The dark figure, as everyone must have guessed, was none other than the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells—the most infamous madman in the world, whose name struck fear even in the hearts of the masters of the Three Great Sacred Lands! Yet, this top madman of the past millennium was currently on the verge of tears, utterly frustrated and stifled to the extreme!
Following the battle at the Heavenly Punishment Site, this reigning ultimate expert had endured a ferocious bombardment from several Saints and Saint Emperors, which nearly stripped him of ninety-five percent of his life force! His injuries were so severe that even he found them unbearable!
At the very least, the possibility of fully recovering his original *** in a short period was completely nonexistent... Therefore, despite his infinite reluctance and resentment, all he could do was go into hiding to recuperate, harboring hopes of a triumphant return to the martial world someday!
But barely a month had passed when a song began to spread wildly across the entire continent, achieving viral status with astonishing speed, sweeping across the Xuanxuan Continent in mere days! Ah, it should be mentioned that the madman, the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells, did not disappoint the title of "Young Master"; deep down, he was a fervent music enthusiast!
In fact, even his personal weapon was crafted by melting down the Nine Hells Cold Blade and forging a bizarre musical instrument—something between a zither and a guzheng, yet unlike a flute either; in short, a complete mishmash! He himself named this strange melody the "Divine Song"!
After accidentally hearing half of the soul-stirring "Song of the Carefree Wanderer," he was instantly mesmerized, captivated to the point of forgetting food and sleep. What tormented him most was that no matter where it circulated, the piece was always incomplete...
and somehow lacked a certain depth compared to the original, which greatly vexed the Fourteenth Young Master, who considered himself a master musician! After making discreet inquiries, he finally confirmed that the original source of the melody lay within this *** City!
This was accompanied by a beautiful legend: a handsome young man, standing apart from the vulgar world in white robes, was singing loudly and playing his qin atop the Fengguan Tower, effortlessly defeating two Venerable experts with a casual flourish before drifting away, his every step echoing with graceful song, like an immortal descending from the heavens... Overnight, that mysterious youth in white instantly became the idol of every woman in the world...
And seemingly, the idol of the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells as well! However, at this very moment, the Fourteenth Young Master also perceived that the Three Great Sacred Lands had, by coincidence, dispatched countless top-tier experts to converge upon this *** City.
Although the Fourteenth Young Master's injuries had slightly improved, they remained severe, rendering him utterly incapable of engaging in open combat. Yet, after careful consideration, he undertook the arduous journey of a thousand li...
The purpose of the Three Great Sacred Lands was undoubtedly to deal with that mysterious young man in white. If they succeeded, the "Song of the Carefree Wanderer" would truly become a swan song!
In other words, from that point onward, perhaps the original performance would never be heard again... For someone obsessed with music like the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells, this was something he would sooner die than tolerate!
So, he came. Furthermore, the Fourteenth Young Master was confident that as long as he kept his presence hidden and refrained from rashly deploying his unique profound arts, even if all the ancestor-level figures from the Three Great Sacred Lands and the Misty Illusory Palace lined up before him, they wouldn't recognize him!
Thus, although he could not fight, he was not overly worried about his safety! Today was the very first day he had entered *** City!
He had been inside this so-called "Holy Land of Music" for less than half an hour! He was currently walking toward the "famous" Fengguan Tower, his mind conjuring images of what the great master capable of composing the "Song of the Carefree Wanderer" might look like...
Yet, he never expected that before even seeing the object of his quest, he would run headlong into such an exceptional specimen! He couldn't fathom what was wrong with this fellow, why he so inexplicably latched onto him; he tried to shake him off, but couldn't.
After sparring with him for a while, the Fourteenth Young Master finally concluded: this guy wasn't simple; he was qualified to share a table with someone like himself! Secondly, he was curious about the youth: Who was he?
What was his goal? Most importantly, why hadn't he recognized the Fourteenth Young Master's true identity?
Why was he so instantly drawn to him? Did some flaw in his disguise remain?
So, the Fourteenth Young Master decided to go along with the invitation. Since they were both heading to Fengguan Tower anyway, it was convenient; plus, someone else was treating him—why refuse?
