Chapter 27: The Number One Divine General in the World!

Li Guanyi remembered that name.

When Xue Changqing had just proudly boasted to his grandfather about his shot, he said he would practice the Divine Bow Thirteen Forms, and the old man had mentioned the 【Break-Cloud Shatter-Sky Bow】—was this the divine weapon the old man said had been sealed away for one hundred and thirty years? Li Guanyi felt the unfinished Bai Hu manifestation on the bronze tripod straining to roar.

It seemed desperate to leap out and touch this bow.

The old man noticed Li Guanyi's gaze and smiled knowingly: "Mr. Li has noticed the Break-Cloud Shatter-Sky Bow? Naturally—any guest who comes to the Listening Wind Pavilion cannot help but be drawn to this bow."

"But Mr. Li probably doesn't know the legend of this bow, do you?"

Li Guanyi shook his head.

The old man set down his tea vessel, reached out to touch the bow, and said: "Five hundred years ago, my ancestor used this very bow to fire three arrows and force back three hundred thousand troops. Legend says my ancestor was the White Tiger Star Lord descending from the heavens, sent to quell chaos and walk among mortals."

"In his youth, he lived in poverty, herding livestock for wealthy households, until he encountered a tiger as large as a mountain—he fought and killed that beautiful yet deadly creature. Later, he forged this bow from divine wood beneath Kunwu Mountain, and the tiger's spirit became its string."

"This divine weapon, kept on its rack, often rings on windless nights—the string's sound resembles a tiger's roar."

"Legend says that in those days, my ancestor's final arrow flew over a hundred li, piercing the enemy general in his royal tent. When that arrow flew, the clouds above split open like chasms, and the entire sky trembled with thunderous roars—hence the name 【Break-Cloud Shatter-Sky Bow】."

Over a hundred li?!

Li Guanyi's eyelid twitched.

What terrifying power was this?

Was the name 【Break-Cloud Shatter-Sky Bow】 literal—and not mere exaggeration?

General Yue Qianfeng smashing a mountain peak with one punch was terrifying enough, but if someone could fire an arrow a hundred li, General Yue's feats seemed insignificant by comparison.

Xue Shuangtao had never heard her grandfather speak of this before; when she heard "a hundred li," her expression froze, utterly unable to imagine such terrifying power.

The old man laughed. "You don't believe it, do you? I didn't believe it either. Warriors who can smash a mountain peak with a punch or shoot arrows deep into rock walls—that's normal enough."

"But my ancestor's legend? I thought it was just my elders stretching the truth, fabricating tales to glorify themselves."

"Who hasn't been young? I was young and reckless too."

"I disbelieved heaven and earth, disbelieved my parents, defied authority, and trusted only myself."

"At eighteen, I picked up a bow and three arrows and dared to travel the land as a merchant."

"Back then, Ying was still Wei; the banks of the Wei River hadn't yet run red with noble blood. I crossed the Changlian Mountains, riding the long-haired oxen of the Tangut people, under vast skies and distant clouds, while nomad daughters sang folk songs. My skin was sunburned, my face itchy and sore."

"I drank their fishy yogurt, slept on the ox's back, my face covered in hide, dreaming of the watercress and perch from home, regretting my reckless journey."

"Until I heard their cheers."

"I shielded my eyes with my hand and saw a colossal hole on their sacred mountain—like a great dragon had torn through the earth, smashing the mountain's center. Sunlight poured through the hole, breathtakingly beautiful."

"They called it 【Aruen Wulhawbodesadawa】."

"It means: the Central Plains Bodhisattva arrow that pierced the sacred mountain."

"That was the mark left by my ancestor."

"And his arrow's true target lay even farther beyond the far side of that sacred mountain."

"My elders lied to me."

The old man's hand caressed the bow, his voice striving for calm yet unable to suppress its trembling ripple: "The final arrow my ancestor fired wasn't a hundred li—it was three hundred and eighty li. He killed the steppe king in his golden tent. Blood stained the royal pavilion, and the eighteen tribes gathered for the steppe assembly scattered completely, lifting the empire's crisis."

Three hundred and eighty li?! Li Guanyi's eyes glinted with astonishment.

The old man said: "Even after that arrow, my ancestor suffered grave qi damage and took long to recover. Five arrows were destroyed—one completely. Yet it remained a feat that left later generations in awe."

"Only then did I believe: five hundred years ago, my Xue ancestor, ranked first on the Divine General List, was real. My Xue family's 【Break-Cloud Shatter-Sky Bow】, top of the Divine Weapon List, was real too."

"I went mad. Every day, I shot three thousand arrows for three full months—my palms were cut open by the bowstring, the wounds scabbed over, then cut open again—until finally, I shot an arrow into the very hole my ancestor had made. My spirit was complete."

"Then I returned home, became head of the family, and have remained so ever since."

Li Guanyi and Xue Shuangtao imagined that vast scene.

A towering sacred mountain pierced by a colossal hole; Tangut men clad in fur knelt on the grass, elbows pressed to earth, palms raised to heaven, praying devoutly, while the bow-wielding disciple stood at the horizon between heaven and earth—what emotion must he have felt?

