Such a Jianghu, Nicolaus Zhao

Lan Ziya lowered his eyes, immersing himself in the state of manipulating the Seven Souls, refining the formless soul with his heart, and opening up the dantian.

The sunlight shining on his face changed direction inch by inch.

No sound from the outside world, changes in temperature, or even a gentle breeze could sway his resolve.

Until the sunlight turned into moonlight.

Tonight, a slender crescent moon hangs high in the southern sky.

The stars, undaunted by the moon, appeared in clusters, adorning this vast and distant sky.

The fish feast lasted until late at night, when everyone was finally able to rest. The square was filled with the sound of snoring; no one had left and had gone straight to sleep there.

Chu Tianshu sat behind the table, his hands resting on it, leaning back with his neck against the chair back, seemingly lost in a half-dream, leisurely enjoying the night breeze and starlight.

However, from time to time, colorful flames would light up on his forehead, shoulders, elbows, and other joints, as well as on various acupoints on his chest.

The firelight did not damage the clothes; it burned gently.

The invisible power on the Heavenly Ranking descended and was gathered into flames. As it burned, it was refined into the Great Void Heavenly Silkworm Inner Force, which was then absorbed into the body like water being sucked in by a whale.

The Dream-Eating Marquis was carving crystals nearby.

Yan Shisansheng and the others returned to their rooms and went to practice their martial arts cross-legged.

These people all made contributions to the reorganization of Jingxiang, and Chu Tianshu rewarded them handsomely.

Using the Mountain Collapse Combat Calculation," he analyzed each of them and taught them the most suitable martial arts.

Take Yan Shisansheng for example. He's always fixated on the Death-Claiming Sword Technique, wanting to learn and practice it, but he's really on the wrong track.

Chu Tianshu taught him Yungu's martial arts techniques.

Yungu's "Mandarin Duck Formation-Breaking Spear" was originally quite profound. After returning to China, he also drew on several powerful martial arts techniques, absorbing, digesting, and improving the mental techniques.

Yan Shisansheng's temperament and physique are exceptionally suited to cultivating this kind of divine spear internal skill.

Although he rarely cries or laughs, it's only because his living environment has created a sense of confusion for him. In reality, the long-lasting fighting spirit deep in his heart is like a wild goose flying in the cold wind.

Geese fly thousands of miles, never ceasing their flight.

Once he masters the art of spearmanship and awakens to enlightenment, the martial world will likely gain another mighty war god, valiant and awe-inspiring amidst the cold wind.

"Ha, in the middle of the night, someone actually dares to come up my mountain with such a clear attitude?"

Chu Tianshu suddenly uttered a sentence and slowly opened his eyes.

Upon hearing the sound, Dream-Eating Marquis also looked up and focused his gaze.

Sure enough, two figures were approaching from the woods a dozen miles away.

Both were young people; the one running in front had a pair of bright blue eyes that, in the darkness, resembled some kind of mythical bird or beast.

The man's eyes shone with excitement, curiosity, and longing, a glimmer even the Dream-Eating Marquis could see.

The young man behind him kept his head down and ran away, so it was impossible to tell what was going on in his eyes.

Chu Tianshu could sense that the person behind him was also quite excited, but there was more trepidation in that excitement.

"Incredible! The Jingxiang region has completely changed its appearance."

As Fang Zhenyi ran, his breathing became slightly rapid through his nose, his lips were pursed, and he was still recalling the changes he had seen after entering the Jingxiang area.

"Could it be that the Great Immortal Zongheng has really been resurrected?!"

When the two were only two or three miles away from the foot of the mountain where Zongheng Temple was located, they stopped and rested for a while.

The blue-eyed youth regulated his breathing as he approached the water's edge, using the moonlight as a mirror to groom his sideburns and eyebrows, paying attention to his appearance.

"Hahaha, you two lads, you both have a rather unique air of dreaminess about you."

Suddenly, a large, fat figure descended from the sky. It arrived extremely fast and lightly, and with outstretched hands, it was about to grab the two of them by the shoulders.

"I'll take you up there."

Unexpectedly, these two, though seemingly young, were both quite skilled in martial arts.

