The Audience Takes Their Seats

On the first of October, as time marched on relentlessly, that day was gradually approaching.

In the Three Mountains and Five Lakes, among the undulating mountains, an old man climbed a steep cliff. He carried a backpack on his back, and with a medicine hoe in one hand, dug out a medicinal herb from the cliff and put it into the backpack behind him.

An hour passed. When he returned to his small room halfway up the mountain by a rope, along with a "coo-coo" sound, a pigeon landed on the window in front of him.

He went to the window, casually picked up the letter, and quickly packed his things to go out.

On the desk, a sentence was left on the letter paper: "The great battle is about to begin."

Below the mountain, people dressed similarly to the old herb-gathering man gathered together. In front of them stood over a hundred disciples wearing Daoist robes and carrying swords.

"In Shuzhong, there is a sect named Shushan. We do not cultivate the immortal path, nor do we seek longevity; we only pursue the peak of martial arts." This was the doctrine mentioned by those people when they gathered.

Among the sword-carrying disciples, a leading youth glanced at the old herb farmer: "Sect Master Martial Uncle, this time, are you actually going to set out in person?"

The old man shook his head slightly and smiled: "I have to go. Some old friends have also appeared. If I don't go this time, our secluded Shushan Sect will probably be forgotten by them."

"Set out!"

"Yes!"

With the old man's command, a hundred swordsmen left Shuchuan.

On a great mountain in the south of Huaxia, the incense burner and the sound of chanting Daoist scriptures echoed in the forest.

In front of a courtyard halfway up the mountain, on the square of the temple, stood a crowd of Daoists wearing Daoist robes.

The few people sitting were all white-haired old men. They sat surrounding a middle-aged Daoist, like stars surrounding the moon.

"A few days ago, during the battle by Xizi Lake, Sect Leader, we did not send any disciples. But this time, figures on the Qingyun Ranking have appeared, and many ancient martial artists of our Huaxia Jianghu have set out for the eastern coast, waiting for this transnational Grandmaster battle. This time, we shouldn't miss it."

"Junior Brother Changbai, I know that back then, that person ranked you second to last on the Qingyun Ranking, making you somewhat dissatisfied. But this time, it's better for our Wudang not to interfere."

"Senior Brother Changqing, our Wudang was originally the great martial arts sect of the world in the past. Even now, we have Grandmaster Zhang presiding, and furthermore, you and I and two other Qingyun Ranking experts exist. Why not participate in such a grand event?"

Seeing the two old Daoists dispute, the surrounding people did not speak. These two were both pillars of Wudang on the Qingyun Ranking, the figures most likely to break through to the Grandmaster realm. Even if they spoke, they couldn't control these two.

"All disperse." The person sitting cross-legged in the center suddenly opened his eyes and sighed softly.

The voice echoed in the air like thunder. The Daoists around quickly bowed their heads: "Congratulations, Sect Leader, your cultivation base has progressed another step."

The middle Daoist nodded, accepting the congratulations: "Two junior brothers, I have touched the bottleneck of the next realm. I wonder if you two are willing to act as my protectors?"

Since words had reached this point, Changqing and Changbai looked at each other. How could they not obey? They could only clasp their hands and say: "Yes."

At the same time, in the Nanjiang jungle, behind the mountains where the Miao villages gathered, black-robed figures stepped out of the Great Mountains, heading toward the crowded modern towns. They changed into ordinary clothes, boarded planes, trains, and other means of transportation, and also began to set out. Their destination was naturally the Donghai, which was currently the most turbulent place in the world.

Near Dongting Lake in Jingzhou, Tianshang Renjian opened again. After a decisive meeting with the high-level officials of Jingzhou, the underground forces of Jingzhou also quickly set out for Donghai. Although they could only be spectators even if they rushed over, this was called the peak battle of the last seventy years, and as famous figures in various fields of Huaxia, they naturally couldn't miss it.

In North America, Canada, a private plane carrying several big bosses from Hongmen took off, landing on a small island closest to the Donghai waters to watch the battle.

The submarines of Country M, equipped with the world's most advanced detection and recording equipment, lurked in the waters outside Donghai to observe every move on the sea surface.

Space satellites began to move, and the eyes of the world's leading powers, at this moment, also focused on this Donghai region.

In the era of cold weapons, martial artists could dictate the outcome of a war. Although a large number of highly destructive hot weapons had appeared now, for the two protagonists who were about to duel on the first of October, ordinary guns and artillery could no longer harm them.

Unless it was large missiles or laser weapons.

