Chapter 1322: Compromise Plan

"Dark Abyss Martial Arts? Fighting against others?" Lu Ye asked.

Anything bearing the name "Martial Arts" was inherently linked to combat. If that were the case, Lu Ye would certainly have no problem with it. However, he first needed to understand the level of his opponents. Facing a Moonfrost realm cultivator would be utterly impossible for him.

"It's not merely combat; Dark Abyss Martial Arts has a very complex set of rules," Haitang explained. "But there's truly no risk to your life."

"Sister Haitang, please explain in detail," Lu Ye said. This was an opportunity that came from Su Yuqing and Chen Xuanhai openly disagreeing, so he naturally wanted to cherish it.

Haitang then began to tell Lu Ye about the Dark Abyss Martial Arts: "Junior Brother Lu, you noticed it before you entered Square Inch Mountain: our Square Inch Mountain is not complete."

Lu Ye nodded. He had indeed noticed it at the time, as Square Inch Mountain clearly showed signs of fragmentation. Only after Haitang's explanation did he realize he hadn't been mistaken. A complete Square Inch Mountain was said to be a supreme treasure of the starry sky, incredibly mysterious, but for some unknown reason, it had been divided into three parts.

The region where Haitang resided was considered the eastern part of Square Inch Mountain. There were also southern and western parts, all referred to as Square Inch Mountain and inhabited by the Little Folk race, who wandered through the starry sky.

Lu Ye didn't know what kind of foundations other top-tier regions possessed, but observing his own region, while there were many Star Lord and Moonfrost realm cultivators, the number of Sun Glimmer realm cultivators was noticeably low, with only three in total. This didn't quite align with the expected foundation of a top-tier region; some larger regions had more Sun Glimmer cultivators than this one.

In reality, the power of the Little Folk race was fragmented due to the division of Square Inch Mountain. If it were whole, the entire Little Folk race would possess no fewer than ten Sun Glimmer realm cultivators, which would meet the standard of a top-tier region.

Another mystery was that although Square Inch Mountain was divided into three parts and each wandered through the starry sky, their connection was never severed by distance.

Simply put, even though the supreme treasure of the starry sky, Square Inch Mountain, was split into three, there remained a mysterious way for them to connect.

Through this connection, the different parts could easily contact each other. If a certain price was paid, cultivators could even be transported between them, allowing for mutual visits.

The Blood Race once coveted this region. When this region was passing through a certain part of the starry sky, the Blood Race launched a massive surprise attack with many powerful cultivators. If only this region's strength were considered, that battle would surely have been disastrous. However, due to timely support from the other two parts, the Blood Race was repelled and forced to pay a heavy price.

It was after that battle that no other race dared to covet Square Inch Mountain in the vast starry sky. On the surface, one only needed to deal with one part, but once combat began, they would have to face all three. Who could withstand that?

When facing external enemies, the Little Folk race could quickly unite because everyone knew that even though Square Inch Mountain was divided into three, it still maintained a mysterious connection. If one part were occupied by an external force, the remaining two parts would also suffer a bad fate, eventually being defeated one by one.

However, there were also internal disputes within the Little Folk race, mainly concerning the amount of their regional foundation.

Square Inch Mountain was originally a single entity with a fixed foundation. But after its division into three, its foundation also split along with the region.

The crucial point was that this division was not static.

Due to that incredibly mysterious and imperceptible connection, Square Inch Mountain's foundation was like flowing water, sometimes flowing towards the East, sometimes to the South, and sometimes to the West.

This led to an uneven distribution of the foundation.

More importantly, this flow of foundation could also be artificially controlled.

The foundation of a region determined its level and strength. Even though they were all part of the Little Folk race, no one wanted the foundation of their own region to weaken.

Therefore, tens of thousands of years ago, an extremely intense and prolonged struggle erupted among the three parts of Square Inch Mountain's Little Folk race.

This struggle was not a common combat, but rather a contest among the powerful cultivators of each part for the regional foundation! In such a struggle, the strong cultivators from the three parts didn't even need to meet face-to-face; they all remained in their own regions, controlling the flow of the foundation within their respective areas.

It was like villagers in the mortal world fighting for water during a drought. Everyone dug reservoirs near their homes, trying their best to preserve the water in their own reservoirs while also attempting to steal from the reservoirs of the other two families.

This was a method of conflict that outsiders had never seen.

Haitang wasn't clear about the final outcome, as many years had passed, but that struggle had lasted for a full century. During that hundred years, all cultivators within the Little Folk race, whether Sun Glimmer, Moonfrost, or Star Lord, were engaged in it, and the cultivation of the entire race was consequently delayed.

