Please be my partner.

Page 513

The most common choice for disciples from the five sects is to manage sects in the lower realm. After all, there is already a first-class sect in the lower realm, and each sect only has one disciple for training each time, so there is no competition. It can be said that as long as you make some achievements, it is easy to get the guaranteed reward. If you do better on this basis, the reward will naturally be more generous.

Based on what Mellen had seen along the way, the Taibai Sword Sect was at least four or five times larger and more influential than the Wudang Sect. This was the benefit of having targeted planning after awakening his memories. In comparison, the Wudang Sect's leader was far behind. Even if he awakened his memories now and tried to catch up, he would most likely end up at the bottom.

This poor performance could even affect his original status in the Wudang Sect of the Upper Realm.

Aside from managing a sect in the lower realms, there are many other flexible options. For example, the "solo route" mentioned by the leader of the Taibai Sword Sect involves traveling the world alone with a single sword, leaving behind legends all over the world.

Although this approach is more laborious, it is actually more feasible and can make full use of the time difference between the upper and lower boundaries to refine oneself, increase experience and knowledge, and ultimately one's own gains and achievements may be better.

Besides, previous disciples had also considered pursuing a path of conquering the world, like Mellen.

However, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; the intricacies involved are numerous and complex. It is extremely difficult to establish a complete and sound system in a short period of time. This is not something you can simply copy from the past.

Moreover, in peacetime, the vast majority of people have no concept of rebellion. If you rashly put forward such an idea, you will be besieged by those in power and those who have vested interests in no time. If things go wrong, it will lead to a situation where everyone in the world is fighting against you.

Unless you possess unparalleled martial prowess capable of single-handedly suppressing the entire world.

But in this world, the Celestial Martial Saint is already at the pinnacle, and even so, there is a dynasty's military formation that can keep him in check. To reach the pinnacle, one must be stronger than all the other pinnacles combined, which is no easy feat.

Mellen smiled slightly and said, "Perhaps, it's not finalized yet."

"I have come here for two reasons: first, I hope to read the martial arts manuals of the Taibai Sword Sect; second, I want to spar with my senior brother."

Upon hearing Mellen's request, the sect leader seemed indifferent, but he still turned his gaze to the Supreme Elder.

The Supreme Elder pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright! You may observe the martial arts of the lower realms as you see fit. As for the matter of sparring, you may decide for yourselves."

The way of martial arts is constantly evolving. Even though the highest level in the lower realm is only the Perfect Martial Saint, and there are no legendary powerhouses, many unique martial arts may still be born from the painstaking research of generations of geniuses and the collision of various ingenious ideas.

Absorbing this martial arts wisdom, discarding the dross and retaining the essence, is also a good benefit for disciples undergoing training in the upper realm, so similar requests to Mellen are not isolated cases.

After expressing his gratitude, Mellen exchanged pleasantries for a few more moments before leaving.

For the next week, Mellen spent his time in the Taibai Sword Sect's library, reading martial arts classics day and night. Many of them were repetitive and redundant, and even with his current understanding of martial arts, he could see some errors and omissions.

Overall, however, it allowed Mellen to uncover many hidden gems.

After spending three days organizing, summarizing, and resting, once fully recovered, Mellen and the leader of the Taibai Sword Sect arrived at a secluded valley in the deep mountains.

Li Yuanyou, dressed in white like snow, possessed an ethereal air, wielding a three-foot-long sword, and moved with the grace of a celestial being.

Mellen exudes a calm and profound aura, merging seamlessly with heaven and earth, and becoming one with all things in nature.

The Supreme Elder stood atop a low hill in the distance, looking at his two juniors with a smile on his face and eyes full of expectation.

Li Yuanyou extended his hand and said, "Junior Brother Mei, please."

Without any politeness, Mellen said, "Brother Li, I'm sorry to offend you," and then threw a punch at him.

The two moved with swiftness and agility, exchanging dozens of blows in the blink of an eye.

After a brief warm-up, Mellen no longer held back, his surging energy rising up, the inner and outer scenes unfolding simultaneously, rendering the world like an ink painting.

A hint of surprise flashed in Li Yuanyou's eyes. He drew his sword, pointing it at the sky. Wisps of green energy expanded and transformed into a green lotus. The lotus slowly bloomed, and every wisp of breeze it brought was like an invisible, sharp sword aura, beautiful yet concealing a chilling killing intent.