Fang Zhenyi's feet exploded, his entire body shrinking to the size of a bullet, leaping into the air at an angle like a ghost, disappearing in a flash.

The blue-eyed youth turned his body slightly, his left fist replacing his right shoulder. His fist was clenched in a unique way, and combined with his Gang Qi, it was perfectly round like a hammer.

Dream-Eating Marquis's palm touched the "hammer head," it felt hot, moist, and incredibly smooth.

It's like when a water droplet is suddenly placed into an extremely hot iron pot; the droplet rolls into a round shape, as if there's no real contact between it and the pot.

However Dream-Eating Marquis's skill lies primarily in ingenuity.

In that instant, it seemed as if an illusory hand separated from his real palm and seized the blue-eyed youth's wrist.

The blue-eyed youth's vision blurred, and the Fang Zhen and illusory, were already overlapping and gripping his wrists. He suddenly felt weak all over and could hardly resist.

"Hey! At least I caught one, otherwise they would have really thought I was useless."

Dream-Eating Marquis thought crossed his mind, he caught a strong whiff of something like sulfur and gunpowder.

The smell came from the crater Fang Zhenyi had created when he jumped away to escape.

The soil on the riverbank was trampled into pieces like gravel, each piece hardened and cracked, with thick smoke billowing from the cracks.

Fang Zhenyi flashed through the air and jumped back from the treetops, bowing respectfully.

"So it's Senior Dream-Eating Marquis. We met once before. This is my friend. Please show mercy."

"You are... that guy from the Fire God Gully family?"

Dream-Eating Marquis glanced at you closely, then snorted, "This Marquis has only meant well. Seeing that you are weary from your journey, your bones are brittle and your spirits are low, I have come to take you up the mountain."

"Fine, if you don't appreciate it, then so be it."

Fang Zhenyi quickly replied, "Your Excellency's demeanor grows more refined and elegant with each passing year. This must be due to the influence of many beautiful and wondrous dreams, which has led to your continuous improvement. That's why I didn't recognize you."

Oh? Really?

"The Dream-Eating Marquis felt slightly relieved."

Since meeting Chu Tianshu, he hasn't heard anyone praise him in a long time.

"Haha, actually I don't need to hold you; I can bring you up the mountain myself."

Dream-Eating Marquis spoke, he released the blue-eyed youth and grabbed him with one hand.

The river water flew out, circled around the three of them, spread out, and merged everywhere to form a huge bubble.

The power of the Dream-Savoring Divine Art flowed through it, and the bubble carried the three of them into the air, floating towards the mountaintop.

The moonlight shone on the trembling, large bubble, sometimes appearing colorless like flowing water, and sometimes appearing to be full of seven colors.

The two young people saw the square through the bubbles.

A large number of famous figures from the martial arts world were seen lying in the square, seemingly asleep or drunk, some even muttering in their sleep.

The monk tugged at the Daoist's sleeve, the Daoist rested his head on the long bench, and the Mobei swordsman and the Jiangnan scholar they looked down upon lay crookedly together.

People are everywhere, and dreams are everywhere.

This was just a coincidence.

But Fang Zhenyi, who had been away from home for many years, felt an indescribable stirring in his heart when he saw this scene through the bubble.

Our martial arts world, the world of chivalry, is usually one of either praising the powerful and belittling the weak, or of constant fighting and killing. Is this really how things can be?

The blue-eyed youth asked in a low voice, "Why are you crying?"

Fang Zhenyi was stunned, and raised his hand to touch the line of tears that had rolled down his left eye.

As he wiped away his tears, he saw Chu Tianshu.

Chu Tianshu was warming the wine, holding the wine pot in one hand and pouring it into the cup. When their eyes met, he smiled slightly.

The bubble burst upon landing, Dream-Eating Marquis carried the two forward.

Chu Tianshu flicked his left hand, and two cups of hot wine floated towards the two young men.

"Running around all night, my mouth, nose, and lungs are all exhausted. I'll have some sweet wine to soothe them."

Fang Zhenyi took the wine glass, and seemed to hear two more sentences. He walked to the table in a daze and somehow ended up sitting down.

By the time he came to his senses, his companion had already decided that the small cup wasn't enough and had ordered a wine jar to drink heavily.

Fang Zhenyi took a sip.

