Chapter 116: The Imperial Family

When Li Guanyi thought of that name, he felt a surge of qi.

The trees around him moved instantly.

They swayed toward the wooden hut.

Chen Chengbi, who had been chasing Yue Qianfeng, let out a startled cry, dodging to one side—but still couldn't avoid it; like a boulder rolling down a mountain, he slid into the hut, took a palm strike, then tumbled outward, retreating several steps, his feet leaving imprints on the green stone slabs.

The old man was slightly disheveled, but paid it no mind; he merely flicked his sleeve with his hand and laughed heartily: "Hahahaha, my dear niece, your Wu Gong has truly grown more formidable—this technique, 'Fog-Cold Flute and Xiao,' seals and closes like a perfect wall, exquisite to the finest degree!"

"Come here, little Xue child."

"Let me introduce you."

Chen Chengbi pulled Li Guanyi over; Li Guanyi saw inside the wooden hut a tall woman dressed in white, her expression cold and calm, her face as white as jade, her black hair falling to her waist, with only the temples streaked white—she looked extremely young, yet if she were the Emperor's elder sister, she must be in her thirties or forties.

Chen Chengbi pointed at Li Guanyi and said:

"Qingyan, this boy is the Xue child I told you about."

"Come here, this one is no ordinary fellow—he was our Chen Kingdom's original prodigy, the first legitimate heir of the Guardian Mountain Villa, renowned across the martial world, ranked among the top ten on the nation's famed heroes list before he was even sixteen, so coveted by the Turkic crown prince that he could not obtain him—"

"Master of spear and sword, unmatched in fists and feet."

"In his entire martial career, he lost only once—to a boy."

"He once roamed the martial world with Ta… with that Li Wanli boy, enduring life and death, hmph—later, if only that fool hadn't been blinded by grease and stupidity, hadn't gone running off to find Murong's… my family's…"

The old man's tongue ran wild; Li Guanyi felt a chill.

The chill was not false.

Fine frost condensed in the air; ice and snow appeared beneath their feet; though summer was approaching, snowflakes drifted from the sky, blanketing the entire area surrounding the Library Pavilion—a vast expanse, several li across, all covered in snow.

The white-clad woman stood quietly, doing nothing—and yet she had altered the weather for miles around.

Chen Chengbi hesitated, then erupted in curses:

"To hell with Li Wanli, blind fool—if he'd only agreed back then, none of this would've happened!"

"This soldier-brute, a dimwit with a brain full of mud, as stupid as an ox!"

"I—"

The elder realized he'd spoken too much; he immediately shoved Li Guanyi forward, waving his hands frantically: "I won't say it, I won't say it anymore—this boy has been struck by Yue Qianfeng's Crimson Dragon Qi."

"That Crimson Dragon Qi is fiercely yang; your Kunlun Heart Scripture can suppress it."

"I leave him to you."

Chen Chengbi turned and leapt into the pond.

Ice instantly sealed a thick layer over the old man's head.

Li Guanyi watched the old man bubble up from beneath the water's surface, then pounded at the ice with his hands—but the ice was thick and solid, stubbornly unbroken; Li Guanyi thought for a moment and guessed the elder was doing this on purpose, to let the Princess cool her temper.

Li Guanyi looked at the woman before him; even though he had not fully grown, he was no short man—yet the Princess seemed taller than him, her brows cold and clear, gazing at him and saying softly: "Your surname is Li?"

Li Guanyi bowed his hands: "Yes."

"Your humble servant Li Guanyi, pays respects to the Princess."

The Princess extended her hand.

Her fingers brushed aside the hair at Li Guanyi's temple, studying the tear-shaped mole, then withdrew her hand and said coolly: "Your cultivation is not poor."

"Second Floor already?"

Li Guanyi did not know what she meant—whether she referred to the Martial Path Realm or the method his aunt had taught him—but Murong Qiushui had said that if all else failed, he could seek the Princess; out of caution, he still did not reveal his identity, only replied:

"Your humble servant has just broken through to the Second Floor."

