“Then I’ll feel reassured.”
Lu Xiong took a sip of Longgu Wine, shook his head and smiled. “When I was young, I went to explore everywhere and provoked some enemies. In this respect, you and I are very similar, and we have to make some preparations just in case.”
“You seem to be familiar with the worldlet,” Zhang Han said.
“Yes. I began to live in seclusion 30 years ago, but I kept in touch with Bai Yueting’s martial brothers. So I know about the current situation of the worldlet,” Lu Xiong replied.
“Master Mo told me something about the worldlet, and I’m interested in several sects that he mentioned,” Zhang Han said.
“Grand Master Mo?” Lu Xiong shook his head and said, “He spends so many years in closed-door cultivation that he knows little about the worldlet. It’s me who knows most of the news and customs of the worldlet. I’m not bragging.”
“Well, I want to know more about Heavenly Knights Sect and Wind Snow School,” Zhang Han chuckled and said.
“Wow, both are famous sects!” Lu Xiong was surprised. Looking at the view of another mountain in the distance, he said slowly as he recalled, “There are five stable worldlets in Hua nation, which is enviable. And each of the worldlets has lots of sects and clans, who keep competing against each other. But the power of these sects is not balanced. Although there are a number of top clans in every worldlet, only one of them has the most influence.
“For example, Zhang Shenwang was the head of the Heavenly Knights Sect you mentioned just now. He was a legend who had defeated lots of sects and made his sect the best one in Kun Xu World. But he was not ambitious and never established any branches of the Main Sect in Kun Xu World. On the contrary, other sects gradually expanded their branches to other and even all small worldlets, attracting countless young talents. With the rise of more sects, the so-called No. 1 Sect gradually lost its influence.
“The Wind Snow School was the most powerful sect in Saint Serene World in the southeast with the amazing Luo Yuanfei as its chief.
“The Lihun Sect was the best in my Witch Hidden World in the southwest, and the Beiming Sect was the best in Mystical Martial World in the northeast. However, there is another mysterious force in Mystical Martial World named Black White Palace, and each of its graduated disciples is better than the talents in other sects. As for Seven Harmony World in the northwest, the Luo Fu Sword Sect is the best.
“The Wind Snow School and Heavenly Knights Sect are enemies that have been competing against each other for decades, and I heard that there is enmity between Zhang Shenwang and Luo Yuanfei. And there are often brutal battles among the disciples of the two sects. Conflicts between sects like this are common to see in every worldlet, and no one knows the specific causes.”
After Lu Xiong said a lot, he stopped and took a sip of Longgu Wine.
Looking at Zhang Han, he said with a smile, “You are not yet 30 years old and have already advanced to the stage of Grand Master Peak. I’m sure you’ll definitely reach the Divine Realm one day and become the target of all the famous sects in each worldlet. When you get the position of an inner-door disciple of a sect, it won’t take you many years to get more strength and become the backbone of your sect.”
Zhang Han paused with his glass in his hand and said quietly, “I’m not interested in those sects in the worldlet.”
“Don’t make a decision so quickly. You can get the corresponding benefits after joining a sect, and you won’t suffer losses.” Lu Xiong shook his head and smiled. Again waving his hand, he took out various seasonings and sprinkled them on the roast chicken.
“In terms of resources, there are many magic weapons and treasures that can be exchanged in a sect. In those top sects, even treasures at the holy level and divine level can be exchanged. Besides…” Lu Xiong paused and hesitated.
Then he smiled slightly and added, “Divine weapons or divine objects are not the most powerful, because it’s said that there is a world of immortals. More than 100 years ago, a man driving a giant eagle appeared, easily defeated the worldlet master at the Heaven Peak Stage, and then said, ‘You are just a bunch of Innateness-stage cultivators.’
“His words gave us a lot of information. In addition, all the masters at the Heaven Peak Stage had to go to the mainland if they wanted to make a breakthrough. I heard that there was more than one master who disappeared mysteriously within a few days after the breakthrough.
“But it’s too far away for us. It’s difficult for most of us to reach the Heaven Realm stage, let alone make a breakthrough again after that.
