Chapter 1136: Arriving at Ji Continent, the Green Mountains Stand Proud and Majestic

"And besides, you yourself are aware of all these matters, aware of my relationship with Lü Mountain."

"So compared to killing him, clearly, telling me everything and then letting me kill him is far more cost-effective."

"None of us are wrong. He acted for himself, you acted for yourself, and I acted for myself."

"It's just that when comparing the three of us, he is simply too weak."

"Weakness is the original sin."

"And when the weak recklessly provoke the strong, that is a capital crime!"

"So there's no need to dwell on it."

Gongyang Qingrou lowered her head, lost in thought, remaining completely silent.

This left Lu Ding, who had originally wanted to chat to pass the time, with nothing to do once again.

He could only go chat with the Great-Grandmaster instead, listening to him talk about Lü Mountain, learning about the Demon Continent in advance, and understanding the situation there. The more he listened, the more Lu Ding felt that the place had far too many stories and legends attached to it.

The overall environment there was absolutely insane.

So many incredible anecdotes and extraordinary figures and events, enough to make Lu Ding exclaim that they were overpowered and broken, practically cheating.

Even more absurd than him.

Not as pure and straightforward as him, sure, but so insidious and cunning.

If it weren't for Lü Mountain keeping a tight grip on the Demon Continent, these creatures unleashed upon the world would be more ridiculous than any novel's protagonist.

Of course, no matter how cunning they were, they could never outsmart the people of Lü Mountain. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been Lü Mountain winning all along.

The Great-Grandmaster told him about a time when they fought a great reincarnated demon lord who had been incredibly powerful since the very first ring. The battle was so fierce that the Demon Continent was shattered, and Lü Mountain was completely wiped out.

Then, an old ancestor who had been hiding in false death for years suddenly revived and directly pulled the Demon Continent out of its damaged timeline.

For example, if the battle started at two o'clock and by two-thirty the Demon Continent was destroyed, that old ancestor would simply cut and paste the Lü Mountain from 1:59 into 2:31.

Then, through memory extraction, he filled in the gaps for them.

Similar to how in video editing, you extract the audio from one video, discard the video track, and paste it onto another new video.

Lu Ding's eyes went wide: "What cultivation level was that old ancestor?"

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster: "Deification Ninth Level."

Lu Ding: "Deifi-..."

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster chuckled: "He was at Deification Ninth Level back then. After pulling off that feat, he could no longer suppress his cultivation and ascended directly. But because the karmic burden was too immense, he was blasted to dust the moment he went up. No more chances whatsoever, even reincarnation and the like were completely cut off."

"Xiao Lu, don't be too nervous. That's just a special case."

Lu Ding was always cautious: "Are there many special cases like that?"

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster smirked crookedly: "Quite a few, hahahahaha..."

Lu Ding: ......

What kind of monster-infested place was this?

"Even the Demon Continent is like this, so the first ring must be..."

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster clarified: "It's really not what you're imagining. To put it in your terms, the first ring has a high ceiling, but Lü Mountain has a high floor. You see Deification Ninth Level."

"But once you go up there, as long as you don't suppress your cultivation, you can blast your way in just like that."

"The main issue is that competition up there is too fierce. As for the Demon Continent, it's not quite enough when compared to the top, but it's more than sufficient when compared to the bottom."

Lu Ding pressed further: "Can you give me an example?"

The Great-Grandmaster looked puzzled: "An example? Like..."

Lu Ding gave him parameters: "Say, for the first ring, if a full score is one hundred, the general range is twenty to forty points, and passing is sixty points. Something like that."

The Great-Grandmaster understood instantly, his face lighting up with realization: "That's a great way to put it. Xiao Lu is so clever."

"If we go by your scale, the Demon Continent should score between eighty-something and ninety points."

The Great-Grandmaster even added gestures as he spoke: "The key thing is, our population is small, just over a thousand people, so everyone gets enough to eat. If we rashly ascended and went to fight for resources in the larger environment up there, there'd be a risk of not having enough to go around."

"So we've been holding onto the Demon Continent. Those above aren't allowed to come down, to keep them from snatching things. Those below in the Demon Continent aren't allowed to go up, to keep them from flaunting their wealth. Outsiders aren't permitted to enter the Demon Continent without inspection and approval, and people from the Demon Continent aren't allowed to leave freely either."

"We don't concern ourselves with the outside. We only manage the Demon Continent. Outside, anything goes. But in the Demon Continent, nothing goes."

"However, because the Demon Continent sits at the crossroads of both sides, the pressure is still immense. Those powerful beings who died up there might reincarnate here."

"But because Lü Mountain has accumulated enough foundation in the Demon Continent, those reincarnated powerhouses, thinking they could develop safely and rule supreme in the Demon Continent, never expected that hahahahahahahaha..."

The Great-Grandmaster couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing uncontrollably just from telling the story.

It was like a high-level player who went to bully some noobs, only to become the noob himself. Every corner of the beginner zone was packed with boss-level monsters. He tried to farm others, only to get farmed himself.

Lu Ding mused: "So, as long as I can clear the Demon Continent..."

The Great-Grandmaster looked at him: "If you can clear the Demon Continent, then once you go up, you can casually toy with any faction scoring above ninety."

Well, he had thought this was just a simple map change.

But it turned out he was fighting a world boss in what looked like a beginner village.

Lu Ding's anticipation deepened.

At least there wouldn't be any nonsense like being the legendary Sun Wukong on the old map, then changing maps only to suffer exploitation and become a lowly miner.

That would be way too jarring.

As their conversation deepened, the Great-Grandmaster gave Lu Ding a meticulous account of the Demon Continent and Lü Mountain, and the Flying Vessel gradually entered the territory of Ji Continent.

Gongyang Qingrou stood on the deck, just about to pull out her phone to send Lu Ding a message to let him know.

But she discovered.

There was no signal.

She immediately frowned. Having grown accustomed to the convenience of a phone these past days, she now felt reluctant to return to Ji Continent without one.

She sighed: "Sigh..."

She formed a hand seal to notify Lu Ding.

Soon, Lu Ding and the Great-Grandmaster emerged from the Flying Vessel.

Gongyang Qingrou spoke: "We've arrived at Ji Continent."

Lu Ding cast his gaze into the distance.

The phrase "paradise on earth" floated into his mind.

Compared to the grand and majestic scene he had imagined.

What he saw now was a quiet kind of beauty. Distant mountains like indigo eyebrows, misty peaks brimming with tenderness.

Gongyang Qingrou spoke from beside him: "In all my years on Ji Continent, I've rarely seen scenery like this. With favorable timing, geographical advantage, and popular support all aligned, it has a unique charm of its own."

A smile curved at the corners of Lu Ding's mouth: "The green mountains stand proud and majestic, as if blossoming beauty itself awaits my arrival."

With literary and martial excellence achieved, one dares to don the scholar-warrior sleeves. Both refined and arrogant.

Ordinary mortals see mountains and rivers.

But Tai Sui, who understands poetry, finds the mountains and rivers welcoming him.

Although Gongyang Qingrou and the Great-Grandmaster all knew that Lu Ding had some real knowledge in his belly, after all, literary and martial excellence, and the scholar-warrior sleeves, weren't just empty talk.

But they had seen plenty of Lu Ding's martial prowess. This was the first time they heard him display such literary talent. When a person is truly outstanding, any additional skill becomes a bonus point that far exceeds its original value.

Especially Gongyang Qingrou, who felt it deeply.

Young, handsome, with status, identity, strength, culture, manners, backing, a future, talent, and gentleness. No toxic masculinity. Incredibly tender toward women. Treating everyone equally, regardless of gender.