Chapter 170: Deduction of the Heaven-Swallowing Dan Shi

【In the first year, you open the Tiannan Dan Shi method and begin to perceive its true meaning character by character; you are no longer the utter novice who knew nothing of martial arts, for after years of cultivation, you have long formed your own understanding of the martial path.】

【In the second year, you nod thoughtfully, deciding to skip the incomprehensible parts first and infer the earlier content from later explanations; marveling at your own intelligence, you turn the book to the second page.】

"..."

Watching the prompts flash across the panel, Shen Yi finally gave up all illusions.

In fact, the lifespan of demons was not the main problem; killing a few more demons would always make up for it. What truly gave one a headache was that once the deduction ended, the years of accumulated negative emotions within the panel would rush in all at once.

The harder the martial art, the stronger this feeling would be.

Especially when there was no progress at all, that thick despair would almost drown the entire person.

【In the two hundred and thirty-fourth year, your mind was filled with endless confusion; you even began to doubt whether you were suited to cultivate the martial path... No, you felt the content of this book had little to do with martial arts; you were clearly a genius in body tempering, so why waste time on such useless things?】

Shen Yi temporarily stopped pouring in the demons' lifespan.

Closing his eyes, he first digested the sudden surge of nausea; only after his emotions calmed did he look at the panel again.

Over two hundred years of lifespan had only earned him a head full of question marks.

He was about to continue investing the demons' lifespan when a figure in a black robe strode into the courtyard.

"My lord Jiang! Why have you come?" Jiang Chengyun hurriedly rose. He had thought the other party would at least rest at Wang Fu for the night, and even if returning to the Martial Temple, as the Great Demon-Suppressing General, My Lord Jiang should have gone to the right courtyard.

Jiang Qiulan appeared emotionally normal, speaking softly: "The Wang Fei intends to prepare a banquet to celebrate the heir, and wishes to invite you both to attend. Tomorrow evening, the Ji Wang will also return to the manor."

Hearing this, Jiang Chengyun's face changed slightly: "The Wang Fei invites us to a banquet? And me?"

Clearly, the reason for his shock was the latter; it was perfectly normal for Wang Fu to seek an alliance with General Shen, but he, an ordinary Silver Bell Demon Hunter, had no qualification to attract their attention.

Jiang Qiulan shook her head: "Not the Wang Fei, but the heir."

Having said that, she turned her gaze to Shen Yi sitting by the table.

Jiang Chengyun still could not quite understand and was about to ask a few more questions when he saw My Lord Jiang step into the room and sit opposite the young man.

"If there is anything you do not understand, you may ask me." Jiang Qiulan also cultivated the Tiannan Dan Shi method.

"..."

Shen Yi suddenly realized that, probably due to his prior habit with demon martial arts, he had almost forgotten the greatest advantage of a martial artist's technique... this was a path already trodden by predecessors, requiring no need for him to grope his way from the beginning.

Right now, a pioneer sat before him.

How could he be polite? He first carefully broke down the confusion in his mind into specific questions, then asked the other party for guidance.

Jiang Qiulan listened quietly to Shen Yi's words; until half a stick of incense had passed and the other party still showed no sign of stopping, a hint of strangeness finally appeared in her clear eyes.

She had only stayed in Wang Fu for a few hours, not several months.

Yet the other party had already gained some insight into the Tiannan Dan Shi method.

What extraordinary comprehension was this? No wonder he could learn the Jade Liquid Realm supreme art that Jiang Yuanhua took pride in within just a few days.

"That's about all," Shen Yi caught his breath, accepted the hot tea Jiang Chengyun handed him, and slightly moistened his throat.

Although he had already organized his thoughts in his mind beforehand, the many questions still seemed chaotic; Jiang Qiulan listened only once, pondered for a moment, then took the Tiannan Dan Shi method, her pale fingertips resting on the page as she explained it to him character by character.

