You Wouldn't Happen to Be His Biological Son, Would You?!

Border Ancient Devil Battlefield!

Great Luo Martial Academy!!

Martial Sacred Lands!!!

Each of the three names in Shen Qinglan's words was a weighty presence, etched deep into the bloodlines of every martial artist in the Great Luo Dynasty.

The Ancient Devil Race had been the eternal enemy of humanity on the Azure Origin Continent for generation after generation. Brutal, bloodthirsty, and lawless, they occupied the Northern Frontier of the Heavenly Evolution Mountains and held more than half of the Azure Origin Continent's territory.

The Border Ancient Devil Battlefield at the Heavenly Evolution Mountains was the foremost front line where humanity resisted the Ancient Devils' invasion. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, slaughter spanning the ages—it was synonymous with iron and blood, with sacrifice. It was the most perilous purgatory battlefield in every martial artist's heart. Only peak experts and fearless martial artists were qualified to set foot there, guarding the people and the land with Martial Dao.

The Great Luo Martial Academy, meanwhile, was the highest martial academy under the official control of the Great Luo Dynasty, standing above the academies of every province and prefecture. It was said to possess inexhaustible resources and endless cultivation methods and martial skills. Even earth-rank and heaven-rank cultivation methods, which ordinary martial artists could only dream of obtaining, could be borrowed for free.

Even more astonishing rumors claimed that the Great Luo Martial Academy housed supreme cultivation methods stronger than heaven-rank techniques and martial skills, methods that led directly to the Martial King Realm and even the Martial Emperor Realm.

As for the Martial Sacred Lands, they did not refer to any single cultivation mystic realm. Rather, they were a collective name for the four supreme sects that had stood within the Great Luo Dynasty for ten thousand years, their might pressing down upon the nine provinces—the Mountain-Shaking Sect, Blazing Sun Sect, Heaven-Dominating Sect, and Galaxy Sword Sect.

The origins of the Great Luo Dynasty were exceedingly unusual. After the Ancient Devil Cataclysm came to an end, the surviving top human experts and the patriarchs of the four great sects had joined hands in an alliance to establish it together.

Though it bore the name of an imperial dynasty, possessed vast territory, and ruled over countless citizens, it was by no means a dictatorship where one man called all the shots.

In ordinary times, matters such as the people's livelihoods across the nine provinces, prefectural and county affairs, official appointments and dismissals, taxes, and laws were handled by the Great Luo Dynasty's emperor through the imperial court. He governed and decided them independently, each side minding its own affairs without interfering with the sects' cultivation order.

But once matters arose involving the survival of all humanity, invasions by foreign races, world-ending calamities, or ancient hidden disasters, they were no longer things the emperor alone could decide.

Any major decision concerning humanity's rise and fall or the safety of its borders had to be discussed jointly by the imperial family and the patriarchs of the four sacred land sects. The leaders of the four sects voted together, checking imperial power and determining humanity's overall course.

The imperial authority governed the world; the sects guarded humanity!

The imperial court maintained mortal order, while the sacred lands upheld the Martial Dao firmament.

This was the fundamental structure that had allowed the Great Luo Dynasty to endure for thousands of years, steadily contend against the Ancient Devil Race, and deter those with disloyal intentions.

The reason these four sects were called Martial Sacred Lands was that each of them had a Martial Emperor Realm expert holding down the age.

According to the records, Martial Emperors were the supreme beings at the pinnacle of Martial Dao on the Azure Origin Continent. They overlooked all paths, suppressed all directions, and represented the very end of Martial Dao that could be reached in the present age.

A martial artist cultivated from the Flesh Body Realm to Qi Condensation, Postnatal Realm, Xiantian Realm, Grandmaster Realm, Great Grandmaster Realm, and Martial King Realm, transforming layer by layer. Only by breaking through the shackles and ascending to the Emperor Realm could one condense a Martial Dao True Body.

Once the Martial Dao True Body was formed, the flesh became indestructible as diamond, and the divine soul resonated with heaven and earth. One could move mountains and fill seas, split rivers and cleave peaks, live for a thousand years, and wipe out hundreds of millions of living beings with a single thought.

It was precisely because Martial Emperors suppressed the present age that these four sects were revered as the Great Luo Dynasty's Martial Sacred Lands, suppressing the fortune of humanity's entire Martial Dao.

