Chapter 26: The New Zhang Jie

“You shouldn’t have come.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie looked up at the sky, as if somewhat regretful.

“But I came anyway.”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie replied without a trace of fear.

“This sword was forged from celestial iron essence…”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie seemed to have gotten hooked on the act, raising his long sword.

He was about to mimic Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng by reporting sword statistics.

“Enough, enough, let’s stop for today.”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie clapped his hands, stopping Yi Tian Zhang Jie from continuing.

“OK.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie extended his right hand in an OK gesture, then returned to normal.

“I’m currently on my way to Jinan for the provincial examination. What about you?”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie first introduced what he was doing, then asked.

“Oh, I’m on my way to Zhu Wu’s Linked Mountain Villa,” replied Yi Tian Zhang Jie.

“Forget it, exchanging one sentence at a time is too inefficient. Let’s just share directly!”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie extended his right hand.

“Should’ve done this long ago!”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie also extended his right hand.

Their hands clasped together, and the two Zhang Jies merged once more.

“Damn, is Song Qingshu really this psychologically weak?”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie was thoroughly startled by Song Qingshu’s ghost-struck, nearly-urinated-himself reaction.

He knew Song Qingshu was a lovesick puppy obsessed with Zhou Zhiruo,

and that he was a rebellious traitor with a spine turned backward, daring to betray his master and annihilate his lineage,

but he never imagined Song Qingshu was also a fragile infant, his psyche as thin as paper, bursting at the slightest poke.

“Does his behavior deserve the title ‘Jade-Faced Meng Chang’?”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie couldn’t help but complain.

The real Meng Chang Jun had three thousand guests under his roof, even harboring thieves and petty scoundrels,

a hero who generously spent his wealth and dared to ally six states against Qin.

“He’s probably just a cowardly hypocrite at heart.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie sighed.

This was a man who killed his own uncle, Mo Shenggu, for a woman, and betrayed his own sect.

Shui Hu Zhang Jie, recalling Song Qingshu’s deeds, covered his face:

“Song Qingshu started at the peak, yet worked himself down to nothing—purely an Yi Tian Sword Morning.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie nodded: “If Song Qingshu hadn’t messed up,

he could have ruled the Yi Tian world with impunity.

His grandmaster was Zhang Sanfeng, his father Song Yuanqiao, his younger brother Zhang Wuji.

Which martial artist wouldn’t bow and say, ‘My apologies, so it’s Master Song Qingshu before me’?”

After all, Zhang Wuji wouldn’t compete with him for the Wudang leadership,

and there was no one else among the third-generation Wudang disciples like you.”

“Damn! Don’t slander me!

I never had any intention of becoming the third-generation Wudang patriarch!

If you keep saying that, I’ll sue you for defamation in front of other Zhang Jies!”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie looked offended, warning Shui Hu Zhang Jie repeatedly.

“Alright, alright, I take back what I just said—it’s all my fault for blurting it out.”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie offered a hollow, insincere apology.

Thinking of Shui Hu Zhang Jie’s journey to Jinan, Yi Tian Zhang Jie’s lips curled into a mysterious smile:

“Hakimi, you may go north or south, but never east or west…”

“Why?”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie, momentarily confused, instinctively asked.

“Because the east has Dingdongji, and the west has Axiga…”

“But the north and south roads are plentiful.”

“Haha!”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie couldn’t help laughing at his own joke.

“Haha!”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie, finally getting the Hakimi joke, laughed too.

“Hakimi?

You know Hakimi too? Are you also from the 21st century?”

At that moment, a voice—both unfamiliar and familiar—reached the ears of Yi Tian Zhang Jie and Shui Hu Zhang Jie.

“An unfamiliar voice—another storm has arrived! No, another Zhang Jie has appeared!”

Both Zhang Jies turned around together.

“Damn, how could a Zhang Jie end up this bad?”

“Did he just become a beggar?”

The two Zhang Jies stared at the newcomer—clothes tattered, one hand holding a broken bowl, the other a broken stick,

hair matted into a bird’s nest from long neglect,

and his whole body emitting a suspicious odor—astonished, their eyes nearly popping out.

“Forget it, forget it—we’re all Zhang Jies.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie, forcing back nausea, stepped forward and seized the newcomer’s hand, instantly assimilating him!

“Wu wu wu~”

After the sharing was complete, the newcomer burst into tears.

Upon learning the newcomer’s story, Yi Tian Zhang Jie and Shui Hu Zhang Jie both wore expressions of deep sympathy.

Unlike Shui Hu Zhang Jie, born into a wealthy family, or Yi Tian Zhang Jie, rescued from chaos by Yu Lianzhou and brought to Wudang for a stable life,

the newcomer was a genuine beggar.

Since childhood, he had survived by begging in the Beggar’s Sect, enduring every kind of hardship,

even fighting wild dogs for food more than once!

Fortunately, the Beggar’s Sect he belonged to had a righteous and noble leader,

which saved him from being beaten or maimed by corrupt beggar bosses.

In most worlds, the Beggar’s Sect was far from noble or righteous;

it was practically a den of scum, steeped in filth, skilled in harvesting organs and mutilating people.

In those days, if you killed ten beggars, nine might be innocent—but if you killed every other one, you’d still miss some!

“Damn, thank goodness Qiao Feng was the moral compass of the Beggar’s Sect,

or we’d have had to experience what true dismemberment really meant.”

Yi Tian Zhang Jie’s voice brimmed with relief.

Correct—the newcomer’s world was none other than Tian Long Ba Bu, the world where Qiao Feng, the man with built-in sound system, was born!

