Everyone was left bewildered as the worldview they knew began to be overturned.
"Hao is he..." Lin Ruyu stepped forward, holding Ye Hao's hand as she asked.
"He's my grand-disciple Cheng Dao, the head disciple of the 111th generation of Wudang," Ye Hao whispered to Lin Ruyu's ear.
"From Wudang?" Lin Ruyu slightly frowned. She was afraid that Cheng Dao had come looking for Ye Hao because of some issue, which is why she asked with such unease.
"Yes, but don't worry, his coming from the Wudang Sect is certainly not to cause us trouble," Ye Hao reassured Lin Ruyu with a calm voice.
"Hopefully not, I'm most worried about you," Lin Ruyu said, looking at Ye Hao.
"Yes, no worries. You can go back and rest first. I need to have a chat with Cheng Dao," Ye Hao said.
"What about Xiao Xiao then?"
"Find her a room to settle in first."
"Alright."
After Lin Ruyu finished speaking, she took Wu Xiao to choose a room. Wu Xiao was also quite fond of the liveliness of Dragon and Phoenix Castle, after all, the women here were all elegant, beautiful, and lovely. She even wondered if, were she Ye Hao's girlfriend, she might end up in fights with the other women.
But as soon as she considered her own status, she realized that this was an impossibility. After all, their positions were worlds apart; even if Ye Hao tried his best to catch up, he could never meet the lofty standards of his grandfather.
As all the women went to rest, Ye Hao patted Cheng Dao on the shoulder, laughing, "It must have been hard, Cheng Dao."
"Master..."
"We aren't that far apart in age. Just call me Ye Hao here, no need to keep calling me Master, it feels awkward," Ye Hao laughed.
"This..."
"Consider it an order from your Master. If you really see me as such, then follow my instructions," Ye Hao insisted.
"Alright, Ye Hao... Ugh, let's just go with Brother Hao!" Cheng Dao said, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"That works too. Once we return to Wudang, you can call me Master or whatever you want," Ye Hao said.
"Okay, Brother Hao, my master asked me to find you. In about a week, other countries' martial arts schools will come to challenge us," Cheng Dao said, a bit worriedly.
Revealing honestly, Cheng Dao felt that Ye Hao's initial strength at the National Martial Arts Realm's eighth segment was too weak. Even with a finger, he could easily pin him to the ground.
"Just a week? In that case, Cheng Dao, you have time to enjoy yourself in Yanjing," Ye Hao chuckled, completely unconcerned. His true strength was at the tenth segment of the National Martial Arts, only posing as the eighth segment. When fighting to the death, even facing twelfth-segment practitioners might not be daunting, but if faced with a Half-Innate opponent, he had no guarantees.
"How could I possibly think about having fun? Everyone's looking to stir up trouble with you, Brother Hao," Cheng Dao said displeased.
"Heh, don't worry! Countless people have sought to trouble me, but I've always easily resolved each one," Ye Hao remarked nonchalantly with a smile.
"Brother Hao truly possesses that serene demeanor of our grandmaster, it's hard not to admire," Cheng Dao genuinely admired Ye Hao. Even at just the eighth segment of National Martial Arts, facing challengers from international martial arts schools coming to Wudang, he could remain so composed.
"Haha." Ye Hao laughed lightly and then infused a stream of pure Inner Breath into Shangguan Longyi's body under his eager eyes.
This pure Inner Breath was leftover from Ye Hao's body refining, and thinking that Shangguan Longyi had lingered at the sixth segment of National Martial Arts for some time, he decided to help him advance to the seventh segment.
After the pure Inner Breath entered Shangguan Longyi's body, he immediately went to find a spot to refine it.
Ye Hao and Cheng Dao then entered the hall and sat down for a chat.
Ye Hao was curious about which masters from other countries would come to Wudang for the challenge; if their skills were mediocre, he honestly had no interest in playing, for martial comparisons needed strong skills on both sides to be meaningful. A strong practitioner facing off against a weak one gains little from the encounter.
"Cheng Dao, who are the people coming to challenge us?" Ye Hao asked, pouring Cheng Dao a cup of tea, which took a bit of prompting before he drank.
"Brother Hao, four countries are coming for the challenge, one of which is our neighbor, Jiepeng. They've long sought to conquer us in martial arts, but Huaxia martial arts are so vast and profound that their proud race can't surpass it, so they've targeted weaker forces among us, aiming to make their warriors famous and attract more to learn their techniques," Cheng Dao explained.
"Which school from Jiepeng is coming for the challenge?" Ye Hao inquired.
"Seems like it's people from the Qiushan Clan. Their clan practices a martial art called the Broken Water Saber. Though not as profound as our true Huaxia Sword Divine Skill, it's still formidable. If you encounter members of this clan, be careful," Cheng Dao cautioned.
"How strong are the challengers?" Ye Hao asked.
"That is currently unknown, but their strength should be within the National Martial Arts Realm, probably around the ninth segment," Cheng Dao intentionally downplayed his estimate to avoid adding too much pressure on Ye Hao.
"Hehe, what about other countries?" Ye Hao asked with a smile.
"Yue Kingdom, India, and the South Korean brats," Cheng Dao replied.
"If ranked by strength, is Jiepeng first, with Yue Kingdom's single combat skills coming second?" Ye Hao inquired.
"Jiepeng is first, but for this year's challenge at Wudang, South Korean prowess ranks second. According to the master's advice, only one South Korean brat will challenge you, and the others will challenge others," Cheng Dao explained.
"Are you being challenged as well?" Ye Hao asked with a smile.
"Of course, but those weaklings are nothing. I can make them kneel with just one hand. However, the grandmaster advised not to be too bloody or violent, so when I spar with them, I always try to suppress my strength, only breaking a leg before letting them off," Cheng Dao said, chuckling awkwardly.
"Is that what you call suppressing your strength?" Ye Hao smiled wryly at Cheng Dao's words. Cheng Dao really sugar-coated it, breaking someone's leg was still 'suppressing' his strength.
If you didn't suppress your strength, you might have ended someone's life!
"Of course! If I unleashed my full power, they'd be obliterated, but the grandmaster would probably break my leg in turn," Cheng Dao added, reminiscent of the fright it evoked in him.
"The grandmaster you're mentioning? Who is he?" Ye Hao asked curiously. Was there a grandmaster older than Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Ruowu in Wudang?
"Grandmaster...Master, come closer and I'll tell you," Cheng Dao leaned in to Ye Hao's ear and said, "His name is Yi Yang, and it's said that he's nearly 300 years old..."
"What?" Ye Hao widened his eyes at Cheng Dao's revelation. Could it be that there was such an elder master in Wudang? (To be continued. If you like this work, go to qidian.com to vote for it and support me with recommendation tickets and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile readers can read on m.qidian.com.)