Chapter 2462: The Glorious Past
It was not just Hun Zang. Chu Jian, Yue Chao, Yun Ziting, Su Qi, Bai Rufeng, and Qing Shan also became extremely solemn when they arrived before the cave. They showed great respect.
Jian Chen became interested when he sensed their changes. After a moment of thought, he looked at the cave before him as well. The light in his eyes flickered as he seemed to fall into thought.
“Historically, the Martial Soul lineage always has very few people. Even during our most glorious, most resplendent age, we only had nine people. As a result, no matter what time or age it is, gaining an additional senior or junior is an extremely significant matter for our Martial Soul lineage.”
“But today, our Martial Soul lineage has welcomed an eighth brother. Even across our lengthy history, it’s extremely rare to have eight of us at the same time.”
“According to the ancient archives, the number of successors roughly remained at five to six in the past eras. There were not a lot of times when seven appeared, but eight members appearing means that our Martial Soul lineage is approaching a new age of glory.”
Hun Zang suddenly became excited when he reached there. He glanced past everyone as he struggled to contain his excitement. He said happily, “Now, we finally have eight members. That means that our Martial Soul lineage will stand proudly in the Saints’ World in the near future and become even more magnificent.”
“Yeah, eight of us… There’s finally eight of us. I’ve waited for this day for far too long.” Chu Jian was also glad. He was eager about the Martial Soul lineage’s future.
Yue Chao, Yun Ziting, Su Qi, Bai Rufeng, and Qing Shan all smiled as well. They looked forward to the future.
Only Jian Chen was left clueless among them. He looked at them in doubt and asked out of puzzlement, “I am a little confused. Does every extra successor that the Martial Soul lineage possesses affect the future of the entire Martial Soul lineage? The strength of an organisation is not based off number but based of their strongest expert. Members of our Martial Soul lineage can never breakthrough to Grand Prime, so it probably won’t affect much at all even if we gain a few more people.”
Hun Zang and the others looked at Jian Chen with a mysterious smile when they heard that. Yue Chao explained, “Jian Chen, our Martial Soul lineage isn’t as simple as you imagine it to be. Every member of the Martial Soul lineage represents a portion of fortune for the Martial Soul lineage. The more people we have, the greater our fortune will be. Now that we have eight successors at the same time, it means that the Martial Soul lineage has already condensed the fortune of the eight of us. This fortune will affect the future of our Martial Soul lineage without us knowing! Of course, that is only if none of us die. Once someone dies, it won’t be the fortune of eight people anymore.”
“What if a ninth member appears?” Jian Chen asked. He suddenly discovered that the Martial Soul lineage was far more complicated than he had imagined it to be.
“Nine members…” This time, everyone fell quiet. A strange light flickered in all of their eyes.
It was as if nine members was not just a number or a gathering of fortune. Instead, it seemed to hide even deeper secrets.
A while later, Yue Chao exhaled deeply. He said with some melancholy, “Nine members… Nine members… When nine members exist together, the fortune of our Martial Soul lineage will peak. It has only happened once throughout our history…”
“And that time was a glorious age that changed the entire fate of our Martial Soul lineage…”
After a moment of pause, Yue Chao suddenly looked at Jian Chen sternly. He asked, “Jian Chen, with Hun Zang’s cultivation as a Ninth Heavenly Layer Chaotic Prime, he’s no weaker than a Third Heavenly Layer Grand Prime, and he can even fight Fourth Heavenly Layer Grand Primes. Do you know why?”
“Isn’t it because of Martial Soul Force and your Martial Soul Array?” Jian Chen asked. Back then, he did not have the effort to spare to pay close attention to the battle between Hun Zang and the many experts on the Desolate Plane. He obviously did not know why.
“Martial Soul Force and the Martial Soul Array indeed provides great assistance, but it’s impossible to reach the level of a Third Heavenly Layer Grand Prime from those alone. The true reason is that while brother Hun Zang’s comprehension remains at the Ninth Heavenly Layer of Chaotic Prime, his cultivation has already reached Grand Prime,” Yue Chao said sternly.
Jian Chen was shocked. Comprehension referred to the comprehension of the ways of the world, the grasp over the laws, while cultivation represented the energy within someone.
What Yue Chao had said basically meant that although Hun Zang’s comprehension of the laws of the world remained at the level of Chaotic Primes, the power within him had already reached the level of Grand Primes.
This filled Jian Chen with disbelief because all cultivators, regardless of strength, were restrained by their comprehension. If they wanted to break through to the next level, they had to break through with their comprehension of the laws of the world. Only then could their cultivation increase.
This was the law for cultivation in the world, an order that could not be changed. Even when he cultivated the Chaotic Body, he needed to breakthrough with the Laws of the Sword to reach the next level, or his Chaotic Body would remain stuck at his current level for all of eternity.
However, right before him, Hun Zang had actually defied the order of the world and ignored the restraint of comprehension, allowing his cultivation to grow. This left Jian Chen deeply shocked.
At this moment, Hun Zang said, “This method to continue cultivating while restrained by comprehension was created by a past senior during the era when we had nine successors countless years ago. It has been passed down since then. It’s the greatest piece of work our Martial Soul lineage possesses.”
“Moreover, the archives record that during the age of the nine successors, our Martial Soul lineage was extremely glorious. We became unprecedentedly powerful, enough to frighten the stars. We were fearless and could even stand up against Grand Exalts…”
“Stand up against Grand Exalts? Does that mean that once we have nine successors, we can give birth to a Grand Exalt?” Jian Chen was deeply stunned. At that moment, he discovered his understanding of the Martial Soul lineage was nowhere near enough.
The Martial Soul lineage seemed to possess far, far too many secrets hidden from the world.
Hun Zang shook his head gently and said, “That age was far too long ago. Even the Grand Exalt of Ancient Paths had not heard of the matters back then. Now, our Martial Soul lineage only possesses a few ancient archives that touch on this matter. We, the juniors, are unable to prove whether any of our seniors had reached that supreme level of cultivation.”
“Enough. Let’s talk about this some other time. Let’s go in.” Hun Zang waved at Jian Chen before taking the group of people into the cave.