The forest was filled with fog and the occasional howl of wolves could be heard.
Wu Qiankun, the master of Wu Ji Hui, was walking in the woods, carrying a gray-haired old man on his shoulders.
The old man on his shoulder had a panic-stricken look in his eyes. He was also a famous figure in the martial arts world and had reached the first level of spirit refining at his peak. But at this moment, his limbs were twisted abnormally, and it was obvious that they had been violently broken. His body was still stained with blood.
"Wu Qiankun, you and I are not ordinary warriors. We can talk about what you want from me. Why do you have to be so decisive?" The old man said with a wry smile.
"Talk?" Wu Qiankun said calmly:
"Only children would bend down and talk to ants and play house tricks."
“... ..” The old man was choked for a moment, anger rising on his face, but he could do nothing about it.
Even though he was once a first-rank master, he had no dignity as a master in front of Wu Qiankun and was carried by him like a sack.
"In this world today, there is no room for the weak to survive." Wu Qiankun said calmly:
"Don't blame me. If you want to blame someone, you can only blame yourself for being weak. Not only has your blood and energy declined, but your state of mind has also weakened. You have fallen from the first rank and have lost the fighting spirit of a warrior. Without the awareness to fight against strangers, there is no point in continuing to live."
These words made the old man's face change color, vaguely realizing something, and he quickly said:
"I think I can still work hard. After all, my foundation is still there. It is not impossible for me to enter the first level again, right?"
"It's too late." Wu Qiankun replied casually.
He stopped.
At this moment, he stopped in front of a cave in this barren mountain.
The cave was very dark, not a single ray of sunlight could get in, just like the deepest night.
With the cave entrance as the boundary, one step forward is the deep night, one step back is the rising sun, and the boundary between yin and yang and day and night is clear.
If you look closely, you will notice that the rocks and soil in the entire cave seem to be shaking slightly, like a living thing.
Wu Qiankun did not walk into the cave, but stood at the entrance and threw the old man on his shoulder into the depths of the cave.
"What are you going to do-----" the old man shouted subconsciously, but his voice fell off halfway through the words, and his whole body was submerged in the darkness of the cave.
It was very quiet.
There wasn't even the sound of the old man's body falling to the ground.
The slight tremor of the cave floor also stopped, and everything became quiet and silent.
After a long time, two small blood-red suns suddenly lit up in the deep night inside the cave.
"What's the matter?" A deep male voice sounded from inside the cave, and the echo spread far away.
"Foster father, the 'Hundred Miles of Desert' of the Da Dao Sect was forced. The remnants of the 100,000-strong army of the past alien war, and three hundred veterans walked out of the desert and appeared in today's Kyushu..." Wu Qiankun bowed his head respectfully and talked about this major event that has recently swept Kyushu.
As he spoke, a wave of fear filled his heart.
Wu Qiankun ranks third among the seventy-two sages of the Wu Ji Association. He is called the "Little Martial Saint" and is recognized as the person who is closest to a Martial Saint.
After the Martial Saint faked his death, he took on a great responsibility and took charge of the Martial Arts Association.
Among the seventy-two sages, there is no one whose martial arts skills can be compared with the Martial Saint, not even the Little Martial Saint Wu Qiankun.
In the past, he had been with the Martial Saint day and night, but he felt that the Martial Saint's aura was like a mountain, difficult to climb, and could only be viewed from afar.
But now when he saw the Martial Saint again, he felt that the Martial Saint was as vast and bottomless as an abyss, having reached a level that he could not fathom.
"Congratulations to my godfather for making great progress in martial arts." Wu Qiankun said respectfully.
The Martial Saint said nothing. He was immersed in what Wu Qiankun had just told him about the lonely city in the desert.
"Forty years I have been alone in the desert, unable to save my fellow soldiers. Now it is the Qiao family and Jian Zexian who have completed my unfinished business..."
The voice of the Martial Saint echoed in the mountains and spread far away.
"We just rescued him, so what? The world outside is not peaceful."
"People can hold out for forty years in the desert. But now that they have left the desert, the Immortal Sect has lost face. What awaits them is bound to be a reckoning. The Da Dao Sect will definitely not let this go."
Wu Qiankun thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "Father, do you want to come out of seclusion and meet those three hundred white-haired soldiers?"
"How dare you ask such a stupid question?" The Martial Saint just sneered:
"How can I face my former comrades again... Besides, the time is not right now."
Although the Martial Saint faked his death due to the situation, it was also his own choice.
At that time, he felt that the time had not come for a decisive battle with the Immortal Sect, and he was not confident enough to rush to the Taoist temple of the Immortal Sect.
