Inside the House of the Hai Family.
This house appears quite old, with peeling walls and worn-out furniture.
Hai Wuya stood in the empty courtyard, with only the old butler behind him.
He silently gazed at the equally ancient tree, feeling a surge of emotions.
Thirty years had passed since his imprisonment in the heavenly prison, and the glory of the Hai Family had faded. His wife had passed away many years ago, and their two sons were no longer in the Imperial Capital.
Upon his return, the once grand house was now only attended by the loyal old butler.
The house had lost its liveliness, feeling empty and filled with a heavy air, but Hai Wuya didn’t mind.
Because his time was running out.
"Fifteen days ago, the village of Tan County in Zhong Province was attacked by evil sorcerers from the Blood Lotus Sect. One hundred thousand people died and it was all because they were trying to make something called the Ten Thousand Souls Banner."
"Dao Zhen, a disciple of the Great Dao Sect, heard about this and went to Tan County. He fought against the disciples of the Blood Lotus Sect. Although he succeeded in killing them, it also caused great damage to two nearby mountain villages, and many people were injured or killed."
"One month ago, there was a sudden thunderstorm with lightning in the sky above Dan City in Zhong Province. It seemed like it was caused by two immortals fighting each other. Half of the city was destroyed by the lightning, and around one hundred thousand people were hurt or killed."
"The local officials informed the disciples of the Great Dao Sect about this, but they haven’t received any response yet. They can only guess that this incident may be related to the Great Dao Sect or other Immortal Gates."
"Even until today, our Great Yan Imperial Court still doesn’t know where those two immortal cultivators came from, why they were fighting, and why they chose to fight in the sky above Dan City… maybe they don’t even care."
All of these things are called the "Inhuman Disaster."
The so-called Inhuman Disaster means a disaster caused by inhuman beings. It is not exactly the same as the concept of natural and man-made disasters.
Natural disasters are things like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and hurricanes. They cannot be predicted and humans cannot stop them. When they happen, it is all about luck.
Man-made disasters are disasters caused by regular people, such as robberies, fights, and even wars, big or small.
The so-called Inhuman Disaster is caused by something inhuman. It is much more destructive than human-caused disasters, like a natural calamity. Ordinary people cannot predict it or fight against it.
It’s like when the heavens decide to rain, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. Whether it happens or not depends on fate.
After thirty years in the heavenly prison, the Inhuman Disaster becomes more and more intense.
If the Martial Saint is still alive, perhaps the Immortal Gate will tone down a bit… Hai Wuya thought to himself and shook his head in disappointment.
After leaving the heavenly prison, the sky above was even darker than the prison ceiling.
"No, it’s not just the Qiao’s family. Deciphering the true Human Path Sutra will be a long process and requires teamwork."
"Passing it on to the Qiao’s family is just the beginning."
Hai Wuya lowered his eyelids, and he also needed to start planning for the future.
Tea House in the Imperial Capital, Natural Abode.
A swordsman with a long sword at his waist entered the door, took out a little silver and exchanged it for a small booklet to read. On it were the words "Martial Artists Ranking".
The business of the Tide Listening Building is not only limited to storytelling.
Depending solely on a storyteller’s words is too slow.
The rankings of the martial arts world released by the Tide Listening Building evaluate martial arts heroes from all over, and are quite popular, with stories of martial artists, both true and false, mixed in.
"On the Strength List, at number ninety-nine, there’s a ninety-year-old martial artist named Qiao Shuanglin."
"Hmm, this is really strange. There’s actually a ninety-year-old on the Strength List…"
"Even though internal strength accumulates with age, it doesn’t decline rapidly like a martial god’s physical vitality due to aging. However, the growth of internal strength is also limited."
"The physical body is the foundation of a martial artist, and in old age, the martial artist’s vitality declines. It is not easy for internal strength to continue to grow… Could this Qiao Shuanglin have eaten some precious treasure?"
"Ah, it says here that he has defeated the famous Imperial Capital 3rd rank martial artist ‘Sword Ghost’…. So this Qiao Shuanglin is probably in this Imperial Capital too? Is this a recent event? Tide Listening Building is really well-informed…"
In the corner, Clairaudience listened to the discussions of these martial artists and smiled proudly in his heart.
It was his idea to rank Qiao Shuanglin 99th on the Strength List.
However, since he didn’t personally witness it and only relied on his exceptional hearing through his ‘Clairaudience,’ there may be some inaccuracies.
With his keen insight, Clairaudience was certain that Qiao Shuanglin’s level of internal strength must be astonishing, being able to defeat Sword Ghost. Therefore, he was more than qualified to climb the Strength List!
In the Martial Arts Rankings, there are three lists for power, skills, and techniques, each with a hundred people, selecting the top heroes from various martial arts fields.
Basically, only martial artists of 4th rank or above, who have reached the limits of the human body, are qualified to be included.
Besides these three lists, there is also a list called the "Spiritual Refining List", which ranks the top Spiritual Refining Method practitioners in the world.
The current Spiritual Refining List is similar to the "Hero List" during the "All-known Man" era decades ago, because Spiritual Refining martial artists represent the pinnacle of martial artists in the world. The strongest among them is considered the strongest martial artist in the world.
The Clairaudience didn’t notice that in a corner of the teahouse, there was a bearded customer sitting, enjoying tea and reading a book, listening to the casual chat of the martial artists.
"Ninety-nine on the Strength List, Qiao Shuanglin…" the bearded customer put down his book.
On the cover of this paperback book were the words "Asshole Pointing Hand".
He tilted his head back and drank a large cup of tea, with his Adam’s apple moving up and down.
He was a little thirsty.