Chapter 257: Chapter 249: Celestial Pride List No. 9

Inside the main hall,

Gu Zhan slowly tucked the Inheritance Jade Slip into his breast pocket.

However, after the system recorded it, it meant nothing to him anymore. Of course, Yun Wei had no idea Gu Zhan was cheating; so he still followed conventional thinking—most people cultivating Martial Arts would need to keep poring over the secret manuals and studying them.

Gu Zhan glanced at his system page and immediately put in some points:

[Used 10 million Experience Points]

[Water Manipulation Skill upgraded to Entry Realm]

...

In that instant,

Gu Zhan could distinctly feel his body undergoing a mutation. It was as if he was cut off from the air, like a fish swimming in water—not needing much breath at all, almost like holding his breath for ages.

Gu Zhan understood that this was surely the effect of Water Manipulation Skill; it allowed someone to move unhindered in water and naturally altered their physique, so they wouldn’t have to rely so much on oxygen.

Spirit Platform clear-headed, essence and energy united,

An instant of enlightenment,

Gu Zhan knew he’d already reached the peak of Entering Water Realm—the first of three great realms of Water Manipulation Skill—and with a single thought, surpassed the decades Yun Wei had immersed himself in it.

After a while,

Gu Zhan returned from that state and smiled faintly,

If Yun Wei knew he had already mastered the Divine Techniques of Entering Water Realm, he’d probably want to smash his head into a block of tofu. The blow would be way too much.

Gu Zhan’s breakthrough was as usual,

Brought no strange phenomena or discomfort,

Just like he’d mastered it from decades of practice.

He took a look at the system:

Player: Gu Zhan

Realm: Dao Entry Realm

Cultivation Technique: Profound Yang Skill (Eleventh Floor 0/100 million)

Skills:

Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique (Great Success)

Creation Golden Body (Great Success)

Four Seas Unification Blade Technique (Great Success)

Lingxi Sword (Great Success)

Wangchuan Swordsmanship (Great Success)

Frost Ice Finger (Great Success)

Killing Fist (Great Success)

Netherworld King’s Array-breaking Saber (Great Success)

Water Manipulation Skill (Entry Level 0/30 million)

Experience Points: 8,500,541

...

Next, Gu Zhan went upstairs.

The second floor was just as spacious as the main hall below, with rows upon rows of bookshelves stuffed full of books and scrolls.

Gu Zhan had barely stepped inside when he sensed several pairs of eyes on him, all accompanied by absolutely not weak cultivations. But soon enough, those auras faded away.

Gu Zhan knew these were the experts assigned to guard the secret manuals—after all, Martial Arts Secret Manuals were the foundation of any faction, and they wouldn’t just leave them lying around. Hidden experts wouldn’t be a rarity.

Those people had probably just been confirming his identity. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

As expected, not long after,

A middle-aged man dressed in embroidered uniform came over, smiling as he cupped his fists with respectful etiquette: "I am Mo Wen, Steward of the Inheritance Pavilion. Greetings, Squad Leader Gu."

"Mo Wen." Gu Zhan murmured the name, and asked: "You’re from the Mo Family?"

Mo Wen smiled, "Yes, Squad Leader Gu. Technically, I’m a distant cousin of the Sixth Young Master."

Gu Zhan nodded,

In places like this, it was normal to have Mo Family people stationed.

"Cloud Protector asked me to take a look." Gu Zhan said.

Mo Wen responded softly, "Cloud Protector already told us this afternoon. The secret manuals in the Inheritance Pavilion are at your disposal, Squad Leader Gu, for reading and borrowing."

With that, Mo Wen started his introduction.

The Inheritance Pavilion didn’t just hold Martial Arts Secret Manuals—there were also many Martial Artists’ essays, explanations on Martial Arts theory, and records of all sorts of strange incidents about factions, weapons, people, and more from the Martial World.

Mo Wen clearly had a good sense; after a brief introduction, he quietly took his leave, not disturbing Gu Zhan.

Beidou Bang’s Inheritance Pavilion,

Its collection was extremely thorough; it chronicled a great many affairs across the world, and after all this time, it was Gu Zhan’s first glimpse at the tip of the iceberg of the real world.

And that glimpse lasted for several days.

...

While Gu Zhan was thoroughly absorbed in the Beidou Bang Inheritance Pavilion,

The Martial World had already begun to churn with turmoil.

Leading the charge was Canglan City’s City Lord’s Mansion,

The Sixth Young Master Mo Beiyan took over the City Lord’s Mansion, and in just a few days, had everyone amazed at how this previously unknown sixth young master was actually such a ruthless figure.

For days, the City Lord’s Mansion was shrouded in oppression and the stench of blood. Piles and piles of corpses were dragged out, up and down, almost everyone cleaned out in one sweep.

Of course, those who cared about the truth knew,

This whole affair was actually handled by the Pingyang Embroidered Uniform Guard, led by the Pingyang Gu Family, acting under Gu Zhan’s orders, with the Tian Family assisting. As for the Sixth Young Master Mo Beiyan, aside from showing up occasionally, most of the time he was lying in bed sleeping, having no clue how many died in the City Lord’s Mansion.

But compared to the Law Enforcement Hall’s actions,

The bloodshed at the City Lord’s Mansion was nothing but child’s play.

The nearly-retired Hall Master of Law Enforcement Hall, Yun Wei, personally led the Law Enforcement Team for a thorough purge of Beidou Bang’s headquarters, including the Elder Council and Law Enforcement Hall itself,

For a while, the city was upended.

And the events in Canglan City quickly spread throughout the Martial World.

Overall, though,

It didn’t kick up much of a storm, because during this period, what was really attracting attention in the Yunxi Martial World was the return of Demon Dao. All the factions were rushing toward Great Desert City near the Ten Thousand Mountains—plenty of Righteous and Demon conflicts had already broken out.

Over in Canglan Dao, the factions were now, under Beidou Bang’s arrangements, heading toward Great Desert City; and the towns outside Canglan City were all gradually emptying out.

But amid the Martial World’s chaos,

Another matter was making the rounds, a favorite topic of discussion,

Because the Righteous Dao Martial World had gathered in Great Desert City,

With all sorts of experts in the mix, inevitably sparking plenty of fights over fame and fortune.

The old generation wasn’t so bad,

But it was mostly the younger generation fighting—each one hot-blooded, refusing to back down, and when they met, it was impossible to avoid a bout.

Still, with seasoned elders holding down the fort, nothing too big ever broke out. Yet the Celestial Pride List and Talented List fluctuated a lot; some newcomers rose up, some dropped straight off.

The Talented List was mostly Innate Martial Artists, so it didn’t get much attention. The Celestial Pride List was more watched, and what really surprised people was,

The God of Slaughter Gu Zhan, who had just made it to the very bottom of the Celestial Pride List recently, hadn’t disappeared after a brief flash—instead, he shot right from eighteenth up to ninth place, making everyone take notice,

And when it was revealed Gu Zhan was one of Beidou Bang’s Martial Arts Tournament representatives this time, in Great Desert City, countless young people were itching for a chance to face off against the God of Slaughter.

However,

At this moment, Gu Zhan—just out from Beidou Bang’s Inheritance Pavilion—had no idea he’d become the target of so many,

Not that he’d care if he did,

He was busy studying several Earth Tier Upper Grade Martial Arts he had painstakingly selected from the Inheritance Pavilion over the past few days.

Seven in total,

They included one Archery, one Saber Technique, one Swordsmanship, one Fist Technique, one Leg Technique, one Qinggong, and one Finger Technique.