Chapter 59: The End of Martial Arts, Ascension to the Immortal Realm?

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: The End of Martial Arts, Ascension to the Immortal Realm?

On Hua Mountain Peak, under the watchful eyes of a thousand figures from the Martial Arts world, the signature Ultimate Skills of four Grandmaster experts—the One Yang Finger, Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, Luoying Divine Sword Palm, and Toad Skill—landed simultaneously on Chen Sha from four different directions.

POP! POP!

The crowd heard an incredibly crisp popping sound, much like an air-filled blister bursting in the open sky. Faced with the attacks of four Grandmasters, Chen Sha’s Protective True Qi finally failed to hold up and was forcefully shattered. With the four of them attacking together, they truly broke Chen Sha’s Three-foot Qi Wall, but the aftermath of this was likely to be exceptionally bloody. Seeing this, Hong Qigong closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight. However, just when he thought he had mistakenly killed Chen Sha...

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Hua Mountain Peak was suddenly swept by bouts of howling wind. It was as if the air within a hundred feet of them was tearing at itself, twisting and tangling, the air currents causing intense friction.

"Impossible!"

"How can this be!"

These were the astonished voices of Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng, their expressions changing drastically.

At this moment, what entered Hong Qigong’s sight was Chen Sha standing calmly in his original spot. With his hands spread out before him, he tapped lightly on the ground. His left hand positioned above and his right hand below, he moved as ethereally as drifting clouds. Unbelievably, he consecutively caught all the Palm Wind, Finger Power, and True Qi launched by the four of them, moving his hands as if drawing a circle. He drew a full circle, wrapping up all the True Qi and Palm Power attacking from both front and back.

"Catch this!" Chen Sha spread his hands, and his boundless True Qi propelled the deadly attacks of the four Grandmasters, rebounding them back.

BOOM!

The snow beneath his feet shot up ten feet into the air, instantly transforming into a terrifying shockwave that swept out in all directions.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

The Grandmasters suddenly felt a horrifying Qi Power, akin to an erupting submarine volcano, blasting toward them with Chen Sha at the epicenter.

CRACK!

Even the snow and dust in the air were instantly torn outward by the roaring, powerful True Qi from this eruption. Amidst the gale, every single snowflake and speck of dust moved so fast they left afterimages, their Power Dao as terrifying as hidden weapons!

"Not good!"

Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng, and Lord Duan—the four Grandmasters closest to Chen Sha—bore the direct brunt of this strike. They gasped in shock, "Is such profound True Qi truly attainable by a human?" They were like four great trees trapped in the center of a storm. At first, they gritted their teeth in horror and tried to resist, intending to use their True Qi to root themselves in place. But the moment the impact hit, they were tossed like tiny fish struck by an ocean wave.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

All four of them were sent flying backward simultaneously.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Fighting four opponents alone, the shockwave vibrating from Chen Sha’s palms carried endless flurries of snow. Like the most vicious and extreme weather, it swept through everyone within a hundred-foot radius!

"Ah! Ah!"

"I can’t see!"

"Is this snow? It hits my face harder than a rock!"

The people standing closest let out miserable screams and staggered back. When they forced their eyes open, they saw that the spot where Chen Sha stood was completely devoid of wind and snow, forming a perfectly clear, circular space spanning a hundred feet!

"He fought four Grandmasters all by himself!"

"There’s no need to continue the competition. He must be the number one in the world..."

The crowd was horrified, staring at Chen Sha as if they were looking at a Ghost God.

In the four directions where the Grandmasters had been sent flying, the entourage that Lord Duan had brought along immediately rushed ahead to rescue their Your Majesty. After helping Lord Duan up, they saw him spit out a mouthful of fresh blood, his complexion as pale as gold foil. His guards were instantly enraged, but Lord Duan raised a hand to stop them just in time.

"Do not be insolent."

Subsequently, Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, and Ouyang Feng all picked themselves up from a hundred feet away. Covered in snow dregs and frost, they looked like men who had just trudged through the harshest blizzard of deep winter. All of them were pale, their chests stained with large patches of blood.

Clutching his chest, Huang Yaoshi looked at Chen Sha with a complicated expression. "To think that someone like you actually exists in this world!"

Hong Qigong supported himself with his green jade staff. Thinking of something, he gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "A frog in a well... A mere frog in a well. I, the old beggar, thought I was already among the absolute peak of the Martial Arts world. I even thought I had almost killed you. I truly didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth."