Chen Qingyan made no comment; she held a scroll in her hand, keeping it behind her back, and said coolly:

"Come closer."

Li Guanyi obediently stepped forward.

Chen Qingyan asked about the origin of his injuries; Li Guanyi recounted everything truthfully. The Princess said coolly: "Extend your hand." The youth extended his arm; Chen Qingyan lightly placed two fingers on his wrist, and a frigid, ice-like qi surged into Li Guanyi's body, sweeping through instantly.

Her eyes swept over him, then she withdrew her hand and said coolly:

"Do you know why your uncle said the Crimson Dragon Qi would harm your lungs and organs, and hinder your realm?"

Li Guanyi shook his head honestly.

Chen Qingyan casually tossed him two scrolls: "Read them."

Li Guanyi grimaced—he had no power to resist; he accepted the scrolls and, adhering to the manners of a royal relative, said: "Thank you, Princess, for granting these books. Your humble servant will take them home to study."

Chen Qingyan said coolly: "Read them here."

Li Guanyi's forehead prickled; he had no choice but to sit down obediently.

He quietly flipped through the books; both scrolls contained summaries of the Martial Path Realms, written by renowned masters—clear, lucid, profound yet accessible. Li Guanyi usually loved reading, but now he felt restless; the Princess sat nearby.

Chen Qingyan said nothing, only watched him quietly.

Li Guanyi suppressed all emotions and read quietly, gradually becoming absorbed.

The books were not thick; he finished them in an hour. Chen Qingyan said coolly: "Understood?"

Li Guanyi replied: "Yes."

Chen Qingyan nodded slightly: "Explain."

Li Guanyi had no choice but to organize his thoughts and answer Chen Qingyan's question.

The cultivation of the Second Floor differs from the First: the First refines the body and allows internal qi to exit, while the hallmark of the Second Floor is sword qi and blade radiance, and internal cultivation has now penetrated the 【Qi Points】.

Unaware of the heart, blind to sight, deaf to sound, tasting food without knowing its flavor.

All humans have nine orifices; seven are pure, the front and rear orifices are impure.

The Second Floor cultivates the orifices and the five viscera.

The Third Floor begins to exhibit inhuman traits.

Not to mention those of even higher realms.

Like Xue Daoyong, the old man could shoot an arrow through a target ten li away; if one's eyesight was lacking, one simply could not see the target at all. And a martial artist of the Third Layer Realm moved at speeds the naked eye of an ordinary person could hardly catch; if one's perception was insufficient, then a martial artist possessing such speed would also find it hard to bring his strength to bear.

These are precisely the problems that the cultivation of the Second Layer Tower must resolve.

Tempering the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth allows one's Qi and spirit to link together.

Therefore martial artists will develop all manner of abilities that surpass ordinary folk.

Eyesight becomes extremely keen, the nose can distinguish many scents and screen out poisonous vapors, the ears can even hear movement and conversation several li away, and one can swallow all manner of strange beasts and medicinal ingredients and transform them into Primordial Qi.

Some of the elixirs consumed by martial artists of the Third Layer Tower are deadly poison to ordinary people.

What an ordinary person would struggle to break down, such medicinal potency, is just right for a martial artist.

This is also why only those at the Third Layer Tower realm can become a general and lead a thousand troops.

Their eyes can see to extreme distances, their noses can smell poisonous vapors and the fishy scent of water sources, their perception is not affected by extreme weather, and their internal organs are so strong that even eating tree bark can sustain combat effectiveness and keep morale up.

And at this stage of cultivation, the core lies in the nine orifices and the internal organs.

These two areas are both extremely fragile, requiring slow tempering by internal Qi, linking them with the spirit.

In the eyes of the imperial clan's experts, Li Guanyi was equivalent to someone who needed to perform high-precision operations while his body contained a powerful internal Qi that could erupt at any moment. If that force surged while he was tempering his eyes, Li Guanyi might well have gone blind on the spot; if it happened while tempering his internal organs, his organs would simply rupture and kill him.

That is why they say his future martial path had been ruined.

"Very well."

Chen Qingyan handed him another book and said coolly: "Read."

