Chapter 165 - One Hundred and Sixty-One: Walking the World
“Deep in the mountains and boundless swamps, dragons and snakes emerge. I plan to set up a challenge ring, starting from Xiling.” Xu Lao Ying slightly narrowed his peach-blossom eyes, and his right hand waved over Tang Luo’s head, leaving a wave in its wake.
“Isn’t that a bad idea?” Tang Luo felt that the trouble he had caused was not suitable for the mundane martial artists of Xiling to bear, so he advised, “As a master from a sacred family, bullying some ordinary martial artists of common families, I don’t think it’s very appropriate.”
“Eh~hey!” Xu Lao Ying waved his hand dismissively, saying righteously, “How can a martial arts exchange be considered bullying? They’ll just get a taste of the martial arts of the sacred families. At the same time, I want to see first-hand the level of martial arts from the families of Longzhou. After all, it wouldn’t be right to ignore ordinary clansmen just to visit the sacred places.” He made it sound so grandiose, but isn’t he just trying to raise his own profile? Tang Luo found himself doubting Xu, his face transforming with surprise.
“If there’s nothing else, let’s go back and eat. I’m starving,” Xu Lao Ying wobbling his head with pride and asked.
Tang Luo shook his head, feeling that the martial artists of Xiling could not escape this calamity, and then left the elegant small villa with Xu Lao Ying to head back home.
Upon returning home, it was time for dinner, and the whole family gathered together to eat.
Xu Lao Ying, who was characteristically restless, immediately explained his plan: “Auntie, Uncle! I’m planning to set up a challenge ring in Xiling, to challenge to martial artists all over Xiling. Could you help me spread the word?”
Just as Tang Sen was about to nod his head, Xu Shuhui held his hand and asked Xu Lao Ying, “Old Ying, isn’t a visit to the sacred mountain all that’s necessary for the travels of the Xu Clan? Why challenge the families of Xiling?”
Since the Tang Clan are based in a remote location, Tang Sen didn’t understand what a world-traveling mission from the Xu Clan signified, but Xu Shuhui, being a Xu Clan native, was very familiar with visiting holy mountains. So she didn’t approve of Xu Lao Ying’s plan.
She understood what the travels of the Xu Clan entailed, and such a move to challenge all city martial artists could be seen as a provocation to the entire city. It also represented the Xu Clan’s attitude towards other clans’ martial artists. She feared that Xu Lao Ying was just trying to make a spectacle and that his reckless actions would tarnish their family’s reputation.
When the topic turned to martial arts, Xu Lao Ying seemed transformed – his face, devoid of any frivolity, showed only the sharpness of a peerless swordmaster. His eyebrows were like two blades and his eyes shone with divine light as he said to Xu Shuhui, “Aunt, times have changed. There was once a time when martial arts had gone into decline, and the sacred places represented the pinnacle of martial arts, but now, martial arts are flourishing.” “Now, some powerful families have accumulated a wealth of resources after decades of development. Combining that with the martial arts works shared by scholars from sacred places, great clans like the Tang Clan have already established their own research institutions, which are essentially miniature sacred places.”
“Powerful clans have sprung up like bamboo shoots everywhere, leading to a situation where no single empire will ever be able to unify the world because there are too many clans with their own power. Nobody is willing to submit to others.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Xu Shuhui asked with confusion. Didn’t Xu Sheng anticipate this age of flourishing martial arts? Otherwise, why would he have shared his works?
Xu Lao Ying smiled. Of course, it was a good thing.
After the boom in martial arts, as long as ordinary people are willing to work hard, they can have the same starting line as sacred places. They can study martial techniques, develop secret techniques, explore the mysteries of the human body, and even create their own unique martial arts methods. The human race has been growing stronger at a visible speed, and of course, this is something the sacred places are happy to see.
But a casual remark that Tang Luo had made in the elegant small villa had deeply stung Xu Lao Ying’s heart.
