Chapter 315: The Great Jing Immortal Dynasty (Part 3)
Winter gave way to spring.
Inside the room, Su Chen was flipping through ancient books.
In the blink of an eye, another three years had passed. Su Chen was now six years old and had gradually begun to uncover deeper secrets of the world around him.
His guess had been correct. He had left the Void Cosmic Sea, arriving in a place called the Heavenly Gang Immortal Domain.
The Heavenly Gang Immortal Domain was vast and boundless. Even the Great Jing Heavenly Dynasty was merely a corner of it.
That did not mean the Great Jing Heavenly Dynasty was weak. Its founding ancestor had been a ruthless figure who vied for immortality in his era. Though he ultimately failed, he had been unrivaled across the three thousand provinces and had waged wars beyond the domain, expanding its territory to an immeasurable scale.
Over the reigns of thirteen Emperors, the dynasty gradually declined.
Just when everyone thought this supreme power would continue to fade, the Heavenly Martial Emperor rose like a comet. He became an Emperor after surviving ten tribulations, with talent rivaling that of the ancestor. Not only did he reclaim the lands the dynasty had lost and restore the scene of ten thousand provinces paying homage, but he also personally led campaigns against the Barbarian Wolf Heavenly Domain to avenge the humiliation of thirteen provinces being massacred in the past. He swore not to return home until the Barbarian Wolf Heavenly Domain was broken, drawing countless heroes of the Great Jing Heavenly Dynasty to follow him.
He had propped up the crumbling empire and avenged generations of blood debts.
Heavenly Martial Emperor might not have been a good father, but he was a monarch with unique charisma.
Su Chen closed the bamboo slip in his hands. A golden character for "Fate" floated out from his body. As he closed the slip, the golden character seemed to grow slightly larger.
The Heavenly Physician Great Emperor had declared that Su Chen could not cultivate. But if one path was blocked, he simply needed to take another.
No one could have imagined that in just three years, Su Chen had devised his own cultivation path.
The Dao of Wisdom!
All the dao scriptures and knowledge of the world were absorbed into his sea of consciousness. Gathering a wisp of vast and righteous qi, he opened the Wheel of Wisdom. It was completely different from the mainstream cultivation paths of the myriad heavens.
This path had no fixed realms. The more he read and the broader his knowledge grew, the stronger he became. If he could reach the end of wisdom, he might achieve immortality. But learning was boundless and without end.
Su Chen did not know whether this road could lead to the supreme path of the heavens, yet he had already begun walking it. He decided to continue down this path to the end.
"Little Chenzi, take my move—Fire Dance Filling the Skies!"
A crisp voice rang out from outside the door. Accompanied by rumbling sounds and sky-filling embers, a figure charged straight in.
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Su Chen quickly protected all the books.
With a thud, a long spear clattered to the ground in front of him.
Nan Hongsang, who had just burst in, fell flat on her face. She got up and angrily kicked the door a couple of times.
"Damn formation! How dare you block this young lady? Sooner or later, I'll tear you apart!"
Su Chen smiled helplessly as he watched her wrestle with the door.
"So, what is it this time?" he asked.
Nan Hongsang suddenly marched up to him and slammed her hand on the table with an imposing air. Her usually spirited little face looked even more adorable when flushed with anger.
"Daddy says he's going to marry me to you!!!"
Faced with her near-roar, Su Chen took a step back and covered his face to avoid being sprayed by flying spittle.
He recalled that some time ago, his mother had mentioned arranging a marriage for him. It was called a marriage, but it was really about securing a powerful backer. He had not refused.
It seemed the marriage arrangement had arrived.
"I should have known…" Su Chen muttered.
He had assumed his marriage partner in this life would be a well-educated and proper young lady from a great clan, or perhaps an intelligent divine daughter from a major sect.
Instead, it turned out to be this battle maniac from the Nan Clan.
Perhaps he should call off the engagement.
Su Chen began considering the idea.
"So you're here to break off the engagement?" he asked, looking at the furious Nan Hongsang. He actually felt a trace of anticipation.
Nan Hongsang planted her hands on her hips and shook her head.
"Daddy said that if you want to marry me, you have to give me a betrothal gift," Nan Hongsang declared. "The betrothal gift has to be something I like! I want ten Worry-Free Pastries! If you don't give them to me, I'll tell Daddy you refused to pay the gift!"
At the thought of eating ten pastries in one go, crystal drool involuntarily trickled from the corner of her mouth. She had never eaten that many at once before.
Su Chen: "..."
He did not know how his mother had convinced the Nan Clan to hand over their prized Martial Immortal Physique, but he knew it must have come at a tremendous cost. If both families ever learned that Nan Hongsang was willing to accept the marriage for just ten pastries, they would probably fall into stunned silence.
With a wave of his hand, Su Chen produced a box containing twenty Worry-Free Pastries.
Nan Hongsang stared at the box in his hands, her steps turning unsteady as if she could scarcely believe her eyes.
"Twenty… twenty Worry-Free Pastries! Little Chenzi, you're the best!"
She swiftly snatched the entire box and held it protectively, eyeing him warily in case he changed his mind. Only after confirming he had no intention of taking it back did she relax.
"Today, the Ten Great Emperor Mansions are holding a martial dao competition," she continued. "Daddy says your constitution is too weak and you can't stay cooped up reading books every day. Let's go join the fun!"
Nan Hongsang grabbed Su Chen's hand and dragged him outside.
What nonsense about his weak constitution needing fresh air. Still, Su Chen did not resist. He had his own plans in mind.
...
The Emperor Mansions were institutions established by the Great Jing Heavenly Dynasty, with branches across every province and realm. Regardless of background, anyone with sufficient talent could enter and cultivate there. They existed to enlighten the common people.
Inside the Emperor Mansions lay the dynasty's highest cultivation resources. Even supreme Emperor-level figures personally gave lectures. Most longevity sects could not compare.
There were only ten Emperor Mansions of the highest rank. They had no names, only numbers. Every so often, geniuses from these mansions would compete against one another. Competition bred motivation.
Song Wuxin felt immensely pleased with himself. He was merely the son of an ordinary small clan, yet at the age of three he had been detected to possess divine body aptitude. The Great Jing Heavenly Dynasty had helped awaken it, and an elder from the Fifth Emperor Mansion had taken him as a disciple.
Now, at just nineteen years old, he had already reached the Void Refining realm. His future was limitless. He had dominated the Ten Great Martial Competitions, unmatched by any peer in his generation.
"The so-called geniuses of this world are nothing special," Song Wuxin thought arrogantly. He possessed the potential to become a Great Emperor.
"Miss Nan… you cannot go up there!"
"I am also a disciple of the Emperor Mansion. I want to go up too!"
Song Wuxin wondered, "Is someone else foolishly challenging me again?"
He turned to see who would dare.
Then he froze.