Chapter 199 : Chapter 199
Chapter 199 The Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance and the Secret Behind the Martial Dao Assembly
The Heavenly Armaments on the Supreme Weapon Ranking Under Heaven?
Tianji Tower’s Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings?
When Cheng Yu heard Zhao Yi mention these two things, he immediately frowned in some confusion.
Although not long ago, he had still only been a mere Jinyiwei Banner Captain, and the Jianghu secrets he knew were far fewer than those known by the heirs of major forces, he was still very clear about one thing.
The supreme weapons under heaven—
Most of them were owned by Great Qian’s very top forces and used as sect-guarding treasures.
The Nine Great Sects, thousand-year aristocratic families, and also... the Great Qian Court and imperial family.
Almost every one of them had a clear owner.
Only an extremely small number of them were still wandering outside, difficult to find, and therefore ignored.
Those born in Great Qian all knew the value of these Heavenly Armaments.
The supreme weapons under heaven represented the power of Grandmasters or even higher realms. This was precisely the highest level of power in the current Great Qian!
If one obtained any one of them, one could establish oneself in a region and found a top-tier sect.
The problem was—
Although the supreme weapons under heaven were indeed extraordinarily powerful, the difficulty of obtaining even one of them was absolutely beyond imagination.
The most important reason Cheng Yu had been able to obtain the Dragon Abyss Sword and the Heaven-Reckoning Disk was Fortuitous Opportunity.
Sword-Forging Manor—
On the surface, it seemed to be a force in the Jianghu only slightly weaker than the Nine Great Sects.
But in reality—
Whether a force had a Grandmaster-level expert or not was the difference between heaven and earth.
The Manor Master of Sword-Forging Manor, He Qin, had only been at the Late Eighth Rank.
Too weak!
It was because Sword-Forging Manor possessed the Dragon Abyss Sword that it had status, occupied Dragon Abyss Path, and prevented other great sects from reaching into Jiangnan.
If not for the Great Qian Emperor sending two Jinyiwei Assistant Commissioners, and Cheng Yu leading men in a ruthless raid on Sword-Forging Manor—
And if he had not relied on the Demon-Slaying Sword to suppress the Dragon Abyss Sword Intent—
How could he have destroyed Sword-Forging Manor and seized the Dragon Abyss Sword before any expert from the Nine Great Sects could react?
This itself could not be replicated.
As for the Heaven-Reckoning Disk, that was even more an extreme stroke of coincidence.
It had fallen from Taiyi Sect into Ma Minnong’s hands, then because of appreciation and a wager, it had been transferred to Cheng Yu. If even one part of that chain had been missing, it could not have happened.
If he changed targets and tried to forcibly plot against other Heavenly Armaments—
Then what he would face would be forces on the level of the Nine Great Sects, with Grandmasters personally controlling the Heavenly Armaments, unleashing strength comparable to two Grandmasters.
And if he wanted to seize a Heavenly Armament into his hands, he would have to kill his opponent!
Seizing a sect-guarding treasure—
That was a life-and-death feud!
The terrifying risks and price behind it made the benefits of obtaining one Heavenly Armament seem insufficient no matter how he looked at it.
As for Tianji Tower’s Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings—
In Cheng Yu’s view, those were even more so empty fame. They did not even have any practical value, so how could they be called Fortuitous Opportunities?
“It seems Little Friend Cheng does not know something.”
Zhao Yi saw Cheng Yu’s confusion and patiently began explaining.
“Do you know this? The Supreme Weapon Ranking Under Heaven and Tianji Tower’s Three Rankings were not arranged by human hands. Rather, they are Heaven’s Will manifested through treasures!”
Not arranged by human hands?
Cheng Yu widened his eyes and immediately understood what Lord Zhao was trying to express.
Heaven’s Will was profound and mysterious.
It was a power that martial artists could not touch.
As for martial struggles, there would naturally be victories and defeats, but between martial artists and weapons of extremely similar levels, one could not decisively say who was stronger and who was weaker.
Between evenly matched martial artists—
As they exchanged moves, the slightest influence could produce completely different outcomes.
Who was strong, and who was weak? There was no objective way to state it with certainty!
Yet the Supreme Weapon Ranking Under Heaven and the Three Rankings—
They could use some mysterious power to separate the two sides clearly into superior and inferior.
This showed that the supreme weapons under heaven were absolutely not merely powerful in their ability to attack and kill. The existence of the Heaven-Reckoning Disk proved that point.
A question flashed through Cheng Yu’s heart.
