The Divine Martial Stars

But did "all the experts" include the golden-winged roc and Li Mu?

Many people believed that the answer was positive.

In the past, when the flow of the Spiritual Qi had not been restored, Li Mu earned himself the title of the number one cultivator. He had suppressed the Divine Land for several years all by himself, and for a long time, no one dared to challenge him.

Nevertheless, that was already yesterday's story.

Nowadays, the global environment had changed. And Li Mu's legend seemed to have come to an end, didn't it?

Besides, the golden-winged roc got injured when undergoing the tribulation and was still consolidating its realm. His performance was far inferior to the Nangong family's genius named Nangong Yu. Thus, it seemed that the roc was not a match for Nangong Yu, either.

Dimly, people felt that Nangong Yu was about to replace Li Mu and become the new number one cultivator in the world.

It was a super big event that two experts entered the Void-breaking Realm one after another. To the Divine Land, it was like two stones had been thrown into a calm lake, splashing huge ripples. The surface of the water was no longer still, and undercurrents were surging on all sides of the land.

In contrast with the devil races who had always kept a low profile and letting things take their own course, the Nangong family's influence began to expand rapidly without any suspense after Nangong Yu rose to fame.

In less than a month, the Nangong family, which was half-hidden under the ground in the past, quickly came to the front of the stage and annexed several martial arts sects in the Northern Song, breaking the ban of fighting among the major martial arts sects Li Mu had issued before.

The Nangong family was rising abruptly.

Many people also regarded Nangong family's behavior as a test of Li Mu's tolerance.

Since Li Mu had accumulated great power and influence in the past, even though the Nangong family had fostered an expert in the Void-breaking Realm, they dared not to confront Li Mu by force. In the great environment where the Spiritual Qi was recovering, Li Mu could also have made a breakthrough. He could not still be in square one when all the others had grown stronger.

A month had passed. Under the close attention of all parties, Taibai City did not make any response to the Nangong family's "going beyond the line".

In particular, Li Mu himself was still in the Knife Hut and never showed his face in public.

At that time, some rumors started to sweep the land.

"Li Mu is scared."

"Li Mu's era has already passed."

"Taibai City has privately surrendered to the Nangong family."

"Li Mu did not make a breakthrough. As he was too eager to make progress in the past, his foundation was not built solid. And he has been seriously injured in several fierce battles, which left him some complications. So, his strength did not increase but slipped."

All kinds of rumors, whether intentionally or unintentionally made, began to spread among the major forces.

The opinions of the parties varied, but one thing was 100% certain—

Li Mu had not entered the Void-breaking Realm.

Breaking the void in this world was a heaven-defying deed. Doing it would incur the punishment by the will of Divine Way. So, entering the Void-breaking Realm would certainly entail a tribulation. Since ancient times, every expert in the Void-breaking Realm had to endure the tribulation and undergo the purification before being transformed completely.

And if one failed to survive the tribulation, he could only be obliterated by the will of the Divine Way.

That was an iron law. Since ancient times, no one had been able to get around it.

No thunder clouds of the tribulation had appeared above Taibai City, so the others were completely sure that Li Mu had not tried the tribulation to enter the Void-breaking Realm.

Although in the previous battles of various sizes, Li Mu always defeated the opponent much stronger than he was. His ability to kill those in higher realms had made people tremble with fear, and that was also where Li Mu's deterrent force lay.

However, the Void-breaking Realm was a natural moat.

Since ancient times, no one had ever heard that a cultivator beneath the Void-breaking Realm could defeat one in that realm. It was impossible to achieve even for a Sage at the peak of his realm.

That was because it was no longer a simple difference in strength, cultivation, moves, or Cultivation Methods, but a disparity of the levels of the Great Way.

And that was also why the Nangong family had been so emboldened.

On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the twin moons were both perfectly round.

And another big event occurred.

Carrying one sword, Nangong Yu went to the mountains alone to challenge the golden-winged roc. He wanted to sharpen his sword by fighting this emerging devil expert in the Void-breaking Realm, which was also a prelude for the upcoming challenge against Li Mu.

From that angle, the peerless genius of the Nangong family indeed thought very highly of Li Mu.

That night, the wind howled and the thunder rumbled in the mountains.

The power of the Divine Way circulated in the mountains. The energy fluctuations surged like terrifying waves as they radiated to the outside of the mountain range. Rays of sword light swirled heavenly, illuminating the void and shooting straight to the stars. That scene was extremely horrifying.

Soon, the repercussions of the battle were overflowing.

Mountains collapsed one after another. A large number of creatures fled from the mountain range.

The experts longing to watch the battle dared not go deep into the mountains. They could only look out over the battlefield from a distance. And what they learned from the battle varied.

At dawn, the twin suns slowly rose from the horizon.

Nangong Yu stalked out of the battlefield. Though his clothes became sort of rag, he walked out with superior triumph and imposing air. When he got out, he looked around at the spectators, gave a hearty laugh, and turned into a stream of light and disappeared.

In the end, the news was out that Nangong Yu became the winner in the battle between the two Void-breaking experts, while the golden-winged roc lost.

That news threw all parties in a state of shock.

By then, the Nangong family instantly assumed the title of the number one martial arts family in the world.

The three great empires and the top nine Holy Clans had all become history, blown away by ruthless time.

By that time, on the Divine Land, perhaps only the Taibai City could basically rival the Nangong family.

However, the situation of bipartite confrontation would not last long.

If Li Mu could not enter the Void-breaking Realm in a short time, he would be knocked out of the game in the age rich in the Spiritual Qi. There was no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts. Yes, the world of martial arts was exactly this cruel.

In addition, the Nangong family had continued making small moves under the table.

