When Chen Tang woke up, it was already dawn.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the Mountain Guest looking at him with a smile that seemed not entirely serious.

Chen Tang felt as if he'd been caught slacking off red-handed.

This wasn't really his fault.

The main reason was that he had spent quite a long time in the Divine Illumination State last night. Although the Mountain Guest interrupted in time, he still felt a bit fatigued.

Moreover, with this Breathing Technique, every bone emanated a subtle warmth, penetrating through muscles and skin, making his whole body feel cozy and exceptionally comfortable, leading him to fall asleep unknowingly.

"Not bad."

The Mountain Guest, however, showed no sign of reprimand. Instead, he nodded and said, "Your future achievements might exceed even my expectations."

What's going on?

Slacked off and took a nap, yet ended up with a wave of compliments?

The Mountain Guest saw the doubt in Chen Tang's eyes and said, "Normally, when people cultivate their Inner Strength, they need to stay awake. The more powerful the Inner Strength, the more cautious the cultivation needs to be, often requiring seclusion and avoiding disturbances; otherwise, it would be easy to go astray."

This concept wasn't anything new; Chen Tang had read about it plenty in books from his past life.

The Mountain Guest continued, "But you have prematurely opened your Mud Ball Palace, with the Divine Soul residing in the Yellow Court. Even when sleeping, your Divine Soul guides you, and with the Breathing Technique of the Tiger Subduing Technique, your breath remains calm and orderly."

"Senior means to say..."

"Even when you're sleeping, you're cultivating!"

Chen Tang was tongue-tied.

Goodness!

This truly meant practicing the Dao at all times, doubling his cultivation time compared to ordinary people.

Moreover, he gained rest and didn't feel the slightest fatigue.

The Mountain Guest said, "You should go back and cultivate. Once you've reached the Eighth Grade or have investigated those pieces of information, come back up the mountain to find me."

"Alright."

Chen Tang said, "I'll first go to the Old Ape to get some Monkey Wine, as I drank the last batch early. Do you need any, Senior? I can bring some back for you?"

"No need."

The Mountain Guest said, "That Old Ape occasionally comes over and brings some wine for me."

Chen Tang chuckled.

That Old Ape is as shrewd as a fox, understands human nature and language, just lacking the ability to speak human words.

It knew that by getting acquainted with the Mountain Guest and Mountain Lord, it could walk sideways through the Three Thousand Snow Ridges.

Chen Tang bid farewell to the Mountain Guest and headed towards the Old Ape's dwelling.

This visit up the mountain gave him a slightly different feeling about the Mountain Guest.

In Changze County, no matter how much he tossed around and told stories to the Mountain Guest, the latter didn't seem to care much and showed little interest.

This time, when mentioning some information about the Cyan Dragon Bureau and the Black Water Gang, the Mountain Guest seemed to notice something and showed some interest.

Moreover, all his concerns were far away in the Capital City, having no direct connection to him here.

At the end of the year, Chen Tang had invited the Mountain Guest to come down the mountain for a visit, but the latter refused.

It seemed the Mountain Guest had some unspeakable reason that prevented him from coming down the mountain.

Chen Tang didn't expect the Mountain Guest to directly lend a hand or offer any help.

But with his experience and knowledge, perhaps he could offer some hints.

The Mountain Guest's judgment about that saber took him by surprise.

Before returning to Wu'an County, he planned to first visit Chen Da'an's burial site.

Half an hour later, Chen Tang arrived at the Old Ape's dwelling.

Some monkeys had already recognized Chen Tang and went into the cave to report.

The Old Ape came out with the Little White Ape to greet him.

The Little White Ape seemed to have grown quite a bit and was now almost as tall as Chen Tang's waist, with pitch-black eyes that darted around, looking very clever and intelligent.

Chen Tang explained his purpose for the visit.

The Old Ape welcomed him into the cave, filled up the Monkey Wine, and then gestured to Chen Tang as if it suddenly remembered something.

