Chapter 271: The Divine Skill First Achieved

Eastern Depot.

Today, the Eastern Depot is unusually stifling, giving people a feeling of being unable to catch their breath.

Everyone subconsciously lowers their voices, simply because everyone knows that the Grand Overseer is currently full of rage waiting to be vented.

Do not be fooled by the Grand Overseer's usual smiling, amiable appearance; once he erupts, it is enough to make anyone tremble with fear.

"Yu Liancheng, Yu Liancheng."

In the main hall, Cao Zhengchun's face is as dark as water, and he keeps muttering Yu Liancheng's name.

That ruddy complexion is still somewhat pale; he was not lightly injured in his exchange with Yu Liancheng, and now, after only half a day, how could he have recovered?

Ever since his Tiangang Childish Skill reached perfection, this is the first time he has tasted defeat.

This is a defeat that even Zhu Tiedan had never inflicted upon him.

Cao Zhengchun is a eunuch; he no longer has any desire for women.

On the contrary, he has a nearly perverted pursuit of power and martial arts.

He wants to be the number one in power and the number one in martial arts.

Yet now, he has lost at the hands of Yu Liancheng.

And he lost quite miserably.

At the thought of this, a ball of indescribable rage suddenly ignites in Cao Zhengchun's heart, spreading in all directions.

Just at this moment, the Second Archivist Tiezhua Feiying has hurriedly walked in, cupping his fists and bowing: "Reporting to the Grand Overseer, Yu Liancheng's tracks have been discovered."

"Oh, speak quickly." Cao Zhengchun stands up abruptly.

"According to information obtained by my subordinates, someone has disguised themselves and infiltrated the ninth level of the Tianlao; I fear that person is Yu Liancheng," said Tiezhua Feiying.

"The ninth level of the Tianlao?" Cao Zhengchun ponders for a moment, then suddenly has a flash of inspiration: "He must have come for Gu Santong. Quickly go and find the Chief Archivist; this time we shall catch the turtle in the jar and beat the dog behind closed doors."

"Yes." Tiezhua Feiying has already retreated. At the very moment he lowers his head and turns, a smile of success flashes across the corners of his mouth, but it vanishes in an instant.

Very quickly, Tiezhua Feiying has brought another person in.

One sees that this person has white eyebrows and white hair, walking with the stride of a dragon and the step of a tiger, carrying an air of ferocity and sinister intent. Although his face is clean-shaven, he does not look like a eunuch at all.

This person is none other than the Eastern Depot's Chief Archivist, Pi Xiaotian.

"Greetings, Grand Overseer." Pi Xiaotian bows respectfully.

"Hmm." Cao Zhengchun nods and says: "Do you know about what happened this morning?"

"This subordinate already knows."

"Good. Now that the whereabouts of that person have been discovered, you take the Black-Clad Arrow Squad and accompany me to the Tianlao."

"Yes."

Hearing the conversation between the two, the cold sneer and smugness at the corners of the head-lowered Tiezhua Feiying's mouth grow even more intense.

Yu Liancheng is definitely not so easy to deal with. Even if Cao Zhengchun can kill Yu Liancheng, he will likely have to pay a great price himself; then it will be much easier for the Divine Marquis to finish off this eunuch dog.

Just as the troop of men has walked out of the Eastern Depot, several fast horses suddenly arrive. On the horses are eunuchs from the palace. The lead eunuch shouts: "The Emperor's oral decree: summon Grand Overseer Cao to the palace immediately; there must be no delay."

Cao Zhengchun cannot help but furrow his brows. He looks at the eunuch on horseback and frowns: "Oh, what has happened in the palace?"

The Eastern Depot is powerful, and even if this eunuch is a confidant of the Emperor, he dares not easily slight Cao Zhengchun, so he hurriedly says: "It is said that the princess of the Izumo Kingdom has arrived, and the Emperor requests the Grand Overseer to go and discuss the marriage."

Cao Zhengchun's brows furrow even more deeply. After a long while, he says: "Good, wait a moment; I will accompany you to the palace to see the Emperor immediately."

Having said this, he turns his head to look at the Chief Archivist Pi Xiaotian and the Second Archivist Tiezhua Feiying: "Although the Black-Clad Arrow Squad is the elite of the Eastern Depot, if I am not there to hold the line, I fear they still cannot stop that Yu Liancheng. Do you have any countermeasures?"

The two archivists are silent for a long moment, then the Chief Archivist suddenly says: "This subordinate has a strategy; even if it is not absolutely certain, it is not far off."

Cao Zhengchun feels a bit of interest, raises his eyebrows and says: "Good, tell me about it."

The Chief Archivist leans in and whispers a few words. Cao Zhengchun laughs heartily, pats Pi Xiaotian on the shoulder and says: "Good strategy. This time, I will leave everything to you."

