Inside a small courtyard house in the Azure Dragon Imperial Capital.
Three elderly men are watching a slideshow projected in front of them.
On the projection screen, a figure wearing a Second Pin red armor and a mask was practicing swordsmanship move by move.
After demonstrating each move, he would explain it in detail.
"This is the Sword-Breaking Stance of the Nine Swords of Dugu, condensing a net of Sword Qi with the Power of Qi and Blood, allowing one to discern its true nature and defeat the enemy by exploiting their weaknesses... Saber-Breaking Stance... Spear-Breaking Stance..."
After the nine moves were completed, the opponent sheathed his sword and stood up, speaking slowly again, " The Battle of the Four Stars will begin in three years, but my Ancestral Star's Human Clan is like a pile of loose sand."
"With numerous families and various forces vying for power like warlords, our Ancestral Star will eventually be destroyed by alien races."
"The various factions within the family are all selfish and self-serving individuals. They hoard their cultivation techniques, thus hindering the advancement of the Human Clan. They are unreliable, and I, too, feel utterly powerless."
" The Nine Swords of Dugu, Heaven Pin sword technique, is my own creation. You may all learn it for free, hoping to break free from shackles and revitalize the Martial Dao of our Human Clan."
"A bunch of rat-eyed scoundrels, they all deserve to die."
The video ends abruptly here.
The three elders exchanged glances. After a long while, the Baimei elder sighed and said, "When Martial Dao were flourishing, the Great Ancestor was ultimately too merciful."
"There's no point in talking about this now. The question is, should we unleash the Nine Swords of Dugu or not?" asked the round-faced, Long Beard old man beside him.
"This Heaven Pin martial arts technique is too powerful. If everyone were to learn it, it would be difficult to control," the old man with the Straight Moustache said, shaking his head. Clearly, he did not support the release of the Nine Swords of Dugu.
"Even without the Nine Swords of Dugu, what difference would it make? The official forces can only defend four cities; it's truly a situation of warlordism, and it's long been difficult to control," the Baimei elder shook his head.
"No destruction, no construction; let's move forward!" said the round-faced old man.
"However, with the family's power and resource advantages, this situation remains difficult to break."
"At least it can cultivate a group of strong individuals for the Battle of the Four Stars three years from now. Let's send them out!" the Baimei elder said after pondering for a long time.
July 3, 11024 (New Calendar of the Ancient Country )
A video suddenly appeared on the Martial Practitioner Home website and was pinned to the top of the homepage.
An Eighth Pin Martial Practitioner known as the Sage Master released a Heaven Pin sword technique for free, called the Nine Swords of Dugu.
This immediately caused an uproar.
It should be understood that cultivation techniques of Earth Pin and above are controlled by the government and major family forces, making them extremely difficult for ordinary people to access.
But now, someone has given away a top- Heaven Pin technique for free, which is still unbelievable.
The last paragraph of the post, in particular, resonated with all ordinary Martial Practitioner.
Yes, the current state of family power is just like a fragmented system of warlords.
The Human Clan is fragmented, with internal strife between nations and between different clan factions.
They cherish their own techniques and monopolize resources for their own use.
You must know that there are alien races eyeing us from beyond the realm. If things continue like this, the Ancestral Star Human Clan will be swallowed up by these alien races sooner or later.
In the Bai Clan villa in Baihai City.
Bai Cangtian, the head of the Bai Clan, also watched the instructional video.
"Father, who exactly is this Teacher Saint? Have you heard of him?" Bai Clan Mountain asked.
Bai Cangtian didn't answer Bai Clan Mountain's question. Instead, he turned to his eldest son, Bai Jiaxiong, and asked, "Eldest son, what do you think?"
Bai Jiaxiong is in his thirties, bald, burly and strong, with a square face and mouth, a bulbous nose, and eyes as small as green beans. He is extremely ugly.
His eyes narrowed slightly, making his already small eyes almost invisible. He sneered, " Teacher Saint? This person doesn't exist at all. This is probably a tactic used by higher-ups against our family's power."
