From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 358: Fourth Rank
The thick, dark clouds dispersed and the various poisonous rains suddenly vanished.

The darkness that had just enveloped everything felt like a grand dream; now that the dream is over, all filth has been swept away.

The sky was clear and bright, the setting sun was half-hidden in the distance, and fiery clouds rose up, like the embers of burning away filth.

After this strange change, the world fell silent for a time.

The people of Xiangji Kingdom, now covered in mud and blood, had calmed down. They stared wide-eyed at the sky, as if the blue sky, white clouds, and red sunset were a sight unseen for a thousand years.

Jie Kaiping also climbed out of the mud, not forgetting to help her junior brother Dugu Kang, saying, "Your father is dead."

Dugu Kang was also quite bewildered. He was covered in wet mud and was pulled up by Jie Kaiping before he finally looked up into the distance.

Dugu Sheng, engulfed in flames, was reduced to dust and scattered among the mud.

"Nothing to say?" Jie Kaiping asked casually while brushing the wet mud off his bald head.

“He didn’t tell me anything.” Dugu Kang casually brushed the wet mud off his head and whispered, “I think I felt him glance at me when he was hiding in the dark clouds. And then he glanced at me again when he fell.”

"He was your father after all!" Jie Kaiping was always good at comforting people. "He pursued the highest level of martial arts his whole life, but unfortunately he went astray. Before he died, he thought about having a son and a grandson in the future..."

At this point, Jie Kaiping remembered that Dugu Kang was also a bald monk, so she changed her tune, "Life is just a big dream, and there's nothing to be nostalgic about. People like your father are as numerous as carp crossing a river. They may seem to have extraordinary talent, but they're just a little bigger than other ears of wheat. Wheat ripens thousands of times, but he's just lived a mediocre life, and he's not even as durable as a cut wheat stalk."

Jie Kaiping sighed for a while. The colorful feather robe was already in disarray and had fallen apart, but the magnificent clothes were still there. He shook his clothes and said, "Yesterday I complained that the purple python robe was too long, today I pity the tattered coat that is cold."

Seeing that Dugu Kang was staring blankly, he couldn't tell if it was because he had suddenly realized something or because his father had died.

“What you say is true, senior brother.” Dugu Kang finally understood. “From eating raw meat and drinking blood to the contention of a hundred schools of thought, and now to the convergence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, countless sages have emerged. People like us are nothing more than ears of wheat that can fall down at any time.”

Dugu Kang turned around and saw that the valley was muddy and the grass and trees on the ground had lost much of their greenness, which showed that they had also been ravaged by the poisonous rain.

The surviving people of Xiangji Kingdom remained bewildered: the nobles had been devoured by the crazed slaves, the high priest had vanished without a trace, and his two disciples had been skinned alive.

“Nobody cares about them anymore.” Jie Kaiping touched his bald head, feeling that he had no right to speak in the Kingdom of Xiangji.

Dugu Kang was also bald and didn't know what he was saying.

The two looked into the distance and saw Meng Yuan sitting cross-legged, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

Standing beside him was a man holding a sword; it was Mingyue.

The other two bald boys trudged through the mud and walked up to Mingyue, whispering to her.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang saw Mingyue waving at them.

"Who is the older sister, you or her?" Jie Kaiping asked in a low voice.

“She’s a little older than me,” Dugu Kang replied softly.

The two men eagerly walked forward, their legs and feet covered in a thick layer of wet mud. Given their abilities, they shouldn't have been like this, but since Jie Kaiping had vowed to undergo ascetic practices, Dugu Kang thought that Jie Kaiping was empathizing with the suffering of others, which he considered very clever, so he followed suit.

"Having slain the demons and obtained the Fire of Heavenly Rebirth, Meng Feiyuan is about to transform into a dragon. This is truly a cause for celebration." Jie Kaiping, being a man of good manners, immediately put his palms together and bowed to Meng Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Dugu Kang also bowed, saying, "In the end, the president and I are the most useless."

"Whatever your orders are, Benefactor Mingyue, this humble monk will obey." Jie Kaiping saw that Meng Yuan remained silent and his aura was unstable, so he knew that he had just transformed into fire and entered his body. Although he had broken through the realm, he had not yet succeeded.

"Go and guard that secluded pool," Mingyue immediately ordered.

At this moment, the dark pool was still shrouded in a thick poisonous fog, much lighter than before, but the shouts of Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin could no longer be heard, and it was unknown whether the battle had ended.

"As far as I know, those two old geezers aren't dead yet!" Jie Kaiping said with great conviction. "I cultivate true Buddhism, so if someone dies, I'll be the first to realize it. But even if they're not dead, there's no need to worry. Dogs fighting, it'll all end badly. With my brother Meng here, nothing will go wrong..."

Before she could finish speaking, Jie Kaiping saw Mingyue's unfriendly gaze and quickly stopped herself.

Dugu Kang was clearly a little afraid of Mingyue. He lowered his head, pulled on the sleeve of the screen, and the two of them came to the edge of the pool. They each displayed Buddhist light to prevent the poisonous gas from affecting them.

