Chu Kun didn’t reply but gave a slight nod, already understanding Lei Jun’s intention.

If he had not come to Dragon Tiger Mountain to practice the Taoist Sect’s way, he would have stayed in Suzhou, continued his studies, enrolled in clan schooling, and become a Confucian cultivator.

Although he had some secrets of his own, what accomplishments he would have achieved and what life would have brought him could have been entirely different from the present. He could roughly speculate about the general direction, but the details and final outcomes were difficult to guess.

Of course, there are no "ifs" in life.

But what if there were?

The Mortal World of the Great Ming Dynasty seemed like another trajectory of the world and history.

At the end of the Great Han, the world inexplicably took a turn for some unknown reason.

Time and space seemed to fork, yet run parallel.

Back then, the loss of classic texts was serious, and looking back now, it all seems chaotic.

Even the records in places like Celestial Master Mansion, Tianlong Temple, and the Jingxiang Fang Clan were not detailed.

Or rather, there might have been records, but they were subsequently lost to a great extent.

But comparing the times, it was precisely the era when Spiritual Energy in the Mortal World was at its lowest, and communication between the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and the Mortal World had ceased...

At that time, perhaps an even greater change had occurred in heaven and earth.

It’s just unknown whether in that split timeline and world, there existed two versions of the same person.

Unfortunately, such a long time has passed that the people involved could not possibly have survived until now. Furthermore, with the constant upheavals in the world on the side of the Great Ming Dynasty, few records remain, and many surviving stories verge on myth and legend.

As time moved on, although the geographical features were strikingly similar, it was, after all, two different Mortal Worlds—different worlds with different histories, now inhabited by different people.

Initially, it was difficult to discern the truth amidst the many doubts. As various historical events unfolded, many things were bound to diverge; people who once existed here might never have been born there.

But some existences were always unique.

For example, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

The Heavenly Principle was connected with the Great Tang and also with the Great Ming.

Another example is the Celestial Master Mansion.

To be precise, the Celestial Master’s Three Treasures and the Altar of Wanfa Sect.

Through the people associated with the Heavenly Principle, Lei Jun and Chu Kun learned that there had also been a Celestial Master Mansion in the history of the other Mortal World.

But in their world, the Celestial Master Mansion had long perished, and even the Daoist Talisman Sect had declined.

Wang Feng was well-read and knowledgeable about the past and present. He could recognize Lei Jun’s Ninth Heaven Thunder Ancestor Dharma and Doumu Star God Dharma. However, he had only encountered a few textual descriptions of them in ancient records.

He truly witnessed them with his own eyes only after encountering Xu Yuanzhen and Lei Jun in the world connected through the Heavenly Principle and the Great Tang.

The fact that there was another Mortal World shocked Wang Feng and the others immensely at first.

In their pre-existing understanding, the Celestial Master Mansion was already a historic term.

Its demise occurred very early, even earlier than the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was contemporary to the Great Tang here. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

In that world, less than two thousand years after the fall of the Great Han Dynasty, the Celestial Master Mansion declined.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, for unknown reasons, the Celestial Master Mansion lost the Altar of Wanfa Sect and the Celestial Master’s Three Treasures.

Afterward, legend had it that the Taoist Heritage only continued because a High Virtue Elder of the Upper Three Heavens from the Celestial Master Mansion transformed his body into the Ancestral Altar.

For the sake of expansion, able individuals from the Celestial Master Mansion crossed northward to establish a new foundation, calling it the Celestial Master’s Way.

However, this Celestial Master’s Way eventually became estranged from the Dragon Tiger Mountain Ancestral Court, leading to a conflict between the Northern and Southern Celestial Master’s Ways.

The Northern Celestial Master’s Way claimed to remove the false practices of the old Dragon Tiger Mountain. It integrated more Confucian Classical Studies and cooperated with renowned Confucian families and the imperial family of the time, successfully overpowering the Southern Celestial Master’s Way.

But as dynasties changed hands, the Northern Celestial Master’s Way also quickly perished.

This sacred land of the Taoist Sect, in the Mortal World of Wang Feng and others, ultimately became history.

The inheritance of the Daoist Talisman Sect could no longer foster any significant power.

