The Glory of the Tribe

In the depths of the Eastpan Camp, within a training field:

"The usual rule, you ten, go all out! If any of you can make me step outside this white circle, I’ll reward you with a jar of 'Tianlu Baizhu Wine'. If you can force me to use 'Poison Dragon Destruction', each of you will receive a 'Clear Spirit Pill'!’’ A tall, robust elderly man in simple clothing stood holding a blue-gold long spear, his eyes sweeping over the surroundings with authority.
He stood in the center of a five-zhang-diameter white circle, surrounded by ten people, either clad in heavy armor or cloth armor, wielding either blades or long spears.
The group’s ages ranged from thirty to fifty, each one exuding a fierce, intimidating aura.

They were all experts at the peak of the Innate realm, each having comprehended three layers of technique!
The elderly man, though of the same cultivation realm as them, was an Innate Peak expert who had comprehended the Godly Might of Heaven and Earth, yet he was fighting against ten!
"Clear Spirit Pill! Master, don’t go back on your word!" A tall, thin middle-aged man in cloth armor excitedly shouted.

"Master! You’ve reduced the size of the circle again! It was originally ten zhang, and now you’ve shrunk it one zhang at a time. We nearly beat you when it was six zhang! Now it’s only five zhang, isn’t this underestimating us too much?" A fifty-year-old man in heavy armor grinned as he swung his long spear.
"Yeah, coach! You’re looking down on us too much!"
"Don’t say we didn’t give you face!"

More people chimed in, their voices carrying a playful taunt. They weren’t ordinary characters within the Eastpan Camp, all being peak Innate experts with high status, yet here, they were merely sparring partners for the elderly man.
"Enough with the nonsense, last time I was careless!" The elderly man’s eyes narrowed. "With your strength, do you think I need you to give me face? Move quickly, or I’ll take the first strike!"
At the mention of the elderly man attacking first, the group panicked for a moment.

"Quick!"
"Go!"
"Surround him!"

Ten figures erupted with the Godly Might of Heaven and Earth, launching a combined assault on the elderly man. His long spear whipped through the air with force, a simple yet powerful display of basic spear techniques. Despite the simplicity, the force behind his strikes was overwhelming, easily countering the elegant killing moves from the ten Innate experts!
Xie Hanjie and a silver-armored officer walked to the shaded edge of the training field.
The officer, named "Fan Qi," was also an expert of the Robbery Realm. Xie Hanjie had coincidentally encountered him on the way to the training field, and since they were somewhat familiar, they had come together.

The battle inside the white circle was intense, with one man fighting against ten. It looked perilous, and even Xie Hanjie, a Robbery Realm expert, couldn’t help but be drawn in, unable to hold back his admiration.
"Ma Jun, ranked 16th on Feixue City's Innate List; Liu Hengtong, ranked 31st; Zhu Dapeng, ranked 57th, and the other seven experts who forcibly comprehended the Godly Might through special military techniques... Even if they all teamed up, they wouldn’t be able to match Coach Luo!" Xie Hanjie exclaimed.
"Coach Luo is indeed the number one Innate in Feixue City!"
"If it weren’t for Coach Luo being severely injured during the Dragonbone Mountain battle forty years ago, and having his talent completely ruined, he would have already reached the Robbery Realm, possibly even one of the strongest in it," Fan Qi sighed. "Coach’s spear techniques have already returned to simplicity, a level of ethereal mastery that even Robbery Realm experts find difficult to reach. Taking on ten Innate experts is nothing."

"Returning to simplicity... it’s so difficult..." Xie Hanjie also sighed but didn’t feel much turmoil within. He neither envied nor resented this level of mastery.
The concept of "returning to simplicity" in techniques wasn’t a clear "realm" in cultivation.
It was just a phrase.

The techniques cultivated in the Post-Heaven and Innate realms were fundamental. To reach a higher level of technique, one had to master all foundational techniques and comprehend the three levels of technique mastery.
"Returning to simplicity" meant... refining all the fundamental techniques to the extreme! This would bring about a qualitative change, but such a change wasn’t a necessity for further cultivation.
"To achieve such mastery, one needs not only exceptional talent but also decades of relentless training on the foundational moves," Fan Qi lamented. "Decades of repeated practice, over and over again! Only then can one possibly reach that ethereal level. Persistence, focus, and talent are all indispensable!"

Sigh!
Fan Qi’s final sigh was filled with regret.
If only his master hadn’t been so severely injured during his prime, he would have surpassed the Innate realm long ago. Then, decades of training would have been spent focusing on higher techniques, not just perfecting the basics. After breaking through the Innate realm, his strength would increase by at least a hundred times, while the gap between top-tier Robbery Realm experts and Innate experts wasn’t even comparable!

Unfortunately, fate had played a cruel joke.
At that moment, within the white circle...
The fifty-year-old man in heavy armor struck with his spear like a flying dragon, a move called "Great Sun Breaking the Yang Heaven," carrying the power of a mountain collapsing, aimed directly at the elderly man. But with a single flick of his spear, the elderly man found a gap in the attack, striking first despite the heavy armor’s protection.

The tip of the spear nearly pierced the man’s throat.
The man in heavy armor, frightened, quickly retreated.
Despite being surrounded by ten opponents, the space around them wasn’t large enough to accommodate all ten at once. They could only face three or four at most, but the elderly man remained calm, using only simple techniques to counter each of their attacks with precision.