Jiang Chengyun poured tea for the two, a look of daze appearing in his eyes.

Who am I? Where am I? What are they talking about?

Never mind, I'll just nod; otherwise I'll seem out of place.

Thinking thus, he nodded from time to time, forcing a look of being utterly captivated.

"Could you be a bit more detailed?" Shen Yi looked up.

If the original Tiannan Dan Shi method was a pile of iron nails impossible to bite into, even if this woman chewed them up first and fed them to him, they would still be iron filings hard to swallow.

"I..." A rare hint of difficulty crossed Jiang Qiulan's delicate face.

"Never mind, Miss Jiang, please continue."

Shen Yi saw that the other party had done her best; it was just that he truly could not keep up. Fortunately, iron filings, no matter what, were easier to digest than iron nails.

He memorized the other party's explanation entirely: "I will ponder it myself."

Worrying he might forget later, Shen Yi quickly opened the panel and poured the demons' lifespan into it.

Seeing the young man fall into deep thought.

Jiang Qiulan fell silent again, no longer disturbing the other party.

About every cup of tea's time, Shen Yi would return from his meditation and then raise a new question.

Each time made a little more surprise well up in Jiang Qiulan's quiet heart; the other party's speed of comprehension could simply be described as terrifying.

His questions sometimes seemed particularly shallow, but with a little explanation, the young man would think for a moment and immediately be able to draw inferences from one instance.

This was typical of someone lacking basic cultivation knowledge, pushing through purely by the genius comprehension of innate talent!

She gazed quietly at Shen Yi's face, wondering what kind of mind could be so intelligent that it even made her feel ashamed.

As time slowly passed.

Shen Yi returned to consciousness for the last time, a flash of clarity crossing his dark eyes.

【In the six hundred and seventy-ninth year, you finally mastered the Tiannan Dan Shi method completely and understood the terrifying gap between the Tiannan Inner Dan condensed by this method and ordinary Inner Dans; you began to attempt condensing the Dan...】

Jiang Chengyun had just brewed a pot of hot tea when he saw My Lord Jiang slowly rise, feeling somewhat puzzled: "My Lord Jiang, why stop teaching?"

Jiang Qiulan looked at the young man with a somewhat complex expression, her gaze falling on the black blade at his waist, then gazing into the distant sky, her eyes slightly emotional.

According to the Juan Sect records, the other party had slain the ape demon of Bo Yun County and brought back an old friend's sword.

She never set foot in Yang'an Commandery, not out of fear of that group of initial-stage small demons, but simply unwilling to let the dust of the past settle.

Her steps, never daring to stop, chased the guilt in her heart.

If only she had tried a little harder back then...

Until Shen Yi appeared in the ruined temple at Taishan, she suddenly found a moment of relaxation, as if an old friend had returned with his sword, walking beside her once more.

However, the scene before her finally made Jiang Qiulan wake up.

Shen Yi was no one's substitute; just like that black blade about to be replaced, Outside Qingzhou could not keep such a brilliant figure, and she still had to continue her pursuit.

"..."

Jiang Qiulan withdrew her cool gaze and said softly, "Once you've received your new treasure, may you give that blade to me?"

Hearing this, a flicker of doubt crossed Shen Yi's expression.

After all, she had helped him with his studies, and had even sent him the heads of three Core Formation perfected demon lords earlier. He wasn't reluctant to part with a weapon from an initial-realm demon — he simply didn't understand what about it would draw the attention of an Embracing Elixir Realm powerhouse.

"I want to keep it as a memento." Jiang Qiulan, who seemed never to have asked anyone for anything, saw the odd look on the young man's face and added another line of explanation.

Crack—

The teapot slipped from Jiang Chengyun's hand and hit the floor. His face was full of astonishment, and anxiety welled up in his eyes at once.

How could this be — neither of the two my lords had their minds on replacing those old fossils, yet here they were getting tangled up in all this nonsense! How foolish!

(End of chapter)