Seeing the two mud-covered bald men walk away, Su Xin spoke up: "Brother Liao Kong seems a little disappointed. It seems that even though he has been a monk since childhood, he is still easily swayed by human affection."

Su Xin clasped her hands together and sighed, "Fortunately, I've been an orphan since I was little."

After she finished speaking, Suwen poked her waist. Suxin didn't understand what was going on, but said, "Speak your mind. Mingyue is not an outsider."

After saying this, Su Xin remembered that Ming Yue had also lost her parents at a young age.

At this moment, Mingyue was holding a sword in her arms, standing guard beside Meng Yuan, and had no mind to pay attention to the words of the two bald boys in front of her.

From the very beginning of today's match against Dugu Sheng, Mingyue was certain that Meng Yuan would win.

Warriors have a tradition of killing enemies beyond their ranks, and Meng Yuan's army, from the Songhe Prefecture Incident to the present, can be described as a desperate army.

Now they meet again in the valley, both having come to break through their current level. One has already lost its edge, like a carrion worm; the other, having seized the opportunity of the great battle at Lanruo Temple, is full of fighting spirit.

Moreover, after Mingyue learned about Meng Yuan's weakness after the incident in Songhe Prefecture, she never regarded Dugu Sheng as a real opponent, but only as an ordinary enemy.

Meng Yuan's true adversary, his true whetstone, was Qing Guangzi.

Once Meng Yuan was seated, Mingyue focused solely on guarding the area.

"Is Senior Brother alright?" Su Xin finally asked.

Suwen was written by a descendant of a medical family, who could observe the signs of life and death and sense changes in the vitality of life.

Although Su Wen saw that Meng Yuan's clothes were tattered, his hair was disheveled, and his body was covered with countless bloody wounds, his vitality was several times, even ten times, stronger than when he ascended to heaven with the starlight.

Just now, a wisp of spark shot into the sky and made several attacks, but it was suppressed by the dark sword light. At that time, Suwen already felt that this Senior Brother Meng was really getting stronger and stronger as the battle went on. The more serious his injuries were, the more vigorous he became, as if he could not be killed.

Dugu Sheng, who was hidden in the dark clouds, had not yet shown himself, and Su Wen could not detect him, so it was naturally difficult to discern his life force. However, after Dugu Sheng finally appeared, Su Wen realized that Dugu Sheng's power had already been concealed by Meng Yuan, and that he had already withered away with a single blow.

That pitch-black darkness is like the raging night before dawn. As long as you get through it, everything will be alright.

"Greetings, Senior Brother," Suwen replied on behalf of Mingyue. "He is currently recuperating and regulating his breathing, merging the Fire of Transformation with his own."

"Senior Brother Meng is truly remarkable!" Su Xin felt much relieved, and she had something to say now. "When the world is dark, fire is there to illuminate the darkness. So, isn't every sip and every bite predetermined by fate? Senior Brother's victory was already decided long ago."

Dugu Kang, who was by the secluded pool, heard Su Xin's words and shook his head, saying in a low voice, "Little nun, you're being far-fetched. What if you encounter the Holy King of Light in the future? What if the firelight is even brighter?" "Keep your voice down," Jie Kaiping said.

Su Xin naturally didn't hear Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang's nonsense. She muttered for a while, and then saw people from Xiangji Kingdom come forward.

The leader was a man in his fifties, wearing a linen shirt and covered in mud, with wounds from which blood was seeping out from time to time.

The old man was very humble, his eyes were confused and helpless, his body was dirty, and his white and black hair was mixed together. Although there was mud on his hair, it was neatly combed.

“Your noble leaders are all dead, you bit them to death!” Su Xin shouted, hands on her hips.

The old man didn't even look at Su Xin, ignoring her words. He simply bowed his head to Mingyue and respectfully asked, "My lord, what should we do?"

Seeing that the old slave was ignoring her, clearly disgusted by her lack of hair, Su Xin stomped her foot in anger, "It was my junior sister and me who healed you just now! And now that the rain has stopped, you're disowning us?"

According to the rules of the Xiangji Kingdom, the longer the hair, the higher the status.

Among the strangers on the field, Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, two shameless bald men, needless to say, are also bald, as are Su Xin and Su Wen.

Only Mingyue possessed a certain aristocratic air. Especially with Meng Yuan recuperating cross-legged and Mingyue standing with her sword in her arms, coupled with her extraordinary demeanor, it was no surprise that they were mistaken for nobles.

"Senior Sister." Suwen tugged at Suxin, looked at the old man, and said, "Now that you are free, you no longer have to take orders from anyone."

"How can that be?" The old slave's eyes, which had been filled with confusion and helplessness, showed doubt. He was very disdainful of Su Wen's words, and even looked at Su Wen with some disgust. "Without the guidance of the superiors, how will we live? Without the guidance of the superiors, where will we be reborn after we die?"

