Chapter 188: Chapter 178: The Imperial Court Martial Competition (Part 2)
Xiang Bao pondered for a moment. "Primordial Realm Martial Artists are unwilling to risk their lives in the Martial Assembly, and no one can force them. After all, their strength speaks for itself."
"But this isn’t just a problem for us in Great Yue; it’s the same everywhere. So, all the factions discussed it and simply changed the rules, only allowing young Martial Artists under the age of thirty to compete."
Zhao Lin was taken aback. "The Primordial Realm Martial Artists won’t go, so do the young ones even want to?"
Xiang Bao scoffed, "Of course they do! Primordial Realm Martial Artists have few desires, but young Martial Artists are brimming with ambition. Besides, at under thirty years old, their cultivation level won’t exceed the Blood Realm at most."
"For one, the destructive power of Blood Realm Martial Artists is nowhere near as terrifying as those in the Primordial Realm, so it’s less likely for duels to result in death or serious injury. For another, all Blood Realm Martial Artists want to break through to the Primordial Realm, so they can be tempted with rewards."
"If you can achieve a good ranking in the Martial Assembly, the rewards are incredibly generous. Take our Great Yue, for example. They not only give you money and a fiefdom, but they also hand out noble titles—Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron—like they’re worthless."
"Of course, what martial cultivators care about most is their cultivation, so there are also rare herbs and pills on offer. A Martial Artist might not care about fame and fortune, but they can’t possibly be unmoved by things that can advance their cultivation, right?"
’This really is a wise choice,’ Zhao Lin thought. ’In a world of martial arts, raising a massive army is useless. It’s better to spend the money on elite Martial Artists.’
"Are there even good pills to help break through from the Blood Realm to the Primordial Realm?"
Xiang Bao laughed. "The higher you go in cultivation, the stricter the requirements for pills become. You not only need Top Grade pills, but it’s not as simple as just needing one or two. Even a major sect like our Xingyun Sect can’t afford to supply them."
"But the Martial Assembly is different. That’s a reward from the entire nation. If you have the ability to take first place, the imperial court could literally smash you into the Primordial Realm with pills."
Hearing this, Zhao Lin felt truly tempted.
Even though he had the Spirit Beast Scroll, pills were still indispensable. He had personally experienced the effects of the Moisturizing Pill, the Five-Six Pill, and the Marrow-Cleansing Soup; using them and not using them were two completely different things.
Just as the rich want to get richer, no Martial Artist would ever complain that their cultivation was progressing too quickly.
Xiang Bao raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile, "So? Are you tempted?"
Zhao Lin put on a sincere expression. "The pill rewards and all that don’t matter. I am fiercely loyal and wish to serve the nation!"
Xiang Bao burst into laughter, not stopping for a good while. "You’re not wrong, actually. Winning a match in the Martial Assembly is pretty much like winning a major battle in the old days."
"Not only do the imperial court and the sects benefit, but it’s also a good thing for the common people."
Zhao Lin suddenly thought of a question. "From the way you describe it, the Martial Assembly doesn’t seem like something shameful that needs to be kept under wraps. Why is it a secret?"
Xiang Bao scratched his hair, hesitating before he said, "Supposedly, in the early years, the Martial Assembly was public. Even common people could attend and watch."
"But over time, a problem arose. No matter how many times they won before, just one crushing defeat would lead to them being cursed for surrendering national sovereignty and humiliating the country, for being pathetic and incompetent."
"What Martial Artist could stand that kind of abuse? So they just announced to the public that the Martial Assembly was canceled, and it became the secret event it is today. This is just what I’ve heard, but I’m guessing it’s about ninety percent true."
Zhao Lin smiled. "You really know a lot."
A look of undisguised pride appeared on Xiang Bao’s face. "There are several prominent families in our Xingyun Sect, and my Xiang family can barely be considered one of them. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"The Xiang family’s ancestors had their moment of glory. My great-great-grandfather made it into the top eight at the Martial Assembly!"
