Chapter 85: Tiger's Roar Bone-Forging Art!

Yaoguang looked at the youth sitting on the rock face over there.

Li Guanyi leapt down from above. Before forging his body, he would never have jumped down from such a height; even a martial artist with internal force would jar and injure his sinews, bones, and muscles landing like this. But after forging his body, his inner qi circulated freely, and his physique had already surpassed that of an ordinary person—dropping from this height was nothing at all.

Li Guanyi saw the steamed buns Yaoguang was roasting.

He reached out, grabbed one, took it away, then sat cross-legged in front of the bonfire, holding a pouch in his hand. Inside were all kinds of pastries—the very sorts he had seen Yaoguang eat most often before. Yaoguang blinked, and in a quiet voice said, "I…"

Li Guanyi said, "The Star-Gazing School, plain and simple in food and clothing, right?"

"Then just take it as me forcing you to eat it."

Yaoguang cradled the pastries, quietly kneeling before the bonfire, taking small bites. After finishing one, she looked at Li Guanyi in silence, and said calmly, "You've come to find me—is there something you need help with?"

Li Guanyi said, "No."

"Although I've broken through and planned to come find General Xue to try my hand, I was intending to come in a few more days."

"I just don't know how it happened—suddenly I felt like coming here today."

"Maybe the scenery was especially nice today, and I suddenly thought of you, so I came to find you."

Yaoguang looked at him.

Then she thought for a moment.

She felt that perhaps her curse arts had taken effect.

It's just that the Star-Gazing lineage, one of the Shiwaisan Sect, can only glimpse a corner of the Mandate of Heaven, and just how such a Mandate is to be achieved, even they find hard to determine. Yaoguang carefully wrapped up the pastries, placed them inside a black jar, to keep the bugs from getting at them.

She rose, patted the dust from her knees, and said in a quiet voice, "You wish to go to the Mystical Realm."

"Then please, follow me."

Li Guanyi stepped forward and said, "You don't have to address me as 'you' in that formal way every single time."

"It's too distant."

Yaoguang shook her head, her voice quiet:

"The Eastern Lands' Star-Gazing School has certain recorded precepts. Listed beneath the three great inviolable taboos—'Do not disturb the mortal world,' 'Do not bring calamity upon the masses,' 'Do not use the star-curses for personal gain'—is the form of address for the Bai Hu Da Zong."

"This rule was left behind eight hundred years ago, by the Bai Hu Da Zong of that generation."

"And five hundred years ago, it was verified once more."

"Although I do not understand the reasoning behind it, since those wise people of previous generations left it behind, perhaps there is a reason."

Li Guanyi, puzzled: "Why?"

The silver-haired girl said, "I don't know."

"My teacher said that the Star-Gazing lineage must keep the heart as still as water in a mountain stream—only then can it reflect the starlight of the heavens. Eight hundred years ago, during the most important star-gazing of that generation's Yaoguang, ripples arose in her heart and scattered the starlight."

"Star-gazing sorcerers cannot glimpse their own fate. If the heart is disturbed, they will see wrongly."

"And the price of a Yaoguang seeing wrongly has always been heavy."

Li Guanyi laughed out loud, shook his head in disbelief, and said, "It's just a name and a form of address—how could it have such great power?"

Yaoguang turned to look at him, and thought for a moment.

The silver-haired girl stepped half a pace forward, then took Li Guanyi's hand in hers. Her voice softened, her gaze like a spring breeze, and she said softly:

"Big Brother Guanyi?"

Li Guanyi's body froze for a moment.

Then Yaoguang stepped back half a pace and withdrew her hand.

Her gaze remained as still as the stars; on that exquisitely inhumanly beautiful face there was no expression. She nodded, noted it down, and said in a voice as calm as still water, "Indeed, just as the records left by the Yaoguang of five hundred years ago stated."

"Such a form of address works upon the Bai Hu Da Zong."

"Your heart was disturbed for a moment. Language holds magic. In ancient times, people believed that the soul departed from the body could be called back by name, and all curses must be chanted. The way people address one another is the very first connection between them."

"I shall follow the ancient covenant, to prevent the tragedies of the past from recurring."

Yaoguang used starlight to open the path forward.

Li Guanyi exhaled a breath, felt sweat seeping from his forehead, and muttered:

"Really, she's always so quiet—when she addresses me like that, it gives me a start."

Li Guanyi stepped into the water. Yaoguang used starlight to open the path, and they came once more into the Mystical Realm. As before, Yaoguang went off to seek out the star-gazing techniques of the Star-Gazing School predecessors from five hundred years ago, while Li Guanyi raised his battle-halberd and faced General Xue.

General Xue goaded him.

Li Guanyi's response was a single gesture.

He raised his middle finger.

General Xue's lips curved upward. He raised his battle-halberd and smashed it down viciously at Li Guanyi. Li Guanyi met it with ordinary moves, but General Xue's experience was far too rich compared to his own. The battle-halberd was itself a weapon created by this very general, so Li Guanyi could not break through the techniques at all.

