Chapter 96. Zhongnan Poison Sword
***
Zhengzhou. The provincial capital of Henan Province.
Because Henan Province is called Zhongzhou, it is the center of the Central Plains. And the center of that Zhongzhou is precisely this Zhengzhou. In other words, the core of the core. However, despite possessing such a geographical advantage, Zhengzhou had not received much attention for a long time.
To the west lies Luoyang, and to the east lies Kaifeng. Both places are major transportation hubs and have flourished since ancient times. Many dynasties throughout history established their capitals in those two places. Because of that, Zhengzhou was strongly perceived as merely a provincial capital caught between them.
That was, until this organization settled here.
In Pingzhou, there is the Imperial Palace, and in Zhengzhou, there is the Martial Alliance.
The Martial Alliance.
The sky of the martial world. A tremendous organization, comparable to the Imperial Palace.
Especially in times like now, the prestige of the Martial Alliance could truly be said to cover the whole world.
And so Zhengzhou, which houses the Martial Alliance, had been in an uproar lately.
Would it be this bustling only when there was an imperial examination in Beiping?
Every day, hundreds of young martial artists were flocking into Zhengzhou. With all kinds of clothing styles and peculiar accents filling the city, it could truly be said that they had gathered from the Nine Provinces.
The All-Under-Heaven Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
This tournament held by the Martial Alliance was igniting the hearts of young martial artists across the land.
Just as the imperial examination determined the rise to fame of scholars, for martial artists, a tournament like this was the best opportunity to make their name known.
Moreover, while scholars had the regular state examination held once every three years, for martial artists, such an opportunity might come only once in a lifetime, if ever. The difference in value between a regular test and an irregular one was like heaven and earth. Because of that, young martial artists had no choice but to throw themselves into this with their lives on the line.
In addition, even simple spectators were gathering in Zhengzhou. Such a large-scale tournament was an incredible spectacle. Not only for martial artists, but even for poets and men of letters, it would be an event worth talking about over drinks for the rest of their lives.
If, by chance, a hero born from this tournament were to later become the greatest under heaven, would that not be something to be recorded forever in the history of the martial world?
Even today, through all routes from east, west, south, and north of Zhengzhou, people were pouring in.
Whether lowly or high-level, whether righteous heroes or villains,
Or perhaps ...
Something else entirely.....
***
The Martial Alliance. The heart of the martial world. And a vast estate stretching over three hundred zhang from north to south and more than two hundred zhang from east to west.
It was another provincial capital existing within Zhengzhou.
If one followed the main road that ran through Zhengzhou from north to south and went far to the south, one would see Cheongsin Mountain, and the Martial Alliance stood with its back against this mountain, majestically overlooking the city of Zhengzhou.
Although countless people were gathering in Zhengzhou, not everyone could enter the Martial Alliance. Since the tournament had not yet commenced, only those who had received the official invitation distributed by the Martial Alliance could pass through the alliance's main gate, the Muhwa Gate, and enter inside.
And even passing through the Muhwa Gate did not mean one could freely roam the Martial Alliance. Guests were basically assigned rooms in the Guest Hall according to their reputation, and likewise, their range of activity was determined according to their evaluation and status. Most guests had their activity restricted to the outer halls outside the Guest Hall, and only a very small number of special guests could enter the inner halls.
The palaces, halls, and pavilions that formed the core of the Martial Alliance were all inside the inner halls, so in truth, it was this inner area that could be called the real Martial Alliance. In other words, someone who could freely come and go within the inner halls was truly a notable figure of the martial world.
However, as with any large organization, the Martial Alliance also had places where entry was strictly forbidden. Regardless of who it was. Even the heads of the great sects or the family heads of the great families could not approach such places lightly.
The Heaven-Connecting Hall. The residence of the Martial Alliance Leader.
All the power of the current orthodox martial world came from this place, and all the martial and talented people of the Central Plains flowed into this place. Therefore, anyone who wished to become the sky of the martial world would have to either surpass this place or become its master.
This oppressive building was as dangerous and terrifying as its appearance suggested. With a single command from the Martial Alliance Leader, all kinds of formations existing under heaven would be activated, making it impossible even for a supreme expert to escape.
That was why people also called this place, by another name, the Iron-Blood Fortress. In some ways, this place might even be harder to infiltrate than the emperor's residence.
And yet.
Right now, there was someone who had entered that Iron-Blood Fortress without being obstructed by the formations, and without interference from the martial artists who guarded the Heaven-Connecting Hall like an iron wall.
No one here had ever seen him before, but no one stopped him from entering the Heaven-Connecting Hall. That was because there had been a word from Hyeon-cheon, the Martial Alliance Leader.
***
The Martial Alliance Leader's office.
A room that, unlike the splendid exterior of the Heaven-Connecting Hall, contained only a table and a bed, filled only with the fragrance of tea. It seemed to show the owner's simple personality.
