Volume Five: Ancient Legends Chapter Fifty: Disciples of the Misty Sect

As time passed day by day, Chen Chen and his companions studied the arts under masters at the Misty Sect. They practiced diligently every single day, often striving merely to make even the slightest progress in their martial path. Sometimes, Chen Chen even envied those outer sect disciples who spent their days washing clothes, cooking meals, tending fires, and chopping wood. Though those days were simple and hard, life was relatively peaceful, free from such immense pressure and the burden of having so many unfamiliar expectations forced upon them.

As an inner sect disciple of the Misty Sect, Chen Chen always bore a heavy load. In ordinary times, he had to cultivate his martial arts diligently, comprehend the direction of his cultivation, and master his foundational skills. One day, this batch of inner sect disciples would all have to face their own rivals for survival, fighting for worldly fame and fortune, competing for resources to live, confronting the grievances and affections of the mortal world, and vying for worldly wealth and beauties. Only by mastering their fundamental skills could they remain composed and cheerful after becoming entangled in one feud after another, and handle the difficulties of life with ease and flexibility.

Spring departed and autumn arrived, through bitter winters and scorching summers. Chen Chen and the others studied immortal arts at the Misty Sect upon the celestial mountain of the Qingfeng Tribe, and this cultivation lasted for several months. During this period, the immortal elders of the Misty Sect issued various tasks used to train and select the immortal acolytes who had been brought in. Those acolytes had not yet attained the realm of true immortals, and were called immortal acolytes precisely because they followed the immortals in the celestial mountain to learn the methods of achieving immortality.

From then on, the celestial mountain flourished day by day, and the incense offerings upon it grew increasingly prosperous. It gained a certain renown within the Qingfeng Tribe and even across the entire Great Xiu State.

Aside from the Qingfeng Tribe, the Great Xiu State also encompassed the Dayan Tribe, the Fomalhaut Tribe, the Southern Dipper Six Stars Tribe, the Big Dipper Seven Stars Tribe, the Huaxia Jiuli Tribe, the Huaxia Yandi Tribe, the Huaxia Huangdi Tribe, and the Jiuyou Underworld Tribe. Chen Chen did not know much about the overall architecture of the Great Xiu State; it was simply that, residing within the celestial mountain of the Great Xiu State, he needed to have a certain understanding of it and comprehend the factional composition of the entire realm. Within the entire Great Xiu State, the Qingfeng Tribe was merely a rising newcomer. Among the remaining eight tribes, none could be underestimated.

The Dayan Tribe excelled at divination and deduction. From minor matters such as weddings and funerals, to major affairs like imperial fortunes and the eternal currents of time, they understood a thing or two about them all.

The Fomalhaut Tribe was relatively obscure, yet uniquely precious within the Great Xiu State. Looking up into the night sky from the third cultivation star, the brightest star in the night sky referred to Fomalhaut. Of course, in the universe, suns, moons, and stars were countless beyond measure. Compared to the hyper-blue giants, hyper-red giants, massive black holes, and massive white holes in the sky, Fomalhaut was, in terms of volume, just that—nothing more. Yet within the Great Xiu State, Fomalhaut was a primary star relatively close to the third cultivation star, and the sects evolved from it appeared all the more pivotal within the Great Xiu State.

The peak strength of these tribes, at their height, was by no means inferior to the power of an entire nation.

Following the Fomalhaut Tribe was the Southern Dipper Six Stars Tribe, which comprised the Tianfu Department, the Tianliang Department, the Tianji Department, the Tiantong Department, the Tianxiang Department, and the Qisha Department. This was also one of the premier tribes in the Great Xiu State. The Tianfu Department governed destiny, the Tianliang Department governed official salary, the Tianji Department prolonged life, the Tiantong Department increased blessings, the Tianxiang Department delivered souls past tribulations, and the Qisha Department oversaw birth.

Following the six departments of the Southern Dipper were the seven departments of the Big Dipper, which similarly contained seven major clans: the Yaogang Department, the Kaiyang Department, the Yuheng Department, the Tianquan Department, the Tianji Department, the Tianxuan Department, and the Tianshu Department. The Yaogang Department represented the Broken Army, the Kaiyang Department the Martial Queller, the Yuheng Department Integrity, the Tianquan Department Literary Queller, the Tianji Department Wealth Preservation, the Tianquan Department the Giant Gate, and the Tianshu Department the Greedy Wolf.