Li Guanyi said: "Number one in the world?"

The old man sighed again: "Yes, but since then, only two people have been able to draw this bow—and the last one died five years before I was born. This bow has gone unstrung for one hundred and thirty years. No one has heard its thunderous string sound since."

"They say whoever can lift and draw this bow will directly inherit my ancestor's legacy."

"They will instantly learn my ancestor's ultimate arts, and with the divine weapon's power, every shot will strike true. If used with the matching arrows, the shot will reach at least fifty li—within its range, jade and stone shatter, mountains and rivers break!"

Li Guanyi remained lost in thought for a long while, staring at the ancient war bow: "Then why leave such a divine weapon here? Aren't you afraid someone will steal it?"

Inside the bronze tripod, the Bai Hu manifestation writhed and roared with desperate longing, so loud Li Guanyi found it grating—the primal urge to seize the bow and fire it, fiercely suppressed by the young man.

The old man burst into laughter: "Lift it?"

"To lift this bow requires one extremely strict condition: you must bear the Bai Hu manifestation like my ancestor."

"Without it, even the strongest man in the world couldn't even pick it up!"

"Let alone draw it."

Li Guanyi paused slightly.

Bai Hu manifestation?

The Bai Hu manifestation on the bronze tripod twitched, eager to leap out—but since the jade liquid within hadn't yet fully matured, it couldn't fully take shape. Frustrated, it rolled into a ball along the tripod's inner wall, only to be smacked aside like a snowball by the red dragon's tail.

"Waaahhh!"

"Aowww!"

Thus, on the bronze tripod, dragon and tiger clashed.

Probably.

Li Guanyi said: "Divine General… manifestation…?"

The old man casually waved a hand; a book flew to him, which he handed to Li Guanyi: "Yes."

"Manifestations have nothing to do with cultivation realms—they are traits possessed only by the truest elite."

"A thousand years ago, the Top Three Lists already existed."

"The Divine General List, the Divine Weapon List, and the Manifestation List."

"These three rankings are not announced by anyone; they are arranged according to the struggles and battles of this turbulent, great age. Divine Generals are unrivaled under heaven, bearing Dharma Aspects, wielding divine weapons, dominating the battlefield, looking down on all comers, able to move the great currents of the world through their own strength, unmatched by anyone — hence they are called 【Upper】."

Xue Shuangtao asked curiously, "The Upper Three Rankings? Are there other rankings?"

The old man stroked his beard and said, "Yes. When there are many people, there will be struggles for superiority. The Upper Three Rankings are based on the great nations of the world clashing, contending on the battlefield; as for the other various rankings, most are deliberately released by those with ulterior motives to stir up the jianghu and create trouble. Though they have some value, they also bring trouble."

"If a martial artist makes the Grandmaster Ranking, they will know no peace; if a woman makes the Beauty Ranking, she will be coveted by others."

"It is misfortune, not blessing. You should avoid it."

"Young Mr., are you interested in these Upper Three Rankings?"

"Yes."

The old man was unequivocal. These Upper Three Rankings were certainly not something just anyone could see, yet he still found them for Li Guanyi, tossing them to the youth as casually as throwing a roll of paper, and said, "The tea isn't brewed yet. You may look, but you cannot take it with you."

Li Guanyi nodded, and while flipping it open, asked, "Where does Chen's strongest war general rank?"

The old man said, "Once Tai Ping Gong was ranked in the top ten, yet he died a violent death; now General Yue is the strongest, ranked... eleventh..."

Li Guanyi was stunned. The General Yue, whom Yue Qianfeng submitted to utterly — eleventh?

The old man deliberated for a moment, then said, "The Divine General Ranking reflects military achievements, and has little to do with the war general's own ceiling. If the nation they belong to... heh, the current sovereign writes fine poetry and paints fine landscapes. This old man has said too much. Young Mr., look for yourself."

Li Guanyi understood.

Chen's court was weak, lost in romance and pleasure, in wealth and indulgence, daily in music and revelry, favoring peace over war. Even if there were heaven-shaking divine generals who wished to mend the heavens' cracks, they were powerless to turn the tide, and could only wring their wrists and sigh.

Chen's divine generals were all ranked low.

Li Guanyi opened the Divine General Ranking and quickly scanned through it.

He wanted to find a familiar name.

Would there be one? He read through once, then his gaze suddenly sharpened — he found that person right at the front—

【Yue Qianfeng】, Divine General Ranking, thirty-fourth.

Evaluation—

First in infantry combat of the Southern Land.

………………

BOOM!!!!

A blade slashed out. The hundred-times-forged saber shattered into slag the instant it was swung. The storm it raised sent over a dozen elite assassins tumbling out, mangled. The burly giant furrowed his brow and cursed, "Pity I didn't bring a divine weapon."

Assassins harried them all along the way.

His eyesight reached far; he could already faintly see that city.

He looked at the old man still calculating beside him and said, "Mr. Zu."

"Yicheng is almost here."

(End of chapter)