Chapter 277: Entering The Ancient Martial Arts World
Gu Xiqiao studied Yao Jiamu’s expression, silent for a while before finally saying, “… Don’t bully them too much when the time comes.”
“Do we look like that kind of person?” Wu Hongwen spoke before Yao Jiamu could. He walked out of the cave, staring at the pair of clear, bright eyes on him.
“Not before this,” Gu Xiqiao replied easily, her eyes still on him.
Wu Hongwen: “…” And who was the one responsible for making them this way?
“You need a wooden token to enter the ancient martial arts world.” Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “There’s no worry about this, I’ll get it for you guys later. The initial development of the ancient martial arts world will be handled by Wenlang.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Yao Jiamu was confused at that.
“You and Little Wuzi have something more important to do.” Gu Xiqiao took out her phone to shoot a message off to Luo Wenlang, and after thinking some more, she sent another to Jiang Shuxuan. “I’ll come back to you a bit later.”
With that, she turned around and was about to leave when Haha reached her feet.
Gu Xiqiao lowered her head to see the dog, and a slightly depressed Xixi who was sitting on top of its head. She leaned down immediately to pick up Haha in her arms.
Yao Jiamu had initially wanted to ask what important things she wanted them to do, but before he could ask, Gu Xiqiao vanished from the spot in a distortion of s.p.a.ce with a, “I’m going first.”
Behind them, a bunch of people who had heard that Gu Xiqiao was here came running as soon as news reached them. However, they only heard her voice, not seeing a hint of her anywhere when they arrived.
“Young Master Jiang, where is Miss Gu?” One of them asked.
Wu Honweng patted him on the shoulder, pointing at the empty s.p.a.ce in front of him. “Don’t you see? She’s right there.” Having said that, he left the area, heading back into the cave.
That person rubbed his eyes, and rubbed it again, but he couldn’t see anything. Then he exclaimed in shock, “Miss Gu, are you practicing some invisible array? Why can’t I see you?”
Wu Hongwen halted his steps when he heard that. “…” This idiot!
Having such little experience in life, what a naive person!
***
Gu Xiqiao’s figure disappeared from the training grounds, and appeared in the Elder’s a.s.sociation the next moment in the ancient martial arts world.
There were two guards guarding the gates outside. Today is the qualifying matches, and all the young people in the ancient martial arts world had been sent over together, so there weren’t many people left in the Elder’s a.s.sociation.
Gu Xiqiao walked through the front doors, and the two guards turned a blind eye to her presence.
Haha, who was in Gu Xiqiao’s arms, barked, “Woof woof woof!” (Do these guys have bad eyesight or something? Didn’t they see Beauty Gu?”
Xixi chirped weakly. “Chirp chirp chiiirp~” (Stupid dog, won’t they know she’s here with your barking?)
Haha: “…”
As soon as it raised its head, the two guards had already unsheathed their weapon and were looking around warily. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!”
Gu Xiqiao paused in her steps, Haha in one hand, and snapping her fingers with the other.
The two guards shook their head, a vacant gaze in their eyes for a moment before they quickly regained their senses. They sheathed their weapons, turning back to stand guard in their previous position once again.
Haha didn’t dare to make a peep at this moment, but it peered up at Gu Xiqiao with its beady eyes sparkling with wors.h.i.+p for its owner who held it in her arms.
Gu Xiqiao merely rubbed Haha’s head gently, and pulled out her phone to see that she had two new messages.
Luo Wenlang: Alright, I understand. But the ancient martial arts world… will a regular person like me be beaten to death if I head over?
Gu Xiqiao swiftly shot back a reply—[Don’t worry, somebody will collect your body if you die.]
The other message was from Jiang Shuxuan—[In the Elder’s a.s.sociation’s cabinet. You can get it yourself or wait for me to come back. As for the location, you can pick whatever you want.]
Gu Xiqiao kept away her phone. She caught sight of the scriptures that belonged to the seven elders on the table, and she walked towards it to find that they had read through most of it already. She rubbed her chin. “I didn’t expect these old men to have such a habit.”
After observing for a little while, she continued to walk and stopped by a bookcase. Xixi was on her shoulder, looking at the bookcase. “It looks like there’s a restriction.”
