Jiang Chen felt a bit puzzled. If this Ling Dan was the Dan Saint of the Sacred One Sect, why did one character have the "Dan" from "Dan" (elixir/alchemy) and the other have the "Dan" (a different character, but pronounced the same)?
Both characters were pronounced identically to "Dan" (elixir). Could they be related to the Dao of Alchemy?
Or perhaps, since the Desolate Ancient era was so impossibly distant, the records of the founding ancestor's name had become blurred and corrupted through generations of transmission, ending up as erroneous characters?
Jiang Chen chuckled helplessly. "Dwelling on this doesn't seem to hold much meaning. Regardless of whether this Ling Dan was truly the Dan Saint, this ancient divine bow is undeniably a treasured inheritance of the Sacred One Sect. So, its original name was the Sacred Dragon Bow, forged from the sinew and bone of a Divine Dragon from the Northern Sea in the Desolate Ancient era. No wonder this bow inherently carried such a powerful aura, a sovereign's presence."
"Even placed within the Myriad Heavens Planes, this bow would absolutely be considered a formidable divine weapon. Back in the Desolate Ancient era, it must have followed that Ling Dan into countless battles, slaying innumerable ancient foes?"
Jiang Chen could sense the killing intent radiating from the bow. This intent was not something conjured from nothing. It had to have been forged through countless bloody clashes, the gradual accretion of lives harvested over ages.
Jiang Chen greatly admired this bow. With it in hand, it was undoubtedly a weapon of immense destructive power.
Although Jiang Chen could currently only unleash a mere tenth of the Sacred Dragon Bow's full might, it did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for mastering it.
Jiang Chen had always possessed exceptional talent in the art of archery. Throughout his journey, he had possessed the Dayu Bow and the Solar Shooting Bow. Those two bows had accompanied him along his path.
Now, this Sacred Dragon Bow's power exceeded those two by a hundred or even a thousand times. For Jiang Chen, it was an undisputed trump card.
"To control a bow and arrow perfectly, one must achieve a seamless fusion with the weapon itself. All martial arts in the world follow a Dao. Swordplay has the Dao of the Sword, blade techniques have the Dao of the Blade. And archery likewise has the Dao of the Bow and Arrow. When the Dao reaches its pinnacle, all things become one, interconnected and flowing freely..."
Jiang Chen activated his divine sense, carefully perceiving every detail of the Sacred Dragon Bow. Every inch of its surface was imbued with a rich aura of the Desolate Ancient, as if each part held countless thrilling stories within.
His divine sense continued its perception, and faintly, he seemed to be transported back to that primitive, savage world of the Desolate Ancient era, feeling the brutal yet exhilarating clash of combat, the primordial and frenzied warfare...
...
Another three months passed.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen's eyes snapped open. He reached out and caught a void transmission talisman that had materialized before him.
It had been sent from outside. Jiang Chen knew something must have happened in the outside world; otherwise, no one would dare disturb his seclusion by sending a transmission talisman.
Activating the talisman, a message voice imprinted within his divine sense flashed through his mind.
"The Fengyun Sect?"
Jiang Chen was genuinely startled. This message actually mentioned a "Fengyun Sect." In just three or four short years, a mysterious sect called the Fengyun Sect had somehow risen to prominence within the Human Domain.
And this Fengyun Sect had soared with astonishing momentum in those few years, its influence surpassing that of many first-rank sects.
The Fengyun Sect's headquarters was located in a central realm in the western Upper Eight Regions called the Wuding Central Realm.
This Wuding Central Realm was situated in the western part of the Upper Eight Regions, very close to the Heavenly Dragon Sect and not too far from the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect. It was practically wedged between these two great powers.
Furthermore, Wuding Central Realm had another neighbor: the Fengming Lower Realm, the location of Chenxiang Valley.
The message stated that half a year ago, the Fengyun Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect had clashed in a major battle over control of a mineral vein.
The final result was a crushing defeat for the Heavenly Dragon Sect. The Heavenly Dragon Sect Master, Long Zhe, was gravely wounded and nearly crippled. The entire sect was thrown into panic, desperately seeking aid from other sects.
However, the Heavenly Dragon Sect had always been arrogant, and its relations with the other sects of the Upper Eight Regions were mediocre at best. After their calls for help went out, not a single sect responded.
Now, the Heavenly Dragon Sect had closed its gates, seeking only to defend itself.
Its territories had been seized in large swathes by the Fengyun Sect. More than half of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's domain had already fallen under Fengyun Sect control.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect's vitality was severely damaged, leaving it powerless to resist the Fengyun Sect further. Rumors even circulated that the Heavenly Dragon Sect Master, Long Zhe, had succumbed to his injuries and perished.
Long Zhe's cultivation had been at a level approaching that of the Peacock Great Emperor and the Grand Emperor Dan Qi. In the Upper Eight Regions, aside from the universally acknowledged hegemon, the Glazed King City, no force currently existed that could overwhelm a giant like the Heavenly Dragon Sect.
After all, among the eight first-rank sects of the Upper Eight Regions, the Heavenly Dragon Sect was considered one of the very top. In the past, it was grouped with the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect as the three greatest first-rank sects, possessing strength superior to the others.
Yet, in the aftermath of Pill Fire City's destruction, the Heavenly Dragon Sect had been thrashed into disarray, nearly annihilated by a newly risen Fengyun Sect. This news left the entire Human Domain stunned.
In an instant, all eyes in the Human Domain turned warily towards the Fengyun Sect.
Recently, rumors further spread that the Fengyun Sect intended to target the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect next. The Nine Yang Heavenly Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect were positioned above and below the Fengyun Sect's headquarters, like upper and lower rows of teeth. A simple clamp-down between them should have been enough to inflict a serious blow on the Fengyun Sect.
Unfortunately, relations between the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect had never been cordial. For the prestige of being the foremost first-rank sect, they had long engaged in both overt and covert struggles behind the scenes.
When the Heavenly Dragon Sect met its misfortune, the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect had even gloated.
Only now, as the Fengyun Sect cast its predatory gaze upon them, did the entire Nine Yang Heavenly Sect finally come to realize the grim truth of the proverb: when the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold.