Chapter 187: Chapter 177: Martial Court Assembly (Part 1)
"Alright, I’ll tell you!"
Xiang Bao fell silent for a moment before finally steeling himself. "To be honest, once you get into the inner courtyard, you’ll find out about this anyway, so I’m not really leaking any secrets."
"But if you fail to break through to the Blood Realm and can’t get in, you must take this secret to your grave!"
Hearing his solemn tone, Zhao Lin replied gravely, "Don’t worry, Brother Xiang."
Xiang Bao pointed at the training room. "Let’s talk inside."
The two walked into the training room and closed the door.
After some deliberation, Xiang Bao asked Zhao Lin a question. "Our Yan Province is on the frontier, less than a hundred miles from Black Water Valley to the north. You’ve probably heard of it—Black Water Valley is Wuzhu territory."
"So why do you think we’ve never gone to war with them?"
Zhao Lin adopted a posture of rapt attention. "I don’t know. I’ve often wondered about that myself."
Xiang Bao chuckled. "The Central Plains stretch for thousands of miles, a vast land of plenty. You think those foreign tribes aren’t green with envy?"
"Let me tell you, before the Great Yue Dynasty was founded, there was constant war. We fought day in and day out. And we weren’t just fighting the north—we fought the northwest, the southwest, and the southeast too!"
Zhao Lin nodded to himself. ’This finally matches what I knew from my past life,’ he thought.
"This story starts over nine hundred years ago."
Xiang Bao stroked his chin. "Back then, the martial path was not well-developed. The highest level of cultivation was merely the Qi Realm..."
Zhao Lin exclaimed in surprise, "You’re saying that nine hundred years ago, the highest martial arts realm was the Qi Realm? There was no Blood Realm or Primordial Realm?"
Xiang Bao chuckled. "Yep. I had the same reaction when I first heard it. But don’t interrupt. Let me finish."
Zhao Lin raised a hand in apology, gesturing for him to continue.
Xiang Bao waved a hand dismissively and continued at a leisurely pace, "Wars are fought by armies, and an army’s combat strength comes down to its individual soldiers."
"Therefore, the military revered martial skill. The strongest warriors became captains or even generals."
"But an individual’s martial prowess couldn’t decide the outcome of a battle, especially in large-scale campaigns. The legendary warrior who could take on ten thousand men was just that—a legend. In reality, there was no one who could even take on a hundred."
"No matter how strong you were, if you were thrown onto a battlefield, you couldn’t even make a splash."
Zhao Lin nodded as he listened, sensing a twist was coming.
Sure enough, Xiang Bao’s tone shifted. "Then one year, something new suddenly appeared in the world. It was invisible and intangible, but many martial artists at the peak of the Qi Realm could feel a vibrant, life-giving energy!"
"Primordial Qi."
"These martial artists began trying to cultivate with Primordial Qi, and a few of them broke through to an unprecedented realm: the Blood Realm!"
"Those who broke through to the Blood Realm back then were all individuals of supreme talent and extraordinary intellect, so naturally, they began to contemplate the next steps in cultivation. They started researching martial principles, gradually expanding the martial path to include the Primordial Realm and the Innate Realm."
"Even some wild animals absorbed the Primordial Qi from the world and transformed into mutated beasts."
Zhao Lin was utterly shocked, left speechless.
’Is this a Spiritual Qi revival?’
’No, you can only cultivate the martial path, so it would be more fitting to call it a Primordial Qi revival.’
Xiang Bao continued, "Over the next century or so, more and more Blood Realm and Primordial Realm martial artists emerged."
"And that changed everything! Think about it: a Blood Realm martial artist is far more powerful than someone in the Qi Realm. On the battlefield, it was no longer impossible for them to take a general’s head from within an army of thousands."
"As for Primordial Realm martial artists, that’s another story entirely. They could wipe out a hundred soldiers with ease. They might not be able to win a head-on confrontation with a force of over a thousand..."
"...but a Primordial Realm martial artist isn’t an idiot. If they can’t win, they can retreat. Then they can recover and come back to kill again. Who could possibly stand against that?"
