Such a thing as a War of Nations cannot be entered into lightly. War is never a good thing. For everyone to finally embark upon the path of cultivation, gaining hundreds or even thousands of years of lifespan—was that easy? To ceaselessly pursue ever-greater strength and longer life throughout one's existence—that is the ultimate path of paths.
To casually engage in war, isn't that just being idle and bored?
Cultivation is about pursuing ultimate freedom and detachment, not bloodshed and sacrifice. Yet, no matter how much one seeks such freedom, sometimes a War of Nations will inevitably erupt.
The single greatest reason for the outbreak of a War of Nations... is resources!
For example, why do the Five Great Immortal Sects of the Jin Kingdom fight the subterranean demons? Resources. Without resources, how can one cultivate?
There is only one saying in the Cultivation World: "To sever someone's resources is to sever their path of cultivation." This saying is no less severe than the mortal realm saying, "To destroy someone's resources is akin to murdering their parents." The war between the Jin Kingdom and the Yuan Kingdom is also over resources. The Yuan Kingdom possesses vast stretches of barren desert, and their resources are insufficient; naturally, they wish to expand northward. There are two nations in the way of this northward advance: the Qin Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom. The Qin Kingdom is too powerful; the Yuan Kingdom dares not provoke them. Thus, the Jin Kingdom becomes the target. This is the reason why the wars between Jin and Yuan are ceaseless.
Having said all this, it means that a War of Nations is, in reality, a terrifying event.
Under normal circumstances, a War of Nations will not occur.
The Yue Lu Mountain, naturally, cannot truly host a full-scale War of Nations!
This so-called "Yue Lu Mountain Seven-Nation War of Nations" is, frankly, just this: Held every six months on Yue Lu Mountain, occurring five times over two and a half years. This so-called "War of Nations" simply means that these two hundred people on Yue Lu Mountain are fighting. Of course, a title of "War of Nations" was added to ignite a sense of national honor.
Training on Yue Lu Mountain is intended to improve strength for the upcoming Hundred Kingdoms Assessment.
And continuous special training alone can no longer significantly boost their power, as everyone's strength has already reached profound levels, achieving the Great Dao Realm.
Sometimes, a certain level of stimulus is needed.
So, these two hundred people are divided into seven nations to battle, injecting a flavor of national honor, perhaps forcing out some latent potential.
They strive by any means necessary for the sake of the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment.
Thus, this has become the current Seven-Nation War of Nations.
A small-scale battle, limited strictly to the two hundred individuals on Yue Lu Mountain.
Of course, one must not look down upon this conflict just because of its scale.
The two hundred people on Yue Lu Mountain are comprised of the absolute elite under the age of one thousand from each nation. Those over one thousand years old barely have a lifespan of two thousand years; they won't live much longer, and likely within a few hundred years, it will be their turn to take over the reins of their respective nations. Such a small-scale War of Nations is, in essence, a direct confrontation between the future power-holders of each country.
This small-scale war essentially reflects the future national strength of each kingdom.
On Yue Lu Mountain, excluding exceptional cases like Lu Yuan’s descendants, everyone else already holds considerable power within their home country. They understood the intricate meanings behind this structure. When the small-scale Seven-Nation War of Nations at Yue Lu Mountain was announced, they immediately grasped its significance and treated it with utmost seriousness from the start.
The arrangement for this small-scale war is also quite interesting.
The Murong Kingdom versus the Great Qin Kingdom and the Great Ye Kingdom. The Murong Kingdom is the strongest nation, fielding sixty people this time. The Great Qin Kingdom is second, with forty people. The Great Ye Kingdom is third, with twenty people. This arrangement is quite reasonable: it’s sixty against sixty. However, overall, the Murong Kingdom holds a slight advantage.
The Great Yue Kingdom versus the Great Wu Kingdom. This pairing holds particular interest, as everyone knows the Yue and Wu nations are sworn enemies; this confrontation between the two promises quite a spectacle.
