Chapter 2
Battle of Grandmasters
Ten thousand years passed.
Vroom!
A black car sped through the valley. In the back seat sat a young man and an elderly man together. Judging from their bearing and dress, they were clearly upper class with considerable influence.
"Grandpa, what happened to make you rush me out like this?"
The young man asked curiously. His name was Tang Letong. Currently 20 years old, he was heir to the Tang Clan, an influential clan in the country famous for alchemy.
He'd been busy practicing medicine refinement. But today his grandfather—the Tang Clan head—had called him to come along.
And still refused to tell him why.
Seeing his grandson's surprised expression, the elderly man with a dignified face sighed softly.
"Something important's happening today."
Tang Tianjie, who held the position of clan leader, looked powerless now. Tang Letong had never seen his always-great grandfather look so powerless. Not from birth until now.
"What is it, Grandpa?"
Tang Letong asked, confused.
"...You'll know soon enough."
.
.
.
Many vehicles surged up the road around the mountainside. Villagers living in the area came out to watch with interest. Besides the expensive-looking vehicles, there was also a crowd heading up the mountain peak hurriedly.
"Young man, what's happening?"
An old man living on this mountain asked a young man walking up quietly. The young man answered simply:
"Something big's happening on the mountain today."
"What is it?"
"Grandpa, you're better off not knowing. And stay away from the mountain peak right now. It's dangerous."
The young man stared at the old man as if examining something, then smiled and warned him kindly before leaving the confused elder behind.
Whoosh!
The young man's body that had been walking slowly suddenly shot up the mountain like an arrow. The old man then noticed that besides the normal walking path, several small shadows were shooting up the mountain as well.
"...What's happening on this mountain?"
Though you couldn't see from below, the mountain's top had thousands of people gathering. Besides those who walked up, a number of vehicles were parked here as well. The remaining path to the peak couldn't be driven anymore.
"The Tang Clan came too?"
When Tang Letong and Tang Tianjie got out of the car, people around showed surprised reactions. Tang Letong glanced around.
There were both cultivators and ordinary people.
His Tang Clan was an extremely prominent clan regarding alchemy. This earned them great respect wherever they went.
Cultivation naturally paired with pills. Good pills could reduce training time tremendously, so ordinary cultivators respected alchemists greatly.
The Tang Clan had several hospitals of their own throughout the country. They were a clan with true influence.
"Right, it's here."
Tang Tianjie, who got out of the car, looked around before focusing on the mountain peak—where most people were heading.
"What's happening here, Grandpa?"
Tang Letong asked softly. The number of cultivators gathering here was massive, as if they came from all over the country. Each person had power at Martial Artist level and above.
"There'll be a battle between supreme Grandmasters."
"Gra...Grandmaster!?"
Tang Letong's shock was clear.
The word "Grandmaster" was the level showing cultivators' training power. When people could sense qi, they would be counted as the first stage of cultivation and called "Qi Gathering stage."
When they could break through Qi Gathering stage, they could use qi in their body more freely. This increased combat power and helped them live slightly longer.
At this stage they would be called "Martial Artists." They would be officially counted as cultivators. Quite a few people couldn't break through this stage and stopped at only Qi Gathering.
The next stage was called "Martial Master." At this stage they could freely release qi from their body. Just being able to break through this stage would receive very high respect.
And the next stage was "Grandmaster." It was said they could easily fly through the air. They were dozens of times more powerful than ordinary Martial Masters.
At this Grandmaster stage, there were fewer than ten people in the country. They were lofty beings in ordinary people's eyes. A level where most held important military positions.
And today there would be a battle between two Grandmasters. So it wasn't surprising that so many people who knew about it gathered here.
"Eastern King Ma Fufeng and Sword Master Zheng Renyi will battle today."
Tang Tianjie explained while heading up to the peak.
"Will we be okay, Grandpa?"
Tang Letong asked warily. Powerful beings surrounded him. His clan focused on alchemy, so his cultivation power wasn't very high. He was only at the 9th stage of Qi Gathering.
Only his grandfather, who was clan leader, was a 6th-stage Martial Master.
Though some bodyguards came along, compared to the skills of those gathered today, it probably wasn't enough.