External rumors suggested that the internal discord within the Little Folk race attracted the Blood Race's covetousness, which then led to the war with the Blood Race!

Using that war as a catalyst, the Sun Glimmer realm cultivators from the three parts finally had the chance to sit down and discuss, establishing the Dark Abyss Martial Arts event. It could be said that this was a historical activity with a very long tradition for the Little Folk race. It occurred every fifty years. During the Dark Abyss Martial Arts, the Little Folk from each part would emulate their ancestors, competing for the regional foundation, so that their own region could enjoy better conditions for the next fifty years.

If the regional foundation was strong, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within that region would be purer and denser, making it easier for lower-level cultivators to practice. The region could also produce more spirit minerals, spirit herbs, and even spirit jades.

Therefore, the Dark Abyss Martial Arts, held every fifty years, was almost certainly the most important matter for the three parts of the Little Folk race, their top priority.

The most recent Dark Abyss Martial Arts event was set to begin in just over two months.

For Lu Ye and Nian Yuexian, who hailed from the Nine Provinces, this was undoubtedly very novel. While the Nine Provinces were not bad now, they still paled in comparison to a region formed from a supreme treasure of the starry sky like Square Inch Mountain.

So Lu Ye asked, "Do Star Lord realm cultivators participate in this Dark Abyss Martial Arts?" Otherwise, why would they seek him out?

Haitang nodded: "The ancestors who established this rule back then unanimously agreed that the quantity and quality of Star Lords best reflect the strength of a region. Furthermore, the environment of the Dark Abyss is unique, and only cultivators of the top three realms can operate within it, so this rule was established."

Lu Ye nodded in agreement. The strength of a region could indeed be gauged by the quantity and quality of its Star Lords, as Star Lords were, after all, cultivators who had ventured into the starry sky.

Of course, there must have been other considerations. At the very least, it wouldn't be appropriate for Sun Glimmer realm cultivators to participate in such an event. If it were held every fifty years and only Sun Glimmer cultivators participated, it would likely be the same people each time, and it would become tedious to watch.

Moonfrost realm cultivators wouldn't be suitable either, as their battles would cause too much commotion. Therefore, Star Lords were the best choice.

"For the Martial Arts event, how many participants does each part usually send?" Lu Ye asked again. He vaguely realized something: the number of participants shouldn't be too small, because Haitang had previously mentioned that one of the Star Lords scheduled to participate had a cultivation mishap, leading to a shortage of personnel!

As a top-tier region, Square Inch Mountain had a plethora of Star Lords. If a large number of participants weren't required, how could there be a shortage of personnel?

"Nine people!"

Lu Ye frowned upon hearing this. It didn't make sense. How could Square Inch Mountain not even gather nine Star Lords, especially when the Nine Provinces already had nearly a thousand?

Of course, this was related to the current unique situation of the Nine Provinces. As a newly ascended large region, it naturally experienced a boom in Star Lord births due to many Sea of Consciousness cultivators accumulating profound foundations.

However, once this boom period passed, the frequency of Star Lord births in the Nine Provinces would significantly decrease, eventually settling into a stable state.

As if seeing his confusion, Haitang explained: "Although it's only nine people, not every Star Lord is qualified to participate. The Dark Abyss is a very special place; anyone can only enter it once in their lifetime. A Star Lord who has entered once can never enter a second time, regardless of the circumstances. So, generally, the Star Lords who enter the Dark Abyss for the Martial Arts event are those who have recently advanced in the past fifty years."

Lu Ye suddenly understood. This explained it. While the number of Star Lords in their region was considerable, very few were qualified to enter the Dark Abyss, because most of the Star Lords who had advanced fifty years ago had already entered it. However, he quickly realized a question: "This isn't absolute, is it? If this region produced ten or more Star Lords in the previous fifty years, then only nine would need to enter, leaving one or two to wait for the next fifty-year cycle to enter."

"Precisely. That's why most of the participants in the Dark Abyss Martial Arts are in the early Star Lord stage, with a few in the middle stage, and occasionally one in the late stage."

Lu Ye nodded. Under such rules, it was indeed true that early Star Lord cultivators would be predominant. This also revealed the differences in the foundations of the three parts of Square Inch Mountain.

The stronger the foundation, the more Star Lords there were, which meant more opportunities for selection, and thus a higher probability of late Star Lord cultivators participating.

"This part of the mountain... has its performance always been poor?" Lu Ye vaguely sensed it. They could barely gather enough participants for the Martial Arts event, clearly due to an insufficient foundation. This meant that in the previous fifty years, this part had no Star Lords held in reserve, and in the last fifty years, only nine Star Lords had emerged, just enough to meet the participation requirements for the event.

Haitang's face flushed slightly as she lowered her head: "We're almost always at the bottom."

In a competition between three parts, coming in last once or twice was fine, but consistently ranking last would eventually impact the healthy development of the entire region's cultivation system. This would lead to a vicious cycle of becoming weaker and having fewer and fewer qualified participants.

Of course, this part didn't always come in last. Two hundred years ago, they fortunately managed to secure second place, but it wasn't of much use. Merely fifty years was hardly enough time to improve the overall environment of a region.

After hearing Haitang's explanation, Lu Ye understood that this matter held great significance for their part of the mountain. Otherwise, the old stubborn Chen Xuanhai probably wouldn't have given in so easily.

***

This time, Tang San's grasp of time, position, and distance was incredibly precise.

He knew very well that even with his Tang Sect unique skills and third-rank Mysterious Heaven Skill cultivation, the wolf demons were innately gifted and physically powerful. In a direct confrontation, he might not be their match. Especially given his young age and insufficient vital energy, he certainly couldn't fight for long. If that transformed human hadn't forcefully killed one wolf demon, he might not have even intervened against two third-rank wolf demons; his own life was paramount.

However, once he made a move, he had to ensure it hit its mark.

The wolf demon was in a state of extreme fury at this moment, so it wasn't until Tang San's palm had already struck the side of its eye that it finally realized. It sharply twisted its head, its maw snapping directly at Tang San.

Tang San's other hand, however, grabbed its clothes at that moment. Taking advantage of his small stature, he tugged on the wolf's fur, changing his direction. With a flip, almost brushing against the third-rank wolf demon's chest, he was already on the wolf demon's other side.

His right index and middle fingers formed a sword-finger gesture. Activating Mysterious Jade Hand, his two fingers gleamed with a pure white, jade-like luster, stabbing like lightning towards the wolf demon's eyes as it turned its head back.

*Pfft!* His slender fingers instantly plunged into the warm flesh. In terms of physical strength, Tang San was certainly far inferior to this third-rank wolf demon, but once he struck a vital point with energy of the same rank, there was no room for luck.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill, channeled through the Mysterious Jade Hand, practically twisted and plunged into the wolf demon's brain. As a result, the wolf demon's other eye also burst open instantly, and its brain was pulverized into a pulp. Its roar abruptly ceased as if choked, and its powerful body toppled to the ground.

Tang San kicked off its body with his toes, flipping to land some distance away.

The success of this strike was due to his rich combat experience from his previous life. His small, child-like body and the darkness of night provided the best cover, coupled with the third-rank wolf demon being in a state of rage, which dulled its perception.

In a head-on confrontation, Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand might not even be able to penetrate the wolf demon's thick hide. However, the eyes were the most vulnerable point. Piercing an eye and injecting Mysterious Heaven Skill energy meant certain death.

His feet touched the ground, and the third-rank wolf demon on the other side had also gone silent. Only then did Tang San breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't rush to check on the human, but instead quickly lay on the ground, pressing his ear close to the earth, listening for any sounds to see if there were more pursuers.

With his current strength, a direct confrontation with a third-rank wolf demon was difficult; no matter how good his technique, his young body was too frail. A single hit from a wolf demon could likely be fatal. That seemingly simple attack just now was, in fact, his full effort, elevating his spiritual will to the highest degree.

There were no other movements around, indicating that only two third-rank wolf demons had been pursuing the human who could transform. This also brought Tang San a sense of relief; otherwise, he would have had no choice but to flee.

He then walked towards the human, maintaining his vigilance.

When he approached the person, he immediately noticed that the hair that had previously grown on their body had disappeared. This caused Tang San's heartbeat to quicken slightly.

Given his young age and his lack of relation to the transformed human, the safest course of action would naturally have been to not intervene and wait for the wolf demons to leave. Yet, he chose to act. One reason was that the pursued individual was human. Another significant reason was the transformation he had just witnessed.

In Tang San's original world of Douluo Dalu, there were Soul Masters with Beast Martial Souls who possessed similar abilities. They could also continuously grow and become stronger by cultivating their Beast Martial Souls.

If similar abilities existed in this world, learning them would naturally be greatly beneficial for his own strength, and it would make it easier for him to integrate into this world!