Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

The entire volume of Cultivation Notes was a dingy gray-black, looking exceptionally old and covered in a layer of dust.

Jiang Chen had been drawn in by the name on its cover—"Water Dao"!

In reality...

On the shelves for Water Attribute Cultivation Notes, there were several thousand volumes, but most of them were titled something like "Musings on a Certain Cultivation Technique by So-and-so."

Only this one was called "Water Dao"!

Its name alone was unique. Furthermore, it was placed in the most conspicuous spot, and the price to borrow it was extremely cheap—only a thousand Contribution Points. Yet, this particular volume of Cultivation Notes had been completely ignored. Judging by the thickness of the dust, it had probably sat untouched for years.

"I once roamed the famed mountains and great rivers of the world, passing through an ancient village in the mountains called Water God Village. Legend has it this village is the birthplace of the Water God. In the village stands a statue of the Water God, and beneath it is an ancient text, said to be the martial arts insights left behind by the Water God himself. I viewed this text and felt it represented the most orthodox path for cultivating the Water Dao, and so I have transcribed it here, to await one who is fated to see and study it!"

This volume of Cultivation Notes had no author’s name.

Moreover...

Strictly speaking, it couldn’t even be considered true Cultivation Notes.

It was just an ancient text that the author had stumbled upon during his travels.

’So it’s an ancient text... I can’t understand a single word. No wonder no one reads it! Besides, if these were really martial arts insights left by the Water God, wouldn’t the Sect have stored it away in the Celestial Level Scripture Pavilion long ago?’ Jiang Chen flipped through a few pages. The ancient text was extremely strange, all twists and turns, completely illegible.

Just as he was about to put it back, the Black Emperor, who had just woken up, caught a glimpse of the ancient text. Its eyes widened in shock as it exclaimed, "Holy shit... Ancient Divine Patterns? Jiang Chen, where did you get this thing?"

"Uh... Ancient Divine Patterns?"

Jiang Chen froze, looking at the Black Emperor and holding up the ancient book. "You mean this thing?"

"That’s right!"

The Black Emperor nodded, flapping its wings and flying up. It flipped through the first three pages of the ancient text, its face filled with a human-like expression of joy. "Yes, these are definitely Ancient Divine Patterns. Legend says this is a script handed down from ancient times—no, it should be called a pictograph. The people of the Ancient Era relied on these pictographs to pass on their culture. But the Ancient Divine Patterns vanished many years ago. How could they appear here?"

Jiang Chen then told the Black Emperor the origin of these Ancient Divine Patterns.

The Black Emperor tilted its head and thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. It shook its head with a wry smile. "It doesn’t make sense... Back then, the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable also roamed the Qiankun Continent, searching for traces of humanity from the Ancient Era. But he found nothing. How could they be in some small mountain village? Forget it. These things are tied to too many secrets, and it’s no good for us to know too much. Jiang Chen, you sure are lucky to have obtained this scroll of Ancient Divine Patterns. It’ll be a huge help to your cultivation of the True Meaning of Water Martial Arts!"

Jiang Chen was taken aback.

The Black Emperor continued, "Borrow it. You have to borrow it. I can read these Ancient Divine Patterns! I’ll help you translate them when we get back!"

"Holy shit, you have that skill too?" Jiang Chen’s eyes went wide.

The Black Emperor said with a dissatisfied look, "I am the great Black Emperor, the Purple-winged Heaven-devouring Bat, supreme in all the Eight Desolates and Six Harmonies! Back in my day, I used to..."

Before it could finish, Jiang Chen cut in with a deadpan expression, "Back in your day, you used to swallow True Dragons and devour Divine Phoenixes like they were candy... Alright, alright, I can recite your glorious achievements in my sleep. You can stop now. Just go back to sleep and translate the ’Water Dao’ for me when we get back!"

He grabbed the Black Emperor by its feet and plopped it back on his shoulder.

The Black Emperor gave Jiang Chen a resentful look, drawing circles on his shoulder with its little claws and cursing him under its breath.

Jiang Chen put away "Water Dao" and turned to leave the Scripture Pavilion.

Just as he stepped out of the Scripture Pavilion’s main gate, an icy streak of sword light shot toward him. The light was incomparably sharp and moved with extreme speed.

"Get lost!"

Jiang Chen snorted, his head snapping to the side. With a low roar, a sound wave rolled out.