The Great Jin Kingdom versus the Great Yuan Kingdom. Well, here is another pair of ancient enemies colliding. The arrangements are thus set, and the time for battle is not far off.
When the small-scale Seven-Nation War of Nations was about to begin, Lu Yuan was not in much of a mood to pay attention. The main reason was the faint feeling that he was on the verge of breaking through to the second stage of the Great Dao Realm—the Heaven and Earth Law. Therefore, he intermittently entered secluded meditation, trying to grasp this feeling. This sense of imminent breakthrough grew stronger and stronger, yet the true breakthrough stubbornly refused to materialize.
Meanwhile, the small-scale Seven-Nation War of Nations had already commenced. The location was the Wei Lu Garden on Yue Lu Mountain.
The Wei Lu Garden is a relatively flat area. This garden is rumored to have once been one of the hunting grounds of the Yue Royal Clan. Now that the entirety of Yue Lu Mountain has been requisitioned by the seven nations, the Wei Lu Garden is naturally included. The Yue Royal Clan is different from the Jin Royal Clan; the Yue Royal Clan is the Yue Wang Sect itself, not merely a puppet like in Jin. The twenty-odd members from the Jin Kingdom entered the Wei Lu Garden. This time, Grandmaster White Ape presided over the event, but coincidentally, several other Grandmasters had arrived, such as Zu Qianqiu from the Jin Kingdom. This Seven-Nation Small-Scale War of Nations was meant to assess the results of the half-year of joint training, so quite a few spectators were present.
Lu Yuan stood among the twenty Jin members and observed that the other one hundred and eighty participants from the other nations had also arrived sequentially.
Undoubtedly, the engagement involving the Murong Kingdom against the Great Qin and Great Ye Kingdoms would be the most spectacular, a battle of sixty versus sixty. Furthermore, the top ten ranked figures among the two hundred participants were mostly concentrated in Murong and Great Qin, making this the grand finale. A finale would naturally be placed last, not near the beginning.
The fighting began with the Great Yue Kingdom against the Great Wu Kingdom.
Lu Yuan stood aside, observing. Each nation fielded twenty combatants. This type of battle was a chaotic melee, not single combat—it was a twenty-versus-twenty free-for-all.
As Lu Yuan watched them fight, he saw the sword techniques of the Great Yue Kingdom: the Sword of Enduring Humiliation, the White Ape Sword Style, and the Sword of the Yue Maiden. As introduced previously, the Great Yue Kingdom also possessed a sect called the Yin Tui Sect (Hidden Retreat Sect). The sword style of this sect was quite peculiar: practitioners would constantly retreat when engaging an opponent, but hidden within these retreats were countless killing moves. The founder of the Yin Tui Sect was a Grandmaster from the Yue Kingdom long ago named Fan Li. It was said that this person was exceptionally skilled at withdrawing and possessed infinite killing intent while in retreat. His tactical retreat, using his beloved Xi Shi to strike back against the Great Wu Kingdom, and his eventual withdrawal from the Yue Wang Sect, were all part of his historic exploits.
As for the White Ape Sword Style, it also possessed a certain strangeness. Its forms were extremely ancient, seemingly drawn from the desolate earth of the primordial era. Every stance exuded a captivating sense of antiquity and grandeur.
And the Sword of the Yue Maiden? It was incredibly light and agile. If the sword styles of the Qingcheng Immortal Sect were light, then the Sword of the Yue Maiden was several times more ethereal than theirs.
The Great Wu Kingdom’s main style was the Sword of Fuchai, which specifically countered the Sword of Enduring Humiliation. They also had the Corpse-Lashing Sword Style and the Sun Tzu Sword Style—techniques Lu Yuan had already encountered.