"Impressive. No wonder Brother Xiang knows the Martial Assembly like the back of your hand."
Zhao Lin offered his praise, then said, "The inner court of our Xingyun Sect... it was established for the Martial Assembly, wasn’t it?"
Xiang Bao gave him a thumbs-up. "You hit the nail on the head! The reason the inner court requires disciples to be under twenty-five and why it emphasizes practical combat is for this very purpose."
"The Martial Assembly is held once every three years. Any older, and you’d miss the age cutoff!"
’No wonder even Master didn’t know about the Martial Assembly,’ Zhao Lin thought. ’Although he’s in the Blood Realm, he never entered the inner court, so naturally, he would have no way of knowing.’
After a moment’s thought, he asked, "So how has our Great Yue’s performance been?"
At these words, Xiang Bao’s expression changed, and his brow furrowed. "Not good! Why else would I say our performance has been abysmal!"
Zhao Lin found this a little hard to believe. "Why? Isn’t Great Yue a suzerain state of the Central Plains?"
"That’s not wrong!"
Xiang Bao sighed. "Great Yue is full of talented people, with countless Martial Artists. The very first people to develop Blood Realm Cultivation Techniques, Primordial Realm Cultivation Techniques, and Innate Realm Cultivation Techniques were all from our Great Yue!"
"That’s why for the first ten Martial Assemblies, we always took first place, and with crushing dominance."
"But the infuriating and regrettable thing is, those foreign bastards sent people disguised as Central Plains natives to infiltrate our sects in Great Yue. They posed as our own for decades, stealing and tricking their way into learning our martial Cultivation Techniques."
"What’s even more shameless is that after they were exposed, they insisted they had developed these Cultivation Techniques themselves. Tell me, isn’t that infuriating?"
Zhao Lin frowned in thought for a moment, then shook his head. "That’s not right!"
Xiang Bao asked, "What’s not right?"
"Even so, they only stole our martial arts. Logically, we should still be in the lead. At most, the gap should have just narrowed."
"But from your tone, it sounds like we haven’t just been caught up to, but surpassed?"
Xiang Bao suddenly fell silent. After a long moment, he said, "Don’t be fooled by the fact that those foreign tribes are located in barbaric lands. In reality, the Wuzhu to the north and the Wuche to the northwest are also vast nations spanning thousands of miles. They have their share of capable and extraordinary people."
"These people are skilled in warfare and have their own strengths. They’ve created many powerful Cultivation Techniques. Even if their cultivation realm isn’t high, their practical combat ability is extremely strong!"
"I heard that in the most recent Martial Assembly, if our people were at the same cultivation realm as their opponents, they had basically no chance of winning."
"Also, I heard from my grandfather that for the last one or two hundred years, the martial arts world of the Central Plains has been resting on its laurels, refusing to innovate. I don’t know if that’s true or not."
Zhao Lin sighed inwardly. This world had customs and cultural beliefs similar to the Huaxia of his previous life, which gave him an instinctive sense of affinity for it.
He never expected that the seemingly powerful Great Yue was also beset by predators and roiling with hidden currents.
"Why do you think there are more and more Wuzhu people in Yongning City these years? And why do they occupy key positions in the postal service, transport companies, and chambers of commerce?"
"It’s because of our poor performance in the Martial Assembly. As a trade-off, we had to open these industries to them."
The more Xiang Bao spoke, the angrier he became. His face flushed with fury, and he punched a striking pad in the training room hard, saying resentfully, "If this goes on, I’m afraid all of Yongning City will end up belonging to them!"
Zhao Lin waited for him to calm down before saying seriously, "Brother Xiang, thank you for telling me all this. It’s cleared up many of the questions I had."
Xiang Bao waved his hand dismissively. "I told you all this, one, because I admire you as a person, and two, because I’m certain you can get into the inner court."
After speaking, he added a silent thought: ’Three, my father and older brother said you’re no fish in a pond and advised me to befriend you...’