“But we learned from the story that the Heaven Realm stage is not the end, but the beginning. However, the process of continuous cultivation and breakthroughs requires countless resources. If you insist on being a free cultivator with no background, it will be very difficult for you.”
“The world of immortals?” Zhang Han squinted his eyes slightly.
That mysterious man had to come from another worldlet like the Cultivation World, because he mentioned “Innateness”, which was commonly used in some worldlets. Zhang Han didn’t know what the real world of immortals looked like, but he knew that he could only touch the new world after reaching the ninth level of the Pass-tribulation stage. Zhang Han was not sure whether that new world was the world of immortals or not.
That was because he felt that the martial arts world was like the Cultivation World, which had been reduced many times.
The difference between looking at the sky from the bottom of a well and from outside the well was not great. Even if you were outside the wellhead, you still didn’t know how big the universe was.
What surprised Zhang Han was that even Yue Wuwei of the Stander-by Sect knew about the Building Base.
It seemed that he also knew a lot of secrets.
“By the way, does Elder Lu know Zhang Guangyou?” Zhang Han asked.
“Zhang Guangyou, the lord of battle?” Lu Xiong was stunned and began scanning Zhang Han up and down with his eyes. Then he asked hesitantly, “Grand Master Zhang, you asked me about the Heavenly Knights Sect, Wind Snow School and Zhang Guangyou. Now, with your surname being Zhang, is Zhang Guangyou your relative?”
“He is my father,” Zhang Han replied calmly.
“This…” Lu Xiong spent several seconds to digest what he had heard, and then he replied, “Your father is the young head of the Heavenly Knights Sect.”
“What?” Zhang Han was confused.
He didn’t realize before that his father had so many secrets.
“I don’t know the details, but I heard that the disciples of the Heavenly Knights Sect call him young chief.” Lu Xiong touched his beard and said, “There must be a reason for it, maybe your father used to be an excellent disciple of the Heavenly Knights Sect. But it is said that he has been missing for a long time, and later appeared in the Zhang family, Shang Jing. He had a wife and children at that time.
“When Qing Zhen Zi of the Wind Snow School was about to make trouble, he was stopped by the Warlord of the Chen Clan. I didn’t know why, because under normal circumstances, few people would help the enemies of the Wind Snow School. There were so many conflicts in the worldlets every day, and those between the Wind Snow School and Heavenly Knights Sect were not paid much attention to. Maybe Qing Zhen Zi found your father and challenged him for some specific reason.
“When your father became No. 1 among martial artists below the stage of Grand Master, there were actually some real Grand Masters in this world; for example, Shi Fenghou of the Wind Snow School, who was also known as Little Roc.”
Lu Xiong put the two roast chickens on two plates and handed one to Zhang Han. Then they began to talk while eating.
“Before the gate of the small world was closed, there was a group of young talents from different worldlets exploring a relic, and I knew at least three of them.”
“Ye Longyuan, the Devil Incarnate, was a core disciple of the Lihun Sect in Witch Hidden World. As one of the three most powerful young disciples in the Lihun Sect, he was arrogant and violent, and liked to make trouble for the talents of other sects.
“Mu Xue, the Female Demon, was from the Luo Fu Sword Sect in Seven Harmony World. She was good at swordsmanship and had already surpassed me a few years ago.
“The third talent was Shi Fenghou, the Little Roc I mentioned just now. He could move faster than sound with the help of the blazing fire roc, a virtual image he created with magic. It was said that when he was born, he absorbed the soul imprint of the blazing fire roc, and it took him 60 years to refine a part of it. After that, he got the ability to create a virtual image of the blazing fire roc.
“Because there was less spiritual Qi in the mainland, all of those talents had been exploring blessed regions and doing closed-door cultivation in them. Otherwise, they would soon be surpassed by their martial brothers and sisters. If they had kept wandering in the mainland, the lord of battle couldn’t have dominated the other martial artists for such a long time.”
Lu Xiong shook his head and smiled. He didn’t look down upon the lord of battle, but was just telling the truth. Since there was no strong Grand Master in the martial arts world at that time, the young talents from the worldlets were too proud to challenge the other martial artists several stages below them.