“Then what is the standard used to distinguish superiority and inferiority?”
Seeing that his grandson had understood well, Zhao Yi nodded in satisfaction. After using Internal Energy to isolate the room, he answered quietly.
“Fortune and Fortuitous Opportunity!”
“A Heavenly Armament has deep Fortuitous Opportunity and powerful spirituality. Not only does each one itself represent a top-tier inheritance, it can also bless a powerful force!”
“To be specific, Heavenly Armaments possess ready-made ‘Dao’ within them. The forces that hold them will never lack Grandmasters!”
Ready-made “Dao”?
They could ensure Grandmasters never ceased?
Only after hearing this did Cheng Yu finally understand the most important value of Heavenly Armaments: inheritance and continuation!
For powerful sects—
The temptation of developing future generations and never declining was far more important than the strength of a single generation!
Zhao Yi continued, “Several hundred years ago, Daoist Taiyi’s strength suppressed all martial artists of his era. No matter how arrogant and overbearing his temperament was, he did not provoke too extreme a reaction from the Jianghu and the court.”
“But after he possessed a full three supreme weapons under heaven, everything changed. At that moment, Daoist Taiyi could have founded a force that would forever suppress the Jianghu and even threaten the Great Qian imperial family.”
“The Jianghu and the court, who were otherwise as incompatible as water and fire, chose to join forces. Even at the cost of multiple Grandmasters dying or being injured, they had to heavily wound Daoist Taiyi and drive him to the extreme south. Only then was he able to establish Taiyi Sect!”
Cheng Yu’s eyes widened more and more.
So this was the hidden reason behind the Jianghu and the court joining forces against Daoist Taiyi.
He had thought it was simply because Daoist Taiyi had been too arrogant, publicly making sharp comments about the sects and martial artists under heaven many times, completely infuriating everyone and resulting in him being besieged.
After all, with Cheng Yu’s personality—
If he had lived in the same era as someone like Daoist Taiyi, and if he could beat him, he absolutely would not have allowed the other party to remain arrogant.
If he could not beat him—
Then he would even more so have found a way to join forces with others and destroy him as quickly as possible!
When Zhao Yi reached this point, his kindly face instantly became fierce.
“So, if we want to accomplish the great undertaking and thoroughly suppress the hypocritical Jianghu, we must start with the supreme weapons under heaven.”
“Seize the Jianghu’s inheritances and cut off the roots that allow them to plunder the blood and sweat of all the people under heaven generation after generation!”
Cheng Yu nodded after hearing this, but he did not particularly care or agree with that method.
If he acted—
He generally did not care about whether an inheritance was cut off or not.
He preferred to directly exterminate the entire sect. That was simple, convenient, and effective. There was no need to consider too much.
Zhao Yi did not know his grandson’s simple and brutal thoughts.
He continued, “If we can collect enough Heavenly Armaments, they will bring benefits great enough to overturn heaven and earth... the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance!”
“The Supreme Weapon Ranking Under Heaven was the Progenitor of Qian’s treasure back then. It was by relying on this item that he gathered Heavenly Armaments for Great Qian!”
The Progenitor of Qian?!
When Cheng Yu heard this name, which existed only in legends and memories, his entire body trembled.
The Progenitor of Qian.
Between the territories of the Barbarian Tribes and the Demon Race, he had led the weak ancestors of Great Qian to forcibly carve out a land where their descendants could flourish for generations and founded a vast empire.
He was also the only person in Great Qian’s thousand-year history who could be clearly considered a powerhouse above the Grandmaster Realm. Even Daoist Taiyi, who had appeared in later generations, was far from comparable.
When the court and Jianghu joined forces—
A dozen-plus Grandmasters working together could suppress Daoist Taiyi.
But when the Progenitor of Qian faced the Barbarian Tribes and the Demon Race back then, opponents with Grandmaster-level strength were merely a number.
Ten, twenty—
He could deal with them all!
He had beaten the Demon Race and Barbarian Tribes until they never recovered, and their noble and powerful bloodlines were all killed.
Even now, they did not possess even ten or twenty percent of their former peak strength.
They had never had the power to truly invade Great Qian.
The Progenitor of Qian had not only laid the foundation for the people of Great Qian to live and work in peace and contentment, but after his death, he had also preserved a thousand years of stability.
For such strength and such achievements—
No one in the thousand years after him had surpassed him. A true man should be like that!
And such a top-tier figure as the Progenitor of Qian—
After founding a nation that belonged to the human race, he left behind his inheritance and departed. Instead, his later descendants took advantage of that momentum, ascended the imperial throne, and built an empire.