"What should we do?" Bai Cangtian nodded in satisfaction and asked again.
"No matter what, find a group of affiliated disciples and have them learn the Nine Swords of Dugu first. If this martial art is genuine, then they should all learn it; if it's fake, then there's no need for Martial Practitioner Home to exist."
"Brother, if ordinary people learn this, wouldn't it pose a threat to us?" Bai Clan Mountain asked.
"Heh, what good is it if an ordinary person learns this Heaven Pin technique? Without the support of resources, even if they master it, there will still be a huge gap between them."
"Moreover, how easy is it to learn Heaven Pin technique? The higher the grade of the technique, the more difficult it is to comprehend. Take my Bai Clan's Earth Pin White Crane Sword Technique, for example; even Entry is extremely difficult."
Bai Cangtian nodded. "Boss is right, but we can't let our guard down. Since the higher-ups have taken action, there must be more to come. Boss, keep a close eye on this matter."
"Yes, Father."
Then, Bai Cangtian looked at Bai Clan Mountain and asked, "How is Tang Rou doing?"
Bai Clan Mountain shook his head helplessly and said, "There's been no progress. Besides, she probably already guessed my methods. She probably hates me Bai Clan even more now."
"So what if she knows? If she wants to pass the final trial, she'll have to compromise with the Bai Clan," Bai Cangtian sneered.
"Dad, Tang Rou is the type who won't listen to either soft or hard tactics. I'm afraid she won't give in in the end. If Vermilion Bird City finds out, won't that cause a lot of trouble?"
" Tang Rou carries a deep-seated hatred, she will agree," Bai Cangtian said calmly.
"As long as she uses the Demon Gu, my Bai Clan will advance even further."
At Ling Yi's home.
At this moment, Ling Yi is frantically collecting items into the System Space.
Sofas, beds, dining tables and chairs, gas stoves, pots and pans, the Fridge, televisions, and even curtains were all crammed into the System Space.
It never hurts to prepare more.
Over the next two days, Ling Yi purchased a large amount of clothing, food, housing, and other necessities, spending all of his more than two million yuan in savings.
On the morning of the third day, Ling Yi arrived at the Heaven-Dominating City War Preparedness Department.
At this moment, more than twenty people had gathered at the War Preparedness Department.
Most of these people were First Pin Martial Practitioner, but there were three of them whose cultivation levels Ling Yi couldn't discern. He figured they were at least Second Pin Martial Master, or even higher.
And an unexpected acquaintance of Ling Yi's, Tang Rou.
Another person saw Tang Rou, Tang Rou also saw Ling Yi.
A look of surprise flashed in both of their Central City, but then they both looked enlightened.
" Ling Yi, I'm sorry." Tang Rou took the initiative to walk over and greet Ling Yi.
"Why are you here?" Ling Yi, quite surprised.
" Extraterritorial Space," Tang Rou said succinctly, but her eyes held a complex expression.
Conflict, melancholy, anger, resentment, and much more.
This was the first time Ling Yi had ever seen such a complex expression on someone's face.
"The final trial you mentioned, could it be that I'll serve as Martial Practitioner in Extraterritorial Space for a year?" Ling Yi immediately thought of what Tang Rou had said before.
Tang Rou's identity must be extraordinary, especially since she's a teacher at Zhentian No. 1 Middle School. Why would she participate in the Martial Practitioner tournament, which has a 60% mortality rate?
The only thing Ling Yi could think of was the trial Tang Rou had mentioned earlier.
It seems that even being a scion of a powerful family isn't easy!
"We'll talk about it once we're in the Extraterritorial Space." Tang Rou didn't elaborate.
At around 8:15, the group was led by personnel from the War Preparedness Department to a large hall inside the War Preparedness Department.
"Everyone come forward and receive a Martial Practitioner arts bracelet!" said a middle-aged man in black armor, pointing to a pair of black bracelets on the table in front of him.