The Fourteenth Young Master certainly didn't believe this youth could defeat him. But the Fourteenth Young Master was regretting it immensely now!
He felt that accepting this fellow's invitation was the most disastrous mistake he had made in the past thirteen hundred years! If time could rewind...
even if this Young Master still possessed his profound arts, he would rather be beaten up by the youth than share a meal with him... Ah, sharing a meal was secondary; the most crucial thing was: absolutely not saying a single word to him!
It was simply too... torturous!
It seemed that merely asking for his name had led to an endless spiral of events that nearly drove him to collapse... If he asked even a few more things...
The Fourteenth Young Master shivered involuntarily! How terrifying...
What was most terrifying was that he absolutely could not utilize even a sliver of his vital energy. He was now deep inside *** City, a notorious hotspot where the masters of the Three Great Sacred Lands were gathered.
In the past, even if his identity were exposed, he wouldn't have cared, but now that his strength hadn't recovered, he dared not reveal his whereabouts! Even though the people from the Three Great Sacred Lands hated their opposing forces with a vengeance, if forced to choose between annihilating their enemies and destroying him, they would choose the latter one hundred thousand percent of the time.
Most of the Saint-level and above experts here were old acquaintances who wished him dead; he was certain that if he betrayed even the slightest hint of his aura, they would swarm him like locusts devouring crops, stripping him down to nothing but bone fragments! With his current ability, let alone victory, even escaping would be a problem!
But trying to shake off this mortal fly without using his power... With his current strength, that was nothing short of a pipe dream!
Thus, the Fourteenth Young Master was in tragedy! And it was a grand tragedy!
Since his birth, he had never encountered such a massive disaster, whether traversing the Nine Hells or the Xuanxuan Continent! The remaining parts of his predicament left the Fourteenth Young Master with the acute feeling of a dragon trapped in shallow waters and a tiger brought down to plains—a crushing sense of defeat!
By the time the dishes were set on the table, this supreme madman had still not emerged from his state of suffocating frustration, glaring at Jun Mo Xie with eyes that looked ready to devour him! "Please, please, please.
Dig in, don't be shy; I insist!" Jun Mo Xie was assiduously playing the host. If judged purely on his hospitality, Jun Mo Xie would receive top marks, but his next sentence immediately gave the Fourteenth Young Master the urge to flip the table: "...Anyway, I'm broke, so it's a free meal, hehehe...
If I eat it, it's free; if I eat fast, it's all mine, if I eat slow, there's none left..." The Fourteenth Young Master picked up his chopsticks, took a sip of wine, and nearly choked. He looked helplessly at Jun Mo Xie: "This Young Master is curious, can you...
be any more shameless?" "Don't talk nonsense! Where am I being shameless?
I'm kindly treating you to a meal, and you slander me? You're impossible to get along with!
But since you asked, I, being so magnanimous, can enlighten you a bit. Shamelessness has no ceiling!
Shamelessness is a grand avenue leading to heaven, a profound learning that is easy to touch upon but difficult to master. It is worthy of a lifetime spent exploring, researching, and striving for.
We must persevere tirelessly, struggle unremittingly, research relentlessly, and study diligently... We must constantly push the realm of shamelessness to new heights!
Of course, my previous statement was general, because how could I, this Young Master, be shameless..." Jun Mo Xie spoke with rising and falling cadence, as if reciting poetry. "Sigh~~~~ No need to say more.
I have already witnessed the highest realm of this discipline through you! I believe that in this field, your achievements are already earth-shattering and utterly unparalleled..." The Fourteenth Young Master sighed in pain, grabbed the wine flask, tilted his head back, and downed several large gulps.
His face bore an expression of "sorrow deeper than a dead heart." Other than drinking, he had no appetite for any of the delicacies on the table. His appetite was gone; even if he forced himself to swallow, it tasted like chewing wax—better left uneaten!
Jun Mo Xie chuckled inwardly, but his divine sense was closely monitoring every move of the person before him, verifying it against his own understanding. He had long since recognized that the person before him was indeed the once formidable Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells!
He could also see clearly that the Fourteenth Young Master's injuries had clearly not healed, otherwise, how would Jun Mo Xie dare to act so presumptuously in his presence? This was a genuine lunatic; if the Young Master still retained even a fraction of his strength, one palm strike would turn him into a meat patty!