“While your reputation may precede you in Yuanzhou, who knows you in Xiling?”
This unintentional remark ended up having a profound impact on Xu Lao Ying, causing him to question whether his world travels, which consisted solely of exchanges with sacred places, were truly enough.
Perhaps the sacred places had been held in high regard for too long, causing some clans to forget their existence entirely. Similar to how a mundane martial artist from Fierce Realm would dare to covet the divine sword and divine armor of the Xu Clan.
Therefore, some things had to be done. Xu Lao Ying said to Xu Shuhui, “As these clans obtain their power, they have also lost their sense of reverence.” Upon hearing this, Xu Shuhui’s breath hitched. She understood what her nephew meant, but struggled to accept it. In her heart, the Xu Clan was always a family vested in the human race, not a feared hallowed ground achieved through tyranny. Xu Laoying, despite being her nephew and the Xu Clan’s representative, had decided to act this way, leaving Shuhui no room to intervene even if she disapproved.
But Tang Luo didn’t care about this. Initially, he thought their opponent merely wanted to set up this arena due to some provocation, but now, it seemed that the Xu Clan’s representative had planned something bigger.
He put down his chopsticks and asked indifferently, “So, you want them to clearly see the disparity between themselves and the hallowed ground.”
Xu Laoying nodded, saying coldly, “I want to teach them the meaning of respect.”
How was the family of the saintly conferred with sainthood? Was it through philanthropy? Certainly not! The so-called hallowed ground was built on absolute strength. In the era when monsters roamed, the Human Race’s hallowed ground stood as the demon’s representative in the eyes of these monsters.
The so-called representative was the peak of the Human Race’s strength. It was their breathtaking power that made people revere them. They travelled to showcase martial strength.
But peace had lasted too long. Although communication between the hallowed grounds was frequent, the prestige of hallowed ground was no longer capable of deterring the insignificant. When the name of the hallowed ground was mentioned, many warriors’ memories still lingered in the ancient times. Therefore, Xu Laoying believed that the previous approach of the representatives might have been wrong…
Because he found that this group of clan warriors, who grew up studying the works of the saints, had lost their reverence for the saints. On this journey, he wanted these warriors from all over the world to understand why the Xu Clan had been conferred with sainthood.
The dominance of the representative was clearly demonstrated at this moment.
Early the next morning,
Xu Laoying dragged Tang Luo out of bed, and as a man with mild morning grumpiness, Tang Luo wore a sullen face all the way.
As a representative, you were nonchalant after boasting at the dining table, running happily to the brothel. How can I respect you, huh?
Not to mention, you called eight girls, then woke me in the early morning, which was even less forgivable.
Gong Zheng and Qiu Jinglong made an appointment at noon, did you wake me so early because you had too much energy to spare!?
All the way, Tang Luo was staring at Xu Laoying’s back with a murderous gaze, but the thick-skinned Xu Laoying was completely unaware, continuously urging Tang Luo to speed up.
“Hurry up, brother, let’s go look for Old Bai. I’ve thought of a great idea that will make him famous overnight!” Xu Laoying turned around and called Tang Luo.
However, these words made Tang Luo frown. After spending a long time together, didn’t he understand Xu Laoying? He had top-notch skills, as for his plan, tsk tsk tsk.
Seeing his gaze, Xu Laoying knew that Tang Luo didn’t believe him, which made him angry, and he began to describe his ingenious plan on the spot!
“Don’t doubt me!” This kind of start had zero persuasiveness, and Tang Luo didn’t even want to raise his eyelids.
“I plan to write a couplet on my ring, to introduce myself briefly.” Xu Laoying proudly and humbly declared.
The plan was really too simple to spark any interest in hearing more. Tang Luo yawned and casually said, “So your plan is to have Old Bai write this couplet, so that people will see it and think, ‘Wow! This couplet is written so well..’ Then they’ll inquire about Mi Bai, he’ll get an influx of customers, and from then on, he will reach the pinnacle of his life, right?”