"Sacred Heavenly Scripture, the divine technique of the Zhou Kingdom imperial family."
Zhao Mu sat within the stone chamber with a jade scroll in his hand.
That item came from the Cloud Abode.
It was said to be refined using talisman arts.
There were words, pictures, and even dancing lights within it.
Compared to the normal scriptures recorded on papers and books, it was more life-like and easier to understand.
"The great founding ancestor of the Zhou Kingdom who conquered the lands seems to be a Spiritual Transformation Expert of the eighth Mortal Stage."
Zhao Mu was confused. With his knowledge and understanding, he could easily identify that the Sacred Heavenly Scriptures was a divine art grade martial art.
Although the quality of its true Qi and combat power was not comparable to the Divine Sun and Moon Scriptures from the Legend of Emperors, it was still a path that allowed one to break through the barrier to the Human Immortal Stage, tearing down the limits of creation.
"This proves that the Sacred Heavenly Scriptures were not created by the Great Ancestor, but rather obtained from a fortuitous encounter," Zhao Mu hypothesized.
He felt that the Grand Commander Guardian and the Great Ancestor surely had some extraordinary relationship.
A martial art at the divine art level could easily stir up a bloodbath if let loose in the world.
Even the Ten Great Sects would be moved.
Instead, the Great Ancestor of Zhou generously shared this with others.
"The Grand Commander has the surname of Zhao. I wonder if it was granted, or does he share the same bloodline with the Great Ancestor."
Zhao Mu pushed his distractions aside and continued to study the martial arts recorded within.
The Sacred Heavenly Scriptures focused mainly on the true Qi of wind and thunder.
The former revolves around formlessness, blending in with everything, and constantly changing.
The latter revolves around balance, each movement shaking the heavens with its amazing strength.
"On the path of martial arts, other arts could be used to polish one's own."
Since Zhao Mu had the better Divine Sun and Moon Scriptures, he was naturally not interested in the Sacred Heavenly Scriptures.
At least, he had no such thoughts at that moment.
His main priority was still to break through his cultivation stage and focus on raising his strength.
Three months was neither long nor short.
When the time comes, he would need to overcome his situation of having his fate controlled by others.
However, it would need to wait until he reached the eighth Mortal Stage of Spiritual Transformation.
He needed to fuse his entire spirit and comprehension into one.
Zhao Mu could then try to take the strengths of others for his own.
Monk Yuankong from the Heavenly Dragon Temple once stated clearly in his Great Zen Martial Scriptures—
The true essence of martial arts was to overcome challenges and move forward without backing off.
According to his understanding, one could learn from the predecessors, but should never be blindly copied.
Within the Divine Continent, there were only over a dozen summits for martial arts.
Each of them used their own method to carve a completely new path!
"Reverse the innate Qi, break away the thoughts of mortality…"
Zhao Mu immersed himself in the world of martial arts. He would occasionally study the Sacred Heavenly Scriptures and focus his gaze on the deeply etched words on the walls.
He tried to mimic the Grand Commander Guardian's will of martial arts and experience it from that.
Huo Rulie was only at the eighth Mortal Stage of Spiritual Transformation, but that was sufficient to greatly boost Zhao Mu's knowledge and experience.
If he could imprint an Innate Grandmaster's will on his heart and fully comprehend it, it would definitely be beneficial for his future on the path of martial arts.
"If that's the case, then Black Dragon Altar doesn't belong to the emperor, but the Innate Grandmaster Zhao Ce instead."
Zhao Mu's heart was slightly moved when he recalled the Grand Commander's identity.
The Black Dragon altar was originally meant to guard the emperor. They were the personal army under the emperor's banner.
It was only later on that they were separated and changed into a huge military-like organization.
They answered directly to the emperor himself and were required to follow anyone else's orders.
It could be said that they had the second-highest authority within the kingdom.
After reading through the Grand Commander's notes, he learned that as long as he held the Dragon Guardian Commander Seal, he would be able to order the four Guardian Commanders of the Black Dragon Altar.
Seeing the commander's seal was akin to seeing the emperor himself.
"For him to bestow a symbol of sovereignty onto someone else…" Zhao Mu lamented.
From that, one could ascertain how much trust the Great Ancestor of Zhou Kingdom had in that person.
