Chapter 10: Various Realms of Martial Dao!

"Rong'er, be careful!"

"What kind of monster dares to break into Taohuadao!"

Chen Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Mei Chaofeng shouted sharply almost at the same time; their figures shifted, one left and one right, vaguely shielding Huang Rong behind them, staring at Ning Chuan with extreme vigilance.

The jade flute in their hands and the leg technique ready to be unleashed both indicated that if Ning Chuan made the slightest move, he would immediately face their thunderous attack.

The momentum of Innate experts was fully revealed at this moment.

Seeing this, Huang Rong quickly waved her hands and explained with a smile: "Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, don't be nervous! This is Big Black Snake, my friend. It won't hurt anyone; it even saved my life at sea before!"

She briefly recounted the story of encountering the shipwreck and being saved by Ning Chuan.

After Chen Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Mei Chaofeng finished listening, the vigilance on their faces lessened slightly, but the suspicion in their eyes did not fade at all.

They carefully sized up Ning Chuan; such a huge snake, and one that possessed human-like intelligence and saved their Junior Sister—this sounded truly unbelievable.

"Rong'er, is this true?" Chen Chen Xuanfeng asked with a frown, his tone still carrying a bit of uncertainty.

"Of course it's true! Father has already agreed to let Big Black Snake stay on the island!" Huang Rong pouted, somewhat dissatisfied with her Senior Brother and Senior Sister’s suspicion of her friend.

Regarding the vigilance and scrutiny of Chen Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Mei Chaofeng, Ning Chuan merely glanced at them coldly and then ignored them.

He had no good feelings for these two future traitors.

If it weren't for the fact that it was not appropriate to expose too much right now, he wouldn't even bother staying in the same space as them.

He just coiled quietly beside Huang Rong, like an old monk in meditation, closing his eyes to rest, but in reality, he was carefully savoring the Divine Dragon Tail Swing he had just comprehended.

Seeing this, Huang Rong said no more, pulled on Ning Chuan’s scales, and said: "Big Black Snake, let's go, ignore them, I'll take you to look around elsewhere!"

Chen Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Mei Chaofeng watched the person and the snake gradually move away, and only when their figures disappeared around the corner of the peach forest did the two slowly breathe a sigh of relief.

Mei Mei Chaofeng frowned slightly and said in a low voice: "Senior Brother, this strange snake’s origin is unknown, and its intelligence is so high, will it... have any impact on our plan?"

Her voice carried a hint of imperceptible worry.

A flash of sinister intent crossed Chen Chen Xuanfeng’s eyes, and he pondered: "Hard to say. However, since it was allowed by Master to stay on the island, I suppose it is not a treacherous or evil creature. It’s just... we still need to be careful and guard against its depth of strength."

He paused, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes: "Find an opportunity to test its bottom line. If it really is a threat, hmph..."

Mei Mei Chaofeng nodded and said nothing more, but the vigilance and calculation in their eyes were self-evident.

On the other side, Huang Rong took Ning Chuan to wander around Taohuadao.

She was like a cheerful little bird, chattering away as she introduced every scene on the island, every exotic flower and herb, and various interesting things that happened during her childhood to Ning Chuan.

From the Sword-Testing Pavilion to the Clear Sound Cave, from the medicinal garden to her mother’s tomb...

Ning Chuan listened quietly, occasionally touching Huang Rong’s arm with his snake head to show he was listening.

"Big Black Snake, where do you want to go and see?" Huang Rong asked curiously, looking up with her little face.

Hearing this, Ning Chuan pondered slightly.

Although he could understand human speech, he was a blank slate regarding the world’s writing, history, geography, and so on.

To better integrate into this world, and even to learn Wu Gong, understanding these basic facts was indispensable.

He used his thick snake tail to draw a shape resembling the character for "book" in the soft soil.

Then he pointed to his own head, making a look of thirst for knowledge.

Huang Rong was bright and clever, and immediately understood Ning Chuan’s meaning.

She covered her little mouth in surprise: "Big Black Snake, you... you want to read books and learn to write?"

This was simply too incredible!

A snake, actually interested in human writing?

But thinking of the various wonders Ning Chuan had shown before, she felt it didn't seem so hard to accept.

"Okay! Our Taohuadao library has many, many books!" Huang Rong said excitedly, "The books Father collects cover astronomy, geography, medicine, divination, astrology, and the hundred schools of thought—everything is included! I'll take you!"

She seemed even happier than Ning Chuan, pulling him toward the direction of the Taohuadao library.

Naturally, Huang Huang Yaoshi’s library could not be entered by Ning Chuan at will.

