Chapter 6

"Five-Animal Boxing proficiency +3!"

"Five-Animal Boxing proficiency +3"

"Five-Animal Boxing proficiency..."

When the last "bird form" stance closed as softly as a feather falling into dust, Jiang Ye slowly stood straight, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, slowly exhaling the turbid breath in his chest.

That breath was as long as a thread, and it even carried a bit of burning temperature when it exited, condensing into a straight white smoke in the cold winter air, lingering for a long time.

His forehead was slightly sweaty, not from fatigue, but a healthy sweat from vigorous Qi and blood and the slight expulsion of impurities from his body.

Wu Gong Mastered: Five-Animal Boxing【Entry, 87/100】

"The boxing technique is about to be small-success."

Jiang Ye's eyes flashed with joy.

"The medicinal power of the Blood-Strengthening Soup has been absorbed almost completely."

Jiang Ye's thoughts turned, and he immediately made a judgment, "It's time to stop."

He knows that haste makes waste.

Practice is like drawing a bow; it needs to be relaxed and tight.

"I'll practice again at night."

Jiang Ye slowly relaxed all his muscles and bones, sat down, and rested with his eyes half-open and half-closed.

Since he started practicing martial arts, Jiang Ye felt that time was faster and more fulfilling.

Time quickly approached the closing of the academy.

Jiang Ye opened his eyes at the right time; he was like a silent bystander, watching the vitality of the martial arts academy dissipate bit by bit.

"Old Jiang, I'm leaving first."

A light voice rang out, carrying a smile.

Su Yan walked over; she had changed back into her daily light-colored dress, covered with a fox-fur cloak, making her look even more delicate.

She specifically stopped, waved at Jiang Ye, her bright face showing a genuine smile, without much of the airs of a young lady.

"Miss Su, walk slowly."

Jiang Ye bowed slightly, responding with a faint smile on his old face.

This girl was indeed rare in always maintaining a basic politeness toward him, this old gatekeeper.

Watching Su Yan's back fade away, Jiang Ye wondered who else hadn't come out.

Just at this moment, another voice accompanied by slightly dragging footsteps came from inside the gate.

"Zhang Zhang Shixiong Shi, today... today is really thanks to you."

The voice was weak, carrying deliberate reliance; it was Lin Xiaohe.

She followed half a step behind Shi Lei, her head down, her voice not loud, but enough for Jiang Ye at the door to hear clearly.

Jiang Ye looked up, his cloudy gaze sweeping over calmly.

Shi Lei walked in front, but his complexion seemed even more heavy than usual.

Lin Xiaohe accelerated half a step, almost shoulder to shoulder with him, looking up at her small face still bearing bruises, her eyes trying to open wide, filled with a layer of just-right watery light, revealing an expression of gratitude:

"Zhang Zhang Shixiong, it's so good to have you... if it weren't for you, I really wouldn't know what to do."

Although this sounded "very tea-like" to Jiang Ye, Shi Lei was clearly very receptive to this set.

Shi Lei's footsteps paused, he turned his head to look at her, touched by the watery light in her eyes, the heaviness on his face eased slightly, and he sighed, his voice low but firm:

"Junior Sister Lin, don't be afraid! Since I promised you, I will naturally... do my best."

He didn't say any grand words, but that simple and unadorned promise seemed to carry more weight.

"Hmm! I believe in you, Zhang Zhang Shixiong!"

Lin Xiaohe nodded vigorously, a smile finally appearing on her face, but it looked somewhat pitiful against the bruises that hadn't faded yet.

As they spoke, they had reached the gate.

Shi Lei saw Jiang Ye, and the gentleness on his face immediately retracted, returning to his usual serious and even somewhat restrained appearance, bowing to Jiang Ye, his tone respectful:

"Old Jiang, we are leaving."

Lin Xiaohe glanced at Jiang Ye indifferently, having no intention of greeting him.

Shi Lei seemed to notice Lin Xiaohe's rudeness, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly again.

But in the end, he said nothing, just nodded to Jiang Ye again, and led Lin Xiaohe out of the academy gate, one after the other.

Jiang Ye retracted his gaze, his face still expressionless, just shaking his head slightly, and then closed the academy gate as usual.

The night was deep.

Jiang Ye was ready to knock on the door of Bright Force.

Having guarded the gate of the academy for many years, he knew that knocking on the door was actually very dangerous.

The so-called knocking on the door is to use one's own intent as a hammer and the Qi and blood accumulated to the peak as firewood, violently "knocking" on a certain mysterious barrier in the body.

Seeking to penetrate it in one go, making the loose Qi and blood force twist into a strand, condense and sublimate, and produce a qualitative change, giving birth to "force."

If successful, one would leap over the dragon gate and step into the ranks of true martial artists, releasing force outside the body and splitting monuments and cracking stones.

But if it failed...

It would cause Qi and blood to reverse, damage meridians, and require a long time of recuperation to recover.

Although Jiang Ye was very confident in his comprehension, this aging body still made him have a trace of worry in his heart.

"I will definitely succeed."

Jiang Ye suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his heart, a flash of understanding in his eyes.

He began to practice Five-Animal Boxing, tempering Qi and blood, making the final sprint.

"Tiger form" fierce and accumulating momentum, the spine slightly arched like a great dragon.

"Deer form" agile and expansive, Qi and blood flowing like living water.

"Bear form" steady and heavy, force sinking into both feet rooted...

Wu Gong Mastered: Five-Animal Boxing【Small-Success, 3/500】

The moment Jiang Ye's boxing technique broke through to small-success, the Qi and blood flowing in his body seemed like a rushing river, washing away a dam.