Upon hearing this, even the moon, which had been keeping its eyes closed, couldn't help but open them.

Su Xin opened her mouth wide, wanting to curse, but not knowing where to begin.

Suwen was also confused. She couldn't understand why, since the nobles were all gone, the high priest and Gan Wulin were probably not going to survive either. They were no longer bound by the distinction between superiors and inferiors, so why did they still need to find a master?
"Look, this is the plague." Jie Kaiping, standing at a distance, heard everything clearly. "The great plague of the past thousand years. I think the person who established the distinction between superior and inferior in the Xiangji Kingdom and was reincarnated was also a physician. But after this rule took root in people's hearts, this person died of old age first, and therefore failed to reach the upper three ranks!"

"If you create a plague, how do you get rid of it?" Dugu Kang asked, bewildered. But then he replied, "The Master said that the world is corrupt, especially the land of Xiangji. If these people want to be liberated, only the Master can illuminate their path."

Uncovering the screen, he chuckled and said, "I think you're the one who's been covered in dust! I'll have Meng Feiyuan give you a good burn later!"

Upon hearing this, Dugu Kang leaned back in fright, but dared not say anything more.

At this moment, the sky was bathed in the red glow of the setting sun, and the canyon was draped in a warm hue of the sunset, while the poisonous fog above the deep pool remained unchanged.

The old slave, along with many others, bowed to the bright moon. Some of them were respectful, while others were bewildered, but none of them displayed the madness they had shown when they were subjected to the poisonous rain.

Many slaves, recalling what had happened in the rain, turned pale with fright and dared not even raise their heads or utter a sound.

Looking at the slaves before her and even more slaves in the distance, Mingyue said, "You want me to become the new head of the household?"

The old slave hesitated for a moment, whispered a few words to the old slaves behind him, and then turned around and said, "True Lord Feiyuan vanquishes demons and monsters. Your Highness is True Lord Feiyuan's beloved concubine. She once enjoyed his company in the Library Tower. Everyone in Xiangji Kingdom knows this. Your Highness should rightfully be the master."

These words only made things worse, and Mingyue angrily drew her sword.

"Your high priest prayed to Shui Xiangsheng for poisonous rain, which fueled your anger. How long has it been, and you've already lost all your courage?" Mingyue was furious.

Su Xin chimed in, "They're utterly hopeless!"

“Senior Sister…” Suwen tugged at Suxin, not knowing what to say.

Over there, someone untied the screen and stood on tiptoe to watch the commotion. "Actually, you can't blame them. How can they give up a thousand-year-old custom in a short time? Just like Meng Feiyuan, if you ask him to give up lust, can he give it up in a short time?"

"Senior brother is right," Dugu Kang agreed wholeheartedly.

Jie Kaiping wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly a thought struck him, and he looked at Meng Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged.

Dugu Kang also noticed something amiss and turned his gaze toward Meng Yuan as well.

Mingyue sheathed her sword, and Suxin and Suwen both looked at Meng Yuan.

But the slaves were oblivious, clearly wanting a response from Mingyue and hoping to become new slaves.

Just then, Mingyue and the others noticed a faint aura spreading out.

Following the trail, it emanated from Meng Yuan.

The aura was extremely gentle, like shallow ripples on a calm lake, spreading out lightly without any power.

Yet this aura was inexhaustible, flowing from near to far, ever-renewing. Moreover, this aura possessed a gentle warmth, as if it could bring withered trees back to life and cause water to gush from the sand.

Everyone could see clearly that Meng Yuan was soon enveloped in a faint flame, which then grew stronger and stronger.

Mingyue and the others immediately retreated, but the fire showed no signs of abating and instead slowly spread to the surroundings.

The flames fell from Meng Yuan's body to the ground, slowly spreading across the muddy ground ravaged by the poisonous rain. However, the grass and shrubs on the ground did not droop as the flames swept over them; instead, they became even more vibrant.

The moon stopped receding, and the flames licked at him, but he felt no burning pain. Instead, he felt comfortable and at ease.

The others shared the same feeling.

Soon, the flames spread faster and faster, eventually reaching the edge of the dark pool.

The flames headed straight for the dark pool. Although the poisonous fog was thick, it only slightly blocked the flames and they dissipated into dust.

However, a few breaths later, the dark pool was illuminated again, and the poisonous mist above had completely disappeared.

However, neither High Priest Shui Xiangsheng nor Gan Wulin were seen; only the cave at the end of the canyon was visible.

The cave was deep and dark, from which poisonous mist billowed. The flames moved into the cave, and the poisonous mist, like the dark clouds from before, vanished in an instant.

The evening glow shone in the sky, growing ever more magnificent, as if a vast expanse of red light stretched for miles.

Beneath the auspicious clouds and strange phenomena, flames burned endlessly in the canyon, as if to scorch away all the filth.

The two complement each other, and there is no darkness in the world, but rather a vibrant energy of life rising up.

At this moment, everyone finally understood that Meng Yuan was indeed a master of the fourth rank in martial arts.

(End of this chapter)