The vast landscape and the blue lotus collided, like colorful paints suddenly poured into a clear lake and stirred wildly, creating a bizarre and distorted painting.

"Peach blossoms drift away on flowing water, revealing a world apart from the mortal realm!"

The blue lotus dispersed, transforming into peach trees. Peach blossoms fell one by one, each petal a sword beam, swarming into the vast land and instantly slicing everything to pieces.

"Roar! ~ Awooo! ~"

Dragons soar in the sky, wolves dance on the ground, and the vast land transforms into a pack of dragons and wolves, battling with the peach blossoms.

Li Yuanyou walked on air, and countless peach blossoms gathered in his hand, transforming into a peach-red longsword, which he thrust towards Mellen.

The dragon and wolf, resembling an ink painting, scattered and transformed into a sharp claw that charged forward.

"Boom!~"

The earth trembled, peach blossoms withered, and sharp claws crumbled.

When the strange phenomena subsided, Li Yuanyou was sheathing his sword, while Mellen stood not far away with a smile.

Li Yuanyou asked softly, "Junior Brother Mei, how much of your skill did you use in this exchange?"

Instead of answering, Mellen said, "Didn't Senior Brother Li also hold back some things?"

Li Yuanyou smiled nonchalantly and said, "In that case, let's call it a draw."

Mellen readily agreed with a smile.

In high spirits, neither of them intended to go back. Instead, they sat down on the ground and began to practice martial arts and discuss the Dao. Before long, the Supreme Elder, who had been watching from afar, also joined in.

The three of them sometimes defended themselves, sometimes argued, sometimes laughed heartily, and sometimes looked blank and confused...

Several days later, they all returned home satisfied.

After bidding farewell to the two from the Taibai Sword Sect, Mellen continued on his journey.

Watching Mellen walk away, Li Yuanyou asked softly, "Uncle Qi, what do you think?"

The Supreme Elder said calmly, "Its potential is limitless."

Inside the carriage, Mellen was still sorting out the gains of the past few days. It could be said that the trip to the Taibai Sword Sect had yielded far more than the gains of the previous three months.

With just a slight sense, Mellen understood that he was not far from being able to open the 362nd Divine Treasure.

As I said before, whether it's the spiritual realm, inner landscape, or outer landscape, or the physical essence, these are all external, supplementary factors that can help accelerate the accumulation of the three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit, and amplify one's own strength. In some ways, the latter are just incidental effects.

There is only one criterion for judging the first step in martial arts: the level of one's essence, energy, and spirit. When one's essence, energy, and spirit are completely perfected, it means that the first step has reached its limit.

The more of the 365 divine treasures of the Wudang Holy Body are opened, the faster the improvement will be. It has nothing to do with the realm. Even if Mellen stays at the 361st divine treasure stage, it will only take three to five years at most to reach the first peak of the perfection of essence, qi and spirit.

If the 362nd Divine Treasure can be opened, this time will be greatly shortened.

If one can activate the complete Wudang Sacred Body, one can solidify a legendary quality, possessing some of the power of the second step of martial arts while only at the first step of martial arts realm.

Of course, to some extent, the difficulty of unlocking all 365 divine treasures and obtaining the complete Wudang Sacred Body in the first step of martial arts is no less than the difficulty of condensing legendary traits.

Mellen continued on his journey, taking a circuitous route to visit more sectarian families, but generally heading north towards Snowdrop.

Of the five sects in the Upper Realm, besides the Wudang Sect, the Pure Land Sect, and the Taibai Sword Sect, which we have already met, the other two are Huoyun Mountain, located at the border of Dayong and Xuerong, and Tianpeng Sect, located in Xuerong.

Mellen planned to visit them one by one, and finally return via the Snowy Mountain detour, taking the road through the Great Snow Mountain, and visiting the Pure Land Sect along the way.

If the opportunity arises, Mellen wouldn't mind meeting that Heavenly Shaman of the Heavenly Mountain Cult to avenge the past when the latter bullied the weak.

Murren's journey was in full swing and attracted more and more attention. Some heroes would predict his itinerary and arrive ahead of time just to get to know him.

Mellen naturally accepted all offers, and even if it slightly delayed his trip, he was willing to accept it.

The sectarian families that Mellen visited along the way, who initially seemed insulted, now feel honored.

