Chapter 44

When these words were spoken, Jiang Han was instantly stunned. Could it be that there were other people lurking here? Were they the old man's accomplices?

Before he could figure it out, ripples suddenly appeared in the air, and a figure slowly emerged. It was a middle-aged man, dressed in peculiar long robes, who immediately saluted Elder Yun without a word.

"Your Excellency, I was also waiting here to deal with that evil person, but I didn't expect Your Excellency to have already taken the first step and killed him. Since that's the case, I will take my leave!" With that, the man turned to leave.

However, he soon stopped, because... he couldn't move!

He turned around with an awkward look on his face and forced a smile at Elder Yun, "Your Excellency, do you... have any other instructions for me?"

Elder Yun looked at him indifferently, saying nothing. The man didn't dare to move, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

After a long while, Elder Yun nodded lightly, "You may go."

The man, upon hearing this, felt a great relief, secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then saluted Elder Yun before turning to leave.

"...The Blood Spirit Sect, they really have some nerve."

Elder Yun's soft voice came from behind, and the man, who was flying in the air, stumbled. He steadied himself and then flew away at a speed more than twice as fast as before.

"Old Yun, the sect that protected the old man is the Blood Spirit Sect?" Jiang Han naturally heard Elder Yun's words and, seeing the man's figure disappear, asked.

"Yes, the Blood Spirit Sect is a high-grade sect with a history of thousands of years. Its overall strength is formidable, and it's not easy to move against them... However, I'm curious why the Blood Spirit Sect would protect a mere Martial Emperor." Elder Yun said, then frowned in thought.

"Uh, do sects also have grades?" Jiang Han didn't pay attention to Elder Yun's confusion, as it had nothing to do with him. Instead, information about sects was currently more important to him.

Elder Yun, coming out of his thoughts, was taken aback by Jiang Han's words. He then looked at him with an incredibly strange expression, making Jiang Han feel very uncomfortable. He finally asked, "You, don't even know this?"

"I don't know." Jiang Han shook his head honestly.

"Have you been living in some deep mountain all this time? How can you not know this? Even someone with a little knowledge should know these things." Elder Yun looked at Jiang Han suspiciously, "Are you sure you're not fooling me?"

Jiang Han felt a headache, thinking, "Can you blame me? The previous owner of this body didn't know, so where would I know? In my dreams?"

Of course, he couldn't say that out loud. He just said, "Old Yun, you only know part of it, right? I think that for martial artists living at the bottom, they mostly don't have access to this kind of information. I, for the most part, am one of those unlearned people."

Elder Yun was taken aback but then shook his head and smiled lightly, "Indeed, I was being presumptuous!"

"Since that's the case, I'll introduce you to it today." Elder Yun pondered for a moment and continued, "On this vast land, sects stand tall, big and small. Since martial artists have different levels of strength, sects naturally do too."

"Generally speaking, sects are divided into five grades, from lowest to highest: unranked, low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and holy-grade. Unranked sects are naturally too weak to even be considered a grade! Low-grade sects are just a bit stronger, with their strongest members being Martial Kings; mid-grade sects have their strongest members as Martial Emperors, and for high-grade sects, having five or more Martial Emperors qualifies them as high-grade!"

"Stronger high-grade sects have Martial Venerables, like the Blood Spirit Sect, which belongs to the stronger high-grade sects."

"As for holy-grade, the requirements are much stricter, so I won't go into detail. If you reach a certain level, you will naturally understand."

Jiang Han nodded, having a general understanding in his mind. Not to mention Martial Venerables, even Martial Emperors and Martial Kings were far beyond his reach. Even if he revealed all his trump cards, those powerful figures could easily crush him.

He thought of Elder Yun's calmness when mentioning the Blood Spirit Sect and his ability to easily crush a Martial Emperor, and he had a rough guess about Elder Yun's cultivation.

If there were no surprises, Elder Yun's cultivation should be at the Martial Venerable level!

Soon, Jiang Han thought of another issue. In the rumors, all sects were under the jurisdiction of the empire, but he didn't know if it was true. If it were true, the empire's strength would be truly terrifying!

"Old Yun, I heard that all sects must accept the jurisdiction of our empire. Is that true?" Jiang Han asked.

Elder Yun's lips curled into a smile, and he nodded, "Yes. Whether it's an unranked sect or a powerful holy-grade sect, they all fall under the jurisdiction of the empire. This iron law has been in place for thousands of years, and no one can violate it, or they will face the empire's iron cavalry."

"However..." Elder Yun's tone changed, "Holy-grade sects are not much weaker than the empire. In fact, from a certain perspective, the empire itself is the most powerful sect!"

Jiang Han nodded, deep in thought.

From this, it seemed that the three great empires were the most powerful forces on the Heavenly Martial Continent. He noticed that when Elder Yun mentioned holy-grade sects, he said they were not much weaker than the empire, indicating a significant gap.

"Then... is the sect you belong to a holy-grade sect?" Jiang Han asked tentatively.

Elder Yun looked at Jiang Han with a half-smile, and chuckled, "Why don't you think I'm from the empire?"

"Uh..." Jiang Han was taken aback and laughed dryly, "Maybe it's intuition. I just feel that Old Yun doesn't seem to be from the empire."

"Intuition, hmm, not bad intuition!" Elder Yun laughed heartily, patting Jiang Han's shoulder, "Indeed, I am from a holy-grade sect! Kid, do you want to join?"

Jiang Han was taken aback, then scratched his head and said, "Can I join?"

"In terms of talent, you fall short." Elder Yun stroked his beard, "But I like you, so I can take you as a disciple."

"Disciple Jiang Han, I pay my respects to my master!" Jiang Han immediately bowed deeply without a word.

Elder Yun's eyes widened, and he quickly waved his hands, "Did I say I would take you as a disciple? Besides, you already have a master, and from your strength, your master's strength should not be much weaker than mine. If he finds out I took his precious disciple, he might come to fight me to the death."

"My master said that no matter how many masters I have in the future, it has nothing to do with him. I just need to consider him my first master." Jiang Han laughed and made it up on the spot.

"Eh." Elder Yun was taken aback, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "There are such masters? I've learned something today! If you want to be my disciple, it's fine. Wait until you return to the sect with me and pass my test, then I'll take you as a disciple, okay?"

"Okay!" Jiang Han agreed immediately, then asked somewhat nervously, "What kind of test? Is it difficult?"

"You'll know when the time comes!" Elder Yun smiled, but Jiang Han felt a chill down his spine from that smile.

"Master..."

"Hey, stop! You're not my disciple yet, so call me Old Yun!" Elder Yun interrupted Jiang Han.

Jiang Han rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "Alright. Old Yun, how high is your cultivation? Are you a Martial Venerable?"

"About that." Elder Yun thought for a moment and nodded.

"Then... what is your status in the sect?" Jiang Han continued to ask.

"Why do you ask this?" Elder Yun asked curiously.

Jiang Han pulled at the corners of his mouth, "I'm afraid I'll be bullied. After all, I'm a newcomer and don't have any friends."

"Don't worry about that!" Elder Yun was taken aback, then laughed heartily, "As long as you become my disciple, no one will dare to bully you!"

"What if I don't become your disciple..."

"Then... it's none of my business." Elder Yun patted Jiang Han's shoulder and smiled, "So, you should work hard and try to pass my test!"

Jiang Han nodded, fell silent for a moment, and then grinned.

"If they provoke me and I accidentally kill them... will it be okay?"

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