Book 16: Chapter 26
“I couldn’t discern much considering I only had a single strike exchange with him; or I only gathered as much as you have. When it comes to knowledge in martial arts, there aren’t many who can hold a candle to your knowledge.” Wang Du put on airs as he crossed his arms – completely unlike what one’s impression of him might have been without having met him.
Jin Shiwang chuckled as he rubbed his hair into a bigger mess. “You speak too highly of this one. Jin Clan’s martial arts are nothing compared to Dark Robe Brotherhood’s.”
Wang Du shook his head. “I never said Jin Clan; I said you. Ever since your clan harboured the ambition to invent a complete discipline, the ‘Vast Treasure’ became a nightmare your clan can’t erase. That’s no treasury of knowledge.”
Only Jin Shiwang understood what was conveyed.
Gold and Silver Sect did not build their position in the martial world on martial prowess. Though they did produce some elite warriors, the number of elites could have been counted on one hand. Even then, was it their clan’s credit or those warriors having inborn talent for martial arts? Since their clan never had any advanced disciplines in their possession, it was understandable for them to have never produced many elites. Thanks to Li Dynasty’s progenitor valuing them, they were able to build their wealth over the next century to rival Feng Clan’s wealth. They had an easier time establishing themselves in the pugilistic world compared to Feng Clan because they interacted with many folks in the martial world. They did not have as many allies as Song Clan since they did not deliberately try to forge alliances, but they definitely had plenty of allies. By nature, then, they did not have many enemies. Thus, they were not a clan to be trifled with, not because they had mighty warriors behind their doors but because they could easily squash anyone with the elites they could hire.
Over the last century, Jin Clan made many attempts at producing their own martial arts disciplines. While they were still inferior to the five other clans, their improvement was self-evident. Nevertheless, martial arts were a nightmare for Jin Clan.
Jin Clan’s problem was that they had the wrong “diagnosis” to begin with. As a family of merchants, barely anyone in their family practiced martial arts. Their ancestor did not see eye to eye with Hero Shenzhou, either, so he tried to set up Hero Shenzhou numerous times when they were both serving Li Dynasty’s progenitor, only to have Hero Shenzhou turn the tables on him. As such, he swore an oath to create a discipline superior to Hero Shenzhou’s, or he would perish miserably, and the outcome went without saying. He was placed into his coffin with his face scrunched up in anger. He was not to blame, having said that. He just set his goal too high.
There was only one way a family of merchants was going to surpass someone coming from a sect that had existed for ages – not to mention the number of mysterious skills he had at his disposal. Instead of trying to beat Mount Daluo in terms of depth, it was wiser to surpass the breadth of skills Mount Daluo had. If they just collected enough manuals, they could accumulate an incomparable library. If they could synthesise the immense knowledge base, there was hope they could surpass Mount Daluo.
All that being said, the plan was on par with a daydream. After all, that was tantamount to possessing the blood and tears of every sect; they would have had to shed an unbelievable amount of blood to obtain them – if they were not annihilated before then out of revenge. But, Gold and Silver Sect had enough money to make it happen. This is what inspired “Vast Treasure”.