Chapter 173 - 171: Fame Shakes the World
On this day, Song Ping’an returned to the Song Residence with a well-bound booklet in hand.
After Song Changming finished practicing his sword technique, he said, "Brother Song, this year’s Jianghu Secret Chronicles from Zhuji Pavilion has been delivered to you."
"It’s already mid-year without us realizing," Song Changming thought, feeling how quickly time had passed.
The Zhuji Pavilion is one of the hidden sects in the Jianghu, renowned and widely known throughout the Da Han Dynasty’s martial world.
Even Song Changming, who has always stayed in small local areas, was early aware of the Zhuji Pavilion’s great name.
It can be said that among all the hidden sects, Zhuji Pavilion is the most unique and renowned sect.
This is also related to the fact that what Zhuji Pavilion usually does is quite different from other hidden sects.
Strictly speaking, Zhuji Pavilion is not actually hidden; at most, it is in a semi-hidden state.
Although they do not participate in any external conflicts, they do open some of their main businesses to the public and are not isolated from the world all year round.
For instance, the Zhuji Pavilion is skilled in developing mechanisms and hidden weapons, so they sell their well-crafted mechanisms to the outside world.
They also claim to have knowledge both vast and minute, to the extent that many formidable figures in the Jianghu are willing to pay high prices to buy the intelligence they desire from Zhuji Pavilion.
Furthermore, the widely popular lists of notable figures in the Jianghu, namely the Celestial List, was also concocted by Zhuji Pavilion.
It includes all the heroes and famous figures under the heavens, listing their illustrious exploits and ranking them accordingly.
As it has developed to the present day, the Celestial List possesses extremely high authority.
Anyone whose name appears on the list is a recognized strong figure throughout the world!
Many people in the Jianghu have fought fiercely to win a place on the Celestial List.
This is Zhuji Pavilion, a mysterious and special major sect.
In Song Changming’s view, this Zhuji Pavilion must possess an extremely extensive intelligence network spread across the Da Han Dynasty.
This is why they seem to know everything and can engage in the intelligence trade.
The spawning and arising of the Celestial List also elevated Zhuji Pavilion’s fame to another level, making their external words and actions carry significant weight.
They can easily create public opinion and stir up huge waves in the Jianghu.
The Jianghu Secret Chronicles in Song Changming’s hands is one of Zhuji Pavilion’s pillar industries, updated every six months.
It records the secretive news or major events occurring worldwide in these past six months, with rankings in the Celestial List being updated accordingly.
Starting a few years ago, Song Changming has been commissioning Liang Zhao Long to help him subscribe to this Jianghu Secret Chronicles for a long time. Initially, it was just out of curiosity, but now he is considered a faithful reader.
Although he hasn’t traveled around and ventured into the Jianghu, it doesn’t hinder his curiosity to learn about extraordinary people and events under the sun to broaden his horizons.
In the afternoon, sitting in the courtyard, brewing a pot of tea, Song Changming leisurely flipped through the pages.
"I wonder if there are any discoveries regarding the big turtle as large as an island mentioned last time..."
Indeed, all curious people and events have follow-ups every six months.
Like a serialized storybook, it is engrossing, which is one reason Song Changming has become a faithful reader.
This Zhuji Pavilion knows how to keep people craving.
From this Secret Chronicles, Song Changming also learned about the dragon that flew out of Donglai Prefecture, eventually staying in the sea for several months before allegedly flying to the Outer Realm.
Subsequently, some claimed to have seen that dragon return to the Da Han Dynasty, but the authenticity needs verification.
This dragon is considered a strange incident that happened around Song Changming.
Additionally, the overall situation of the world and battles and games of various forces can also be found documented in this booklet.
Even the recent event in Donglai is described.
At the same time, Song Changming was very surprised that his name appeared for the first time in this Jianghu Secret Chronicles.
The booklet records that the Second Prince Chu Jing dispatched three groups to capture Donglai County City, allowing the Bandit Army and Shui Gang members to loot wantonly in the city, causing tens of thousands of innocent people in the city to fall into dire straits.
The Donglai Dragon Blade Guest single-handedly, with one blade, slashed the leader of the Dinghai Water Gang, Yao Yizhu, at night!
Then he slayed the leaders of the Bandit Army, the former Dongcang Three Dragons!
Finally, in the midst of layers of military encirclement, he challenged the Invincible General Xue Boyan!
His spectacular achievements, saving tens of thousands of innocent people from disaster single-handedly, is a noble act!
The title of Knight is well-deserved!
Although the description of his part is not much in ink, just a few words render him extremely positive.
