Chapter 2307: King Ao, the Climber

Martial Dao True Person Zhong Li Yan, with a single punch, struck his compassionate father's heart-protecting mirror, producing a sound like clashing metal.

The motionless Zhong Li Zhao Jia opened his mouth wide, about to ask his rebellious son if he hadn't eaten, about to deliver a father's compassionate counterattack.

"Stop!"

Zhong Li Yan suddenly yelled, his face serious.

After exhausting all his strength in that punch, he originally had no strength left and was about to face a beating. But after the urgent stop, he relaxed and felt as strong as an ox.

Of course, he also had a proper reason.

Master Zhong Li was never timid in battle, never sneaky or slippery—at least not without a proper reason.

In the highest specification martial arts field in Xian Valley, he looked up at the sky, his body's qi and blood surging, his eyes rarely complex: "Martial Dao has already reached its absolute peak!"

The South Yue Sword was at his feet. He looked from this mountain to that mountain, and couldn't help but sigh: "The one who ascended to the top is Wang Xiao!"

A Martial Dao True Person naturally had the deepest feelings about the changes in the Martial Dao world.

The Heavenly Dao barrier no longer existed, the eternal fog had dispersed.

The path of a martial practitioner had been thoroughly opened.

At this moment, his path ahead was incomparably clear, no longer empty like it had seemed in the past.

"Your path ahead has also opened up."

Zhong Li Zhao Jia looked at his own son, his eyes also very complex.

This son was unfilial and disobedient, but his talent was still undeniable. Now that Martial Dao had reached through heaven, and there was no more fog before the absolute peak, shouldn't he be brave and diligent?

Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he could no longer discipline him—

He was already so disobedient now, when he could still be beaten. He truly dared not imagine the future days!

As Zhong Li Yan was sighing, he suddenly took a step back, increasing the distance. A martial practitioner's alertness made him feel a hint of killing intent inadvertently leaking from his old father's body, and he couldn't help but ask: "Old man, do you have enmity with Wang Xiao?"

Zhong Li Zhao Jia suddenly snapped back to his senses.

Sin, sin, this was his own son. How could he have thoughts of cutting the grass and removing the roots, preventing trouble in advance?

"No, no, we just exchanged blows." Zhong Li Zhao Jia explained: "That is a person who only has Martial Dao in his eyes, very pure. I'm happy for him!"

"You're still quite a good person, aren't you!" Zhong Li Yan said carelessly: "Previously, we exchanged blows, more or less at the same level. In the blink of an eye, he has already opened up Martial Dao, achieved the absolute peak, and is about to transcend. If it were me, I would definitely be jealous to death. Not to mention being happy for him, it would be good if I didn't stab and curse that little man!"

Zhong Li Zhao Jia looked at him deeply: "You should learn from your father's magnanimity!"

"Ha!" Zhong Li Yan opened his mouth wide: "I only know, the doomsday of fighting little children has come!"

He added: "Jiang's little children's doomsday has also come."

Finally, he glanced at his own father, and ultimately didn't say the next sentence. He paused: "Forget it, these people are not worth mentioning! They shouldn't be in my eyes!"

Zhong Li Zhao Jia asked very dangerously: "Then who is in your eyes?"

Zhong Li Yan counter-asked: "How old is Wang Xiao?"

"I'm really not too clear about this." Zhong Li Zhao Jia said: "Probably fifty or sixty?"

A Martial Dao absolute peak less than a hundred years old, an existence that had opened a path, who could transcend immediately—this was indeed a mythical figure!

Zhong Li Yan 'heh'ed: "He should feel fortunate!"

Zhong Li Zhao Jia didn't understand, but sighed: "To complete such a great deed, neither strength nor opportunity can be lacking. He is indeed also worth being fortunate."

Zhong Li Yan drew his sword and left: "He should feel most fortunate that a certain family was born twenty years later!"

"I know you're very arrogant, but first don't be arrogant. One should be humble—" Zhong Li Zhao Jia's voice suddenly rose: "Little turtle bastard! Where are you going to fool around again?"

