Chapter 58: Chapter 57: I Will Definitely Stop You from Entering Tiandu
Translator: 549690339
One must admit, there are few tenacious individuals, but they do exist.
For instance, the current Guardian, Shentu Han, of the Mire Sect.
Even though he had been apprehended by Pei Xuanjing, Xuanjing failed to extract much useful information from him.
Even with the assistance of Lin Qingyi, a captain in the Brocade Guards who had brought to bear their standard methods for interrogating an offender, they still couldn’t get much information.
Of course, while they couldn’t extract information from Shentu Han, his subordinates were less resistant. Xuanjing did obtain some information about the Mire Sect from them.
According to these individuals, they had come to Zhending Prefecture to meet with a significant figure, yet the specifics were known only to Shentu Han and remained unclear to them.
Xuanjing didn’t care about these details as they mattered more to the Brocade Guards.
What he wanted to know was the structure of the Mire Sect and how many experts were in it.
Based on the testimonies of these individuals and the clues provided by Lin Qingyi, Xuanjing had a rough idea about the Mire Sect.
Being a professional rebellion entity able to survive for thousands of years, the Mire Sect naturally had its depths and strength.
The current Mire Sect comprised of one Sect Master, one Vice Sect Master, two Supreme Elders, and one each of the Inheritance, Law Enforcement, and Sect Guardian Elders. Then there were the four Dharma Kings and eight Guardians.
All these individuals were genuine Upper Three Realms martial artists. Apart from the eight
Guardians who were Third-grade martial artists, the rest were at least Second-Class martial artists. The Sect Master, Vice Sect Master, and the two Supreme Elders of the Mire Sect were even rumored to be First-grade martial artists, standing at the peak of martial arts.
As for the Guardian Shentu Han, he, a false martial artist, was merely an ordinary Guardian and not one of the eight).
According to these individuals, Shentu Han had only recently become a false martial artist with the help of the Inheritance Elder and resources from within the Sect, subsequently earning the title Guardian.
Four First-grade martial artists, seven Second-Class martial artists, and eight Third-grade martial artists. This was the visible strength of the Mire Sect, which left Xuanjing astounded.
Moreover, he found it hard to believe that this was the full extent of the Mire Sect’s strength. There must be hidden strength yet to be revealed.
“Is this what a top-ranked force’s strength is like? This is absurd!” Xuanjing thought.
“Then what lüld of strength does the Great Ming Empire, which can keep such a top-ranked force hidden, barely surviving in the shadows, have?”
At this time, Xuanjing felt he might have underestimated these top forces.
Or perhaps, as his strength continued to grow, the true face of this world was being revealed to him.
Lin Qingyi whispered to Xuanjing. “Strangely enough, in the past, although First-grade martial artists were not uncommon, there weren’t many of them. I once heard an important official mention that around twenty years ago, the number of First-grade martial artists in the Great Ming began to grow rapidly. Their numbers even doubled during these two decades.”
“Oh?” Xuanjing was taken aback.
Intent on hearing more, Xuanjing was certain that something must have happened twenty years ago to have influenced the changes in Heaven and Earth resulting in these circumstances.
The revival of Heaven and Earth!
Thinking of the novels he had read in his previous life and connecting them with the traces of fairy god legends in this world, Xuanjing had a bold speculation.
And the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case.
It seemed that only such an explanation made sense.
“It seems I need to quickly understand what happened twenty plus years ago. I may even need to look into the historical records and documents of this world.” Xuanjing thought to himself.
However, this was not a matter of urgency at the moment. He merely noted it down while continuing to probe for information about the Mire Sect he wanted to know.
Unfortunately, Xuanjing didn’t get much information from the events that came next.
He did not find any clues about which individual was backing the Liu family of Anping Prefecture, which he wanted to learn.
According to them, the affairs of the Northwest Dao were personally handled by a Dharma King from the Mire Sect, and they didn’t have access to such information.
After spending several days at the inn in Zhending Prefecture, Xuanjing said his farewells to Lin Qingyi and others and continued his journey to Tiandu.
In no more than three days, he had already reached the outskirts of Tiandu City.
The imposing city in front of him seemed to have risen out of nowhere, as if a natural moat blocked the path ahead.
The towering city wall, at approximately sixty feet high, built from huge black stones, each a few feet wide and long, filled with molten black iron in-between, reflecting the metallic sheen, was as solid as an impregnable fortress.
This was the Great Ming Empire’s Tiandu.
This was the most central power of the Great Ming Empire, and any movement here would have a significant impact on the entire territory of the empire.
Although the Great Ming had four major cities: Tiandu, West Capital, Dongdu, and Nandu.
But in reality, the West Capital was only the old capital of the Han Tang Dynasty, and the Dongdu was the old capital of the previous dynasty.
Even though the Nandu of Yingtian Prefecture was declared as the national capital by the founding emperor of Great Ming after the founding of the nation, with the ascension of the second emperor, the Shuntian Prefecture naturally became the new capital.
Now, after several hundred years, several Great Ming emperors have lived here, and the status of Tiandu’s Shuntian Prefecture has long surpassed that of Nandu’s Yingtian Prefecture.
Even though the Great Ming now claims to have two capitals, everyone knows that only Tiandu’s Shuntian Prefecture is the real national capital, while Nandu’s Yingtian Prefecture merely remains out of respect for the founding emperor.
“Actually, everyone is aware that the people in Nandu’s Yingtian Prefecture are nothing more than a group of people serving to keep up appearances!” Gu Ji said to Xuanjing with a chuckle.
In his words, one could perceive the pride and arrogance of a Tiandu official.
Facing Xuanjing•s visit, Gu Ji welcomed him with a smile and instantly ushered him in.
What he had just said was to acquaint Xuanjing with some information about Tiandu.
Xuanjing nodded with a smile, “Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Gu.”
He did not mention that he already knew about this, instead expressing his gratitude with a smile.
Gu Ji waved his hand and chuckled, “Speaking of which, I haven’t had a chance to congratulate you on breaking into the Upper Three Realms. Your success in martial arts is remarkable, you are truly extraordinary.”
Xuanjing modestly replied, “It was merely a stroke of luck, not worth mentioning.”
Gu Ji laughed, and then added, “In fact, if I had known earlier, I would definitely have dissuaded you from entering Tiandu at this time, especially to participate in the compilation of the ‘Martial Classics’.”
Xuanjing was intrigued, and asked, “Why say so, Mr.. Gu? Is there a hidden secret behind this matter?”