Chapter 1001: The Ten Greats of the World

Chapter 1001: The Ten Greats of the World

In ancient times, there were the Ten Greats of the world and four alternates. Currently, two of the alternates were here: Ritual Sage and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises.

In terms of realm and cultivation, they should be divided into three tiers. The first tier was naturally Ritual Sage, Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, and Zheng Juzhong—all three were cultivators in the Fourteenth Realm.

Next were Yu Xuan, Lü Yan, Bai Jing, and Xiao Mo, none of whom had yet attained the Fourteenth Realm.

At the bottom, for now, was Chen Ping'an, who hadn't even reached the Fifth Realm.

The only exception was Li Xisheng, whose identity was quite special, making it extremely difficult to accurately define his true realm and cultivation.

If ranked solely by Dao age, the order should be: Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, Xiao Mo, Bai Jing, Ritual Sage, Yu Xuan, Lü Yan, Zheng Juzhong, Li Xisheng, Chen Ping'an.

As for the current Li Xisheng and the future Great Teacher of the Jade Capital, Kou Ming, along with Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City and Lü Yan of Pure Yang, in the eyes of the Supreme Sage, they all had hope of joining the ranks of the future Ten Greats.

So no matter how you calculated it, Chen Ping'an was always at the bottom.

However, though he was young, he had seen many grand scenes. Chen Ping'an was not prone to panic; his Dao heart was as still as water, and he did what needed to be done.

When Chen Ping'an, following Zheng Juzhong's reminder, withdrew those particles of his mind of varying sizes and weights—

The "Chen Ping'an" who had been copying several Daoist books on the first floor of his own Fallen Mountain Bamboo Tower instantly froze, his expression turning wooden, maintaining that posture of holding a brush for a long time.

On the garrison grounds of a Great Li general in Yu Prefecture, a cultivator's figure used earth escape techniques, found a cave in a gap between cliffs in a desolate mountain area, and his form instantly shed like a cicada's shell—it turned out to be a substitute talisman.

In the Western March region of Vase Bottle Continent, within the bustling marketplace of a capital city belonging to a Great Li vassal state, a middle-aged Daoist who set up a fortune-telling stall and helped write letters home had been earning money there for some time. He was especially effective at checking marriage compatibility between men and women. This wandering Daoist loved drinking, and after raising his gourd to take a few big gulps, he suddenly knocked his head on the table and fell into a deep snoring sleep.

A foreign qi refiner who had been admiring the scenery at an immortal inn in Green Apricot Kingdom immediately returned to his room, closed the door, sat cross-legged on a cushion, placed his hands folded on his abdomen, and fell into a heavy sleep.

In the region of Sunny Mountain, a qi refiner who last year hadn't been recorded in any peak's registry, relying on nothing but his Third Realm cultivation and bribery connections every step of the way, had just become a guest receptionist for a vassal sect under a certain peak. Today, taking advantage of a break between visitors, he sat by the river fishing. When a fish took the bait, he didn't even lift the rod.

As for that one particle of mind that had traveled "beyond the heavens" and "journeyed against the current of the river of time for ten thousand years," whether to recall it or not—Chen Ping'an was troubled and hesitant. It wasn't that he was unwilling, but doing so was not easy.

Just as Chen Ping'an was about to ask, Zheng Juzhong, who had clearly deduced something, spoke again via heart voice, smiling: "Don't recall that particle of mind. If you stop halfway, it could easily damage the foundation of your Dao. If you're not careful, in your current state, instead of helping, you'd have to withdraw beyond the heavens and return to the village school to recuperate. Besides, I don't want to be resented by that existence and then have Literary Sage block my door to curse me out."

Lü Yan smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen, I didn't expect to meet again so soon."

Chen Ping'an cupped his fists in return, "Greetings, Senior Pure Yang."

Afterward, without any further delay, Chen Ping'an immediately sacrificed his two lifebound flying swords, enveloping all the cultivators except Ritual Sage and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises.

According to Chen Ping'an's rough estimate, they were at least millions of miles away from Ritual Sage's dharma form, and with his current Nascent Soul realm, he could at most sustain a "Caged Sparrow" microcosm covering a radius of a thousand miles.

A gaunt old man with snow-white hair and beard wore a very loose purple robe. He stood barefoot, suspended in the void realm.

The purple robe on the old man was called "Purple Qi." Along with the feathered robe on Yu Dou, the "Seven Rays" on Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Zhao Tianlai (also known as "Dharma Lord"), and the ink-colored dragon robe on Yang Zhi, it was one of the Ten Great Dharma Robes across several worlds. This "Purple Qi" dharma robe was embroidered with a black-and-white Taiji yin-yang fish diagram. At the old man's waist hung a crystal-clear gourd, through which one could clearly see a magnificent and strange scene inside.

Starlight sparkled, with countless points of light clustering and converging into a river, as if the entire Milky Way had been traced inside.

The old true man, who should have been attaining the Fourteenth Realm beyond the heavens, was Yu Xuan of Talismans—hailed by the world as the one who monopolized the word "talisman."

Yu Xuan gently flicked his fingers a few times, and ripples of spiritual energy spread across the boundaries of the microcosm. He nodded, showing appreciation in his eyes, and smiled, "Not bad, not bad. Much obliged to Hidden Official Chen."

