Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
25th of May of the Immortal Martial Era.
As a piece of information appeared, it spread through the superior sectors of the Ten Nations, leading to endless heated discussions.
An eighteen-year-old genius emerged in Nan Nation. He cultivated the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique to the sixth level and had already condensed the Essence Elephant Body.
The Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique was the best body tempering technique in the Ten Nations, with a total of thirteen levels, each of which was a realm of heaven and earth. There were no aptitude requirements nor restrictions.
However, for most cultivators, it would take 20 years to cultivate the first level while the second would take 40 years, followed by the third which would take 80 years, then the fourth which would take 160 years, and the fifth that would take 320 years.
As for the sixth level, it would require 640 years of hard cultivation. After each advancement, the duration would be doubled. Under normal circumstances, it would take more than 80,000 years to cultivate to the thirteenth level.
80,000 years was simply a terrifying number.
The first five levels of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique had almost no effect, and would merely strengthen one’s body and soul while building a strong foundation.
Besides, the cultivation process was also extremely difficult as it required one to cultivate all the time, so much that they simply would not have any time to cultivate one’s heart technique or do other things.
However, once one took a big step to cross over to the sixth level, there would be a qualitative metamorphosis. At the sixth level of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique, one would be able to condense the power of the ancient Essence Elephant and have incredible power to suppress everything.
If not for the extremely difficult and painstaking cultivation process, the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique would be more than the best Body Tempering technique in the Ten Nations, even the best in the Great Xia Dynasty.
However, even then, there were many who practiced the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique. Unfortunately, almost 10% of the practitioners were stuck in the first three levels. Even if one was lucky enough to break through to the fourth level, there would be no effect.
Only when one reached the sixth level would they be considered to have formally started cultivating it, going through a metamorphosis into a master and condensing the Blood and Qi Furnace.
Cultivators who could condense the Blood and Qi Furnace would not necessarily cultivate the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique, but once they reached the sixth level, they must be able to condense the Blood and Qi Furnace.
Now, a genius who was just 18 years old had emerged in Nan Nation and had even condensed the Blood and Qi Furnace. All of a sudden, he shot to fame in the Ten Nations, and in fact, it was said that the people of the Great Xia Dynasty were aware of these news too.
Reaching the sixth level of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique was simply demonic.
Ordinary cultivators would have to cultivate for 640 years, but the problem was that if one put all their energy on the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique, they would not have any time to cultivate, nor any time to learn other Dharmic Dao.
Besides, could one live for 640 years?
Even if one swallowed some special herbs and forcibly extended their lifespan to 640 years and then broke through to the sixth level of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique, so what?
Ordinary geniuses would reach at least the Golden Core realm after cultivating for more than 600 years. No matter how strong one’s physical body was, could they resist tens of thousands of Dharmic Dao?
How many people could be like Ye Ping and have excellent cultivation realm, physical body, and sword techniques?
Hence, the fact that the genius from Nan Nation could cultivate to the sixth level of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique had indeed shocked the people of the Ten Nations.
However, what really shocked people was not this, but the fact that the demonic genius threatened to challenge all the juniors of the Ten Nations Academy before the Ten Nations Grand Tournament, before he stepped into the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique.
The elites of Nan Nation were included too. To put it bluntly, he wanted to fight his fellow countrymen too.
All of a sudden, everyone understood that the genius from Nan Nation wanted to build an invincible Dao foundation and cultivate his heart, use battles to hone his skills and Dharmic Dao. He wanted to use this method to build an invincible heart.
1
He wanted to quickly break through to the seventh level of the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique.
Hence, when this news spread, all of the people of the Ten Nations were shocked, and all the great academies felt an unparalleled sense of oppression.
What did battles between academies signify? A battle between disciples.
The disciple represented the academy, and hence, the academy with the winning disciple would be the stronger one. Nan Nation was among the top ten of the Ten Nations, and now that there was such a genius, they were hopeless and pressurized.
In short, once the news came out, the people of the Ten Nations got into an uproar.
Take the Jin Nation for an example.