Lei Jun and his martial brother Chu Kun listened and exchanged glances, speechless.

Abbot Miaoxin and Master Faming harbored no pleasure in their demise either.

For in the Great Ming’s realm, the Tianlong Temple had also become history...

The slight advantage over the Celestial Master Mansion was that the Buddhist Oath Lineage did not wane as the Daoist Talisman Sect did; other new representative sects were on the rise.

But in the end, the Tianlong Temple was no more.

As for the Jingxiang Fang Clan of that Mortal World, it declined during the dynastic transitions of the Great Zhou Dynasty and its successor, the Great Liang Dynasty.

Thereafter, its bloodline persisted. Even under the rule of the Great Ming Dynasty, talents emerged, but it never regained its former dominance as a prestigious family.

Fang Yue regarded this indifferently.

The group bore different expressions, heavy with thoughts.

When others arrived in the Mingzhou area and understood the general situation, their emotions were also extremely turbulent.

"To think such things have happened..." A Chu Clan scholar took a deep breath and quickly steadied his mind.

Abbot Miaoxin said, "It’s most fortunate that you benefactors have arrived. Current information is still too scarce. I believe we should confirm things further."

The newcomers paid their respects to Lei Jun and the others.

They were led by three individuals.

A family elder of the Qingzhou Ye Clan, Ye Ming.

The most outstanding young talent of the Qingzhou Ye Clan, Ye Yao, who was always mentioned in the same breath as Ye Cheng.

And a family elder from the Suzhou Chu Clan, Chu Taoyuan.

It was quite a coincidence. Chu Taoyuan, also known as Master Yangchao, was the very Chu Clan elder who had privately come to fight for the Li Clan during the great battle outside the Celestial Master Mansion. He was also a close friend of Li Song.

At this moment, facing Lei Jun and Chu Kun, his demeanor was calm and courteous.

However, the smile on Chu Taoyuan’s face faded when he turned to another person.

Fang Yue remained untroubled by this.

Ye Ming, Ye Yao, and the others also looked at him with calm and steady gazes.

With Chu Kun, Chu Taoyuan, Ye Ming, and the others were quite at ease, conversing and laughing as usual.

But towards Fang Yue, they had a different attitude.

Nevertheless, facing Lei Jun, Ye Ming’s smile returned:

"Various clues indicate that in the prior battle at Yuhang, the people of Heavenly Principle intended to deceive us, using the Yuhang battle to divert our attention. Their true objective, however, lay here in Mingzhou. Thankfully, Elder Lei, you were here to foil their dangerous scheme. I am deeply impressed."

Lei Jun replied, "My martial brother and I were simply in the right place at the right time. Layman Ye, you are too kind."

Chu Taoyuan, Ye Yao, and the others stood aside, all sharing the same thought: That Wang Feng, a Confucian Scholar of the Eighth Heavenly Layer, had actually been killed on the spot by Lei Jun was astounding. It wasn’t entirely surprising that Lei Jun could defeat Wang Feng. But the fact that Lei Jun had forcefully killed him in a direct confrontation, giving Wang Feng no chance to escape—that was truly shocking. They recalled the battle at Dragon Tiger Mountain, where Lei Jun wielded the Celestial Master’s Sword, marshaling the Yin Yang Twin Thunder against Fu Dongsen and Hong Jie. Combined with the news of the Celestial Master Seal’s return to Dragon Tiger Mountain, Chu Taoyuan, Ye Yao, and the others had been somewhat prepared for Lei Jun cultivating both the Yang Thunder Dragon and Yin Thunder Dragon Dharma. However, his swift annihilation of Wang Feng using all three Dharmas forced them to re-evaluate Lei Jun’s strength once more.

Ye Ming looked at Lei Jun, a mix of regret and relief suddenly welling up within him.

He and Chu Taoyuan exchanged glances, a shared thought arising simultaneously: While the Yin Yang Twin Dragons were formidable, the Yin Thunder Dragon was still Lei Jun’s new creation and had much room for improvement. Nevertheless, Lei Jun was already so powerful. If he managed to perfect the Dragon-Tiger Strike, he would be even harder to contend with. Thankfully, human capabilities had their limits...