Chapter 64: Legend of the Thirteen Prefectures, God of Slaughter Inheritance
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Four Seas Sage left with Jiang Luo. Jiang Changsheng began to look forward to Jiang Luo’s future. He wanted to see what achievements Jiang Luo, who was practicing martial arts in the Xiansheng Grotto-heaven, would achieve in the future.
The Second Prince left quietly, and the Emperor did not mention this matter to the outside world.
A few days later, Hua Jianxin discovered this matter. After asking the Emperor about it, she returned to complain to Jiang Changsheng.
“What Xiansheng Grotto-heaven? Isn’t it better to practice martial arts with you?” Hua Jianxin complained with a worried expression. When she saw the birth of the two princes, her heart ached and she could not bear to part with them.
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “It’s fine. The Jiang Family also needs someone to see a wider world. Moreover, I won’t nurture Ziyu’s descendants for generations. The children and grandchildren will have their own blessings.” Hua Jianxin sighed and said, “That’s true. Everyone in the market says that having two children in the family of an emperor is a bad omen, especially without a crown prince. If Jiang Luo is sent away, the country will be more stable.”
She suddenly thought of something and asked, “Will Jiang Luo come back one day to snatch the throne?”
Jiang Changsheng was amused and said, “Don’t think too much.”
Speaking of which, being the crown prince of the Jing Dynasty was a curse that would not end well.
Hua Jianxin was even more worried. She held her cheek with her right hand and looked at the sky, clearly imagining things.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
“What if Jiang Luo comes back in 50 to 60 years?”
“I will still be here.”
“Alright, if even Divine Monk Juexin can live to a hundred years old, so can you.”
Hua Jianxin swept away the worry between her brows and asked with a smile,
“Ling Xiao is going to lead a team down the mountain to train in a few days. Aren’t you worried?”
Ling Xiao was Jiang Changsheng’s youngest disciple. He was the most talented disciple selected by Meng Qiushuang and the candidate for the next eldest disciple. However, he had a shy personality and was embarrassed even when facing his master, Jiang Changsheng.
Jiang Changsheng said, “He’s already 19 years old. Although he’s still a distance away from the Heaven Arrival realm, it’s good to go down the mountain to train. The martial arts world is not so chaotic now.”
There were still conflicts in the martial arts world, but because a large number of martial artists took the examination to obtain merits, there were much fewer grudges than before.
Hua Jianxin smiled and said, “I’m beginning to look forward to what kind of transformation he will undergo.”
Jiang Changsheng also looked out of the court. There were already more than 500 disciples in Longqi Temple. Even without Jiang Changsheng, with Ping’an and Huang Chuan around, it could be considered a large sect in the martial arts world. With him around, Longqi Temple was even more of a holy land for the martial arts world.
He suddenly had an idea.
Should he give up his position and select a Daoist Master to succeed him? In any case, he usually did not manage things. He could completely be the Grand Supreme Teacher and hide behind the scenes.
He could not let Longqi Temple rely on him too much. Moreover, if he stayed as the Daoist Master, his longevity would easily be exposed.
Plus, there was another benefit. If Longqi Temple did not have him at the helm, there would be martial arts experts challenging the temple. At that point, he could also secretly farm them for survival rewards.
Hmm?
When Meng Qiushuang and the other old disciples died of old age, he could start the plan to give up his position. For now, he still had to observe. Jiang Changsheng thought silently and suddenly felt a little emotional.
Time passed so quickly!
He could not help but think of Daoist Master Qingxu. He did not know if his master was dead or alive. If he was alive, where was he?
In the 5th year of the Qianwu Era, many merchants had their houses confiscated for the crime of bullying commoners, avoiding taxes, hiring people to kill, and many other crimes. The commoners were happy about this, and they felt that the current emperor was a holy king that empathized with the commoners.
In the 6th year of the Qianwu Era, the third son of King Qin disappeared at the border of Ancient Han. They searched for half a month but could not find him. King Qin reported this to the Emperor and guessed that it was probably done by Ancient Han. Concerning this, the Emperor was furious and sent an order to inquire about the situation and reorganize the army.
A month later, the Emperor announced to the world that Ancient Han had not adhered to morals and killing the son of King Qin. Great Jing would attack
Ancient Han and avenge the son of King Qin, promoting the heroism of Great Jing.
This time, no one from the thirteen prefectures objected. No one was afraid. Instead, they were ambitious. Ever since the Emperor ascended to the throne, hundreds of thousands of martial artists had been recruited and thrown into various armies. The military strength of Great Jing had returned to its peak, or even surpassed it.
Since Ancient Han dared to mess around in their borders, how could Great Jing not retaliate?
The last sentence of the imperial decree excited the people of the world. Even the martial arts practitioners admired the Emperor’s heroism.
