Chapter 175 - Begin from Martial Arts

Outside Haojing, Xu Ying spotted Zhu Chanchan from a distance. She had grown into a beautiful young lady. Excited, she ran toward him. As the youth’s heart raced, he couldn’t help but laugh. He leaped down from Yuanqi’s head and spread his arms wide in anticipation.

Whoosh!

Zhu Chanchan rushed right past him. With a loud thud, her fist slammed into the beaming giant snake, making him straighten and stiffen in surprise.

Yuanqi, who had been holding his head high, crashed chin-first into the dirt.

Zhu Chanchan raised her hand, pried open the giant snake’s mouth, and walked right in. Immediately, a cheer echoed from within. “Still here! All my treasures!”

The voice came from Yuanqi’s nostrils, thick and muffled. “Nobody can steal my treasures—huh? There are more treasures now!”

Xu Ying waited for a moment. Zhu Chanchan pushed the giant snake's mouth open and walked out, her face glowing with pure delight.

She sized up Yuanqi and punched him twice. Yuanqi instantly felt refreshed and energized. He clicked his tongue in amazement. “Your fist art is getting stronger and stronger, Old Ancestor Chanchan. For some reason, those hits actually boosted my cultivation."

Zhu Chanchan sneaked a glance at his butt. Seeing her mark still intact, she finally sighed in relief.

When she saw Jin Buyi, her eyes lit up instantly. She leaped forward and punched him twice, only to cry out in agony. Old and frail as Jin Buyi was, his divine power remained peerless under heaven; her fists nearly shattered against his unyielding frame.

Xu Ying took Dazhong down from Yuanqi’s neck. “Chanchan, Master Zhong is injured. Please fix him up. I recently gathered the artifacts inside Master Qi. Just use whatever material you need. Don’t hold back.”

Zhu Chanchan took the great bell from him and saw that his walls were completely shattered. Only the section bearing the eight immortal Dao runes remained intact. By all logic, it was beyond repair.

Her eyes shining, she looked straight at Xu Ying. “I can use anything in Yuanqi's stomach?”

Xu Ying smiled. “As long as you can restore Master Zhong, you can use as much as you want!”

Zhu Chanchan cheered.

Xu Ying noticed she seemed thinner than before. “Chanchan, what have you been doing? You haven’t shown your face once in two years.”

Zhu Chanchan replied, “Emperor Zhou tasked me with the heavy responsibility of restoring Haojing. Being an old official of his, how could I refuse?”

In the distance, a Great Zhou Qi Cultivator cracked his whip and shouted, “Master Craftsman Zhu, don’t talk for too long. Get back to work!”

Zhu Chanchan looked back and shouted, “My friends are here!” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

“If you don’t work, you won’t get dinner!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Zhu Chanchan gave a perfunctory reply, then smiled at Xu Ying. “I hold a high position in Haojing. They can't do anything without me. At dinnertime, I’ll have the cook set aside a few extra portions for you. As for repairing Master Zhong, I’ll get to it after work.”

Xu Ying watched her hurry off. Yuanqi leaned in and whispered, "Ah Ying... I don't think Old Ancestor Chanchan is living the high life."

In the distance, a Great Zhou Qi Cultivator tossed the foot shackles over. “Put them on yourself.”

Zhu Chanchan shackled her feet and went over to supervise the work.

Just then, Jiang Qi’s voice rang out. “Sparing Master Craftsman Zhu from execution is already an act of mercy. According to the laws of Great Zhou, she should have been executed.”

Xu Ying bowed in greeting and smiled. “Grand Preceptor Jiang, we meet again.”

Jiang Qi returned the courtesy and sized up Jin Buyi, revealing a look of astonishment. Then his expression changed subtly, as if he remembered something. He quickly instructed the Great Zhou Qi Cultivators to his left and right.

“Do not neglect this Golden Crow.”

After Xu Ying explained the purpose of his visit, Jiang Qi smiled. “I see. Since it’s your good friend who’s injured, Senior Ah Ying, we mustn’t delay. Men, bring Master Craftsman Zhu here.”

A moment later, Zhu Chanchan was brought back here. Jiang Qi said, “Master Craftsman Zhu, a good friend of Senior Ah Ying is injured. Set aside your work for a few days and treat Master Zhong. Do not neglect this.”

Zhu Chanchan looked at Xu Ying in utter astonishment. She had no idea when he had become influential enough to make Jiang Qi speak up for him.