After saying the pleasantries, Yu Xuan still had some doubts in his heart. The current young Hidden Official was no longer the Chen Ping'an who had borrowed the Fourteenth Realm Dao technique from Lu Chen. He had been dragged beyond the heavens by Ritual Sage like a pressed laborer to help. In truth, a pure martial artist, even at the end realm, was only at the Nascent Soul stage as a cultivator. What help could he be? Even now, using his flying sword to create a microcosm of a thousand miles—what was the point?

Thus, Yu Xuan couldn't help but ask Lü Yan via heart voice, "Pure Yang Daoist, that's it?"

In fact, the old true man was meeting this Daoist, said to have returned from the Azure Firmament World to Haoran not long ago, for the first time.

Lü Yan smiled and said, "Senior Yu, just wait and see."

Yu Xuan had no choice but to suppress his doubts and nod.

Setting up a microcosm array—wasn't that a trivial matter for cultivators like them?

Of course, to be fair, the toughness of this microcosm still surprised Yu Xuan. Setting aside his most treasured great talismans, even if Yu Xuan personally made a move, he estimated that without at least twenty or thirty offensive talismans, it wouldn't be easy to break through the barrier. The annoying thing about sword cultivators, besides their ability to break all laws with a single sword, was especially the bizarre divine abilities of these lifebound flying swords.

Could it be that Literary Sage had made a deal with Ritual Sage, hoping to add to his disciple's merits on the Sage Temple's merit book?

If it were someone else, Yu Xuan might worry about projecting his own suspicions onto a gentleman. But when it came to Old Scholar, Yu Xuan felt it wouldn't be wronging him at all. Even if he confronted Old Scholar face to face, the latter would probably just say, "So what? If you don't accept, come fight me."

Chen Ping'an said, "I beg you all to relax your divine sense a little and visualize your usual cultivation grounds."

Zheng Juzhong was the first to visualize a White Emperor City Glazed Pavilion.

Lü Yan then visualized a Lü Duke Temple near the Fen River Shrine in Dream Liang Kingdom.

Yu Xuan visualized a Filled Gold Peak, the main gate of his authentic sect, which was the old man's earliest chosen Dao ground and the birthplace of his sect.

Xiao Mo's visualization was relatively perfunctory—a thatched hut on the Fallen Treasure Beach of Jade Sky Cave, where he used to brew wine in the old days.

Bai Jing was very unceremonious: what she visualized was directly a blazing, dazzling great sun.

Because these accomplished cultivators deliberately set no restrictions on their heart-visualizations, completely opening their divine sense, everything was able to "manifest" clear outlines within the microcosm, down to the finest detail.

But these were, after all, illusory visualizations.

Yu Xuan still didn't know what Chen Ping'an was up to. As Pure Yang Daoist said, he just had to wait and see.

Then Chen Ping'an took control of "that" lifebound flying sword, Moon in the Well, like a master painter most skilled in fine line drawing. Those grounds visualized by the cultivators were like drafts—just like the calligraphy scroll "Pity the Sparse Sword Qi" that Chen Ping'an had obtained from Green Coin Workshop. He only needed to trace the outlines and fill in the colors, copying the original, so the result was closest to the original draft.

Among Chen Ping'an's two lifebound flying swords, Caged Sparrow was an empty microcosm, like a body's shell.

The other, Moon in the Well, split into over four hundred thousand tiny flying swords, constructing the framework of this world's skeleton and meridians, like building the beams and pillars of a house, or filling the body's shell with blood and flesh.

Then, a White Emperor City Glazed Pavilion with jade-green glazed tiles on its roof rose instantly from the ground around Zheng Juzhong's feet. Countless golden threads began to spread upward, each golden thread being a clone of Moon in the Well. This nine-story glazed pavilion had carved railings and jade beams, upturned eaves with hanging bells, plaques and couplets... even the inconspicuous marks left by long-term rubbing on certain railings, and the fine cracks on some plaques after thousands of years of wind and sun—everything was clear and visible. But the truly marvelous part was when Zheng Juzhong activated the array here, the glazed pavilion seemed like a spirit that had gained intelligence, as if receiving an edict. Moreover, during this process, the golden threads constantly adjusted details, able to self-patch and repair loopholes and defects in the Dao techniques. At the thousands of "harmonized Dao" points, the golden glazed pavilion instantly turned into true colors.

When the last two wandering golden threads connected in an instant.

The array became "One."

The entire White Emperor City Glazed Pavilion was like... or rather, "was," moved by Chen Ping'an into this Caged Sparrow beyond the heavens.

Zheng Juzhong lightly patted the railing, nodded, and said, "Acceptable."

Bai Jing frowned slightly, sniffed, and said, "This works?!"

She couldn't help adding, "That's too insane!"

Then came Xiao Mo's ground, which Chen Ping'an also used to join forces.

Zheng Juzhong deliberately visualized the Glazed Pavilion first, which was effectively a form of intangible teaching, helping Chen Ping'an check for omissions.

The most critical part was that there was no "living intelligent being" inside the Glazed Pavilion, so the difficulty was not great.