For instance, they held a Martial Arts Conference in the Northern Song, urging the masses to elect a leader of the martial arts society to command of the cultivators at large. Also, the Nangong family was in conflict with the Yue Mountain Faction. In addition, a disciple of the Nangong family drew his sword and committed murder in the 10 cities and nine counties of the Great Moon Empire.

Those incidents were undoubtedly a provocation against Li Mu.

Even so, according to Taibai City, Li Mu was still in closed-door training and not ready to meet the public. No one knew whether he was really doing closed-door training or hiding from something.

But that undoubtedly convinced all the parties that Li Mu was scared. He knew that he was no match for Nangong Yu and so he chose to hide in Taibai City.

"I, the master of Nangong family, will marry Countess Huanzhu, the most beautiful woman in the Northern Song."

Another explosive news was released from the Nangong family.

The master of the Nangong family was a 249-year-old man named Nangong Chunliang. He used to be one of the most famous experts on the Divine Land. And he was the father of Nangong Yu, the powerful expert in the Void-breaking Realm. It was rumored that Nangong Chunliang was born to be dissolute, and had a large number of wives and concubines and hundreds of children. He was a famous stud, and his hobby was to enjoy the company of beautiful women from all over the world.

When that news came out, all the parties were stunned.

"Is this a forced marriage?"

"Well, many kiss the baby for the nurse's sake."

"He is driving Li Mu out. Everyone knows that Li Mu has killed Lord Jin of the Northern Song for the sake of Countess Huanzhu. There is some history between Li Mu and the countess."

"That move the Nangong family pulled is just shameless, but also quite vicious."

"If Li Mu can still tolerate this kind of thing, he will really slip from a martial art legend to a laughingstock all over the world."

···

In Taibai City.

Everyone was furious.

The Four Men's Symphony was fuming.

"That fool who just broke the void doesn't know what real power is. He is just a worm that just climbed out of his egg. How dare he challenge our master? He really has an exaggerated opinion of his own abilities. Little master, I'll go and chop his head off."

The knitted eyebrows asked Qing Feng, the Young Master Sage, for approval with an angry look.

Recently, it was Qing Feng who was in charge of the overall situation in Taibai City.

Qing Feng shook his head and said, "Just be more patient."

In the past six months, Li Mu had shut himself up in the Knife Hut to do closed-door training. Clearly, his cultivation had reached a critical stage, so no one was allowed to disturb him on any account. Qing Feng had a hunch that his Young Master was just about to finish his work.

In the Temple of Devils.

"Brother Roc, do you reckon that Li Mu will once again rise to the situation for a beauty?"

In the pavilion next to a waterfall, the demon leader, Little Demon, and the golden-winged roc were sitting opposite to each other across the chessboard, drinking tea while playing chess leisurely.

"Well, the real question you want to ask is which one is stronger between Li Mu and Nangong Yu, am I right?" The golden-winged giant roc smiled faintly at the demon master's question. He was now in the form of a golden-haired and golden-browed man. His sword-like eyebrows slanted into the temples. And he had a conspicuous hooked nose. His facial features were quite prominent.

The demon master moved a chess piece and said, "You can have it that way. What do you think, Brother Roc?"

The golden-winged roc smiled and said, "Nangong Yu is just seeking his own death."

"Oh?" The demon master's eyes lit up.

His cultivation was only in the Great Sage Realm. Although he had been making progress in recent years, he had yet broken through to the Void-breaking Realm. Therefore, there were some issues he could not see clearly or understand thoroughly. So, he said, "Why did you come to that conclusion? Has Li Mu already entered the Void-breaking Realm? No, quite unlikely, as there is no sign of tribulation…"

The golden-winged roc landed a piece once more and then said, "Li Mu certainly hasn't entered the Void-breaking Realm. But that man is a freak. His strength cannot be measured by common standards… To be honest, I suspect that he has something to do with this golden age full of Spiritual Qi. Demon master, do you still remember that I almost failed the tribulation on that day? But at the critical moment, the thunder of the tribulation seemed to be on the wane, didn't it?"

The demon master, Little Demon, confirmed with a nod.

The golden-winged roc remarked, "At that time, you were all outside of the Thunder and Lightning Tribulation and did not have a clear view. But I saw clearly that it was a ray of broadsword light that weakened the final round of the tribulation cloud and helped me in secret. Only then was I able to successfully overcome the tribulation."

"What?" The demon master, Little Demon, looked astonished. That was indeed a secret that no one else knew. After deliberating for a moment, he was even more startled. "Broadsword light? Brother Roc, are you saying…"

The golden-winged roc nodded and echoed, "Yes. I suppose it was Li Mu who secretly helped me pass the tribulation. Nowadays, who else can dispel the thunder cloud of tribulation with a hack of his broadsword other than Li Mu?"

"Er…" Little Demon forcibly fought off the shock he felt and remarked, "But why did Li Mu help Brother Roc? Are you an old friend of his?"

"No, we don't know each other," the golden-winged roc said with a sigh, "I'm afraid that that man's vision has gone far beyond his world and stretched to the vast universe."

The first Void-breaking expert the Divine Land had in several thousand years spoke highly of Li Mu with a hint of reverence.

He explained, "The reason Li Mu has helped me power through the Thunder Tribulation is probably that he wants to lift some kind of restriction imposed in this world. He is observing something. For thousands of years, no one on the Divine Land had successfully entered the Void-breaking Realm. That was not only because of the lack of Spiritual Qi but also because of a kind of restriction. But once it is lifted, it's like cracking an opening on a dam. In that case, it will be much easier for later generations to break the void. Nangong Yu is just one of the lucky ones. It's a pity that he doesn't know it at all, and he even decided to provoke Li Mu. When the time comes, death will befall him even before he realizes it."

Upon hearing that remark, the demon master, Little Demon, was lost in thought.