As Mellen's reputation grew, he became an invisible benchmark. Any force that he had visited was considered to have gained his approval, and its status in the martial arts world would become more prominent. Conversely, any force that Mellen had not visited was seen as inferior to those that had visited him.

This change left Murren somewhat bewildered. Later, it even escalated to the point where some powerful forces secretly contacted Murren, hoping he would pay a visit and offering him numerous benefits.

Mellen felt like one of those content creators from her past life; once she gained popularity and a large following, people would naturally want to help her promote and sell products.

Mellen ignored this and continued to proceed according to the previously determined route.

Unfortunately, with fame comes trouble. Instead of paying a visit, others would come to him to do so. Occasionally, some young heroes or martial arts masters would randomly appear on his way, which annoyed him greatly.

Each of these people has a different 'entrance,' and they may even be pleased with themselves for it. Little do they know that Mellen sees similar scenes hundreds of times a day and is already tired of them.

In the end, Murren had to frequently change routes and vehicles, which reduced the trouble somewhat.

Four months later, Mellen arrived at Fire Cloud Mountain. By then, his 362nd Divine Treasure had been opened, and his overall strength had increased to a higher level. He could feel that the boundary he had previously vaguely touched was now very close. As long as he opened another Divine Treasure, or waited until his essence, energy, and spirit were perfected, he would be able to naturally come into contact with it.

To Mellen's dismay, Huoyun Mountain and Wudang Sect were not very close, as could be seen from the former's attitude towards him. In the end, Mellen's request to borrow martial arts books was granted, but his request to spar with the disciples was not agreed to.

A few days later, urged by Huoyunshan, Mellen had no choice but to leave and continue on to the next destination.

Chapter 647 Since we can see the future, why not worship!

"Our five sects are of one mind and one branch. If you want to read the martial arts manuals of my Tianpeng Sect, as long as they do not involve the true teachings of my Upper Realm, you are welcome to read them. As for the matter of sparring, let's forget about it."

The leader of the Tianpeng Sect spoke calmly.

Seeing the other party's firm attitude, Mellen had no choice but to nod and thank them.

Logically speaking, since the Tianpeng Sect and the Wudang Sect were on good terms, there should have been a high probability that Mei Lun's request for a sparring match would have been granted. However, since the Tianpeng Sect leader himself had no intention of doing so, Mei Lun naturally could not force him.

Mellen was treated much better at the Tianpeng Sect than at Huoyun Mountain; at least he wasn't pressured to leave, either openly or secretly.

A week later, Mellen bid farewell to the Tianpeng Sect. At his current level, he could say that he had a clear understanding of all the obstacles to the first step in martial arts. He could understand any martial arts knowledge at this level with just a glance and a moment's thought.

Even excluding those involved in the Wudang Holy Body, the number of divine treasures that Melen possesses is already over a thousand. However, it is not always better to activate more divine treasures. After all, they are essentially dormant genes. If they are activated randomly and cause gene conflicts, it may lead to the disintegration and collapse at the gene level.

Only by forming a complete structure like the Wudang Holy Body can the effect of one plus one be greater than two be achieved.

Of course, the Holy Body is not so easy to study. The types of divine treasures to be activated, and even the order in which they are activated, are all important. One wrong move could lead to complete failure.

Besides working hard to unlock the 363rd Divine Treasure, Mellen is now focusing all his energy on researching the new Holy Body. Moreover, he is conducting his research based on the nine Divine Treasures of the Divine Dragon Stream, with the aim of his disciples.

In addition, Mellen also wanted to see if anything miraculous would happen if he could research the invincible holy body of the 108 Divine Treasures of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends and pass it down in the current world.

Located in the frigid north, the harsh environment of Xue Rong has fostered a more combative martial arts community. In addition, given Mellen's already established reputation, his visit not only did not encounter resistance but also garnered unanimous praise from various factions within Xue Rong.

Wherever he went, Mellen had to go through a lot of battles, which greatly helped his martial arts skills improve.

After this round, almost every martial arts master known to Xue Rong had sparred with Mei Lun.

It took Mellen more than half a year to finally leave Xuerong and arrive at the border area between Xuerong and Dayu, which is the plain area where the Great Snow Mountain is located.

Looking at the towering snow-capped mountains, Mellen calmly said, "You wait here. I'm going to pay a visit. I should be back soon."

This time, it was Mellen who came with ill intentions, so he didn't even plan to bring Cai Die'er.

"Master, watch out!"