As for constructing that Lü Duke Temple, Chen Ping'an was even more proficient, doing it with ease.

Lü Yan, holding a whisk and carrying a sword on his back, stood in the shade of a willow tree beside a pond outside the temple. He looked at the fish surfacing to eat willow catkins and water bugs. This Pure Yang Daoist stroked his beard and nodded. Chen Ping'an's progress in Dao techniques was very impressive.

Then Yu Xuan's Filled Golden Peak was even more "alive." Not only were there ancient trees and flowers all over the mountain, but even spiritual birds soaring and circling outside the mountain appeared one by one.

For all sorts of buildings, landscapes, stone springs, etc.—these "inanimate objects"—Chen Ping'an "factualized" and "truthified" them without any stagnation. But the appearance of those flowers, plants, trees, birds, and other living things meant that this microcosm was not only real but also alive.

This was what Li Xisheng had referred to earlier as the "support" function.

Before Chen Ping'an sacrificed Caged Sparrow and built each ground through Moon in the Well, Li Xisheng had not been idle. This Confucian scholar, who could be called unknown among the younger generation of the Bead Grotto-Heaven, walked on emptiness, moving above all things, like Lu Chen's praise for "a realm without people, a person without realm"—riding the wind with nothing to rely on, carrying the Great Dao while roaming the void... Moreover, Li Xisheng seemed able to ignore the spatial limitations of Caged Sparrow. He moved freely in and out of the sword formation's microcosm, constantly taking out talismans from his sleeve. They were mostly extremely rare single-character talismans, each paper simply inscribed with characters like mountain, water, cloud, rain, thunder, etc.—all characters with great meaning—helping the Caged Sparrow array to stabilize its borders both inside and out.

Only in the "small" matter of bringing living things and creatures into the various Dao grounds, although Li Xisheng and Chen Ping'an divided a primary and secondary role, the latter was not completely left out.

The final result was a Caged Sparrow microcosm containing multiple smaller microcosms.

Xiao Mo sighed for a long time, his mood complex.

Because not long ago, his master had mentioned to him the matter of "four layers." The key to the second layer, the most important part, was to use an uncountable number of talismans to fill what seemed like a bottomless pit, ultimately achieving a certain great realm, with the beauty of "water stretching to the horizon as a boundary, mountains firm and soil imperishable," the end realm's beauty. Heaven and Earth, mountain and water dependent on each other, within which the five elements circulated, the sun and moon rose and fell, the twenty-four solar terms progressed throughout the year, and the Great Dao cycled endlessly, generating life without cease.

And this surnamed Li scholar seemed able to achieve this level long ago.

Cultivators ten thousand years later, with so many geniuses emerging, their depth of research into "techniques" and their ascent were indeed incomparable to ten thousand years ago.

As for Bai Jing, she was currently sitting inside a miniature sun, as big as a mountain top. It was more like a "borrowing" by Chen Ping'an, similar but not identical to the ancient Dao ground she had visualized.

For her master's perfunctory and sloppy treatment, Bai Jing didn't bother to argue.

Lü Yan smiled slightly.

Yu Xuan stood at the peak of that Filled Golden Peak, coughed a few times, and praised via heart voice, "These young people nowadays are truly remarkable."

The younger generation was formidable, indeed formidable. Next time he met Old Scholar, if the latter again obliquely praised his disciple, Yu Xuan planned to agree without being insincere.

Suddenly, Yu Xuan's expression turned strange. "This kind of trump-card, closely guarded, never-revealed, unique Great Dao—shouldn't it be hidden to death? Is it just revealed like this? What about when Chen Ping'an challenges others to sword duels in the future? He'll lose his first-move advantage!"

The old true man used a series of modifiers, showing that the young Hidden Official's combination of his two lifebound flying swords was indeed rare, and had truly caught the eye of Talisman Yu Xuan.

Lü Yan said, "We cultivators present here won't spread it. As for some sneaky great cultivators trying to deduce conclusions through derivation, that would be quite difficult, right?"

Yu Xuan nodded with a smile, "True. But to be safe, I'll use some small methods to close the door and block the road. Can't let a young man suffer such a loss for public affairs."

Then, Yu Xuan pinched his two fingers together, "wiped out" a talisman from the cuff of his Purple Qi dharma robe. The talisman turned into a stream of purple qi, swirling around Chen Ping'an, flying in circles several times in an instant, then gradually dissipated.

Immediately, Yu Xuan jumped up and cursed: "F*** your ancestors! How unscrupulous can you be? Which dog son is haunting so persistently? What grudge is so deep that they need to divine and observe Chen Ping'an at all times?"

A moment later, Yu Xuan started cursing again. It turned out there was more than one force secretly peeping into Chen Ping'an's fate trajectory. Compared to the former's method of drawing connections via celestial phenomena, the latter's means were more covert. Hearing Pure Yang Daoist's heart-voice remark, Yu Xuan nodded lightly, raised both sleeves, and silently intoned "Open Path." The two strands of talisman purple qi lingering around Chen Ping'an faintly connected to the mountain-head Dao grounds of those two forces at a distance. At the same time, Lü Yan raised both hands, each with two fingers together, and gently flicked them on the two long purple qi lines. Then he waved his sleeve and wiped, causing sword light like a rainbow to flash and vanish. In an instant, two thin, thread-like sword lights roared with the force of heavenly thunder, heading to two places—one in the Central Earth Divine Continent of Haoran World, and one in one of the Five Cities of the Azure Firmament World.