"Something happened right after Great Yue was founded. The northern Zhu Zhen Kingdom sent three thousand heavy cavalry on a sneak attack across our border."
As he spoke, Xiang Bao held up two fingers. "Two! Our Great Yue dispatched just two Primordial Realm martial artists. In a single night, they slaughtered those three thousand cavalrymen. The force was almost completely wiped out; only a dozen or so escaped with their lives."
"Tell me, at that point, what’s the use of an army?"
"They’re useless."
Zhao Lin felt a sense of sudden enlightenment, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun. It answered a question that had long puzzled him: why a strategic stronghold like Yan Province had so few troops stationed in it.
"I understand now. Then what is the Martial Arts Summit?"
Xiang Bao didn’t answer, asking a question in return. "Tell me, what are wars fought for?"
Zhao Lin thought for a moment. "Wealth, land, and people."
"Precisely!"
Xiang Bao clapped his hands. "Exactly. Even though armies became useless, countries still needed to fight over those things, so the conflicts never stopped."
"Because Primordial Realm martial artists were so overwhelmingly powerful, they could assassinate a nation’s sovereign directly. In the first few hundred years, countless rulers of the nations surrounding our Great Yue perished, not to mention the innumerable generals who were killed."
"Of course, several of our Great Yue emperors were assassinated as well."
Zhao Lin sighed internally. ’So Primordial Realm martial artists are basically nuclear deterrents.’
Xiang Bao’s mouth had gone dry from all the talking. He took out the waterskin at his waist, drank a couple of mouthfuls, and then continued, "All the nations realized things couldn’t go on like this. In the old days, it was the common soldiers who died in wars. No one really cared how many of them perished."
"But now, the moment a war broke out, it was the sovereigns, commanders, and generals who were dying. Nobody could tolerate that, so they convened a grand summit!"
"What is a summit like that? It’s a meeting between a sovereign and their vassals. Our Great Yue occupies the Central Plains, a land blessed with treasures and talent. Naturally, we are the sovereign, and the surrounding nations are our vassals."
"All the nations gathered to negotiate. They agreed to no longer wage wars or carry out assassinations. Instead, whenever a dispute arose, they would send out their strongest martial artists to duel."
"The winner would get wealth, land, and people, and the loser would have to accept the outcome without complaint."
"Ever since then, large-scale wars have been rare. Conflicts are settled by duels between the most powerful martial artists."
"At first, these duels were just between two or three neighboring countries. But they became more and more frequent, so the nations conferred again and decided to hold a grand tournament every three years, with all countries participating."
Xiang Bao paused, his eyes fixed on Zhao Lin. "And that’s the origin of the Martial Arts Summit."
"So that’s how it is!"
Understanding dawned on Zhao Lin.
The way things had evolved sounded perfectly logical. He smiled. "That’s actually a pretty good system. At least it stops people from dying in wars. So the Martial Arts Summit is just a duel between the Primordial Realm martial artists from each nation?"
"It’s not that simple," Xiang Bao said.
Zhao Lin was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Xiang Bao gave a dry laugh. "Primordial Realm martial artists are incredibly powerful. A fight between them at full strength would have brutal consequences. After a duel like that, you’re either dead or gravely injured."
"And you have to understand, times have changed. As martial artists broke through their limits and their power grew, so did their status. They’re no longer just attack dogs for the imperial court or minions for the rich and powerful."
"This is especially true for Primordial Realm martial artists. They’re already famous and accomplished, with a status comparable to princes and dukes. Why on earth would they risk their lives for you? Isn’t it better to just enjoy a life of leisure?"
Zhao Lin considered this and realized it made sense. ’It’s always the downtrodden who are the most righteous and willing to fight. Once someone gains wealth and status, they lose that edge, that willingness to risk it all.’
A martial artist who reached the Primordial Realm had to have endured countless hardships and tribulations. You couldn’t just convince them to fight to the death with a simple platitude like "for the good of the nation."
Thinking of this, he asked, "So what happened then?"
