Chen Kuang had always firmly believed one thing, once someone began orchestrating things from behind the scenes, then nothing one saw while inside the game could be regarded as coincidence.
Especially considering Mu Zhao had spent an entire month setting things up in advance, it was impossible for such an obvious oversight to occur.
In Chen Kuang's heart, there were two possible interpretations of Mu Zhao's intentions.
First, Mu Zhao aimed to trap them all inside Upper Third Grade battlefields and defeat them one by one.
If that were the case, then there absolutely could not be multiple participants in the same battlefield!
One must understand: all who qualified to enter the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation were paragons of the current age.
If they joined forces, the effect would absolutely be greater than the sum of its parts, their chance of survival would increase exponentially.
Mu Zhao would never allow such a scenario to occur.
Second, if multiple participants did appear within the same battlefield, then they must be placed in opposing camps, locked in a struggle to the death.
This logic applied to more than two as well.
In this way, once identities were forced into conflict by the environment, in order to survive and maximize gains, the participants would be compelled to compromise and become enemies.
Such internal strife, even if it didn't lead to mutual destruction, would ensure that after leaving the battlefield, reconciliation would be all but impossible.
However, the appearance of Jiang Yunqing threw both of Chen Kuang's hypotheses into disarray.
He was the second participant in this battlefield, and yet he was in the Mysterious Divine Path Sect's faction, just like Chen Kuang.
Which left only one remaining conclusion.
If this whole setup was deliberately constructed, and the participants weren't scattered, then it must be a case of deliberate concentration.
All participants had been thrown into the same battlefield.
The war between Mysterious Divine Path Sect and Bitian Prefecture and Sect!
Chen Kuang turned to Jiang Yunqing and asked, "You knew something would happen from the start?"
Though phrased as a question, certainty was already written in his eyes.
Jiang Yunqing nodded, twirled his sword slightly, and said, "The moment I saw the stone gate, I sensed residual Dao Domain energy."
In other words, he had detected that the "Martial Saint" might've tampered with the interior of the stone gate. That was why he chose to leave the Saltplum Sword with Chen Kuang, to use it as a beacon for quick location once inside the battlefield.
A true paragon indeed... Chen Kuang couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He himself had only noticed a faint trace of Dao Resonance after the teleportation talisman shattered in his hands. Yet Jiang Yunqing had already sensed something just by looking at the gate.
This kind of raw gap in cultivation was simply not something his current passives could bridge.
Unless... he somehow rolled a new passive that enhanced perception.
Jiang Yunqing then provided a piece of information that caught Chen Kuang completely off guard.
He explained, "The Dao Domain wasn't limited to the inside of the stone gate. It included the surrounding area as well. All those Grandmasters were already within its range."
"Under the influence of 'Domineering Dao,' they would only act according to Mu Zhao's will. Even if I told them the truth, they would never believe it."
"And the activation of the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation was a matter of mutual interest across all the sects, no one would postpone or cancel it for such a reason. I had no choice but to resort to this plan."
There was a touch of apology in Jiang Yunqing's expression, as if he felt a bit guilty for using Chen Kuang.
Though Chen Kuang had already suspected that Jiang Yunqing left the sword with him for more than just goodwill, he hadn't expected that this seemingly pure and honest "Wisdom Sword" actually had a thousand little schemes running behind those eyes.
But as the saying goes...
"You can give the wrong name, but not the wrong nickname."
If they called him "Wisdom Sword," then he certainly wouldn't be some blockheaded fool.
What surprised Chen Kuang even more was that Mu Zhao's "Domineering Dao" could directly affect one's mind?
A heaviness settled in Chen Kuang's heart.
He knew that when the "Martial Saint" had borrowed someone's body to try to kill him, he hadn't used his full strength, perhaps not even a tenth. But still, he hadn't imagined that the gap was this vast.
According to Jiang Yunqing, even Grandmasters couldn't resist the Dao Domain of the "Domineering Dao."
In other words, if Mu Zhao had decided to mentally influence Chen Kuang back then using Dao Domain powers, he wouldn't have even had a chance to fight back.
If nothing changed within the next seven days, and he had to face the real body of the "Martial Saint" upon leaving the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation, then things were truly looking grim...
Jiang Yunqing continued:
"When the stone gate reopened, the 'Domineering Dao' immediately reshaped the entire structure of the Ancient Battlefield. And the moment we entered, it shattered our teleportation talismans."
He stretched out his hand and revealed a broken talisman identical to the one in Chen Kuang's hand.
Chen Kuang glanced at it. Sure enough, it also held residual traces of Dao Resonance.
"Reshaped?" he asked.
Jiang Yunqing made a gesture with his hand:
"If the battlefields were originally floating bubbles that moved randomly, now they've become fixed layers. Only by passing through one layer can you reach the next."
Chen Kuang immediately understood:
"So now, everyone has to proceed layer by layer, exactly according to Mu Zhao's arranged order?"
Jiang Yunqing nodded.
Chen Kuang took a deep breath, and Mu Zhao's scheme became clear to him.
Since even the order of battles had been predetermined, he could easily stack ten consecutive Upper Third Grade battlefields, ensuring none would return alive.
Now that was Domineering.
This also confirmed Chen Kuang's earlier theory: everyone was now in the same battlefield.
From this moment on, the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation was no longer a trial, it was a battle royale for heavenly prodigies.
Chen Kuang's thoughts churned as he looked over at Jiang Yunqing.
So... this "Wisdom Sword" had shown kindness to him early on because he was looking for a teammate.
But then, Chen Kuang didn't know Jiang Yunqing at all. How had he been singled out from among everyone else, especially as the one with the weakest cultivation?
Now, he could finally ask the question that had long been on his mind.
Chen Kuang paused a moment, then said frankly,
"I'm not a disciple of Liberty Mountain. It's unlikely that any of my elders have ever interacted with your master..."
Jiang Yunqing shook his head and said, "The one who shares ties with my master isn't your elder, it's you."
Chen Kuang froze. A bizarre but oddly reasonable guess rose up in his mind.
Jiang Yunqing looked at him solemnly and said,
"My master's name was Jie Kun, the one who committed the sword sacrifice by Eastern Court Lake thirteen years ago."
Holy..
No wonder Sword Furnace Pavilion never publicly spoke of Jiang Yunqing's lineage.
First, the man was already dead. Second, having a master who forged the Demon Sword, and who carried the weight of 100,000 lives, wouldn't do his reputation any good.
Besides, Jiang Yunqing hadn't become famous through swordsmithing anyway, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
But thirteen years ago... Jiang Yunqing would've been just nine years old at the time, right?
He had once said this sword was the only one he had ever successfully forged, and the only one his master had acknowledged.
In other words, this sword must've been forged before he turned nine.
Chen Kuang suddenly understood. That would explain why the craftsmanship on the sword was so terrible...
That so-called "acknowledgment" was probably just something his master said to make a child happy.
Jiang Yunqing said, "On you, I felt my master's Intent, his Heart, and his Realm. When he sacrificed himself to the sword, he transformed himself into the 'Three Fundamentals of the Sword' infusing all of his life's passion and skill into it."
"In a sense, you are the one who inherited my master's true legacy."
He looked earnestly at Chen Kuang and said:
"May I take a look at it? That Demon Sword?"