When Cheng Yu thought of the Progenitor of Qian’s deeds, respect immediately arose in his heart. At the same time, a trace of shock flashed through him.
“The supreme weapons under heaven are connected to the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance? Then, does that mean the Great Qian Jianghu’s Martial Dao Assembly in half a year...”
That day—Was the great occasion of Great Qian’s Martial Dao, held once every five years.
The experts of the Nine Great Sects and thousand-year aristocratic families would rarely gather in full, and the Great Qian Court and imperial family would also appear.
Could it be that it was actually...
Zhao Yi nodded, answering Cheng Yu’s doubt.
“Little Friend Cheng has thought correctly. The ultimate goal of that Martial Dao Assembly is the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance, and the supreme weapons under heaven are the key to opening and obtaining that inheritance.”
“The reversal of strength between the court and the Jianghu began when Prince Wuwei of Great Qian died outside, and the Kunlun Cult Master seized the Wuwei Banner and renamed it the Kunlun Banner.”
“From then on, the eighth great sect of the Jianghu appeared. The number of supreme weapons under heaven possessed by the entire Jianghu began to exceed those held by the court and imperial family. The Great Qian imperial family’s ancestral sacrifice was transformed into the Jianghu Martial Dao Assembly from that point forward.”
“The initiative in obtaining the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance also fell into the Jianghu’s hands.”
Everyone who practiced martial arts had heard a saying: Great Qian’s Martial Dao all came from the Progenitor of Qian.
It was precisely the Progenitor of Qian—
While leading people to resist the Barbarian Tribes and the Demon Race, he also standardized the martial path of cultivating Internal Energy, divided the Martial Realms, and distinguished the grades of cultivation methods, weapons, and armor.
Compared with the identity of imperial progenitor that later generations posthumously granted him when they proclaimed themselves emperors—
The identity the Progenitor of Qian himself participated in more deeply was actually this: the ancestor of Great Qian’s Martial Dao.
To obtain his inheritance—
That was absolutely a Fortuitous Opportunity that any martial artist in the entirety of Great Qian dreamed of.
Even the Grandmaster experts standing at the peak of the current Martial Dao were no exception. Compared with an illusory, unstable self-breakthrough—
If they wanted to advance further—
The Progenitor of Qian’s precedent was already there like a pearl and jade before them. His inheritance was clearly the more reliable choice.
As Cheng Yu listened to these secrets he had never understood before, he kept nodding.
He gained a great deal!
Why was the Great Qian Court weak? Why had the Jianghu slowly risen? Why did the forces restrain one another, not daring to start war as madly as he did?
In the past, he had been confused and helpless about these questions.
Now, Cheng Yu gradually had answers to them all.
Between powerful forces, everything was for greater and longer-term interests! These were secrets he had never known before!
Cheng Yu cupped his fists gratefully and bowed deeply to Zhao Yi.
“This junior was born in humble circumstances. Since childhood, I have struggled bitterly to find a path and fought my way forward. I have never heard these Jianghu secrets before. Thank you for your instruction, Lord Zhao!”
He thanked Zhao Yi from the bottom of his heart.
Even when he had acknowledged Cheng Zhenjiang and his wife back then and been brought back to River-Severing Sect, those two as his parents had never told him any of this.
For Lord Zhao to be willing to tell him these things—
This was already a great kindness akin to transmitting the Dao and teaching him.
When Zhao Yi heard his grandson say that he had been born in humble circumstances and that no one had told him these things, sorrow flashed through his heart.
Which great sect’s descendant or heir was not carefully protected, receiving all kinds of information from childhood so that they could make plans early?
If one could enter the Human Ranking—
That would be the pride of the entire sect and clan, and they would absolutely not be stingy with praise and rewards.
But his grandson—
He had wandered outside since childhood. His foster parents were ordinary people. For them to raise a child who was not their own was already extremely difficult.
They could not give him support in the Martial Dao at all, let alone tell him the deepest secrets of the Jianghu.
Cheng Yu could only struggle forward all the way, learning to be ruthless enough to protect himself.
Yet because of that, he was disliked by his biological parents and had no choice but to sever ties with them.
And now—
His strength surpassed the vast majority of martial artists in Great Qian, and his status and deeds had spread throughout the world.
Yet he still did not know many things.
His grandson Zhao Yi was a thousand or ten thousand times more outstanding than anyone else’s children or grandchildren, so why had he fallen to such circumstances?