If the Grand Commander had any nefarious plans or yearned for imperial authority, he could easily turn the kingdom overusing the Dragon Guardian Commander Seal.
"No wonder the emperor chose to back off and give away Yongxue Pass to the advances of the Yuanmeng Empire's wolf riders."
Zhao Mu had an epiphany.
The fate of the Innate Grandmaster who guarded the Zhou Kingdom was still unknown.
Meanwhile, the Yuanmeng Empire's Imperial Preceptor Phags-pa was at his peak, intimidating the rest of the world.
Taking everything into account, the Zhou Kingdom was weak and the Yuanmeng Empire was strong.
With that, everything made sense.
"Now that I have the Dragon Guardian Commander Seal, does that mean…"
Zhao Mu caressed the cold dragon-shaped commander's seal in his hand as he entertained his thoughts.
The Crown Prince had the backing of the ministers.
The deceased Fifth Prince won the favor of the army generals.
Meanwhile, the Ninth Prince's mother was from the Cui family of Qinghe, one of the four great families.
Moreover, he also appeared to have the backing of the Chaos Origin Path, one of the Ten Great Sects.
What if Zhao Mu was in control of the Black Dragon Altar?
If so, then the three factions fighting for the throne would be nothing before him.
"The imperial authority is not eternal, and kingdoms don't last forever. Only strength…is ever unchanging."
Zhao Mu put the dragon-shaped commander's seal in his pockets.
He believed that strength was power.
In that world, one could not hold onto wealth, status, or even one's dignity without strength.
Brute strength was better than authority!
"Nurture one's Qi, train one's body."
Zhao Mu set a goal for himself.
He kept the jade scroll that recorded the Sacred Heavenly Scriptures, then closed the cover of the Taiji Pure Yang Coffin, and removed all traces of him being there.
When he was preparing to leave, the bronze bowl placed on the desk suddenly let out a clear ringing sound.
It was as though someone had just hit it.
Zhao Mu was slightly stunned as he turned his gaze over.
A shimmering light formed within the bronze bowl, creating a round rippling mirror surface.
He held his breath and kept silent.
He just saw the rippling illusory mirror, trying to find out what kind of mystery was hidden within.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Ten breaths later…
"It seems…"
An emotionless voice of a middle-aged man could be heard.
Zhao Mu's brows lifted slightly, seemingly understanding what was going on.
"Communication token…from the Black Dragon Altar."
Before the Grand Commander went into the Taiji Pure Yang Coffin to break through the barrier to the Human Immortal Stage, he left behind several handwritten notes.
Within it were records regarding the Black Dragon Altar, and it mentioned the three communication tokens.
It was an emergency communication matter in case of any great danger looming over the Zhou Kingdom.
Many thoughts raced in his mind.
Zhao Mu collected himself, then asked in an exceedingly calm voice, "Who's contacting me?"
A moment of silence passed.
Soon after, a round of surprised exclamations came from the other side.
"Grand Commander!"
"It's been twenty years! The communication token is finally being answered!"
"The Black Dragon Altar Guardian Commanders pay our respect to the Grand Commander!"
Zhao Mu was speechless.
He let out a long breath.
He was right. It was the Black Dragon Altar's communication token.
After some time, the middle-aged man's voice asked, "Forgive my questioning, Grand Commander. Did you break through the barrier to the Human Immortal Stage? Was the closed door cultivation successful?
"His Majesty was constantly thinking of you and would like to meet you!"
The corner of Zhao Mu's lips curled upward, then replied calmly, "It wasn't successful, but I did gain something."
The thought of fighting for the throne of the Zhou Kingdom never came to him.
In the past, it was because he had no rights. At that moment, he had no interest.
However, the Black Dragon Altar oversees all ministers.
Apart from the three main sects of Heavenly Dragon Temple, Cloud Abode, and Chaos Origin Path, the koi-patterned uniform and embroidered saber were extremely intimidating to the other sects.
"Whatever happens in three months, be it the Tong Province to watch over the imperial tomb, or to wander the world, the Black Dragon Altar is very helpful!"
Zhao Mu had a determined look in his eyes.
"Since the Innate Grandmaster of the Zhou Kingdom no longer exists, then let me use your identity to do my thing."