bookbashuk Chapter 11 Legendary Figures
Chapter 11 Legendary Figures
The two stopped abruptly, their gazes fixed.
[Ranked twenty-fourth on the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking, the third-generation leader of the Free and Unfettered Sect, and the Palace Master of the Lingjiu Palace, Xu Zhu!]
"Xu Zhu? The Free and Unfettered Sect? The Lingjiu Palace? Sects I've never heard of before, and unfamiliar masters..."
"This Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking is indeed mysterious and unpredictable!"
"His ranking is even above that of Zhu Wushi, the Iron-Blooded Marquis, which shows that this person's strength surpasses all others and is unfathomable!"
"The land of Kyushu is teeming with hidden talents and masters!"
"Those who have made the list so far have varied in appearance and background, possessing not only profound martial arts skills but also extraordinary personalities and actions!"
"I wonder who this Xu Zhu is, and what kind of astonishing power he possesses!"
Outside Yanmen Pass in the Song Dynasty.
Ten thousand horses galloped forward, the Liao cavalry pressing in like a dark cloud, rolling ever onward.
Ahead, Qiao Feng led dozens of martial arts masters, standing against the wind, facing thousands of troops, their eyes resolute, not retreating an inch!
The Liao emperor sat upright, surrounded by heavily armed cavalry, his expression shifting unpredictably as he gazed at Qiao Feng and his group, his heart filled with turbulent emotions.
How could he not know why they came?
This southern expedition is the culmination of his 30 years of planning and ambition. Now that his army is at the gates and victory is assured, how could he possibly give up because of the obstruction of one or two people?
However, remembering his sworn brotherhood with Qiao Feng and their deep bond of loyalty, he found it difficult to order his troops to crush them.
Hesitant and undecided, caught between advancing and retreating.
At that very moment—
Above the horizon, the once silent Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking suddenly surged once more, golden light soaring into the sky, and rosy shadows swirling around it.
A name suddenly appeared, shaking the entire world!
"Xu Zhu...this...isn't this Qiao Feng's sworn brother's second elder brother?"
The Liao emperor stared at the list, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he froze on the spot.
Although he was as close as a brother to Qiao Feng, he knew very little about Xu Zhu.
To my astonishment, he is now ranked twenty-fourth on the "Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking"!
This list is no small matter; it is the ultimate assessment of the strength of all martial artists in the world!
To be among the top twenty-five means to be among the strongest in the Nine Provinces!
He wouldn't be surprised if Qiao Feng were on the list; but this Xu Zhu... how could he have such cultivation?
Still reeling from the shock, in Yong'an City of Beiliang, Qingluan and Lü Xiucai had just calmed Guo Furong down when they looked up at the sky and saw the list of rankings changing.
Lu Xiucai slowly sat down and sighed softly:
"The third-generation leader of the Free and Unfettered Sect, the Palace Master of Lingjiu Palace... this Senior Xuzhu seems even more imposing than Zhu Wushi and Sword God Ximen Chuixue?"
"Of course!"
Prince Xu Nian snapped open his folding fan and announced loudly:
"This person is ranked twenty-fourth on the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking! His strength far surpasses that of Zhu Wushi and his ilk!"
Qingluan leaned lazily against the table, her eyes sparkling, her eyelashes fluttering, as she murmured softly:
"Speaking of which, this Senior Xuzhu must be extremely diligent and work very hard, right?"
Xu Nian leaned forward slightly, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and started cracking them open, then looked up at the Heavenly Ranking and slowly said:
"Holding the reins of Lingjiu Palace in one hand and commanding the Xiaoyao Sect in the other, with two major powers combined in one person, how could one maintain this without working tirelessly day and night?"
Guo Furong, whose emotions had calmed down a bit, also leaned closer, lightly tapping her chin with her jade-like finger, and said softly:
"My father, as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and in charge of the Six Doors, is already busy all day long and overwhelmed with work."
"And the sects under the jurisdiction of Senior Xuzhu are probably even more complex and far-reaching than the Six Doors."
"He shoulders the heavy responsibility of two factions all by himself. I really don't know how he manages to keep going and how exhausted he must be."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding martial arts heroes echoed their sentiments, and a chorus of voices arose, their opinions remarkably consistent—
"Indeed! I have traveled the martial world for decades and have never heard of the Lingjiu Palace or the Xiaoyao Sect, but to be led by the twenty-fourth strongest on the Heavenly Ranking, they must be extraordinary individuals."
