This Innate martial artist was named Charlie Chen, a disciple of Jinyang Sect.
In this world, the Three Great Holy Lands and Nine Great Sects stand at the very top. Jinyang Sect is at best a second-tier sect, but within Yuet Province, it’s the largest martial arts sect.
Last time, a mysterious treasure fell from the sky.
Although no one ended up gaining anything from it, Jinyang Sect refused to give up. So they stationed Charlie Chen in Peacehold County to keep a close watch on the Blackwind Mountains, which is why he was able to rush over and check the mountains so quickly.
By the time Charlie Chen raced back to Jinyang Sect, it was already past midnight, and he immediately asked to see the Sect Master.
When Charlie Chen was sent to Peacehold County, Sect Master Denton Duan had already given him the right to request an audience at any time.
So, in less than fifteen minutes, Charlie Chen met the fully dressed Denton Duan.
“Disciple Charlie Chen greets the Sect Master.” Charlie Chen bowed respectfully.
Denton Duan was in his early fifties, dressed in scholarly robes and radiating an elegant aura. His cultivation had already reached the Innate Eighth Layer.
“No need for formalities. You worked hard to hurry back in such a rush!” Denton Duan said with a smile.
Getting the Sect Master’s personal concern made Charlie Chen especially excited, and he quickly explained the changes in the Blackwind Mountains.
“Is this really true?”
Denton Duan’s eyes lit up, and his breathing grew noticeably heavier.
Charlie Chen nodded emphatically.
Fifteen minutes later, a team of Innate experts set out from Jinyang Sect, heading straight for the Blackwind Mountains. This time, the group was led by Jinyang Sect’s Deputy Sect Master, Harris Xie.
Charlie Chen was among those traveling with them.
Four hours later, Harris Xie and his group finally arrived at the Blackwind Mountains.
The moment they stepped into the range, Harris Xie and the others immediately sensed the heaven-and-earth energy so dense it was nearly overwhelming.
An Innate Second Layer expert exclaimed, “Wow, the heaven-and-earth qi here is incredible! If I trained here for a year, it’d be worth ten years anywhere else!”
“Exactly!” Another Innate expert took a greedy breath. “I feel like stopping and cultivating right now. My bottleneck has trapped me for five years, but at this rate, I bet I’ll break through to Innate Fifth Layer in just a month!”
“Alright!” Harris Xie spoke up, cutting everyone off. “Now, everyone spread out and scout the whole mountain range! Meet back here in two hours!”
“Understood!” the group of experts replied in unison, then shot off in different directions.
Two hours later.
Over twenty Innate experts from Jinyang Sect gathered back at the meeting spot.
“Let’s hear everyone’s findings!” Harris Xie swept his gaze across the group and asked. Despite his calm tone, he couldn’t hide his excitement—during those two hours, he’d climbed a mountain peak.
There, he was delighted to discover that the heaven-and-earth qi atop the peak was much denser than anywhere else in the Blackwind Mountains.
So, he climbed a second peak and found the same thing—the heaven-and-earth qi on these mountain tops was even richer than the rest of the area.
Instantly, he formed a theory: all the peaks in the Blackwind Mountains must have turned into Spiritual Mountain blessed lands.
“Deputy Sect Master, after checking this area, I found that the heaven-and-earth energy is extremely dense everywhere!” one Innate expert reported.
Another Innate expert added, “Same here. I climbed a peak occupied by bandits, and the heaven-and-earth qi up there was clearly much richer than anywhere else.”
After listening to each subordinate’s report, Harris Xie could now be certain: all the peaks in the Blackwind Mountains had turned into Spiritual Mountain blessed lands.
After thinking for a moment, Harris Xie said, “Zhou Xing, go back to the sect immediately and report all this to the Sect Master! The rest of you split into four teams—each team will occupy one peak. Anyone who tries to climb up without permission, kill them on sight!”
“Deputy Sect Master, I have a suggestion!” A middle-aged man at Innate Fifth Layer spoke up.
“Uncle Ye, please speak.” Harris Xie replied respectfully.
This Uncle Ye was his master Denton Duan’s disciple. Although his cultivation was one layer lower, he was extremely resourceful—even Denton Duan would ask his advice when faced with tough problems.
“It’s better to occupy one peak than several,” Ye Hongtao said, stroking his beard.
“Uncle, what do you mean…?” Harris Xie asked again.
Ye Hongtao explained, “Jinyang Sect was able to discover the changes in the Blackwind Mountains so quickly because we’re a local sect. It won’t be long before this news spreads everywhere. If I’m right, all 108 peaks in the Blackwind range have become Spiritual Mountain blessed lands perfect for cultivation.
In Yuet Province, Jinyang Sect is the number-one sect, but in the wider world, we’re only second-tier. With so many sects and so few mountains, if we try to claim several peaks, we’ll only draw jealousy and become the main target for others to attack.
In fact, with our real strength, we might not even be able to hold a single peak. So, we shouldn’t just bring this news back to our sect—we need to share it with allied sects. They should send experts as fast as possible to claim their own Spiritual Mountains, and then we can form a mutual alliance to defend against the pressure from the Three Great Holy Lands and the Nine Great Sects!”
Hearing Ye Hongtao’s advice, Harris Xie broke out in a cold sweat. If he’d really tried to claim four peaks at once, he probably wouldn’t end up with even one. The old ginger really is the spiciest.
With that in mind, he bowed to Ye Hongtao again. “Thank you for your guidance, Uncle. I almost made a huge mistake.”
“No worries. You were just thinking of the sect’s best interests and overlooked the rest,” Ye Hongtao replied with a smile.
Harris Xie’s face reddened slightly. He knew Ye Hongtao was deliberately saving his pride, so he asked again, “Uncle, which peak should we take then? As far as I know, Sunrise Peak is the largest of all 108 peaks in the Blackwind Mountains. Should we try to claim that one?”
Ye Hongtao shook his head again. “Absolutely not!”
“Why not?” Harris Xie asked, confused.
“Since Sunrise Peak is the biggest of the 108, it’s bound to be the prime target for the imperial court, the Three Great Holy Lands, and even the Nine Great Sects!” With that, Ye Hongtao fell silent, but Harris Xie had already understood his meaning.
Afterward, Harris Xie’s group occupied a modest peak, where the heaven-and-earth qi was only fifty-four times richer than outside.
“They’re fast!”
On Sunrise Peak, Ian Song slowly withdrew his gaze, murmuring to himself.
The arrival of Jinyang Sect’s group of experts didn’t escape his notice. But seeing them only claim a modest peak, he actually felt a bit of admiration—at least Jinyang Sect knew their limits.
With Jinyang Sect sending word, three sects from Yuet Province arrived at the Blackwind Mountains that same day, each claiming a peak for themselves.
On the second day, five more sects arrived and occupied five peaks.
By the third day, over twenty sects had come, each one taking a peak and erecting their own stone stele on top to declare the mountain belonged to their sect.
On the fourth day, the imperial court’s people arrived, seizing the ten largest peaks—except for Sunrise Peak. All the bandits on those mountains were wiped out by the imperial soldiers.
That evening, Thousand-Mechanism Guard Commander Jason Duke personally led the Four Secret Guards toward Sunrise Peak.