Most people are familiar with the process, and even if they aren't, there's relevant information online.
This bracelet, in a way, is a magical artifact.
It has many functions such as message transmission, communication, Internet access, and recording of merits.
The Extraterritorial Space is an independent space, and its signal transmission methods are different from those of the Ancestral Star.
Communication is only possible through the Martial Practitioner's Bracelet.
Of course, there's no way to contact the Ancestral Star.
After all, they are different spaces.
"The bracelet must not be damaged or lost. Damaging or losing the bracelet will increase your Martial Practitioner service by one year. Of course, if you die in the Extraterritorial Space, the number of years of Martial Practitioner service you receive will not matter."
The middle-aged man in black armor said coldly.
"What I want to emphasize here is merit. You can gain merit by killing alien races, and you can also gain merit by handing over Primal Stones and Spirit Grass."
"All Martial Practitioner must accumulate at least one hundred merit points within a year; otherwise, they will be unable to leave the Extraterritorial Space."
Everyone knew this, so no one showed any particular emotion.
"Although the Extraterritorial Space is dangerous, it is also an opportunity for you. As long as you have enough merit points, you can exchange them for Earth Pin cultivation techniques, pills, and equipment."
The crowd remained unresponsive.
Earning merit is not that easy.
Are alien races so easy to kill? Are raw stones just picked up for free? Spirit Grass isn't everywhere.
The mortality rate for Martial Practitioner is as high as 60%; survival is the first priority.
After rambling on for a few more minutes, the middle-aged man in black armor stopped talking nonsense.
They were led to an underground space.
There is Teleport Array here that leads to Extraterritorial Space.
As the Teleport Array activated, everyone disappeared.
When they came to their senses, they found themselves on a platform that resembled an altar.
This is a human base in Extraterritorial Space.
To be precise, it was a huge city surrounded by steel walls.
There were squads of the War Preparation Army patrolling the streets, each of them clad in black armor.
Besides these, there are many more Martial Practitioner servants like Ling Yi and his group.
Within the city, there are residential communities, villa courtyards, bustling commercial streets, and restaurants and hotels.
There are alchemy shops selling elixirs, weapon shops selling weapons and equipment, and even bathhouses, though I don't know if they're legitimate or not.
In the distance, there was a special market area with various vendors setting up stalls, their calls and sales pitches rising and falling, creating a lively atmosphere.
There were vendors selling elixirs and medicinal herbs, equipment and materials, and even those trading merit points.
Ling Yi took a walk around and broadened his horizons.
As for the others who Teleport together, except for Tang Rou, they all left. After all, they were all strangers, and unlike Ling Yi, they had made plans before entering the Extraterritorial Space.
Ling Yi and Tang Rou walked together in a very tacit way.
"These medicine pavilion and weapon shop must be officially run, right?" Ling Yi asked Tang Rou beside him.
"Some are officially owned, and some are owned by other families. Thirty percent of them belong to the Bai Clan," Tang Rou said indifferently.
"Thirty percent, huh? Tsk tsk, aren't they worried about people at the market stealing their business?"
"That's different. Official shops and shops run by various families only accept raw stones or merit points for transactions, but items in the market can be traded for cash."
"Especially for newcomers without any merit points, they can buy a lot of good items at the market to improve their strength; of course, West City there is very expensive."
"Furthermore, it's easy to be deceived; it's hard to guarantee the authenticity of what's being sold."
"Scammed? Doesn't the War Preparation Army care?"
"The War Preparation Army War Preparation Army don't care about these things; as long as there's no trouble in the city, they won't interfere."
"And who are those people?"
Ling Yi pointed to a corner of the market, where a group of Aura Martial Practitioner were gathered in small groups.
"Mercenaries, you can Hire them to help you farm merits or protect you in the wild, as long as you pay them."
At this point, Tang Rou stopped and looked at Ling Yi, saying, " Ling Yi, let's make a deal!"