Chapter 84: Geniuses Gather, The Mysterious Magu
Chapter 84 – Geniuses Gather, The Mysterious Magu
Arriving at the pavilion, Jiang Ping pointed toward the refined young master seated on the far left.
“Brother Chen, allow me to introduce the successor of the Langya Pavilion. This is Mei Yongsi, hailed by many as the Qilin Scholar.”
At Jiang Ping’s introduction, the elegant man cupped his hands and offered Chen Changsheng a courteous bow.
Sweeping his gaze over the Langya Pavilion’s heir, Chen Changsheng spoke. “The Middle Heavens overflow with peerless talents and boundless spiritual essence. If one were to ask which faction reigns supreme in martial might…”
“…perhaps no soul could give a definitive answer. Yet, if one were to ask who commands the flow of secrets across the Middle Heavens…”
“…that crown undisputedly belongs to the Langya Pavilion beside the Golden Sands River.”
“‘Tracing the paths of all heroes under heaven, even dragons bow before the Scholar of Jiangzuo.’”
“To gaze upon the Jiangzuo Scholar of the Langya Pavilion today is a profound honor.”
“Hehehe!”
“Brother Chen speaks too highly of me. My meager reputation is nothing but face generously given by my Fellow Daoists.”
After exchanging those empty pleasantries with Mei Yongsi, Chen Changsheng shifted his focus to the man seated beside him.
This cultivator’s aura starkly contrasted with Mei Yongsi’s. Where Mei Yongsi was refined and soothing, radiating a gentle spring breeze…
…this man was a towering mountain of muscle. Clad in crude animal pelts and thick wool, his savage aesthetic belonged neither to the Middle Heavens nor the Eastern Wasteland.
Following a brief scrutiny, Chen Changsheng formed a calculated guess.
Slicing off Jiang Ping’s impending introduction, Chen Changsheng spoke first. “This brother’s garments and fierce bearing are utterly alien to the Middle Heavens. It stands to reason you hail from the Southern Plains.”
“I have caught wind of certain legends drifting from the south.”
“Rumor dictates that an unprecedented, Peerless heavenly talent has risen from the desolate steppes.”
“At five, he tore demonic tigers and leopards limb from limb. By his eighteenth winter, the thirty-six warring tribes of the Southern Plains jointly crowned him their ‘First Warrior.’”
Hearing Chen Changsheng recount his bloody accolades, the burly brute flashed a feral grin.
“I never expected an outsider to track the affairs of the Southern Plains so closely. The soft cultivators of the Middle Heavens neglect the tempering of their own flesh.”
“I have wandered this holy city for days, yet failed to unearth a worthy opponent.”
“This fellow next to me claims that a formidable empire exists in the Eastern Wasteland, one that reveres the Dao of Body Tempering.”
“Tell me, do you bleed for the Xuanwu Kingdom?”
Facing the behemoth’s naked aggression, Chen Changsheng maintained a placid smile. “Although my roots lie in the Eastern Wasteland, I do not belong to the Xuanwu Kingdom.”
“If you wish to test your marrow against a true prodigy of the Xuanwu Kingdom, direct your killing intent toward my companion.”
“Brother Su is the One-Word Co-Emperor King, personally anointed by the Emperor Zuo of Xuanwu. He stands as the undisputed apex of their younger generation.”
His interest immediately shifting, the brute locked his eyes onto Su Tian.
“My blood boils in your presence. Your fighting spirit soars higher than the supreme eagles of the steppe.”
“Your battle intent is more vicious than a starving wolf. I wish to break your bones.”
“I am Borjigin Batulu. You may simply refer to me as Batulu.”
Meeting the savage invitation with an icy stare, Su Tian cupped his fists. “Su Tian, One-Word Co-Emperor King of the Xuanwu Kingdom.”
“By karmic coincidence, I also desire to test your weight.”
“Upon the plains, the title ‘Batulu’ represents the ultimate warrior. Since you dare shoulder such a name, your strength had better match your arrogance.”
Sensing the friction threatening to ignite into violence, Jiang Ping hastily stepped between them to smooth things over.
“I never imagined Brother Chen commanded both tyrannical wealth and such vast worldly knowledge.”
“Brother Su and Brother Batulu strike chords like old friends at first sight. Truly a case of supreme talents recognizing their own kind!”
“Since Brother Chen’s eyes are so piercing, why not deduce the identities of the remaining Fellow Daoists?”
Confronted with Jiang Ping’s transparent test, Chen Changsheng smiled faintly, entirely unbothered.
