Chapter 433: 432

“Continuing where we left off, our Ring Universe was ruled with ruthless, bloody hands by the twelve false immortals who tampered with history. These despicable beings denigrated the origins of martial arts, disrupted our traditions and training, shattered our warriors’ beliefs, and replaced our martial arts with the life-burning method – causing our people’s life spans to diminish drastically, and triggering resentment.”

“However, the universe is inevitably imbued with divine intentions – these twelve false immortals, after all, are false and they cannot contend with the divine will.”

“For the sake of continuing their oppressive rule, the twelve false immortals shamelessly proclaimed themselves to be celestial emissaries from the Upper Realm. Yet, they were oblivious to the fact that such an arrogant claim would offend the true emissaries of the Upper Realm.”

“Three hundred years ago, the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch had two sons. The elder one is our ancestor of the Scenery Kingdom, Bu Jing, and the younger one is our current revered ruler. Both were heaven-sent prodigies, favored by the divine.”

“At the height of the twelve false immortals’ atrocity, ancestor Bu Jing persevered through the humiliation, cultivating in solitude for centuries, solely dedicated to overthrowing the false immortals to restore the just world of our Ring Universe.”

“In his early years, our revered ruler accidentally entered the Upper Realm, where he encountered the genuine divine beings. The Upper Realm is filled with formidable beings capable of effortlessly controlling weather, and even manipulating stars at will. Above these great capabilities, there exist three divine beings.”

“Upon hearing the revered ruler’s recount of the twelve false immortals exploiting the Upper Realm’s name, dragging our Ring Universe into turmoil, these three divine beings were enraged.”

“In the first year of the Great Scenery Era, divine beings descended upon our realm, granting Ancestor Bu Jing extraordinary opportunities. Bu Jing, sensing the divine might, read the stars and immersed himself in the limitless expanse of the universe. A spark of enlightenment lit his soul, leading him to pen ‘The External Scenery.’ On the loftiest peaks among men, he achieved the state of ‘External Scenery,’ reaching a new level that the ancients never attained.”

“After reaching the state of ‘External Scenery,’ Bu Jing challenged the twelve false immortals who were terrified and accepted his challenge. Bu Jing was unparalleled in martial arts, he defeated each of the twelve false immortals who fell successively, their severed heads left in his wake.”

“Eventually, Bu Jing purged the falsehood, restoring the just world of our Ring Universe. Our current revered ruler established the Scenery Kingdom, thus signaling the start of an age of martial arts.”

The storyteller strikes his gavel: “Hence began the prosperous era of Great Scenery.”

The crowd below cheered, showering the stage with gold, silver, jewels, and other treasures.

“May I ask, sir, what are the names of these three divine beings, and where did they go off to?”

The story of Bu Jing defeating the twelve false immortals is well-known, with the biggest mystery being the three beings from the Upper Realm.”

“I know very little about the personal names of the divine beings and I dare not speak more than that. However, I can share this with you.”

“What is it?”

“One of the divine beings is known as ‘The Human Emperor’. As for the others, I should not speak further.”

The crowd gasped in surprise. Considering there is an Upper Realm, it’s unlikely that the Ring Universe is the only Lower Realm. With so many human races in the Lower Realm, and the presence of a Human Emperor in the Upper Realm, this title is truly daunting – he must be the emperor who unifies all human races in the Lower Realm.”

The storyteller sips his tea, moistens his throat, barely glancing at the treasures at his feet, and continues: “After the Scenery Kingdom was established, many martial arts prodigies emerged. Some of them have also reached the ‘External Scenery’ state. These included the Mansion Master of the Sword Washing Manor, the Pavilion Master, and more. Feeling greatly superior, they sought to challenge Bu Jing for his title of ‘the world’s first’, thus sending him challenge letters.”

“Bu Jing readily accepted the challenge, agreeing to meet on a dark and stormy night.”

“Considering the prowess of these six martial arts masters, one would expect a groundbreaking, earth-shaking battle that would shock the world. Yet, strangely enough, there were no disturbances that night, not even a hint of unrest.”

