Chen Fan gazed at Wei Buyu, struggling to accept the letter's contents.
A few days after Chen Fan had left the sect, an expert forcibly took Qin Yao and Qin Changkong from the Spring Autumn Sect.
According to Qin Changkong's letter, the abductor hailed from the Great Jin Imperial Court in the central region of the continent. The letter briefly touched upon Qin Yao's birth, linking it to the Great Jin Imperial Court. [1]
Also, Qin Changkong knew what had happened between him and Qin Yao. He had urged Chen Fan to redouble his cultivation efforts. Only by reaching the Manifestation realm, at the very least, could he qualify to rescue her.
Wei Buyu sighed and said, “Kid, put more effort into cultivating. The Great Jin Imperial Court in the central continent's Jin Domain is a formidable force on the Tianwu Continent.”
“If you want to bring back Qin Yao and Qin Changkong, you just can’t do that with your current strength. You are no different from an ant to them.”
Chen Fan remained silent, clutching the letter tightly.
Central continent. Jin Domain. Great Jin Imperial Court... Chen Fan repeated those words silently.
When Qin Yao awakened her bloodline, he had realized that her status was anything but simple. And it turned out that she had links to the central continent’s Great Jin Imperial Court.
Qin Changkong’s letter showed that the court wasn’t treating them well. Their forceful abduction by the court's experts indicated that although they weren’t in a life-threatening situation, they were in a difficult situation nonetheless.
Chen Fan wanted nothing more than to massacre his way to the Great Jin Imperial Court, but he knew he couldn’t achieve anything with his insignificant cultivation.
“Don’t feel disheartened, kid. I see great potential in you. Your current cultivation level may be insignificant before the Great Jin Imperial Court, but who can predict how high you'll rise?
“Don’t think about anything else for now. Just cultivate well, and in the future, go beyond the Great Chu Empire and the eastern continent. When your strength has truly grown, head to the Great Jin Imperial Court and rescue Qin Yao and Qin Changkong,” Wei Buyu advised after reading the letter, expressing shock at the extraordinary status of the two.
Worried that the contents of the letter might demoralize Chen Fan, Wei Buyu had spoken to ensure he wouldn't lose hope.
After a moment of silence, Chen Fan raised his head, took a deep breath, and, with a bright light in his eyes, reassured, “Rest assured, Master. I’m not that fragile. You are right. I’m currently too weak and like an ant in front of the court. My foremost mission is to cultivate and increase my strength.
“Only when I have enough strength and cultivation can I bring back Uncle Qin and Senior Sister!”
Wei Buyu patted Chen Fan’s shoulder and said, “It’s good you understand.”
“Master, can you tell me about the general situation of the Tianwu Continent?” Chen Fan asked.
Wei Buyu nodded and said, “Sure, I’ll tell you some things about the Tianwu Continent.”
Wei Buyu looked into the far distance. His chest rose and fell slightly, seemingly excited as he said, “The martial path reigns supreme in the Tianwu Continent, divided into five lands: northern, southern, eastern, western, and central continents. Each land is vast, comprised of numerous domains.
“For example, consider the eastern continent with a total of a hundred and eight domains. The Great Chu Empire resides in the Hong Domain, situated in the middle-lower echelon of the 108 domains. Despite its position, the Hong Domain is only one among many in the eastern continent.
“Within these domains, various forces exist. There's a saying, 'lower tier empire, upper tier imperial court.' Take the Great Chu Empire as an example; it holds a middle-ranking position among all the forces in the Hong Domain.
“In the Tianwu Continent, nine great powers reign supreme—known as the three clans and six sects, inheriting ancient heritages. Incidentally, the royal clan of the Great Jin Imperial Court is among these three clans.”
Chen Fan was visibly shaken.
The Great Jin Imperial Court’s royal clan was actually one of the three clans!
In other words, the Great Jin Imperial Court was one of the nine overlord-level forces under the heavens!
It went without saying that Wei Buyu noticed the shock on Chen Fan’s face. He continued, “Aside from the nine overlord-level forces, there are also many super forces on the continent second only to those nine overlord-level forces.
“Every one of these forces is unimaginably powerful. Take the Great Jin Imperial Court as an example; it spans the land of a domain, boasting a heritage stretching tens of thousands of years and controlling hundreds of million miles of territory.”
Wei Buyu gave Chen Fan an overall rundown of the Tianwu Continent. Concluding, he remarked, “The expanses of these lands seem endless. Individuals like us are mere specks of dust. While we may be considered overlords in the Great Chu Empire, on the scale of the entire Tianwu Continent, we're nothing more than inconspicuous specks of dust.”
“Stronger. I want to become stronger. One day, I will stand at the top of this continent and look down on the world!” Chen Fan suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp like a sword, looking into the void. A sense of grandeur rose within him.
Wei Buyu laughed and said, “Kid, the path of martial arts requires you to take one step at a time. What you need to do now is to raise your cultivation and try to break through to the Core Formation realm as soon as possible.
“Remember, there's still a towering mountain named Duan Jingtian before you. Only by moving that colossal obstacle can you continue forward. Are you confident?” Wei Buyu asked with a smile.
Chen Fan’s eyes were filled with confidence as he said, “Master, you’ll see for yourself in three years.”
“Haha, good, it’s good that you’re confident! Go on. You’ll be entering the inner sect with the others in two days. The inner sect is different from the outer sect. There, real experts compete.”
In Wei Buyu’s eyes, the struggles in the Spring Autumn Outer Sect were only minor scuffles. They were not worth mentioning.
Disciples in the Qigong realm were like ants on the ground in his eyes. Would an elephant care about a group of ants fighting on the ground?
The inner sect presented a contrasting scenario. Though the number of disciples was fewer, they were of high quality, categorized into inner court disciples, elite disciples, core disciples, and saint disciples.
Every rank of inner sect disciple required the corresponding cultivation as a basis.
For example, elite disciples needed to be in the Yuanfu realm, while core disciples had to be at least at the fifth level of the Yuanfu realm.
To become a saint disciple, one had to advance to the Core Formation realm, and their status was comparable to that of the inner sect's Grand Elder.
The entire Spring Autumn Inner Sect currently had fewer than twenty saint disciples.
Only core disciples had some weight in Wei Buyu’s eyes. To him, even elite disciples were not worth mentioning.
Chen Fan nodded, having heard rumors about the inner sect's harsh reality.
Yet, he harbored no fear.
True experts came crawling out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. There was no such thing as an expert nurtured in a greenhouse.
“Don’t worry. After you enter the inner sect, I will also enter the inner sect and take on the position of Grand Elder. Those people from Heaven’s Alliance won’t dare to pick on you blatantly,” Wei Buyu added.
1. Refresher: Great Jin Imperial Court appeared in chapter 101 when she and Chen Fan were recovering under Scarlet Cliff and she awakened her bloodline power. That place with a huge phoenix statue. ☜