Chapter 478: Chapter 286: Heroic Spirit Reform, Calling the First Victim!
This is all because it is beneath a great mountain.
That mountain is called "Golden Mountain."
Although Golden Mountain has no gold, it hides things more precious than gold.
It is said that inside there is a Golden Palace, holding the divine skill secret manual that everyone in the world longs for.
While the Twelve Divine Valleys are rather mysterious tales, even now, nobody has understood how to enter them.
Yes, even figures like the Murong Ancestor, who indeed comprehended divine skills from the Divine Valley, could not remember how to enter after leaving the valley.
According to the Murong Family genealogy, the memory of entering the Divine Valley seems to have been erased from thin air.
One can say that the Twelve Divine Valleys, known for the saying "divine skills come from the Divine Valley," are like illusions for the people of the Martial World due to their mysterious and obscure entry methods.
But Golden Valley is different.
The Golden Palace inside Golden Valley truly exists.
For hundreds of years in the Martial World, only a few can be called "Martial Gods" with verified accounts.
And two of those Martial Gods found the Golden Valley, mastering peerless skills.
Especially the last and most renowned "Valkyrie," tall, wearing a golden half-mask, with a disabled right arm but a more dexterous golden arm than a human’s, roamed the Martial World undefeated for decades after emerging from Golden Mountain.
This Valkyrie, unrivaled in style, returned to Golden Mountain thirty years later, undefeated, and never appeared again.
As time passed and the world changed, the Valkyrie became a story over a hundred years old.
Golden Mountain has become a treasure land for people of the Martial World.
A swarm of martial artists flocked to the area around Golden Mountain, hoping to traverse the path of the Martial Gods and uncover the divine skills inside the Golden Palace, to roam the Martial World.
Because too many martial artists came, what was once a remote small town, Qinghe Town, gradually developed into a city.
A large city where martial artists gathered.
The many martial artists that came looking for treasure made various sects want to join in, making the place very dangerous.
Many people were killed before even entering the mountains to seek treasure.
Such brutal and thrilling events concluded when the White Socks Sect entered Qingzhou, forcibly taking over Qinghe City.
Even if other sects and gangs wanted to enter the mountains for treasure, they had to see the White Socks Sect’s attitude.
With the aggressive takeover of the White Socks Sect, the fervor gradually cooled down.
Because the White Socks Sect’s methods were vicious, no man or woman could escape their twisted desires.
Moreover, for over a hundred years, martial artists have never ceased their exploration of Golden Mountain, yet none have truly succeeded.
What shocked people the most was that someone else actually reached the Golden Palace later but failed to bring out the divine skill secret manual successfully.
That person was Wei Sanxun, the chief disciple of the Rat Phase among the Twelve Star Signs, reportedly possessing half of the Rat Phase’s essence.
Wei Sanxun reached the Golden Palace, but not long after he came out, he went mad.
He described the Golden Palace as a pure gold-built palace, without any impurity, with a blood-red tree inside.
The divine skill secret manual is on that tree.
He couldn’t reach it because the Valkyrie was there.
In his words, though supposedly a dead Valkyrie after all these years, she was still alive, wandering the Golden Palace.
He had to sacrifice eight subordinates to escape.
But not long after escaping, he went mad and even gouged out his own eyes before dying.
It’s said that when he died, a strange flower bloomed in the eye sockets he gouged out.
This is truly a shocking story, even a ghost story, yet it really happened.
It shrouded the mysterious Golden Palace in a layer of eerie terror.
Yet this mysterious horror did not deter many people, instead making martial artists even more frenzied.
Because this proved that the Golden Palace exists and can be found.
However, the White Socks Sect has always suppressed that area, so the greedy martial artists could only sneak into the mountains.
Until the White Socks Sect and the Jade Sword Sect erupted in fierce battles.
The Jade Sword Sect originally had far less foundation than the White Socks Sect, which had been operating in Qingzhou for many years, but their regenerative force was too strong.
Back then, wherever the Jade Sword Sect went, a city of women often appeared.
The Jade Maidens were endless, while the White Socks Sect’s bloody rule in Qingzhou had offended many sect influences.
These powerful factions secretly sent male disciples to join the Jade Sword Sect to deal with the White Socks Sect, trying to regain what they lost.
These men turning into women, many disciples naturally refused, but these factions were no simple characters, castrating the male disciples before ordering them.
Gradually, these male disciples also found the beauty of being women, becoming Jade Maidens.
This is why the Jade Sword Sect could fight so long on the White Socks Sect’s territory.
This is because they not only had the undefeated faith "Heroic Venerate," but also endless "reinforcements."
But eventually, the purity of the Jade Sword Sect was insufficient, as many new Jade Maidens’ motives were impure, not fully dedicated to the martial spirit of Heroic Venerate. Coupled with the White Socks Sect’s intensified efforts, this wounded the Jade Sword Sect’s foundation.
The Jade Sword Sect gradually withdrew from Qingzhou, but the White Socks Sect also suffered heavy losses, unable to fully control Qingzhou, including Qinghe City.
Thus, Qinghe City suddenly became lively again!
Various sect forces not only started reclaiming territories but also wanted to thoroughly turn over Golden Mountain, making it a mess.
Even professionals like Fan Gao felt the danger there, barely finding the house Duan Yun wanted.
Duan Yun did not anticipate Qinghe City having such a Golden Mountain.
But that wasn’t the crux of it.
The key was that the place was chaotic, with plenty of unruly sects.
In that case, his corrupt—cough, his heroic spirit could have more room to play in reforming it.
He was rather afraid that the place wasn’t chaotic and that the sects were too proper.
That noon, the weather was gloomy.
Duan Yun and his companions were on the road, finding that there were already many people and caravans on the road.
These people, carrying weapons and wearing various robes, were evidently martial artists.
They walked along the road, talking loudly or quietly, all heading to Qinghe City, towards Golden Mountain.
Thinking lunch was due, Duan Yun and his group planned to eat before continuing their journey.
This was a tree-lined path, with tall trees on both sides of the road.
Even in this early summer season, it was still quite cool.
In fact, they had felt cool for several days.
Golden Mountain was a sprawling mountain range, and they were gradually entering the forest area.
Apart from this main road, all around was the deep mountain forest.
Qinghe Town was initially located in the mountains, and its development from a town to a city depended on these flocking martial artists.
At this time, quite a few people were eating, with smoke rising from the sides of the road occasionally.
People always need to eat.
Duan Yun and his group were preparing a soup pot.
The Murong brothers and Ning Qing had just picked some mushrooms and wood ear fungus from the woods, not knowing if they were poisonous but intending to give it a try regardless.
Poisonous or not, they had to try it; a hero is just that bold.
Not far from them, two groups of people were also making meals.
One group was roasting wild game, making the wild rabbit and wild boar meat sizzle, while the other was cooking braised pork.
From appearances, both groups had a rough style.
Half of the people roasting had shaved heads, with muscular bodies, while the braised pork cooks all wielded machetes.
Because of a single sentence, the two groups clashed.
The cause was two bald men from the upwind side went down to check out the braised pork.
The swordsman raised an eyebrow and said, "What are you looking at?"
The bald man glared and said, "Looking at you! I’m looking at the meat, not you!"
"Damn you! Brothers! Fight!"
In the blink of an eye, both sides were fighting, blood and flesh flying.
Watching this, Duan Yun became increasingly convinced that these martial artists were insane, being able to fight so fiercely over something like this.
At that moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Because he saw that some of the blood spilled from the bald men was green.
Iron Blood Sect?
Seeing this scene, Duan Yun decided secretly: "I’ll first reform your improper blooded sect!"