Beyond the seven departments of the Big Dipper, there were the Huaxia Jiuli Tribe, the Huaxia Yandi Tribe, the Huaxia Huangdi Tribe, and the Jiuyou Underworld Tribe. None of these tribes were simple; some originated from tribes that had existed since the rise of Huaxia. By today, many of these tribes had integrated to become new nations. It was simply that the human race of Huaxia cherished the memory of the primordial ancestors of Huaxia and the mythological legends of those years, and thus established these tribes to remember them, to pass down the spirit of those times, and to continue maintaining an indomitable spirit of growing ever bolder in the face of battle amidst a prosperous and bustling world, surviving tenaciously.

Fighting against natural enemies, fighting against heaven and earth, fighting against destiny, fighting against oneself... The living space of humanity was not obtained through the charity of all living beings. Even the ancestors of Huaxia, who back then could summon wind and rain, had fought tenaciously to acquire a patch of earth on which to live.

Down to the present day, the land of Huaxia had become vast indeed. The ethnic groups surviving upon it had multiplied many generations of descendants, but one must not think that this meant they could peacefully enjoy prosperity and peace. The wars without gunsmoke were staged every single day: fighting for resources, fighting for territory, fighting for power, fighting for fame and fortune, fighting for money and women. The battle of women for favor and the wars among men had never ceased. One had to adapt to the fact that everything was obtained through effort and competition, rather than assuming that because the predecessors had already conquered the realm, one could squander wantonly in the mortal world or walk unrestrained across the earth of the mortal realm.

Those who, in times of peace and prosperity, believed the heaven and earth were boundlessly wide and everyone was an acquaintance, and therefore felt no need to work hard or pay a price to acquire necessary resources and living space, would only gradually drift toward poverty.

These tribes were still relying on their own abilities to contend for everything, rather than depending on the charity of the multitudes to achieve survival. This was a very solemn proposition; one could not live an aimlessly mediocre life, or sooner or later they would forget through how many years of struggle their ancestors had secured the realm. Through wars between civilizations and the diligent cultivation of fresh talent, it was possible to withstand the pressure imposed by other civilizations.

More ancient and advanced civilizations did exist in this world. Toward civilizations far older and longer-lasting than our own, we had to properly develop the spiritual outlook of our own civilization so that we could engage with them in a more comprehensive manner.

Within the Great Xiu State, each of the nine tribes had its own prosperity and lifeline.

At this moment, there were still ten years remaining until the once-a-century beast siege of the Great Xiu State. Beyond the Great Xiu State, there were even more nations. The Fang Kingdom, the Great Wu Kingdom, and the Magic Alliance were all preeminent nations on the Qingfeng Continent. Beyond the Qingfeng Continent, there were yet many more continents...

Where were Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou of legend hidden? Where was the legendary ancient Mount Kunlun and Mount Hai hidden? And what degree of development had the civilizational progress of those even more indescribable continents reached? What kind of sparks would their local customs and cultures generate when colliding with the Qingfeng Continent?

After indulging in numerous reveries about everything, Chen Chen closed the historical records of civilizations in his hands and turned his attention to his immediate daily survival.

At this moment, he watched the setting sun gradually descend into dusk, and watched the initial lighting of lamps usher in the bright moon. He watched the pitch-black night with no passersby, and watched the vast and endless heaven and earth become a path for travelers. The grievances and affections between heaven and earth were, in the long river of time spanning the flick of a finger, merely a stirring of thoughts, a momentary shadow of sentimentality. Those three thousand miles of prosperity would eventually become eternity, and the setting sun over the long river would ultimately become antiquity and the present day.

Who was Chen Chen? He was an inner sect disciple of the Misty Sect. At a young age, he was already one of the premier rising talents within the sect. There were many other rising talents within the sect, and every single immortal elder was a senior master. Chen Chen believed that under their leadership, the Misty Sect would surely flourish day by day. Coupled with his own hard work, he would undoubtedly become a top-tier expert within the Great Xiu State. One day, he would walk forth into the entire Qingfeng Continent, step into the entire third cultivation star, enter the ranks of the supreme contenders, and become a rare and peerless prodigy.