Chapter 68 - 67: Zhenwu Hall
A look of horror flashed in Zuo Feiyu’s eyes.
He hadn’t expected that Chen Yuan already possessed several powerful Cultivation Techniques, yet still had other trump cards up his sleeve!
And they were the kind of trump cards that even a great master at the Condensing Truth Realm like Uncle Wu wouldn’t dare to face head-on.
"Feiyu, what on earth happened? I came as soon as I received your message. How did such an advantageous situation turn into this?
The one who severely injured you looked to be about your age, but his power and foundation are astonishing. Could he be the successor of some Major Sect?"
Zuo Feiyu gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "He’s not the successor of a Major Sect, just a Loose Cultivator from You Province."
With that, Zuo Feiyu recounted the entire series of events to Uncle Wu.
After listening, Uncle Wu gently shook his head. "Feiyu, things have been too easy for you over the years, which has made you arrogant and dismissive of others.
You only know not to provoke disciples from the top Sects and Noble Families, but you fail to realize that there are also many powerful experts and prodigies among the Loose Cultivators.
The few experts I invited this time are all stronger than me, and they, too, started as Loose Cultivators.
And your father, Alliance Leader Zuo—wasn’t he also a Loose Cultivator back in the day? He founded the Cyan Blade Manor all on his own and later established the Nine Swords Alliance with the manor as its foundation, creating the enterprise we have today.
You must understand that the Jianghu is full of hidden masters. You must never, ever underestimate anyone."
Uncle Wu was a veteran of the Nine Swords Alliance and had watched Zuo Feiyu grow up, which was why he could lecture him like this.
Zuo Feiyu took a deep breath, a ruthless glint appearing in his eyes.
This fall from grace had been a truly major one.
Not only had he lost face, but the men he had recruited were either dead or had scattered, and he himself was severely injured.
"I understand, Uncle Wu. I’ve learned my lesson this time and won’t make the same mistake again.
But are we just going to let that Chen Yuan walk away? Can we use the power of the Nine Swords Alliance to hunt him down?"
Uncle Wu shook his head. "Unless he’s still here at the Border of Youning, our forces can’t enter the heart of Ning Province.
The heart of Ning Province is Zhenwu Hall’s territory. For our Nine Swords Alliance to rise, we are essentially digging at the very foundations of Zhenwu Hall.
Ning Province has been in turmoil these past few years, and Zhenwu Hall itself has grown increasingly chaotic, which is how we were able to seize the opportunity to rise.
At a time like this, it’s best to keep a low profile. We absolutely cannot enter the heart of Ning Province and infringe upon Zhenwu Hall’s interests.
Otherwise, the foundation the Nine Swords Alliance has built over all these years could be destroyed in an instant.
Feiyu, a moment of impatience can ruin a great plan."
Zuo Feiyu nodded. Although he couldn’t swallow this humiliation, his reason told him that the foundation of the Nine Swords Alliance was what mattered most.
...
By now, Chen Yuan had already run out of the dense forest, but he didn’t stop. Instead, he immediately changed direction, bypassed Fanglin City, and entered the heart of Ning Province.
Once he reached the interior of Ning Province, Chen Yuan found a secluded, barren mountain and went into hiding to recover his strength.
’It’s a bit of a shame I couldn’t kill Zuo Feiyu.’
’If that Uncle Wu had arrived just a little later, he would have been a dead man for sure.’
’But judging by the situation, Zuo Feiyu must have notified Uncle Wu to come in advance. He was certainly arrogant to face me alone, but at the same time, that innate caution of his saved his life.’
Now that he was in the heart of Ning Province, Chen Yuan was no longer worried about being hunted.
Even if Zuo Feiyu hated him to death, the people of the Nine Swords Alliance wouldn’t dare come to the interior of Ning Province to cause trouble for him.
In Ning Province, Zhenwu Hall reigned supreme. It was only because Zhenwu Hall’s power had waned in recent years, causing them to gradually loosen their control over the province’s borders, that the Nine Swords Alliance had been able to seize the opportunity to rise.
