Immortal cultivation was undeniably powerful—
But it didn't possess universal applicability.
According to Alice, nearly ten million people had taken part in the initial assessment. Only around 1.3 million passed the preliminary screening.
Out of those 1.3 million, merely a dozen or so were accepted as inner disciples. Fewer than a thousand became outer disciples, several thousand were taken in as menial disciples—
And the rest, aside from the lucky few who were allowed to remain and train in martial arts, all left Mount Shu with heavy hearts.
That kind of selection process eliminated over ninety-nine percent of the world's population.
The Honkai world had a vast population, but under the ravages of the Great Eruption, deaths were constant.
Even now, humanity might number no more than four or five billion.
Out of so many people, perhaps only tens of thousands would ever be capable of cultivating immortality—and that would already be an optimistic estimate.
So what about everyone else?
Were they simply supposed to give up and wait for extinction?
Be discarded by the times?
Martial arts were different.
The martial path carried genuine universality. As long as spiritual energy existed, martial arts could be cultivated.
And spiritual energy existed even in technologically inclined worlds—it was simply called by other names.
Dark energy, for instance.
If martial arts could be introduced into the Honkai world…
Valkyries who reached the Innate realm, then donned their battle armor, would become walking humanoid Honkai beasts.
And not the low-tier kind, either.
Himeko didn't even dare imagine it—
If Rita reached the Landed Immortal realm, then put on a Godslayer-class battlesuit and wielded a Divine Key…
She might very well pin peak-era Sirin to the ground and beat her senseless.
Killing her outright would still be troublesome—Sirin's Imaginary Space authority was notoriously annoying—
But even so, the image alone was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Then again, thinking it over…
Rita, the Valkyrie who stood at the pinnacle of all Valkyries in the Honkai world, despite being mockingly called the "S-rank floor tile," clearly possessed extraordinary talent.
There was no way she wouldn't excel in martial arts, let alone immortal cultivation.
And when Himeko herself eventually reached the mid-stage of Refining Qi into Spirit, she would be able to return and solve the Honkai problem outright.
At that point, martial arts might not even matter that much anymore.
After some thought, Himeko laughed softly and shook her head.
She hadn't even begun cultivating immortality yet—she hadn't even touched martial arts—thinking so far ahead was premature.
She hadn't fully mastered the power of the Plague Gem either…
Speaking of which, her heart stirred.
If she wanted to master the Plague Gem as quickly as possible, the best way was combat.
The Honkai will within the gem had already been erased. What she needed to do now was to turn it into a power that truly belonged to her.
Only then could she begin cultivating immortality from an exceptionally high starting point.
But who could fight her while she wielded the Plague Gem?
Cultivators were too strong—she'd be completely suppressed, making it pointless.
Even early-stage Essence-Refining cultivators who could exchange blows with her were currently all in seclusion, with no time to spare.
As for gods…
They were outer-sect elders of Mount Shu, busy to death preparing to convert to immortal cultivation.
And the power gap was far too large.
Even if she somehow defeated a low-tier god, it wouldn't be appropriate.
Winning would be tantamount to slapping Mount Shu in the face.
And offending cultivators was dangerous enough—
Offending a cultivation sect?
That was basically asking to die.
Especially a sect as powerful as Mount Shu.
But martial artists…
Grandmasters were no match for her.
As for someone she could reasonably spar with—
Ying'er seemed just right.
Himeko turned to look at her with faint anticipation.
But Ying'er instantly saw through her thoughts and teased her with a smile:
"Miss Himeko, you're not thinking of fighting me, are you? I just finished giving you a tour of Mount Shu Village—are you really going to repay kindness with violence?"
Himeko froze, then smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry. That was impulsive of me."
Ying'er burst out laughing.
"Look at you, all serious again. I was just joking."
"In truth, I'm not particularly good at fighting. Martial artists usually engage in close-quarters combat."
"I don't really enjoy that kind of rough and tumble. After I start cultivating immortality, I want to fight using spells—that's my dream."
"And honestly, I don't have much real combat experience…"
Himeko blinked, puzzled.
"Then how did you break through to Great Grandmaster?"
"I already told you," Ying'er said with a playful blink.
"It was all thanks to Lady Ningguang's support. She gave me a lot of pills and forcefully pushed me up to the Great Grandmaster realm."
"I am her trusted confidant, after all."
Himeko suddenly understood, recalling the dignified, elegant woman she'd seen the day before.
According to Alice, she was one of the wealthiest individuals in Mount Shu—second only to the three Divine Body geniuses and the elders.
Even Venti couldn't compare, since he kept violating the Discipline Hall's rules and getting his assets confiscated.
The cultivation world was still a society.
And where there was society, money still mattered—just in a different way.
Cultivators' wealth wasn't gold or jade.
"Still," Ying'er added, gesturing ahead, "if you really want a fight, Draymond would be a good opponent. He never refuses a challenge."
Himeko nodded.
"I understand. Thank you."
She returned her attention to the sparring martial artists.
After a while, curiosity got the better of her again.
"Miss Ying'er, how does one actually obtain martial arts? Could I cultivate them?"
"Of course you can. Anyone who settles in Mount Shu Village can obtain advanced martial arts," Ying'er replied with a light laugh.
"But I wouldn't recommend it for you."
