A door had opened in the Sword Sea ten thousand meters below.
There was a cultivator who had been waiting for this day, carefully counting until it arrived.
So he deliberately did not go out today.
Nowadays, Chen Xia's reputation had been completely demonized, even more terrifying than a bloodthirsty monster, appearing as someone who did evil without limits.
And there were indeed evil deeds that could be attributed to him.
The smaller ones included beating up the young masters from the same generation of emperors, who reportedly were left with psychological shadows in the imperial capital and Qiu Li.
Just how large these shadows were remained unknown.
Larger deeds included, as reported, when Chen Xia had demanded protection fees from all reserve disciples and young elders, beating whoever did not pay.
This led to almost every reserve disciple in each region giving Chen Xia money.
My goodness, while others had come to cultivate, Chen Xia had come to rob!
And there were even larger criminal acts, as it was said that Chen Xia had "borrowed" 300,000 Spirit Stones from various people in Blue Sky Sword Sea, under the pretext of borrowing.
While it sounded like borrowing, if anyone dared not lend, Chen Xia would threaten them with flying swords, and after obtaining the money, he would leave the flying sword with the lender.
Later, if anyone dared mention repaying, the flying sword would snap and take off their head.
Tsk tsk.
What overbearing and arrogant means.
These were not even the worst deeds. The biggest one that led to Chen Xia being jailed for 500 years was known to all the elders of Blue Sky Sword Sea.
He had cut off Qiong Qi's head.
It was said that Qiong Qi had only taunted him a few times, but Chen Xia held a grudge and after robbing the 300,000 Spirit Stones, he had forcibly bought Qiong Qi's head under the guise of business transaction.
That was the nicer way of putting it. The uglier version was also told.
That he had casually killed someone's valuable dog, and then paid compensation.
Since joining Blue Sky Sword Sea, Chen Xia had been there less than 400 years.
But he had already committed all kinds of evil acts like bullying the weak, illegal fundraising, robbery and extortion, and indiscriminate killing.
It was entirely fitting to call him extremely cruel and evil.
Thinking that Chen Xia came from a remote region, people could not help sighing that it was indeed true that impoverished mountains and vicious waters certainly bred villainous people.
This was also why the current Blue Sky Sword Sea cultivators did not dare to talk about Chen Xia - Qiong Qi's head had been cut off just for taunting him a few times.
They were far from comparable to Qiong Qi, so if they were to have their heads cut off just for talking about Chen Xia, it would truly be awful luck.
Today this great villain of Blue Sky Sea had been released from prison.
These past couple of days, the older cultivators generally did not go out, in case they drew Chen Xia's attention and he disliked you, what if he decided to cut off one of your arms?
Five hundred years ago Chen Xia could slay Qiong Qi who was at the 6th layer of the Boundless Sea realm.
How much more powerful must he be now after five hundred years?
These old cultivators did not even dare to think about it. In any case, those below the 6th layer of the Boundless Sea realm did not dare to go out, and were better off in closed door cultivation.
Those still leisurely strolling outside were mostly reserve disciples, still exploring methods of cultivation.
"There is a book of teachings in my home, if you don't mind, you can come to my humble abode to take a look." A plump reserve disciple said with a smile.
"Really?" The person he was speaking to was a tall and slender reserve disciple who looked very young with a handsome appearance.
The two were chatting enthusiastically, and would likely end up doing some more "vigorous activities" later.
Some other reserve disciples were discussing mystic arts, exchanging experiences with each other in hopes of making progress.
Li Yang stood on a high platform, with densely packed reserve disciples below.
These were all reserve disciples who supported Li Yang, also considered part of her camp.
"Upon entering the Mountain Moving realm, it's like taking the first half-step onto the Great Dao. The specific method of entering is probably to first determine your own Dao, then constantly comprehend it. This requires an accumulation of time, there are no shortcuts. You can slowly comprehend for now."
The reserve disciples below listened to these teachings, nodding their heads repeatedly, feeling that they made some sense.
They were all reserve disciples. Without elders to explain the path of cultivation, or the experience of predecessors to learn from,
Blue Sky Sword Sea never taught disciples. In the words of the founding Master,
No supreme emperor had ever been taught.
Those who were taught would, at most, be able to reach the level of a sage but would unlikely find their own path, only following the experiences of predecessors.
Therefore, these disciples of mediocre talent all came to listen to Li Yang's teachings. After all, among the current reserve disciples, Li Yang was one of the few at the Mountain Moving realm.
As for what was said about taught figures being unable to become supreme emperors and only able to reach the level of sages at best.
They did not think much of it. If they could attain sagehood, they would be quite happy.
Was sagehood lacking in any way?
There was only one sage in Blue Sky Sword Sea right now, who was also the sect master.
This showed that sagehood was extremely good, just not comparable to supreme emperor.
The place where Li Yang gave her teachings was close to the Heavenly Pavilion, at the edge of the reserve disciples' area, a quiet spot she had deliberately chosen.
"How can one find their own path?" A reserve disciple asked from below.
Li Yang patiently answered, "Probably by looking back at your journey so far, and thinking about the major events that influenced you."
"For instance, me - I was born in an inconsequential place in a domain. I started out alone from childhood, my status was low, but fortunately I was talented and quickly rose..."
Speaking to here, the corners of Li Yang's mouth curved up slightly again, "But of course good fortune doesn't last forever. In the following 30 years, I completely lost my talent and was humiliated by External Elder, who even gave me a dismissal notice to drive me out of the family."
"But there is wisdom in the saying - the river flows east for 30 years, then west for 30 years. They clearly never heard of it."
"Then in the following 30 years, it was finally time for me to have great fortune again. My rise was even swifter than before, more explosive than anyone from that place. I am the one in a million genius!"
"This was my experience. Whenever I think back on it, I gain insight and can't help sighing deeply."
When Li Yang spoke to here, her eyes narrowed with a reminiscing look.
If Chen Xia was present, he would probably ask:
Which version of Xiao Yan are you?
The reserve disciples below listened captivated, as if they had read through a fantasy novel of millions of words and were still immersed in aftertaste, reluctant to stop.
Next to them, a petite girl in a white skirt sat on a stool, hands propping up her face, smiling as she watched Li Yang.
Indeed, that's how it was.
She could testify.
At that time, no one in the clan thought anything of them, the two young girls huddled together for warmth, nearly freezing to death on that dark and icy night.
Fortunately they persevered and endured the pressure of fate.
It was also because of these experiences that the petite girl greatly disliked the offspring of prestigious families - the richer they were, the more she disliked them.
The sounds of discussion from the reserve disciples below grew louder and louder, the atmosphere more and more heated, as they took turns asking Li Yang questions.
At an unnoticed corner of the giant sword,
a figure slowly climbed up, drenched and wearing tattered clothes, wet hair plastered to his head, looking very disheveled.
Chen Xia moved the corners of his mouth, spitting out some of the original seawater, then moved them again and spat out a small fish.
Still feeling something was off, he smacked his lips a couple times, finally spitting out a trace of sword intent.
He looked towards the lively crowd with puzzled eyes.
Some kind of party?