Initially, the people of the Jin Nation were all discussing the matter of Ye Ping instructing Elder Li Jiang, and the discussions revolving around that topic could have lasted at least half a month, but because of this matter…
Everyone in the entire Jin Nation was discussing the incredible genius of Nan Nation.
First, they were shocked, then envious, and lastly, hopeless.
They were shocked by his insane abilities to have been able to reach such a high level of cultivation in the Great Dragon and Elephant Ancient Technique, envious that they were not in his place, and hopeless because of a simpler reason.
The Ten Nations did not consist of only ten countries, but rather, the Ten Nations were the ten strongest ones among the 300-odd nations.
Even the weakest of them all was at least in the top ten. The stronger the nation, the higher their status and the better the welfare benefits enjoyed.
Disciples of Nan Nation would enjoy preferential benefits and treatment wherever they went. Those who knew that they were from Nan Nation would be kind to them, including the imperial court.
However, those from nations of lower status would not enjoy this treatment.
Over the years, the Jin Nation had been gradually improving after the policy change brought about by the new king. They were expected to reach the top five within a hundred years.
However, if there was such a genius in Nan Nation, it would probably be impossible to enter the top five in 500 years, let alone a hundred.
However, although the news spread throughout the Ten Nations overnight, everyone was still waiting for the results.
If the genius of Nan Nation could really defeat the Ten Nations, that would make everyone hopeless.
Fortunately, the Chen Nation, Li Nation, and Jing Nation also had supreme geniuses who might make the Nan Nation genius suffer if they really fought.
According to the news, this genius of Nan Nation planned to start emerging as the best of his academy, followed by the Chen Nation and all the way up.
At this moment, in the hall of the Jin Nation Academy.
Li Mocheng was seated on the main seat, making the entire hall seem oppressive and grim.
The rest of the elders in the hall could not help but frown. They were busy with the matter at hand when they were suddenly called over by the Academy Master. Hence, they were a little curious and surprised.
Even the elders who were in seclusion were woken up, so it was obvious that something big had happened. Otherwise, it would not be like this.
“Academy Master, what exactly has happened? Why were we suddenly summoned here?”
“Yeah, Academy Master. Did something big happen?”
“Is it about the genius of Nan Nation?”
After the elders appeared, someone finally couldn’t help but speak up and ask the Academy Master what had happened.
Seeing that all the elders had arrived, Li Mocheng finally spoke up.
“It’s not the matter of the genius of Nan Nation but something greater.”
Li Mocheng’s words made all the elders in the hall inevitably stunned.
‘Is there something more major than the genius of Nan Nation?’
They had found out about the genius of Nan Nation immediately and had also felt the unprecedented pressure.
However, what they didn’t expect was that it was actually even bigger than this matter.
For a moment, the elders were both curious and a bit nervous.
“Academy Master, stop keeping us in suspense. What exactly is it about?”
“Yes, what exactly happened?”
The crowd looked very curious and couldn’t help but look at the Academy Master.
Li Mocheng stopped leaving them hanging and looked at them before answering.
“The princess of the Great Xia Dynasty has gone missing in the territory of Jin Nation and is now confirmed to be in Qingzhou.”
Li Mocheng’s words made the faces of all the elders present turn sullen.
“What? The princess of the Great Xia Dynasty went missing in Jin Nation?”
2
“Academy Master, you’re not kidding, right? This is a huge matter.”
“How did the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty go missing in Jin Nation without our knowledge?”
“Which princess of the Great Xia Dynasty is it?”
The elders spoke up one after another, feeling as if they were struck by lightning.
The disappearance of the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty within Jin Nation was not a trivial matter.
They would be punished for being negligent in security or even other offenses that were even more serious. Even if it was the least favored princess, the king of Great Xia Dynasty would definitely have to punish Jin Nation since she had gone missing in Jin Nation.
Such punishment was definitely not something that they could afford to take responsibility for.
“The Tenth Princess.”
Li Mocheng answered while the elders breathed a slight sigh of relief and the tension on their faces eased slightly.
Everyone knew that the Tenth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty was not favored by the king, and in fact, she was disliked. Rumor had it that her mother was sent by the enemies to assassinate the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Later, the assassination failed and her mother eventually killed herself in the palace, leaving behind a baby.