A thousand wrongs, ten thousand wrongs—
They were all the fault of Cheng Zhenjiang, that shameless hypocrite, and Zhao Xichun, that unfilial daughter!
Thinking of these things and making this comparison—
Zhao Yi’s fondness and appreciation for his eldest grandson increased even more. Being born in humble circumstances was not a disgrace. A true man was one who could bend and stretch as needed!
His expression became increasingly kind.
“The Dragon Abyss Sword is in your hands, correct?”
“Yes. It is being kept by Elder Jian A of the Sword Bearers. I can have him send it over.”
Cheng Yu was not surprised that Zhao Yi would mention this, and he nodded.
This supreme weapon under heaven was connected to the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance.
There was no need to hide it.
Cheng Yu did not think that, with his Fortuitous Opportunities and the system, he would be inferior to the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance. But the more inheritances, the better.
Moreover, if he could use it as leverage to obtain benefits from other forces—
It would have great strategic value for Cheng Yu’s Jinyiwei career.
Zhao Yi nodded in satisfaction. “Keep it well. Have someone, or yourself, attempt to comprehend the inheritance power within it. There will certainly be great benefits.”
“This junior will remember.”
Actually... he had already thoroughly mastered it, and the Heaven-Reckoning Disk was also in his hands.
Cheng Yu answered in his heart, but on the surface, he nodded in agreement and did not continue frightening the old man.
Zhao Yi stroked his beard and continued speaking.
“This old man has also gained something from wandering the world for more than ten years. I obtained a clue to a supreme weapon lost outside, and I should be able to obtain it soon.”
“In addition, I hope Little Friend can persist in the Jinyiwei’s affairs. This old man will assist you at court. If we can obtain the Great Qian Emperor’s permission, we can ask Old Commander Lu to act during the Martial Dao Assembly.”
“In that case, with three supreme weapons in total, our strength will already be no weaker than Daoist Taiyi’s back then. The great undertaking will have hope!”
It was not three. It was four!
The most miraculous Heaven-Reckoning Disk was even a version that had recognized its master. His situation was even better than Daoist Taiyi’s back then.
Cheng Yu also heard Zhao Yi mention Old Commander Lu.
His heart stirred.
Lu Zhi’s father, the Grandmaster expert behind the Jinyiwei, controlled one of the supreme weapons under heaven, the famous Blood-Chasing Saber!
It was the true representative of the Jinyiwei and the prototype of the Xiuchun Saber.
Back then, it had been a terrifying weapon that made the Jianghu howl in misery.
“But compared with asking someone else to act, I definitely have to get this thing into my own hands personally! I just wonder which is stronger, the Blood-Chasing Saber or Dragon-Dethroning?”
Cheng Yu’s thoughts stirred.
The Dragon-Dethroning Xiuchun Saber at his waist began trembling in dissatisfaction, and he grabbed it with one hand.
Zhao Yi did not pay attention to the movement of Cheng Yu’s weapon.
He continued, “Aside from that, do not underestimate Tianji Tower’s Three Rankings! Although this old man does not understand much about matters related to the Fate Dao Inheritance, one thing is certain: Tianji Tower and the Fate Dao were not born in Great Qian. They came from outside.”
“In a few more days, Little Friend Cheng can personally go outside the Great Qian Capital to the place where Tianji Tower is located and view the true Three Rankings. At that time, you will know the benefits!”
Great Qian’s Martial Dao originated from the Progenitor of Qian.
Unless one reached a realm above the Grandmaster and surpassed the Progenitor of Qian, all inheritances could only be branches of the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance.
Naturally, they were not as good as the Progenitor of Qian’s Inheritance itself.
The heir of Tianji Tower had come from outside Great Qian, and the Fate Dao had also originated outside.
This Dao did not come from the Internal Energy Martial Dao created by the Progenitor of Qian. It possessed more hope than the Internal Energy Martial Dao.
The Fortuitous Opportunities rewarded by the Three Rankings were no worse than the inheritances of the supreme weapons under heaven.
“Good. I will go and take a look.”
Cheng Yu nodded. After learning that the Supreme Weapon Ranking Under Heaven was extraordinary, his attitude toward Tianji Tower’s Three Rankings became different.
Thinking about it, that was only natural.
Tianji Tower judged and commented on those lofty Grandmasters, ranking them one by one.
If those Grandmasters had conflicts with one another, Tianji Tower would even rank them in sequence.
It would be difficult not to provoke trouble.
Yet even after doing this, Tianji Tower had not been retaliated against. It surely had some ability.