Promise!

Chapter 132, Strange Land

"Now that we know about the rare treasure, the Azure Origin Pot, it's not hard to understand the current power structure in the world. The five major clans, including the royal family, each possess at least one high-grade Azure Origin Pot; the aristocratic families in the prefecture cities each possess at least one mid-grade Azure Origin Pot; the powerful clans in the capital cities each possess at least one low-grade Azure Origin Pot; and the wealthy families in the counties below them rely on the capital cities, offering medicinal herbs in exchange for Azure Origin Liquid Mother Liquid."

The Five Great Clans! The Prefectural City's Powerful Families! The County's Elite Clans! A supernatural force, centered around the Azure Origin Pot, monopolizing martial arts!
At this moment, Zhuang Jin finally saw the true nature of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"My Shen family, as a powerful clan in the prefecture, has dominated Yunnan Prefecture for hundreds of years. The Medicine King Gang suddenly rose to prominence because it obtained a Qingyuan Pot... As mentioned before, Town Guard Zhuang should have also discovered that the number of Qingyuan Pots does not match the number of extraordinary forces. Some of them are scattered among the people, and the Medicine King Gang obtained one of them."

Shen Xuchen said coldly, "My Shen family monitors the prefectural city, which is mainly the Medicine King Gang's business of dealing in medicinal herbs, so we pay less attention... After obtaining the Azure Origin Pot, the Medicine King Gang secretly accumulated wealth, grew in secret, trained martial artists, and amassed a group of experts... Of course, the most important one is still the Medicine King Gang leader..."

"When my Shen family discovered the slightest clues, we swiftly crushed them, but we never expected the Medicine King Gang to have grown so powerful in secret... which led to the great chaos in the summer of the forty-eighth year of Qian Yuan..."

Zhuang Jin listened with a sudden realization, finally understanding the root cause of the turmoil that had destroyed her predecessor's family, and felt a pang of sorrow.

"When powerful forces like the Shen family and the Medicine King Gang clash, stirring up the political landscape of the prefectural city, ordinary people are like a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things, easily brought to ruin if they are not careful... They are born without knowing why, and die without knowing the cause!"

'Even now, in the end, I'm nothing more than an important pawn, unable to control my own destiny... Power! Power! Power!' he sighed inwardly.

"Zhuang Town Guard, do you know how the Medicine King Gang obtained the Azure Origin Pot?"

As Shen Xuchen spoke, he looked at Zhuang Jin with a half-smile, and before Zhuang Jin could ask, he said, "That was a disciple of the Medicine King Clan. He broke through too quickly and was targeted..."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Jin felt a strange sense of familiarity. A flash of inspiration struck her, and combined with her previous guess, she asked to confirm, "My breakthrough was a bit faster. Is it because they suspect I have the Azure Origin Pot, which is why Liu Licheng approached to investigate me?"

Indeed, it was back then that Mu Mingxi, the head of the General Affairs Department, handed over a note requesting to examine Zhuang Jin, which made Shen Xuchen completely give up the idea of ​​selecting Zhuang Jin as a personal guard.

However, when faced with this question, Shen Xuchen gave Zhuang Jin a deep look, but smiled without saying a word. There were some things that Zhuang Jin could guess on his own, but he couldn't say them out loud.

"I broke through a little faster because I have some talent and I worked harder than others... Well, this is good, this incident can be considered as proving my innocence." Zhuang Jin said with a wry smile, feeling lingering fear and deep apprehension.

Shen Xuchen didn't say what happened to that Medicine King Gang disciple, but one can imagine what happened.

'In other words, my invincible cheat ability, which I have, is due to my own talent, diligence, and self-discipline... If I had transmigrated and received a physical cheat ability, I probably would have been reported by Liu Licheng long ago, and the Shen family head would have personally taken action to swiftly eliminate and seize it, right?'

Zhuang Jin felt a chill run down her spine as she thought about this: 'You could say the Shen family is rigid, inflexible, and rotten; you could say the Medicine King Gang is infighting and ruthless. But they can't even maintain basic fairness. They're competing to see who's worse, but that's looking at the whole picture… As for individuals, like the head of the Shen family and the leader of the Medicine King Gang—or even those who don't reach their level—those who reach the upper echelons of either side are absolutely not fools. They are all shrewd and experienced. If they don't act prudently and cautiously, they'll die without even knowing how!'