"It's fine. Today there'll be a battle between these two great Grandmasters. There's a strict order forbidding any trouble."
"Old Tang, you came early."
While grandfather and grandson talked, an old man of similar age appeared behind them with a beautiful-faced woman.
"Old Song?"
Tang Tianjie greeted with surprise. The old man was his close friend with frequent business cooperation—Song Weinan.
The Tang Clan and Song Clan had been good friends since their ancestors' era. They'd built themselves up together, so the two clan leaders being close friends was natural.
"Oh, is that Ruixi? Grandpa Tang hasn't seen you in years."
Behind Song Weinan was a woman with an extremely beautiful, stunning face. She looked somewhat cold—almost like a goddess.
"Hello, Grandpa Tang."
Song Ruixi showed a beautiful smile to her grandfather's close friend. Her smile made many young men secretly watching fall under her charm.
"Hello, Sister Ruixi."
Tang Letong greeted shyly. When they were children they'd often played together. But when they grew up, he heard Ruixi went to study abroad until disappearing for three years.
He didn't think when she came back she'd be this beautiful and full of charm.
"Hello."
Song Ruixi just smiled faintly.
"Old Tang, you came here today for that matter too, right?"
Song Weinan walked to chat closely with his old friend while continuing forward. Tang Tianjie could only nod helplessly at the question.
"Ah... The new era's probably starting soon."
"These past few years, the number of cultivators keeps increasing."
Song Weinan sighed. Looking back to when they were still young, cultivators weren't this numerous or this powerful either. Back then, no matter how skilled, cultivators could still be taken down by guns. Ordinary people could fight them easily.
Cultivators weren't very notable before.
But now there were more and more cultivators appearing.
"The government's been running around crazy lately."
Song Weinan continued. The Song Clan itself had quite a few positions inside, so they always knew the insider news.
"What's the government planning?" Tang Tianjie asked softly.
"...No special orders yet."
Seeing the two old people whispering ahead, Tang Letong couldn't interrupt. So he could only turn to chat with the woman following quietly.
"Sister Ruixi, where'd you study abroad?"
"Western country."
"Oh..."
They started talking, but it turned awkward. Tang Letong asked questions. Song Ruixi gave brief answers. She showed no interest in conversation.
He felt uncomfortable. To avoid more awkwardness, he kept breaking the growing silence.
Before they knew it, they reached the mountain peak. A large clearing appeared, surrounded by valleys. People spread around the perimeter—no one dared enter the arena itself.
Government people scattered everywhere, keeping watch to prevent disturbances.
The Tang and Song Clans were influential and respected. When they arrived, the crowd opened a path for them to enter beside the arena comfortably.
Chatter continued loudly until 11 AM. Even though it was an open area, this clearing had no sunlight at all. It seemed the valleys on all sides blocked the intense sun completely. It even felt cool and comfortable.
Even though over a thousand people gathered, when the time came, everyone fell silent. No one dared utter a sound to disturb the battle about to begin.
"...Eastern King Ma Fufeng and Sword Master Zheng Renyi are here!"
No one knew who spoke, but when they heard it, everyone turned in unison. Two men appeared in that direction, walking forward boldly.
One was a middle-aged man with a full beard covering his face. But the fierce gleam in his eyes and the aura he released was like a beast just escaped from its cage.
The other was an elderly man. His white mustache extended all the way down to his stomach, bringing to mind martial masters seen on television. On his back he carried a single-handed sword releasing an aura that looked supremely sharp.
When the two walked to the arena's center, they separated to stand at opposite corners. One left, one right—they didn't move but only stared at each other.
The spectators swallowed audibly. But suddenly massive pressure burst forth from both sides and clashed in the arena's center!
Ordinary people and cultivators below Martial Master level all felt oppressed. Some even had shaking legs and sat down on the ground. They simply felt the pressure the two Grandmasters released against each other.
"It's too intense..."
Tang Letong murmured. His hands trembled slightly as he stared at the scene.
He turned to look toward Song Ruixi. But what he saw surprised him. The young woman not only didn't have any trembling symptoms—she could even stand there comfortably.