[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength":3,"chapter-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Subdue the Immortals with Strength",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2295319,4490,"Chapter 17: Brothers and Sisters","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>“I told you to take it, so take it! From today on, you must consume meat that supplements your body or pills that strengthen your blood and qi every day, train diligently, and strive to become a fourth-rank Martial Master as soon as possible—otherwise, you’ll face family discipline!” Xia Daoming said sternly, leaving no room for argument.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant obeys!” Liu Qiaolian replied solemnly, then rose without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then go, I’m going to cultivate.” Xia Daoming said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Master.” Liu Qiaolian bowed slightly and walked away with light, graceful steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Liu Qiaolian’s graceful figure vanish at the door, Xia Daoming sighed helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the door, out of Xia Daoming’s sight, Liu Qiaolian hurried into her room, shut the door, and suddenly covered her face and wept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, she took out the brocade box containing the Silver Deer Pill, stared at it for a moment, then pressed it against her chest and smiled through her tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming naturally knew nothing of Liu Qiaolian’s solitary weeping and sudden laughter; after she left, he returned to the training chamber, sat cross-legged, and silently recalled the strange visions he had witnessed while observing the secret diagram.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The serpent’s body writhed, its skin peeling away inch by inch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Limbs burst forth from beneath its belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tumors swelled up from its forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The serpent’s aura shifted, becoming more ancient, primordial, obscure, and powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like bright force undergoing countless trials and tempering, continuously refining and condensing into stronger dark force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dragon is born—either lying dormant in the abyss, or gliding through lakes, or ascending rivers toward the sea…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming “saw” more meridians and acupoints beyond the four he already knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They coiled and wound through his body like serpents and dragons, seemingly tangled and complex, yet governed by their own inherent laws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming forcibly suppressed the urge to blast open the fifth meridian’s blockage with brute force, instead using Liang Jingtang’s method for cultivating dark force, combined with the insight gained from the secret diagram, to rhythmically circulate his blood and qi within the four meridians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dark force, in a sense, is more condensed and refined force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At each rank of Martial Master, Xia Daoming’s meridians had undergone nine levels of expansion and strengthening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strong, resilient meridians could hold more force and made the force within them more condensed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The secret medicine Liang Jingtang mentioned served no other purpose than to condense force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the effect of that secret medicine paled in comparison to Xia Daoming’s system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a sense, Xia Daoming’s bright force was already a half-finished form of dark force—he simply hadn’t understood the secrets of dark force, so he remained stuck at this half-stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he had received the method to cultivate dark force and glimpsed its essence within the secret diagram, transforming his internal force into dark force was far easier for him than for others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tiny impurities seeped out through his skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blood and qi within his meridians grew purer and stronger, and became easier to conceal, turning more obscure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sensing these subtle changes within him, Xia Daoming sank into the process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the beginning of Xu hour to the beginning of Yin hour—four full hours—he remained in deep meditation cultivating dark force, until his meridians and head throbbed with a tearing pain, forcing him to reluctantly stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, even a martial genius could only endure half an hour of dark force cultivation in their first attempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the moonlight, Xia Daoming stripped naked, hauled several buckets of well water, and washed away the filth with a thorough rinse, then returned to his bedroom and collapsed into bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He woke the next day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming still felt a dull ache in his meridians and head, but he felt lighter overall, and a strange, indescribable sense of power filled his entire body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dark force really is different—I only trained for half the night, and already feel my strength has improved significantly.” Xia Daoming was pleasantly surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After breakfast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming gave a few brief instructions, then went to the Qianjiao Martial Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Liang Jingtang’s personal disciple, he now had the privilege to observe the Divine Aura Secret Diagram, receive the dark force method, and learn more advanced martial arts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was a fist and foot technique: Dragon-Serpent Nine Changes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was a movement art: Nine Steps of the Soaring Dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was a spear technique: Nine Spears of the Dragon-Serpent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, in Heishicheng, Xia Daoming had only learned derivative fist and foot forms of these three arts—emphasizing stances and forms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The transformations of Dragon and Serpent were the most mysterious and unpredictable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Liang Jingtang’s three martial arts emphasized intent over form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though called “Nine Changes,” “Nine Steps,” and “Nine Spears,” they were in truth endlessly variable, impossible to fix in number—the key lay in comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming had already observed the entire transformation process from serpent to Qianjiao from the secret diagram, and with Liang Jingtang personally instructing him, he mastered the art quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This greatly surprised and somewhat saddened Liang Jingtang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such martial comprehension, if paired with the cultivation base of a Great Martial Master, would yield astonishing combat power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Liang Jingtang’s view, Xia Daoming had little hope of becoming a Great Martial Master—no matter how strong his comprehension, his potential output would remain limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside Dongcheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Family Fortress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a large courtyard, three coffins stood arranged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each coffin held a corpse; one of them was headless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside the coffin of the headless corpse stood two men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One appeared nearly seventy, with short, bowed legs, yet arms so long they reached his knees, and enormous palms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other was near sixty, tall and thin, but with a large frame and exceptionally long arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man with bowed legs was Wu Yueming, elder of the Wu family and father of Wu Changlu; the other was the fortress lord, Wu Yueli.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet strangely enough,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yueming stared at the headless corpse of his young son, yet showed little grief—indeed, he seemed almost cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yueli, by contrast, wore clear anguish; his forehead veins bulged visibly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who dares kill a Wu Family Fortress disciple? This must be thoroughly investigated!” Wu Yueli growled, eyes blazing with malice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, eight members of the Wu Family’s Black Cloud Guard, clad in black cloaks, rode out the fortress gates on swift steeds like a whirlwind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liuyun District, Zuiyun Pavilion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xia Daoming and Yuchi Xiao stepped down from their carriage, a middle-aged man in brocade robes, stout and potbellied, with a round, clean-shaven face, stepped forward with a beaming smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Yuchi, your arrival has honored us—we’re deeply honored!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough with the formalities, we’re brothers,” Yuchi Xiao laughed, waving his hand, then pointed to Xia Daoming beside him: “This is Master’s newest disciple, Xia Daoming.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you’re Brother Xia! Truly a young talent, outstanding in appearance!” The man immediately turned to Xia Daoming, beaming with praise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did he look like, to be called “outstanding in appearance”?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Daoming, this is Jiao Yongbao, owner of Zuiyun Pavilion. He was once Master’s most formidable disciple, but after some misfortune, he abandoned martial arts for commerce. Don’t be fooled by his prosperous appearance—he’s a fourth-rank Martial Master; if you truly tested your skills, you wouldn’t stand a chance against him now,” Yuchi Xiao said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Yuchi, don’t flatter me—I’m just a fat lump now, past my prime, my skills long faded. How could I compare to Brother Xia, young, strong, and brimming with blood and qi?” Jiao Yongbao laughed, waving his hand, though a flicker of melancholy passed through his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Jiao is too modest,” Xia Daoming smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have Xingji and the others arrived yet?” Yuchi Xiao asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hehe, when Master summons us and says he’s introducing a new brother, who would dare not come? They’ve been waiting upstairs since early,” Jiao Yongbao chuckled, then personally led them into the pavilion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Third floor, Yungui Chamber.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two men and one woman were already waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Daoming, this is Zhuo Xingji—he’s the chief escort of Xingyou Escort Agency. Martial cultivators spend a fortune, especially when aiming to break through to fifth-rank Great Martial Master—your expenses will only grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You can take jobs at Xingyou Escort Agency. It’s hard work, even dangerous, but we’re all brothers—Xingji won’t shortchange you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuchi Xiao pointed to a man around thirty-five, tall and imposing, with rough, sun-baked skin, clearly someone who spent his life on the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha! Of course! If Brother Xia joins my agency, I’ll pay you fifty percent more than a standard escort captain,” Zhuo Xingji boomed with laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then I thank you, Brother Zhuo,” Xia Daoming bowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is your sister, Liu Xiao Qiang. You’d better avoid her place as much as possible,” Yuchi Xiao quickly turned to a graceful, middle-aged woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s that supposed to mean, Master Yuchi? Do you think I’d charge my own brothers for visiting my Yaohua Pavilion?” Liu Xiao Qiang playfully swatted Yuchi Xiao, then gave him a withering look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cough, cough—I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just worried you’re young and impulsive, your blood boiling, and might get distracted by women, wasting your cultivation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, men always pay their own expenses when they go there—do you expect her to cover your costs? Where would Brother Xia’s dignity be then?” Yuchi Xiao said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pfft! Distracted by women? My pavilion is a proper establishment—only music and dance!” Liu Xiao Qiang rolled her eyes again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes, Sister’s pavilion is a proper establishment!” Yuchi Xiao nodded hastily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone watching this scene seemed used to it, smiling silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia Daoming, however, stared dumbfounded at the woman before him—her purple silk dress clung tightly to her curvaceous figure, a light gauze draped over her shoulders; she looked less like a Martial Master and more like a courtesan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So his sister was running a brothel!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant he could visit her place for free? Pfft—was he really that kind of man?\u003C\u002Fp>",1659,"2026-06-20T05:15:29.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","aa71558f9a70192895adf97dcc10a2b2c478d683562ea94ab6dab4b7dc25906b","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-18","i-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-chapter-16",484,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-subdue-the-immortals-with-strength-cover.jpg"]