"Especially the Free and Unfettered Sect, which has only been passed down for three generations and whose foundation is not yet stable, Senior Xuzhu must have exhausted all his efforts to achieve its current status!"
"Leaving aside power and influence, reaching this level in martial arts alone must be the result of countless years of arduous training!"
"He's stronger than Zhu Wushi, and he didn't use any evil or unorthodox methods; he can only rely on talent and hard work!"
"With unparalleled martial arts skills and command of two sects, such willpower is rarely seen in the world!"
Without a doubt, everyone agrees:
Xu Zhu not only possesses extraordinary strength, but also shoulders the heavy responsibility of two major sects. He must be diligently cultivating every day, exhausting himself and having almost no time to enjoy life!
Only Ling Tian sat alone in the corner, slowly sipping his wine, his cheeks slightly flushed. He listened to everyone's sighs, his lips twitching, his expression extremely strange...
"Xu Zhu strives"?
"Managing the Xiaoyao Sect and Lingjiu Palace is very tiring?"
This is utterly absurd and ridiculous!
That carefree sect that has long since vanished?
And then there's the Lingjiu Palace, where the women are a self-contained system and he doesn't need to interfere at all.
Ling Tian sat alone in his chair, gently shaking his head and chuckling softly:
"You guys... are really overthinking it."
The sky surged, and golden light swept across the heavens like waves. The past, which should be known, was also slowly unfolded like a scroll, clearly reflected before everyone's eyes.
Xu Zhu entered the Buddhist order at a young age, becoming a novice monk at Shaolin Temple. He began learning martial arts at the age of twenty-two, and at twenty-four, he accompanied his master down the mountain to distribute invitations.
[Through a series of unforeseen events along the way, they were captured by the Xingxiu Sect along with several Shaolin monks.]
[Later, while saving Duan Yanqing, the leader of the Four Evils, he inadvertently solved the intricate chess puzzle set by Su Xinghe, the "deaf-mute old man" of the Xiaoyao Sect.]
[He was thus accepted as a disciple by Wuyazi, the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect, who stripped him of his original Shaolin internal energy and passed on all seventy years of cultivation to Xuzhu, personally bestowing upon him the position of the third-generation leader of the Xiaoyao Sect.]
After succeeding as sect leader, he fortuitously saved Tianshan Tonglao, the palace master of Lingjiu Palace on Misty Peak of Tianshan Mountain, and became embroiled in her life-or-death duel with Li Qiushui. During their contest of internal energy, Xuzhu unexpectedly absorbed the profound true energy from both of them!
With this assistance, Xu Zhu's accumulated internal energy had reached over two hundred years, and the Heavenly Child Granny also passed the position of Master of Lingjiu Palace to him!
Xu Zhu's life story was still unfolding, but before it was finished, gasps of surprise erupted from all around.
"Oh My God!"
"So that's how Xu Zhu obtained his positions as the leader of the Free and Unfettered Sect and the master of the Lingjiu Palace?"
"Two hundred years of internal energy? Is this the strength of the twenty-fourth-ranked person on the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking?"
"Not only did his status fall from the sky, but his skills were also acquired for free!"
"He gained seventy years of cultivation by solving a chess puzzle and inherited an entire sect? He saved someone and suddenly gained another one hundred and thirty years of power, instantly becoming a top expert on the Heavenly Ranking?"
"Is this truly the Grandmaster level? Internal energy measured in centuries?"
"I've heard of Lingjiu Palace. It's an all-female force; even the old cleaning lady was a stunning beauty in her youth!"
"With such a family full of beauties, isn't Xu Zhu incredibly lucky?"
Throughout the Nine Provinces, countless martial arts practitioners slammed their fists on the table in indignation.
"Where is justice? Heaven is unjust! I started practicing swordsmanship at five, roamed the martial world at twelve, and now, at over forty, I'm still just a nobody in the Acquired Realm. Meanwhile, Xu Zhu, barely in his twenties, has somehow gained two hundred years of internal energy and commands two major powers! Why is Heaven so biased?"
Amidst the envy of many, Xu Zhu's experiences continue to emerge.
[Later, he formed a sworn brotherhood with Xiao Feng, the Southern King of Liao, and Duan Yu, the Prince of Dali, in the palace.]