The royals were heartless in the first place. Besides, the fact that the tenth princess’ mother had tried to assassinate the emperor was already a heinous crime. If not for the fact that the emperor considered the old ties he had with her, the princess would have been killed too.
Hence, the tenth princess had never been favored since she was born. Although she was a princess, she had an extremely low status.
However, no matter what, she was still the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, and everyone was aware of that. The severity of the punishment was the main matter of concern.
Looking at the expressions of the elders, Li Mocheng’s face turned stern.
“Are you all relieved to hear that it’s the Tenth Princess who is unfavored?”
Li Mocheng revealed their thoughts.
However, before the elders could answer, Li Mocheng continued.
“If she was just the tenth princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, that would be alright, but the problem is that months ago, the Great Xia Dynasty and the Great Ze Dynasty agreed to have the tenth princess marry the third prince of Great Ze dynasty for the sake of establishing deep diplomatic relations.”
Li Mocheng said.
For a moment, the faces of the elders became even more sullen.
“A royal marriage?”
“Why weren’t we aware of such a major thing?”
“Hasn’t there always been a conflict at the border between Great Ze Dynasty and Great Xia Dynasty? Could the marriage alliance be for the sake of that?”
“It should be more than just for the border conflict. Nowadays, the Great Xia Dynasty has internal and external troubles and they need help in everything. At such a level, we can’t guess what they want.”
The elders discussed and speculated.
However, Li Mocheng shook his head.
“The matter of the marriage alliance involves too many things and has nothing to do with us either. Yesterday, I went to the king to talk about this for an entire day and night.”
“The third prince of the Great Ze Dynasty is said to have fallen in love with the tenth princess at first sight, but if he’s unfavored too, it won’t matter.”
“However, the brother of the third prince of the Great Ze Dynasty is the crown prince of the Great Ze Dynasty who is extremely favored. 70% of the officials of the dynasty supported him and he’s destined to rule the world. He pampers the third prince too.”
“So if the Great Xia Dynasty is unable to fulfill this marriage alliance, the imperial court of the Great Ze Dynasty will also cease all diplomatic relations with the Great Xia Dynasty immediately.”
“Currently, among the five dynasties, the Great Qian and Great Ze Dynasties are getting stronger and stronger, while the Great Li Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty are also rising. The Great Xia Dynasty seems to be alienated.”
“In addition, these years, so much has happened in the Great Xia Dynasty, with the demons at the border and the Fiendcelestial Cult. There’s likely to be chaos.”
At this point, Li Mocheng shook his head again.
“However, these are just wild guesses, don’t think too much about it. For now, the biggest issue the Jin Nation is facing is the disappearance of the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, and once the marriage alliance fails, the Great Xia Dynasty will suffer losses.”
“By then, the Great Xia Dynasty will definitely punish Jin Nation severely, which will be a disaster for the Jin Nation imperial court and the people of Jin Nation.”
“I invited you all here today, because I hope that you will personally step up to find the whereabouts of the Great Xia Dynasty Princess.”
“Besides, I’ve already discussed with the king, who has already sent all the guards out to search for her in Qingzhou.”
“The most troublesome thing about this matter is that firstly, it cannot be publicized because it involves the prestige of the Great Xia Dynasty. If the news of a princess goes missing within the dynasty gets out, many will die.”
“Secondly, we’ve investigated and found out that this has a great relation to the Fiendcelestial Cult, and in fact, the sudden attack they launched on the 33 states of Jin Nation was meant to confuse everyone. Now, the Fiendcelestial Cult has a huge scheme and no one knows what they really want to do, but the only thing we know is that if the princess of Great Xia Dynasty is not rescued, the Jin Nation will be in huge danger.”
“Thirdly, we must find the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty and ensure she’s alive. If she dies, there will be trouble and chaos in Jin Nation, or even in the Ten Nations. Once the marriage alliance fails, the Great Ze Dynasty will be furious and hold someone responsible.”
At this point, Li Mocheng sighed deeply.
He got up and looked at the crowd.
“If such a thing really happens, the king and I will make a trip to the Great Xia Dynasty.”