Li Guanyi grinned wryly and could only obediently continue reading.

This time it was a Western Regions method, some sort of Seven Chakra cultivation technique.

Different in style from the Central Plains, but the underlying foundation was the same—linking Qi and spirit. The Western Regions' Buddhist school cultivated this method, and it differed from the Central Plains' martial artists. Martial artists cultivated the seven orifices and internal organs in order to have kidneys that could break down stronger medicinal potency, in order to have a stomach that could digest large quantities of food.

It was for the endurance to fight for long periods, for the eyesight and perception to split an incoming arrow with a single sword strike—everything was for forging oneself into a weapon of slaughter upon the battlefield. The Buddhist school, cultivating this stage, would gain various supernatural powers.

Such as the Heavenly Eye power and the Heavenly Ear power.

Martial artists had no such fancy-sounding names; they simply said seeing far and hearing widely.

Spotting the enemy sooner meant getting the blade into them sooner.

Hearing an opponent's movements sooner meant not being caught by surprise.

Chen Qingyan nodded slightly. Seeing that she still seemed about to fetch a third book, Li Guanyi could only interrupt: "Your Highness, the hour is already late. I am an outside official and not on duty today, so I must leave the palace before sunset."

Chen Qingyan paused, then said coolly: "There is no need for such address."

"Come with me."

Li Guanyi rose and followed Chen Qingyan. She led him before the library and, pointing at it, said: "You may enter and look through the scrolls. Find the parts on dissolving the mixed energies within your body and read those."

Li Guanyi said: "Elder Chen has this junior follow this senior in cultivation."

Chen Qingyan stood with her hands behind her back and said coolly: "I cannot teach you."

"Go look through them on your own."

Just at this moment, Chen Qingyan's voice reached Li Guanyi's ear:

"Pay attention to the bookshelf."

Pay attention to the bookshelf?

Li Guanyi's heart stirred slightly, but Chen Qingyan had already paced away, not once looking back.

On Li Guanyi's shoulder, the Divine Tortoise Dharma Idol had already appeared. This usually lazy creature, who would never show itself unless there was something to gain, now stared wide with a pair of mung-bean eyes, fixing them intently on the library ahead, its little claws scratching at Li Guanyi as if it could not wait to swim over at once.

Without a doubt, this was the library of one of the two great nations under heaven.

There had to be good things inside!

Chen Qingyan paced back to her own room, sat down quietly, and began turning through a scroll. Gazing down for a long while, she finally looked toward the distant sky. After a long time, she closed her eyes, and in a daze the sounds of shouting and killing rose around her once more.

Flames blazed up, and the palace seemed about to crumble beneath the licking of the fire.

Everywhere were the sounds of shouting and killing, the clash of weapons. The dreamlike visions of the past had become a bubble. Chen Qingyan lowered her gaze toward the direction where the youth was reading and said coolly:

"On that day I opened the palace gates for you; today I can no longer show you any sentiment for old times' sake."

"Little rascal."

If she were to show even the slightest hint of goodwill now, that Emperor would take notice.

Moreover…

Just as Li Guanyi was mulling over those words and planning to enter the library to look for something, a sudden series of cracking sounds came. He turned around and saw that the ice on the pond had all shattered, as Chen Chengbi had broken through the ice and leapt up with a sudden bound.

The old man was clearly unharmed; he only said: "Ten years ago you were already like this."

"Dear niece, are you truly unwilling to lend a hand and walk out of this library?!"

Chen Chengbi was clearly beside himself with fury; he was heartbroken over his clan's once-unparalleled genius.

Born into wealth and nobility, talent unmatched in the world, beauty without peer.

Everything about her seemed so natural, and the greatest mistake of her life was that she should never have traveled the realm.

Should never have met that carefree youth who was then still a wandering knight-errant.

Chen Chengbi remembered it clearly.

On that day ten years ago, the great fire in the palace, she personally opened the palace gates.

Sword in hand, she led that little Miss of the Murong family, led that child through thirteen city gates, then saw them onto horses. She herself stayed behind, turned around, gripped a sword, her body wounded, an arrow falling and piercing through her arm.