Zhong Li Yan didn't turn back, lifted the South Yue onto his shoulder, and with inexplicable sword qi, cut through the clouds: "Since the path ahead is open for me, I will first go and rush a Martial Dao absolute peak!"

Zhong Li Zhao Jia paused. The vulgar words he originally wanted to scold him with, he didn't know where to begin.

Should he first rush to a Martial Dao twenty-fifth heavy heaven?

The clouds that had been cut open in the sky slowly gathered again.

Clouds gathered, clouds scattered, another day passed.

But the painting halberd horizontally in the sky did not fall. Countless virtual shadows of gods, spirits, and evil ghosts entangled on the small branches of the painting halberd, perching like cold crows.

Jiang Wu You stood alone on the roof ridge, the highest point of Hua Ying Palace.

Standing here, she could almost see the entire Da Qi imperial palace complex.

She was the Heavenly Emperor of Da Qi, the most favored daughter of the contemporary overlord Jiang Shu. She was born in the first Qi Xia war, and accompanied the hegemony of the Da Qi Empire at birth.

She bore the highest expectations. Among Jiang Shu's many children, she was the only daughter qualified to compete for the throne. She was one of the four great palace lords closest to the position of heir.

But she only reached God Arrival at the age of thirty-three.

In an extraordinary world, this was already undeniable genius. But for an imperial daughter with ambitions for the throne, this was not a qualified cultivation achievement.

At the Yellow River Assembly, only those under thirty years old who had reached God Arrival had the opportunity to enter the main competition. The champion of the Yellow River Assembly in the year 3919 of the Dao Calendar, not yet thirty, was already at the absolute peak of Cave True.

She should have been a contemporary absolute peak heavenly pride, but she was slow compared to all the absolute world figures.

Cultivation wasn't about being faster.

But she wasn't like the Crown Prince of the East Palace who hid his brilliance and did everything moderately. She was the Lord of Hua Ying Palace, who needed to show her edge and compete for the heir position with dazzling performance.

The reason why she was so slow was because she chose the most difficult path. She wanted to truly achieve something, to let that overlord of the East Country know... "I, Wu You, have already arrived!"

It was impossible to surpass her elder brother on the orthodox cultivation path. If she couldn't surpass the one inside Qing Shi Palace, how could she say she would make a figure like the Qi Heavenly Emperor "not worry"?

Jiang Wu Liang once said— "What ordinary people have already achieved cannot open a new heaven in this world."

Jiang Wu You knew— "Without opening a new heaven in this world, there's no way to wash away the dust and haze of Qing Shi!"

But "open a new heaven," these three words, how difficult. From ancient times to the present, those with this ambition were not unknown people; they all left their mark in history.

In the present where the cultivation path is already vast and broad, the premise of "self-opening Dao Martial" is that "Martial" and "Dao" are indeed parallel.

But in fact, over the long years, Martial Dao has never truly opened up. Generation after generation of martial artists constantly advanced, but even world-covering martial practitioners like Wang Xiao, the first person in Martial Dao, only stopped at Martial Dao twenty-sixth heavy heaven.

She did not grasp a balanced Dao Martial, so this path was extra difficult for her.

Self-opening a path was originally a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships, and even more so when she was running with a lame leg.

Even with a lame leg, she walked to Dao Martial God Arrival, and even deduced the path of Cave True. She already had a master's demeanor!

But she dared not continue walking forward.

Because she had not yet seen the higher scenery of Martial Dao, she was not sure if the "Martial" she led into Dao was true Martial. She was unwilling to take Cave True as the limit of this life.

She needed to see the possibility of going higher and farther.

Because the Heavenly Emperor of Qi Country could not just be a True Person!

Such a vast empire, such a vast territory, with only an emperor at the Cave True realm, he could not even grasp the country's momentum, let alone control those world-covering figures.

On the last day of the year 3928 of the Dao Calendar, this problem was solved.

At the age of forty, she waited for Martial Dao to reach through heaven.

Sages say "forty not confused," and now, she was truly not confused!