All the Martial Artists on the peak stared at Chen Sha. With just a single strike, four Grandmasters had been sent flying a hundred feet, coughing up blood. Recalling that scene, someone felt that strike truly embodied the poem, "Sweeping the mountains away with majestic force, this peak stands as the pillar of the Mortal Realm!" It was as if a majestic force had pushed aside the mountains, declaring himself the unyielding pillar of the Mortal Realm from then on. Every single one of those Grandmasters was a Beidou-level expert in the Martial Arts world, Mount Tai equivalents, yet they were swept aside by that terrifying Qi Power. The place where Chen Sha stood was completely cleared of everyone else, turning him into the solitary, towering peak upon Hua Mountain Peak!

"Grandmaster..." Just as everyone’s Heart Spirit surged and ebbed like the ocean tide, a familiar sigh suddenly drifted into their ears. Walking with his hands behind his back, Wang Chongyang stepped into that empty, hundred-foot clear space on the peak. Looking at Chen Sha, he surprisingly felt the joy of a late-found camaraderie. "I thought I was the only person in this world to set foot in this Realm. I never expected that on this peak, I would not be alone."

Grandmaster. Was this Chen Sha’s Realm? Hearing this, Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, and the others were astonished. "Chongyang Master, from what you are saying, are you also at this Realm?"

Wang Chongyang merely offered Chen Sha a faint smile. "Seeing a fellow Daoist today, I finally know that aside from myself, there are still peerless talents in the world capable of cultivating to this Realm." He then sighed, "Since there are still people like you and I in this world who can reach this Realm, the ancient Daoist records that claim those who reach the very end of martial arts can sense heaven and earth, Ascend from the ground, and go to the immortal and indestructible Immortal Realm... I fear it is not merely a myth."

The thousand-odd figures on Hua Mountain Peak were stunned. Then, as if unable to believe their own ears, they looked at Wang Chongyang in profound shock. What did this Quanzhen Sect Master just say? What had they just heard? Practicing martial arts could allow one to Ascend and become an Immortal? The Immortal Realm? They couldn’t understand this at all.

"Chongyang Master, what you said..." Huang Yaoshi’s heart fluttered as he became the first to ask, "What exactly does it mean to reach the end of martial arts and Ascend?"

While all the Martial Artists felt their minds trembling in a daze, the person whose Heart Spirit was most impacted was Chen Sha, who stood opposite Wang Chongyang and heard his words the clearest. He thought to himself, "Ascension, the Immortal Realm..."

Chen Sha couldn’t help but think of the "Hong Qigong" temple behind the Southern Heavenly Gate. Inside was a clay statue of Hong Qigong, and the Southern Heavenly Gate had an annotation for the statue: "Ascension to the Immortal Realm at the end of the Ninth Tribulation, obtaining an Immortal Mud Body..." He felt a bit dazed.

It seemed that he had come into this Cosmic Light Fragment precisely through some memories extracted from that Hong Qigong statue via the Southern Heavenly Gate. If Wang Chongyang hadn’t said those last few sentences, he would have treated this place purely as a lifeless dungeon for practicing martial arts. But now... it seemed that some things were faintly starting to align.

"Chongyang Master..." Chen Sha couldn’t help but look up, staring directly at Wang Chongyang as he asked, "What exactly do you mean?"

Since Wang Chongyang was capable of saying those last few sentences, asking him face-to-face now was the best opportunity to clear up his doubts. Chen Sha was asking the exact same question as Huang Yaoshi, hoping Wang Chongyang would elaborate. Consequently, everyone on Hua Mountain Peak had their attention drawn over, pricking up their ears.

Stroking his beard, Wang Chongyang said, "As you all know, those of us in the Daoist Sect enter this path because we believe Immortals exist in the world. We believe that we cultivators can achieve immortality and total freedom through meditation and regulating our Qi. I built a hut and cultivated on Zhongnan Mountain, and later I preached, took in disciples, and founded a sect, becoming the leader of one of the branches of the current Daoist Sect. Naturally, I have never doubted the existence of Immortals."

Upon hearing Wang Chongyang’s explanation, the crowd on Hua Mountain Peak was momentarily left speechless, unsure of what to say. His words were not wrong, but this explanation felt a bit too simplistic. On second thought, they all thought with a self-deprecating gloom, "If the tale of Ascension is true, it is naturally incredibly precious. We truly don’t have the qualifications to hear about it."

Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, and the others, however, were not like that. They were all people of world-shocking talent; how could they be willing to miss such an opportunity to hear an earth-shattering secret? Since Wang Chongyang was unwilling to elaborate in front of so many people, Huang Yaoshi asked expectantly, "Chongyang Master, I wonder if you would allow me to pay you a visit after the Hua Mountain Sword Discussion concludes?"

Wang Chongyang seemed to see through everyone’s thoughts, but he simply turned his gaze to Chen Sha. "I don’t mind telling you what I know right here on Hua Mountain, fellow Daoist."