It is indeed sweet, and it was a wine specifically used by people who used firearms to worship the Firearms Guardian God of the Home.

"Grandmaster."

His eyes were a little hot. "Fang Zhenyi, a disciple of Fire God Gully, pays respects to the Ancestor."

He said he was going to pay his respects, but instead of bowing, he downed his drink in one gulp.

This was because I was so emotionally overwhelmed that I was somewhat at a loss for what to do.

Seeing this, the blue-eyed youth also said, "Zhao Sijie from the Astronomical Esoteric Monastery pays respects to the Ancestor—no, I mean, pays respects to the Great Immortal!"

"Disciples of Fire God Gully, don't get too excited, please have a seat."

Chu Tianshu made a reassuring gesture, looked at Zhao Sijie, and smiled, "You're a Westerner, aren't you? Which country are you from?"

"Which country is it from? I've been to so many places since I was little, I'm not really sure anymore."

Zhao Sijie thought for a moment, "But I remember, I am a descendant of Nicolaus Copernicus."

"Hmm, Nikolai Zhao Si----"

Chu Tianshu let out a soft "Eh?", "Copernicus, the one who proved the heliocentric theory?"

Zhao Sijie exclaimed in surprise, "Great Immortal, you've heard of my ancestor's story!"

The heliocentric theory was not something that could be proposed lightly. In fact, even if the world's top experts could fly to outer space with their divine souls, given the vastness of space, they might not be able to perceive the sun as larger than the earth.

The universe is so vast that no one can definitively say where its center is.

However, the observations, demonstrations, and calculations required for the heliocentric theory, once cited, temporarily supported research in other fields, which was indeed beneficial to the progress of the world.

I've only heard a little bit about it secondhand, and I don't really know the details.

Chu Tianshu said, "Would you like to discuss this in detail?"

"Of course, the sage is my only hope."

Zhao Sijie looked around and sighed, "After our ancestor was burned to death, our Lineage members have rarely been able to tell his story on such a solemn occasion—"

In Chu Tianshu's hometown, there were many astronomers, physicists, and medical scientists who were persecuted to death by the church.

Even Galileo, who had verbally attacked the Pope, was only placed under house arrest in his later years.

Copernicus, who was also a Doctor of Canon Law and had considerable influence within the church, was only marginalized after publicly advocating and debating against the law, and eventually died of natural causes.

But in the history of this world, things were very different.

Because in the Far West lands, there is also something similar to the Heavenly Ranking, which is a wooden cabinet floating in the Mist and Rosy Clouds Realm Layer.

The earliest legend says that the wooden cabinet contained the covenant between God and the believers, and the power of sacred objects. Later, it was rumored that it contained God's wisdom and infinite mysteries.

All martial arts styles in the Far West are proclaimed to be wisdom bestowed by God, inspired by Him, and all glory belongs to God.

The Church was indeed able to draw power from the chest of wood to defeat those disrespectful masters of other factions who called this power Divine Arts.

Over time, with the help of Divine Arts, the church's authority expanded to an unprecedented level, and it became even more intolerant of any dissent or offensive remarks.

In the Far West lands, many newly emerging practices, inventions, arts, and ideas will suffer devastating blows if they are not acknowledged as gifts from God.

Even acknowledging the existence of God while questioning certain philosophical doctrines upheld by the Church can lead to attacks.

"Oh? This wooden cabinet only appeared a little over two hundred years ago. Before that, the church's power had already split into countless factions, many of which were contradictory. How was it able to maintain its dominance and develop such strong control?"

Chu Tianshu was quite puzzled.

In the Far West world, although many people worship God, believing in God and believing in the church are two completely different things.

There are plenty of people who have publicly questioned the orthodoxy of the church.

Fang Zhenyi had not studied this point in depth.

Zhao Sijie thought for a moment and said, "Because Divine Arts is indeed very useful, the church received the support of many gentlemen, manor owners, and big merchants from the very beginning."

Ah!

Chu Tianshu understood immediately.

Because of the widespread dissemination of the cultivation system in their hometown, the threshold was lowered and the upper limit was raised, which can be considered a very important progress. The same is true in the Great Tang.

As a result, he had previously fallen into a small cognitive bias.

