five hundred years. Its blessings endured for generations. But that is a story for later.
A secluded valley, within a certain cave.
"Hahaha... Zhong Shenxiu, you really are dead!"
Mechanism King, the only survivor among the Seven Alarming Ones, had blood spilling from his nose and mouth. Still shaken, he pulled out the Shenxiu Treasure Tome he had luckily obtained and opened the first page: "To cultivate the divine art, one must first cripple one's Martial Arts?"
He looked at his own body and instead showed some delight. "This old man is grievously wounded, and my Martial Arts were already crippled. Good, good! Heaven itself intends for this old man to achieve greatness..."
Mechanism King licked his lips and impatiently turned to the second page. It read: "If one does not cripple one's Martial Arts, one may also cultivate the art."
"Young brat, you deceived me!" Mechanism King's face turned purplish-black. He already had an ominous feeling as he flipped to the third page. There, in stark black and white, it read: "If one's Martial Arts have already been crippled, success is not guaranteed..."
"Ah!"
Mechanism King roared furiously as black blood flowed from his seven orifices.
A strange genius of his generation passed away just like that...
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