Geniuses were inherently arrogant creatures. Unless one demonstrated sufficient depth, they would not even spare a passing glance.
Mentally sneering at Jiang Ping’s petty probing, Chen Changsheng turned to the final man, whose aura practically choked the air with innate nobility.
“Brother, your every minute gesture exudes a terrifyingly dense imperial aura.”
“Sweeping across the entirety of the Middle Heavens, only the Holy Son of the Yaoguang Holy Land possesses such absolute bearing.”
“Eighty winters ago, an infant descended upon the Yaoguang Holy Land. The instant he drew breath, the heavens burned with a crimson radiance, screaming of supreme providence.”
“At age three, he devoured every Divine Law and ancient text within the Yaoguang vaults. By five, he suppressed myriad older disciples.”
“By eight, the entirety of the Yaoguang Holy Land’s younger generation lay completely beneath his heel.”
“Upon reaching his tenth year, not a single peer remained worthy of unsheathing his blade.”
“Do I speak truly, Yaoguang Holy Son, the one the world reveres as the Banished Immortal?”
Hearing his own legend recited back to him, the Yaoguang Holy Son offered a warm smile. “Brother Chen jests. The moniker of ‘Banished Immortal’ is naught but empty air.”
“If Brother Chen does not find it beneath him, simply call me Fu Yao.”
“Fu Yao?”
“‘The great roc mounts the tempest in a single day, soaring straight into the heavens for forty-five thousand miles.’”
“Truly an imperious name!”
Having acknowledged the mysterious Yaoguang Holy Son, Chen Changsheng pivoted toward the two women.
Yet upon scrutinizing them, Chen Changsheng furrowed his brows in genuine consternation.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Fairy Zi Ning yesterday, but the karmic threads surrounding this other Fairy elude my sight.”
“Would Fairy care to bestow a hint?”
“My roots do not run as deep as theirs. I clawed my way up from a desolate, obscure sect. The name would mean nothing to you.”
“Fairy does me a disservice. I possess a rather thorough map of the Middle Heavens in my mind.”
“If you refuse to utter the name, how can you definitively conclude I remain ignorant of it?”
Pushed by Chen Changsheng’s relentless probing, the Fairy—whose face resembled a broad pancake dotted with sesame-seed pockmarks—finally spoke.
“Magu, of the Qianshan Sword Sect.”
Upon hearing that forgotten title, the elite youths present plunged into deep contemplation.
“The Qianshan Sword Sect. Positioned precisely nineteen hundred miles from the Kunlun Holy Land.”
“A barren sect with a pitiful roster, insisting on passing their mantle to but a single successor each generation.”
Chen Changsheng flawlessly dismantled the history of her lineage. The only reason his knowledge cut so deep…
…was because some six or seven centuries ago, Chen Changsheng had struck a bloody transaction with the Qianshan Sword Sect.
Funny thing is, the Qianshan Sword Sect was already circling the drain back then.
With so many centuries ground beneath the wheel of time, it defied logic that the sect hadn’t been entirely wiped from the map!
Right as Chen Changsheng sifted through this temporal paradox, Mei Yongsi broke his silence.
“According to the ancient ledgers of the Langya Pavilion, the Qianshan Sword Sect was utterly erased from existence three centuries ago.”
“To encounter a living heir to their legacy today is deeply unsettling. It appears the Langya Pavilion must purge and rebuild its intelligence networks.”
Stripped of her secrecy by both Chen Changsheng and Mei Yongsi, Magu’s pockmarked face remained a sheet of dead ice. She stated indifferently,
“I tread the stage of the Heavenly Talent Assembly merely to resurrect my sect’s fallen gates. I harbor zero interest in crossing blades to stroke the egos of others.”
“Did you not come here for Stone Gambling?”
“If the cutting does not commence immediately, I am departing.”
“Ah!”
Snapped back to reality, Jiang Ping violently slapped his own forehead. “Curse my mortal memory! I nearly buried Brother Chen’s entire purpose for arriving.”
“Today is the day Brother Chen flexes his profound might. If I were to obstruct such an undertaking, my sins would be unforgivable.”
Without wasting another breath, Jiang Ping guided Chen Changsheng toward a series of massive, raw spiritual stones.
Arrayed around the unhewn rocks, a pantheon of terrifyingly potent figures already stood in absolute silence, waiting.
It was painfully obvious that long before Chen Changsheng’s arrival, countless experts had already scourged the stones with their Divine Sense, probing for the treasures within.
……