57: Chapter 57 Reputable Sects? Worthless

Chapter 57: Prestigious Sects? Worthless

Guangnan City, a secluded little courtyard.

The courtyard walls were mottled, and clusters of moss grew in the corners, making it look ordinary and unremarkable.

But if someone were to approach, they would discover that this small courtyard was enveloped in an extremely subtle layer of spiritual power fluctuations, completely isolating the inside from the outside.

In the courtyard, beneath an old locust tree.

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi sat cross-legged in the courtyard, his beard and hair entirely white, his face lean, yet his eyes were startlingly bright.

Two youths stood before him.

One had a thin build and a cold face, dressed in black martial attire with a long sword on his back, his entire being radiating a coldness that warned strangers to stay away.

The other had a round face and large eyes, wearing a green Daoist robe with a jade pendant hanging from his waist; he looked full of energy, his eyes darting around as he surveyed the surroundings.

"Grand Elder, isn't this Guangnan City a bit too small?" The round-faced youth curled his lip, his tone carrying a hint of disdain. "I just took a stroll around, and there wasn't even a decent market. The Medicinal Pills for sale were of appallingly low grade, not even as full of Spiritual Qi as the water from the spirit spring behind our Yinxian Village."

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi glanced at him. "Guangnan City is already ranked near the bottom among the thirty-six main cities of the Southern Region. If we couldn't even beat this, would our village have any face left?"

The round-faced youth chuckled and scratched his head. "I was just saying."

He paused, leaned in a few steps, and lowered his voice. "Grand Elder, I heard that people from the Seven Great Sects snatched the Secret Realm tokens from those families in Guangnan City? Are we going to enter with them when the time comes?"

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said nothing.

Seeing him remain silent, the round-faced youth scratched his head in anxiety. Just as he was about to ask again, the black-clad youth beside him spoke coldly: "Noisy."

"Eh?" The round-faced youth glared. "Qin the Dullard, who are you calling noisy?"

"You." The black-clad youth didn't even look at him, his tone flat. "Since entering Guangnan City, your mouth hasn't stopped."

"I..."

"Enough." Great Elder Yun Zhongzi set down his teacup, interrupting their bickering.

"The people from Burning Flame Ancient Land and the Tianxuan Sect have already discussed it with me. For this exploration of the Secret Realm, we of the Three Great Holy Lands will enter first. The people from the Seven Great Sects will enter an hour later. Seize the Opportunity to scavenge more treasures."

"We enter first?" Qin Mo was stunned. "Grand Elder, is this... appropriate? We are supposed to be prestigious sects..."

Before he could finish, the round-faced youth beside him sneered, "Dullard, you've cultivated yourself into an idiot."

With his small hands behind his back and his head tilted slightly up, he said, "What's wrong with being a prestigious sect? Aren't those Seven Great Sects prestigious? Didn't they still coerce those families in Guangnan City to get the Secret Realm tokens?"

Seeing Great Elder Yun Zhongzi's gaze sweep over, he quickly pulled back his hands and winked at Qin Mo. "These so-called prestigious sects are worthless!"

"In the Jianghu, what matters is strength!"

"If the Seven Great Sects can coerce those families in Guangnan City, we can coerce them too!"

As he spoke, the round-faced fatty walked over to Qin Mo, hooked an arm around his shoulder, and whispered, "Dullard, you should get out more. Don't just do bitter cultivation in the village all day. After we finish exploring the Secret Realm, I'll take you out for a stroll to show you what the real Jianghu is like."

Qin Mo looked thoughtful and turned to glance at Great Elder Yun Zhongzi.

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi's expression remained unchanged. "The kid is right. Cultivation is a struggle against the heavens, against people, and against the world! Everything must be decided by strength."

"Our Three Great Holy Lands are stronger than them, so naturally, we take the lead."

Qin Mo had a moment of realization.

The round-faced fatty's eyes rolled as he asked curiously, "Grand Elder, that Great Emperors Secret Realm concerns a Great Emperor; there might be Legacies and treasures left behind by them inside. But why haven't any Saints appeared? If one could obtain an Opportunity from the Secret Realm, perhaps they could even glimpse the mysteries of the Emperor Realm..."

Before he finished, Qin Mo also looked up, a hint of curiosity appearing on his cold face.

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi picked up his teacup and took a sip. "These matters are normally far beyond you, but since you've asked, I will tell you."

He looked up slightly at the sunset glow on the horizon, his tone turning somber. "The world has changed; the imperial path is severed."

"The imperial path is severed."

These six words were spoken casually, yet they exploded in the ears of the two youths like a clap of thunder.

The round-faced youth's pupils constricted, and the playful look on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.

Qin Mo also trembled, a look of shock flashing in his eyes.

"Grand Elder, when you say the imperial path is severed, do you mean the legendary..." The round-faced youth's voice was trembling.

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi nodded slightly, a complex expression appearing on his aged face.

"Ever since the Yuanlian Great Emperor ten thousand years ago, no one in the world has attained the Dao of a Great Emperor. In the flourishing Central Province and Eastern Desolation, this is no longer a secret. It's just that our Southern Region is remote and isolated, so you youngsters don't know."

He paused, his tone filled with sentiment.

"In this era, even achieving the position of a Saint has become extremely difficult."

As an Elder of a Holy Land, his perception of the changes in the world was profound.

Two thousand years ago, he was just a minor Cultivator in Yinxian Village. At that time, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was much denser than it is today.

Their Yinxian Village had far more than just two Saints; they even had an Old Ancestor in the Great Saint Realm.

But now, two thousand years later, the Great Saint Realm Old Ancestor has already passed away.

Only two Saint Old Ancestors remain.

And they, several Cultivators in the Asking Dao Realm, have cultivated bitterly for hundreds of years, yet have never found the Opportunity to become a Saint.

In another thousand years, perhaps even the title of Holy Land will be hard to maintain.

This was not just a problem facing their Yinxian Village; the other two Holy Lands were the same.

The round-faced youth opened his mouth, his face full of disbelief.

He had grown up in Yinxian Village and heard countless legends about Great Emperors from the village Elders.

Suppressing an era, crushing all races, with the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands not daring to disobey...

What a glorious existence that was!

But now, the Grand Elder was telling him that the imperial path was severed, and it was no longer possible for a Great Emperor to appear in the world?

"But..." The round-faced youth swallowed. "In the Great Emperors Secret Realm, there might be a method to become an Emperor left behind by a Great Emperor..."

"A method to become an Emperor?" Great Elder Yun Zhongzi shook his head, a bitter arc forming at the corner of his mouth. "If a method to become an Emperor were useful, those few brilliant Saint Kings after the Yuanlian Great Emperor would have become Emperors long ago. Why would they have resorted to joining the Restricted Zones and sealing their own blood and Qi?"

"Grand Elder, why did the world change so drastically? Why was the imperial path severed?" Qin Mo asked the doubt in his heart.

Great Elder Yun Zhongzi was silent for a moment and sighed. "There are many opinions on this matter, and no conclusion. There is only a rumor that the Yuanlian Great Emperor once said—the Heavenly Dao is flawed!"

"The Heavenly Dao is flawed!"

Just four words, yet they carried a sense of powerlessness.

The round-faced youth fell silent.

Qin Mo also fell silent.

A dead silence fell over the courtyard, with only the rustling of the wind through the old locust tree.

After a long time, the round-faced youth raised his head, the playful look returning to his face, but his eyes held an indescribable weight.

"Great Emperors are still too far from us. If I can achieve the Saint realm, I will have done right by the Ancestral Masters!"

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