Chaotic World Book

Zhao Changhe didn't know if he was getting old or getting younger, why it went from him caressing her face to leaning in her arms for comfort, feeling so cozy and peaceful.

Being by her side always gave him an exceptional sense of security, even though he used to worry about her wandering alone in the past, and even now, seemingly stronger than her, he inexplicably felt secure in her embrace.

How odd, her chest isn't even larger than San Niang's, just moderate in size.

If it was about getting old, perhaps it should be reflected in the fact that, despite resting in his sister's warm embrace, he didn't harbor a single inappropriate thought.

Now he could be honest—seeing her in the past, no matter how much respect he showed or claimed to have no disrespectful thoughts, deep down, to say he didn't think about taking her to bed would surely be a lie, after all, men understood these things...

But now, he genuinely had no such thoughts, despite being freshly bathed, not even a flicker of desire... Was he becoming impotent...

Or was this what they called an old married couple, left hand holding the right? Zhao Changhe sank into profound confusion.

Yue Hongling had no idea he was contemplating such baseless nonsense and continued to hold him with maternal fervor, whispering softly, "I've been in various secret realms these days and didn't see the turmoil on the Chaotic World List. You've grown so powerful... You must have gone through a lot."

Even a blind man wanted to vomit, let alone whether it was the bitterness of Vermilion Bird's mouth or Xia Chichi's heart, or perhaps Cui Yuanyang's tender body? He had indeed suffered quite a bit.

But to be fair, he really was exhausted, not just pretending. When Xia Longyuan lay down, the weight on his shoulders was substantial, so great that even the blind doubted whether he and the shaky new Imperial could hold up, saying Xia Longyuan died too soon, not within the blind's plans.

In the end, riding Wuzhui with a sword in one hand and an arrow in the other, he truly carved out a relatively stable heaven. Now facing someone who could set the tone for the entire Buddhist Sect, a month ago, such a thought would have been unimaginable.

The key was that he had to act like a sea anchor in front of others, never showing weakness. However, upon reflection, he wasn't even twenty-three, a time when one just graduated from college and was seeking jobs or internships...

It was tough... Having a sister was nice, a way to soothe his nerves.

Leaning into Yue Hongling's arms, Zhao Changhe mumbled vaguely, "I haven't suffered much... but you, after half a year apart, now at the Third Layer Secret Treasure, should have been through numerous bloody battles, yet never appeared on the Chaotic World List, what exactly did you do in the Western Regions? I want to hear the story."

Yue Hongling laughed, "I thought you were trying to steal the conversation just now so that I wouldn't talk too much for these monks to hear."

"Of course, despite their honest looks, one can't let down their guard. It's better to keep some detailed information to ourselves," Zhao Changhe replied languidly. "Especially my dear sister's personal stories, why should they be shared with them..."

"You're just being silly. The story I'm going to tell you doesn't contain the things you're imagining, nothing that can't be said openly!"

"What am I imagining?" Zhao Changhe slightly tilted his head, burying it deeper in her embrace: "With the person, right here, do I even need to use my imagination..."

Yue Hongling affectionately ruffled his hair, letting him lie more comfortably before saying, "Well, I did have quite a few battles in the Western Regions, but I didn't challenge anyone stronger on the list, so it's normal that my ranking didn't change. The endless sands and majestic sunsets in the Western Regions, holding infinite meaning, are very conducive to nurturing Sword Intent. The gains have been significant. Of course, the real improvement happened inside the Secret Realms, and even if there were battles, they wouldn't be recorded on the Chaotic World List."

Zhao Changhe muttered to himself about the worthless blind, unable to see wherever there was a concealment of space, pretending to be the all-seeing Heavenly Dao.

"So what Yuan Cheng said about the 'Buddha who knows everything under heaven,'" Zhao Changhe mused, "simply doesn't exist at present, not even a blind person can count as one, let alone anyone else."