Zhang Han raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing Lu Xiong’s analysis.
He felt proud that his father was the lord of battle.
Then he commented in a faint voice, “I didn’t know that the era that has passed, but one day, the era of the real lord of battle belonging to my father will return.”
“Hahaha…” Lu Xiong stroked his beard and laughed. “My friend, forgive me for being frank. With all due respect, I appreciate your pride and look forward to the day when you can realize your wish.”
“Thank you for your blessing.” Zhang Han chuckled.
“By the way, did you know the relic of Nan Xing will open in seven days?” Lu Xiong asked.
“Nope.”
“Nan Xing Lake is located to the north of Shenzhen, and it is a stable relic that will open in seven days. It is preliminarily rated as class B, which means that there must be treasures at the holy stage in it. A stable relic is rare, and you can take anything you want without changing the worldlet’s stability. That is to say, even if you get the highest-level treasure in the relic during the exploration, you will not force the ruins to close itself in advance because of the imbalance of its internal environment. Therefore, we will have more time to search for treasures in the relic than at any other time before. So far, we have found at least two kinds of holy objects in such kind of grade-B relics. This time, Shi Fenghou, the Little Roc, the Female Devil, and other talents from the worldlets should all appear. And I don’t know what will happen when they enter the relic.”
Lu Xiong smiled and said, “The news has not been widely spread, and it was one of my old friends who told me about it. But I’m not going to take the risk. Grand Master Zhang, now that you have reached the stage of Grand Master Peak, why not go to explore the relic and try your luck if you are interested in it? Besides, you’ll get the opportunity to meet those talents from the worldlets. Keep an eye on the Devil Incarnate and keep away from him, for he is so aggressive.”
“Oh? A class-B relic? Why hasn’t Lei Tiannan heard the news?” Zhang Han was confused.
He ignored the rest of Lu Xiong’s words, especially those about the Devil Incarnate. In the face of the challenge of his close rivals, Zhang Han never evaded it. After all, he had always been looking for opportunities to fight with others as well.
“The news spreads too slowly, but they should know about it in a few days. Most of the martial artists who went to the class-B relic this time should be Chinese, right? A class-B relic is also very dangerous, and I’m afraid there will be casualties in this expedition.” Lu Xiong shook his head.
After all, the more dangerous they were, the more likely they were to benefit.
They were silent for a few seconds, and Lu Xiong suddenly laughed and said, “Mengmeng is so lovely.”
“Of course.” Zhang Han smiled and replied proudly.
His little princess was so beautiful, and he was very proud as her father!
“I was just a janitor in kindergarten, but she would say hello to me when she saw me. What a good child,” Lu Xiong stroked his beard and said.
“Because her mother taught her well.” Zhang Han nodded.
Zi Yan had spent a lot of time studying early-childhood education.
“There are some naughty children.” Lu Xiong shook his head slightly and said, “There are some problems in their family education, especially the children of big families, who live in the class system and like to compete with each other. They once said that if they don’t work hard, they will only work as janitors there like me. I was stunned at that time.”
“Different values.” Zhang Han said with a faint smile, “One day, I will guide Mengmeng to the path of cultivation.”
Hearing this, Lu Xiong stopped touching his beard and said, “I suggest you wait for Mengmeng to grow up. She has been living in the ordinary world, and if she suddenly gains strength and doesn’t know how to control it, she may hurt others if she is not careful. In our worldlet, both adults and children cultivate, and we don’t worry about that.
“But as time passed, the little girl seemed to turn into a big girl in a flash,” Lu Xiong thought of Lu Guo when she was a child and said with a smile.
“So I want to cherish this precious time,” Zhang Han looked down in the direction of the kindergarten and said seriously.
In the afternoon, they chatted on the mountain. Lu Xiong told Zhang Han a lot about the worldlet and finally talked about their daily life.
Pointing to his small vegetable garden, he said that planting vegetables was his hobby and it could cultivate his body and mind.
But if he saw Mount New Moon, he would not say that.
Zhang Han took his leave at 4:20 in the afternoon.
He went down to the entrance of the kindergarten and saw that there were already many parents waiting in line to pick up their children.