Subsequently, the Old Ape's hand made a motion as if holding something and randomly stabbed towards Chen Tang, resembling some Swordsmanship.

A thought struck Chen Tang.

He suddenly recalled that the first time they met, the Old Ape clutched a tree branch and used a Sword Technique on him that directly broke through his Tiger Subduing Fist stance and struck his chest.

At the time, he thought it was a bit odd.

Now, as his cultivation improved and he thought back, that Sword Technique was extraordinarily exquisite, not something the Old Ape could do casually.

"You understand Swordsmanship?"

Chen Tang asked.

The Old Ape nodded, then shook its head.

It tugged on Chen Tang, leading him deeper into the cave.

Inside the cave was another world; after a few twists and turns, the Old Ape led Chen Tang to a cave that resembled a secret chamber.

In the surrounding darkness, Chen Tang, who had consumed Mountain Lord Tiger Milk, had exceptional night vision and vaguely saw two figures, one tall and one short, sitting in the cave.

Upon nearing, Chen Tang realized these two figures had long been deceased for many years, leaving only two skeletons.

The tall skeleton on the left was exceptionally robust, towering, likely reaching ten feet if standing straight.

From the features of the skull, it looked like it belonged to the White Ape Clan.

In front of this tall White Ape, there was also a Great Sword stuck in the ground.

Who knows how many years had passed, yet the Great Sword still glimmered coldly without a trace of rust, clearly belonging to the class of Divine Weapons.

The Great Sword appeared to be seven or eight feet long, with a blade wider than Chen Tang's arm.

Humans certainly couldn't wield it, and it would be clumsy to use.

But if it were in the hands of this tall White Ape, it would seem just right.

Chen Tang carefully observed and found that the tall White Ape had multiple fractures, with a huge Crossbow Arrow left in its abdomen, resembling the trauma from a Siege Crossbow, almost tearing its waist and belly apart.

Beside the tall White Ape was also a skeleton, evidently a human.

The clothes on the body had long been tattered, covered with scars, and amidst the bones were still some rusted arrows, with sword and blade marks visible on the bones!

Who knows what trials this human and ape had gone through, as if enduring the charge of a thousand troops.

The Old Ape stepped forward, picked up a roll of withered animal skin before the two skeletons, and unfolded it in front of Chen Tang, babbling something.

Chen Tang looked intently.

The beast-skin depicted two rows; the first row showed eight little figures holding Long Swords, practicing Sword Techniques.

The second row had the corresponding Heart Method Techniques written under each Sword Technique.

Chen Tang briefly glanced through it.

The sword technique that the Old Ape previously demonstrated to him was one of them, called "Desperate Ape Throwing into the Forest."

According to the Heart Method Techniques below, this technique was akin to staking everything on a loss, a desperate assault disregarding life and death, purely a deadly Sword Technique with no retreat.

However, since Chen Tang had not been practicing martial arts for long and his exposure to Martial Arts was limited,

he found the Sword Techniques above easy to grasp.

But the Heart Method Techniques below contained many obscure and difficult words, making them tough to understand.

To truly comprehend the essence and profound meaning of the Sword Techniques above, one must combine them with the Heart Method Techniques below.

Seeing the Old Ape's somewhat confused expression, Chen Tang suddenly understood.

He could recognize every word, yet the key points of the Heart Method Techniques eluded him, let alone since the Old Ape couldn't read at all.

The Old Ape pulled the Little White Ape to the front, gestured a few times, then placed its palms together, showing a plea.

Chen Tang asked, "You want me to comprehend this set of Swordsmanship, and then teach it to him?"

The Old Ape nodded repeatedly, showing joy, looking expectantly at Chen Tang.

Chen Tang said, "To be honest, there are many things in there I don't understand either, but it doesn't matter; there is someone who certainly understands."

With that, Chen Tang picked up the roll of beast-skin, saying, "Let's go, you take the Little White Ape and follow me up the Snow Mountain, remember to prepare plenty of Monkey Wine for that elder."