Of course, with the cultivation base of the Martial Dao Grandmaster realm, those weapons would have to accurately hit them first. Even relying on conditioned reflexes, those toys would probably find it hard to get close to them.

At the same time, in the most prosperous city in the north of Huaxia, there was an extremely quiet place. Here, guards were strict all year round, and every day, many people came and went.

*Whoosh.* The main door automatically slid open. A man wearing a work badge walked into the lobby, and after reaching the elevator, casually pressed his fingerprint to enter. The elevator descended rapidly, taking him deep underground.

After exiting underground, he passed through at least a dozen security checks before being ushered into a meeting room.

"Is everyone here?" He casually accepted the uniform handed over by the assistant beside him to change. On the brand-new military uniform, the golden star shone brightly, extremely eye-catching. After he arrived, the room full of people stood up one after another.

"Chief!"

"All sit. Report the situation first."

"Yes!"

Next, one person stood up first, speaking in his loudest voice: "On our special ability department's side, twenty squads have already rushed to the Donghai coast to deploy defenses. Now, over a dozen coastal cities have also been controlled by us."

"On the information side, our intelligence department has also controlled those hacker channels that hire international mercenaries, ensuring that what happened last time will not occur again."

One person after another. "On our ancient martial artist side, fifty squads have taken their positions. Furthermore, this time, the battle was caused by our ancient martial artists. I request that when Grandmaster Xi sets out, several of our low-level worshipers can set out together."

Speaking up to this point, the man in the chair nodded: "I have now fully understood your situation. On the side of the ancient martial artists and special ability squads, remain stationary for now. According to the latest news, the underground forces of Linhai City have successfully changed hands, and after reorganization, it is still beneficial to us. On the intelligence side, they can also provide us with a lot of news."

"In addition, after Grandmaster Xi sets out, our side needs to quickly dispatch the worshipers on the Qingyun Ranking, as well as many elite peak inner strength experts to go there. This time, a large number of Jianghu sects have come to watch the battle, among which experts are as common as clouds. Currently, several figures on the Qingyun Ranking have already appeared, so you must absolutely not underestimate them."

"Yes!"

"Furthermore..." The middle-aged general fell silent for a moment. He glanced above his head, his gaze piercing through countless spaces to a certain place near the Capital.

"Notify the Martial God's side as well."

"Yes."

Not long after this middle-aged general gave the order, in one of the most strictly guarded places in the Capital, in an ordinary courtyard, a young man in formal attire walked in.

"You're here?" In the yard, there was a somewhat thin old man. He held a watering can in one hand, walking back and forth near the potted plants by the wall.

The youth stared at this person's back, a look of extreme fervor appearing on his face. Then, he bowed respectfully: "Master!"

"Did you do your morning exercises today?"

"I woke up early. After receiving the news, I came straight to Master's yard."

"Then practice with me first."

After half an hour, the fallen leaves that originally filled the yard were all swept to the feet of the flowers and plants. Strangely, there were no sweeping tools in the yard, nor did anyone intentionally sweep them.

The youth felt a faint excitement in his heart: "Master's martial arts have reached the peak. Even standing in front of Master, I don't feel any aura leaking from him. Compared to the Bagua Grandmaster I met not long ago, he is indeed much stronger."

After finishing breakfast, the old man spoke again: "You came for the Donghai matter, right?"

"Yes. This time, the Guo'an side seems to intend for us to send someone to take a look."

"Take a look? I'm afraid they want us to go suppress them. Under Fox Chang's hand, there may be many people, but those who are truly capable are rarely seen."

Saying that, the old man glanced at the young disciple in front of him: "You really want to go?"

The youth was slightly stunned but didn't hide it, speaking directly: "After all, it is a Grandmaster battle, and furthermore, a Grandmaster war between two countries. That person back then had fought with Master. Although he ultimately lost to Master, didn't Master once rank him among the top Grandmasters of the countries neighboring Huaxia in the past?"

"Therefore, you want to go see?"

"Your disciple has broken through to the peak of the Transformation Realm for a long time, yet has been unable to take a step into the Great Perfection realm and begin to evolve the world around me. Therefore, I want to go out and take a look, and incidentally see if there are any figures on the Qingyun Ranking to fight against, to gain some combat experience, and also to see if I can find the pressure and opportunity for breakthrough."

"Having such thoughts is naturally good. Then go ahead."

"Ah?"

"Go, go. It's good to go see."

The youth suddenly stood up, bowing to the old man: "Yes, thank you, Master."

However, when he raised his head with a look of joy on his face, the old man's figure had already disappeared without a trace. He respectfully maintained his posture to withdraw from the yard, and only then turned to leave.