Crack.

A faint, yet incomparably clear sound of shattering came from the deepest part of his dantian.

Immediately following—

A condensed and pure force surged out from behind that shattered barrier!

Jiang Ye opened his eyes suddenly!

In the dark gatehouse, two points of essence light, like lightning cutting through the night sky, suddenly lit up, sharp enough to almost pierce the void!

That light flashed and disappeared, then deeply retracted into his eyes, leaving only two cold pools that were bottomless and had hidden dark light.

He slowly lifted his withered right hand, his five fingers slightly curling.

Suddenly, he threw a punch.

Bang!

The air in front was slightly distorted by an invisible force, emitting a sound of breaking through the air like a firecracker!

Jiang Ye retracted his punch and stood still.

On his old face, those knife-carved wrinkles seemed to have smoothed out a bit.

A trace of complex laughter, mixed with satisfaction and a little disbelief, slowly rippled from the corners of his mouth, gradually expanding, and finally turned into laughter that had been suppressed for decades.

"Hahahahahaha!!!"

Hitting people like hanging a painting, releasing force like thunder.

Bright Force, achieved!

Name: Jiang Ye

Lifespan: 80

Fate: Ladder to Divinity【Effect 1: Superb Comprehension】

Wu Gong Mastered: Five-Animal Boxing【Small-Success, 3/500】

"My lifespan has increased!"

Jiang Ye's joy in his heart grew even more.

This time he broke through Five-Animal Boxing to small-success, not only allowing him to successfully knock on the door of Bright Force but also increasing his lifespan.

Doesn't this mean that even if his strength hasn't reached the True Qi Realm, his lifespan might break through the hundred-year barrier.

Who doesn't want to increase their lifespan?

The extreme joy of the breakthrough dispelled all fatigue and sleepiness, and his spirit was excited to the peak.

Jiang Ye pushed the door open and strode into the courtyard.

The cold wind of the winter night rushed toward him, biting like a knife, but it made him feel exceptionally clear and satisfied.

He needed this cold wind to cool his boiling hot blood and to confirm that everything before him was not a dream.

However, just as he took a deep breath.

A very faint, yet exceptionally familiar cold fragrance drifted to his nose with the wind.

That fragrance was cold, like cold plum blossoms after snow, and carried a trace of moist water vapor after bathing and the unique warmth of a woman's skin.

Jiang Ye was slightly stunned and subconsciously turned his head to look.

Under the clear moonlight, a graceful figure was walking out from another corridor leading to the inner court.

It was Liu Yiyi.

She seemed to have just finished bathing, wearing a loose, moon-white casual outfit, her long black hair not completely tied up, dripping wet on her shoulders, the tips of her hair still dripping with water, shining with a faint light in the moonlight.

Shedding the cold hardness of practicing martial arts during the day, at this moment, she had less sharpness and more of the tenderness and laziness of a woman after bathing, her figure still gracefully rising and falling under the loose clothing.

"This little girl has really grown up."

Jiang Ye sighed softly in his heart.

Seeming to feel the gaze cast from not far away, Liu Yiyi's footsteps paused slightly, and she turned her head to look over.

Their eyes met.

Under the moonlight, Jiang Ye's face, which was usually old and haggard and full of gullies, now revealed an indescribable ruddy luster.

It was not the flush of illness, but the healthy luster naturally revealed after Qi and blood were full and his energy was extremely vigorous.

Especially those eyes, usually cloudy and dim, now reflected in the moonlight, appeared exceptionally clear, with dark light flowing deep inside, sharp and compelling, yet calm as an abyss.

This didn't look like the complexion and eyes a seventy-year-old man should have.

Liu Yiyi's cold pupils shrank slightly, and on her face, which usually had no expression, a trace of obvious confusion and incomprehension flashed rarely.

She stopped, turned around completely, faced Jiang Ye, and looked him up and down carefully twice.

Having not taken the initiative to speak to this old gatekeeper for years, she now, for the first time, parted her red lips, her voice still cold, but carrying a trace of inquiry:

"Old Jiang..." She paused, seemingly choosing her words, "Your complexion... looks exceptionally good tonight."

She would never have thought in her wildest dreams that this old gatekeeper, whom she had watched grow up and had long since determined that his life trajectory was to die silently in the gatehouse, had just completed a shocking counterattack—at the age of seventy, knocking on the door in one night and stepping into Bright Force.

Jiang Ye felt awe in his heart and bowed slightly, "Thank you for your concern, Miss."

"Perhaps... perhaps it was because I drank the Blood-Strengthening Soup rewarded by the Master at noon, my body felt a bit warmer, and I slept more soundly at night, so my complexion looked better."

He attributed all the changes to that bowl of medicinal soup, which was reasonable and appropriate.

"So that's how it is."

Hearing this, Liu Yiyi's cold gaze lingered on Jiang Ye's face for an instant; the trace of confusion did not completely dissipate, but it seemed she couldn't find a more reasonable explanation.

In the end, she just nodded imperceptibly, said no more, turned around, and continued walking toward the small building in the inner court where she lived.

Her wet hair brushed her shoulders, leaving a cold silhouette in the moonlight.

"This little girl has quite sharp perception." Jiang Ye muttered to himself.

This reminded him that he needed to be more cautious in his actions in the future.

Bright Force initially formed, Qi and blood erupting, inevitably having some external manifestations; he still needed to stabilize his realm as soon as possible and learn to better restrain his aura.