The Old Ape got the idea and immediately turned back to prepare the wine.

Chen Tang led the Old Ape and the Little White Ape back up the Snow Mountain.

When he handed the roll of beast-skin to the Mountain Guest, the Mountain Guest opened it and immediately had a changing expression, asking urgently, "Where did this roll of beast-skin come from, are they still alive?"

Chen Tang had never seen the Mountain Guest's expression change so drastically, with such emotional fluctuation.

He recounted the scene he had witnessed in the cave in detail.

The Mountain Guest fell silent for a long time after hearing, only clutching the beast-skin, staring into the distance, lost in thought.

After a long while, the Mountain Guest sighed deeply.

"So, they have also perished."

The Mountain Guest murmured softly.

Chen Tang cautiously asked, "Who are they?"

The Mountain Guest replied, "A century ago, on the Divine Land, a master swordsman appeared out of nowhere, challenging swordsmen from all major Sects, undefeated in all battles, earning immense fame. Beside him often was a tall White Ape, known as the Immortal Ape Sword Sect."

"Later, when the Former Emperor Wu unified the Northern Divine Continent, and attacked the major Sects in the Martial World, capturing Jianghu masters, the Immortal Ape Sword Sect disappeared during that time. Some said he retired from Jianghu; others said he was besieged and killed by Emperor Wu's army."

"Until decades later..."

After a pause, the Mountain Guest continued, "When Emperor Wu's southern expedition failed, the Extreme North Cold Domain, gathering the power of the Seven Nations, took advantage and attempted to cross the Three Thousand Snow Ridges to invade Pingzhou of Wu Country."

"Following the failure of Emperor Wu's southern expedition, he regrouped his remnant forces and clashed with the Extreme North Cold Domain at the Three Thousand Snow Ridges in a great battle that lasted a whole year, causing countless casualties. Although the Cold Domain was repelled, and Pingzhou defended, it was a pyrrhic victory, greatly depleting Wu Country's Primordial Qi."

"This led to the later rebellion of the Five Clans, the rise of the Profound Celestial Sect, and the downfall of Wu Country."

"And during that Snow Ridge battle, the Immortal Ape Sword Sect appeared, battling the Cold Domain Demon Saber multiple times amid the thousands of troops, earning great merit."

Chen Tang said, "Previously, Emperor Wu attacked the Jianghu Sects and hunted Martial World masters, but during the Snow Ridge battle, the Immortal Ape Sword Sect appeared to help, truly repaying grievances with virtue."

The Mountain Guest said, "He once said, he didn't care about the rise and fall of Wu Country. His intervention this time wasn't to assist Emperor Wu, but to prevent the people of Pingzhou from falling into the hands of alien races and suffering oppression and slaughter."

"Unfortunately, though the Extreme North Cold Domain retreated, without the external threat, the Northern Divine Continent was still engulfed in war, and none in the world were spared."

"Little did I expect, they too perished in the Snow Ridge battle..."

The Mountain Guest rose, stepping outside the cave, gazing at the surrounding boundless snow sea, saying, "In those years, who knows how many soldiers and heroes were buried in this Snow Ridge, and the source of this calamity is Emperor Wu!"

"If not for his reckless militarism, ambition, stubbornness, and intent to conquer the south, how could it have come to this! The common people suffer, catastrophes run rampant, all because of his singular fault!"

Speaking later, the Mountain Guest was emotionally agitated, angrily denouncing.

Chen Tang remained silent.

Regardless of rise and fall, it's always the common people who suffer in the end.

However, peace is always better than chaos.

If there had been no southern expedition by Emperor Wu, when the Northern Divine Continent had just ended its turmoil, focused on recuperation and development, perhaps there would be another scene.

"Senior, are you also from the previous dynasty?"

Chen Tang asked.

If not, the Mountain Guest wouldn't know so much about these things.

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