Chaotic World Book
Chapter 203 - 199: Drunk in the Netherworld

Chapter 203: Chapter 199: Drunk in the Netherworld

Vermilion Bird had dominated the world for so many years, and as the Great Demon everyone feared, she truly had seen much and was usually unflappable.

She had thought that even if Taishan were to collapse in front of her, it would not shake her soul from her body.

But at this moment, her mind was truly blank.

In such a situation, even if a newcomer from the Four Symbols Sect, even Xia Chichi, were to witness it, they would not be as shocked as Vermilion Bird. Others in the Four Symbols Sect might think this was simply Emperor Ye’s legacy, and all they needed to do was to bow their heads in submission.

But Vermilion Bird’s understanding was different.

As a Grandmaster and one of the most powerful figures in the world, her knowledge of Martial Arts was unparalleled by many, especially her understanding of the Four Symbols Sect— not even Xuanwu could confidently say he had the upper hand over her.

In Vermilion Bird’s mind, she had never even considered that such an incident could occur.

Even if Xia Longyuan’s legacy had the capacity to embrace all rivers and hold the vastness of the stars, it should not be able to summon the harmony of the stars so effortlessly. Each star’s Martial Arts system was different after all, and not many, not even in the previous epoch, could achieve this, as far as Vermilion Bird knew, only Emperor Ye could.

If Xia Longyuan could truly do this, he could just casually walk into the Four Symbols Sect and declare himself the Hierarch—and everyone would prostrate before him, embracing him into the Sect as easily as having a meal. Why would there be the need for today’s complication?

At most, Xia Longyuan was aligned with the aspect of the Azure Dragon, which caused Chichi’s mother to mistakenly think he was the Azure Dragon Saint Heir— it couldn’t possibly be the current situation.

If it were Emperor Ye’s legacy, it might be possible, yet in Vermilion Bird’s understanding, even if it were Emperor Ye himself, he wouldn’t be able to achieve this just with half a year of martial practice and merely at the Mystical Gate Fourth Layer.

Half a year of martial practice—who had he seen and what Martial Arts?

Mystical Gate Fourth Layer of cultivation—even if you had seen all the Martial Arts in the world, how much could you truly understand?

How could he achieve this?

She simply could not understand.

If, if he truly was inheriting Emperor Ye’s mantle, or even a reincarnation of Emperor Ye, what then?

Kneel?

Luckily, the mask concealed her facial expressions, and Zhao Changhe only sensed that Vermilion Bird was deeply shocked; he hadn’t expected her to be so overwhelmed. Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, he said, "It seems that Venerable also isn’t quite clear about my situation?"

"Uh... hmm." Vermilion Bird absently responded a couple of times.

Zhao Changhe said, "I see the Venerable doesn’t need to dwell on it. The intention of the Venerable was simple, to sweeten the deal for me, to let me know that joining the Sect would be greatly beneficial and to see if I was compatible with the cultivation techniques of the Four Symbols Sect, to consider what position I could receive upon joining. Right?"

"Hmm..." Vermilion Bird was still distracted.

"Whether I am compatible now is hard to say, but at least I know the benefits of joining." Zhao Changhe stood up and bowed, "Thank you for your guidance, Venerable. This method can significantly solve the difficulties in my Inner Strength Cultivation. Whether or not I join the Sect, I still owe you favor."

Vermilion Bird finally came a bit back to reality, secretly thinking if you weren’t compatible with our Sect’s techniques, the Holy Sect’s secret methods that aid in breakthrough should also be retracted—how could they be so casually revealed?

How to retract them? Killing was the retraction. The Demon Sect never hesitated in such matters.

Zhao Changhe had never imagined that Vermilion Bird, who was negotiating back and forth with him just a moment earlier, had harbored a backup plan for murder in her heart.

But now, that was gone.

It wasn’t about killing now—Vermilion Bird was wondering whether she should kneel and repent for having harbored murderous intentions.

No, she definitely needed to consult with Xuanwu; she couldn’t make the decision alone. Before contacting Xuanwu, she must keep observing. What on earth is going on!

Vermilion Bird took a deep breath and forcibly calmed her voice, "Zhao Changhe is someone who remembers favors, I believe that. But this technique is ultimately not a radical cure, you need to find a way to expand your meridians; that is fundamental."

"I understand."

"If that’s the case, let’s drop the condition regarding finding a Taoist couple. We’ll leave it at this for now. Your situation is quite peculiar; I too need to ponder over it."

Having said that, Vermilion Bird almost fled.

Staying any longer without calming down, she was afraid she wouldn’t dare to look him in the eye.

Zhao Changhe hadn’t expected Vermilion Bird’s thoughts to be so farfetched, and he was equally puzzled about his own situation.

Sadly, this kind of Spirit Platform instruction was too advanced; Zhao Changhe didn’t know how to manifest it to the Heavenly Book for analysis; he didn’t even know what to write down in silence...

In his own ponderings, this situation, which even Vermilion Bird couldn’t understand, probably had something to do with his long-term exposure to the Heavenly Book.

After all, the page from the Heavenly Book was under the control of Emperor Ye, and having profound connections with the Four Symbols Sect was too normal. There was a good chance that it might be the source of the techniques from the Four Symbols Sect. Being exposed to a macro view of worldly Martial Arts through the Heavenly Book for a long time, could it be related to the vast array of stars?

From this perspective, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider him a descendant of Emperor Ye; but of course, Zhao Changhe dared not claim so, being uncertain if that was the reason—the chances of getting killed for treasure were far greater than being immediately accepted as a follower.

Looking at it this way, it seemed like he should take another trip to Ancient Sword Lake, check what discoveries might be in the Sword Room, and perhaps see an old friend.