Chen An had not expected this county examination to conceal so many secrets.

What had begun as an ordinary county Martial Examination had suddenly been elevated into the Five Prefectures Joint Exam. Behind it lay not only the war against the Ancient Devil Race in the Northern Frontier, but also the Great Luo Martial Academy and even the Four Great Martial Sacred Lands, which commanded powerful Martial Dao experts.

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Originally, he had not paid much attention to the county examination.

After all, with his current cultivation, if he truly made a move, he could sweep through the entire younger generation of Wurong County. Advancing into a Prefecture Academy would be as easy as turning his hand over.

He had not even thought much of the Prefecture Academy.

But now, in the Five Prefectures Joint Exam, anyone who placed in the top ten might enter the Great Luo Martial Academy or a Martial Sacred Land directly. Even he felt tempted.

There was no helping it. Whether it was the Great Luo Martial Academy or the four Martial Sacred Lands, they were humanity's highest martial institutions. They surely contained countless earth-rank, heaven-rank, and even king-rank cultivation methods, martial skills, and secret arts.

What he lacked now was not Yuan Crystals, but cultivation methods, martial skills, and secret arts above the earth rank.

If he could enter the Great Luo Martial Academy or one of the four Martial Sacred Lands, then with his own diligence and the system's assistance, he could absolutely break through realm after realm in a short time and perhaps even reach the pinnacle of Martial Dao.

"Chen An, what are you thinking about? Were you even listening to me?!"

Seeing Chen An remain silent for so long, seemingly lost in thought, Shen Qinglan grew slightly annoyed and waved her jade-like hand before his eyes.

"Hm? What did you say?!" Chen An came back to himself and looked at Shen Qinglan.

"You..."

Seeing that Chen An had actually drifted off while speaking with her, Shen Qinglan puffed out her cheeks slightly. A trace of coy irritation and helplessness flashed through her eyes as she shot him an annoyed glare. "I said that with your strength, this joint examination might be somewhat dangerous. But my father has already made arrangements for you and secured a special admission slot at a Prefecture Academy. Tomorrow, just take the exam casually, then go straight to the Prefecture Academy to enroll!"

Hearing Shen Qinglan's words, a trace of surprise flashed across Chen An's face.

He had not expected Shen Qinglan's father to obtain a special admission slot at a Prefecture Academy for him.

One had to know that this was a Prefecture Academy, the highest hall of Martial Dao cultivation in an entire prefecture. Forget ordinary martial artists—even children of ordinary martial families and Martial Dao geniuses had to fight bloody battles through layer after layer of Martial Examinations before they could barely squeeze in.

Special admission slots were even more precious. Without undergoing the successive selections of the county examination, one could directly enter a Prefecture Academy to cultivate, enjoy its finest resources, cultivation methods, secret arts, and guidance from famous teachers. It was an opportunity countless martial artists dreamed of.

Thinking back over the years, ever since his father in this life had passed away, Shen Qinglan's father, Shen Zongyue, had always taken great care of him.

He often personally delivered, or had Shen Qinglan deliver, medicinal pills for cultivation. Even the profound-rank mid-grade martial skill Chen An had cultivated before, Mountain-Crushing Force, worth more than ten thousand Yuan Crystals, had been given to him by Shen Zongyue.

His everyday care and support had never ceased. That kindness and regard had been more attentive than what he showed even his own biological daughter.

It was precisely because of this that Shen Qinglan was often jealous. She could never resist grumbling jokingly that perhaps she had been picked up from the roadside, while Chen An was actually Shen Zongyue's biological son.

"Ugh, even I, his biological daughter, have to go fight others to the death, while you get to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. Old Yue went and got you a special admission slot directly!"

"Chen An, tell me honestly—you wouldn't happen to really be Old Yue's biological son, would you?!" Shen Qinglan sighed. Though she looked aggrieved and sour, she blinked her beautiful eyes at Chen An.

Knowing Shen Qinglan was teasing him, Chen An curled his lips into a wicked smile, raised a brow, and deliberately said in a playful tone, "Maybe I'm not his biological son. Maybe I'm the son-in-law his father-in-law gave him?!"

"As the old saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son. By that logic, there's nothing wrong with saying I'm Uncle Shen's son!"