"From the basics to mastery, mastering something well is enough, but not perfect. As long as it's not perfect, those who have reached the 'return to simplicity' stage will instantly spot any flaws. Once someone’s techniques have returned to simplicity, it becomes unbeatable!" Xie Hanjie admired.
No matter how much praise he gave, Xie Hanjie would never envy those who had reached this level of "return to simplicity."
It was a matter of choosing between the fish and the bear's paw.

To return to simplicity in technique would require decades of time, leaving no room to pursue a higher realm. But it was clear that the benefits of pursuing a higher realm were much greater, by far!
As for those who were both at the Robbery Realm and had achieved "return to simplicity" in their techniques...
Xie Hanjie wouldn’t dare say there was no such person in the entire Daqian Empire. After all, in a land spanning billions of miles, anything was possible.

But at least within the territory governed by Feixue City, in the over ten thousand years since its founding, no such person had appeared.
"What’s considered 'imperfect,' in the eyes of other Innates, might actually be perfect. Once perfected, it’s flawless, and no one can spot any flaws," Fan Qi continued. "Only someone like my master can spot the flaws. Otherwise, even we wouldn't be able to see them."
"Exactly," Xie Hanjie nodded.

He truly couldn’t see where the flaws in the ten men’s attacks were.
But it wasn’t necessary to see them. If it was a Robbery Realm expert facing an Innate, they wouldn’t even need to discuss the differences in their control over the power of Heaven and Earth. Just the techniques alone, for example, using Robbery Realm Swordsmanship against Innate Swordsmanship, could easily crush the ten with a single strike, shattering both the person and their technique!
"In all of Feixue City, there are only two people who have reached the 'return to simplicity' in their techniques. We can’t see it, and there’s no shame in that!" Xie Hanjie laughed.

"That’s true. These two people... my master is the Head Instructor of the Feixue Army, and the other... is the City Lord!" Fan Qi added, "The City Lord is a Divine Demon, a higher life form. Their lifespan is different from us mere mortals. Spending some time perfecting their techniques is nothing."
This was also Fan Qi’s praise for his master!
Being compared to the City Lord of the Demon Castle!

The top three on Feixue City’s Innate List were all from the court, specially trained and mastering Robbery Realm techniques, each from different "departments."
Among them, the universally recognized strongest was Feixue City’s number one Innate!
That was the Head Instructor of the "Feixue Army," Luo Yingcheng!

Having been the head instructor for decades, from a regular instructor to the head, Luo Yingcheng, now nearing seventy, had disciples in every army in Feixue City. There were six disciples who had already reached the Robbery Realm, and countless others at the Innate level!
Though he was only at the Innate level, even regular Robbery Realm experts wouldn’t dare be disrespectful in front of him.
Even Xie Hanjie, who was known as the "youngest Inspector," had to stand to the side and watch, not interrupting Luo Yingcheng’s training!

After about a cup of tea’s time...
"Get lost, get lost! You bunch of useless things! I’ve taught you a hundred times, and you still haven’t improved!" Luo Yingcheng kicked all ten of them out of the white circle. "Making a fool of yourselves in front of outsiders! Hurry up and get out!"
The ten men didn’t dare to get angry. They all knew Luo Yingcheng’s temperament. If he scolded you, that was good. The real horror came when he stopped scolding you entirely.

The ten stood up, saluted Luo Yingcheng, and then walked out.
"Coach Luo!" Xie Hanjie stepped forward to greet him.
"You’ve been watching for a while now. Is there something urgent?" Luo Yingcheng sized up Xie Hanjie and asked. Although Xie Hanjie was a Robbery Realm expert, he was still seen as a junior in Luo Yingcheng’s eyes. Every time Xie Hanjie greeted him, he was polite and respectful, neither disliked nor liked.

However, since Xie Hanjie was the Inspector and a disciple of the first Inspector Zou Kang, Luo Yingcheng wasn’t one to act arrogantly. He still gave him the appropriate respect.
"Master, I do have something..." Xie Hanjie began to speak, but hesitated, his face showing some difficulty.
Luo Yingcheng understood that Xie Hanjie had something urgent, but since there were many people around, it wasn’t suitable to talk.

"Come with me." Luo Yingcheng said.
A moment later, in a room filled with incense.
"Just the two of us here. Whatever it is, don’t hold back," Luo Yingcheng said as he sat down. "Xie Daren, you can speak freely."

Before he could finish speaking...
Thud!
Xie Hanjie suddenly kneeled before Luo Yingcheng, his knees hitting the ground with a thud, and he cried out, "Coach Luo! Please, you must help me! That guy has gone too far! He’s gone too far!"

Luo Yingcheng was startled!
What was going on here?!
He was momentarily stunned. Xie Hanjie was young, and while his status couldn’t compare to his, Xie Hanjie’s official rank was higher than his. What could have happened to make him act this way?

Moreover...
If things had gotten so difficult that an Inspector had to kneel and beg, wouldn’t it have been better to ask his master Zou Kang for help?
Why come to beg the Head Instructor of the Feixue Army?

"Get up! Get up and speak! There’s no need for this!" Luo Yingcheng immediately stepped forward to help him up, already starting to feel sympathy for Xie Hanjie.
What kind of trouble had forced this young man to act like this?!