What the Nine Swords Alliance wanted now was to develop quietly. They would absolutely not dare to stir up trouble and provoke Zhenwu Hall.
Chen Yuan recuperated for seven days. Once his depleted energy had returned to its peak, he immediately found a town, bought a horse, and rode straight for Tiger Bone Forest in eastern Ning Province.
Zhenwu Hall dominated Ning Province. Under its command were the four branch halls: Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, each guarding one of the four cardinal directions of Ning Province. The Main Hall of Zhenwu Hall was located in the center of the province.
Each hall commanded over ten thousand Guards. The Cyan Dragon Hall had the Cyan Dragon Guard, and the White Tiger Hall had the White Tiger Guard.
It actually wasn’t that difficult for Chen Yuan to join Zhenwu Hall. The four branch halls recruited Guards every year, and even Martial Artists at the lowest Body Tempering Realm could join if they passed the assessment.
But Chen Yuan had no intention of joining Zhenwu Hall as a low-level Guard. That would be too slow and far too restrictive.
’Since I’ve decided to join Zhenwu Hall, I can’t start too low on the ladder.’
After half a month of hard riding, Chen Yuan finally arrived at Tiger Bone Forest.
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at how massive Ning Province truly was. In the same amount of time, he could have crossed the entirety of You Province.
Eastern Ning Province was close to Desolate Heaven Ridge, a massive mountain range that spanned several provinces and held many ancient secrets buried within.
It was said that many Ancient Sects and Clans had retreated into Desolate Heaven Ridge to live in seclusion, escaping the chaos of war.
Many powerful Loose Cultivators had also entered Desolate Heaven Ridge in their twilight years to build their own tombs and rest there for eternity.
Moreover, Desolate Heaven Ridge was home to numerous rare and Exotic Beasts, Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, precious Spiritual Medicines, and countless other opportunities and treasures.
Therefore, many Independent Martial Artists also ventured into Desolate Heaven Ridge to explore.
Of course, where there were opportunities, there were even more dangers.
The outer regions had been more or less fully explored, but in reality, this area constituted less than one percent of Desolate Heaven Ridge’s total size.
Once you ventured into the interior, heaven knew what dangers lurked within. It was common for entire teams of Martial Artists to enter, only for none to escape.
This Tiger Bone Forest was part of the outer region of Desolate Heaven Ridge, where the dangers were already quite few.
Chen Yuan had come here to wait for someone: Liu Feiyan, the daughter of Zhenwu Hall’s Military Advisor, ’Tiansuanzi’ Liu Suifeng.
The predecessor of Zhenwu Hall was the Celestial Martial Alliance of Ning Province. The world knew that ’Chaotic Martial Celestial King’ Chao Hongtu was the Alliance Leader who led the Celestial Martial Alliance in its rise to challenge the Court.
What most people didn’t know was that, in the beginning, the Celestial Martial Alliance actually had four core figures who were also sworn brothers.
The most central figure was, of course, Alliance Leader Chao Hongtu. Another was the great general who led the Celestial Martial Alliance’s charges into battle, ’Breaking Army Divine General’ Xie Wenyan.
This man had originally been a military officer in the Great Xia Court, but after a conflict with his superior, he furiously defected from the Court and joined the Celestial Martial Alliance.
Xie Wenyan was incomparably valiant and fierce. He led the elite forces of the Celestial Martial Alliance against the mighty armies of the Great Xia Court, yet time and again, he was able to slay enemy generals and shatter their formations, as if he were a god of war reborn.
It could be said that half of the status the Celestial Martial Alliance achieved was won through Xie Wenyan’s battles.
Unfortunately, Xie Wenyan died young, ambushed and killed by masters specifically dispatched by the Great Xia Court. The Celestial Martial Alliance’s momentum was instantly broken.
This was the most important reason why the Celestial Martial Alliance later chose to accept amnesty from the court rather than continue its offensive into the other provinces of the Central Plains.
Besides Xie Wenyan, the other two were ’Cloud Goddess’ Yun Zhaolan and ’Tiansuanzi’ Liu Suifeng.
