Chapter 132: Endless Peaks and Rivers (1)
From the moment he arrived in the Middle Land, Wu Yuan was plagued with questions. He didn’t believe for a moment that his arrival here was a mere accident or coincidence. There had to be unseen forces at play intentionally or unintentionally affecting him, whether it be immortals, gods, devils, or some highly advanced civilization watching from the shadows. Otherwise, how could his transmigration be explained?
Then, the emergence of the black pagoda and the blood-red mist further confirmed his suspicions. The ruins of the ancient civilization on the Blue Planet were no mere fabrication.
The black pagoda is an extremely powerful enigma!
The Blue Planet and the Middle Land might share a certain connection, but given my current circumstances, it will be difficult for me to uncover this link.
Wu Yuan studied the inconspicuous black wrist guard. Neither his transmigration to this world nor the presence of the black pagoda in his dantian were tangible objects. But this wrist guard shed light on many of Wu Yuan's speculations. It hinted at the existence of spatial technology.
Pocket dimensions cannot be as simple as some novels portray - as if ordinary mortals or the so-called Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivators could create them.
The significance of this technology might not be apparent at first glance. However, it represented a remarkable application of space - separating space, and fusing space and matter in a stable state. It was a marvel beyond comprehension.
If it's a technological civilization, it surpasses anything within the Human Federation. If it's a cultivation civilization... its inhabitants must be on the same level as immortals and devils.
With such limited information, Wu Yuan could hardly imagine what kind of divine power such beings who could manipulate space possessed. Perhaps even plucking stars and capturing moons were nothing more than child’s play to them.
As for Jin Rensu, in the end, he is just a Savant expert. I have encountered many such experts but nothing quite like this item.
Whether natural treasures or superior weapons, they all fell within Wu Yuan's scope of understanding, but this storage artifact? At the very least, within the Cloudstride Sect, Wu Yuan had never seen a similar magical treasure, nor could he find any mention of it in the literature he read.
Considering Jin Rensu's personal strength, it would be hard to imagine he obtained it on his own. Was he able to access this treasure due to his status as a prince of Great Jin? Behind Great Jin, there must be a Heavenly Ranker.
These elusive beings might be shrouded in mystery, but their existence was unquestionable.
Looking back on the history of the Great Jin Empire, it became clear that without a Heavenly Ranker to maintain order, the Empire would have long crumbled into countless warring factions.
Why was it so difficult to unify the thirteen continents? The answer was power!
The difficulty of communicating over long distances was never the primary obstacle, it’s power.
To unify the world, one had to first possess the power to quell any uprising swiftly and decisively. Without the ability to maintain order, how could one expect to achieve unity? Martial might always took precedence!
The world was teeming with countless martial artists, giving rise to numerous Land Rankers. Typically, these Land Rankers had a sense of pride and were reluctant to submit to their peers.
So what if someone was ranked number one on the Land Rankings? If dozens of Land Rankers joined forces, even the strongest among them would fall.
However, it was a different story when it came to the Heavenly Rankings!
Nearly half of the thirteen continents are vast deserts and untamed wilderness. The Great Jin Empire already occupies close to half of the Central Plains. Behind Great Jin, there must be a Heavenly Ranker, maybe even more than one.
Territory, like wealth, correlated with one's strength.
Imperator Jin, once the undisputed number one martial artist in the world, founded the Great Jin Empire, then suddenly disappeared, and his reign was passed on to Emperor Jin II.
Was Imperator Jin still alive? Who could say for sure?
Those on the Heavenly Rankings truly exist in a different world from the common folk.
The Martial King was rumored to have lived for 500 years. According to records, the oldest Grandmaster expert lived for 180 years.
It should then be reasonable to assume that a Heavenly Ranker, if uninjured, should have a lifespan of 300 years. The Starcom Consortium is most likely backed by a Heavenly Ranker as well.
This much was glaringly obvious.
The fact that this wrist guard storage artifact was granted to a prince suggests that many other members of the Great Jin royal family possess them. Perhaps a Heavenly Ranker is able to obtain one with relative ease? Yet, it is rarely seen in the outside world, or rather, I've never heard of a known method to forge one.
There were no absolute secrets in the world. If the item was truly one of a kind, then that would leave him with little to investigate. But with an evident abundance of storage artifacts, it implied that there was a steady supply of them.
Over the course of many generations, even the most closely guarded heritage secrets were bound to be leaked.
For instance, first-grade divine weapons were equally precious, and rare! Yet many legends of the Middle Land claimed that the Starcom Consortium, the Great Jin Empire, as well as the Divineforge Tribe deep within the Huang Continent all possessed methods of forging one.