"Forty years old, truly a good age!" She lifted her right hand, opened her five fingers, as if to grasp the world.

That Fang Tian ghost god halberd suspended high above trembled violently, almost shaking time and space, causing countless ghost gods to bow: "I was not born early, nor was I born late!"

Wang Xiao ascended to the absolute peak of Martial Dao, shaking the world.

Jiang Wu You sublimated Dao Martial, her heroic spirit soaring into Lin Zi.

The idle clouds in the sky drifted, equally appreciated by people.

The clouds were cut and gathered and scattered, like the waves in a human heart. These waves also spread to Shuo Fang Bo Fu.

"Young Master! Young Master! Slow down a bit, be careful not to fall!"

The maid in the courtyard chased with effort, running until she panted, but still couldn't truly catch up.

The little boy pulling the kite in front ran very fast. As he ran, he kept looking back, his crisp laughter echoing in the air. Shouldn't childhood be filled with pure child's fun?

"Young Master..."

The maid stopped chasing.

Because the Young Master stopped walking.

The small boy, not tall, pulled down the kite string, causing the butterfly kite that was flying happily to fall heavily to the ground, lifelike and vivid, turning into a corpse.

The boy turned his head back. His small, exquisite, noble face had a bit of gloom.

The maid's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she actually didn't dare to speak.

This eight-year-old boy was the legitimate grandson of the contemporary Shuo Fang Bo, the posthumous son of the deceased Bao Zhong Qing, the noble young master of the Bao clan, who was like stars holding the moon, the young master of the Bao family—Bao Xuan Jing.

He was born with a Dao pulse, extremely intelligent from an early age. His private school tutors fundamentally could not teach him. Shuo Fang Bo invited eight learned tutors, who took turns giving him lessons, eight classes a day, each class half an hour. In just a few days, the tutors were empty, and soon they had to change tutors!

Because Bao Xuan Jing understood at once, learned quickly, and was impatient with single words or phrases. He wanted each tutor to only lecture on the key points, and all the details, he could fill in his mind himself. So even learned and talented people, in front of the young master of Bao, were just pulling carts of water and riding horses like dragons.

In cultivation, there was even less to say. The most complex Nine Heavens Wind Thunder Array, a family tradition of the Bao clan, he easily mastered. At the age of five, he relied on this to lay his foundation and formally "游脉".

That is, the Zhou Tian realm required some experience to condense the Zhou Tian image, which he temporarily put aside.

But his body's fist and foot skills were already beyond the teaching of ordinary masters. Now, Shuo Fang Bo personally brought him. When Shuo Fang Bo was busy with military affairs, Chang Hua Bo and Ying Yong Bo also came.

People of the time called him "Little Champion," expecting him to be the second Zhong Xuan Zun. Sooner or later, he would be brave and crown the three armies, his heroic spirit soaring into Lin Zi.

The young master of the Bao family was not only talented but also had a good temperament. He was knowledgeable, polite, gentle, and humble. At the age of eight, many nobles wanted to betroth their daughters to him, and red strings were attached to his ankle one after another, all refused by Bo Ye due to his young age.

Today, such a gloomy appearance had indeed never appeared.

At least this maid had never seen it, so she was temporarily startled there.

Bao Xuan Jing knew he had lost his composure, and suddenly smiled: "Little Autumn sister, help me pick up the kite— I think I haven't finished reading today's book and cannot play."

This smile thawed the courtyard, and the maid relaxed, bowing: "Young Master go, the servant girl will clean up here."

Many people knew that Bao Zhong Qing's widow, Miao Yu Zhi, greatly admired Jiang Ge Lao of Tai Xu Pavilion.

Whatever books Jiang Ge Lao read, she wanted to buy back for Bao Xuan Jing to read, saying it was "seeing the wise and thinking equally."

Bao Xuan Jing, when he was still in swaddling clothes, already had a connection with Jiang Ge Lao. He would cry seeing others, but would laugh seeing Jiang Ge Lao.

Recently, the young master had been reading "History Knife Chisel Sea," those voluminous books piled up like a city wall, making people look and fear.

