Chapter 576

'Old?'

While listening to the Old Celestial Master’s words, only Zhang Jie had no habit of rolling his eyes,

otherwise he would have rolled them dramatically.

The only Zhenren of Wudang confirmed to have achieved transcendence and the last clearly ascended one, Sanfeng Zushi,

had lived among mortals for three full cycles of sixty years before ascending in broad daylight.

He was unsure whether the Old Celestial Master’s cultivation surpassed or fell short of the Ragged True Man’s before his own transcendence.

But the Old Celestial Master was certainly not at the point of having eyebrows buried in earth, with death imminent.

With his cultivation, if he truly sought immortality,

five cycles might be uncertain, but three cycles were no problem.

Among mortals, excluding himself as an anomaly and Bao’er-jie as an abnormal product,

the Old Celestial Master was undoubtedly the closest to immortality—the most orthodox, most flawless path to transcendence.

'By the way, the Sanfeng Zushi of this world has already achieved transcendence—then what about my own Sanfeng Zushi?'

Zhang Jie stroked his chin, pondering silently.

The Ragged True Man of his own world had transcended centuries ago; he had never met him.

but the Sanfeng Zhenren of the Yitian world was still very much alive.

As a disciple of Wudang in the Yitian world, Yitian Zhang Jie naturally did not withhold anything from Sanfeng Zushi, his absolute ally.

He shared all martial arts scriptures and philosophies not touching on fundamental secrets, leaving copies behind in Wudang.

Today’s Wudang had become the undisputed martial arts holy land of the Yitian world.

The Six Great Sects? Long gone.

Every martial artist under heaven took pride in becoming a Wudang disciple.

After acquiring martial arts from all worlds through Yitian Zhang Jie,

the Old Man, already invincible under heaven, further advanced—his white hair turned black, he reversed aging, and borrowed two more cycles from heaven.

Facing such a Zhang Sanfeng, when he celebrated his hundredth birthday, the great sects had pretended to offer congratulations,

but in truth sought to force him—trying to extract the whereabouts of Xie Xun the Golden-Haired Lion and the Murderous Saber from Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu,

who had just returned to Wudang.

The Shaolin monks attempted to overwhelm him with a human wave tactic,

uttering the now absurd line: 'If we all charge at once, Zhenren Zhang cannot kill everyone from the Five Sects; when your qi is exhausted, you too will meet your doom!'

If Old Zhang were truly ruthless, and Yitian Zhang Jie did not intervene,

he truly had the power to slaughter the entire martial world alone!

No way around it—the Yitian world’s level was what it was, and Yitian Zhang Jie’s power came from the shared space;

Without a surge of spiritual energy revival, there would be no phenomenon where experts just one level below him would flood out endlessly, swapping maps.

Now Zhang Jie thought: since they were both Ragged True Men,

the legacy left by the Ragged True Man of his own world might be extremely useful to the Yitian world’s Sanfeng Zushi.

Even if differences between worlds prevented direct, full adoption or daytime transcendence,

at least it could serve as a reference, sparking brilliant insights through ideological collision.

Then, Yitian Zhang Jie would benefit immensely as well.

And Zhang Jie and Yitian Zhang Jie were originally one person—Yitian Zhang Jie’s gain was his gain.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jie only wanted to rush now to Wudang in his own world and shout to Master Zhou Meng:

'I can talk! I can love Wudang!'

'Moreover, counting from Sanfeng Zushi, I am a third-generation disciple of Wudang—my seniority far exceeds Zhou Meng’s and the others.'

Zhang Jie: I will love my Wudang!

Wang Ye, who had been speaking with the Old Celestial Master, suddenly felt a chill down his back.

He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but Zhang Jie’s gaze at him felt strangely off.

Not malicious, but rather the kind of benevolent look an elder gives a junior—just like how his own master’s master looked at him…

But since he was paying respects to the Old Celestial Master, Wang Ye dared not distract himself, suppressing the feeling within.

After chatting with Wang Ye for a while, the Old Celestial Master turned his gaze to Zhang Jie:

'Ajie, I heard your cultivation has made great progress?'

