I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1808 - 239: Visitor from Long Valley

Chapter 1808: Chapter 239: Visitor from Long Valley

As people grow older, they tend to trust their senses more than their feelings.

But the way of martial arts is the opposite; the shift between illusion and reality relies more on the judgment of feelings than the perception of senses.

Different paths lead to different outcomes. Those skilled in using their senses will sharpen their perception, yet their feelings will gradually dull—vice versa as well.

Over the years, the Hundred Herbs Divine Monarch has guided the creation and destruction of countless spiritual elixirs, becoming intimately familiar with the origins, momentum, and effects of laws and principles.

In the process of exploring the workings of these laws, Jiang Fushen has faced innumerable failures and encountered countless surprises.

Yet he has never experienced anything quite like this—a sense that all his cultivated understanding of laws has lost its efficacy on this fragile peony before him.

Clearly, the surge of life energy has awakened all things to renewal. He can even hear the yearning of countless grasses and trees on He Shou Peak—how could this fail?

The Blue Lotus bloomed, and Jiang Fushen’s face remained steely as he began to contemplate the causes of the laws’ failure.

Seeing the elder introspect deeply and lose his desire for conversation, Tang Luo chose not to interrupt. He rested his hands lightly on his crossed knees and closed his eyes, shielding the spinning silver wheel and concealing the Divine Light piercing through the nine heavens.

The drastic shift from extreme motion to extreme stillness took only an exchange of a few words, and the duel between the two kings had fully entered a realm incomprehensible even to the great powers of the Divine Sect.

Other than the rotating peony suspended in mid-air and the black sphere out of sync with the world, the entire space had already been sealed by Jiang Fushen’s Blue Lotus.

...

In the far west of Longzhou, within the domain of Long Valley.

For the Beast Taming Sect and the other Seven Sects at this moment, the most pressing matter was to cooperate with Cao Lie’s research.

And anything involving the study of the King Realm shared one common trait—it required an enormous amount of resources.

Fortunately, the Beast Taming Sect has never lacked resources, and even if Cao Lie made lavish demands, they could bear the cost.

However, while acquiring resources was straightforward, finding warriors willing to assist in experimental research was much harder. Though plenty of masters nearing their final days were intrigued by Cao Lie’s work and volunteered their skills and labor,

when it came to personal experience, these masters exercised extreme caution. After all, the two Dragon Beasts—Shi Sanke and Xiang Dongyou—failed to inspire enough confidence in them.

Cao Lie, however, was not in a hurry. After all, the Seven Sects had different demands for his research, and he had plenty of time to await the outcomes he desired.

Thus, the master of Luyang City generously distributed his research findings from recent years to the researchers of Long Valley while continuing to expand his list of demands.

In just one month, he orchestrated several large-scale caravans headed for Luyang City, and judging by the attitude of Cao Lie’s emissaries, the city’s resource requirements showed no signs of waning in the foreseeable future.

Cao Meng was deeply concerned about this situation, as he understood Cao Lie’s nature; some deeply ingrained traits were not something that could be changed by mere breakthroughs in cultivation.

The world seldom sees villains reform merely because of age, yet it often witnesses old scoundrels become even more insidious with time.

Though many elders of the Seven Sects may have recognized valuable aspects of Cao Lie’s research, it was the fact that Cao Lie himself spearheaded the project that left Cao Meng profoundly wary.

But unlike before, his precautions failed to garner sufficient support. To most in Long Valley, his dislike for Cao Lie stemmed only from past grievances during their youth.

Cao Meng’s judgment of Cao Lie was clouded with subjective malice.

The hardest thing in the world, perhaps, is proving one’s lack of ill intent when preconceived beliefs have already taken root in others.

Thus, the only action the Lin Clan’s Sect Master could take was to strictly admonish his sect’s Inner Sect disciples to avoid involvement in the Luyang City research, striving to sever all ties between Lin Clan and Cao Lie.

Because of this, many disciples in Long Valley gossiped about Cao Meng behind his back, claiming he lacked magnanimity.