“Yes.”

Tian Long Zhang Jie, having lived it, nodded deeply in agreement.

“But luckily, you only truly lived that life for one or two months.”

Shui Hu Zhang Jie added, also relieved.

Unlike them, who had shattered the mystery of the womb years ago,

Tian Long Zhang Jie had only awakened less than two months ago—meaning,

he had endured beggar life for less than two months.

“Thank goodness it was only under two months—if it had lasted longer, I might’ve killed myself.”

Tian Long Ba Bu, recalling those two months of hell, still trembled with fear.

After reincarnation, without memories of the 21st century, he had thought the world was just like that and could endure it.

But once his 21st-century memories returned, he couldn’t bear it anymore.

Compared to real beggar life, the 996 work culture of the 21st century was paradise!

When his memories awakened, the hunger felt like a fire burning inside his heart!

Yet beggar life in Tian Long and 996 in the 21st century were both excrement of their respective eras;

arguing which excrement tasted better was meaningless.

“By the way, why didn’t you prepare at all before heading to Dali?

You ended up looking this wretched,” said Yi Tian Zhang Jie, scratching his head.

Since Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon Sect learned that the leader of the Beggar’s Sect was the righteous hero Qiaofeng,

he knew he had entered the world of the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon.

Then he remembered the greatest untapped treasure in that world—

the Northern Absorption Divine Art and the jade statue of a beauty inside the jade cave of Wuliang Mountain in Dali!

Unfortunately, as a beggar with no savings, he grew increasingly destitute, going from hunger to starvation,

and had it not been for his modest skills in singing Lotus Fall ballads, he might have starved to death.

“Besides, you don’t know the Book of Changes, nor do you understand the Eight Extraordinary Meridians—

even if you obtained the Northern Absorption Divine Art and the Lingbo Microstep, you couldn’t learn them!”

added Zhang Jie of Water Margin, puzzled.

Sure, in the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon, Duan Yu learned the Lingbo Microstep and Northern Absorption Divine Art effortlessly,

and mastered them with great success—but Duan Yu merely disliked martial training,

not that he lacked knowledge in martial arts.

In truth, as the crown prince of Dali, he had received the finest royal education since childhood,

possessing exceptionally solid knowledge across all fields, even having deeply studied the Book of Changes.

“Alas!

I was blinded by the treasure and desperate to escape being a beggar!”

Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon grinned sheepishly.

Setting that aside, Zhang Jies began discussing other topics.

“I think you have no need to go to Dali—going straight to Leigushan in Henan to find Wu Yashu is better.”

suggested Zhang Jie of the Heaven’s Sword.

“That actually makes sense!”

A smile curled at the corner of Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon’s mouth.

After all, Wu Yashu was already near death—so why not give his sixty years of Northern Absorption inner power to someone else?

Giving it to Xuzhu is fine, but giving it to me, Zhang Jie, isn’t bad either!

At the very least, compared to Xuzhu, who considers himself a monk and stubbornly refuses to kill,

Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon could guarantee he’d eliminate his enemies and the traitorous disciple Ding Chunqiu who betrayed his master.

He hadn’t gone before because the Xiaoyao Sect demanded extremely high standards in talent, knowledge, and even appearance,

and he met none of them.

His talent was as ordinary as it had been before his transmigration—unworthy of Wu Yashu’s notice.

Knowledge?

He did possess some 21st-century knowledge, but he feared Wu Yashu wouldn’t recognize it.

And in this life, he was a beggar, busy every day just trying to fill his stomach—where was the time or money for study?

As for appearance?

What could you expect from a beggar who couldn’t even afford a meal?

As long as he didn’t end up as deformed as Wu Dalang, Zhang Jie would thank heaven and earth.

But now things were different—his power-up had arrived!

The shared space didn’t just share strength—it also shared hidden attributes like talent, physique, and charm!

The proof was Zhang Jie of Water Margin.

Ever since he returned from the shared space, his popularity in Yanggu County had skyrocketed.

Whenever he walked the streets, young maidens and married women alike stared at him endlessly.

By the time he returned, even the famed beauties Pan An and Song Yu couldn’t match his looks.

When Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon returned, his talent and charm would receive an epic boost!

Even his weakness in knowledge could be compensated by Zhang Jie of Water Margin.

Zhang Jie of Water Margin: Do you think my near-photographic memory these past ten years was for nothing?

The Four Books—The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects, Mencius—

and the Five Classics—The Book of Songs, The Book of Documents, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, The Spring and Autumn Annals—I’ve memorized them backward and forward!

“Hurry to Leigushan and get his sixty years of Northern Absorption inner power.”

Zhang Jie of the Heaven’s Sword urged Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon impatiently.

He was currently troubled by his slow accumulation of inner power.

If he obtained Wu Yashu’s sixty years of Northern Absorption inner power, he could become a top-tier master in the Heaven’s Sword world.

Even against first-rate masters like the Xuanming Elders or Mistress Miejue, he could prevail.

Then, dressed in fine robes and riding a spirited steed, roaming the world freely—wouldn’t that be glorious?

Moreover, after acquiring the Northern Absorption Divine Art, using powerful villains like the Xuanming Elders as fuel would be excellent!

Even Zhang Jie of Water Margin looked forward to it.

Although his Water Margin world had fewer battles,

who would ever complain about having too much power?

If he could stand alone against a nation, he would have already overthrown that emperor who “could do everything except become emperor,

yet excelled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”

“Understood.”

Zhang Jie of the Heavenly Dragon nodded solemnly. After enduring so long as a beggar,

he too desperately craved the power to control his own fate.