Chapter 310 - 301: Grandmaster, Peak, Spirit Lord

Chapter 310: Chapter 301: Grandmaster, Peak, Spirit Lord

The Human Servant Fu Juemin mentioned was, of course, Gu Shouyu.

While Mu Feng sent someone to fetch Gu Shouyu, he looked down at him and asked, "How many people in your Mu Family have cultivated the Fake Internal Energy Method?"

Mu Feng was still reeling from the immense shock of Fu Juemin’s earlier words—"Why can’t the Blue Banner be a Royal Banner?" Hearing the question, he struggled to compose himself and replied, "Including the deceased Tong Ling and Chen You, there are about ten to twenty in total."

The Mu Family had only three Martial Tributors of any real note. The strongest among them was a powerfully built, middle-aged man kneeling to Mu Feng’s left. His features were dignified, yet his posture was one of utter deference.

His name was Hong Huan. Even before undergoing the Fake Internal Energy Method, he was a Martial Artist from a Martial Family who had reached the "Heart Sensing" level of the Gratitude realm. After the procedure, he became even stronger, rumored to be a match for an average practitioner in the Early Stage of the Heart Intent Realm.

Next was Tong Ling, who had died at Fu Juemin’s hands. The last, a man named Xu, was the weakest and also the most unfortunate—he had no idea what had happened. The Blue Banner Mu Family had quietly changed masters, and he had been dazedly captured by Fu Juemin and forced to kneel here.

"Only ten or twenty?"

"Ten to twenty is already a lot."

Mu Feng gave a bitter smile. "Even in the Mu Family’s best years, we only supported about thirty Dirt-Loading Martial Artists.

In recent years, Admiral Yin Crow’s appetite has grown larger and larger. A single Magic Sacrifice often consumes seventy to eighty percent of our annual allotment of Human Pills. On top of that, my Mu Family has been suppressed by rivals for the past two years, and our share of the head count within the Capital City has been steadily shrinking.

We can barely afford to support even these ten or twenty people...

Besides."

Mu Feng paused before continuing, "Even if we had ample resources, Martial Artists willing to accept our patronage aren’t that easy to find."

"Oh?"

Fu Juemin spoke lightly. "And yet, I’ve heard that practically every member of the Martial Arts world in Yingjing City dreams of using the Fake Internal Energy Method to Enter the Dao."

"That’s true."

Mu Feng nodded, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "But among the Yingjing Nine Banners, there are dozens of families, large and small, that serve Demon Fiends.

A Martial Artist who wants to Enter the Dao has far too many Banner Races to choose from...

The truly top-tier Martial Artists would never be available for a family from the Lower Five Banners to support; they’ve long since been recruited by the Royal Banner and the Upper Three Banners."

"Top-tier? What qualifies as a top-tier Martial Artist?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Juemin’s gaze turned to the powerfully built middle-aged man beside Mu Feng, Hong Huan. "With strength like Tributor Hong’s, you’re still not considered top-tier?" he asked casually.

Before Mu Feng could speak, Hong Huan answered with a deferential cupped-fist salute. "I am humbled. Among the Tributors of the Nine Banners, my strength can only be considered adequate; I am by no means top-tier.

Patriarch Mu was referring to Grandmasters, as well as the Peak-level experts who have already entered the Heart and Mind Demon Barrier..."

’Grandmasters... Peak of the Heart Demon...’

A glint flickered in Fu Juemin’s eyes as he processed Hong Huan’s reply.

After a moment, he asked in a calm voice, "The Upper Three Banners actually have Grandmasters?"

"I am not sure about the Upper Three Banners, but the Golden Rice King Banner most certainly has a Grandmaster in their service."

Hong Huan thought for a moment before answering, "The Profound, Purple, and Chi Banners each have at least one Peak-level expert who has entered the Heart Demon Barrier in their service.

If such a figure then ’Enters the Dao’ with a First or Second Grade Great Demon, their combat strength would likely be no less than that of an ordinary Grandmaster..."

To reach the apex of Heart Intent is to be at the top. Once you walk that path to its very end and enter the Heart Demon Barrier, you have reached the Peak.

Until now, Fu Juemin had always believed Martial Arts Grandmasters were merely the stuff of legends. He never imagined there were truly living Grandmasters in the Demon Capital City!

They were beings who had all but touched the very ceiling of the Martial Dao.

As this thought crossed his mind, Fu Juemin couldn’t help but slowly ask, "Since they’re already Grandmasters and Peak-level experts, why would they still choose to Enter the Dao with the Fake Internal Energy Method?"

"What normal Martial Artist would even consider this wicked Fake Internal Energy Method unless they saw their path forward completely cut off?"

Hong Huan sighed. "Take me, for example. If I hadn’t known I had no hope of reaching the Heart Intent Realm in this lifetime, I wouldn’t have resorted to this path of ’Spirit Awakening’..."

"Oh, so you do know it’s a wicked method?"

Fu Juemin said, his face impassive as he looked at him.

Hong Huan gave an awkward laugh, quickly lowering his head. "When a Peak-level expert ’Enters the Dao,’ it must be because they feel it’s hopeless to pass through the Heart Demon Barrier, so they wish to find an alternative path.

As for Grandmasters...

They must be seeking the legendary ’Celestial Human Realm.’"

The Martial Dao Three Gates: the Blood Barrier, the Heart Demon Barrier, and the Celestial Human Barrier.

From ancient times to the present, each gate has barred the way for countless prodigies of immense Talent.

Through this back-and-forth, Fu Juemin began to understand the situation.

Most Martial Artists who chose to cultivate the Fake Internal Energy Method were those who were stuck at a certain realm, unable to advance.