Could it be one of those immortal relics that Gao Yu mentioned? But in my two years at the Cloudstride Sect, I’ve struggled to find any clues. Perhaps I haven't displayed enough strength.
No matter how talented one was, without enough power, the Cloudstride Sect's higher-ups wouldn't share much. Not because they didn't trust him, but because they deemed it unnecessary.
It seems I must at least possess the strength of a Land Ranker and interact more with the martial experts of this world to unravel its deeper secrets.
He sheathed his saber. After making his way through the blizzard, he returned to the hut and sat beside the fire pit.
Then, he began to examine the contents of the storage artifact.
Ancient Immortal Dew, a total of twelve drops? Wu Yuan's face beamed with delight.
Back then, he was forced to make a hasty escape at the banks of the Cloud River, compelling him to leave behind the remaining Ancient Immortal Dew. It had pained him greatly for several days. Even the divine-grade silver spear was lost.
While being pursued by Grandmaster Chen Luo, he was only left with the divine-grade battle saber, body armor, and wrist guard. But with this, he had managed to recoup his losses.
What about the other natural treasures? Wu Yuan cast a quick glance at the unfamiliar objects. With his current knowledge and experience, he found himself unable to recognize any of them, and set them aside for later consideration.
Gold and silver notes... roughly equivalent to 1.2 million silver taels. Wu Yuan swiftly calculated, a smile spreading across his face. He had struck it rich!
Even after decades, most Savant experts would find it hard to accumulate such a large sum of money without risking their lives. Wu Yuan was rather capable, but had only cultivated for a fraction of the time they did.
‘Secrets of Divine Spirit Insects: Volume One', 'Secrets of Divine Spirit Insects: Volume Two', 'World Land Rankings', 'Holy Continent Human Rankings', 'Great Jin Statutes', 'Emperor Jin's Martial Arts Manifesto', 'The History of the Silver Hairpin', 'The Fengyue Chronicles'... Wu Yuan once again sifted through the large stack of books in the storage artifact.
Half of them were casual reads or miscellanies, but quite a few were useful to Wu Yuan.
The two volumes of the ‘Secrets of Immortal Spirit Insects’ were particularly valuable, containing detailed records of hundreds of unique spirit insects. However, most of them were marked as extinct, with only a dozen or so still in existence. These descriptions included information on their appearances, habits, uses, and general range of activity.
My horizons have been broadened. These spirit insects are extremely rare, but I suspect those top powerhouses likely have quite a few. I must be more vigilant in the future. Wu Yuan felt increasingly wary.
He had become acutely aware that the Middle Land was far from a typical martial world. Rather, it was a martial world with relics of an ancient civilization of immortals and devils, with mysterious abilities that far surpassed his imagination.
One could never be too cautious.
Next, I'll study 'Emperor Jin's Martial Arts Manifesto' and 'Secret Art: Bloodstack'. Wu Yuan began flipping through the pages.
These two texts held the secrets of the Great Jin royal family and were never meant to be circulated. In principle, the prince should destroy them after reading to prevent information leaks. Unfortunately, the ninth prince, Jin Rensu, had only recently joined the ranks of the second-grade martial artists and hadn't fully memorized them. Ultimately, it was Wu Yuan who stood to benefit.
Fundamentals, Power Surge, Rigid Yet Supple. Balancing rigidity and suppleness allows one to completely manifest one's physical power. Moving forward, one perceives the natural world, seeking the Harmony of Man and Nature...
Wu Yuan’s eyes lit up as he read 'Emperor Jin's Martial Arts Manifesto'. Unfortunately, his excitement was short-lived. The book simply mentioned it without further explanation.
So the concept of Environmental Mastery is known as the Harmony of Man and Nature in the Middle Land?
The concept of the natural world indeed correlated with his understanding of the environment.
Secret Art: Bloodstack.
As he read the next book, Wu Yuan quickly realized that this was a very special secret art.
Conventional secret arts, be it the Thousand Mountains that Wu Yuan practiced, or the Hundred Waves that Mo Jingchen handed to him, essentially involved controlling high-frequency vibrations in the musculoskeletal system to achieve increased force.
But Bloodstack was different.
By stimulating qi, shock the middle dantian lobe to augment the combat state. This will result in a surge in speed, strength, and mental clarity?
With his high level of martial skill, he quickly discerned the general training method of this secret art, but the specifics still required additional deliberation.
Channel the qi to strike the middle dantian lobe. Each strike might impair the middle dantian lobe, but it might also temporarily open the middle dantian lobe, raising the physical constitution to its limit.
Wu Yuan quickly realized the pros and cons of this secret art.
Perhaps I can derive some inspiration from it.
Wu Yuan was not in any rush. The path ahead of him was long and filled with unknowns. With limited guidance, he could only explore things on his own and consolidate his discoveries.
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