At the angular table in the middle of it, two people were sitting facing each other.
Slurp.
Hyeon-cheon gently lifted his teacup and brought it to his lips. His appearance was extremely gentle and soft. Perhaps because of that, his immortal-like, otherworldly atmosphere stood out even more. Although his beard, whiter than snow, seemed like it might get wet from the tea, not a single drop of moisture stained it.
He slowly set the teacup back on the table and looked at the "uninvited guest who was not an uninvited guest" sitting across from him.
A young man.
So shabby as to be dirty, and yet exuding a heavy presence that quietly filled the room.
Would even one of the Twenty Great Masters Under Heaven have such aura? It was hard to be sure. Even the Martial Alliance Leader could not possibly meet all the experts in the martial world.
However, one thing was certain...…
None of the Two Gods, Three Eccentrics, Five Elders, or Ten Great Masters would have shown such presence at that age as the shabby young man sitting across from him now.
Hyeon-cheon lifted his teacup again, moistened his lips once more, and then spoke for the first time.
"Upper Harmony with the Void Path. Dao Friend's aura is so great that it feels as if the Heaven-Connecting Hall might be blown away."
Hyeon-cheon's voice, quietly reciting a Dao title, was very gentle, fitting his appearance.
"........"
Clink.
The young man silently lifted the teacup, fiddled with it this way and that, and then set it back down in its place. Had he never tasted tea in his life? Or perhaps, to him, tea was nothing more than slightly smelly water.
"I am a poor Daoist who uses the impudent and dull Dao title of Hyeon-cheon."
Hyeon-cheon said again as he observed him carefully. Only then did the young man open his mouth.
"Zhong ... Zhihang ... is me... probably...."
The young man was Zhong Zhihang.
Zhong Zhihang's way of speaking was not only clumsy, but also extremely rough in formality. Moreover, "probably"? Did he not even know his own name properly? Or was that really the case?
Either way, in the current martial world, who could possibly speak like that to Hyeon-cheon?
Hyeon-cheon instead laughed heartily and said.
"Ho ho. Hearing you say 'probably', it seems you truly are the disciple of the Zhongnan Poison Sword."
"......"
"He was like that decades ago as well. He said that because he could not remember even his own name. Probably...."
Zhong Zhihang still did not reply and only stared straight at Hyeon-cheon. Hyeon-cheon took another sip of tea and continued.
"But why did you come alone?"
At Hyeon-cheon's words, Zhong Zhihang gripped the Great Heavenly Steel Sword in his left hand even more tightly. Then, in a heavy voice, he answered.
"He went. Master has .... "
Had he not thought of the expression "passed away"? Zhong Zhihang's choice of words was very different from ordinary people.
But that was enough. For Hyeon-cheon to understand.
"Upper Harmony with the Void Path. I see .... Well, both the Zhongnan Poison Sword and this poor Daoist have reached the time to return to the roots."
Hyeon-cheon recited the Dao title again, as if regretful. But it was unclear what he was truly regretful about. Was he saddened by his death, or was he regretting that one expert who could oppose the Heavenly Demon Castle had disappeared?
The eyes of Zhong Zhihang and Hyeon-cheon lightly intertwined in midair. Only then did Hyeon-cheon realize that the other's eyes were extremely clear. So clear that, like a thousand-year lake whose depth could not be known, Zhong Zhihang's eyes were transparent. At that, Hyeon-cheon's white eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Do you know why this poor Daoist called your late master to this place?"
Once again, Zhong Zhihang did not reply and merely waited for Hyeon-cheon's answer. He knew well that the question was not asked expecting an answer anyway.
Hyeon-cheon thought that this was the heritage of Zhongnan. The Zhongnan Poison Sword he had met long ago, in his faint memories, had also been just as taciturn. No, it would be more accurate to say that words had not been necessary. If one had inherited everything of his, it was only natural to become like that.......
"I called him to lift the sealing of Zhongnan. Well, since the seal has been lifted, you can be sitting here now, but .... "
Strictly speaking, the moment Hyeon-cheon sent out the Martial Alliance invitation, the sealing of Zhongnan had been lifted. There were many reasons why he had sent the invitation all the way to Zhongnan Mountain, and among them, the greatest was to summon the Zhongnan Poison Sword to the Martial Alliance.
Zhong Zhihang had nothing to do with that plan at all. That was why he was an "uninvited guest who was not an uninvited guest." He was uninvited because he had not been directly invited, but he was also not uninvited because he had come in place of the one who had been invited.
Hyeon-cheon still could not draw any conclusion about Zhong Zhihang. His transparent eyes were not conveying any information at all ....
Then, Zhong Zhihang, who had been sitting quietly, opened his mouth.
"The seal... was never... there..... Zhongnan... was only... enduring and restraining itself…."
"...! "
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