As the Master Craftsman in charge of the entire Haojing restoration project, her taking a few days off meant the entire reconstruction would stall until she returned!

Could a mere Ageless Immortal who had simply lived a long time truly make Jiang Qi pay such a heavy price just to win his favor?

Xu Ying handed Dazhong to her and smiled. “Master Craftsman Zhu, I’ll leave Master Zhong to you.”

Zhu Chanchan hoisted the bell, beckoned Yuanqi over, and said, “I still need the strongest flame!”

Jin Buyi craned his head over and smiled. “What do you think of me?”

Zhu Chanchan led them away.

Jiang Qi observed Xu Ying and chuckled. “I noticed you were furrowing your brow, Senior Ah Ying. Is something troubling you?”

Xu Ying let out a long sigh and laid bare his frustrations. “Witnessing a peerless Qi Cultivator and seeing an unrivaled Exorcist Immortal made me realize that I’m still lacking in many ways. I wish to take a step further, but I don’t know where to begin.”

Jiang Qi thought for a moment. “I am not the strongest person in the Great Zhou. My strength doesn’t even rank in the top ten here. In the future, the Great Zhou’s Qi Cultivators would surely practice dual cultivation of Qi and Exorcism, making my cultivation and strength rank even lower. Forgive me for being unable to answer your doubts."

Xu Ying said seriously, “If you also walk on the path of dual cultivation, you can enter the ranks of the top ten in Great Zhou. I think it’s even highly possible for you to hold the first rank firmly.”

Jiang Qi shook his head. “I’m the strategist of Great Zhou. I do not need to pursue overwhelming martial might. A moderate level of strength is sufficient. To me, there are times when wisdom is a hundred times better than martial might.”

He once had the opportunity to practice dual cultivation. However, to wield the Heavenly Punishment Sword and carry out his plans to protect the emperor of Zhou, he needed to reach his peak realm as quickly as possible. So, he had to give up that path.

Jiang Qi said, “The vast majority of people only practice the cultivation techniques and divine abilities passed down by their ancestors. Anyone who spends a lifetime mastering a technique to the Ascension Stage is praised as a genius. In truth, most possess mediocre talent. If someone manages to develop a divine ability or two, people call them a grandmaster.

“Senior Ah Ying, you comprehended the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing, observed Heavenly Dao runes and comprehended Heavenly Dao divine abilities, and even learned immortal Dao runes. You have long since surpassed the vast majority.”

Xu Ying's expression grew somber. “But all those are things my past self accomplished and comprehended. I still cannot consider myself a grandmaster.”

Jiang Qi sighed. “Yet, what you have comprehended is a pinnacle countless people could never reach in a lifetime.”

He shook his head, summoned a Qi Cultivator to arrange temporary lodging for Xu Ying in Haojing, and turned to leave.

Xu Ying settled in. With attendants handling his daily meals and needs, he lived comfortably without worrying about trivial matters.

He didn’t idle around, however. After a short rest, he went to help Zhu Chanchan repair Dazhong.

“Chanchan, you forged Haojing?”

Xu Ying sensed that Haojing was an artifact of an immense scale. Every street and alley, every house and building, every bridge and river was formed from different artifacts. He was deeply awed.

Zhu Chanchan’s expression darkened, and she shook her head. “My master designed it but couldn’t finish it. I helped him complete it later.”

She retrieved numerous artifact fragments from Yuanqi’s mouth and had Jin Buyi spew fire to refine them, extracting the rare minerals within as she unhurriedly recounted her master’s story.

“Haojing is the Zhou Empire’s capital city. Back then, Emperor Zhou thought of ascending to the Immortal Realm with the entire nation, which required an incredibly massive city to carry everyone to ascend.”

The fiery light illuminated Zhu Chanchan’s face, casting shifting shadows.

Crafting an artifact of such magnitude demanded a genius with heavenly wisdom. This person had likely possessed unmatched forging experience, mastery over all manner of artifacts and rune imprints, and exceptionally profound spatial control.

“Those who wield such abilities in that era were known as Master Craftsmen. My master and I were the best of them!”

When the task had fallen on their shoulders, her master warned the Zhou Emperor that even stripping every mine across the Divine Land would not create a city capable of surviving the heavenly tribulation.

