Epiphany

While the Feihong Sect was busy conferring on uniting the four great sects and hiring Thousand Faces Old Ghost to strike down Huang Tian, in the provincial city of Qin Province, seven or eight luxurious carriages escorted by over a hundred mounted guards rumbled through the city gates, heading along the broad, flat highway toward Kunyun Commandery City. Seated within the carriage at the very center of the convoy was a pretty young woman accompanied by a gray-haired old woman. Though beautiful, a touch of arrogance lingered between the girl's brows, giving her an aloof, unapproachable air. Frowning in obvious annoyance, she said, "Father claimed he was sending me back to our ancestral home in Kunyun Commandery to sweep the family graves, yet time and again he kept bringing up this fellow named Huang Tian, urging me to interact with him more—" She sighed. "Must I have no say even in my own marriage?" The old woman gently offered comfort: "Third Miss, the master never set anything in stone or insisted on anything between you and Huang Tian. If the two of you get along, all the better; if not, you may return straight to the provincial city once the ancestral rites are done." "We most likely won't get along!" Third Miss raised a delicate brow. "Besides, isn't this Huang Tian merely the maid-born son of some second-rate clan in a commandery city? Even if his talent is decent, why would Father think so highly of him?" The old woman shook her head in correction. "His talent is far more than merely 'decent'—it is one in ten million. So long as he survives, becoming a third-rank Grandmaster is practically guaranteed, and reaching the second rank is highly probable! What does humble birth matter for such a talent? In this world, isn't it strength that speaks in the end?" Third Miss furrowed her brow in thought for a moment before saying, "Fine. I'll go meet him then. If he proves worthy of my attention, I shall try to spend time with him." The haughtiness in her tone was unmistakable. The old woman shook her head inwardly: *If Third Miss takes this kind of attitude when speaking with Huang Tian, she will only earn his disdain. The master's hope of recruiting a son-in-law will likely come to nothing.* *Still, securing a son-in-law is only one objective. If it fails, so be it. The master's primary aim was to have me probe Huang Tian's background in Kunyun Commandery City and uncover just how he managed to break through so rapidly.* Ever since word reached the provincial city that Huang Tian had advanced through three realms in a single month, broken through another realm half a month later, and possessed combat strength nearing the fourth rank, he had swiftly drawn the scrutiny of numerous prominent families, government offices, and powerful clans. Some believed he harbored a tremendous secret, while others thought he had none at all and was simply advancing at a blistering pace through peerless talent. Regardless of their conclusions, many had developed a keen interest in him. Third Miss's father was no exception. As a second-rank Divine General of the Black Armor Army, he held immense power and prestige. Using his daughter's trip to sweep the ancestral graves as an excuse, he had dispatched the old woman to thoroughly investigate Huang Tian's background and report back at the earliest sign of news. Naturally, if his daughter took a liking to Huang Tian and brought a genius of immense potential into the clan, it would be an even greater boon. The old woman lifted the curtain and glanced at the carriages before and behind them, musing silently: *Quite a few people have their eyes on Huang Tian. Young Master Xue Ting, who is accompanying Third Miss, and Zhou Miaosu, the niece of Six Doors' Divine Constable Zhou—I fear they have all come for Huang Tian.* *Otherwise, for a mere grave-sweeping journey, why would so many scions of influential families willingly travel alongside Third Miss?* And this was merely what showed on the surface. The old woman suspected that beneath the surface, several clans had certainly dispatched covert agents to Kunyun Commandery to pry into the secret behind Huang Tian's astonishingly rapid breakthroughs. In truth, it was not just the prominent clans and various official bureaus. Even the Qin Province branch of the Demonic Cult had taken notice of Huang Tian and had dispatched a third-rank Grandmaster to Kunyun Commandery to investigate the situation! All told, Huang Tian had stirred up no small stir in the provincial city—and that wave was now rolling back toward Kunyun Commandery City at an even greater speed and with even fiercer momentum. * * * Before the solemn, imposing government office of the commandery Six Doors. Huang Tian produced the golden medallion given to him by Yu Jingcheng and displayed it to the squad of constables guarding the entrance. The constables promptly cleared the way. Once Huang Tian walked inside, they broke into hushed whispers. "Was that man just now Huang Tian from the Martial Restraint Guard?" "He really is young! He looks like a mere youth, hardly older than my nephew." "I hear he's only sixteen. *Hiss*, heavens above, reaching the sixth rank at sixteen—that talent is terrifying!" "The sixth rank is nothing compared to the rest. Haven't you heard about him defeating two fifth-rank felons single-handedly? His strength is definitely far beyond an ordinary fifth-rank martial artist. I even heard he's been promoted to Battalion Commander!" "Comparing oneself to others will truly drive a man to an early grave. The few of us have practiced martial arts for two or three decades and can't even reach the eighth rank. Compared to him, we're really... sigh!" "You actually wanted to compare yourself to him? Haha! We're all mediocrities; comparing ourselves to a genius is just asking for misery, isn't it?" "..." As Huang Tian walked through the Six Doors office complex, the officials and clerks he encountered along the way cast glances of curiosity, envy, jealousy, and scrutiny in his direction. His expression remained unchanged. Unhurried, he made his way to the front of the Book Pavilion, showed the medallion to the guards once more, and stepped into the first floor. The Book Pavilion of Six Doors differed little from that of the Martial Restraint Guard. It was likewise divided into three floors: the first contained basic martial arts techniques along with various histories and biographies; the second held over a hundred exquisite martial techniques; and the third housed several pinnacle tier martial arts and various martial path journals. Without haste, he began browsing from the first floor. Before long, he noticed that some of the martial arts on the first floor overlapped with the collection at the Martial Restraint Guard. Fortunately, the overlap was limited, and the vast majority were techniques he had never seen before. Stepping up to a brown bookshelf, he pulled down a martial manual and flipped through it rapidly. Moments later, he returned the manual, picked up the next, and repeated the motion without pause. The clerk on duty on the first floor stared with wide eyes. Rumors claimed that Huang Tian needed only a single read-through to master a martial technique in a matter of moments—could there truly be no falsehood in that? If so, hadn't he already mastered several techniques in less than half a quarter of an hour?! Huang Tian was naturally oblivious to the clerk's astonishment. Fully immersed in the sea of texts, he watched the entire day slip by. Having finished reading several hundred different martial arts techniques, he departed, his appetite still unslaked. On the second day, he returned to the Book Pavilion and continued to "flip" through the books as before. The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day... After five consecutive days, he finally finished reviewing all the martial arts on the first floor. Without hesitation, he ascended to the second floor. The second floor held far fewer martial arts than the first, and he finished reading them in merely half a day. He then went straight up to the third floor. After perusing the several pinnacle tier martial arts and more than a dozen martial path journals housed there, his body suddenly jolted. A feeling similar to the moment he created the Cloud Dragon Sanshou welled up in his heart! Swiftly leaving the Six Doors government office, he returned to Qinghui Garden and took a stance in the open space of the rear courtyard. Swallowing a small slice of Spirit Jade Ganoderma flesh, he let its gentle spiritual qi circulate slowly through the heavenly circuits of his body. Sinking slightly at the knees, he closed his eyes and extended both hands like intertwined dragons, his mind drifting into emptiness as he plunged into a profoundly wondrous, unfathomable state.