Chapter 367 - 172: The End of the Path, Beicang Marquis Xiao Pingnan, Jiangyin Prefecture Courtyard’s Number 1 in Potential in 300 Years

Chapter 367: Chapter 172: The End of the Path, Beicang Marquis Xiao Pingnan, Jiangyin Prefecture Courtyard’s Number 1 in Potential in 300 Years

CRACKLE...

Chen Zhi’s afterimage, wreathed in purple light, shattered and dispersed!

After it dissipated, on the eighty-ninth step, Ji Xiu saw Gao Ye, the so-called "Young Lord" from a Noble Clan.

[Eighty-ninth step: Gao Ye, a new Prefecture Student. He projected a nine-zhang Martial Dao aura, shattered the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe, and upon Climbing the Martial Arts Tower, his afterimage was condensed and left on this step.]

As he watched, Ji Xiu smiled.

"I shattered the afterimage of the current Leader with a flick of my finger. What makes you think you’d be any different?"

"If the real you managed to break through the Purple Ribbon, you might have forced me to don my Immortal Robe. But an afterimage of you..."

"The sheer power of my perfectly pure True Gang is more than enough to crush you!"

With that, Ji Xiu’s aura flared like a mighty rainbow. He shattered the indifferent youth’s afterimage in an instant, took another step up, and his Martial Qi projected nine zhang high!

And then...

He saw nine afterimages in total. They were a diverse array, like a vast constellation of stars, standing on the Dao Tier high above, which was wreathed in white mist. They all looked down upon him.

The one on the ninety-first step alone made Ji Xiu’s brow furrow. A crushing pressure washed over him, forcing him to finally... get serious.

A Daoist Immortal Robe, the Rainbow Skirt, made its debut in the Climbing Martial Arts Tower.

And within a few breaths, the afterimage that had finally put some pressure on Ji Xiu shattered as well!

[Ninety-fourth step: Pei Daoran, the current Dean. In his youth, he broke through the Three Limits and left his imprint here!]

’The Dean, Pei Daoran!?’

He stared at the faint afterimage. Its scholarly and handsome face was a far cry from the aged features of the Dean he knew. Still, he could see a faint resemblance, which gave Ji Xiu pause.

Youthful heroes of the Jianghu eventually grow old; beautiful maidens see their temples turn gray.

To think that this man, now one of the venerable Jiangyin Three Heads, was once a rising young prodigy. Even after decades, his legacy in the Climbing Martial Arts Tower could still be admired by future generations.

’But if even a figure like him could only stop at the ninety-fourth step, then the ones beyond...’

Ji Xiu didn’t stop, his curiosity growing with each step.

The ninety-fifth step!

The ninety-seventh step!

The ninety-ninth step!

...

Each of the historical sages of the Mansion Courtyard was just as formidable as Pei Daoran.

The higher he climbed, the more powerful the afterimages became, some even manifesting the might of the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe. In their prime, Ji Xiu wouldn’t have stood a chance without taking that next step in his own cultivation.

Fortunately, they were only afterimages in the Climbing Martial Arts Tower, their power greatly diminished. This allowed him to advance unimpeded, shattering the imprints of the ancient sages and reaching the ninety-ninth step!

Standing at the very top, Ji Xiu turned and looked back at the afterimages now bowing before him. In that dazed moment, he felt as though he were standing on the highest peak, looking down upon all the lesser mountains.

’So what if those other Prefecture Student prodigies entered the Climbing Martial Arts Tower before me and projected a nine-zhang Martial Dao aura?’

’Those so-called Purple Ribbon prodigies who fell before the historical sages of the Mansion Courtyard... Compared to me, who can project an aura of nine zhang and nine chi and look down upon those very sages, they aren’t even qualified to see my shadow!’

He thought it was all over.

But just then!

Ji Xiu...

...saw a shadow at the very end of the Ancient Tier. From within the thick white mist, the tip of the iceberg was finally revealed! 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

It gave him a strange illusion.

It was as if he had conquered range after range of mountains...

...only to see a true genius at the very end of them all.

[Marquis Beicang, Xiao Pingnan.]

[Sixty years ago, he reached the peak of the Martial Tower. The greatest Leader in three hundred years!]

[At the time he climbed the tower, he had already broken through the Three Limits, condensed a Treasure Body, and reached the absolute peak of the Qi Sea realm. He deliberately suppressed his cultivation to leave this imprint here!]

BANG!

The thick, white mist concealed a handsome young man with waist-length black hair, obscuring his features.

But this was merely an imprint, an image left behind so many years ago...

...yet it still stood here, as unshakable as a great mountain!

Marquis Beicang, Xiao Pingnan!

That name, that Title...

Ji Xiu had heard it countless times since arriving in Jiangyin Prefecture.

And Xiao Mingli, the one who had helped him out of dire straits time and again... she was this man’s daughter. It was safe to say Ji Xiu was no stranger to the name!

Not long ago, in the Armory of the Beicang Marquis’s Mansion, he had seen the masterpieces left behind from the Marquis’s many campaigns.

The sets of Treasure Armor, the various Exotic Weapons—in their prime, they were all Fourth-Grade Spirit Treasures wielded by experts of the Dragon and Tiger realm, some even reaching the level of Titled Divine Weapons!

’I never expected that the first time I’d see the true face of this legendary Marquis...’

’...would be here, inside the Climbing Martial Arts Tower of the Jiangyin Prefecture Courtyard!’

’Broke through the Three Limits and condensed a Treasure Body!?’

Ji Xiu’s heart skipped a beat.

Then, a violent HUMMMMM echoed through the air, and the entire ancient staircase began to tremble!

As the staircase shook, the thick mist seemed to dissipate completely, revealing Xiao Pingnan’s true form.

The man’s long hair was tied back. He held a spear in one hand, and his gaze was blazing hot. Unlike all the other afterimages, he seemed to be alive.

Ji Xiu took but a single glance and felt a pressure as heavy as a mountain. The Daoist Treasure Robe woven from his Gang Qi flared to its absolute limit in an instant, sealing nearly all forty-eight thousand pores and apertures of his body!

WHOOM! WHOOM! BANG!

A powerful shockwave of air blasted him in the face.

The immense, oppressive pressure blotted out the sky, assaulting him from every direction. Sweat beaded on Ji Xiu’s brow. He felt as if he were being stared down by a primeval beast—unable to escape, unable to hide!

Several breaths passed. A full several breaths!

Under that pressure, which felt as immense as mountains and seas, Ji Xiu didn’t move an inch. He didn’t even take a single step back. Just as he felt he was finally about to buckle...