Chapter 1 Must Show Off Even In Death (New book, please collect and recommend!)
Jiulong Continent.
Heavenly Show Villa.
Inside and outside the villa, everything was in mourning white. People came and went, most wearing expressions of sorrow.
These were guests who had come to offer their condolences, and occasionally, low murmurs of conversation could be heard:
"Young Master Shen Xiu has passed away at such a young age... truly, a case of the heavens envying the talented..."
"I've heard that this lad was a prodigy of extreme brilliance, a once-in-a-millennium talent on the continent. What a pity, what a lament..."
"Although it's so, having made a name for oneself, outshining all peers, is also a life well-lived in this world..."
...
Heavenly Show Villa! Zhong Shenxiu!
This was a child of destiny, born with celestial signs, and from childhood to adulthood, he had always been the proverbial 'child from someone else's family.'
What with being able to walk at one month of age, and speak at three, being hailed as a prodigy was just the beginning.
As he gradually grew older, Mr. Zhong Shenxiu excelled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as in medicine, divination, and astrology. His martial skills had even reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Not only that, but his appearance was that of a Heavenly Person's Posture, captivating thousands of young girls.
Because of him, the original Heavenly Sword Manor had even been renamed 'Heavenly Show Villa'!
Ever since Young Master Shen Xiu made his debut, he consistently stood in the limelight.
He startled the sages in the Capital with his writings and defeated the four great prodigies of Jiangnan and eight great houses of Jiangbei using the gentlemanly arts.
He once navigated the great lakes in a boat, composing the 'Ode to the Moon' to win the top oiran for Ji Xixi, the most celebrated courtesan, who was so moved that she proclaimed she did not dare to become his wife, but was willing to be his concubine.
Most sensational of all was his challenge at the summit of Yandang Mountain, where he vanquished all heroes from across the land and claimed the title of 'Number One Martial Artist in the World.' He also established the 'Heaven, Earth, and Human' rankings, assessing the heroes of the world.
However... he still died...
Everyone felt that Zhong Shenxiu's death was very... beyond words.
In this world, martial arts mainly focus on training the flesh, blood, tendons, and bones; those who fully master it possess the strength that is unmatched by thousands, yet, in reality, when faced with an actual army, one must yield!
It is said that Zhong Shenxiu's martial arts reached through the heavens. After reaching the pinnacle, he even sought to tread a path untrodden by his predecessors – the Innate Qi Cultivation Method!
Yet, on the day he created the 'Shenxiu Treasure Book,' the sky darkened and thunder struck, cleaving right into the heart of Heavenly Show Villa.
Bai Xiaosheng of Jianghu once stated that this was due to heavenly jealousy.
In ancient times, when Cang Jie created characters, ghosts and gods wept at night, for he had seized the creation power of heaven and earth.
Now, Young Master Shen Xiu created his method, and heavenly tribulation thundered upon him, a testament to how the 'Shenxiu Treasure Book' shocked heaven and earth, moved ghosts and gods, and seized creation!
Such divine skills authored by the world's number one martial artist naturally attracted many covetous eyes.
...
The following night.
A gentle breeze blew, the water unrippled.
In Heavenly Show Villa, regardless of guards or guests... suddenly, one by one, they fell to the ground, unconscious.
A dark shadow moved with grace into the spirit hall, looking at the memorial tablet and the coffin behind it, and coldly laughed.
"Lord Tiandu truly possesses profound toxic skills!"
Beside the person in black were several figures, each deep and towering, rare great grandmasters of Jianghu. One of them, a scholar-like middle-aged literati chuckled softly, his voice leisurely.
"Hehe... I, a mere recluse from East Sea, what am I counted for? But I have heard that Young Master Shen Xiu compiled a 'Terrifying List' beyond the Heaven, Earth, and Human rankings, where the mention of anyone thereon shook the world! You, Bai Xiaosheng, are ranked third, evaluated by Young Master Shen Xiu as 'one who can prosper a state with a word, or throw a country into chaos with a character; he who could unsettle Jianghu must be this person'..."
Lord Tiandu said with a beaming smile.
Bai Xiaosheng's face changed, glancing at the burly man with the dark face beside him and a middle-aged Daoist nun with a sword among others, and forced a smile, "Haha... How could I have the ambition to throw Jianghu into chaos? Young Master Shen Xiu worries too much..."
"Enough idle chat... Today, the eight great terrors of the world, counting the one lying here, are finally gathered..."
From underground, another cold and grim voice rose, "Young Master Shen Xiu once forcefully entered Mechanical Valley, breaking through all eighteen of my arrays and mechanical traps, causing great embarrassment for me, hehe, today he shall pay his old debts..."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the other six turned sour.
