I Have the Martial Arts Heavenly Eye in the Storm Riders

Deep within the imperial palace lies the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Snapped!"

A gilded jade cup flew out from beside the imperial desk and crashed heavily onto the gold-brick floor, shattering into pieces in an instant. Tiny porcelain shards were scattered everywhere, and even the commander of the imperial guards kneeling before the emperor had a bloody gash on the back of his hand.

He knelt upright, his forehead almost touching the ground, and he dared not even raise his hand to wipe it, let alone breathe too heavily.

"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!" The emperor paced back and forth in the hall, his robes fluttering, his face ashen.

"Who does Duan Lang think he is? A nobody from the martial arts world, daring to hold a martial arts tournament on Mount Tai?"

"What kind of place is Mount Tai? Emperors of past dynasties performed the Fengshan ceremony here; it is the seat of imperial power and the symbol of imperial majesty!"

"He scattered invitations to heroes all over the world, clearly trying to humiliate me!"

All the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to even lift their eyelids.

The guard captain's Adam's apple bobbed, and he said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Duan Lang now controls the Outer Heavens, and behind him stands someone even more formidable. Ordinary methods might not suffice..."

He paused abruptly as he spoke, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

Because he knew that the name Jiang Chen was sharper than a knife and more ferocious than a ghost in this palace.

Speaking it out might not be a reminder, it could be a death sentence.

The emperor abruptly stopped, turned around, and his eyes darkened as if he wanted to devour someone.

"Go on."

The commander of the guards gritted his teeth and said, forcing a smile:

"...And Jiang Chen."

The moment those two words were uttered, the entire Hall of Mental Cultivation seemed to fall silent for a moment.

The wind chimes under the eaves remained still, but the candlelight inside the hall flickered simultaneously.

The two eunuchs holding the lanterns trembled, almost instinctively lowering their heads even further, their shoulders shaking slightly.

The emperor's fury froze at that moment.

The fierce desire that had filled him earlier, which made him want to immediately send troops to conquer the world, was instantly extinguished, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head.

Instead, there was an overwhelming sense of apprehension.

Even with a hint of fear that they were unwilling to admit.

In recent days, there have been instances of people offering advice in the imperial court.

It's not that no one wants to use the imperial court's name to target Tianwaitian first.

The last Vice Minister of War who publicly proclaimed, "The outlaws of the martial world are no match for us. Your Majesty, please send troops to wipe out the Outer Heavens," left only a memorial the next day stating, "My old illness has relapsed, and I am retiring to my hometown." He was never heard from again.

Everyone in the court understood that the man hadn't stepped down voluntarily, but had been quietly disposed of.

The emperor slowly sat back on the dragon throne, his hands gripping the dragon-head armrests, his knuckles white with tension, his teeth grinding together.

"If it weren't for Jiang Chen, I would have already led my troops to raze Tianshan to the ground! How could I allow them to be so arrogant under my very nose!"

From the shadows at the corner of the palace, a middle-aged eunuch wearing a purple-black robe with python patterns slowly walked out.

He was fair-skinned and beardless, with slender eyebrows and eyes, and long, jade-like fingers. A black bone whisk in his hand fell to the ground without making a sound.

The moment this person appeared, the already oppressive and chaotic atmosphere in the hall immediately grew even colder.

He was none other than the most powerful man in the inner court, Eunuch Wang, who had mastered the "Sunflower Manual".

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

Eunuch Wang bowed slightly, his voice low, even gentle, yet it sent chills down everyone's spines than the sound of the jade cup being smashed earlier:

"No matter how arrogant Duan Lang is, he wouldn't be so angry as to make His Majesty so furious."

"The Mount Tai gathering has caused such a commotion; there must be more to it than meets the eye. Your Majesty might as well listen to what Commander Dao has to say before making a decision."

The emperor's chest heaved for a long time before he finally suppressed his anger and asked in a dark voice:

"Duan Lang's sudden widespread invitation to heroes can't just be for show. What have you found out?"

The guard commander hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, according to our spies, this martial arts gathering is no ordinary alliance."

"Duan Lang declared that Tianwaitian would not only reshuffle the martial arts world's rankings, but would also publicly announce a secret that would shake the entire world atop Mount Tai."

The emperor narrowed his eyes: "What secret?"

The commander of the guards spoke in an even lower voice: "The secret to immortality."

Upon hearing this, the emperor was struck dumb as if by lightning, abruptly rising from his throne, his voice trembling:

"What did you say?!"

"Longevity." The guard captain prostrated himself even lower.

"Although the invitation to heroes was not explicitly stated in the hero's invitation, the news that Duan Lang personally released has already spread throughout the martial arts world."

"It is said that the Heavenly Realm has mastered the secret to immortality, and this Mount Tai Gathering is to let the world witness it firsthand."

The emperor stood there stunned, his anger still simmering, but the sudden shock forced him to suppress it.

longevity.

These two words struck him like a thunderbolt.

"Longevity..." he murmured, as if to confirm he hadn't misheard, then stared at the guard captain and said, word by word,

"The thing that Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han sought their entire lives but could not obtain, has actually fallen into the hands of a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world)?"

The commander of the guards dared not respond.

The emperor suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed intently on him: "Is the news true?"

"At least that's exactly how Duan Lang released it."

"What about Jiang Chen? Has Jiang Chen made a statement?"