An observatory of the Lu Clan of Yin-Yang School in the Central Earth, heavily guarded, was smashed in half by a "heavenly thunder" that fell straight down.

As for a celestial instrument in one of the cities of the Jade Capital, the sharp sword light from beyond the heavens found it through tiny traces and turned it to dust on the spot. An immortal realm Dao official in charge of this celestial instrument was blasted out of the room, covered in dust, and his precious dharma robe was directly ruined. Shocked and furious, he stamped his foot in chagrin. This treasure of immortal soldier rank could be repaired, but the irreplicable clues about that young Hidden Official were all destroyed.

Chen Ping'an cupped his fists to thank the two seniors.

Lü Yan nodded in acknowledgment: No need to thank me, consider it a down payment for you protecting the Dao for us later.

Yu Xuan smiled, "No need to thank me. I hate this kind of shady, underhanded trick the most in my life."

Li Xisheng stood shoulder to shoulder with Chen Ping'an within a bright moon, gazing into the distance. "No need to rush. There are still at least two quarters of an hour before Ritual Sage begins contact with the Barbarian World."

Li Xisheng pointed into the far distance. "Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises and Senior Yu have already set up three talisman mountains and a long river of precious talismans, but the distance is too great for you to see clearly."

Yu Xian smiled, "I'm just making small moves, nothing compared to Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises' grand gesture. A laughingstock indeed."

Last time at Fuyao Continent, after a fight, the several hundred thousand talismans he hadn't used were now completely depleted, not a single one left.

Chen Ping'an couldn't help but ask, "Brother Li, why not call more Ascension Realm cultivators to help?"

Li Xisheng explained with a smile, "Some can't help, and some can't get away."

Yu Xuan stroked his beard and laughed. "Both Second Sage and Literary Sage, as well as the Sage Temple's master Dong Fuzi, are all Fourteenth Realm, but they attained the Dao through geographical advantage. If they made a move here, it would easily backfire."

The old true man's implication was that Fourteenth Realm cultivators who attained the Dao through geographical advantage had too many constraints and lacked flexibility, falling short compared to the methods of "heavenly timing" and "human harmony."

As for the mountain and river gods of the Nine Continents of Haoran, they of course needed to stabilize the mountain roots and water veins within their respective territories. In fact, before Chen Ping'an was brought here, the god "Great Jiao" Zhou You, including the Five Marchmount Lords of the Central Earth, as well as the Four Sea Water Lords including Wang Zhu and Li Ye Marquis, and high-ranking river lords, marquises, and earls of various continents like Shen Lin and Yang Hua, had all received a secret decree from the Sage Temple, ordering them to command all subordinate deities and city god temples within their territories to immediately return to their divine positions and sit firmly on their "golden bodies" in the temples.

Earlier, Zheng Juzhong had already reminded Li Xisheng that unless absolutely necessary, he should not lightly "harmonize with the Dao." Otherwise, in that three-religion struggle of the Jade Capital Great Teacher Kou Ming's "One Qi Transforming Three Purities," the Confucian student Li Xisheng would be completely defeated.

Beyond the heavens, a torrential surge of qi swept in, like a tide crashing against the shore, causing the Caged Sparrow microcosm to shake.

What a shocking "mountain rain wind filling the tower" — a genuine great wind from the heavens!

It instantly gave Chen Ping'an a suffocating feeling.

Bai Jing, imitating Little Rice's way of speaking, quickly shouted, "Mountain Lord, Mountain Lord, open the door, open the door!"

Chen Ping'an stabilized his body and soul, ignoring her. I'm not familiar with you.

Li Xisheng smiled, "This is a rare opportunity. You can indeed open a gate to the microcosm appropriately, allowing it to absorb the spiritual energy. Besides pure spiritual energy, there is also some ancient Dao qi lingering on the celestial dome, carried along by the Barbarian World, breaking free from the Dao constraints of one world and rushing in first. It's hidden within this surging tide of Dao techniques. You might as well take it all in first, and after returning to Haoran, you can slowly unravel it. You might find unexpected surprises. There will probably be two more such tides."

Being cautiously ambitious and knowing when to stop was Chen Ping'an's consistent style.

So Chen Ping'an immediately opened a large gate. The Caged Sparrow microcosm opened like a sack, with the entrance forming a horn shape to accommodate more tidal spiritual energy. Then, the "riverbed" watercourse for over a hundred miles resembled a bottle with a big belly and a small mouth lying horizontally on the ground, making it easy for the tidal spiritual energy to enter but hard to retreat. Additionally, a section of the riverbed rose, so that the tide came from afar, rushed into the bottle-shaped riverbed, pushed forward, and the water roared like thunder, wave upon wave surging. Chen Ping'an applied what he had just learned, copying Li Xisheng to draw a dozen or so "wind" character talismans on the spot, tossing them outside the gate. They acted like a dozen wind deities blowing, using the wind direction to increase the tide's momentum.

