I Can See Your Combat Power

Translator: 549690339

With the heated discussion at the main table of the adult ceremony, the dining sounds in the entire banquet hall ceased. For these guests, whose cultivation realm is at least in the Fierce Realm, the smallest of movements in the hall could not escape their ears, let alone this passionate discussion.

From the moment Tang Luo mentioned “war potential,” the entire hall was filled only with the exchanges of the main table. The guests, immersed in the content of the discussion, were oblivious to the unusual silence of the hall, or even if they noticed, they were indifferent.

Almost all of the attendees at this initiation ceremony are the core of Tang Clan’s power, making it no different from a private clan meeting. The presence of the Clan Leader and the Thirteen Elders added even more solemnity to the event.

Up to this point, Tang Hongtao’s views were reflecting what the others were thinking.

Despite the reputation of the Xu Clan’s three armies, the glory of the Wuxiang Zen Temple has been more profound for the last hundred years. They would never believe that the strength of Xu Clan’s three armies could surpass that of the Wuxiang Zen Temple.

Tang Luo’s confident demeanor also made them weighed things in their minds, all of which they presumed was only due to Xu Sheng’s boasting.

Of course, they could understand a young man’s desire to boast in front of his distant cousin, but understanding does not mean acceptance.

The power of the Wuxiang Zen Temple over the past century was witnessed by the entire world. They possessed strength unmatched by any other clan, and each of their 108 temples was not below that of a powerful clan.

Such despair-inducing power was considered the strongest in the world. The Xu Clan retained control over more than a dozen cities and ruled over hundreds of millions of people which sounded terrifying. But in terms of strength, they probably could not compete with the Wuxiang Zen Temple.

If it weren’t for Xu Sheng’s exclusive information, Tang Luo’s initial thoughts would have been the same as everyone else’s. He questioned him closely about the Falling Star Army because of his excess curiosity about Yuanzhou.

Xu Sheng was unsuspecting and chatted with him about the characteristics of the Falling Star Army and included the Valiant Cavalry and Divine Sword armies. Just from this, Tang Luo knew that these three armies, which were only for show, were not the Xu Clan’s main force!

Then he directly stated his guesses. From Xu Sheng’s surprised expression, Tang Luo was sure that his speculation was extremely close to the truth. Now he was going to reveal his analysis to everyone to help them understand why the Xu Clan is the top martial arts group in the power rankings.

“Be it the Valiant Cavalry Army or the Falling Star Army, and even the most powerful Divine Sword Army of the Xu Clan, they are merely a smokescreen!” Tang Luo spoke slowly but with firmness: “The reason why the Xu Clan has become the top power in these few hundred years is because of their Bloodline Armies. The number of these armies, accumulated over these centuries, is no less than tens of thousands, all with their distinctive bloodlines, their power is immeasurable and daunting.”

As the clan studying bloodlines intensively, the core of the Xu Clan’s military power isn’t the three armies. Instead, these three armies serve as vanguards, dealing with various external affairs. The real core of the military consists of an army made up of Bloodliners.

Think about the elite clans. A strong bloodliner with a fitting secret technique could define an era. The Xu Clan, however, possesses thousands of bloodhners with an abundant amount of secret techniques, which is absolutely horrifying.

The faces of those at the table changed in unison. Elder Tang Hongtao even exclaimed, “That’s impossible! One in ten thousand people possesses distinctive bloodlines. If the Xu Clan has such a scale of bloodliners, it means they need to have tens of millions of martial artists. No one is capable of nurturing so many martial artists, even if they exhaust the resources of an entire continent!”

Martial artists have a large appetite. A Mortal Realm martial artist’s daily food consumption is three times more than ordinary people, let alone those at the Foundation Building or Fierce Realm. If they were to nurture tens of millions of martial artists, they would need at least hundreds of millions of civilians. Though the Xu Clan has control over several large cities, the population under their rule is just a hundred million or so. They couldn’t possibly have met the standard to produce ten thousand bloodliners, one or two thousand would be already quite remarkable.

Just now, everyone was shocked by what Tang Luo had said. They snapped back to reality after hearing Tang Hongtao’s words and nodded in agreement, except for Clan Leader Tang Zhi.

His brows furrowed as though contemplating. When he connected the information about Yuanzhou and the Xu Clan, he realized that what Tang Luo said was likely to be true. His face turned stern and his fists clenched in acknowledgment.

Tang Luo, sitting opposite Tang Zhi, could see every expression on the clan leader’s face. He knew that this astute clan leader was beginning to understand. To be honest, when he initially discovered all this, he didn’t dare to believe his own judgment. If not for Xu Sheng’s sincerity, he would not have been so sure about his own speculation.

The shock that the people of the Tang Clan were experiencing now was no different from what he had felt initially. They were all in the same boat.

“Master, if civilians provide for martial artists by farming the land, it would indeed be difficult. But what if it’s the cultivators who farm?”

“The Xu Clan indeed has tens of millions of cultivators, but not tens of millions of martial artists. I wonder if you understand what I mean,” Tang Luo said to Tang Hongtao, “Xu Sheng desires everyone to be like dragons. What does it mean for everyone to be like dragons? It means that everyone can practice cultivation and everyone possesses cultivation techniques. For instance, in Xiling, any literate civilian can self-learn Foundation Building and start practicing cultivation as long as they buy a Mortal Realm cultivation manual with the Bone-Reinforcing Chapter. Therefore, the best laborers at the docks in Xiling are Mortal Realm cultivators who are cultivating just to make themselves stronger and able to carry more loads.”

“From the laborers’ perspective, could these cultivators be considered the cream of the crop in their own right, meeting the standard of being among the best of the best? While in Yuanzhou, people like this are quite common. However, cultivation doesn’t mean that everyone in Yuanzhou should become a martial artist. It’s just that cultivation can make their work easier.”

“The farmers there cultivate, the shepherds cultivate, the carpenters cultivate, the bricklayers cultivate, the cooks cultivate, even the dung diggers cultivate!” “So the reason why the martial arts standards in Yuanzhou is far superior to that of Longzhou is not that the people there are smarter, but because everyone practices cultivation, creating an atmosphere of cultivation that is vastly superior to that of Longzhou.”

Everyone looked at each other in stupor and fell completely silent, because they couldn’t refute a word Tang Luo said. The information they learned today already far surpassed their original understanding of martial arts.

They weren’t sure when they fell into a fixed understanding of cultivation, assuming that cultivation inevitably meant practicing martial arts. It made them forget that simple physical enhancement through cultivation was also an option.

Even if a Mortal Realm cultivator doesn’t deliberately train, they are several times stronger than an ordinary person. Those in the Foundation Building Realm could reach up to ten or even dozens of times stronger.

Although not practicing martial arts means that these people are destined not to reach the Fierce Realm, but isn’t it better than being an ordinary person if the additional strength and energy gained from cultivation could be used to do something else?

In the past thousand years of the prosperity of martial arts, although the secret techniques of Yellow Rank and higher were treasured by the main clans and sects, Mortal Rank cultivation manuals without killing methods could be found everywhere. As long as one passes the tough Foundation Building period, reaching the peak of Mortal Realm is a piece of cake.

Due to hundreds of years of peace, Xiling has nurtured a great number of Mortal Realm civilians, which was unimaginable a thousand years ago. This has solidified Xiling’s position as the heart of martial arts in the Lingjiang region..