Chapter 148: A Great Earthquake in H State’s Martial Arts World

There were well over a hundred jade items inside, including jade pendants, jade charms, jade bottles, jade Guanyin figurines, jade Buddhas, jade platters, jade cabbages, and more. All of them possessed superior jade quality, unmistakably valuable at a single glance.

Chen Xian channeled two wisps of special spiritual energy from his spirit wheel and infused them into his eyes. Instantly, one of his eyes turned pitch-black while the other became ash-gray—he had activated the Shattering Divine Eyes.

Looking at the jade artifacts once again, they appeared entirely different.

Almost all of the jade items lacked any presence of spiritual energy. Finally, Chen Xian’s gaze focused on the emerald jade cabbage, and his eyes widened abruptly.

He clearly saw wisps of mist dissipating from the emerald jade cabbage; this was precisely spiritual energy.

"Ha, heaven truly helps me!" Chen Xian could not help but laugh aloud in excitement upon seeing this.

With this emerald jade cabbage, he would be able to deploy a powerful, uncompromised minor golden lightning array.

Furthermore, Chen Xian could put the extra jade platter, inscribed with array patterns by Tong Yin, to good use as a bridge connecting the minor gathering spirit array and the minor golden lightning array.

Having secured these four spiritual energy-infused jade stones, Chen Xian immediately called Tong Yin, instructing him to come to City H to hold the fort and see if Ma Tian encountered any resistance while annexing the Wu and Ke families, and to step in and suppress them should any trouble arise.

Obeying his master's command, Tong Yin immediately set out from Spirit Mountain.

Raising his hand with a single thought, Chen Xian flashed his storage ring with a dim light, gathering all the jade objects inside it.

Next, he inspected the reishi mushrooms and ginseng he had confiscated from the Wu and Ke families. There were several specimens over a century old, and dozens ranging from thirty to fifty years old.

Chen Xian stowed them all into the storage ring as well.

With everything taken care of, he stepped out of Townhouse 101, boarded the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and had the driver return to Spirit Mountain in City M.

With Tong Yin overseeing matters in City H, he felt entirely at ease.

Across the entire Province of H, the only martial arts family boasting a grandmaster was the Bai family; none of the other clans possessed one.

With Tong Yin—a dual practitioner of martial arts and magic—holding down City H, no ripples could possibly be stirred up unless the Bai family's grandmaster personally intervened.

Moreover, Chen Xian had no grievances or enmity with the Bai family, so they would likely not easily provoke a grandmaster.

Hours later.

Chen Xian returned to Spirit Mountain. After planting the decades-old ginseng and reishi mushrooms in the courtyard, he entered the secret chamber.

He found Xiao Mei engrossed in absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate while simultaneously sucking on a lollipop.

The Silver Flute Profound Grass grew quietly in the corner, while the Breath-Stealing Insect Queen and Number 002 were also deep in cultivation.

After casting a brief glance, Chen Xian sat cross-legged. With a single thought, his storage ring flashed, producing the four emerald and jade stones imbued with spiritual energy.

Instead of immediately inscribing array patterns, he closed his eyes and focused his divine sense beneath the mysterious transcendent divine tree in the depths of his mind—specifically, upon the volume titled *Array Canon: Mortal Grade*. Once again, he reviewed the deployment methods for the minor golden lightning array and the technique for linking it with the minor gathering spirit array.

Reviewing the old to comprehend the new, Chen Xian quietly studied.

Half an hour later, as his eyelashes trembled, Chen Xian opened his eyes. His gaze was entirely calm, his inner state as tranquil as an ancient well.

He picked up one of the spiritual energy-laden pieces of emerald and inspected it.

Next, he released a surge of divine sense, enveloping the emerald. As he relaxed his hands, the emerald floated suspended right before him.

Forming sword fingers with both hands, Chen Xian channeled several wisps of spiritual energy from his spirit wheel, condensing them at his fingertips alongside his divine sense. Like a butterfly flitting through flowers, he began to dance across the spiritual emerald...

Tiny, gnat-sized metal-attribute array runes continuously materialized upon the emerald.

...

While Chen Xian was wholeheartedly carving the core of the minor golden lightning array, the martial arts world of Province H suffered a massive earthquake.

"Did you hear? Yesterday, the Wu and Ke families—martial arts clans backed by half-step grandmasters—were annexed!"

"My goodness, even families with half-step grandmasters were swallowed up. Which martial arts clan did this?"

"I heard it was done by the Ma family from City M. It seems a powerful young grandmaster has emerged in the Ma family, named Chen Xian!"

"A new grandmaster has arisen in Province H! This is truly explosive news. The martial arts world here hasn't seen a new grandmaster since the Bai family produced one thirty years ago!"

"The advent of a new grandmaster is bound to stir up a storm of blood and gore!"

"Could the Bai family step in to suppress the Ma family? Weren't the Wu family originally vassals of the Bai family?"

"Mmm, highly likely. After all, the Bai family also possesses a grandmaster, and their grandmaster entered the grandmaster realm over thirty years ago. He may have already reached the mid-stage or even late stage of the grandmaster realm."

"Two tigers cannot share one mountain. The Bai family certainly won't stand idly by and watch a vassal martial arts family under their banner get annexed. Doing so would be tantamount to the Bai family publicly submitting to the Ma family's grandmaster!"

"When do you think the newly advanced Grandmaster Chen Xian and the veteran Grandmaster of the Bai family will clash?"

"A battle between the new and old grandmasters—truly something to look forward to!"

"I doubt the new and old grandmasters in Province H will collide head-on anytime soon. Their real clash will undoubtedly take place at the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament."

"Right, the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament is starting very soon. The Bai family grandmaster will surely use this platform to defeat Grandmaster Chen Xian in one fell stroke, boosting his prestige immensely at the tournament and riding the momentum of victory to vie for the position of league leader!"

"Looks like this year's Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament is going to be spectacular!!!"

"I can hardly wait—the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament, where four grandmasters will take the stage simultaneously!"

"..."

From this day onward, the martial arts circles of Province H buzzed incessantly with discussions regarding the annexation of the Wu and Ke families by the Ma family, the emergence of the young grandmaster Chen Xian, the impending intervention of the Bai family, and the Southeast Nine Prefectures Martial Arts Tournament.

At the center of all this focus stood a single name—Chen Xian!

Thus, Chen Xian's prestige firmly established itself throughout Province H, and it would soon spread beyond its borders into the Southeast Nine Prefectures, and perhaps even echo across the entire Hualong Federation.

After all, within the entire Hualong Federation, the number of extant grandmasters barely exceeded thirty, and every single one of them commanded a formidable reputation.

...

Province H, Bai family estate, within the council hall.

Seated in the primary seat was Bai Changxiong, the head of the Bai family. He was a half-step grandmaster and a standout figure among them. Yet, at this moment, his face was clouded with gloom as he looked down at the upper echelons of the Bai family and said:

"Lords and ladies, a new young grandmaster named Chen Xian has popped up in Province H. Not only has he annexed the Wu family—a martial arts clan vassal to our Bai family—he has also swallowed the Ke family, which possessed a half-step grandmaster. What do you propose we do?"

Chen Xian's annexation of the Wu and Ke families deeply displeased Bai Changxiong, but unable to reach a decision on his own, he had called this family assembly to deliberate the matter.

Had the Bai family's patriarch emerged from seclusion, things wouldn't be this troublesome; the patriarch could simply make the final decision.

"Family Head, two tigers cannot coexist on one mountain. We must suppress the Ma family and Chen Xian, letting them know that in the martial arts world of Province H, we, the Bai family, remain the undisputed overlords!"