The commander of the guards' heart skipped a beat, and he carefully said:

"I haven't found out. But... since Duan Lang dared to put his words out there, he wouldn't be so blatant without Jiang Chen's tacit approval."

The emperor remained silent.

If he was merely wary of the Outer Heavens before, now, that wariness had suddenly been mixed with an uncontrollable greed.

longevity.

It's not about prolonging life or living three or five more years, but about a method that can truly reverse life and death and defy the passage of time.

What in this world could drive an emperor mad more than this?

A moment later, the emperor suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing throughout the empty Hall of Mental Cultivation, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"Excellent, what a magnificent Heaven Beyond Heaven! Excellent, Duan Lang!"

He tossed aside his dragon robe, his eyes no longer showing the fear from before, only a ruthless glint burned red by desire:

"Since Duan Lang dared to issue invitations to heroes so widely, it shows that he has confidence, and it also shows that... the secret of immortality is most likely true."

"If I don't go, wouldn't I be handing over immortality to a bunch of scoundrels?"

Eunuch Wang's eyes darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, Mount Tai is a place where all sorts of people mingle. If you were to go there personally, what if..."

"What if?" The emperor gave him a cold look.

"For the sake of immortality, I will go through mountains of knives and seas of fire."

He abruptly turned to the area below the steps and shouted sternly:

"Issue the imperial decree! Summon Generals Yue Xin and Shi Dingtian to the palace for an audience immediately! Also, secretly muster the elite Imperial Guards to accompany me on my eastern tour to Mount Tai!"

The commander of the guards was deeply shaken and couldn't help but raise his head slightly.

"Your Majesty, do you mean...?"

"I will go myself!"

The emperor descended the steps of the imperial guards, stood before the commander of the guards, and looked down at him. His voice was extremely low, yet more chilling than thunder.

"If the Celestials are sensible, I will grant them their secret methods out of imperial grace; if they are not sensible..."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he didn't finish the second half of his sentence.

But the commander of the guards understood.

The emperor was now considering taking a desperate gamble.

No, it was the word "immortality" that drove him crazy.

The commander of the guards kowtowed heavily to the ground: "Your subject obeys the decree."

He verbally agreed, but only one thought remained in his mind.

The world is truly about to descend into chaos.

……

The invitation to challenge heroes caused a sensation throughout the land.

In just a few days, the gold-embossed hero's invitations seemed to have grown wings, flying from the Tianshan Mountains across the Central Plains and landing in the hands of countless sects, gangs, aristocratic families, and independent cultivators.

Duan Lang, along with the "secret to immortality," became the most heated and dangerous topic in the entire martial arts world.

Jiangnan, the headquarters of the Allied Gangs, the Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

The brazier in the hall was burning extremely brightly, with the charcoal crackling, but it couldn't suppress the restless energy that grew stronger with each passing moment.

The leader of the gang, Qian Zhen, sat on a tiger-skin chair, holding the invitation to the hero in his hand. He had read it over and over again three times. Finally, he snapped his fingers together, and with a "crack," the heavy table split open.

"Beyond the Heavens... Broken Waves..." Qian Zhen slammed the invitation onto the table with a cold laugh, his eyes filled with gloom.

"I have painstakingly worked for half my life to unite the three gangs and seven societies to achieve the alliance we have today."

"Now a rising star dares to issue a single post ordering the world to his name? Does he really think he's the master of the martial arts world?"

Left Protector Nangong Xue and Right Protector Tie Qing stood on either side, and all the hall masters were also present, but for a moment no one dared to speak first.

Because everyone knows that what angers the leader right now is not just Duanlang Yangming, but also the condescending attitude revealed in the post.

It was as if all the heroes of the world were guests invited by Duan Lang to witness the ceremony.

After a moment, Nangong Xue spoke softly:

"Master, although the post is arrogant, what is truly moving right now is probably not the ranking of martial arts masters."

Qian Zhen looked up: "You believe in immortality too?"

Nangong Xue said in a deep voice:

"Nine out of ten rumors circulating in the martial arts world are false."

"But if it's Duan Lang or Tianwaitian who made the statement, then it's at least worth taking a look."

The hall fell silent immediately.

Tie Qing said in a deep, muffled voice:

"If there truly is a way to achieve immortality, how could we give it to someone else? With so many brothers in our alliance, are we afraid of some outsider from the heavens?"

"Afraid?" Qian Zhen suddenly laughed, but the smile was chilling no matter how you looked at it.

"I'm not necessarily afraid. But we absolutely can't be reckless. Duan Lang dares to set up the scene at Mount Tai, which clearly means he wants the whole world to come and watch the show, and also to see who has the guts and the ability to make a move."

Nangong Xue understood the deeper meaning in his words: "What the gang leader means is..."

Qian Zhen slowly stood up, walked to the front of the hall with his hands behind his back, looked at the snow-covered courtyard outside, and said in a sinister but determined tone: "I will go on this trip myself."

"If the secret to immortality is true..."

He slowly curled up the corners of his mouth, revealing a very aggressive smile.

"The Alliance should change its name."

Everyone's spirits were lifted.

The meaning couldn't be clearer.

If we obtain the secret to immortality, what are the mere alliances worth?

At that time, let alone unifying the martial arts world, it is not impossible to infiltrate the imperial court with our influence.

"Pass on the order!" Qian Zhen waved his hand, his voice booming like a bell.

"Select the elite from our ranks and set off immediately for Mount Tai!"

"yes!"

Inside the Hall of Righteous Gathering, roars thundered.