Cai Die'er naturally knew what her master was thinking. After all, the one on the Great Snow Mountain was one of the three most famous masters in the world. Even if he had a lot of confidence in Mellen, he couldn't help but show his worry.

Mellen waved his hand dismissively, took a step forward, and seemed to float up like an immortal, soaring into the sky.

When the tribesmen who came to worship the snow-capped mountains as their faith saw this scene, they thought they had encountered real gods and immortals. They immediately knelt down and prayed, their expressions becoming more and more devout.

Once a Martial Saint achieves the Outer Realm, they can mobilize the power of heaven and earth, easily stirring up storms and tsunamis with a wave of their hand, and naturally, flying through the air is also within their grasp.

Soon, Mellen reached an altitude of 10,000 meters, with the entire snow-capped mountain below him.

Through his interaction with the heavens and the earth, Mellen could easily sense a powerful will within the Great Snow Mountain. Moreover, because this will had been stationed in the Great Snow Mountain for many years, it had become connected with the entire network of heaven and earth within the Great Snow Mountain.

In other words, this will can mobilize the celestial power of the entire Great Snow Mountain with just a thought, without any delay or preparation.

The snow-capped mountains are his home turf!

Seeing this, Mellen didn't take it seriously at all. Instead, he was eager to try. His aura rose and soared, and a watercolor painting began to spread and diffuse around him.

Given enough time, given his martial arts prowess, Mellen could also amass unimaginable power.

However, the Heavenly Shaman of the Tianshan Sect would not allow Melen to act recklessly. A mighty voice pierced through the thick clouds and mist, proclaiming: "Who dares to run wild in my holy land?!"

The next moment, an invisible aura transformed into a sharp blade, scattering the clouds high in the sky and heading straight for Mellen.

Mellen laughed loudly, "What you did in the past has brought about what you are experiencing today! Back then, I sparred with your sect's Holy Son, but after the dust settled, you tried to bully the weak. Did you ever imagine that we would have this meeting today?!"

"You have some nerve, brat!" The Heavenly Shaman seemed to laugh in exasperation. "I kindly let you go that day, but instead of being grateful, you harbor resentment? A person as wicked as you shall remain in this snowy mountain from this day forward. Surely, a hundred years of wind, frost, and cold will cleanse the evil thoughts from your heart!"

In a few flashes, the Heavenly Shaman arrived near Melen, an old man with dark skin and a slightly hunched posture. He was dressed in colorful clothes and held a cane with a fist-sized, unidentified white jade skull at the top.

The shaman's face was gloomy, and he had no intention of continuing to communicate with Melen. He pointed his cane, and a cold current surged, wind and snow raged, and the clear sky instantly turned into darkness.

The continuous snow and wind from the snow-capped mountains carried a heavy aura that began to condense and swirl in the air, forming an increasingly powerful suppressive force.

Mellen's vast landscape unfolded, but faced with such celestial power, although it was not exactly crushed at first touch, it was immediately at a disadvantage. If this continued, it would probably be completely suppressed in just a few minutes, with no power to resist.

The Heavenly Shaman sneered, "A mere junior dares to challenge me? I thought he had some skill..."

While they were talking, the Heavenly Shaman did not focus all his attention on Mellen. He clearly remembered the sense of crisis that the sound of the sword and the zither had given him.

In the eyes of the Heavenly Shaman, the fact that a junior like Mellen dared to challenge him was probably at the behest of that being. Although he did not know the latter's intentions, it did not prevent him from being cautious and wary, lest he fall into a trap.

As Mellen felt the changes occurring within his body under immense pressure, a slow smile crept onto his lips, and the boundless realm of enlightenment unfolded, enhancing the external landscape.

Instantly, it was as if Mellen had broken through layers of barriers between heaven and earth, and his inner world began to resonate with the outer world. Endless spiritual energy surged in, causing the power within Mellen's body to expand rapidly.

The already trembling 363rd Divine Treasure shines even brighter under the impact of this power of heaven and earth, faintly about to transform from mortal to immortal, revealing dazzling brilliance.

"Um?!"

Sensing something was wrong, the Heavenly Shaman suddenly looked at Melon and instantly understood the whole story. He roared in fury, "How dare you! You brat, you dare to use me to break through? Since that's the case, then die!"

At this moment, the Heavenly Shaman completely disregarded the powerful figures hidden in the shadows. He directly mobilized all his strength and crushed towards Melen.