Lu Yuan found watching immensely rewarding. The way these people executed these sword styles, the maneuvers were spectacular. For Lu Yuan, who had long felt constrained and limited by the sword techniques of the Jin Kingdom, it felt as if a door in the realm of the Dao of the Sword had been opened. He seemed to glimpse an entirely different grand structure of swordsmanship, subtly unlocking philosophical challenges related to the Dao of the Sword.
Lu Yuan vaguely sensed that if he witnessed the sword styles of hundreds of nations during the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment, perhaps then his own Dao of the Sword could ascend to a vastly greater paradigm.
The Dao of the Sword is like the Heavenly Dao.
If one does not witness extensively, remaining trapped within a single room, even ten thousand years will not forge one into a true Sword Saint or Sword God of the Dao of the Sword.
The Great Yue and Great Wu nations, being ancient rivals, had an average skill level only slightly superior to the Great Jin and Great Yuan Kingdoms. However, each nation possessed an exceptionally talented leader. For example, Xiao Qing of the Yue Maiden lineage in the Great Yue Kingdom was formidable, as was Yue Zifu. The key leaders of the Great Wu Kingdom were also immensely skilled. In contrast, the Yuan and Jin Kingdoms were somewhat lacking in this regard.
The final result was a victory for the Great Yue Kingdom by the narrowest of margins.
Finally, it was the turn of the Great Jin Kingdom and the Great Yuan Kingdom.
The Jin and Yuan nations were bitter enemies. Twenty individuals from each side entered the field. As Lu Yuan stepped onto the arena, Tie Mu'er immediately started provoking him: "Lu Yuan, later we should spar. Let's test each other out." He smiled. Tie Mu'er was currently at the fourth layer of the Great Dao Realm, possessing the experiential memories of a Grandmaster. If he truly fought one-on-one, he wouldn't even feel pressured by the Primordial Yang Venerable, holding an eighty percent chance of victory. Facing Lu Yuan would certainly be an assured win.
"Venerable Tie Mu, isn't that too much of a bully move against this young man?"
"Indeed, Venerable Tie Mu, how could a mere junior possibly be your match?" The others from the Yuan Kingdom fawned over Tie Mu'er. Tie Mu'er's status was quite strange. Logically, he belonged to the younger generation, but his previous life’s status was that of a predecessor among predecessors, a Grandmaster among Grandmasters. Thus, in the Yuan Kingdom, a peculiar custom had formed: addressing Tie Mu'er as Venerable Tie Mu.
"If Venerable Tie Mu truly intends to deal with this junior Lu Yuan, it will be as easy as lifting a hand."
"With Venerable Tie Mu's strength, I fear it will only take ten moves... before this junior Lu Yuan is left howling in misery."
Tie Mu'er narrowed his eyes at Lu Yuan. Back when they were in the Body Tempering stage, he had suffered a defeat at Lu Yuan's hands once. Now, reunited, he assessed Lu Yuan, noticing the young man appeared completely unconcerned, seemingly ignoring Tie Mu'er and paying no heed to the words of the Yuan Kingdom members. Tie Mu'er was instantly furious. Hmph, Lu Yuan! How dare you challenge me like this? How dare you look down on this Venerable One! I was a great figure at the Grandmaster level in my past life!
Very well, Lu Yuan. This time, I will ensure you lose miserably, utterly thrashed, beaten until you spit blood and lose all face!
Lu Yuan wasn't intentionally acting dismissive of Tie Mu'er; he truly hadn't noticed him.
This was because Lu Yuan faintly felt that his magical power was about to break through.
He was nearing the breakthrough to the second stage of the Great Dao Realm—the Heaven and Earth Law.
He felt as if he could almost grasp the essence of the wind within his palm.
He never expected that the magical power breakthrough he had long dreamed of would occur just as he entered the battlefield of the Seven-Nation Small-Scale War of Nations. Naturally, he now cast everything else aside, prioritizing the breakthrough of his magical power. Moreover, he sensed that this breakthrough felt profoundly different from any previous advancement.