“Those who offend the people of Great Jing will be killed no matter how far they are!”
Jiang Ziyu had naturally heard this from Jiang Changsheng. When he heard the story of the Han Dynasty, he had the deepest impression of this sentence. Now, it was used on Great Jing.
On the cliff, Jiang Changsheng looked at the army gathered outside the northern city gate with a calm expression.
Bai Qi squatted beside him and clicked its tongue in wonder. “The human race is really competitive. It has only been a few years, but they have started a war again. However, I have to say that the current Great Jing army is really strong. The leaders are actually Grandmasters, and there are nearly ten Heaven Arrival realm experts. It seems to be me that Great Jing has been strengthed by two times.”
The leading Grandmaster was Xu Tianji. Ping’an had also been recruited and would follow the expedition.
Jiang Changsheng said leisurely, “That’s right. The world is indeed competitive, and the Emperor is even more so.”
The emperors of the Jiang Family were all the same. Jiang Yuan wanted to annex Ancient Han, and Jiang Ziyu was even more so. Moreover, Jiang Ziyu’s ambition was clearly greater. There were large numbers of troops stationed in the east and west, and they could attack the neighboring dynasties at any time. Jiang Changsheng did not have the intention to dissuade Jiang Ziyu. Such a battle might arouse the dissatisfaction of the other sects, but he would treat them as survival rewards.
All ambitious emperors wanted to achieve dominance that surpassed their ancestors. Jiang Ziyu was the same. He had revealed his ambition to devour the various dynasties since he was young, so Jiang Changsheng naturally could not stop him.
If Great Jing wanted to maintain its foothold, it had to continuously become stronger. Development was only one of the ways to become stronger. Conquest was the core method. After all, the resources and productivity of a dynasty were limited. If it was strong enough, it could conquer others, raise the living standards of its citizens, and reduce potential threats.
Jiang Changsheng would not sympathize with the commoners of the other dynasties. If Ancient Han and the Jin Dynasty were stronger than Great Jing, they would also annex the latter. This was an unavoidable law of the heavens.
After watching for a while, Jiang Changsheng turned around and returned to the courtyard to continue cultivating.
With the help of medicinal pills, his cultivation level kept increasing steadily. Although he was still far from the seventh level of the Dao Technique, at least he was no longer out of reach from it.
It had been seventeen years since his last breakthrough. Jiang Changsheng had almost forgotten the taste of breaking through.
Spring and summer passed, and autumn arrived.
Jiang Changsheng was cultivating under the Earth Spirit Tree when Eunuch Li quickly ran in and came in front of him. He said in a low voice, “Daoist Master, Emperor Yang Zhao is suspected to have become a True God realm expert. Because of this, the power of the Burning Sky Pavilion has increased greatly. They took down the martial peak before August and unified the martial arts world in the south.”
“It’s true that Emperor Yang Zhao has the strength of a Grandmaster, but it has only been a few years, and he has actually successfully broken through. I suspect that it’s the work of the remaining members of the Mahayana Dragon Tower. They might even be able to make a comeback with the help of the
Burning Sky Pavilion.”
When Jiang Changsheng heard this, he did not care at all and said casually,
“Even if he’s a True God realm expert, does he dare come to the capital?”
In the martial arts world, there were always peerless experts and young geniuses who appeared out of nowhere. However, no matter how strong their battle results were, it was impossible for them to be the number one in the world in the hearts of all the martial artists in the world unless they dared to go to the capital to fight the Martial God and prove themselves.
Ever since the Mahayana Dragon Tower was defeated, no experts came to challenge Longqi Temple. The martial artists who came were very well-behaved and obediently handed over incense money.
Eunuch Li chuckled and said, “Of course he doesn’t dare to come. I’m not here to remind you. After all, there were no True God realm experts in the martial arts world of Great Jing before.”
Jiang Changsheng felt that it made sense and said, “Investigate where Emperor Yang Zhao broke through. I suspect that he might have used a treasure to break through to the True God realm.”
He had previously heard that the Mahayana Dragon Tower suppressed the martial arts world for the sake of martial arts resources. He had asked Xiao Duotian about it and this fellow had said a lot, such as the Dao Enlightenment
Stone, the thousand-year-old Essence Ginseng, the Qilin Blood Scales, the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Silkworm, and so on. He had also told Jiang Ziyu about this, but Jiang Ziyu had not collected many treasures over the years.
According to Xiao Duotian, thousands of years ago, the martial arts world of the thirteen prefectures was at its peak. Powerful martial artists could move mountains and overturn seas, and there were even rare beasts walking in the world. At that time, there was no dynasties, only clans and sects. Later on, for some reason, the martial arts world of the thirteen prefectures declined, and those rare treasures and martial arts inheritances were hidden in the dark. The Mahayana Dragon Tower took this opportunity to seize the thirteen prefectures and monopolize the resources of the thirteen prefectures before becoming powerful. It even obtained control over the surrounding dynasties, which eventually led them to become a thousand-year holy land.
