After Chen Jiuyang finished speaking about fighting to his heart's content, he sat on the cold bench, unable to make a move, and could only watch others spar in the arena.
For Chen Jiuyang, this was not an unacceptable situation.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder spoke, "King Qian, you will encounter many such strategies when you officially participate in the Martial Ranking competition."
"Once you step onto the arena in the Martial Ranking competition, you must win by any means necessary!"
"Like Tian Ji's horse racing strategy, pitting a weaker horse against a stronger one can still lead to victory in the overall game."
Chen Jiuyang nodded slowly.
"Today, the martial artists from South Korea and Japan have achieved their goals and will return to their respective countries tomorrow to prepare for the Asian Martial Ranking World Championship, making their final improvements in strength."
"No one can afford to lose the sixty-year national destiny battle; a nation will truly mobilize its reserves to enhance the strength of its participating contestants."
"The Martial Ranking World Championship is divided into individual ranking matches and team matches. Victory in the team matches can affect the strength enhancement or weakening of the participating contestants, while individual ranking matches allow for the plundering of a country's national destiny to nourish one's own nation."
"Our Dragon Country's Martial Ranking team will consist of you, Yan Hongming, Ye Tiannan, Han Lixuan, and Jiang Lihuo for the individual ranking matches, to plunder as much destiny as possible for the nation. The remaining five will form the team for the team matches."
"After this, you will accompany me to the Forbidden City Holy Land to enhance your combat strength," the Dragon Capital Sword Holder said, explaining a lot of rules and details.
Chen Jiuyang's expression froze, "My combat strength can still be improved?"
His combat strength could already surpass the Earth Realm and even fight against the Half-Heaven Realm across realms. He possessed the Extreme Body, so his combat strength should not be able to improve further.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder smiled and said, "You are skilled with the saber, but you have not yet mastered Saber Intent."
"As far as I know, three martial artists in the Japanese Martial Ranking have mastered Saber Intent, and their strength should not be underestimated."
Chen Jiuyang's heart sank. Saber Intent and Sword Intent were extremely profound and close to divine techniques. Ordinary martial artists could not even touch upon them in their entire lives.
Even with Chen Jiuyang's current strength, he had not yet mastered Saber Intent.
Now that the Dragon Capital Sword Holder said he might have a chance to master Saber Intent, Chen Jiuyang's eyes lit up with fervor, and he no longer cared about not being able to enter the arena to teach the foreign martial artists a lesson.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder chuckled, "Because the path you've taken is quite special, and coupled with Chen Fengge being on duty in the Holy Land, you have this opportunity to enter the Forbidden City Holy Land."
"If you had followed the path of 'Divine Might Like a Prison' and used the sword, you would have entered the Shu Mountain Holy Land. You see, Ye Tiannan entered the Shu Mountain Holy Land, and that sharp Sword Intent allows him to kill enemies across realms."
"Yan Hongming possesses the Sky Dragon Shattering City Spear and has mastered one-tenth of Spear Intent. If I weren't so familiar with his father, King Yan, I wouldn't have known he was hiding his true strength so much."
Chen Jiuyang's expression immediately turned surprised. Yan Hongming had mastered Spear Intent, so why didn't he use it when fighting him? Was he truly planning to surprise everyone in the World Martial Ranking competition?
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder said, "It seems you are tempted."
"In that case, will you accompany this old man?"
Chen Jiuyang pondered for a moment, "Alright."
Coincidentally, Chen Jiuyang was curious about what the five great holy lands of Dragon Country were like.
Immediately, the Dragon Capital Sword Holder took Chen Jiuyang away from the Martial Ranking arena.
In front of the vast red city walls, there were guards armed with real weapons, and it was unknown how many more were hidden.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder led Chen Jiuyang inside the red walls, passed through a dense maze of palaces, and arrived at a place where peach trees were planted.
It was February, but the peach blossoms here had already bloomed, which greatly surprised Chen Jiuyang.
The peach trees were in full bloom, the fragrance filled the air, and a cluster of ancient-looking buildings appeared before Chen Jiuyang. The vital energy here... no, it was spiritual energy!
Chen Jiuyang's expression was surprised again, "Spiritual energy!"
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder's expression was calm, "When I first came here, I was as shocked as you are. The Forbidden City is the only one among the five great holy lands of our Dragon Country that is not located in a small world."
"Beneath the Forbidden City Holy Land is one of our Dragon Country's dragon脉 (dragon veins) nodes, and it also suppresses fragments of the Nine Cauldrons. The Jixia Academy also moved here in the distant past."
One by one, new terms impacted Chen Jiuyang's mind.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder said, "Our Dragon Country's top great scholars are all gathered at the Jixia Academy. This place is where the national destiny of the current Dragon Country is most concentrated."
Chen Jiuyang asked, "With fragments of the Nine Cauldrons here, aren't you afraid someone would dare to attack this place?"
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder smiled and said, "Unless our Han family and China are destroyed, even immortals cannot enter this place."
"There are too many secrets within. You don't need to probe too deeply."
"Follow me to the Jixia Academy."
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder led Chen Jiuyang through layers of peach forests and arrived before a grand and ancient palace with the words 'Jixia' inscribed above it.
At the entrance sat a scholar with an aged appearance, his movements precise and filled with the grand aura of scholarly knowledge.
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder brought Chen Jiuyang before the old scholar and said respectfully, "By order of Emperor Xia, I bring our Dragon Country's Sixth King Qian to the Jixia Academy to select a cultivation technique."
The old scholar glanced at Chen Jiuyang. With just one glance, he seemed to have seen through Chen Jiuyang completely, making Chen Jiuyang's hair stand on end.
The old scholar slowly spoke, "Pure aura, good path, but lacks Saber Intent."
The old scholar raised his hand, and a jade slip flew out from the window of the Jixia Academy, landing in Chen Jiuyang's hand. "You can only comprehend it here; you cannot take it away."
Chen Jiuyang raised his hand and looked. Several words were carved on the jade slip: Sui Yu!
The Dragon Capital Sword Holder said, "King Yan obtained his opportunity here and comprehended the Sky Dragon Shattering City Spear."
"Comprehend it with all your heart. Whether your combat strength can reach a higher level depends on the fortune you gain here."
Chen Jiuyang pondered for a moment, and his divine soul surged into the jade slip.
"Rumble!"
In an instant, the scene before Chen Jiuyang's eyes suddenly changed, as if he were in a netherworld hell.
The sky was blood-red, with smoke and flames everywhere. The ground was cracked and filled with rolling lava.
Smoke and fire obscured the sun and moon, and the sound of wails and slaughter filled his ears. Creatures fell into the lava one after another.
Countless beings rushed towards the sky, but halfway up, they fell into the lava and were swallowed.
It was as if this world was a cage.
"Boom!"
At this moment, the lava churned, and a figure crawled out of the lava, holding a burning saber and letting out a roar as he slashed upwards.
This saber strike seemed to shatter everything before it!
This saber strike seemed to break all the restraints before him!
The lava churned, and the heavens trembled!
A profound Dao rhythm emanated from the saber.
The cage-like hell shattered, leaving only the figure holding the saber, eternal and unchanging!
Dao rhythm!
This was Dao rhythm!
Chen Jiuyang's heart trembled. The scene of this saber strike shattering the cage-like hell was deeply imprinted in his mind.
In the darkness, infinite knowledge and comprehension surged into his mind.
Finally, it transformed into a wisp of Saber Intent that entered Chen Jiuyang's sea of consciousness and soul.