One man saving a city, the value of such a feat speaks for itself.
But in fact, without the counsel of the Governor and others and commanding a counterattack, no matter how capable he was, he would not have been able to save the city by himself.
The book only recorded his beheading of the three leaders of the enemy army, magnifying his achievements and making him the main character of this solo performance, ignoring other players.
For Song Changming, having his deeds widely documented like this has both advantages and disadvantages.
With the widespread dissemination of this Secret Chronicle, this matter will surely spread everywhere.
His title as the Donglai Dragon Blade Guest will also become renowned across the world!
For other martial artists, achieving fame and setting up a reputation is their lifelong pursuit. If such an opportunity were to fall into their laps, they would probably be overjoyed.
But Song Changming is more concerned about the negative impact on him.
He doesn’t have to worry too much about the Dinghai Water Gang and the Bandit Army.
After this matter, these two forces will no longer survive anyway.
Only the Second Prince, whose side was portrayed as the major villain in this incident.
Moreover, after Song Changming killed the general under their command and ruined their plans, this enmity is naturally formed.
Of course, even if it weren’t for the widespread propagation by Zhuji Pavilion, the Second Prince would still inevitably learn about this and know of his actions.
Their conflict with the Second Prince’s forces was destined the moment he fought back to the county city.
The mention by Zhuji Pavilion at most added fuel to the fire.
"I haven’t left Donglai Prefecture yet, and my reputation has already spread..." Song Changming shook his head.
Among fame and fortune, he is only interested in fortune; he doesn’t actually pursue fame much.
Even if he gains this fame, it will not change his style of doing things and future planning.
People see him as a righteous great knight, but he knows very well that although he has a baseline and certain moral principles, in terms of righteousness, he is far from being as righteous as a true great knight.
It’s too hard for him to sacrifice himself for others and selflessly dedicate himself...
If one day he found the situation too dangerous and saw that things couldn’t be done, he would unhesitatingly withdraw and abandon everything about great principles.
Such thoughts are not what a great knight should have.
And in this affair, he also managed to secure himself a hard-earned reward.
In Xue Boyan’s temporary storeroom, he seized several boxes of wealth, enriching himself significantly.
Therefore, he cannot bear the name of a great knight.
After continuing to browse and reading through many strange people and events, the updated Celestial List was placed at the end, coming into view.
First on the Celestial List, Sword Venerable, master of the Sword Cliff.
Second on the Celestial List, Master Minghuo, in the Jade Void Cave, currently a person whose ability has reached great perfection.
Third on the Celestial List, Fairy Yaoguang, Pavilion Master of Wangyue Pavilion.
Fourth on the Celestial List, Gongsun Xuanzhou, Supreme Elder of Golden Scale Sect.
Fifth on the Celestial List, Chu Zheng, a very strong person cultivated by the imperial family.
...
The top hundred of the Celestial List has hardly changed compared to half a year ago.
In fact, those who can be listed on the Celestial List are themselves exceptionally strong, all top-notch masters in the world, with martial arts cultivation reaching the peak of perfection, there’s no possibility of a false name.
Therefore, their rankings are quite stable, and perhaps throughout the year, this list might not change.
Especially those in the top ten of the Celestial List, if there are any changes, it will draw extensive attention from various martial artists.
Glancing over it, he was not very concerned with the rankings of these strongest people of the current age; the Celestial List, after all, is too far away from him, just a look would suffice.
Song Changming turned over the Celestial List, usually, that’s as good as it gets, and then it’s just waiting for Zhuji Pavilion’s next publication six months later.
But this time, Song Changming found that after flipping past the Celestial List, a new Earth List appeared.
It’s unclear when Zhuji Pavilion came up with this, as the previous Secret Chronicle did not have it; this Earth List appears to correspond with the Celestial List.
Song Changming looked at Zhuji Pavilion’s explanation of the Earth List.
In simple terms, it was because the top hundred of the Celestial List were consistently the same, Zhuji Pavilion found it lacking in novelty, thus they created this Earth List to give readers something different to see.
The Earth List likewise set up one hundred seats, collecting martial artists who have risen and grown rapidly in recent years.
They could be young geniuses who became famous at a young age, or martial arts experts who had unexpected opportunities or matured late, the unsung heroes from various places.
And those who can make it onto the Earth List are also considered by Zhuji Pavilion as candidates likely to impact the Celestial List in the future and secure a position there.
Among them, Song Changming once again found his name.
Ninety-first on the Earth List: Song Changming, titled ’Dragon Saber’, a native of Donglai County City...