“It’s fine.” Gu Xiqiao casually reached out and opened the bookcase, opening a box that was inside it.
In the box, there was a large wooden plaque.
This was the same ident.i.ty card that Jiang Shuxuan had given her previously for the ancient martial arts world. She was able to enter the ancient martial arts world because of this.
Waving a hand, more than one hundred ident.i.ty cards disappeared instantly.
Having done that, she placed the lid back on the box and returned it to its original place. She closed the bookcase, the restrictions all still in place.
She leisurely walked out of the Elders a.s.sociation, her mental powers stretching out to study the terrains of the entire ancient martial arts world. The houses near the center were denser, while the ones nearer to the edge were spa.r.s.e. The closer it was to the center, the more spiritual energy was felt in the air. It was great for training and cultivation.
If you were to use rings to explain the distribution, it would go like this:
With the Jiang family house as the center, the outside was divided into a second ring, third ring, fourth ring and so on.
The Jiang family has the most spiritual energy, followed by the second ring. The second ring consisted of prestigious families like the Tang family and Murong family.
The third ring was where most of the ordinary families lived, like the Fu family.
The fourth ring is where the disciples of the ancient martial arts world lived.
As for the fifth and sixth ring, they were all deserted. That’s because after the fourth ring, there was no more spiritual aura in that area.
What Gu Xiqiao had her eyes on was the land in the fifth ring, a place where even the outer disciples were not interested in.
XIxi stood on her shoulder, and couldn’t help but say, “Beauty Gu, why did you pick such a place where even birds don’t sh*t? There isn’t a hint of aura in the air, isn’t it no different than the outside world?” It had initially intended to take up the place as king, and watch a good show. It didn’t expect that she would pick such a place so quickly?
You still need to inform Master Jiang to use such a broken, desolated place?
“How can the outside world compare to such a nice place like this?” Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “Put it here, let Wenlang open a treasure house and see the kind of medicine that you often take, and some other things that I’ll bring over. When those people from the ancient martial arts world see a regular person selling such elixirs, don’t you think they will try to do something? At that time, the peacekeepers will have work to do every day.”
Xixi: “…” Didn’t you say to not bully them too much?
Gu Xiqiao made a decision easily. Her people from the Peace Squad would settle down here.
But the matters in the ancient martial arts world still needed to be decided by the elders, and Gu Xiqiao thought about that. Well, let’s go find the elders then.
***
At this time, the great elder was talking to a group of young disciples, encouraging them to work together and strive to get the placements in the qualifying matches. As long as they managed to get a placement, they would have more resources, and there would be more rewards for the ancient martial arts world. They would even be able to enter the Jiang family’s inheritance base, which was easier than accepting missions and tasks on The Forum.
After finis.h.i.+ng with his words, the great elder walked to sit down on his own seat. The elder on his left was still briefing the others about the rules of the qualifying tournament on stage.
The great elder picked up a cup of tea, blowing on it. Before he could take a sip, a voice came from his left. “h.e.l.lo Great Elder, we meet again.”
“Yes, h.e.l.lo.” The great elder responded automatically, then he realized that something wasn’t right. Wasn’t the elder to his left still on stage?
And so he looked up to meet with a stunning face staring at him. His hands shook, and he nearly dropped the teacup, a horrified expression on his face. “Mi-Miss Gu!”
Oh my G.o.d! Why was this thing here!
“Relax, I’m not here to pick a fight with you. I just wanted to let you know something.” Gu Xiqiao rubbed Haha’s head, smiling at the great elder. “I’ve chosen a place in the ancient martial arts world, it’s in the fifth ring.”
“The fifth ring?” The great elder was thinking of the geography of the entire Imperial Capital, and understood what she meant after a moment. “Why don’t you let me arrange one in the second ring for you, there’s enough aura around the area and more suitable for people to live in.”
“Thank you, but no need. The fifth line is enough.” Gu Xiqiao smiled at the great elder again, then she disappeared.
The great elder immediately said, “Safe journey, Miss Gu.”
The other people around him couldn’t help the twitching of their mouths when they saw his actions. “Great Elder, why are you talking to air?”
Great Elder: “…” WTF? You guys couldn’t see her?! Then didn’t he look like some r.e.t.a.r.d just now?