In reality, a progressive system of forces, when it first emerges, may not necessarily be used to uphold progressive ideas; instead, it is very likely to become a weapon for the conservatives.

Back in my hometown, many technological inventions in the West during modern history were driven by the urgent needs of capitalists, who even offered huge rewards, prompting countless people to experiment and develop them.

Many items were first produced as finished products before their underlying principles were explored, which led to the rapid development of scientific and technological theories.

However, this world...

The existence of the Lord's Wooden Ark allows the Church's martial arts to be strengthened, made easier to learn, and spread more widely.

With this useful tool, both the old and new aristocrats and capitalists could find solutions to any problems they encountered, and naturally, they turned to support the church.

Don't worry about it becoming too big to handle.

Because they themselves quickly became part of the church system, and even its core members and high-ranking members.

In this way, no matter what internal conflicts exist, as long as the Lord's Wooden Ark remains, in order to maintain the authority of the Lord's Wooden Ark and increase its power.

The entire church system generally shares the same attitude towards those who question orthodoxy.

Those who defy the law must die, and even those whose words are merely offensive but widely spread must die, along with their entire families!

It was under these circumstances that Zhao Sijie began his life in exile at a young age.

These persecuted individuals also secretly formed their own organizations and attempted to seek asylum.

The organization Zhao Sijie belonged to once tried to find a place to stay by exploiting the conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.

Back then, a grand duke of the Romanov Dynasty in the Third Roman Empire, together with a group of eminent members of the Orthodox Church in the country, swore an oath by the Yenisei River.

Claiming to be the Third Rome, it had the magnanimity to tolerate some complaining talents.

Zhao Sijie's uncle and others truly believed in this oath, and even drank with the righteous sect masters under the Grand Duke's arrangement.

As a result, his uncle and the others were all killed without exception. Only Zhao Sijie and Fang Zhenyi, being younger and more alert, did not go.

Even with a city-wide search, they managed to escape only after going to great lengths, with a string of pursuers still following behind.

"We originally thought that the church members wouldn't dare to enter Great Xuan, but it turns out they're really determined to hunt us down."

Fang Zhenyi shook his head and said, "It seems that the deterrent effect left by Prince Xuan Taizu is gradually fading."

In his later years, Prince Xuan Taizu) had a group of bishops from the church who wanted to enter the Great Xuan and obtain a prestigious position bestowed by the imperial court.

After meeting the bishop, Prince Xuan Taizu listened to his sermon on "glory to God" and then smiled without saying a word.

That evening, Prince Xuan Taizu held a banquet. He took a nap and suddenly mentioned that he had dreamt of the Lord, who was a very kind old man with a golden beard, speaking elegantly and politely. He was quite a nice fellow.

He then asked the bishop, "If you claim to be orthodox, why aren't you Golden Beard?"

So they sent guards to pluck out all the beards of the bishop and his men, and then found some fine golden hairs to stick under their chins.

The Prince Xuan Taizu not only escorted the bishop and others out of the country with courtesy, but also invited Great Xuan Venerable Changti, the most compassionate master of the Xuanzong, to go to the West to spread Buddhism and discuss doctrines.

Venerable Changti went there for three years. Although he was unable to spread Buddhism widely, he returned safely and brought some local specialties to the palace.

Even today, the church still circulates legends of the Eastern tyrant, the Demon King, and the Golden Heretic.

But these two have been dead for more than a century.

The Dream-Eating Marquis said, "But at least you managed to escape here. Don't be afraid. As long as you haven't done anything immoral, shameful, or deserving of death, this place is safe."

"Of course not!"

Fang Zhenyi flatly rejected the idea, but then hesitated and stole a glance at Chu Tianshu.

"Master, I tricked my fellow disciple, the current sect leader, today. However, there's a 99% chance my father was harmed by him."

"I absolutely do not intend to betray my sect—"

Chu Tianshu's eyes lit up.

"You tricked Hou Renyu, how could you possibly have done that with your cultivation level?"

"That's right. Your surname is Fang. Could you be the son of Fang Mizhi Fire God Gully?"

Chu Tianshu snapped his fingers and sent another cup of wine over.

"Don't be nervous, explain in detail."