For this elder who had shown him much care at Longhu Mountain, Zhang Jie held deep respect and bowed:

'Master, it’s all exaggeration. You know better than anyone what my cultivation level truly is.'

'Hahaha! To have defeated Xia He, one of the Four Zhang Kuang of Quanxing, and the Lü family traitor Lu Liang,

your cultivation ranks among the top in the younger generation of the Yiren world.'

The Old Celestial Master recited Zhang Jie’s achievements like a ledger, deeply pleased.

He knew Zhang Jie had risen from mediocrity to easily defeating Lu Liang and Xia He—

there must be secrets, but so what? Which expert or powerhouse in the Yiren world didn’t have secrets?

As long as Zhang Jie hadn’t changed his nature or committed evil deeds, he remained a disciple of the Celestial Master’s Mansion.

'So similar… just like Huaiyi carved from the same mold.'

When he saw Zhang Chulan, even the Old Celestial Master was stunned, lost in memories.

No wonder he bore the likeness of an old friend—he was the son of that old friend.

'Old Celestial Master, is my grandfather your junior brother?'

Zhang Chulan asked one of his most pressing questions.

Although he had already learned from Zhang Jie, Xu Xiang, and Feng Baobao

that his grandfather Zhang Xilin was one of the direct disciples of the previous Celestial Master, Zhang Jingqing,

and thus the Old Celestial Master’s junior brother, Zhang Huaiyi, he still sought confirmation from the man himself.

Hearing this, the Old Celestial Master’s eyes grew moist:

'Chulan, your grandfather was indeed my junior brother. By seniority, you should call me “Private Secretary.”'

'Private Secretary! I’ve finally met you! I finally have family again!'

Zhang Chulan slid forward and hugged the Old Celestial Master’s leg, weeping uncontrollably.

Wang Ye, watching, felt moved—this boy’s emotions were genuine, and he must have suffered greatly over the years.

Wang Ye looked up at the sky, his heart filled with profound thoughts: 'The Eight Marvelous Techniques—blessing or curse?'

The Eight Marvelous Techniques were immensely powerful and wondrous; as the inheritor of Fenghou Qimen, he had every right to speak:

What ordinary sorcerers struggled for lifetimes to uncover, he could discern effortlessly;

What ordinary sorcerers found impossible to even enter, he could learn with a single glance.

The gap was truly heaven and earth.

In fact, except for a few naturally gifted sorcerers like Zhuge Kongming, hailed as the most talented and powerful in Yiren history,

a sorcerer who possessed Fenghou Qimen and one who didn’t were practically two different species.

The other Seven Marvelous Techniques must be equally unmatched in their respective fields.

Yet these powerful techniques seemed cursed:

As far as he knew, every possessor except Lu Jin, head of the Lu family, met a terrible end.

But if Zhang Jie were to speak, what curse? What ill omen? In truth, it was merely human greed.

Whether the Eight Marvelous Techniques could lead to immortality, he, having just obtained Qiti Yuanliu, did not yet know.

But one thing was certain: besides being immensely powerful, the Eight Marvelous Techniques also accelerated cultivation.

Wang Ye and Zhang Chulan had trained for a short time, yet already rivaled the older generation.

Though this was partly due to their own genius, the boost from Fenghou Qimen and Qiti Yuanliu was indispensable.

One year’s cultivation outpacing yours over several or even ten years—who could resist such temptation?

Moreover, so-called curses and ill omens ultimately stemmed from insufficient strength.

Lu Jin, the old patriarch, had even put one of the Eight Marvelous Techniques—the Tongtian Lu—as a prize for the Luotian Da Zao.

Why didn’t those covetous souls rob him?

Wasn’t it because they feared his status and power as head of the Lu family, one of the Four Great Families and one of the Ten Elders?

The pursuit and assassination of Eight Marvelous Techniques bearers? Classic case of virtue mismatching position.

Martial virtue is virtue too.

A child carrying gold through a bustling market—who else would you rob but him?

The owners of the Eight Marvelous Techniques are hunted and sabotaged—that is a classic case of being unworthy of their position.

Martial virtue is also virtue.

A child carrying gold through a bustling market—who else would you rob if not him?