Talisman Yu Xuan couldn't help but say, "Pure Yang Daoist, is it my imagination? Hidden Official Chen perked up instantly, his entire demeanor changed."

Lü Yan answered irrelevantly, "Chen Ping'an's method here follows the principle of the Qiantang River tidal bore in Vase Bottle Continent: the combination of celestial timing, wind direction, terrain, and water flow is all aligned."

In short, without affecting the stability and atmosphere of the entire microcosm, this was almost the best way for Chen Ping'an to open the gate and accommodate the maximum amount of tidal spiritual energy.

Bai Jing quickly turned her head to look at Xiao Mo beside the thatched hut on the "ground." "Xiao Mo, Xiao Mo, help me say a fair word to the Mountain Lord! The book says, 'Heaven-sent gifts not accepted will bring calamity; opportunity not seized will never return.'"

Xiao Mo, who had indeed adapted to local customs, helped negotiate a price: "If you agree to an eighty-twenty split with my master, I'll speak to him."

Bai Jing, though she had restored her true form and appearance, still seemed to retain the temperament of that girl Xie Gou. She snapped, "Are you slaughtering a pig?! Why don't you two just rob me outright?"

For accomplished cultivators like Zheng Juzhong, Yu Xuan, and Lü Yan, the number of apertures they had opened and the spiritual energy stored in their acupoints had already reached saturation, so this tide of celestial spiritual energy surging in was rather trivial. Xiao Mo, as a perfected Ascension Realm sword cultivator, was in a similar situation.

Zheng Juzhong, in particular, as a grand demonic overlord who had achieved an unprecedented feat—one person with two Fourteenth Realms—no longer needed spiritual energy for cultivation.

Only the sword cultivator Bai Jing was very good at managing resources. Before Chen Ping'an was summoned, she had already taken out a pile of miscellaneous treasures and begun storing spiritual energy. After two tides, she had made a great harvest. After all, such a celestial tide caused by the collision of two worlds was not something an Ascension Realm cultivator could casually encounter when traveling beyond the heavens.

As for why Bai Jing didn't just rush out of this microcosm, of course, it was because the bigger picture mattered more. These spiritual energy gains were just a side dish; the real main event was still to come.

Chen Ping'an glanced a few times in Bai Jing's direction, estimating the capacity of her pile of treasures to additionally accommodate tidal spiritual energy, and said via heart voice, "Fifty-fifty split, how about that?"

"Sure, sure! Very fair!"

Bai Jing laughed heartily, and her figure dashed like wind and lightning toward the bottle-neck gate. A dozen or so treasures scattered like heavenly flowers, spreading out, drawing water like dragons, absorbing the tidal spiritual energy.

Yu Xuan clicked his tongue in admiration, "Pure Yang Daoist, look at that. Sword cultivators are great, aren't they? No matter what comes, just thrust out a sword. At most, if one sword isn't enough, throw out a few more. The two of us are nothing but patchers and toilers."

Sword cultivators like Bai Jing and Xiao Mo were indeed different from him and Pure Yang Daoist. They didn't need to "deploy troops" for their lifebound objects, arranging celestial spiritual energy in their personal microcosm like troops in battle formation. They had to adjust their state and meticulously carve out a series of details. For qi refiners other than sword cultivators, their daily idle state, their cultivation and seclusion state, and their combat state with others—three different states—were entirely different internal scenes within the same personal microcosm. Even Yu Xuan, at his level, needed to use different lifebound objects and aperture caves matched with different categories of talismans to construct different arrays within his body, simultaneously consolidating his flesh and stabilizing his soul.

Lü Yan smiled without speaking.

After all, he was a Daoist, but he also knew a few sword techniques.

Moreover, Lü Yan's path to forming an elixir was something he dared to say was unlike any other cultivator in the world.

Chen Ping'an took the initiative to say, "Earlier, when I visited the Demon Suppression Tower in Tongye Continent, I heard Fellow Daoist Qing Tong mention the ancient Ten Greats of the world. Adding the alternates, I think there were fourteen in total. But Qing Tong only mentioned a partial list. Could Old Immortal Yu enlighten me?"

Yu Xuan found it strange, "Old Scholar's knowledge is so vast—doesn't he tell you this?"

Chen Ping'an replied, "My teacher usually focuses on academic matters; in our daily interactions, we don't discuss these topics much."

Yu Xuan was momentarily speechless.

Well, there you have it: one creates opportunities to praise his disciple even without a chance, and the other seizes any opportunity to praise his teacher. No wonder you're teacher and student—like master, like disciple.

Yu Xuan pointed at the handsome Xiao Mo at the "foot of the mountain." "His Dao age is enough, and he's Hidden Official Chen's retainer. Doesn't he talk about these old histories he's witnessed and heard firsthand?"

Xiao Mo smiled and explained, "My master devotes himself daily to cultivating the Dao and works diligently at his studies. He doesn't like to be distracted discussing such past events. I also dare not bring them up casually."

Chen Ping'an was taken aback. He looked at Xiao Mo. That's right—why hadn't he thought to ask Xiao Mo?

Xiao Mo's expression remained normal, but he was puzzled. He had thought his master was just buttering up Talisman Yu Xuan for rapport and didn't actually care about the list of the Ten Greats. Apparently not?