Young Master Jun, while not prone to underestimating himself, highly respected the astonishing power of the Fourteenth Young Master. But now, he had no such scruples.
Jun Mo Xie naturally would not reveal his true identity, continuing his rambling discourse, which was actually serving another purpose. Otherwise, given Jun Mo Xie's character, why would he risk creating a massive hidden danger for the sake of momentary verbal satisfaction?
Yet, through this interaction, Jun Mo Xie discovered that the Fourteenth Young Master seemed not as utterly brutal as the legends suggested! The Fourteenth Young Master carried no airs, nor did he exhibit any discernible demeanor.
In fact, this was a state that Jun Mo Xie himself was constantly pursuing! This was the very objective behind his endless torrent of nonsense.
Because he was benchmarking! He was comprehending!
Every gesture and expression carved by the Fourteenth Young Master represented his achievements. And these achievements were incrementally verifying Jun Mo Xie's own realm, guiding his comprehension!
A person struggling from poverty and lowliness to success undergoes a process. They appear one way before achieving status; but once successful, even the most composed individuals will occasionally lose their bearing for a time.
This is human nature, and it is unavoidable! Thus, that segment of people begins to pursue meaningless grace, demeanor, and all external trappings that ostensibly reveal "inner substance" and "foundation." Whether it is being transcendent above worldly concerns, living detachedly, or acting arrogantly and domineeringly, these are all merely superficial disguises, especially the so-called noble demeanor.
When actively pursued, even if achieved, one loses their true self! Only by advancing beyond this stage to reach the true apex does one begin to recognize what they truly desire.
People at this level invariably face the world with their intrinsic true nature. Crying when they wish to cry, laughing when they wish to laugh, completely without concealment or pretense—this is the return to simplicity in being human!
It mirrors the return to simplicity in martial profound arts! However, this return to simplicity in true nature is the genuine transcendent realm!
Only the present Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells embodied this true self, the purest interpretation of nature! Only when this realm thoroughly merges with the return to simplicity in martial arts does one become a true master!
And how rare are such transcendent figures! On the entire planet, perhaps one might not appear in thousands of years who reaches this level!
This is the true realm! A realm that Young Master Jun himself had not yet attained.
Since the distant past, in Jun Mo Xie’s knowledge, only two people possessed this quality of return to simplicity, at most two: one was the First Young Master of the Nine Hells, who had already reached a higher level transcending the myriad things of nature, making a return to simplicity a given; the other was the Fourteenth Young Master before him! Jun Mo Xie wanted to see just how far his realm had progressed!
Could it fully integrate with his own profound arts until they were indistinguishable? And how far was he from that realm—was it within reach, or hopelessly distant?
Ever since he had intermittently heard tales of the Young Masters of the Nine Hells, Jun Mo Xie had harbored this vague realization; because, regardless of praise or criticism, whenever people discussed the Young Masters of the Nine Hells, the basic assessment was always the same! Whether mad or arrogant; these individuals lived out their most authentic selves!
From this, Jun Mo Xie suddenly conceived an idea one day: Could this be a unique method of cultivation? After this realization dawned, he specifically delved into the archives within the Honggou Tower, and after searching extensively, he arrived at a conclusion that stunned him when he reached the section on the highest realms!
This truly was a realm! This realm was called the "True Self"!
If one loses their "True Self," abandons it, forgets it... what is the point of speaking of cultivating the Dao or achieving immortality?
What is the point of shattering the void to attain the Great Dao? Therefore, in Daoist texts, there is another term for it: "Origin"!
And the only Young Masters of the Nine Hells whom Young Master Jun had truly encountered, besides the First Young Master whom he might never see again, was the Fourteenth Young Master before him! Therefore, Jun Mo Xie's deliberate effort today to provoke the negative emotions of the Fourteenth Young Master was precisely to use his performance to comprehend his own "Origin"!
Now, as the emotions of the Fourteenth Young Master became increasingly unrestrained, Jun Mo Xie's own insights grew richer. He was even on the verge of a breakthrough!
The True Self Origin—so that is what it is!