They were either leaders of major sects or solitary giants, always deeming themselves superior, not even regarding the Earthly, Mortal, and Celestial Rankings of Jianghu in esteem.
Yet, above them in the Jianghu was Zhong Shenxiu, who had come knocking on their doors, giving them a severe lesson.
The Panic Rankings stated, among the Eight Great Horrors, Shenxiu ranked first!
"Stop the nonsense, let me cremate this brat to dust first!"
Jian Ni snorted coldly, her long sword trembling as she took the lead in striking.
She was usually calm, rarely being so harsh on people within Jianghu, but Young Master Shen Xiu was different, because it was... simply too humiliating!
The path of his rise had been paved over the faces of the famous experts; the higher their rank, the more ruthless the trampling, often choosing the most public events to do so, even turning it into stories to be sung!
Originally the sect leader of a reclusive sect, which primarily consisted of women in solitary cultivation, they would only send out heirs to assist a dragon to rise amidst chaos, vaguely dominating the righteous path.
Yet Young Master Shenxiu not only lured the current Holy Daughter to defect, but he also revealed the location of their sect and led a group of old, middle-aged, and young heroes—claiming to be wronged by the successive Holy Daughters—to demand an explanation, crushing the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, subjugating the sect, and even officiating marriages for those with grievances right on the spot, causing Jian Ni to spit out a mouthful of old blood from sheer humiliation and fury, driving her Dao Heart towards madness.
Now, as she attacked, she was naturally venomous and ruthless.
Crack!
The high-quality coffin splintered into pieces, revealing the figure of a man in white.
A man in his twenties, with a face as handsome as jade, exceptional in looks as if all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged upon him—it was indeed Zhong Shenxiu!
"Ha ha... you're finally dead..."
At this moment, Zhong Shenxiu's sword-like eyebrows twitched, and his eyes opened to reveal lifeless pupils, the corners of his mouth stiffly curling into a strange smile.
"Crikey... Young Master Shen Xiu is feigning death!"
Jian Ni screamed, and all seven great horrors hastily retreated...
...
Several days later, a sensational news spread across Jianghu.
At Heavenly Show Villa, a shocking event at Young Master Shenxiu's spirit hall—the slaughtering of the seven great horrors of Jianghu!
"Hey! Have you heard? Young Master Shenxiu was feigning death all along! And he did it just to root out those seven disasters in one fell swoop!"
"Nonsense! I have some fame in Jianghu myself and went to Heavenly Show Villa to pay respects. Young Master Shenxiu was truly dead, but he turned himself into a zombie, vastly improved his Divine Skills, and thus was able to annihilate the seven peerless experts..."
"No, didn't I hear he used an extremely deadly poison, the greatest strange poison known as Life and Death Intestine-breaking Powder?"
"In any case, after this battle, even though Young Master Shenxiu isn't around anymore, no one dares to provoke Heavenly Show Villa!"
"Hehe, who dares to provoke Heavenly Show Villa? With the world in chaos now, of the seven great horrors of Jianghu, four had sided with the imperial court, now all engineered to death by Young Master Shenxiu. The world is in great turmoil, with seventeen Rebel Kings rising. In my view, it's the Heavenly Show Villa that has the destiny of a true dragon..."
"How come I heard that the battle was so fierce that the sky darkened and the earth dimmed, but only six died? In the end, wasn't it the Mechanical King who used his Earth Tunneling Technique to escape to the heavens?"
...
Jianghu was full of ceaseless disputes; needless to say, Heavenly Show Villa, leveraging the arrangements made by Young Master Shenxiu beforehand, ultimately seized the whole world, founding an empire lasting for five hundred years, bringing extended blessings—those are stories for another time.
...
In a secluded valley, within a certain cave.
"Ha ha... Zhong Shenxiu, you're really dead!"
The only survivor among the seven great horrors, Mechanical King, blood seeping from his nose and mouth still shaken, took out the Shenxiu Treasure Book he had luckily obtained and flipped to the first page: "To train in Divine Skills, must one first cast aside all previous skills?"
He glanced at his own body, instead showing a trace of joy: "I am gravely injured, and my martial arts were already ruined. Good, good, this is the heavens wanting me to achieve greatness..."
Licking his lips eagerly, Mechanical King turned to the second page and saw written: "If one has not cast aside their skills, they can still practice."
"The kid duped me!" Mechanical King's face turned a shade of purple, a foreboding feeling rising within him as he turned to the third page only to see prominently written: "If one has already cast aside their skills, success is not guaranteed..."
"Ah!"
Mechanical King roared angrily, black blood pouring from all seven orifices.
A remarkable figure of his era... passed away...