It was Zheng Juzhong who once again answered Chen Ping'an's doubt: "Because it involves the names of the ancient Ten Greats, the Demon Suppression Tower's Qing Tong dared not say much, fearing unnecessary trouble. Your subconscious refusal to ask Xiao Mo, who is right beside you, is an instinct. Deep down, you are very aware that Xiao Mo might have numerous lingering causal threads with several of them."

Yu Xuan didn't dwell on it. Since the young Hidden Official humbly sought advice, he decided to act old and wise, imparting some knowledge to his junior. Chuckling, he asked, "Among the Ten Greats and four alternates, which ones did Qing Tong tell you about?"

Besides, the last time Old Scholar had invited him for drinks, he had been very straightforward and down-to-earth, speaking as a true brother. For instance, Old Scholar had earnestly advised Yu Xuan: "Brother Yu, as a confirmed Fourteenth Realm cultivator, being approachable is good, too benevolent, but if you're too approachable, that's not so good. You need, to some extent, to put on the proper airs of a Fourteenth Realm cultivator. So next time you're deliberating at the Sage Temple, remember to speak louder. Or if you're traveling in some continent and encounter a certain Ascension Realm cultivator you don't like on the road, Brother Yu, just shoot him a sidelong glance. Even speaking a single word would be insufficiently domineering..."

"Among the Ten Greats of the world are the Three Religion Founders: the Supreme Sage, the Dao Ancestor, and the Buddha. Also the First Ancestor of the Military Strategists, the world's first 'Daoist,' and the Foremost Swordmaster. Fellow Daoist Qing Tong only mentioned these six, leaving out four."

Chen Ping'an answered. "As for the four alternates, he did mention them all: the Great Sword Immortal, Ritual Sage, Mr. Bai Ze, and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises."

The ancient Ten Greats of the world had no ranking order.

The world's first "Daoist." The Immortal Hairpin City in the Barbarian World was transformed from this Daoist's hairpin. Nowadays, the gatekeeper of Fallen Mountain was a "Daoist Immortal Wei" with a wooden hairpin in his hair.

The Foremost Swordmaster, name unknown.

The First Ancestor of the Military Strategists was imprisoned, or rather exiled, into that "Mars," patiently waiting for the end of his ten-thousand-year prison term. Only martial artists like Chen Ping'an, Cao Ci, and Pei Qian had the chance to meet him. I believe that in the past ten thousand years, even though the people and identities at different positions on that strange mountain peak have changed, the number of pure martial artists who have seen this First Ancestor of the Military Strategists remains few.

Chen Ping'an's greatest regret now was that he had learned too late about the existence of the Ten Greats. Otherwise, he would definitely have asked the Great Sword Immortal face-to-face whether he knew that mysterious Foremost Swordmaster.

As for the four alternates, Ritual Sage was among them. In the minds of Xiao Mo and Bai Jing, they were still more accustomed to calling this "scholar" by the title Little Master.

Bai Ze was the one most likely to become the common ruler of the Yao race. Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises founded the talisman path; one of the ancient Five Marchmounts, "Tai Mountain," was one of his Dao grounds.

The sword cultivator Chen Qingdu.

Yu Xuan stroked his beard, squinting with a smile. He first played coy, then asked, "Hidden Official Chen, besides being a sword cultivator, you are also one of the rare end-realm martial artists. Do you know about the incident with the First Ancestor of the Military Strategists and his connection to the martial path?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Historically, there was a 'joint beheading,' and this First Ancestor of the Military Strategists was also the first Eleventh Realm martial artist in the world. Unfortunately, his path to deification of the martial artist's flesh was said to have only reached halfway. He ascended the peak, which is today's end realm, but when he tried to go further and connect to heaven, he never succeeded."

Yu Xuan smiled. "Apart from those six, there was also Lan Qi, a female cultivator. She was the true founder of all forge-masters in the world, proficient in casting. She personally pioneered the path of refining objects into lifebound items, which greatly increased the power of human Daoists. As for the Fourteenth Realm cultivator with the Dao name 'Tai Yin' in today's Azure Firmament World, she is actually one of those who walked the path opened by this female cultivator. I'd say Wu Zhou has walked the farthest on this 'refining objects' path later in the world, though it's hard to say 'one of.' Huh, both Senior Lan Qi and Wu Zhou are women. Could it be that Senior Lan Qi is protecting later female Daoists?"

Lü Yan smiled and reminded, "Senior Yu, it's better to avoid naming names a few times."

It turned out that Lü Yan was helping Yu Xuan scatter the invisible causal links drawn by those "words."

Yu Xuan quickly made a Daoist hand gesture apologetically. "I got carried away and spoke without restraint."

Chen Ping'an silently memorized the name "Lan Qi."

No wonder later dynasties in the mortal world had the saying, "Armory forbidden weapons are kept at Lan Qi."

After a moment of silence, Yu Xuan continued, "Since in ancient times there were deities in the heavens and immortals on earth, there must have been ghostly beings. Thus, its appearance caused the division of the human world into the realm of the living and the realm of the dead, separating the bright from the dark."