***
Gu Xiqiao, who had just riled the great elder up, returned once again to the training grounds.
Yao Jiamu and the others were already in the cave waiting for her.
She stood at the edge of the cave, a white light flashed on her hands before a table and stool appeared in front of her. She sat down, placing both arms on the table.
A voice sounded out through the air in the cave, echoing in everyone’s head, “Come out quickly.”
Those who were resting in the cave and those who weren’t in the middle of breaking through came out immediately, seeing Gu Xiqiao sitting lazily on the stool, which they didn’t know who had brought in the first place. There were a pile of wooden plaques in front of her.
There were some who were breaking through their levels, and only came out twenty minutes later.
Seeing that most of them had arrived, she stood from the table, pointing to the pile of wooden plaques on it. “These are the ident.i.ty cards to enter the ancient martial arts world, each person will receive one. Little Mutou, Little Wuzi, and Xiao Yun will follow me to the qualifying matches today. Wait for me at the entrance at 11 o’clock. If you don’t know the way, look for Big Brother Yin. For the rest, your task is to build up our base in the ancient martial arts world. Let’s call it Peace Manor.”
Having said that, Gu Xiqiao moved to stand in front of the place. She closed her eyes, a huge wave of energy sweeping out to instantly envelope the cave.
The system had last time said that even if she were to use all her strength, she wouldn’t be able to move the cave. Now that she had advanced two levels, her mental powers were far beyond the level she had in the past. She wondered if that would be enough to pull the cave into her inventory.
After some loud rumbling, the entire cave disappeared.
Only the long purple dragon that hovered in the air was left.
Gu Xiqiao opened her eyes. She had succeeded, she actually did it! She had thought that without the help of the system, it would be impossible to pack away the cave, and she wasn’t holding out much hope. The surprise had come too soon!
After keeping the cave away, she raised her hands, waving it slightly to disperse the purple dragon.
“I’ve brought the cave to the ancient martial arts world, to a location that I’ve chosen. When you enter and find the cave, that’s the location I’ve picked!” Having said that, Gu Xiqiao disappeared on the spot.
***
At the same time, the entrance of the ancient martial arts world where the elders were teaching some young disciples and those from the fourth ring was suddenly met with a shocking scene.
A huge mountain appeared out of thin air in the fifth ring of the world, and a few minutes later, a purple dragon hovered on top of the mountain, both items exuding a terrifying aura.
A few more minutes later, the purple dragon disappeared instantly, leaving behind only an ordinary mountain.
“G-Great Elder… this… what is this?” All the elder’s eyes were wide, their jaw almost touching the going. “Who had managed to make such a big move like this? The entire ancient martial arts world should have felt the shock, right?
The elder looked at the position of the cave, and noted that it was in the fifth ring, then he turned back to look at the purple dragon that was in the air. He clutched his chest tightly. “It’s Miss Gu, she has picked a place to live in the ancient martial arts world. You go on ahead with your teachings, I’ll head back to the Elders a.s.sociation first.”
He left after he said that, muttering under his breath as he walked away.
A young disciple listened carefully to his words, and his eyes widened. The great elder was chanting scriptures again?!
The great elder didn’t expect to receive another shock when he returned to the Elders a.s.sociation, the wooden plaques for ident.i.ty cards had disappeared! The main point to note was that all the protections and restrictions were still in place, untouched!
***
Jiang Shuxuan, who had curled the entire Imperial Capital and was preparing to return to the ancient martial arts world suddenly received a text from the great elder—[The ident.i.ty plaques have been stolen! The ancient martial arts world is in danger!]
The man laughed for a long time after reading the message, and only replied once he was done—[Don’t worry.]
Little did the elders and everyone else knew, this was only the beginning. When the people from the Peace Squad entered the world one by one in the afternoon, they began to build the manor on the area at the edge of the cave. All of them were masters, building it according to the architect’s instructions. The manor was built up in an unnaturally fast time.
When the seven elders came over to see if Gu Xiqiao needed any help, they saw the people from the Peace Squad, who greeted them with friendly smiles.
Second elder: “… So… Miss Gu’s subordinates, they’re all… the members of the Peace Squad?”
“Yes.” The Great Elder said with a deadpan expression.