"The Nine Heavens Conflict is now over. All universities should compile lists of casualties and submit them to the Martial Arts Department as soon as possible. After consultation, the Ministry of Education will provide appropriate compensation in terms of martial arts resources..."
"The final rankings will be announced on the Martial Arts Club's official website within three days."
"Regarding the part of this Nine Heavens Conflict involving foreign conspiracies and disputes among kings and nobles, no one present is allowed to divulge it; otherwise, they will be punished for treason!"
High in the sky, Ma Gongzuo solemnly read out the final arrangements.
All the martial artists present, including those from the mountains and seas and ordinary martial arts practitioners, remained silent, many with a lingering look of bewilderment in their eyes.
For most of the martial artists present, they only saw Shen Qian soaring upwards, challenging kings and nobles with his imposing physique. By the time Yan Shan Gong appeared, the view from the sky had already been blocked by Wu Wei, and they were unaware of what happened next.
Regardless, the mere sight of a dozen or so kings and nobles facing off was enough to terrify everyone.
Even without Ma Gongzuo's stern warning, I doubt many people would dare to gossip about it behind their backs.
...
On the other side, with the departure of Duke Yanshan, Marquis Liegu and Marquis Zhao of Qin also left one after another, and an invisible disaster was averted.
Shen Qian followed Wu Wei and thanked each of the princes and nobles who had helped him. The princes and nobles were quite friendly to Shen Qian, but they did not linger and left after accepting Shen Qian's thanks.
As for King Zhouyi, he had already departed long ago after unexpectedly defining the Nine Heavens Conflict.
When the sky became empty, before Chen Qian could ask any questions, Wu Wei had already waved his hand and set up a barrier around them.
In this secluded space, only Shen Qian and Wu Wei remained.
“Before you sink, tell me everything that happened during the Nine Heavens War again, without omitting or concealing anything… including what happened within the Nine Kings Secret Realm.”
Wu Wei said with a serious expression.
Chen Qian paused for a moment, meeting Wu Wei's sharp gaze, a sense of helplessness rising in his heart.
Sure enough, he knew it was impossible to completely hide it from Wu Wei.
It wasn't that Wu Wei didn't trust him, but rather that Wu Wei was certain that Shen Qian hadn't told the whole truth.
How did Shen Qian's cultivation level advance so rapidly? How did he easily break through the deadly trap set up by the Spirit Witch Clan and even the King?
Furthermore, in order to demonstrate his own value, Shen Qian did not hesitate to use extreme techniques to destroy Tian Ning Gong's illusory body.
Extreme Fist is the unique skill of the King of Zhenbei. Even if Shen Qian was able to learn it in the Nine Kings Secret Realm, how could he possibly master it in such a short time?
As the number one person in the martial arts department who controls the lifeline of Chinese martial arts, how could Wu Wei not see these suspicious points?
When confronted by Wu Wei alone, Shen Qian could only remain silent.
The long river of time, the journey to ancient times, the guidance of the King of Jiangling, the avatars of kings and nobles... This involves countless secrets of his past self. He wanted to be honest about it, but how could he?
Let alone Wu Wei, even when facing Lao Gao, Shen Qian probably wouldn't be able to hold back completely.
"When I was transported into the Spirit Witch World, I had some encounters. To be precise, a consciousness clone of the King of Jiangling gave me guidance, which prevented the worst outcome."
After pondering for a long time, he could only say "Hanhudao" in the end.
"The Prince of Jiangling?"
To Shen Qian's surprise, Wu Wei neither pressed for details nor seemed particularly surprised. He simply muttered something to himself, then sighed and lightly skipped over the topic.
"You must have many questions about what happened today, right?"
Upon hearing Wu Wei's question about today's power struggle, Shen Qian's expression turned serious.
"The Duke of Yanshan and the Duke of Tianning are one thing, but the Marquis of Liegu and the Marquis of Qin Zhao seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill..."
He carefully considered his words before speaking.
“They are testing us,” Wu Wei said calmly.
"Testing what?" Shen Qian was taken aback.
“My bottom line… or rather, our bottom line.”
"us?"
"This is just a metaphor, representing a group that agrees with a certain idea, and your teacher may be one of them."
Shen Qian thought of the Marquis of Mobei and others who arrived later, as well as Qianhuanbo and Luoshenbo who had helped him before, and seemed to understand something.
Hearing Wu Wei mention the Marquis of Jingcheng with an uncertain tone, Shen Qian was somewhat bewildered again.
Why "maybe"?
"Because I'm not sure what Gao Wenyuan is thinking either."
Wu Wei's expression was somewhat complicated. "Sometimes I even feel that he is different from any of us. He is neither neutral nor belongs to any side."
"So what exactly is this ideological debate?"
Since Shen Qian couldn't understand, he simply refrained from making any rash comments about Lao Gao and instead asked the core question.
“The path to becoming King Wu was cut off long ago.”
Wu Wei didn't hide anything and spoke frankly.
"The road... is blocked?"
Shen Qian was startled, then realized what Wu Wei was talking about, and Tong Kong shrank back.
What is King Wu?
To date, only nine Martial Kings have emerged in China, referring to the first nine kings.
After them, the highest title a king or marquis could hold was duke or marquis.
Shen Qian had always thought that the Nine Kings of the first generation were so accomplished that only they were honored with the title of "Martial King". But now Wu Wei's words clearly told Shen Qian that the title of Martial King was not just a simple title.
In other words, there must be a boundary between a Martial King and a top-tier noble, one that ordinary martial artists are completely unaware of.
Shen Qian suddenly recalled the theory about "forests and trees" that the other party had told him at Luo Shenbo's manor that day.
"...Those nine trees were so tall that they blocked out the sky, leaving no room for any other saplings on the land to grow."
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