"Haha, that's right. Zhuang Zhenshou's talent goes without saying. Even when his body was depleted, he still broke through to become a formal martial artist in seventeen days. His reputation as a martial arts fanatic is deeply rooted in people's hearts... Now, after the investigation, the misunderstanding has been cleared up, and he has truly integrated into my Shen family. This is a good thing!"

In truth, Mu Mingxi, the head of the General Affairs Department, knew that the chances of Zhuang Jin obtaining the rare treasure, the Qingyuan Pot, were slim. However, even the slightest possibility was worth testing. For him, it was just a matter of a few words; he'd take the plunge, whether it seemed likely or not. Shen Xuchen knew this might make Zhuang Jin uncomfortable, but it was better to be frank now than to keep it to himself and let Zhuang Jin find out later, leaving a lingering resentment. Taking the initiative to be honest now was a way to defuse the situation: "Governor Zhuang, is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Zhuang Jin thought for a moment and asked another question: "I heard that the meat of the exotic beasts on the war merit list is basically transported from the state capital. Is there a reason for that?"

"You mean this? This matter is also related to that immortal from eight hundred years ago."

Shen Xuchen recounted in detail: "I don't know when it started, but I do know that after the immortals descended, in each of the nine provinces of Qiancang, Qiong, Ze, Luo, Yuan, Han, Yun, Lan, and Jiao, there appeared a region where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged, stretching for hundreds or thousands of miles. This place has a great attraction for beasts, and ordinary beasts are more likely to become exotic beasts here, and medicinal herbs also grow faster..."

"These nine extraordinary places are: the Funiu Mountains in Cangzhou, the miasma-covered swamp in Jiaozhou, the maple leaf marshland in Zezhou, the shimmering snowfield in Yuanzhou, the Donghua misty plain in Lanzhou, Longze Lake in Yunzhou, Songling in Luozhou, Donglinhai Islet in Hanzhou, and Jinsha Island in Qiongzhou. They are located near the capital cities of each state, or rather, the capital cities of each state were built near these nine areas..."

As Zhuang Jin listened, a magnificent and expansive picture slowly unfolded before her eyes: 'The mountains are high and the rivers are long, the world is vast; only today do I realize my limited perspective. Looking back, I was truly like a frog at the bottom of a well.'

All of this is related to that immortal from beyond the East Sea, which undoubtedly adds another layer of mystery to the other party.

"Among the nine extraordinary places, Songling in Luozhou is the largest in area and has the richest spiritual energy... Yong'an, the capital of our Great Qian Dynasty, is located in the vicinity of this place."

As Shen Xuchen spoke, a hint of longing appeared on his face: "Yong'an is the most prosperous city in the world. There is a saying, 'Don't go to the capital when you are young, and don't leave your hometown when you are old.' If I ever achieve success in martial arts, I will definitely go to Yong'an, the capital."

“Yes!” Upon hearing this, Zhuang Jin also felt a longing for the wonderful world outside, but she quickly suppressed it, knowing that now was not the time to think about such things. She should be cautious, steady, and avoid recklessness.

He inquired further and learned that after the immortal left eight hundred years ago, he seemed to have never returned, and no other immortals had ever appeared.

'That immortal who came from beyond the East Sea, revered as an immortal by all living beings of the Great Qian Dynasty, may not be a true immortal, but perhaps merely someone of a higher level? Who knows how long his lifespan was, or if he is still alive… Speaking of which, that immortal founded martial arts, is the origin of martial arts, but what kind of system did he cultivate? Is it another kind of extraordinary power?'

'If there truly is another extraordinary system, based on this immortal's many miraculous deeds—creating the martial arts as an extraordinary system, refining wondrous treasures, and establishing nine regions where the primordial energy of heaven and earth converges, stretching for hundreds or even thousands of miles… it's likely that this immortal has also reached an extremely high level within that other extraordinary system, making him truly remarkable.'

'I don't know what my future holds...'

Thinking this, Zhuang Jin shook his head slightly: 'We can't be too ambitious. The martial arts path created by this immortal is a smooth one. Reaching the pinnacle of martial arts might not be so bad.'

……

(End of this chapter)