The Empire's Eldest Princess that day turned the weapon in her hand against the Night Galloping Cavalry.

The sword Qi and frost from her blade swept away a great rain of arrows; the volley of two thousand cavalry archers failed to break through her defense. In the end the Eldest Princess could no longer grip her sword, her whole body drenched in fresh blood, broken arrows around her thick as a forest. She stood there quietly, her bearing still like a clear flame.

She did not kill any of the Night Galloping Cavalry who were merely following orders.

Yet neither did she let the Night Galloping Cavalry pass her.

After that, the Eldest Princess Chen Qingyan seemed to vanish from the Chen imperial clan altogether.

She brought back to the palace the wooden hut where, after she had been wounded all those years ago, that wandering youth had taken her in to live in seclusion. She only read quietly, never again concerning herself with the affairs of the Chen Kingdom. Chen Chengbi only hoped to help her walk out of it; now his heart ached to the extreme, yet looking at this youth, he felt regret as well.

The old man pointed at the wooden hut over there and said: "Remember, don't fall in love. No matter how great a genius, once their heart and mind are lost, they will end up looking like this."

"Only a pure yang body like mine is the great Dao of cultivation."

Li Guanyi was left dumbfounded, Chen Chengbi scratched his ears and cheeks, thinking that if a genius like Li Guanyi were ruined, it would truly be a pity. In these chaotic times of the world, he was also a relative of the imperial family, the elder brother of an Imperial Prince, and possessed a heart of loyalty to sovereign and devotion to country.

The old man paced back and forth, then suddenly gritted his teeth, pulled Li Guanyi to a hidden spot, and said:

"Stand here. Don't leave, and don't talk to me."

Li Guanyi was puzzled.

Chen Chengbi said: "Did you understand?!"

Li Guanyi nodded.

Chen Chengbi breathed a sigh of relief and pushed him aside.

After pacing a few steps, he began muttering to himself:

"Today this old man suddenly felt light at heart, and recalled my younger days. Back then I had only cultivated to the Second Floor. My father passed down the teachings, saying that our Chen Kingdom possessed a peerless divine art, the 'Six Void and Four Harmony Divine Art,' which can merge the qi mechanisms of the world to perform subtle feats."

"All manner of qi mechanisms, whether enemy or mine, can be used by me, transformed by me."

"Any kind of exotic true qi that enters my chest and belly becomes my nourishment."

"And they cannot harm me in the slightest."

"Today this old man suddenly thought of this matter and felt that it's been a long time since I cultivated this divine art. I don't know if I've forgotten it or not. Ah, what a pity, what a pity. Today I might as well practice it once!"

"There's no one around!"

"This old man hasn't seen a single person!"

"I'm just talking to myself, mumbling to myself. Father, I can't be said to have violated your teachings."

Chen Chengbi muttered to himself for quite a while, then brought his hands together, stepped through the six directions, and said:

"All the myriad things and affairs of the world have their dependencies; they cannot be at ease and carefree."

"If one rides upon the righteousness of Heaven and Earth, and controls the discernment of the six qi, to wander in the boundless — what would such a one have to wait upon? Hence it is said: The utmost person has no self; the spirit person has no merit; the sage has no name."

His left hand rose, his right hand pressed down, the old man's white hair flew up, dashing and Mu Zi Yi.

The qi mechanisms around his body circulated and transformed, visible to the naked eye, reflected into Li Guanyi's eyes.

"Six Void, Four Harmony!"

Li Guanyi committed the circulation of this art to his heart.

The always-lazy Xuan Gui Dharma Aspect appeared on Li Guanyi's shoulder.

It stared fixedly at the mysterious changes of qi on the old man before it. This dharma aspect, which had never matched a divine art from beginning to end, finally emitted a mysterious aura, surging waves, like a raging sea!

The Xuan Gui Dharma Aspect's eyes blazed with flowing light, then suddenly scattered violently.

The Bronze Cauldron trembled violently.

A sudden change occurred!

?? Recommend a book to friends, Dao yu Tian Qi