So Langya Pavilion Used to Be in the Rebellion Business

The master and disciple quickly crossed the Tianzhi Mountain Range and returned to the Central Plains Region.

Along the way, Murong Xuan kept teaching Lu Xingshi various things, including martial arts techniques, Inner Force, and other insights he had accumulated over the years.

Theory was theory; practice was practice.

Moreover, Murong Xuan had not placed all his theories in the Jade Library. Many things had been passed down orally rather than recorded in books.

After all, Langya Pavilion was empty now. Anyone who entered could rummage through the place, so many crucial matters had never been written down.

Though this made them easier to lose, it did provide a certain degree of secrecy.

Lu Xingshi had gained a great deal as well. He was strong because of his attributes and effects, while Murong Xuan possessed seasoned experience—the very thing Lu Xingshi needed.

Naturally, he had benefited greatly.

After entering the Central Plains, the two headed straight for the treasury.

The journey in went smoothly, without any melodramatic incidents. They encountered no bandits on the road either; it was all fairly peaceful.

The main reason was that Murong Xuan knew the way. He knew where they could and could not go, allowing them to travel without obstruction.

This was the kind of ability possessed by old hands of the martial world, something Lu Xingshi lacked.

Cui Xuan had it too. After all, he had traveled the martial world for many years, though he still could not compare to Murong Xuan, who had far more experience and worldly knowledge.

Inside the treasury, there were not only vast quantities of gold, silver, and jewels, but also numerous weapons, suits of armor, and even bows and crossbows.

There were even military manuals and books on administration.

"So what exactly did our Langya Pavilion ancestors do?"

"I can understand the gold and treasure, but aren't these things meant for rebellion?" Lu Xingshi looked at the items and suddenly wondered whether Langya Pavilion had once been a deeply concealed rebel organization.

"I don't know. This Grandmaster was already someone from a hundred years ago. How would I know what Langya Pavilion was like back then?" Murong Xuan was rather dumbfounded as well. He had once been a Yun Zhang Academician of Great Song, yet his sect had apparently been a rebel sect.

An enormous black pot had just landed squarely on his head, and he could not even shake it off.

"I remember that Langya Pavilion didn't seem to have been passed down through masters and disciples back then. It was more like a family enterprise. Only after that rebellion did it become a master-disciple lineage."

"It was also then that the Eternal Youth Longevity Art within the Longevity Eternal Youth True Art was lost. Langya Pavilion changed from a sect active in the world into a Hidden Sect, and gradually weakened into what it is today." Lu Xingshi thought back.

Langya Pavilion was a sect, so it had no proper historical records. All they had were scattered fragments from the diaries, travel journals, and personal notes of those who came before.

Murong Xuan swallowed. "So we really were involved in rebellion before?"

That was rather worldview-shattering.

"There's a good chance. The Yan Dynasty of the former dynasty seemed to have had the compound surname Murong, didn't it?" Lu Xingshi looked at Murong Xuan.

"Don't slander me. Your master may have the compound surname Murong, but I have nothing whatsoever to do with the former dynasty. Besides, your grandmaster—my master—was also from the master-disciple lineage, and he wasn't named Murong either." Murong Xuan found the thought rather horrifying.

"Who knows? Maybe it really is that melodramatic. You were an orphan, Master, and Grandmaster adopted you when you were young. Couldn't any story be made up with a few words?" Lu Xingshi teased.

Murong Xuan went numb. Why was this disciple always thinking about rebellion? He had previously said he wanted to become emperor, and now Murong Xuan himself had become a Remnant of the Former Dynasty.

The former dynasty had fallen three hundred years ago. His own master had been dead for forty years. Where could they possibly find the truth now?

"Forget it. We'll take the good stuff and pretend we never saw the remaining gold, jewels, and military equipment." Murong Xuan gritted his teeth and said it outright.

"Well then, Master, you really are good at deceiving yourself." Lu Xingshi mocked.

"What, do you really want to rebel? With just the two of us and our skinny arms and legs..."

"No, you're the one with skinny arms and legs, Master. I'm not." Lu Xingshi cut him off. "Still, the two of us really can't pull off a rebellion. It just doesn't suit us."

"It's best to leave this stuff here."

Lu Xingshi considered the matter of rebellion. To him, it had high costs, took too long, and offered poor returns.

"But if my guess is right, could remnants of the former dynasty come looking for you, Master?" Lu Xingshi suddenly thought of this.

Murong Xuan rolled his eyes. "How many people do you think can live to eighty-five like I have?"

"That's true. How many rebels live long lives?" Lu Xingshi agreed.

"Hurry up and look for the good stuff. Once we take it, we leave. Stop worrying about all this messy nonsense." Murong Xuan did not care much about it.

After a round of searching, they found the Murong Clan inheritance of Great Yan from the former dynasty, "Kun Peng Devouring the World." From the foundations to the secret teachings, it was all completely intact.

"Now there's a problem: where did our Longevity Eternal Youth True Art come from?" Lu Xingshi asked the key question.

If Langya Pavilion truly consisted of remnants of the former dynasty, then "Kun Peng Devouring the World" had to be its genuine inheritance, while their "Longevity Eternal Youth True Art" was an outsider.

"Furthermore, there are records saying that Langya Pavilion's inheritance originated from a Cave Heaven. That means the Longevity Eternal Youth True Art was also part of the main lineage, and its inheritance is complete from top to bottom. It doesn't look like something adopted halfway through."

"So it took over the nest?" Lu Xingshi came to that conclusion. He also wondered what the kun and peng of this world were. Mutants? Like whales and Golden Eagles? That would line up.

Murong Xuan frowned, then voiced his own guess. "If both 'Kun Peng Devouring the World' and 'Longevity Eternal Youth' are inheritances of Langya Pavilion and Former Yan, and the Cave Heaven was where Former Yan came from..."

"Then what exactly is a Cave Heaven?" Lu Xingshi asked.

"I don't know," Murong Xuan answered.

He truly did not know much. By his generation, Langya Pavilion had completely transformed into a hidden martial-world sect rather than the rebel sect it had once been.

"Then I'll practice it first and see what happens. Master, work on cultivating the Longevity Eternal Youth True Art to completion as soon as possible." Lu Xingshi did not particularly care. Once it was in his hands, it was his.

"Even if you outlive me, I might not be able to cultivate the Longevity Eternal Youth True Art to completion." Murong Xuan knew his own limits. Even the Longevity Spring Return Art had not reached completion after all these years, much less the Eternal Youth Longevity Art and the even more profound Longevity Eternal Youth True Art.

"What... is this?" Lu Xingshi spotted a concealed compartment inside the chest storing the manuals. When he opened it, he found something resembling a cross between bracers and gloves.

"This... seems to be the North Sea?" Murong Xuan recognized it.