The "Martial Spiritual Rhinoceros Secret" was a secret method for him to make a living, but this secret method was at a bottleneck and it still needed time to continue to deduce...
"With the Wu Sheng Ling Xi Jue as its root and the numerous ancient martial arts techniques as its fuel, the Taotie Swallowing Heaven Technique that was born from it has been deduced to 90%, and only the finishing touch is missing..."
“Now it seems that I did nothing wrong when I faked my death.” The Martial Saint said to himself.
When he was still alive, the martial arts world was dead silent.
After his death, the Martial Arts Alliance appeared in the martial arts world, the "Sumeru Mountain King Sutra" appeared, the Sword Exiled Immortal who turned his body into a sword appeared, and of course the Qiao family members who continued to fight.
Regardless of whether this change is good or bad, the Martial Saint is happy to see it.
In his view, any change is better than stagnant water.
"That Martial Arts Alliance is a little weird." Wu Qiankun frowned and said:
"Initially, this force only existed in the capital of Zhongzhou. The threshold to join the Martial Dao League was extremely high. One had to be at the third level of Spirit Refining to join. It was said to be an opportunity to enter the Dao through martial arts..."
"The best among them is the 'King of Qin'."
At first, Wu Qiankun did not alarm the enemy, but quietly watched this nascent martial arts organization.
After the death of the Martial Saint, Wu Ji will hide in the dark, keep a low profile and not compete with others.
This is the order of the Martial Saint.
Besides, Wu Qiankun was not quite sure whether this Martial Arts Alliance was the new seedling of martial arts that emerged after the storm.
"The Martial Arts Alliance is developing very fast, so fast that it is simply unreasonable." Wu Qiankun frowned and said:
"A few months ago, it was an organization confined to the imperial capital of Zhongzhou. Now, a few months later, there is already a 'King of Qin' who controls the territory. It is said that its tentacles have extended to other regions of Kyushu. There are even eight other Kings of Martial Arts within the Martial Arts Alliance."
The King of Qin and the other eight kings were collectively known as the Nine Kings. They each controlled a state and called themselves the King of Martial Arts within the Martial Arts Alliance.
However, the other eight kings are still hiding in the dark and have not come to the fore to be crowned kings like the King of Qin.
"Do you think there's something fishy about the so-called Dao through martial arts? Oh, if there really are nine martial kings who develop a new super-class martial arts, and if it gives Kyushu warriors another way to enter the Dao through martial arts, then that would naturally be a blessing for the martial arts."
Warriors in the world are divided into nine ranks, which is actually the division of the Great Yan court.
A first-rank warrior is actually the limit of what the Great Yan court can control.
Even if one has reached the first level of spiritual cultivation, he will eventually be overwhelmed by the huge human army of the Great Yan imperial court and be exhausted to death.
The so-called super-grade people represent the strong ones who cannot be controlled by the Great Yan Imperial Court. They are far stronger than the first-grade spirit refining people, and are not afraid of siege. Facing the imperial army, as long as they do not fight to the death, the imperial army will not be able to hold them back.
Even so, if a top-notch warrior wanted to storm the palace or the military camp, he would die.
In other words, warriors who are not afraid of the siege of the imperial army and are far stronger than the first-grade spirit-refining warriors are out of the control of the imperial court and are called "super-grade warriors."
Forty years ago, there were only ten such super warriors.
The Martial Saint is happy to see other super warriors born in the land of Kyushu, even if it is a somewhat weird organization like the Martial Arts Alliance. As long as they really explore a new super-class path of "using martial arts to enter the Tao", it is a good thing.
"A new super martial art?" Wu Qiankun shook his head secretly:
"It's not that easy to develop a completely new martial art. This is even more difficult than developing a super martial art."
The first level is the end of martial arts. The ten super-level warriors of the previous generation do not represent ten super-level martial arts.
If the martial arts is a road through the mountains and forests, the end of the road is the first level, and beyond the first level are overgrown weeds and thorns.
A super warrior is someone who steps into the weeds and explores on his own where there is no path to go.
Opening up a superior martial arts path means that the warrior not only has to go deep into the mountains and forests, but also has to wield a hatchet to cut through the thorns and open up a forked path that future generations can follow.
Jian Zexian is a lonely traveler who, when he had no other way to go in the martial arts, walked into the depths of the mountains and forests alone.
The Martial Saint, on the other hand, explored a new martial arts path filled with blood and thorns.
"If they are fake, then destroy them." The Martial Saint said nonchalantly.
He didn't care too much about the Martial Arts Alliance. He cared more about his own progress in martial arts.
The progress of "Taotie Swallowing Heaven Art" has reached 90%, and only the finishing touch is left.