Zhang Han began to think about it as he quietly lined up.
“Shall I go to the relic of Nan Xing?
“The relic will open at 7 a.m. in seven days and close seven hours later.
“There must be fourth-stage spirit treasures in the class-B relic. Maybe I can go and have a look. Before the door of the small world can be opened, I have to be well-prepared.”
This time, Zhang Han didn’t plan to take Zi Yan with him. The danger coefficient of a class-B relic was higher, but Zi Yan had no better protection than a magic weapon.
When Zhang Han was thinking about it, the children from all the classes came to the square in the kindergarten.
Zhang Han went in with other parents, stopped in front of class five, and Mengmeng jumped into him.
“PaPa!”
Holding the little girl, Zhang Han smiled, kissed Mengmeng’s face, and asked, “What did Mengmeng learn today?”
“I learned a few new words today. PaPa, I’ll tell you…”
Mengmeng began chirping in Zhang Han’s arms.
After that, she twisted her body a few times, jumped to the ground, grabbed on to Zhang Han’s fingers, and walked back to the car.
“Why didn’t MaMa come today?” Mengmeng asked.
“Your mom is busy working today.”
“Well, PaPa, I… Martin, Chen Muen, and Stefen want to visit my Xanadu. Can I invite them there?” Mengmeng blinked her big eyes and asked expectantly.
She wanted to take her friends to the Xanadu that her father had built for her.
Zhang Han never refused Mengmeng’s small request.
He smiled and said, “Of course you can. When does Mengmeng want to invite them?”
“Great, great. PaPa is the best man. Mwah, mwah, mwah.”
Mengmeng, who was sitting in the back seat, was very happy. She kissed Zhang Han several times from afar, then stretched out her fingers to calculate the time.
“PaPa, shall I invite them to come on Saturday?” Mengmeng asked.
“OK, Dad will make delicious food for your little friends in advance,” Zhang Han said happily.
Zhang Han understood Mengmeng’s expectations for the party. He had once invited friends to have a party at home, and his father had specially arranged a lot of delicacies, which made him feel very proud.
Now, he also wanted to make Mengmeng feel proud!
“Wow, PaPa is the best.” Mengmeng chuckled and said, “PaPa, you make too much lunch for me every day, and I shared chicken wings and other dishes with Martin and others. They all said that Dad’s dishes were very delicious, and they envied me that I had such a powerful PaPa. Hmm, PaPa is mine, not theirs. PaPa, you are the best.”
Mengmeng felt more and more excited. She waved her little hand to Zhang Han, with her eyes full of adoration for her father.
Zhang Han laughed happily and began to think about how to make a rich and exquisite lunch to entertain Mengmeng’s classmates.
Just when Mengmeng was talking happily…
She suddenly stopped.
“Ah!” Mengmeng shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Han asked with confusion.
“MaMa doesn’t know about it. What if MaMa doesn’t agree?” Mengmeng mumbled.
“Your mother will definitely agree.” Zhang Han was amused and asked, “Why are you worried that your mother won’t agree?”
“Because, because when we were in San Diego, once I wanted to invite my friends, but MaMa didn’t agree. She was fierce at that time, and I cried,” Mengmeng pouted and answered.
From that time on, Mengmeng knew that crying couldn’t solve problems, so she seldom cried after that.
Zhang Han burst out laughing.
He also heard about it from Zi Yan, so he said, “That’s because your friends had a cold at that time. They had a fever and were not feeling well. Your mother was worried about you getting infected, so she didn’t agree to invite them home.”
“Then, what should I do if one of them has a cold this time?” asked Mengmeng anxiously.
“It’s OK this time because Mengmeng won’t get infected,” Zhang Han said with a smile.
Mengmeng was relieved.
She cheered up, talking and laughing in the back seat.
“I will take them to play with toys in the restaurant, and then go to my Xanadu to show them Big Heihei, Little Heihei, and Dajin. I want Big Heihei to play ‘Throwing High’ with them once, just once, otherwise Big Heihei will become annoyed.
“PaPa, they all said they would bring toys for Big Heihei and Little Heihei.”
“…”
Mengmeng was looking forward to inviting her friends to her home.