"As for the separation of heaven and earth, the distinction between gods and humans, there were incense offerings in the human world, so there emerged those who spoke on behalf of heaven—the shamans, specialized in communicating between gods and humans. Later, according to the Sage Temple's ritual system, there were various sacrificial officials including the Six Wishes. For example, the Yunlin Jiang Clan in your Vase Bottle Continent had ancestors who were among the Great Shamans. Moreover, the Sword Qi Great Wall also established sacrificial officials in the early years."

Yu Xuan looked up at the sky, then withdrew his gaze to look ahead at Ritual Sage's towering dharma form. He slowly said, "Since Ritual Sage severed the connection between heaven and earth, the main incense of this lineage has naturally been cut off. However, certain branches of incense that spread from it have never completely died out. Among the exoteric schools, besides the ritual officials responsible for divination and sacrifices in mortal dynasties, there are also the imperial observatories of various nations, as well as the Yin-Yang School and the Five Elements School in the mountains."

Chen Ping'an had already silently closed the gate, temporarily gathering those tides of spiritual energy into a "well."

Bai Jing had also returned home, laden with spoils. She sat cross-legged within that great sun, dividing that spiritual energy and Dao qi in two, condensing some extremely pure pearls. Then she took out two white jade plates from her sleeve, and large and small pearls fell onto the jade plates with a crisp, pleasant sound. After finishing, Bai Jing yawned, getting drowsy. All these stale old matters—what was the point of chewing them over?

Such a boring review was worse than looking forward. For example, among the future Ten Greats of the world, she and Xiao Mo would be included. Haha, how wonderful. It was absolutely certain they would be a pair of immortal lovers.

Mm, hand on chest and heart to speak a fair word: Xiao Mo's talent in swordsmanship was slightly worse than hers. For him to make it into the Ten Greats list was still a bit doubtful. So, settling for the next best, Xiao Mo could get an alternate spot to play with.

If the rules of several worlds were as simple as those of the Barbarian World, how refreshing would that be? She would find a few who could fight, join forces, and chop up all those Ascension Realm cultivators who had a chance to break through and harmonize with the Dao. After cutting them all down, how could they still compete for titles?

Yu Xuan used his peripheral vision to size up Bai Jing, found her a bit headache-inducing. How did Fallen Mountain end up with someone who feared nothing? This great Dao competition unprecedented in ten thousand years was not as simple as she thought. Especially those beings in each world born to respond to fate—even a Fourteenth Realm cultivator like Wu Zhou dared not provoke them lightly, fearing to incur the aversion and disgust of the Heavenly Dao. Yu Xuan continued, "There was another female cultivator. Unlike most top cultivators of her era who focused on ascending, she did the opposite. She liked to wander the earth, collecting and compiling various secret scriptures and spiritual texts, summarizing and refining the world's thunder, water, and fire techniques. She traveled alone through countless mountains and rivers, dedicating herself to gathering and studying various Dao marks, thunder scripts, cloud patterns, etc., which were 'heavenly texts' on the earth. Ultimately, she derived over a dozen Dao veins, every one of which was hailed by later generations as a path to the summit of the Great Dao, at the very least a side path that could attain the ancient 'Earth Immortal' level."

"As for that Foremost Swordmaster, I put him last and must add an extra mention because this person was very strange, too strange. Legend has it that he had many flying swords, high rank, great talent, fast breakthrough speed—and there's one more point: bad temper. Every aspect must have the word 'most'."

"This person was not the first sword cultivator in the world. He appeared out of nowhere, with no name, unclear origins. Moreover, his temperament was eccentric. He almost always acted alone, and it is said he never spoke a single word to any cultivator. So there has never been a clear statement about this sword cultivator's true identity and lineage. Some say he was purely self-taught in swordsmanship, others say he was lucky to inherit multiple sword technique Dao veins. Various theories abound."

Having said this, Yu Xuan couldn't help but joke, "This sword cultivator and the Great Sword Immortal are very similar to today's Cao Ci and Hidden Official Chen on the martial path."

Before the interval between the first tidal surge and the second had even reached a quarter of an hour, the second great tide of spiritual energy arrived. This time, it clearly contained more scattered Dao qi.

As for the tide's momentum, it was more than double the previous one. The Caged Sparrow microcosm rocked like a leaf in the sea, swaying and jolting.

Bai Jing grinned, wanting to make a sarcastic remark, but quickly understood the crux of the matter. Tsk, Mountain Lord Chen was really thrifty; face and vanity were all floating clouds.

Yu Xuan and Lü Yan exchanged glances and smiled. It seemed there was no need to remind the young Hidden Official.

Bai Jing suddenly stood up. "Mountain Lord, time to work!"

As Chen Ping'an opened the bottle-shaped gate, he used the increasingly fierce spiritual energy tide to sharpen the edges of his two lifebound flying swords. After roughly determining the scope and force of the tide hitting the microcosm, the leaf-like microcosm, which had been bobbing unsteadily, stabilized. Layers of shimmering glazed colors appeared on the outside of the Caged Sparrow barrier—a unique sight that only appeared when the river of time struck certain "paths." But Chen Ping'an didn't have time to collect them.

Suddenly, several barely perceptible tiny lights arced through the void beyond the heavens, detouring far around Ritual Sage's dharma form and Mr. Three Mountains Nine Marquises, heading straight for the Caged Sparrow microcosm.