Pi Xiaotian hurriedly cups his fists: "This subordinate will certainly not fail the Grand Overseer's expectations."

"Hmm, I am off to the palace. I hope to hear your good news when I return."

"Respectfully sending off the Grand Overseer."

After Cao Zhengchun leaves, Pi Xiaotian sweeps his gaze and shouts: "Go and fetch the gunpowder from the warehouse."

……

"You know news of Suxin?"

On the ninth level of the Tianlao, Gu Santong is still in the state of the Vajra Indestructible Body, his whole body covered in golden light, holy and peerless.

That already deep and sharp gaze possesses an even more captivating power. An ordinary person, upon being swept by this gaze, would likely tremble all over and collapse to the ground.

Yu Liancheng stands with his hands behind his back, looking as fresh as a spring breeze. He nods and says: "That is correct, I know Suxin's whereabouts."

Gu Santong sneers: "What do you want? The Great Law of Power Absorption? Or the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill?" He naturally can see that the other party has come for his supreme arts.

Yu Liancheng looks straight at Gu Santong and says: "Even if I do not want them, would you not give them to me?"

Gu Santong sneers: "You are not my son, why should I give them to you?"

Yu Liancheng says indifferently: "Your Pure Yang Finger injury has recurred, and even gods could not save you. And your lifelong wish is to wash away your past shame; no matter what, you cannot let the Divine Marquis be the number one in the world. But you cannot leave the Tianlao, so you can only pin your hopes on me. Even if I do not want to learn, you would have to hug my thighs, crying and begging me to learn."

Gu Santong stares blankly at Yu Liancheng for a long time, then laughs in spite of himself: "Good lad, you are clearly coveting my Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill, yet you make it sound as if I am begging you."

Yu Liancheng shrugs and smiles: "Am I not right?"

"Regardless of whether you are right or not, tell me the news about Suxin first." The golden light on Gu Santong's body has gradually dimmed; the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill consumes too much Internal Force and Qi and Blood. In his current state, driving this martial art is simply wasting his own life for nothing.

Yu Liancheng says indifferently: "Back then, in order to stop you and Zhu Wushi from fighting to the death, Suxin took a palm strike from Zhu Wushi. You know how terrifying Zhu Wushi's palm power is."

Gu Santong's face darkens: "That is true. That old pig's palm power is unfathomable. Let alone Suxin, who does not know martial arts, even a First-class Expert of the Edo would have no chance of survival after taking half a palm. What happened later?"

Yu Liancheng cannot be bothered to keep him in suspense: "Suxin took half a palm, and all the meridians in her body were destroyed. Fortunately, Zhu Wushi used a Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom to sustain her life and placed her in the Heavenly Mountain Ice Cellar. It is a pity that in these twenty years, Zhu Wushi has not found the other two Heavenly Fragrant Cardamoms."

Gu Santong is first excited by the news that Suxin is not dead, but then he furrows his brows.

Although the Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom is a miraculous medicine, and a single one can sustain the life of someone on the verge of death, if the other two cannot be found, she is nothing more than a living corpse.

And with that old pig's martial arts and power, having spent twenty years without finding the whereabouts of the other two, one can see the difficulty of seeking them.

Soon, Gu Santong sensed something was wrong: "Wait, that old pig Zhu would strictly keep this information secret and wouldn't let outsiders know. How could you possibly know?"

Yu Liancheng chuckled and said, "I am friends with Wuchen Gongzi; you can just assume I know how to divine the future."

Gu Santong was silent for a long moment, a flash of light in his eyes, as if he had made a certain decision.

"I don't have much time left. As long as you promise to help me find the remaining two Heavenly Fragrant Cardamoms and save Suxin, I will agree to whatever you want. Whether it be the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill, the Sucking Power Great Art, the unique arts of the Eight Great Sects, or even this entire cultivation of mine, Gu Santong."

Yu Liancheng nodded and said, "Fine, I happen to know the whereabouts of the other two Heavenly Fragrant Cardamoms, so helping you is no trouble. I don't want your entire cultivation, but I would like to hear about the two unique arts passed down by Tianchi Guaixia."

"Good, listen carefully."

Gu Santong was also quite decisive; he sat cross-legged and began to explain the mysteries of the Sucking Power Great Art and the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill.

He had studied these two martial arts for decades; I fear that even if Tianchi Guaixia were resurrected, he might not understand these two arts better than him.

At this moment, Gu Santong combined his decades of experience to explain them, simple and direct, yet every sentence contained profound principles, allowing Yu Liancheng to benefit greatly and clearly grasp the mysteries of the two divine skills.

Before long, the mental cultivation methods of these two martial arts were swirling and circling in Yu Liancheng's mind.