“However, everyone, there are traces of the Fiendcelestial Cult this time, so it’s likely that you will never return after this. I implore you to risk your lives to bring back the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty.”
“She represents the entire Jin Nation and the hundreds of thousands of people. Thank you.”
Li Mocheng got up and bowed to the elders.
In fact, there was one thing that he did not mention and that was the imperial court of Great Xia Dynasty was already enraged about the disappearance of the princess and even a royal edict had appeared in the hands of the king of Jin Nation yesterday. However, there were only two simple sentences.
“The crown prince will ascend the throne if the princess returns.”
“If not, Jin Nation will be removed from the Ten Nations.”
The meaning was simple. Even if the princess returned, safe and sound, the king of Jin Nation would have to pay the corresponding price and step down to let the crown prince take the throne.
However, if she did not, the Jin Nation would no longer be one of the Ten Nations.
Those words were the greatest blow to a nation.
Li Mocheng did not tell the elders about it because he didn’t want them to feel pressurized. However, he understood that it concerned the fate of the entire Jin Nation.
At this moment, the Ten Nations Grand Tournament and genius of Nan Nation seemed insignificant in comparison.
In the main hall, the elders stood up after seeing Li Mocheng’s attitude.
Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on him, and finally, 32 elders bowed to Li Mocheng.
“We will bring the princess back.”
They added calmly.
“Even if we die.”
Li Mocheng bowed even more deeply.
No one would know that a huge crisis was looming over the Jin Nation.
No one would know that above the dome of the sky of the Great Xia Dynasty, there were dense dark clouds instead of clear skies.
That day.
Hundreds of elders of the Jin Nation Academy left quietly without a trace.
The Jin Nation Academy remained the same and no one knew what happened.
They were clueless and fearless.
On the following day, the sound of a rooster crowing filled the air, and a ray of sunlight penetrated through the darkness, landing on Ye Ping.
In the courtyard, Ye Ping opened his clear eyes calmly.
A night of comprehension had allowed Ye Ping’s Sword Dao attainment to progress slightly, but he had not comprehended the sword intent.
Not even a trace of it was comprehended.
That made Ye Ping a little regretful, and he could not help but feel reverence for Su Changyu once again.
During that night, he did not even see the shadow of the supreme sword intent, and yet, Su Changyu managed to do it and even master the sword intent.
He had probably comprehended long ago.
Indeed, peerless Sword Immortals were different.
Bright early in the morning, a voice came from outside the door.
It was Li Yue’s voice.
“Senior Brother Ye, today is Elder Xu’s morning class, are you here?”
Li Yue’s voice was not too loud.
In the courtyard, Ye Ping immediately got up, and after he took out the academic schedule to take a glance, he knew who Elder Xu was.
He was the alchemy elder of Jin Nation Academy and also the number one alchemist in Jin Nation.
Ye Ping was indeed quite interested in alchemy. Although it was obvious that Elder Xu’s alchemy attainments were inferior to Xu Luochen’s in his opinion, Ye Ping was still willing to go to listen to the lesson.
After all, his own attainments in alchemy were lower than that of his attainments in the Sword Dao. Hence, he wanted to see what Elder Xu had to say, and whether he could learn anything from it.
Of course, if Ye Ping really couldn’t learn anything, he would find a way to get a good evaluation so that he would be allowed to skip lessons in the future.
Thinking of this, Ye Ping could not help but get up and push open the door of the room.
After the door of the room was pushed open, Li Yue was not the only one outside. There were three women and one man, among whom one of them Ye Ping knew.
“Mo Xuan?”
Yes, it was Junior Sister Mo Xuan.
Among the four, Li Yue was beautiful, especially after she had obviously dressed up meticulously.
As for the other two, one looked petite while the other one, who was the only male, looked very puerile. However, based on his aura, it was obvious that he had an extraordinary identity.
“Greetings, Senior Brother Ye!”
Li Yue, Mo Xuan, and the other two bowed to Ye Ping as soon as they saw him, their eyes full of admiration.
“Greetings, Junior Brother, Junior Sisters.”
Ye Ping bowed too with a warm and gentle smile. He then headed to the lesson venue together with them.