When Shaolin was in peril, he stepped forward, but was expelled from Shaolin because of his martial arts skills from the Xiaoyao Sect.
[When the Western Xia dynasty sought a son-in-law, he initially intended to go with his brother Duan Yu, but unexpectedly discovered that Princess Yinchuan was actually his dream lover. The two fell in love at first sight and eventually became husband and wife.]
Currently, Xu Zhu, along with his sworn brothers Qiao Feng and Duan Yu, leads their troops to defend the Yanmen Pass of the Song Dynasty against the Liao army.
[After refining the two-hundred-year-old Free and Unfettered True Qi, it has already helped him break through to the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm!]
……
When Xu Zhu's entire life was presented to the world, the entire world fell into a deathly silence.
It was not because of its formidable fighting strength, nor because of its overwhelming power.
It's because—Xu Zhu is completely different from all the previous people on the list!
Other masters may have risen to prominence through extraordinary encounters, but without exception, they all relied on their own arduous cultivation, paving their way forward with sweat and tears.
And this Xu Zhu, ranked twenty-fourth on the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking...
From his experience, people only saw two words—luck. Extreme luck!
Internal strength doesn't need to be cultivated; someone will willingly give it to you.
There's no need to fight for sects; someone will offer it up without hesitation.
A beautiful woman comes unbidden, and the empire is within easy reach.
All of this, in one person?
This eerie silence lasted for a full minute before someone finally let out a soft sigh.
"Could this... be the 'protagonist' that storytellers always talk about? The one destined by fate?"
Everyone was suddenly jolted, and then it dawned on them.
yes……
The protagonist, the chosen one!
Xu Zhu is probably one of those legendary figures!
otherwise--
How could someone possess such incredible luck?
Without any effort, he gained unparalleled cultivation and possessed the two great inheritances of Lingjiu Palace and Xiaoyao Sect.
Such a fate is enough to drive everyone in the world mad with envy!
"I'm jealous! I really can't help being jealous!"
"To get to this point by sheer luck, not only possessing unparalleled cultivation, but also enjoying the support of the two major powers, the Free and Unfettered Sect and the Spirit Vulture Palace, and even having his dream lover by his side... Tell me, if this doesn't count as the protagonist, then who does?"
"Practice martial arts? What kind of martial arts!"
"It would be better to save that time and wander around, see if anyone is in trouble. Who knows, a chance rescue might just yield some profound inner strength!"
When the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking revealed Xu Zhu's life story, countless people across the land spontaneously conceived the phrase "a winner in life"...
It can be said,
The shock caused by Xu Zhu in the past far exceeds that of any other master who has ever been on the list!
Just because—
Such outrageous luck is simply too heaven-defying!
Outside the Dragon Guard Manor in the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Wushi led his elite troops, looked up at the biography of Xu Zhu that appeared in the sky, his heart filled with anger, and he snorted coldly.
"Ha... another guy who rose to power by luck, even luckier than Zhu Houzhao!"
As the Great Ming Divine Marquis, he already harbored a deep disgust for his nephew who occupied the throne despite being utterly incompetent, and he hated even more those who rose to prominence through mere chance.
Now, this Xu Zhu is even more favored by heaven than Zhu Houzhao!
Inside the Guo Mansion in Xiangyang.
Guo Jing gazed at the slowly unfolding Xu Zhu in the sky, his expression extremely complex.
Even though he was a kind and honest person, and his life had been relatively smooth—
He married a wife as talented and beautiful as Huang Rong, and adopted a nephew as righteous and loyal as Yang Guo.
At this moment, I couldn't help but feel a slight tremor in my heart.
In truth, Xu Zhu never engaged in arduous cultivation throughout his life, yet he rose step by step to the top, eventually ranking twenty-fourth in the Nine Provinces!
Deep in a secluded valley somewhere in the Song Dynasty.
A man in black quietly looked up, gazing at the Nine Provinces Heavenly Ranking in the void, his eyes flickering as if he were recalling some past events.
"The Carefree Sect..."
"What exactly is her connection to that man?"
In the imperial court of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou sat on the dragon throne. Upon hearing the report from the guards in front of the palace, his face flushed red with excitement.
"Xu Zhu!"
"Our Great Song Dynasty has gained another powerful figure on the list!"