"Martial arts were created by Lord Zhongli himself. To be honest, any cultivator with combat insight can create their own martial path."
"And if you don't want to bother, you can exchange for one in the Merit Hall—it's not expensive."
"But for you, cultivating martial arts isn't really necessary."
"We train martial arts for two reasons. First, to have a means of self-defense in the Mount Shu world. Second, because we can't yet enter Mount Shu proper, so it's a way to build strength in advance."
"When the mountain opens again, we'll have a better starting point."
"But you, Miss Himeko—you'll likely be recommended into the inner sect by Elder Alice before long."
"You can cultivate immortality directly. There's no need to spend time on martial arts."
"Besides, from my perspective, you're already quite strong. Martial arts aren't nearly as important to you as immortal cultivation."
"Don't put the cart before the horse."
Himeko nodded.
"I understand that reasoning, but… you know I'm from another world."
"In my world, humanity is facing an extinction-level disaster—the Honkai."
"We don't have martial arts. We don't have Visions either. We can only rely on technology and sacrifice."
"If we had martial arts, countless unnecessary sacrifices could be avoided. We could buy ourselves more time."
"And with more time, I could cultivate until I truly had the power to end the Honkai forever."
Ying'er grew more serious, thinking for a moment before replying softly:
"I see… In that case, if you want to spread martial arts on a large scale, you'll need to exchange for them in the Merit Hall."
"Everyone in Mount Shu Village can learn martial arts, but those teachings cannot be passed on—they're for personal use only."
"To teach martial arts to an entire nation or civilization, you need a Merit Hall seal."
"After all, the martial path was created by Lord Zhongli. Giving it away freely to a whole civilization wouldn't be appropriate."
Himeko nodded in understanding.
Intellectual property.
Licensing.
Patents.
Individuals could use it—that was fine.
Mass distribution required authorization.
Infringing on the rights of a Mount Shu Peak Lord was tantamount to suicide.
At least Mount Shu seemed to take intellectual property quite seriously.
As for earning enough merits…
Once Jiang Yan returned and Alice recommended her into Mount Shu, she could work toward it.
She couldn't return to the Honkai world for now anyway—getting it sooner or later didn't make much difference.
Ying'er, meanwhile, was curious about Himeko's world, and they spent some time talking about the Honkai.
Ying'er listened with quiet emotion, clearly unprepared for how tragic that world was.
Looking at Himeko again—a woman not much older than herself, yet bearing such a heavy mission—
Ying'er could only think:
No wonder she was so talented. No wonder she was chosen.
Facing sacrifice with a smile—Ying'er knew she couldn't do that herself.
People admired heroes.
But few were willing to become one.
That was human nature.
They chatted while waiting for Draymond to finish training the knights. Himeko planned to spar with him afterward, to accelerate her mastery of the Plague Gem.
But plans never survived reality.
Before long, a thunderous impact shook Mount Shu Village.
Everyone in the training grounds froze, turning toward the source of the tremor.
And then—
They were stunned.
A colossal tusked elephant, hundreds of meters tall, was rampaging through the village.
Its massive trunk swung wildly, smashing house after house.
Before it, humans were no more than ants.
Fortunately, the patrol units in that area reacted swiftly. They didn't try to fight, instead evacuating everyone as quickly as possible.
Many were injured, but—miraculously—no one had died yet.
"Th-That's… a Mangfang Elephant!"
Ying'er's usually playful expression hardened, fear flashing across her face as she stared at the beast.
"Is it very strong?"
Himeko instinctively reached for her greatsword—only to grasp empty air.
Only then did she remember: her armor and weapons were damaged and still stored on Mount Shu.
All she had now… was the Plague Gem.
But that would be enough.
"Very strong," Ying'er said grimly.
"For the martial artists of Mount Shu Village, it's a lethal threat."
Draymond appeared at some point, his expression heavy as he watched the rampaging elephant.
"Early-stage Essence-Refining… but its sheer size puts it far beyond a normal beast of that realm."
"Either way—"
He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the Favonius longsword.
"Great Grandmasters aren't enough to deal with this."
"It seems the elders have all been in seclusion lately, giving these beasts an opening."
"Damn it… of all times…"
Ferocious beasts weren't like demon beasts.
Demon beasts had intelligence—they avoided Mount Shu Village.
Ferocious beasts had none.
They smashed whatever was in front of them.
Draymond turned to Ying'er, his voice low.
"Miss Ying'er, can you contact Lady Ningguang?"
"No."
Ying'er shook her head.
"Lady Ningguang and the others are in seclusion. Mount Shu is practically sealed."
"Even if some cultivators notice, they'll only be Foundation Establishment seniors."
"Inner-sect disciples at the Essence-Refining stage are all in seclusion preparing for the Nine Nether Exploration."
Draymond sighed.
"This is troublesome…"
"At any rate, activate the formation first. Delay it as long as we can. Once the outer-sect elders notice, they'll come."
But before he could finish—
Another voice cut in calmly.
"I don't think things have reached that point yet."
"There's no need to activate the formation."
"If you don't mind… let me handle it."
Everyone turned.
Instantly, respect flashed through both Ying'er's and Draymond's eyes.
"Mr. Jiang Yan."
To read 220+ future chapters, head over to Patreon:
patreon.com/WhiteDevil7554