Chapter 81: Past Events of the Great Cai

In the Jianghu, the lifespan of a martial artist is one hundred and forty-nine years!

No one can surpass this age!

But there are other things in the Jianghu that exceed this age.

For example, the Demon Clan, and even the Dragon Clan in the depths of the sea, as legends say!

So some people thought, since humans can only live for one hundred and forty-nine years, then if they don’t remain human, wouldn’t they be able to live longer!

For the sake of longevity, not remaining human is not a multiple-choice question for the Jianghu, but a problem-solving one.

How can one stop being human?

How can one live longer by not being human?

Some people set their sights on the Demon Clan! Great Demons of the Demon Clan can easily live for hundreds of years, and some special demons can even live for thousands of years.

Compared to humans’ desire for immortality and longevity, even the most ferocious Demon Clan became weak, and many demon races went extinct as a result.

Demons became increasingly rare, even hiding in the depths of mountains and seas.

Soon, this path was proven to be a dead end.

Fusing with various demons easily leads to rejection reactions, resulting in death. Even if one forcibly fuses, it will lead to a state of being neither human nor demon, with a deranged mind.

The Demon Clan in the world escaped this calamity, but those who wanted to stop being human continued their research.

A thousand years ago, nine top experts of the Great Cai Dynasty theorized a possibility.

Martial arts is the continuous exploration of one’s “self” and the power of True Qi. So as long as the consciousness of the “self” and True Qi find a new vessel, wouldn’t it work?

Flesh and blood are weak, but consciousness can last forever!

What would be the most suitable vessel?

Dragon Pearls!

Dragon Pearls are the culmination of the essence, energy, and spirit of a dragon’s life, the most suitable and capable thing in the world for containing Qi.

The nine top experts personally went to the depths of the sea, captured nine adult dragons, and buried their dragon bones in the mountains, using the vast power of the Kongtong Mountains to nurture the dragon bones. Then, they used the dragon bones to nurture nine Dragon Pearls.

In order to suppress the consciousness of the Dragon Clan within the Dragon Pearls, the nine top experts jointly developed a mind-sharing technique.

The nine of them were one person, yet not one person.

The consciousness within the nine Dragon Pearls was shattered before the nine!

The plan went smoothly. The nine top experts, through experiments, nurtured human consciousness within the Dragon Pearls.

As long as the timing was right and they consumed the essence, energy, and spirit within the Dragon Pearls, they could take over the bodies of other martial artists and continue living.

If that person died, their consciousness would return to the Dragon Pearl to be nurtured.

In this way, they would achieve immortality through this cycle!

They hid the Dragon Pearls within the Nine Dragons Wall, one for each of them, and from then on, they entered the Nine Dragons Wall, ceasing to be human!

According to the original plan, they would secretly control the Great Cai Dynasty, supporting puppet emperors, and becoming the hidden hand behind the Great Cai Dynasty.

However, there are no secrets that can be kept forever. Their plan was discovered by the people of the Great Cai Dynasty.

Who wouldn’t want to live forever!

A bloody civil war began, with nine top experts on one side and the scheming Great Cai Dynasty on the other.

The two sides fought so fiercely that brains were splattered everywhere. In the end, there were not enough martial arts experts in the central government, and chaos erupted throughout the land.

The Great Cai Dynasty slowly perished.

The nine people within the Nine Dragons Wall fell into a deep sleep due to excessive consumption of the essence, energy, and spirit within the Dragon Pearls.

It wasn’t until the people of an academy accidentally obtained the records of the Great Cai Dynasty regarding the Nine Dragons Wall that they came to Kongtong Mountain.

Many years later, the previous generation’s Mountain Chief of Three Mountains and Seven Academies arrived at the Nine Dragons Wall.

He made a deal with the Nine Dragons Wall.

He would lure more people into the Great Cai Armory, where they would fight each other to the death. The will generated between life and death would serve as a fire to warm the consciousness of the Nine Dragons Wall.

Over hundreds of years, the nine of them began to feel a sense of “coldness.” It wasn’t actual coldness, but a feeling similar to “coldness” that arose as human emotions slowly faded and were lost.

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They needed others to warm them, to prevent them from feeling the bone-chilling cold, lest their consciousness one day cease to function, turning them into “ice sculptures” or monsters.

They still wanted to control the world, to take over others and enjoy life. How could they become “ice sculptures”?

The Great Cai Armory at the foot of the mountain became their furnace, and the struggles that played out within it were the firewood!

In return, they offered the secret manuals and inheritances within the Great Cai Armory. As long as the people of Three Mountains and Seven Academies were willing, they could learn any technique from the Great Cai Armory!

This was the reason why Three Mountains and Seven Academies became so powerful.

The deal went smoothly. Every few years or decades, news of the Great Cai Armory would spread throughout the Jianghu. Some people even found secret manuals of unknown authenticity, while many others perished within the Great Cai Armory.

This smooth transaction continued until two True Realm experts emerged from Three Mountains and Seven Academies! They firmly established themselves around Kongtong Mountain, and no one could control them anymore.

The previous generation’s Mountain Chief felt at ease and revealed the content of the deal to the two experts!

Since they had already obtained the secret manuals of the Great Cai martial arts and could survive in the Jianghu, why should they continue to conspire with a tiger?

The deal was broken.

It took thirty years for the nine people in the Nine Dragons Wall to go from anger to despair!

The arrival of one person shattered the despair of the Nine Dragons Wall. That person was Jia Dakong!

Jia Dakong was skilled in tomb robbing. He observed the stars at night and discovered that the Eight Mountains and Twelve Caves corresponded to the celestial stars above and the earthly veins below. Using them to store books was truly a waste.

Something fishy was going on!

So, he used his skills and dug several holes, arriving at this stone chamber in a daze.

Come to think of it, since they had already excavated such a large area at the foot of the mountain, how could they leave a mountain untouched?

Jia Dakong carefully explored the area, never imagining that he would be possessed as soon as he arrived at the Nine Dragons Wall!

A dragon shadow charged into his consciousness, suppressing him and turning him into a walking avatar of one of the nine dragons of the Nine Dragons Wall.

If there had been a choice, Zhou Diao, the Cloud Sea Golden Peng, would not have chosen this aged body.

Now he had to rely on the earthly veins to slowly nurture the Dragon Pearl. It would take him decades to use the avatar for possession again.

And the old man was the least cost-effective choice, as he could easily die of old age.

But there was no other option now. Among them, only he had recovered well!

In this adverse situation, Cloud Sea Golden Peng turned the tables. First, he took over Jia Dakong’s forces. Then, he lured Ren Daokuang, who was desperately seeking to break through the Heaven’s Barrier, with information!

The Heaven’s Barrier is the highest level of the True Realm. After one’s True Self and True Qi reach their peak, True Qi stops increasing.

It stands before True Realm experts like the sky, hence the name Heaven’s Barrier!

Ren Daokuang, who was lured there, injured Li Dangmo, the Iron Fist Invincible, and Si Chen, arriving before the Nine Dragons Wall, allowing another person among the nine dragons to possess him.

That person was Xie Wenwu!

However, Ren Daokuang’s will was too strong, and Xie Wenwu had not yet returned to his peak state.

The two of them were in a state of sharing one body until Xie Wenwu negotiated with Ren Daokuang, promising to leave his body if Ren Daokuang helped him with a few things.

Only then did Ren Daokuang reluctantly submit to his control.

Capturing Li Dangmo and Si Chen was the last task!

What a Great Cai!