Chapter 101: Chapter 12: Sit, Please Sit, Please Take the Seat of Honor
Along the way, Su Zhou managed to learn a bit more about this world by chatting with the escort team.
The Divine Wood World was indeed a world heavily leaning toward Martial Arts. Here, Spiritual Power Cultivators were called Inner Power Martial Artists, and the ranking system was quite similar. Generating Inner Strength was the equivalent of Spirit Awakening. Achieving Great Success with Inner Strength, known as Awakening, made one a Postnatal Martial Artist.
The three Tiers of a Postnatal Martial Artist—Qi Condensation Dantian, Heart-Eye Clarity, and Impervious to Heat and Cold—did indeed correspond to the three tiers of Awakening.
Legend had it that centuries ago, this world still had Innate Martial Saints who could roam the world unchallenged. The founding ancestor of the Anx Dynasty was one such figure. There were even tales of Ancestor Masters from the higher Celestial Spirit Realm. However, those were mostly figures from myths and legends a thousand years old, like the leader of the party that suppressed the Demons and Evils on Kunlun Divine Mountain, as recorded in the Classics.
To a world that didn’t have a single Innate Martial Artist, such tales were meaningless.
"Young Hero Su’s strength has likely surpassed all three Postnatal Tiers."
This was Mo Ganxiu’s assessment, and in fact, it was true. He couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. "To reach the Grandmaster Realm at such a young age, you have a real chance at becoming Innate! When Nephew Buyi broke through the two stages of Qi Condensation Dantian and Heart-Eye Clarity before he was twenty-five, he was praised for having Innate potential. But compared to you, he was still slow."
The peak martial power in the Divine Wood World now was merely Postnatal Peak. There were only a few Grandmasters in the entire Divine Land who were just one step away from the Innate realm. Su Zhou’s strength was already considered top-tier in this world; he could be called a Grandmaster and was qualified to found his own school.
Zhou Buyi, Monk Fang Hui, and the Sunset Heroine were already first-class experts among the new generation, yet they had only broken through one or two of the three tiers. They were still a long way from the Grandmaster Realm.
As for ordinary Martial Artists, just breaking through to the Postnatal realm was enough to make a name for themselves.
’It seems this world went through a period of decline when the Extraordinary vanished,’ Su Zhou thought. ’Two hundred years ago, even the top Grandmasters disappeared, and many legacies were lost.’
’Now that I know where my power stands in this world, I can’t get complacent. I might be a Grandmaster, but there are still those Grandmasters who are just one step from the Innate realm. In this Martial World, in this age of great conflict, how vast must their combat experience be?’
With this mindset, Su Zhou wasn’t surprised at all when he arrived before the Taibai Volcano Fortress. Using his Spiritual Vision, he could see three exceptionally bright auras within the small Rock Fortress. They represented three High-level Awakening Grandmasters, individuals on par with his own realm.
’They are trying to forge the Divine Blade of Extinction, after all. Even if their main forces are locked in a Sawing Battle with the Anx Dynasty’s Demon Army in the south, it makes sense to have three top-tier fighters stationed here.’
Approaching slowly with the escort team, Su Zhou studied the fortress. It was built into the mountain, its walls standing over fifty feet high. ’This is a Martial World, after all,’ he mused. ’To think they could build a fortress at this altitude. We must be over a thousand or two thousand meters above sea level, right? And with this terrain, a single Grandmaster could hold off an entire army.’
But then again, this was a Martial World. For a true Martial Artist, a fortress like this was little more than a tall fence. It had its uses, of course, but if the defenders lacked strength, it was just a pretty barricade.
At this moment, a lookout on top of the fortress saw the escort team. As the leader, Zhou Buyi took out a whistle and used his Inner Strength to produce a pattern of three long and two short notes. The lookout responded with a pattern of four short and one long note.
"You guys go on ahead."
Su Zhou had no intention of blending in with the group to enter the fortress. As the escort team walked towards the fortress gate, he remained where he was.
Su Zhou believed the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army weren’t idiots; they could tell the difference between fourteen and fifteen people.
To resolve the issue of trust, he preferred to communicate with their leadership out here—where he could fight or retreat as needed—rather than sneaking into the fortress and getting trapped like a fish in a barrel.
In reality, the lookout had spotted him long ago. He was a strange figure carrying a hiking pack as tall as a man, dressed in bizarre clothing, and—most importantly—with three Demon Soldier heads hanging from his waist.
"Quick, go get Master! There’s a strange person following Brother Zhou..."
"No need. I am already here."
But before the lookout could give his report, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression walked onto the city wall. He wore a topknot, white robes, and had a long beard.
He gazed into the distance at the young man carrying a large spear. The man was openly projecting his aura, casually holding the Demon Soldier heads as he waved a greeting. The middle-aged man couldn’t help but murmur, ’A Grandmaster? And so young...’
’Why would this person follow Buyi and the others here? If he were an enemy, why not take them hostage? If he were an ally of the Hundred Schools, why not enter the fortress with them?’
The distance was too great, so the middle-aged man couldn’t see Su Zhou’s eyes. And just as he was pondering, the other two Grandmasters also arrived on the wall.
These were two older Grandmasters. Though their faces were lined with wrinkles, their bodies were still robust and powerful. When it came to their bulging muscles and imposing auras, they surpassed even many of the younger men.
The bald Grandmaster carried a large bow on his back. His arms and torso were powerfully built, and it was clear at a glance that he was a Divine Shooter.
The other older Grandmaster, the one with hair, had eyes that flashed like lightning. Inner Strength swirled within them, a clear sign of a special Cultivation Technique that enhanced his sight.
He could see more clearly than the other two, and his brow furrowed. ’Those are definitely Demon Soldiers. Did he kill them all himself?’
"Strange. Nephew Buyi and the others are all injured. But if they were truly wounded and taken hostage by that man, why would he release them now?"