“No one knew the outcome of that ultimate duel. The five contender masters who came after never mentioned this battle, and ceased their reckless claims to the number one martial arts title.”

“There is a rumor that Bu Jing has transcended the ‘External Scenery’ state and reached a new realm, making it easy to suppress the five ‘External Scenery’ masters.”

“As for the authenticity of this rumor, who knows? Only Bu Jing himself could clarify this.”

Upon reaching that point, the storyteller regretfully shook his head. The realm that Bu Jing, the guardian deity of the Scenery Kingdom, has ascended to is the second biggest secret after the three divine beings’ names and origins.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li and his companions stood up to leave.”

Only a few years had passed, but the Ring Universe had already undergone earth-shaking changes. The people’s spirits and vitality were far better than before.”

People used to practice the life-burning martial arts. Though everyone was a martial artist, the price they paid was living only about thirty to forty years.

After the establishment of the Scenery Kingdom, people started to practice new martial arts, which extended their lifespan.”

Having seen a world where everyone in the Nine Continents was a practitioner, Bu Jing decided to become the King of Scenery. He wanted to consolidate martial arts resources, optimize distribution, and do all he could to improve the quality of martial artists.

Bu Jing also adopted policies of light taxation and resting with the people to ease the burden on the people.”

The Scenery Kingdom was thriving.”

“Bu Jing is close to the next realm with just one more insight. He should be near.”

The three of them arrived outside the royal palace and observed, using their divine sense, that Bu Jing was on the verge of a breakthrough.

“Bu Jing’s cultivating speed is a bit fast.”

“Although it’s slightly faster, it’s within reasonable limits. Rather than saying he progressed rapidly in these few years, it’s better to say that he spent three hundred years accumulating knowledge, and thoroughly understood all martial arts before advancing.”

“This is not the result of a few years of cultivation, but the result of 300 years of accumulation.”

The three of them strolled around the palace. The imperial guards, eunuchs, and palace maids couldn’t see them.”

“Bu Jing, you are doing a good job as an Emperor.” They arrived at the Yangxin Hall to meet Abubu, who was practicing horse stance while reviewing memos.”

“Practicing martial arts while dealing with official duties – this is truly a first.” Bai Hongtu laughed and found Abubu’s posture rather odd.”

The martial arts of the Ring Universe were divided into post-celestial martial artists, pre-celestial martial artists, grandmasters, unparalleled among men, and ‘External Scenery’.”

A few years ago, Abubu was just a post-celestial martial artist. Now he is a pre-celestial martial artist, and not too far from becoming a grandmaster.”

You need to understand that there are no shortcuts in martial arts, it can’t be upgraded by merely taking pills or soaking in medicated baths. Martial artists need to train diligently, using countless drops of sweat and persistence to achieve results.”

Abubu, who became emperor, did not neglect politics, nor did he neglect martial arts. One can imagine how much effort he put in.”

“Three seniors!” Abubu was thrilled to see the three of them.”

The imperial guards who saw three sudden visitors suspected them to be assassins and prepared to attack, but were stopped by Abubu.”

“Stand down, these three are the mighty beings who came with me to the Ring Universe, to kill the twelve heavenly kings. They are the three divine beings you’ve heard about in the storytelling events!”

The imperial guards, shocked initially, looked at the three men with reverence. They wanted to gaze upon the three longer, but, forced by the order of the emperor, they had to withdraw.”

Before closing the door, they took one last look.”

“Quite impressive.”

Bu Jing was rather embarrassed by Jiang Li’s observation, “Mr. Jiang, please stop teasing me. Speaking of this, I’m afraid my brother is stuck in some sort of dilemma and can’t find a solution. Could you three possibly help him?”

Jiang Li looked in the direction where Bu Jing was cultivating in seclusion and smiled: “He has already broken through.”

Over at the place where Bu Jing was in seclusion, the wind blew and clouds swirled.