The young master instead read very invested, not shaming Bo Wang Hou's evaluation of him— "True · quick and love learning."

Bao Xuan Jing walked into the study room, conveniently closed the door, his small face suddenly gloomy like water.

"I hate that I was born two hundred years late, unable to seize this great dao!"

"Zhuang Cheng Qian truly deserves a thousand cuts and ten thousand tortures, forever!"

He was still not confident enough and needed to be born two hundred years earlier to suppress Wang Xiao and seize the absolute peak of Martial Dao. Certain people could do it by being born twenty years earlier.

From "Underworld Gods and Spirits" to "Present World Gods and Spirits," it was said to be one step away, yet too far. He originally had strength above the absolute peak in the underworld world. What he was now pursuing was constant proving and transcendence across ten thousand realms. It should be said that it was only a half-step distance.

But this one half-step, he had already walked too long!

As the dignified Underworld Gods and Spirits, after a long time of planning, several twists and turns, he finally conceived a Dao Embryo and was recognized by the present world, gaining further possibilities. Yet he also had to wait for this child's body to grow slowly, so as not to arouse suspicion from the people of the world.

These eight years have been too difficult!

He was not afraid of any opponent, not afraid to play games with anyone, but pretending to be a baby and coaxing fools, coaxing a bunch of fools, was a truly painful thing. Even he, an existence that had lived for so long, found it hard to endure—perhaps this was also proof that he had already become human, beginning to have the fragile feelings of a human body.

Including anxiety, including jealousy, including regret.

Seeing that Wang Xiao, at an age not over a hundred years old, had walked to this step, ascended to the absolute peak, held the merit of opening a path, and transcendence was within reach.

The taste in his heart was truly hard to describe.

An extremely quiet study room surged with extremely fierce emotions. Then it suddenly collected in an instant.

"Cough!"

He lightly coughed, obediently sat in front of the desk, opened "Qi Lue · Volume Three," and began to read seriously.

Almost at the same time, the contemporary Shuo Fang Bo, Bao Yi, had his carriage stop in front of the mansion gate.

This commander of nine armies with harmonious eyebrows and eyes, walked into the mansion with big strides. Wang Xiao blasted open Martial Dao and achieved the path through heaven, directly shaking the present world. People who understood the truth of this world naturally saw it.

All the martial practitioners in the world benefited from Wang Xiao, and the martial qi in their bodies also fed back to Wang Xiao.

This surge of blood qi in the world was grand. Truly a strange sight not seen in ten thousand years.

Shuo Fang Bo always set his mind and never looked back, having planned a good route for Bao Xuan Jing early on. This time, a thought also arose—perhaps he could ask Jing'er if he was willing to learn Martial Dao. This child's fist and foot weapon skills were also top talent.

"Dao" had almost exhausted its changes, while "Martial" had just opened up wilderness. There was still a large piece of fertile soil, exactly the good time to charge forward and occupy land as king.

But this child had one strange point...

"Former years Martial Emperor..."

Bao Xuan Jing was reading in the study room, his voice slowly becoming soft.

These eight years he had not been idle either, relying on his young age and no one guarding him, curling up in his mother's embrace, laying out pieces everywhere. In the shadows, he slowly eroded this prominent family in Lin Zi.

Of the entire Bao family, he only dared not move Shuo Fang Bo, not only because this person carried noble merit and involved the country's hegemonic momentum. Even more so because this person often faced the saint and could easily have clues discovered by that overlord of the East Country.

Although Bao Xuan Jing had made full preparations, he still did not have a plan to face that absolute world hero yet.

After all, having lived for a long time, he also knew that "full preparation" was not full.

Borrowing the light from the sky outside the window to read, Bao Xuan Jing inexplicably thought—

The third volume was the last volume of Qi Lue. The historical foundation of Qi Country was indeed not comparable to several other hegemonic countries. When Si Ma Heng reordered this book, perhaps that former Wu An Hou was about to be listed in the history books.

Hey! I wonder if fateful people will be recorded in the same chapter?