“Even if all the bronze in the Divine Land were exhausted, can we defy Heaven? The city will fall, and people will die in vain. Even if we sacrifice every person in the world, can we defy Heaven? The nation will fall, its people will die, and he would only end up with the name of a tyrant,” Zhu Chanchan’s master had said.

Enraged by these words, the Zhou Emperor had ordered her master’s execution alongside the extermination of his entire clan. Countless heads rolled.

Before her master died, he had told her not to let the emperor of Zhou have any thoughts of ascending with the nation.

Her master had told her, “He couldn’t withstand the heavenly tribulation alone, so he plans to hold the people of the Divine Land hostage to face his tribulation together, gambling on the chance the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t dare to exterminate all lives of the Divine Land.

“But the Heavenly Dao is merciless. It would never spare a second thought for the people. If he tried ascending with the nation, the nation would surely fall, and everyone would die.”

“After my master died, the task of forging Haojing fell to me.”

The fiery light made Zhu Chanchan’s eyes sparkle. Suddenly, a shimmering tear rolled down her cheek. “From then on, no matter how many minerals the emperor of Zhou had transported here, they could never fill the bottomless pit that was Haojing. With me as his master craftsman, he would never finish it.”

Xu Ying asked, “So, left with no other choice, he later settled for the second-best option: forge the Other Shore Divine Vessel and head to the Other Shore, carrying his entire court with him, right?”

Zhu Chanchan laughed. “He almost failed to forge even the Other Shore Divine Vessel. Although he knew that I had embezzled many things, he didn’t dare to kill me. Who would complete his vessel then?”

Puzzled, Yuanqi asked, “Old Ancestor Chanchan, why didn’t you board the Other Shore Divine Vessel?”

Zhu Chanchan replied calmly, “The disciple of a guilty official was not qualified to board the vessel. Only the nobility could get on. Although I’m a master craftsman in name, to the emperor of Zhou, a master craftsman is no different from a silkworm farmer or a fisherman.”

Yuanqi muttered, “Those who built the vessel couldn't board, while those who did nothing sailed away in comfort. What kind of logic is that?”

Jin Buyi, who had been dozing off while spewing Supreme Yang Divine Fire, suddenly jolted awake and opened his blurry old eyes. “That’s how things have been since ancient times. Look at those mud-covered laborers who built houses for others. Which of them can afford to live in one?”

Xu Ying exhaled a breath of stale air and warned, “But the emperor of Zhou is about to return. Your Flying Peak is even larger than the Other Shore Divine Vessel. This crime is enough to send you to meet your master.”

Zhu Chanchan smiled. “Rest assured. I’ll definitely find a way to escape.”

Dazhong was originally forged from common brass. Because he had been reduced to scrap, Zhu Chanchan had the perfect opportunity to reforge him.

Xu Ying had obtained many artifact fragments in the Taiyi Little Profound Heaven. Those fragments came from the artifacts of the strongest Qi Cultivators across the myriad realms, forged from countless precious materials!

She went to great lengths to refine these treasures. Even after more than ten days, she still hadn't finished reforging the bell.

Although Jiang Qi had permitted her to help Xu Ying repair Dazhong first, he couldn’t help but grow impatient after the delay and urged her on several occasions.

Xu Ying returned to his lodgings and continued to ponder deeply, searching for his path of cultivation.

One day, he suddenly had an epiphany. “What is exorcism art? What is divine ability? What is martial art? What was the purpose of creating them?”

He grew excited. “It’s resistance! It’s to resist the hurricane when it comes to destroy our homes! To resist the flood when it comes to swallow our lives! To resist the ferocious beasts when they come to devour us! To resist the tyrannical powers when they leave us no path to survival! To resist the Heavenly Dao when it tramples on us!”

He leaped to his feet and laughed. “When our human race was still weak and small, we didn't have the sharp claws of ferocious beasts, the overwhelming might of tyrants, the force of a hurricane, the fury of a flood, or the might of the Heavenly Dao. When we first resisted, we could only rely on our fists!

“Our ancestors used their own bodies to confront floods and ferocious beasts, to resist the Heavenly Dao and tyrants. Exorcism arts, divine abilities... The beginning of all that started with martial arts!”

He no longer cared about the circulation paths of cultivation techniques or thought about exorcism arts and divine abilities. He turned to Inner Vision and Visualization, surging his vital energy. His Golden Core floated up from his cauldron and cast its blinding light over his entire body!

“Let’s begin with martial arts!”