Martial artists could use rare treasures to increase their blood qi and break through realms. However, the physiques of martial artists were different from people to people. One needed a certain degree of compatibility with the treasure to consume it. If they forcefully consumed a certain treasure, they might explode and die. Even the Mahayana Dragon Tower was not sure what treasure a martial artist was compatible with. In order to train a True God realm expert, they would often sacrifice dozens of geniuses or even more. However, as long as a True God realm expert was born in a hundred years, it was enough for the Mahayana Dragon Tower to establish itself in the surrounding dynasties.
Eunuch Li replied, “Alright, I’ll arrange for an investigation after I leave the mountain.”
He then rolled his eyes and said, “Daoist Master, I have a request. I don’t know if I should say it.”
Jiang Changsheng glanced at him and said, “Speak.”
“I’m already old and don’t have many years to live. The faction I have now has a legacy. Although I don’t have the ability to reproduce, I was born by my parents. I have a younger brother who also lives in the capital. His grandson is talented and has even obtained a martial arts scholarship. I want to introduce this grandson to you. If Daoist Master can give him some pointers, he will be greatly useful to you in the future.”
Eunuch Li said carefully, afraid that Jiang Changsheng would be unhappy
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Bring him up the mountain tomorrow.”
It was human nature to do this, so he could understand what Eunuch Li was doing. Eunuch Li had indeed done his best all these years.
Eunuch Li immediately kowtowed in thanks and left the mountain excitedly.
At noon the next day, Eunuch Li brought his grandson to pay his respects. This person’s name was Li Jun, and he looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old. He had a tall figure and a handsome face. He was dressed in the clothes of a swordsman. Compared to the hunched and respectful Eunuch Li, it was difficult to imagine that they were related by blood.
Li Jun was also very excited when facing Jiang Changsheng, but he restrained himself very well.
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Eunuch Li, let’s go back.”
Eunuch Li nodded and looked at Li Jun. He reminded him, “You must be obedient. Don’t talk back to Daoist Master like you did to me. If you anger the Daoist Master, I will be the first to beat you to death!” Li Jun nodded, his eyes filled with helplessness.
After Eunuch Li left, Jiang Changsheng sized up Li Jun.
This child was close to the Spiritual Sense realm at such a young age. His aptitude was indeed not bad.
“What kind of martial arts do you want to learn?” Jiang Changsheng asked.
Li Jun touched the saber at his waist and said seriously, “I want to learn the saber.”
He was a little nervous. After all, he had never heard if Immortal Master Changsheng could use a saber.
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, “Alright, I have a saber technique that no one has learned. This saber technique is abnormally ferocious, and it can be considered a speedy martial art. In desperate situations, it can even erupt with the strength to fight across realms, but it will damage one’s lifespan.”
Li Jun’s eyes lit up and he said, “It will only consume one’s lifespan when one is in a desperate situation?” “Yes. If you don’t consume much energy, your lifespan won’t be shortened.”
“Then I want to learn it.”
Upon hearing that it was a speedy martial art, Li Jun was tempted.
Jiang Changsheng began to impart the Killing God Devil Blade to Li Jun.
The reason why he inherited the Killing God Devil Blade was because although Li Jun’s aptitude was not bad, it was not top-notch. In addition, he was already an adult. At this age, it was difficult for him to reach the Heaven Arrival realm by cultivating other martial arts, let alone higher realms. What Jiang
Changsheng needed Li Jun for was to be strong enough to enter the tiger’s den.
Just like that, another person practiced martial arts in Jiang Changsheng’s courtyard.
After Huang Chuan saw him, the two of them sparred. Li Jun was unable to resist at all, which made him respect Jiang Changsheng even more. A random disciple could easily defeat him. He was really amazing.
After a while, Huang Chuan and Li Jun, who both had the same temperament, became good friends.
Half a year later, Li Jun finally grasped the God -Slaying Devil Blade. At that time, Hua Jianxin brought a piece of news.
“The Jin Dynasty has changed. Just a month ago, the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty was killed at night. The entire royal family was slaughtered, and their corpses were all hung on the city gate of the imperial city. It was suspected that it was done by a martial arts expert. The frontline garrison camp also received a mysterious letter that warned Great Jing that if they dared to cross the border again, the Great Jing Emperor would die in the palace and follow in the footsteps of the Jin Dynasty’s Emperor.”
When Jiang Changsheng heard this, he was expressionless.. After a few years of peace, was there finally someone who could not hold back?