BOOM—

The storm generated by that single roar was enough to halt the sharp sword light for a moment before it shattered and dissipated into nothing.

Jiang Chen’s icy gaze shifted toward the direction the sword light had come from. He saw a young man with narrowed, cold eyes, whose chilling stare was fixed on him.

The attack just now had been launched by this young man.

Beside the young man stood a girl in red leather armor—it was Lan Haichen’s rabid fan.

The girl in leather armor had a sinister and venomous expression, twisting her rather pretty face into a hideous sneer. "Second Brother, that’s the guy who hit me," she snarled. "Not only did he hit me, but he was also badmouthing the Holy Son’s Cultivation Notes, saying that the True Meaning of Gold the Holy Son cultivates is a crooked path, not the righteous way!"

"Hiss!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Her words caused everyone around the Scripture Pavilion to suck in a cold breath!

Who was Lan Haichen?

Number one on the Earth List, widely acknowledged as the most heaven-defying genius in the history of the Saint Martial Sword Sect.

Among experts of the same generation, who would dare claim Lan Haichen’s Martial Dao was not the righteous way?

"Holy shit, who is this guy? How dare he speak so disrespectfully of the Holy Son?"

"I’ve never seen him before. Probably a new disciple. Tsk, tsk. These people get called geniuses on the outside, but they can’t shake that genius attitude even after coming to the Saint Martial Sword Sect, a place teeming with geniuses. He’s just arrogant!"

"Arrogant? I’d say he doesn’t know what’s good for him. The Lu Family’s Little Witch, Lu Yunxia, and Lu Ling, the so-called Little Sword Saint, have both shown up. That Lu Ling is a True Martial Realm Ninth Stage, Eight-star Core Disciple who fought his way to the twenty-sixth floor of the Earth Martial Hall. His Fast Sword technique is unrivaled among his peers. This kid is probably going to be crippled!"

Everyone gasped and whispered among themselves.

Even the Tower Guardian Elder, who always looked half-asleep, raised an eyebrow, a strange look appearing in his eyes as he glanced at Jiang Chen.

Lu Ling rubbed the head of the girl in red leather armor, Lu Yunxia, his face full of doting affection. He smiled. "Little Sister, you just told me he tied you up with a whip and made you crawl on the ground, right?"

"Mhm!"

Lu Yunxia nodded emphatically, grinding her teeth as if she were chewing on Jiang Chen himself. "He also said that if I dared to bother him again, he would strip me naked and tie me up outside the Earth Martial Hall for everyone to see!"

"Good, good, good!"

A cold glint flashed in the Little Sword Saint Lu Ling’s eyes, and a frigid killing intent spread out. He stared coldly at Jiang Chen, pointed his longsword, and said, word by word, "Brat, I don’t care who you are. For insulting the Holy Son alone, I have grounds to cripple your cultivation. But you even dared to make my little sister crawl on the ground like a worm. I will cripple your arms and legs and make you crawl for the rest of your life!"

"Oh? Why don’t you ask your sister why I attacked her?" Jiang Chen said, his eyes narrowed.

Lu Ling sneered, "There’s no need to ask. The fact that you attacked my sister means you’re in the wrong. What’s more, you dared to insult the Holy Son. Anyone from my Celestial Alliance can cut you down for that!"

"Hahaha, ridiculous..."

Jiang Chen snorted, rage surging in his heart. ’So the magistrates are allowed to burn down houses while the common people are forbidden from lighting lamps? On what grounds can you people from the Celestial Alliance just attack and kill someone at the slightest disagreement, while my self-defense makes me an unforgivable villain?’

Lu Ling said calmly, "Because the Alliance Leader of our Celestial Alliance is the Holy Son. With the Holy Son here, my Celestial Alliance is invincible. Anyone who dares provoke my Celestial Alliance has a death wish!"

Lu Ling spoke with an arrogant swagger, his gaze toward Jiang Chen filled with cold indifference and disdain.

Beside him, Lu Yunxia and the few Celestial Alliance experts all wore the same condescending expressions.

In their eyes, Jiang Chen was already a cripple, or even a dead man!

Rage burned in Jiang Chen’s heart. The Celestial Alliance was simply too arrogant. He sneered, "Invincible? Hahaha, maybe other people are afraid of your Celestial Alliance, but I’m not. In my eyes, your Celestial Alliance isn’t worth a rat’s ass!"