Although the procedure drained one’s Vitality and required the regular consumption of Human Pills,

and although one’s Martial Dao Realm would be frozen in place with no hope of future advancement,

the benefits of the procedure were still far too great. The increase in combat power it provided could allow a Martial Artist to easily fight opponents one or two minor realms—or even an entire major realm—above them. Faced with such a temptation, how many could remain unmoved?

Moreover, this boost in combat power was not a one-time affair!

If one could continuously Enter the Dao and undergo the procedure multiple times... their combat power would rise with each one, creating an entirely different "Path to Heaven"!

"So, you’re saying the Fake Internal Energy Method you Lower Five Banners currently use can only be performed on a person once.

But the Upper Three Banners, and the Royal Banner, they possess more advanced Fake Internal Energy Methods that can be performed twice, maybe even three or four times?"

Fu Juemin rose slowly from the Taishi Chair. At that moment, Gu Shouyu was brought into the hall—he had been carried in.

In the rear garden, he had drunk the yellow wine the Mu Family had prepared for Fu Juemin, which had been laced with a potent knockout drug. A single mouthful had sent him into a deep sleep, and he could not be roused.

"Yes."

Mu Feng nodded, a sense of helplessness in his gesture.

He had, by now, mostly sobered up from the grand "Royal Banner pie" that Fu Juemin had dangled before him.

To outsiders, the Nine Banner Mu Family looked glorious.

In truth, the class structure within the Nine Banners was far more rigid than the average person could imagine.

The Royal Banner and the Upper Three Banners held a near-monopoly on all the best resources—top-tier Great Demons, top-tier legacies, top-tier experts, blood-food, Human Pills, and so on.

These elements were all tightly interconnected. Possessing only one was not enough to break the perfect, closed loop.

The vast Yingjing City was a massive pyramid, and the Nine Banners represented its apex.

But the Nine Banners itself was also a small pyramid.

The Royal Banner sat at the top, with the Lower Five Banners at the very bottom.

To put it bluntly, the very reason the Nine Banners used the Nine Grade Official System to classify the Demon Fiends served by each banner was to make it easier for the Top Royal Banner and the Upper Three Banners to suppress and exploit the Five Banners below.

"Then the Fake Internal Energy Method held by the Upper Three Banners and the Royal Banner—what’s the maximum number of times it can be performed on someone?"

Fu Juemin walked over to the soundly sleeping Gu Shouyu. He made no attempt to wake him, instead reaching into a canvas bag slung over the man’s shoulder. He pulled out a thick notebook and began to flip through it casually.

"Three times."

Mu Feng thought for a moment before answering, "The Golden Rice King Banner might possess a Secret Technique that allows for it to be performed five times."

"That’s not so many..."

Fu Juemin commented without looking up.

"Huh?"

Mu Feng froze for a second. In the next instant, he saw Fu Juemin gently tear a page from the notebook and toss it toward him.

The page, covered in tiny, densely packed writing, floated down in front of the three men.

The moment they made out what was written on the paper, their eyes catching on a few repeatedly mentioned words, the expressions of all three men changed instantly.

"Nine... Nine Spirits Armor?!"

Mu Feng wondered if he was seeing things. He stood stunned for a moment, just about to pick up the paper to get a better look.

But a large hand shot out from his side and snatched the paper away first.

Hong Huan’s abnormally large hands held the tiny sheet of paper. His eyes were wide as he stared, his tightly pursed lips trembling nonstop.

He held it until Mu Feng snatched it back....

"Don’t question its authenticity."

Fu Juemin closed the notebook, casually resumed his seat in the Taishi Chair, and looked down at the three men and their varying expressions. "This Secret Technique," he said, "was left behind by the last Martial Emperor of your Nine Banners.

On the back of the Secret Technique’s page, there’s even a treasure map. And on that map, it’s written—

’He who obtains this technique and treasure shall attain eternal life!’"

Hearing those last two words, "eternal life," the three men below all shuddered violently, their heads snapping up in utter disbelief.

"I don’t believe it, myself... Hmm. As a Transformed Realm Great Demon whose lifespan already rivals the sun and moon, I have little use for any so-called secret technique for eternal life."

Fu Juemin spoke nonchalantly, his gaze sweeping over the three men one by one.

Finally, a slow smile crept onto his face as he changed his tone. "However, if you are interested...

We can follow the map and go have a look together later..."

The moment he finished speaking,

Hong Huan was the first of the three to kowtow. With his head bowed low, he spoke in a tone of utmost reverence and humility. "From this day forward, Hong Huan wishes to enter the Venerable Lord’s service. I volunteer to be your loyal dog, entirely at Your Lordship’s command."

"I, Xu, am the same!"

BANG!

The other Tributor, the man named Xu, kowtowed so forcefully he cracked the floorboards, his voice loud with irrepressible excitement.

Last was Mu Feng.

As befitting the Patriarch of the Blue Banner Mu Family, he was far more composed, his display not nearly as exaggerated as that of Hong and Xu.

Mu Feng simply rose with great solemnity, then bent at the waist, straightened his sleeves, and performed a full kowtow. He prostrated himself completely, kneeling three times and knocking his head to the floor nine times.

Finally, he spoke, his words deep and deliberate: "Mu Feng pays homage to my Lord!"

Seated high above them in the hall, Fu Juemin smiled and nodded slowly. "Henceforth, in private, call me ’Spirit Lord.’

When we are in public, ’Young Master’ will suffice."

"Yes."

The three men answered in unison.

A solemn, peaceful calm descended upon the vast hall, as if the dust had finally settled.

Only Gu Shouyu, sleeping soundly off to the side, continuously broke the atmosphere with his snores.

Perhaps he was having a sweet dream, because as he slept, he rolled over, drooled, and began to giggle foolishly...