“The day when the divine power is perfected will be the day when the name of Martial Saint will be re-known in the world.” The Martial Saint left these words and was silent again.
The cave trembled slightly again, darkness emerged like a tide, and night fell again.
Is it already 90% done?... Wu Qiankun walked out, feeling a little emotional.
The Martial Saint is a very cautious person. In his opinion, he is the best in martial arts in the world. He is the most important person and cannot be put in danger easily.
Therefore, when he was born again as the Martial Saint, it was the moment when the Martial Saint felt that he could compete with the nine major immortal sects on the same level.
"What kind of skill is the Taotie Heaven-Swallowing Art that made my foster father feel that he was capable of using martial arts to defeat the immortals and fight against the nine great immortal sects?"
Wu Qiankun stepped into the woods and his figure disappeared into the mist.
"Is the battle between immortals and mortals not far away?"
"The truth behind the alien war was revealed, and the Immortal Sect lost all its face. There was no movement for the time being. This was not in line with the habits of the Immortal Sect... The newly born Martial Arts Alliance quietly became an organization spanning the nine states, and nine kings rose up."
"And the Qiao family... More and more Qiao family elders are appearing, and it is rumored that they originated from the overseas Xiake Island..."
Wu Qiankun frowned and thought.
After the Martial Saint faked his death and lay dormant, he indeed saw chaos in the world.
Now that he is the one in charge of the Wu Ji Society, and the Martial Saint has retreated behind the scenes and is no longer in charge of affairs, he also has to make some preparations for the Martial Saint's reappearance.
The sect of the Immortal Gate.
An uninvited guest came to Elder Qingzhuo's cave, forcing him to open the cave formation that had been closed for a long time to let the visitor in.
"Master, why are you here?" Elder Qingzhuo pretended to be surprised.
He has been in seclusion to heal his injuries during this period of time. However, the damaged foundation of Taoism is not an easy injury to recover from, so he cannot say that he has fully recovered from his injuries until now.
Now that the headmaster has arrived in person, Elder Qingzhuo is even more nervous.
But the more nervous he was, the more he had to act calmly. Otherwise, if the headmaster saw that he was injured by a mortal, it would be a serious matter.
At the very least, he has become a laughing stock; at the worst, his position as an elder is in jeopardy.
The headmaster's face showed no obvious change in expression. He just glanced at the stone sword next to Elder Qingzhuo and frowned slightly:
"Is this your only achievement during your journey across the Hundred Miles Desert? A stone sword transformed from a mortal?"
Elder Qingzhuo's face froze slightly, but for the sake of his face, he naturally explained it in detail.
In his opinion, the rest of the mortals are not important, and even if they were tied together, they would not be as important as Jian Zexian alone.
However, Elder Qingzhuo was injured after all, so after returning to the sect, he did not immediately look for a powerful person in the sect to try to recreate a physical body for the Exiled Immortal Jianzhe. Instead, out of caution, he returned to the cave to heal his wounds as soon as possible.
The Exiled Sword Immortal now has no new body to attach to, and his soul still resides in the stone sword.
"A genius in the way of immortality? He is indeed worthy of attention. He is much more important than thousands of mortal souls." The head of the Da Dao Sect also agreed with Elder Qingzhuo's point of view.
"There are two types of geniuses who can learn very quickly. One is the one with extraordinary talent... There are just some people in this world who learn things faster. There's no reason for that."
"The second type is the reincarnation of a great cultivator or demon... Now that Jian Zexian has been defeated so easily in your hands, I think it must be the first type."
"It's a pity that he has lost his physical body now." The headmaster also felt a sense of cherishing his talent.
He didn't think Elder Qingzhuo had done anything wrong.
What he didn't agree with was... Elder Qingzhuo had messed up the matter. Even though he succeeded in getting the Sword of the Exiled Immortal, he exposed the secrets behind the alien war. This would inevitably damage the reputation of the Da Dao Sect, which would be detrimental to the intake of incense.
"This matter will ultimately damage the reputation of the sect. You are the one who caused the trouble, so it is up to you to clean up the mess." The headmaster said calmly.
"Of course. Why does it require the head teacher to come to my house to remind me of such a small matter?" Elder Qingzhuo agreed without blinking an eye.
The more hurt you are, the less you should hesitate and expose your weakness.
The head master soon turned into a rainbow and left, leaving only Elder Qingzhuo looking at the stone sword in his hand, as if thinking about something.
If he had a choice, he would also like to retreat and continue to heal his injuries.
But when the head master came in person, he still kept acting arrogant and hid in the cave instead of going out to deal with things. That really showed that he had something to hide.