Martial arts originated in the ancient Immortal Era.
The Immortal Path declined at the hands of the Demon Race, and then Martial Arts rose.
Facing the Demon Race, humanity harbored a deep-seated fear stemming from their bloodline.
On this day, Chen Jiuyang, who had lived two lives, encountered demons for the first time.
After that, he began practicing archery with Grandmaster Gu.
Under the demon disaster, they could not return home, and dozens of people hid in the great mountains.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Time quietly slipped away.
Six years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the depths of the mountain forest, a youth clad in animal skins held a long bow. He drew it to its full moon, and an arrow shot out, piercing the head of a fierce, white-browed tiger three hundred meters away.
"Excellent!"
Grandmaster Gu applauded and laughed heartily, "Jiuyang, your archery has reached the pinnacle of the mortal realm. If you were in the army, you would be a great general!"
Three hundred meters, approximately four hundred paces!
To kill a tiger with an arrow from four hundred paces was the mark of a divine archer, an extremely rare sight.
What was crucial was that Chen Jiuyang was only fourteen years old and already possessed such strength, yet he had not reached the peak of male strength in his twenties.
Chen Jiuyang's expression was calm. "Master Gu, there are now tigers in the forest. The demon disaster should have passed. Can we return home?"
Grandmaster Gu understood his meaning. "Indeed. You have undergone blood transformation twice in these mountains and forests; your future is immeasurable. If you wish to step into the extraordinary, you must go to a better place."
"The third blood transformation is the foundation of martial arts. The fourth blood transformation marks entry into the Grandmaster realm and stepping into the extraordinary."
"Wait for me to scout ahead, and then we will decide on this matter."
Chen Jiuyang was truly an unparalleled genius in martial arts. If it were him, he would surely go further, perhaps one day being able to slay the colossal demonic beast they had encountered before!
...
The mortal realm.
The battlefield grew increasingly tense. The people of the Five Great Holy Lands could no longer withstand the pressure and dispatched higher-level Ancestors to suppress the situation, but they were annihilated by foreign demigods, powerful beings at the Tribulation Crossing stage of the Immortal Path.
The upper echelons were in an uproar, and from this point on, the Five Great Holy Lands began to face a decline. Simultaneously, as Western countries prepared to enter and plunder resources, they were ambushed by an unknown force.
The system of Wardens began to quietly emerge.
A situation arose where the strength of the Five Great Holy Lands was gradually being depleted, caught between the Western countries, the Wardens, and the Demonic Path's three factions.
As the situation gradually stabilized, all factions could no longer remain idle and began to unseal previously suppressed monstrous prodigies. Various special constitutions emerged, and forbidden families became increasingly active. In an instant, the winds of change swept through.
The true Golden Age had arrived.
At this time, the highly anticipated prodigy, Chen Jiuyang, the Sect Master of the True Demon Sect, had gone to the Meteor Immortal Cliff, and no news had been heard from him for half a month.
A group of people began to convene.
"As long as that person does not fall, all prodigies will be suppressed by him, with no hope of advancement."
"Now that he has gone to the Meteor Immortal Cliff, it is an excellent opportunity to ambush and assassinate him."
"Immortal Path cultivators cannot appear. We must deploy our true martial arts foundations. First, let some cannon fodder challenge him, and then let the Protectors make their move."
"Currently, the Five Great Holy Lands and the Western powerhouses are embroiled in resource contention, which is the best time to truly assassinate him. The Demonic Path's ranks are in disarray, adopting a self-preservation stance, and will not interfere."
"Then it is settled. Given that person's temperament and methods, once he steps into the Emperor Realm, our prodigies will miss this Golden Age."
"What is this Golden Age for?"
"The Emperor's Path is about to open. Within ten thousand years, a generation of Human Emperors will surely be born."
"Has it been sixty thousand years since Emperor Hengjie fell? If so, the prodigies must contend for the Emperor's Path."
"And the starting point of the Emperor's Path is in this mortal realm. At that time, prodigies from all races will descend, and we need to seize the initiative."
"Thus, the Nine Forbidden Lands will surely make their move. Time waits for no one!"
...
The Dream World.
The center of human prosperity.
The 'Shi Le' Princess's Mansion.
Princess 'Shi Le', with streaks of法则 (laws/principles) light flashing on her body, had her aura suddenly restored to the Harmonious Dao stage.
"At most, I can recover to the Tribulation Crossing stage. To recover to the Immortal cultivation level, I need to devour the destiny of the Five Great Holy Lands. Only by recovering to the Immortal cultivation level will I have a chance to revive and break through the seal of the Meteor Immortal Cliff."
"At that time, I will also need to borrow the power of 'Qing Jue' to shield heavenly secrets."
"Let's see how that little fellow is progressing."
Having recovered to the Harmonious Dao stage, she finally had some authority to control this Dream World.
The entire Dream World was basically the same size as Earth, except that most of the oceans and land were occupied by the Demon Race.
That old demon, 'Zhu Guang', occupied the Dream World and could even modify its法则 flow rate. A year for mortals here was equivalent to one day in the real world, but if one stepped into the法则 level, the flow rate of the Dream World would be the same as the real world.
The glazed mirror before her flashed with light, reflecting Chen Jiuyang in his youth.
At this moment, Chen Jiuyang had embarked on the correct path of the military way, having undergone three blood transformations and was about to undergo his fourth, stepping into the extraordinary realm.
She had reviewed Chen Jiuyang's memories. Chen Jiuyang needed a pure martial arts childhood and youth, uninfluenced by the Immortal Path era, to follow the path of a complete military strategist.
When he stepped into the extraordinary realm, he would regain his memories, and the inheritance within him would reappear. At that time, she would have to act to strip away the inheritance from him.
In this way, the little fellow's path forward would be unobstructed. Otherwise, he would not be able to bear the karma of this inheritance, and his temperament and will would be affected by it.
...
At this moment, Chen Jiuyang was somewhat famous within the human domain of the Dream World.
His archery was peerless in the world.
Under the intentional or unintentional guidance of Princess 'Shi Le', he embarked on contemplating the true meaning of the Archer's Will and the Four Symbols of Heavenly Will.
When he was in his teens, the demon disaster ended, and he left his hometown, embarking on a journey solely to seek a stronger path to slay the Demon Race.
The Four Symbols of Heavenly Will.
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
He was now twenty-four years old, having practiced archery for fourteen years, his martial will honed to its peak.
He also understood the meaning of the Four Symbols of Heavenly Will, the four arrows of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Spring blossomed with a hundred arrows, Summer blazed to seize shooting stars, Autumn struck... Winter flashed...
However, he had still not achieved mastery in the Way of the Bow. He could kill ordinary demonic beasts, but the terrifying demonic creature he had seen at the age of eight was beyond his ability to defeat.
Yet, he had traveled throughout the human-inhabited lands and had never again heard of such a terrifying great demon appearing. No one in the world was stronger than him in archery.
In the blink of an eye, he was thirty years old.
The great demon he had seen in his childhood seemed like a dream bubble, and he could no longer find it.
Thus, Chen Jiuyang returned to his hometown.
He opened a martial arts school.
Chen Jianmin and Zhang Xiuzhen's hair had turned completely white, and their movements were slow. Grandmaster Gu had passed away two years prior. The couple first took Chen Jiuyang to offer incense at Grandmaster Gu's grave.
Life had completely returned to peace.
Chen Jiuyang genuinely liked this feeling, but at the same time, he was unwilling to give up on refining his path as an archer, feeling a sense of dissatisfaction.
Time thus slipped away bit by bit.