“A true life or death battle?” Yan Zhaoge had on an interested expression.

Ah Hu nodded. “That's right. According to the seaman, both parties were truly giving it their all as if they were truly risking their lives. However, he was simply pa.s.sing by and wasn't sure of any concrete details, or the outcome.”

Yan Zhaoge rubbed his chin. “From that narrative, both parties were equally matched?”

Ah Hu answered, “This visitor was an early Xiantian Martial Scholar, and was already an old, experienced hand. His discernment abilities should not be bad.”

Yan Zhaoge continued asking, “Both junior apprentice-sister Sikongs were using the exact same martial arts?”

Ah Hu immediately answered, “It wasn't so. Though the two looked exactly the same in terms of their outer appearance, one was using Broad Creed Mountain's martial arts, while the seaman wasn't able to distinguish the ident.i.ty of the other one's martial arts. However, he felt that the other's martial arts were not inferior in terms of exquisiteness or profundity.”

Yan Zhaoge rubbed his temples. “Ah Hu, ah, therein lies a problem.”

He raised his head and squinted at Ah Hu. “If that visitor said that both parties were exactly alike in terms of appearance, then that would also imply that their ages were similar.”

“But we both know that junior apprentice-sister Sikong's cultivation base has already far surpa.s.sed that of her similarly-aged peers.”

Yan Zhaoge slowly continued. “This similarly aged person, were she part of some large clan, be it our own Broad Creed Mountain, the Sacred Sun Clan, Jade Sea City, or Turbid Wave Pavilion, even amongst core, direct disciples, she would still be a genius amongst geniuses–an elite of the elites.”

“Even on a playing field of this level, junior apprentice-sister Sikong is exceptional. Apart from a few select individuals, there are not many people in the Eight Extremities World who could go toe to toe with her.”

Yan Zhaoge clasped his hands behind his back. “After Junior Sister Sikong stepped into the Martial Scholar realm, her cultivation speed can be considered to be shocking to the entire world.”

“Now, she somehow met up with someone who looked exactly like her, who could also match her in martial arts. Is this normal?”

Hearing what was said, Ah Hu quickly pondered.

After thinking for some time, Ah Hu slowly spoke, “And also, it wasn't one of the other five Sacred Grounds' direct disciples.”

“When Miss Sikong was at Broad Creed Mountain, she was able to enjoy the most luxurious cultivation conditions with a near endless supply of resources. In the entire Eight Extremities World, who other than the other Sacred Grounds could match such a cultivation environment? Very few existences, I would wager.”

Yan Zhaoge nodded. “Indeed.”

Stroking his chin, the corners of his mouth p.r.i.c.ked upwards. “I now have some interest in this matter.”

On one hand, this matter was extremely out of the ordinary and had many weird aspects.

On the other hand, the secret behind Sikong Qing's exceptional cultivation and shocking cultivation speed could lie in this matter.

Though he wasn't one to take the initiative and pry into other people's secrets, having always been very curious about this manner, Yan Zhaoge paid quite a bit of attention to it.

After bidding farewell to Xu Fei, Yan Zhaoge left his residence.

Ah Hu was quite reliable. Before having left the city, Ah Hu had identified the seaman's residence.

With Ah Hu leading the way, Yan Zhaoge once again met with that seaman.

After quickly confirming a couple of details that Ah Hu had previously told him, Yan Zhaoge followed up with another question, “Apart from our disciple, did the other person's martial arts appear related in any way to Old Man Mo?”

Appearing by the sea, with a supreme martial inheritance and a superior cultivation base, Yan Zhaoge immediately thought of the legendary Painting Saint, Old Man Mo.

This personage was extremely old. He was older than Yuan Zhengfeng and Huang Guanglie's generation. Rather, he was part of the same generation as Zhan Dongge, Zhan Xilou, and the Sacred Sun Clan's Zhang Chao.

Of the martial pract.i.tioners who reigned at the peak of the Eight Extremities World, Old Man Mo had been there the longest.

However, Old Man Mo had not established a clan or claimed a territory.

But when it came to the region near the sea, no one could ignore this oldest Martial Saint.

The seaman also felt some embarra.s.sment as he responded, “This one has never seen a legendary figure like the Painting Saint personally make a move. Based on my knowledge, that female's techniques did not seem to resemble those of the Painting Saint's. However, the Painting Saint is well learned, his martial arts all-encompa.s.sing, so I am not qualified to claim that they were not so.”

Yan Zhaoge lightly laughed. “No harm, it was merely a pa.s.sing thought.”

Old Man Mo's legendary prowess was quite hidden these years. Choosing to live in the sea region, he secluded himself from worldly affairs and rarely made an appearance. Even when he did so, it was often only briefly and made it impossible for others to gauge his depth.

However, from the few times where he revealed his techniques, it seemed as if he possessed a mult.i.tude of martial techniques. Some seemed to be remnant martial techniques originating from before the Great Calamity while others originated from after the Great Calamity.

No one could be sure if Old Man Mo had revealed his whole hand, though.

Ah Hu looked at Yan Zhaoge, who sent him a sound transmission via aurqi, “If it really is Old Man Mo's descendant, we can instead rest easy. Now, though…”

Yan Zhaoge imperceptibly shook his head. After asking a few more questions, he bid the seaman farewell.

After notifying Jade Sea City's First Seat Elder at Stone Rock City, Yan Zhaoge departed.

This time, their party had gained an additional member.

Yan Zhaoge raised his head as he dodged Pan-Pan's enormous tongue. His mouth twitched in mirth as he chastised, “Be a little more obedient, don't randomly come.”

Pan-Pan let a soft whimper out of his enormous mouth, then reoriented his gigantic body as he stepped forward towards the sea.

Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu lept onto Pan-Pan's back. As black qi flowed around Pan-Pan, his enormous paws trod on the water as if it were flat land.

Sitting on Pan-Pan's back, Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu moved away from the area controlled by Stone Rock City and towards the outer regions of the North Sea.

On the way, Yan Zhaoge did not loosen up in his routine cultivation sessions.

Other than Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu, Pan-Pan beneath them also benefited greatly as he feasted on the spoils from the dragon.

As a result, Yan Zhaoge felt that his personal appearance had become even stranger.

Situated right beneath his b.u.t.tocks, there was an enormous panda. What's more, that giant panda was constantly flas.h.i.+ng with an icy blue light…

SIkong Qing had wished to temper herself in truly dangerous situations without the backing of her master or the clan. Broad Creed Mountain had respected her wishes and allowed her to set off without any interference in her own matters.

However, in order to make sure that could communicate when they needed to communicate, the clan had made some preparations.

It was only that these preparations that the clan had made couldn't exactly indicate Sikong QIng's location and could only give a general idea of where she was.

After contacting the mountain, Yan Zhaoge found Sikong Qing's general location and rode Pan-Pan out onto the sea to find her.

On the way, they also pa.s.sed the location where that seaman had seen the two Sikong Qings fighting a pitched battle.

Yan Zhaoge prepared to stop for some time as he examined the site for any remaining vestiges of the battle that might have been left behind.

Arriving at the location, he found that someone had already arrived a step before him.

After seeing the other party's facial features, his pupils involuntarily contracted.

The person in front him was indeed another “Sikong Qing.”

Garbed in an entirely male outfit, he seemed gallant and handsome.

At a glance, it seemed as if it was Sikong Qing disguising herself as a man.

However, after carefully examining the other, Yan Zhaoge was sure that this person was genuinely a man!

It was just that apart from a few minor differences related to biological differences between the s.e.xes, the two looked almost absolutely identical!