Yun Zhaolan was the sole successor of the Hidden Sect, the Celestial Cloud Sect. Within the Celestial Martial Alliance, she was responsible for managing logistics. Despite being a woman, she carried herself with the air of a great leader, earning the trust of everyone in the alliance.
Later, Yun Zhaolan married Chao Hongtu and became the Governor’s Wife.
As for ’Tiansuanzi’ Liu Suifeng, although he came from a Loose Cultivator background, he was exceptionally intelligent, resourceful, and decisive.
It was he who devised the various frameworks and military strategies for the Celestial Martial Alliance, which allowed it to rise so rapidly.
However, Liu Suifeng was also severely injured in a later campaign, so grievously that his wounds were incurable.
Thus, within Zhenwu Hall, although Liu Suifeng was still the Military Advisor in name and one of the top three most important figures, he kept an extremely low profile and rarely made public appearances.
Some time ago, Liu Suifeng’s only daughter, Liu Feiyan, went out traveling.
Having heard that a certain Spiritual Medicine that could treat her father’s injuries had appeared in Tiger Bone Forest, she impulsively came to search for it.
In the end, she didn’t find the Spiritual Medicine and was instead besieged by bandits, nearly losing her life.
And in the original story, the one who saved Liu Feiyan was none other than Zuo Feiyu.
By leveraging the favor he earned from saving Liu Feiyan, Zuo Feiyu managed to poach many members from Zhenwu Hall to bolster his own strength.
’And now that I’ve severely injured Zuo Feiyu, his plan to recruit masters at the Youning Border for the Nine Swords Alliance has also failed. He should be recuperating within the Nine Swords Alliance right now and definitely won’t have time to come to Desolate Heaven Ridge.’
’I chose this part of the story to join Zhenwu Hall not only because it offers a higher starting point, but also to intercept Zuo Feiyu’s opportunity.’
Tiger Bone Forest was quite large. It was named so because several hundred years ago, a colossal Exotic Beast, a tiger, had escaped from Desolate Heaven Ridge and taken up residence here.
After the giant tiger was slain by a master, its flesh, blood, and bones strangely merged with the forest. From then on, rare and precious Spiritual Medicines often grew in Tiger Bone Forest, attracting many Jianghu People to hunt for treasure.
Chen Yuan only knew that Liu Feiyan was ambushed by bandits here, but he didn’t know the exact location, so he could only wander around.
Occasionally, he would see a few scattered Loose Cultivators searching for treasure in the forest. They would exchange wary glances before parting ways, so Chen Yuan didn’t stand out.
Chen Yuan had been wandering through Tiger Bone Forest for nearly a full day. Just as he was thinking of finding a place to rest, the faint sound of clashing blades came from the distance.
With a flicker of his body, Chen Yuan immediately sped off in that direction.
Deep within the forest, a dozen or so Martial Artists were fighting—or to be more precise, it was a one-sided siege.
Three people were being besieged: two men and a woman. It was Liu Suifeng’s only daughter, Liu Feiyan, and her guards.
Liu Feiyan was in her early twenties, with a handsome and spirited appearance. She had her hair in a simple, long braid and was dressed in a man’s moon-white martial arts outfit. Wielding a silver Long Sword, she possessed a Cultivation at the Blood Movement Realm.
The other two were an old man in his sixties and a resolute-looking young man of about thirty. They were at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm and Qi Casting Realm, respectively, and both wielded Long Spears.
Judging by their techniques, the two seemed to be master and disciple. They coordinated seamlessly and were somehow managing to hold their ground against the assault of more than ten people.
The dozen or so people attacking them were led by a one-eyed Martial Artist at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm. He wielded a pair of strangely shaped hooked blades, and his every move was vicious and incredibly treacherous.
The old man fighting him was already covered in wounds. Although he was still holding on, he was old and frail, his Qi Blood insufficient. It was only a matter of time before he would be defeated.
Among the one-eyed Martial Artist’s dozen-plus subordinates, three were at the Qi Casting Realm and the rest were at the Blood Movement Realm. Under their combined assault, the young Martial Artist was also soaked in blood, clearly reaching his limit.