It was somewhat tragic that Zhao Changhe felt he had no energy left to care about serious matters; all he wanted was to lean against his sister and rest. Yet now, upon hearing all this, he felt a subconscious urge to know more, "So, have you fought a lot with the Western Regions' Tribes? I haven't seen anyone from the Western Regions on the Chaotic World List, what's their martial arts culture like?"

"The Western Regions are actually from the Northern Hu too... but their tribes are different. It's like the difference between the Vulture Tribe and Ba Tu's Battle Lion Tribe—though they're all classified as Northern Hu, many of their customs are not necessarily the same. Even though there are strong warriors in the Western Regions, the rankings on the Chaotic World List also consider them as part of the Hu people, so Central Earth doesn't understand them well."

"Can you tell me more about the specifics?"

The blind man nearly burst into laughter. You're supposed to be resting, what are you doing?

You're not tired, but who is?

Yue Hongling was in the middle of responding, "It's a land rich in trade, but it's chaotic. There are horse bandits, thieves, assassins everywhere, and various tribes vie for power, with the ruling flags changing at any moment. Normal merchants must pay hefty protection fees to settle there, and even then they often get killed or robbed."

"That makes sense, once the ruling flag changes, who would recognize the old protection fees..."

"Anyway, when it comes to savagery and slaughter, it's much worse than in Central Earth, perhaps only the Northern Border can compare..." Yue Hongling tilted her head and asked, "Does this count as martial arts culture?"

"It does," Zhao Changhe chuckled. "But it's not the martial spirit of the Worldly Society's knights. Sounds like something the Bandit Brotherhood would love..."

"I haven't seen Ying Wu's forces there, but they definitely exist, might even be their main base. According to the common rule that each place has a strongest individual holding most resources, the Western Regions won't be without someone from the Heavenly List, Ying Wu is likely the embodiment of some local king or one of the largest horse bandit forces."

Zhao Changhe hissed, "I didn't see that coming..."

He hadn't gotten that impression of Ying Wu before, but now that he thought about it, Yue Hongling's judgment seemed correct.

Yue Hongling sighed, "The wider the world I see, the more injustice I find. But with only a three-foot sword in hand, one cannot take care of everything... My experiences over the past half year have made me believe more and more that your path is the right one. Only with the Emperor's Sword can one pacify this land and help more people."

Zhao Changhe nodded absentmindedly; he wasn't really thinking about that. What he was mainly considering was that this concept seemed similar to, yet also distinct from, his own notion of the Silk Road. After all, the world was different. At least here, the variety of races or sects didn't seem as diverse, everything was sorted according to the different Northern Hu tribes.

From this, one could discern two things: first, in a location analogous to the Middle East, there were still kingdoms, perhaps even more to the west; second, the Silk Road of trade existed, but for a long time it had been monopolized by the Li Family, with Central Earth gaining almost no benefit, all swallowed by the Li Family. By that count, the Li Family's hidden influence was bigger than imagined, exceeding even the newly-rising power of the Wang Family in sea trade.

When it comes to statecraft, there was much that could be done here, Old Xia really had no clue what he was messing with. Not learning other things is one thing, but why not at least learn from Emperor Han?

Additionally... Zhao Changhe suddenly asked, "Based on your description, aside from Ying Wu, I feel there's a good chance that the headquarters of Listening Snow Pavilion might be there too... it's just that Listening Snow Pavilion is more secretive, and won't openly seize power or resources."

"Yes, I was following the trail of Listening Snow Pavilion assassins because I discovered their business dealings and wanted to find their lair, which led me into Heavenly Mountain. Hmm, it's called Heavenly Mountain locally, but based on our understanding, it should be part of the Kunlun Mountain range, right? It's just that it's a far cry south of what we know as the Valley of Evil, the distance is great."

"I'm aware of that."

"Once we reached Heavenly Mountain, it was vaster than any Snow Mountain we had seen before, all covered with endless snow. The inside is extremely dangerous, and there are many strange occurrences..." Yue Hongling said dreamily, "On my first day there, I saw you."