Chapter 563: Martial Arts
While Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue were trying to figure things out, another loud cheer reverberated in the surroundings.
As before, a group of ancient-dressed people arrived from yet another side of the lake.
"It’s Grandmaster Xue." Someone shouted, and everyone turned to look at the new arrivals.
"She is the most beautiful woman in our hidden martial arts world." Another sighed.
"She is also the most powerful female martial artist."
The new group had more than fifty people.
From observation, the fifty were divided into three layers.
The third layer, which stood at the back, belonged to young people of the same age as Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue.
In front of the third layer was the second layer of middle-aged people.
By comparison, this group had the most people, numbering close to forty.
At the front were three people.
Of the three, one was an old man, another was a middle-aged man, and the last was a young woman.
Although Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen didn’t understand the strength system of the Martial arts world, they could vaguely determine the ranking of the three people.
"The two men are more powerful than the young woman." Jiang Yue said, and young master Blue Hair snorted in derision.
"Of course they are." Blue hair said and looked at the new arrivals before he continued.
"The one on the right is the ancestor of the Xue family, and the other is the patriarch. Ancestor Xue is in the mid-level of the divine master realm, and patriarch Xue is a late-stage grandmaster. How can Grandmaster Xue compare to the patriarch and ancestor?"
"What about Grandmaster Xue, what’s her level?" Jiang Yue asked.
"She is an early-stage grandmaster; the same as Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian."
Hearing this, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen looked at the woman.
Compared to beauties like Meng Zihua, Lin Huang, and Bing Lan; grandmaster Xue Ling was nothing.
However, from a mortal standpoint, she was a peerless beauty.
Although she was a grandmaster, she was white and fragile.
Looking at her, most men would have the desire to protect her.
Unfortunately, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue only had eyes for each other.
Despite the woman’s appearance, they felt no instinct to protect the weak flower.
Still, they better understood the current situation.
’No wonder.’ Jiang Yue thought and shook his head in amusement.
Now that he saw the woman, he somewhat understood why many men were obsessed.
However, he didn’t know whether or not the woman was worth the fuss.
"Look over there, Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian are about to start." Blue hair exclaimed and excitedly tried to take Yu Nianzhen’s hand.
Unfortunately, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue were not ordinary people.
Before the man’s claw could touch Yu Nianzhen’s arm, Jiang Yue swatted the hand and pulled his lover to stand behind him.
Feeling the pain, Blue Hair was shocked and looked at his hand in confusion.
However, he soon forgot his pain and focused on the lake.
Seeing this, Jiang Yue relaxed and Yu Nianzhen smiled in helplessness.
After that, he turned about and also looked at the lake.
At this time, two men were walking on water; heading towards the lake’s centre.
When he saw this, Yu Nianzhen was confused and his eyes momentarily lost focus.
’Is this the real Earth or did we come to a parallel Earth?’ He wondered.
After all, he and Jiang Yue had lived on Earth for more than twenty-five years.
Given their status, it made no sense that they knew nothing about this hidden society.
’Did Ao Tian make a mistake when he brought us back?’ Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but wonder.
However, this was not the time to dwell on the matter.
For now, he wanted to watch the fight before he decided what was what.
When Tang Xiao and Qian Chen were ten metres apart, they tacitly stopped walking and looked at each other.
After a brief look, they smiled and sighed in resignation.
In fact, the two were not enemies.
Rather, they were good brothers who grew up together and always looked out for each other.
Unfortunately, they fell in love with the same woman and neither was willing to give up.
As a last resort, they put everything on the competition.
In this way, they could compete without ruining their brotherhood.
"Are the rules clear?" Ancestor Xue suddenly asked and everyone turned to look at the old man.
At a glance, the ancestor looked like a sixty years old man.
However, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue could tell he was much older.
If they were not mistaken, the old man was more than one hundred years old. More accurately, he was closer to two hundred than one hundred.
"Grandfather, I will announce the rules again." Patriarch Xue said and the ancestor nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, patriarch Xue walked closer to the lake, looked around, and began to announce the rules.
"Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian will fight for three hours. If there is a winner after three hours, the winner will have the right to pursue my daughter while the loser will give up the right. If there is no winner, both parties must give up. Is this rule clear?" Patriarch Xue asked while looking at the two young men.
"Clear." Both said in unison and patriarch Xue nodded before he continued.
"Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian are swordsmen. Consequently, this matter will be settled with swords and no other external means will be allowed."
After saying that, patriarch Xue looked at the two young men and clarified.
"Talismans and protective equipment are not allowed. Is this rule clear?" He asked.
"Clear." Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian repeated.
"No matter the outcome of this duel, the Tang family and the Qian family will each relinquish to the Xue family, one place to enter the ancient relic. Is this rule clear?" The patriarch questioned again.
However, this time, he didn’t look at the two young men.
Instead, he looked at the patriarchs of the Tang and Qian families; who were standing across from each other on the shore.
"My Tang family agrees." The Tang family patriarch said through gritted teeth.
"My Qian family also agrees."
After that, the Xue family patriarch smiled and again turned to look at Grandmaster Tang and Grandmaster Qian.
"There is still a quarter of an hour to eleven. You may take the time to adjust your condition. The duel will begin at exactly eleven."
Hearing this, Tang Xiao and Qian Chen sat cross-legged and began to meditate.
However, the spectators including Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue were not calm.
From the rules, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue gained a lot of information and couldn’t help but look at each other in confusion.
"Ancient relic?" Jiang Yue whispered and Yu Nianzhen nodded in understanding.
"I didn’t expect the two families to give up a place to enter the ancient relic." Blue hair sighed.
"Does your family have a place to enter the ancient relic?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
Hearing the question, Blue Hair looked at the beautiful woman with surprise in his eyes before he spoke.
"How is that possible?" He said and sighed.
"Only the top five families have guaranteed places to enter the ancient relic. Everyone else needs to win a place during the martial tournament."
"What are your chances of winning a place?" Jiang Yue asked and Blue Hair rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"I am only an acquired stage martial artist. How can I have a chance?" Blue hair said and looked at the two.
"Come to think of it, what is your level?" He asked.
Hearing this, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue didn’t know what to say.
In the end, Jiang Yue curled his lips and looked at Blue Hair with a teasing smile.
"Guess." He said.
"If I am not wrong, you should also be acquired stage martial artists." Blue Hair said but Jiang Yue shook his head in denial.
"You are wrong." He said.
"Innate stage?"
"Still wrong."
"Master stage?" At this point, Blue Hair looked disbelieving.
"Wrong again." Jiang Yue said.
"Bullshit! Why don’t you say you are Taoist stage masters?" Blue Hair sneered and rolled his eyes.
"How do you know we are not Taoist stage masters?"
"Don’t talk nonsense." Blue hair admonished and cautiously lowered his voice.
"It’s already difficult to advance to the grandmaster stage, let alone the divine master stage. As for the Taoist stage, there hasn’t been a Taoist stage master for more than five hundred years. If you are going to lie, tell a believable lie." Blue hair rolled his eyes.
Seeing this, Jiang Yue laughed.
From what Blue Hair said, he had already figured out the martial arts levels.
If he was not wrong, the first level was the acquired stage followed by the innate stage, master stage, grandmaster stage, divine master stage, and finally, the Taoist master stage.
Unfortunately, he knew the levels but didn’t know their power levels.
’I should be able to estimate after watching the fight between the two grandmasters.’ Jiang Yue thought and then turned to Blue Hair.
"You are right. My wife and I are both acquired stage masters." He revealed.
"I knew it." Blue hair exclaimed.
"You and I are about the same age so our martials arts level should be about the same. I..." Blue hair started but then stopped mid-sentence.
A moment later, his eyes widened and he looked at Jiang Yue in disbelief.
"Is this beautiful lady your wife?" he asked.
"Do you have a problem?" Jiang Yue asked and intentionally held Yu Nianzhen’s waist.
Seeing this, Blue Hair shook his head and looked ready to shed tears.
"What a waste!" He lamented.