"This Sucking Power Great Art is indeed terrifying. It not only absorbs True Qi but can also take the martial arts, flesh and blood, and spirit of others for one's own use; it can be called a Demon art. However, the conversion rate is a bit low. One-fifth? One-tenth? I fear it is far less than that. Otherwise, when Zhu Wushi absorbed the internal force of one hundred and seven people and added a thousand years of internal force, who in the world could have surpassed him?"

"More importantly, although this martial art can allow a person to quickly become a top-tier expert in the early stages, it will leave impurities in one's body, soul, and True Qi. Once one reaches the level of a supreme expert, the only way to advance further is to cleanse the body and purify the soul."

"The Sucking Power Great Art must never be abused, otherwise the future troubles will be endless. However, just based on that powerful suction, it is worth getting my hands on."

"As for the Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill, this is the true purpose of my trip to the capital. It can be called the number one divine skill in the world. Once mastered, it can resist all external forces; it is truly indestructible, and it can restrain the Sucking Power Great Art, condensing the soul, Qi and Blood, and True Qi into one, making it impossible for any external force to shake it."

"If I can fuse this martial art with the hard-body training I have learned, my external martial arts will also reach an unprecedented realm, no worse than Jue Wushen's 'Undying Golden Body'. Just by relying on physical strength, I could sweep across the world."

In Tianlao, one person spoke and one person listened, occasionally discussing with each other, both focused and dedicated.

Gu Santong was no longer just talking about these two martial arts, but was expounding on his own martial arts philosophy, which benefited Yu Liancheng greatly.

Yu Liancheng asked questions from time to time or expressed his own insights, which also gave Gu Santong, who had always been working behind closed doors, a great harvest.

It was just a pity that he did not have much life left, otherwise, he might have been able to go even further.

I do not know how much time passed, but the conversation between the two ended, and Yu Liancheng fell into deep thought.

Gu Santong looked at Yu Liancheng, his eyes filled with astonishment. He had never seen such a brilliant and talented person; he could infer ten things from one and understood everything at a single hint.

If he reached his own age, who knows to what level his martial arts would have advanced? It was truly something to look forward to.

"Gu Santong, I want to extract a strand of your True Qi." Yu Liancheng suddenly looked up and fixed his gaze on Gu Santong.

"Whatever." Gu Santong indifferently stretched out a hand.

Yu Liancheng grabbed at the air, and a powerful suction force was generated.

Gu Santong immediately felt the True Qi in his body surging involuntarily, flying toward the other's palm.

Of course, if he were willing, he could resist this suction at any time.

Soon, Yu Liancheng withdrew his hand, having indeed only extracted a small strand of True Force, and immediately began to close his eyes to refine this mass of True Qi. After another long while, he opened his eyes, and a golden light seemed to flow within them.

Yu Liancheng stood up, reached out a hand, and suddenly punched the stone wall.

In the process of throwing this punch, his fingers glowed with a faint golden light, which spread to his arm, covering his entire fist in the blink of an eye, making this punch look even more fierce and peerless.

——Diamond Indestructible Divine Skill!

Bang!

With a muffled sound, a fist print was struck into the stone wall.

One must know that the ninth level of Tianlao was specially built for peerless experts like Gu Santong and was exceptionally sturdy.

The previous exchange between Yu Liancheng and Gu Santong was no less brilliant than the battle with Grand Overseer Cao, yet it did not cause substantial damage to the stone cave, which shows how solid it is.

Gu Santong looked at Yu Liancheng, his eyes still filled with astonishment: "You are indeed a true genius. When I first practiced these two martial arts, I spent quite a lot of time."

"Undeniably, I am indeed a genius." Yu Liancheng shrugged: "But if it weren't for the guidance of a master like you, and the fact that I had learned similar martial arts before, I wouldn't have been able to progress so quickly."

Gu Santong sighed: "Regardless, I have already agreed to your request, I hope you will not break your word."

"Of course." Yu Liancheng suddenly beckoned, sucking over Cheng Shifei, who had just woken up and was preparing to sneak away, and smiled: "Gu Santong, if your unique arts were to be lost just like that, it would be quite a pity. How about I find you a successor?"

"A successor? You mean this brat." Gu Santong looked at Cheng Shifei for a moment, nodded and said: "This brat is a bit old, but his meridians and bones are quite good, and he is very talented. It's not impossible to make do with him."

For some reason, looking at this strange brat, Gu Santong actually felt a sense of closeness.

Cheng Shifei finally understood the situation before him and said with a fawning smile: "Senior Gu, Old Master Gu, I, Cheng Shifei, have one-in-a-million talent for martial arts. If you pass your skills to me, I will definitely not let you down."

Yu Liancheng ignored this father and son; he had already obtained the two martial arts he needed and turned to leave.

But before leaving, he left behind a sentence that shocked the two people in the cave beyond measure.

"Gu Santong, Suxin actually gave birth to a child for you. That child is called Cheng Shifei, oh, perhaps he should be called Gu Shifei. Believe it or not, it's up to you."