After dealing with the Zhu family's affairs, the cleanup was handed over to Liu Hanguang of the Six Doors. Chen Jiuyang did not linger, turning and stepping away.
As Chen Jiuyang walked back home alone, he began to sort through the methods of martial arts.
"The current path of martial arts is merely to establish the foundation with martial principles, and then retrace the ancient immortal cultivators' methods of Qi manipulation."
"Is this path wrong?"
Chen Jiuyang's true blood boiled within him. After entering the Earth Realm, he nourished the five internal organs' divine repositories with his divine soul's true qi, and then used the five internal organs' divine repositories in conjunction with his spiritual platform to impact the Heaven Realm.
This Heaven Realm was somewhat akin to the Purple Mansion of Qi cultivators in the medical immortal inheritance.
Why did the ancient immortals and the martial arts of the middle ages decline?
Was it because the path taken was wrong?
Chen Jiuyang did not ponder too deeply. At present, he was merely a minor martial artist at the second layer of the Earth Realm. In the memories of the medical immortal inheritance, there were martial artists with the might to uproot mountains and cover the world with their qi, whose divine abilities could overturn the heavens and earth, making them invincible.
Wait...
Divine abilities?
Chen Jiuyang's steps halted. The current mainstream path of martial arts was to nourish the divine soul, manifesting it like an imposing prison. In the medical immortal inheritance, this was referred to as divine might.
However, the medical immortal memories clearly recorded that after the Earth Realm, martial artists possessed divine abilities.
Could it be that after entering the Earth Realm, martial artists had two paths to choose from? One was to follow the Qi cultivator's path of divine might like a prison, and the other was to use their own qi and blood to nurture and forge martial divine abilities?
The reason for the scarcity of Heaven Realm experts in the Dragon Country was due to changes in heaven and earth, a blocked path forward, and the wrong direction taken, which was why no higher-level Earth Realm individuals had appeared.
The Heavenly King Alliance's thinking was correct. They likely already knew that the current martial arts cultivation methods were problematic and could not advance further. Unless one was conferred a title of King in the Dragon Country, one could not break through to the Heaven Realm.
To advance further, one had to take another path.
The light points in Chen Jiuyang's eyes flickered incessantly. Whether the other path was right or wrong, he could verify it himself.
Qi cultivators with divine might like a prison also had their lifespans greatly increased.
However, there was very little information in the medical immortal inheritance regarding this other path of martial arts.
It seemed he really needed to interact with the members of the Heavenly King Alliance and search ancient ruins to verify his speculations.
"Divine might... divine abilities..."
Chen Jiuyang mumbled these four words, walking towards home.
...
On the other side.
The Zhu family was annihilated within an hour. The family head, Zhu Wensong, was cleaved to death by Chen Jiuyang's blade. The remaining members surrendered and were thrown into prison by the Six Doors, immediately shaking the entire Ziyang County.
The Zhu family, which had stood in Ziyang County for hundreds of years, had vanished just like that?
Chen Jiuyang's combat power was so formidable, coupled with the Six Doors' actions, it truly terrified the other forces in Ziyang County.
If Chen Jiuyang were to visit them one by one, their fate would likely be the same as the Zhu family's.
The remaining nineteen forces all thought of this. They could no longer be defeated by Chen Jiuyang one by one; they needed to band together for warmth and to resist the external enemy.
These nineteen forces immediately dispatched their leaders to convene a meeting.
In a magnificent and resplendent villa, dozens of people sat together for a meeting, each with a different expression.
"Originally, I thought this scoundrel Chen Jiuyang only wanted to extort and blackmail us for his own benefit. But now, it seems he is truly determined to eradicate us."
"Everyone, the Zhu family's precedent, our future lesson, what do you think we should do to deal with this scoundrel Chen Jiuyang?"
"Should we unite and send people to assassinate him?"
"Idiot, Chen Jiuyang is the Marquis Xuanyang, enfeoffed by Longjing. Killing him without cause is treason!"
"I don't know if you've noticed, but while Chen Jiuyang acts arrogantly and ostentatiously, he is extremely cautious in his actions."
"This is the information I've gathered. I've found that almost every person Chen Jiuyang has killed was not the first to make a move; they attacked first, and then Chen Jiuyang acted defensively, killing them. Even if it sounds ridiculous, legally speaking, he only acted in self-defense and cannot be held accountable for it."
"Then what should we do? Should we be slaughtered like pigs and dogs, obediently waiting for him to kill us?"
Everyone frowned, unable to take the initiative to attack Chen Jiuyang as a group. They could only wait for Chen Jiuyang to cause trouble.
"The only way now is for us nineteen families to unite, bring out all our experts, choose a secluded and remote place, set up an ambush, and kill Chen Jiuyang. Only then can we overcome this calamity."
"This plan seems feasible."
The reason why many Grandmasters of the Earth Realm were unwilling to be enfeoffed as Marquises was that once enfeoffed, they would face the combined might of the local aristocratic families, enough to make a Marquis Grandmaster's scalp tingle.
For example, in places like Shu Mountain, almost no one was enfeoffed as a Marquis.
Being enfeoffed as a Marquis granted privileges, but it also brought more troubles.
...
On the other side, the Heavenly King Alliance.
In an apartment building in Ziyang County, Lu Shanhai and others were stationed there. Ziyang County had four major families and sixteen sects, in addition to the Six Doors. As outsiders, martial artists like them found it difficult to operate freely in Ziyang County, and their actions were often restricted.
Lu Shanhai said, "You've all received the news. Marquis Xuanyang Chen Jiuyang has already begun to take action against the four families and sixteen sects, and the first to be targeted was the Zhu family. Later tonight, we will go to the Zhu family's location to search for any clues to ancient ruins."
The others nodded.
A middle-aged beautiful woman said, "Chen Jiuyang is indeed a peerless genius. The strike he used to kill the Zhu family head today was not a mainstream martial art of the current era, but rather leaned more towards what we are seeking..."
Lu Shanhai said, "Comparing people leads to despair, comparing goods leads to throwing them away... Chen Jiuyang wants to take another path, so he will inevitably have more contact with us. As long as we win the national destiny battle next year, we will be able to advance to the Heaven Realm using ancient methods, and will no longer be confined to the Earth Realm."
"Chen Jiuyang wants to walk the path of ancient martial arts to comprehend divine abilities, not divine might. We can interact with him more."
Lu Shanhai's face twitched. "Chen Jiuyang is a peerless genius. If he explores ruins with us, he should gain more. At that time, as guides, he should be grateful and share some of his insights with us..."
"But the premise is, don't let the alliance send people who have committed crimes. Otherwise, with his temper and martial arts path, he'll kill anyone he sees."
Chen Jiuyang's personality and martial arts path also gave them a headache.
"There is another possibility... With Chen Jiuyang's talent, plus his innate Dao Foundation physique, he will definitely be enfeoffed as a true King in the future, not a pseudo-king like Zhou Fangzun."
"We have wandered for half our lives, perhaps it is time to settle down."
"Are you suggesting we pledge allegiance to Marquis Xuanyang?"
"Chen Jiuyang is loyal and righteous, and abides by the laws and rules of the country. Pledging allegiance to him is not a bad choice."
Everyone fell silent. After a long while, someone spoke:
"We will discuss this further... Prepare yourselves, we are going to the Zhu family to search for clues to ancient ruins."
"Indeed, searching for clues to ancient ruins is the most important thing right now. We have been in Ziyang County for nearly ten years, and the puzzle pieces for clues to ancient ruins are only one piece away. This last piece should be in the hands of these four families and sixteen sects."