These were definitely sneak attacks from powerful cultivators of the Barbarian World.

Bai Jing had only wanted to focus on making money and ignore these "tickling" offensive methods. But when Xiao Mo appeared beside her, she immediately opened her throat and shouted, "How dare you!" A single speck of sword light shot out through the gate, splitting into dozens of sword lights outside, then into hundreds of sword-light veins thousands of miles away. Crucially, each time the sword light branched off, it didn't diminish the sword qi and sword intent contained in the initial speck at all.

Bai Jing grinned. "Xiao Mo, my 'casting the net' sword technique, isn't it passable?"

Xiao Mo just focused his breath, watching the Barbarian techniques shattered by Bai Jing's sword light, saying nothing.

Then two more waves of denser offensive techniques came, but Bai Jing easily countered them with her "casting the net" technique alone, never allowing them within a thousand miles of the Caged Sparrow microcosm.

Yu Xuan was quite astonished. The old true man only knew that the female sword cultivator he met for the first time called herself Xie Gou, but she quickly changed it, saying her current name was Plum Blossom.

As for that unfamiliar Daoist friend with the Dao name Xi Zhu, he had spoken more and was more candid, saying that he and Bai Jing were both ancient Yao sword cultivators from ten thousand years ago, at the Ascension Realm. They had been awakened by Mr. Bai Ze from their slumber and were now cultivating at Fallen Mountain and would not interfere in the conflict between the two worlds. This time, summoned by Little Master beyond the heavens, Bai Jing was bound by agreement to only observe—she was just here for the excitement. But he, as his master's retainer and death warrior, had no such restrictions and would naturally draw his sword to help and contribute what he could.

Yu Xuan naturally had a concept of how lethal an Ascension Realm sword cultivator could be, but this Bai Jing—wasn't she too strong?

Just this "casting the net" technique of hers—if used at a few ferry ports in the Barbarian World, or on some battlefield?

Lü Yan said via heart voice, "The Great Dao cycles without error; from ancient times, each thing subdues another. For example, if Bai Jing had stayed in the Barbarian World, I estimate I wouldn't have needed to wander Haoran."

Yu Xuan laughed in spite of himself.

The old true man had already looked down and found that the sources of these harassing techniques were extremely concealed, all using methods of shrinking the earth and moving mountains. Their positions shifted unpredictably, combined with certain arrays and Dao grounds to obscure qi. Clearly, they were well-prepared.

Bai Jing asked in confusion, "Xiao Mo, strange. It seems Mr. Bai Ze hasn't made a move. Even after I struck like this, he didn't get angry?"

Xiao Mo said, "Causing the two worlds to collide is itself a carefully planned method targeting Ritual Sage. It has nothing to do with Mr. Bai Ze."

Another wave of offensive techniques, like a drizzle, arrived noisily. Just as Bai Jing was about to strike, Zheng Juzhong remained oblivious.

Li Xisheng had been making hand seals and calculating inside his sleeve. His expression changed slightly, and he shouted to Bai Jing, "Stop!"

Bai Jing rolled her eyes, hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly withdrew most of her fast-striking sword light.

Xiao Mo, along with Yu Xuan and Lü Yan, acted almost simultaneously, but not against the Barbarian offensive techniques. Instead, they shattered Bai Jing's lightning-fast sword light.

In the end, about ten percent of the sword light remained, still shredding part of the Barbarian talismans.

Only at this moment did Zheng Juzhong "belatedly" act, casually gathering most of the talismans into his hand. He opened his palm, and the thousands of talismans instantly shrank and condensed into a dozen or so mustard seeds, spinning like stars above his palm. Zheng Juzhong smiled. Sure enough, they were all aimed at Chen Ping'an.

Xiao Mo immediately turned his head to look at his master.

Chen Ping'an shook his head, signaling with his eyes that it was fine; no need to blame Bai Jing.

Bai Jing scratched her face, looking pitifully at Xiao Mo.

This time, she had indeed done wrong. How was she supposed to know that mountain combat required her to consider all these twists and turns? Ten thousand years ago, it wasn't like this.

Xiao Mo took a deep breath, suppressing his temper, and said, "Remember to be more careful next time."

Bai Jing subconsciously went to adjust her marten hat, only to remember she was currently in her true form. She put her hand down, nodded gently, and said softly, "Xiao Mo, you're so kind."

Xiao Mo's face darkened. He almost got goosebumps all over, so he just kept silent.

He planned to discuss this matter with his master after returning to Fallen Mountain—this kind of interaction with Xie Gou or Bai Jing really couldn't continue.

Zheng Juzhong, standing at the highest point of the Glazed Pavilion, gently clenched his fist, also destroying the talismans, but in greater numbers. However, he didn't harm Chen Ping'an's soul in the slightest, nor did he wear down Chen Ping'an's cultivation. After opening his hand, the thousands of talismans in his palm had turned to ashes, drifting away with the wind. He smiled. "It looks like Zhou Qinggao drew these talismans and entrusted them to Fei Ran to bring here as a greeting gift. That close disciple of Wen Hai Zhou Mi put a lot of heart into it. Truly worthy of being the Hidden Official's number one admirer."