But Huang Rong had her own ways; she started with some miscellaneous notes, history books, and basic introductory readers she read daily, and gave them to Ning Chuan to "read."

Of course, a snake could not flip through books like a human.

So Huang Rong patiently flipped through them page by page for Ning Chuan to "listen," or rather, to let Ning Chuan perceive them in his own unique way.

Ning Chuan’s heaven-defying comprehension showed its terrifying power once again at this moment.

Those square characters that were like heavenly books to him, under his focused perception, were quickly understood in form and meaning.

【You are exposed to the structure of human writing...】

【You understand the principles of character creation: pictographic, indicative, associative, and phono-semantic...】

【Your wisdom has improved; you have mastered the writing of this world!】

In just a moment, Ning Chuan was already able to roughly understand the text in the books!

This made Huang Rong, who was acting as the "teacher" on the side, feel deeply "hurt" again.

She remembered that it had taken her quite a lot of effort to learn to read back then; how could this Big Black Snake learn it as easily as drinking water?

For the next few days, Ning Chuan was immersed in a sea of books.

He "read" hungrily through the various books Huang Rong found for him.

From the geography and customs of the Great Song to the situation of the surrounding nations, from strange anecdotes in the Jianghu to the distribution of Wu Lin sects...

After reading through one miscellaneous note and history book after another, he finally had a clear understanding of the outline of this world.

"So... this is a comprehensive martial arts world!"

Ning Chuan understood in his heart.

The composition of this world was far more complex and grand than he had initially imagined.

"The place I am currently in is the Great Song Dynasty, and in the Wu Lin, the Five Greats—Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar, and Central Divine—are supreme. In addition, there are rising stars famous in the Jianghu like 'Southern Southern Murong, Northern Northern Qiaofeng.' Of course, these are just on the surface; I'm afraid there are many old monsters hidden in the shadows!"

"Coexisting with the Great Song is the powerful Great Ming Dynasty. It is said that True Person Zhang Zhang Sanfeng of Mount Wudang in Great Ming has already reached the legendary realm of Land Immortal, unfathomable!"

"There is also the Liyang Dynasty, where the Northern Liang King Xu Xiao suppresses the Jianghu, and the legend of his iron cavalry trampling down Jianghu sects still circulates in the world. His son, Xu Fengnian, is even the reincarnation of the future True Martial Great Emperor, peerless in elegance."

"There is also the mysterious Beili Dynasty, where sword immortals emerge, such as Snow Moon Sword Immortal Li Li Hanyi, whose one sword can topple a city..."

"Besides these, there is the covetous Mongol Mongol Yuan Empire, the brave and battle-hardened Great Jin Kingdom, as well as Great Liao, the Duan family of Dali, Wushuang City, World Association, Sword Worship Villa, and even the Lingyun Cave, which is rumored to hide the Fire Fire Qilin..."

One familiar yet strange name after another, one magnificent force after another, intertwined in his mind, forming a grand world that was wonderful and colorful, yet fraught with crises!

"The martial arts experts of this world are indeed powerful!"

Ning Chuan had a clearer understanding of the martial power levels of this world.

"Martial Dao realms, from low to high, can be roughly divided into the Nine Grades of Postnatal, opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, refining essence into qi. Above that are the Four Turns of Innate, refining Innate internal energy, endless and inexhaustible, already capable of facing a hundred enemies."

"Above Innate is the Grandmaster realm, capable of establishing a sect, projecting true qi, and injuring people from a distance. Above Grandmaster, there are Great Grandmasters, already rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, possessing all kinds of incredible powers. And above Great Grandmaster is that ethereal, near-immortal realm of Land Immortal!"

"Eastern Heretic Huang Huang Yaoshi’s current cultivation should be at the peak of Grandmaster, only one step away from the Great Grandmaster realm."

"And that Zhang Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang has already stepped into the threshold of Land Immortal!"

Thinking of this, a strong sense of urgency and desire rose in Ning Chuan’s heart.

Although his current strength was top-tier among ordinary beasts, placed in this comprehensive martial arts world full of experts, he might not even be able to win steadily against an Innate martial artist.

He must improve his strength as soon as possible!

And the fastest way to improve strength was undoubtedly to learn the Wu Gong of this world, especially the method of cultivating internal energy!

Thinking of this, Ning Chuan no longer hesitated.

He used his thick snake tail, dipped in some dust on the ground, to slowly write a line on the flat stone slab, asking Huang Rong beside him:

"Rong'er, can I... look at Wu Gong manuals?"