Magnanimity? Compared to the treasured disciples of Lin Clan, magnanimity is a worthless notion.

Looking at the Wind Department envoy who traveled countless miles from Pingshan City to visit him, Cao Meng smirked coldly.

The Han Family was returning, but their primary target was undoubtedly the An Family of Zhongzhou. Yet the Divine Court was clever enough to foresee this, setting up Dutian Heavenly King patrols and fully endorsing Cao Jinyu as Great Commander.

Everyone understood the scheme. Still, considering the convenience of the intelligence network and confidence in Cao Jinyu, they decided to acquiesce.

The death of Cao Jinyu remained Long Valley’s greatest tragedy in centuries, and the Beast Taming Sect suffered the most losses after the Han Family’s declared return.

Yet the actions of their two allies were disheartening. The Divine Court merely sent An Yushu to take over the solid foundation laid by Cao Jinyu, spending years recruiting soldiers and doing nothing else of significance.

The Zen lost five hundred Vajra warriors and seemed utterly unaffected, diverting their focus to debates between new and old factions following the sect’s metaphysical discussions.

Even Heaven Sect representatives attending the funeral were mostly pretentious in their condolences, with genuine sincerity scarce.

Cao Meng could tolerate all of this. What he could not endure, however, was how Taoyin—fully aware that a Saint King-level expert had killed Cao Jinyu—was still exploiting Cao Guang’s arrogance, seemingly placing the burden of countering the Han Family entirely on the Beast Taming Sect by leveraging Cao Jinyu’s death.

Initially, Cao Meng believed this was merely a ploy by the Taoyin faction. Unexpectedly, the Guangming faction shared the same perspective.

Listening to An Yuanxi feign difficulty and hesitation, a look of anger swept across Cao Meng’s face, though inwardly, he remained lucid.

The Saint King’s mysterious arrival from the Red Cloud Mountain might genuinely lack clarity in origin, but this matter concerned the Divine Court much more than Long Valley—it was the Divine Court’s responsibility to act.

"Yuan Xi, dear nephew, do not fret. Our sect agrees with the judgment of the Great Divine Officials of Guangming. Even if this new king of the Red Cloud truly has ambiguous origins, their supervision should fall under Yuanzhou’s internal affairs. You needn’t worry yourself over this matter."

Cao Meng waved his hand boldly. "The onset of spring brings the blooming of all flowers in Long Valley. Stay within the Lin Clan’s territory, and I shall summon Dao Chen from seclusion to let you witness the prowess of our most outstanding disciples of this generation."

"Sect Master, you are too gracious. Dao Chen is, without question, one of the foremost Dao Child talents of this era. In Yuan Xi’s opinion, aside from the Divine Court’s Yuheng Dao Child and the one from the Palace of Striking Swan, none can match him in cultivation."

Recognizing Cao Meng’s subtle dismissal, An Yuanxi knew it was time to leave. Just as he prepared to take his leave, voices arose from the main entrance.

"Dao Chen is considered among the top three of this generation, which indeed shows that exceptional talents are scarce among today’s youths."

A disheveled Cao Lie pushed open the door, striding into the hall with an unrestrained smirk. He shoved An Yuanxi aside like a helpless pup and addressed Cao Meng, "Sect Master, it’s been so long—why hasn’t the quota of dragon beasts for Luyang City been fulfilled yet? The research is on the verge of stalling, are you aware of this?"

"The growth and nurture of dragon beasts require time. The Lin Clan’s unclaimed beasts have already been sent to Luyang City, and the remaining quota will be fulfilled within ten years in batches."

Cao Meng suppressed his rage and replied with steely resolve, "For now—leave!"

"Wait ten years? By then, the elders of Mao Sect and Gu Sect will be long dead."

Cao Lie scoffed indifferently, "Lin Clan has so many flying dragons—just send a batch to Luyang. I need them now."

"Ridiculous! Every dragon beast of the Lin Clan now has a master. How could I give them to you?"

"Then I suppose I’ll have to retrieve them myself."

Cao Lie casually flicked his nails, speaking with complete nonchalance.