Exploring the secrets of the epoch, solving the mysteries of the Heavenly Book, mattered much more to Zhao Changhe than any Wang Family issues... if it weren’t for both Chichi and Yangyang being here, he wouldn’t need to care at all about whatever the Wang Family was scheming.

Zhao Changhe stood still for a moment, the True Qi from his recently advanced Inner Fifth Layer slowly gathering and merging, turning into a surging force around him.

The routine operation of Six Harmonies Divine Skill boosting the Blood Evil Skill...

Why wasn’t there a hurry for so long, yet suddenly, in the past few days, came the desire to breakthrough?

Wang Daozhong had just seen for himself that Zhao was a candidate with the Inner Fourth Layer, and the Outer Fifth Layer, and in the blink of an eye, each had advanced a level—an outcome Wang likely hadn’t foreseen.

Blood Evil Skill at its Sixth Layer, just at this moment.

...

Time flew by, and at last, the birthday banquet of Wang Zhaoqing, the noble son of the Wang Family, arrived.

This banquet had stirred up quite a commotion in recent times. The Wang Family sent out emissaries to invite people from the Hidden Dragon List far and wide. Their arrogance was one thing, but to require those who had received the invitations to be "assessed" before they could attend was too much. Public opinion was in uproar, and the whole world looked on sideways.

Especially considering the backdrop of barbarian invasions and Maitreya’s rebellion, with bandits and thieves carving out their territories far and wide, the country was in utter chaos. It was unbelievable that someone could afford such leisure and pomp under these circumstances; the learned of the world shook their heads in dismay.

Some felt that the aristocratic families naturally behaved in such an arrogant and foolish manner, nothing surprising there.

Others, like Gui Chen, thought that the Wang Family was trying to test the world’s sentiments.

But whether indifferent or cursing angrily, no one eventually said "no" to the Wang Family.

The royal court remained silent, the clans were calm, and Tang Wanju in Jinling, confronting Maitreya, merely shook her head in silence when asked about the banquet. All the Hidden Dragons invited, except for those who could not be found like Han Wubing and those preoccupied with urgent matters like Tang Buqi and Wan Dongliu, accepted the invitation.

Well, that’s what the Wang Family claimed, whether those missing were actually unreachable or simply unwilling to come, no one knew.

Outside the Langya King Mansion, countless idlers from all around gathered, mainly to speculate on who would show up; some were even betting on it.

From the bustling scene, no one could guess that this was a kingdom beset by internal strife and external threats.

"Here they come!" murmured voices filled the street.

A young Taoist priest and a man carrying a big broadsword, chatting and laughing, walked side by side into the city. Seeing the crowd parting to both sides and watching them with respect, both men’s expressions stiffened for a moment.

What kind of lineup was this?

Someone exclaimed, "That’s Daoist Xuan Chong of Taishan, I’ve met him once."

"Hidden Dragon, ranked tenth!"

"He would certainly come; Taishan is just in the neighboring region after all."

"And the one beside him, that broadsword... it can’t be those recently playing around with such a weapon, can it?"

"Of course not, nonsense! He’s a banquet-invited Hidden Dragon, accompanying Xuan Chong! Who else could it be but the true Bloodthirsty Shura?"

Those four words actually quieted the scene momentarily, as many showed expressions of fear.

Zhao Changhe was somewhat speechless. Am I really that notorious?

Xuan Chong was equally speechless. "Folks, we’re all from the same place, stop crowding around. What’s there to see?"

The worldy man who had once met him replied with a smile, "Priest, we’re not here specifically for who’s attending."

"Oh? Then why?"

The man pointed towards the end of the road at the Wang Family’s gate: "Do you see, Priest? The gate is closed. Such a thick solid wooden door, either smashed or chopped open would be quite the scene. The Wang Family seems to be wanting the attendees to show off their Qinggong, we’re all here to observe Hidden Dragon’s Qinggong."

Xuan Chong’s face looked rather displeased.

Wasn’t the Wang Family taking things too far, treating the Hidden Dragons like monkeys?

Turning to look at Zhao Changhe, the man had already gripped the hilt of his broadsword, clearly intending to chop the door down.

As the crowd anticipated a good show, a drunken, ragged man staggered through from behind them. His foot twisted, almost bumping into Xuan Chong.

Xuan Chong kindly supported him for a moment: "Brother, maybe drink less if you’re this drunk."

Holding a liquor gourd, the drunkard took another gulp and continued stumbling forward, mumbling unclearly, "If life offers wine~ one must be drunk, a drop never reaching the netherworld..."

It looked like he couldn’t even walk properly anymore; drinking further could indeed send him straight to the netherworld...

"Hey, hey, hey!" someone on the side tried to help him: "Bro, up ahead is the Wang Family gate, it’s closed, closed hey, hey!"

The man lunged forward, dodging the helper’s aid, but lost more balance, hooked his foot on a step, and flew headfirst towards the gate.

People turned away, unable to bear watching.

Then, a "bang" sounded—the man’s head did indeed make solid, intimate contact with the gate.

However, contrary to what people expected, there was no bloody mess; instead, the door bolt at the back broke, and the gate swung open.

The drunkard touched his head, staggering inside: "So it really is someone’s home... I thought it was the house of a dog, stopping people from entering..."

Inside, Wang Family guards exchanged glances, not stopping him but rather someone hurried inside presumably to ask what should be done now... What gate to guard when the first person to approach had already broken it...

The street fell silent.

Someone whispered, "Who was that?"

"Who else could it be? Only the once fourth-ranked Hidden Dragon, now second—Situ Xiao, the ’Drunken to Netherworld.’"

Zhao Changhe released his grip on the broadsword hilt, beaming with delight: "Just for this scene alone, the trip was not in vain!"