In the end, Li Guanyi panted heavily and said, "Tell me—what's the point of me beating you?! That place, the eight-hundred-year-old hegemon's hidden armory—I don't even care about it!"

General Xue raised an eyebrow and said, "Sparring with me—isn't that benefit enough?"

Li Guanyi had no way to argue back.

To be able to cross blades with the number-one divine general under heaven.

This was a temptation no martial man could refuse.

Li Guanyi said, "Isn't there anything… a bit more concrete?"

General Xue laughed heartily and said, "There is. If you can best me by even one move, then you may tear this Mystical Realm apart."

Li Guanyi said, "Tear it apart?"

General Xue smiled slightly and said, "Yes, tear it apart, and take it with you."

"In the era you live in, the world should be on the verge of strife breaking out on all sides, or perhaps already in the midst of troubled times, though the final upheaval has not yet fully erupted. This Mystical Realm was established by Yaoguang, so as long as we permit it, and you have found this generation's Yaoguang of the Eastern Lands' Star-Gazing School—"

"—she can dismantle this Mystical Realm and imprint it with a Jade Pivot seal."

"Anywhere, as long as the Jade Pivot is reassembled, the Mystical Realm will manifest once more."

"Personal guidance from the number-one divine general under heaven—does that not count as a benefit?"

Li Guanyi said: "Then this Mystical Realm is the third key to what you call the 【Overlord's Hidden Treasury】, isn't it? Even if someone else with the destiny of Bai Hu Da Zong took your weapon, as long as they haven't met Yaoguang, they can't hope to obtain the treasures of the Hidden Treasury."

Xue Shen Jiang said with a slight smile: "If I said no, would you believe me?"

He stretched his body and said lightly: "Come."

"If you can land even one strike on me, I'll let you take this Mystical Realm away."

Li Guanyi said: "Even though I'm not a member of the Xue family?"

Xue Shen Jiang said: "What Yaoguang acknowledges cannot be an evil person. Even if you are not of the Xue family, if I hand you the opportunity and power to pacify this chaotic age, would you wrong my Xue family?"

"In times of chaos, for descendants without virtue to possess such power is no good thing for the family or the world."

Li Guanyi said: "You really do love to gamble."

Xue Shen Jiang smiled and said: "A heavy wager that spans the years, betting on peace under heaven — that is no longer a gamble." He raised the war halberd in his hand, paused, and then suddenly chopped down. Li Guanyi exhaled a breath of turbid air, burst up once more, and the war halberd in his palm clashed again and again with Xue Shen Jiang's weapon.

Xue Shen Jiang's brows flew upward, suppressing Li Guanyi with a single-handed grip on the halberd, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, and said:

"This is what is called inheritance!"

Weapons clashed, qi erupted, and the roar of the Bai Hu nearly shook heaven and earth.

Li Guanyi's grip on the war halberd suddenly loosened.

Then his wrist turned slightly.

Xue Shen Jiang's pupils locked slightly. The war halberd rotated gently, the crescent blade facing upward, condensed inner qi erupted, then, like the eye of a storm, tore outward; the inner qi burst forth into a raging torrent, violently exploding in an upward spiraling posture!

【Rolling Wave】!

The spiraling force that erupted in an instant was Li Guanyi's limit to this day!

The weapon in Xue Shen Jiang's palm was swept aside.

Li Guanyi took a deep breath.

The divine power of the 【Jade Arm Divine Bow Art】 was urged once more, forcibly erupting at this moment with a force no less than the strike just now. Gripping the war halberd, the halberd's thrust was like a long spear, pushed forward heavily, qi linked together, heavy and steady as Rushan.

Then this mountain collapsed.

Rocks tumbled down from the high place.

【Mountain Crusher】.

Boom!!!!

In a single clash, 【Rolling Wave】 broke the defense and disarmed; 【Mountain Crusher】 assaulted the fortress and broke the enemy.

Two ultimate techniques were linked together at once.

This was Li Guanyi's strongest stance and technique at this moment.

But in that instant, Xue Shen Jiang's weapon tapped lightly downward, and the Mountain Crusher Li Guanyi unleashed suddenly grew fiercer — boosted by an added force from Xue Shen Jiang — yet lost its original aim, grazing past Xue Shen Jiang and stabbing toward another direction.

Xue Shen Jiang took the momentum to leap up, as graceful and free as a crane soaring into flight.

The tail end of the war halberd in his hand tapped lightly on the youth's back.

Then he drifted down lightly behind Li Guanyi.

Li Guanyi's domineering strike swept out horizontally, smashing straight into an illusory stone pillar thick enough to embrace, shattering it clean through the middle. The pillar thundered down, crashed onto the ground, and turned into starlight. Li Guanyi gasped for breath, rose gripping the war halberd, clamping the tail end between his arm and body to steady the weapon, intending to turn and sweep horizontally.

Xue Shen Jiang had already pressed two fingers against the back of his head.

Li Guanyi's motion froze at once.

Xue Shen Jiang smiled and said: "Before the real fight, you deliberately lost once, feigning defeat; the second time you used your ultimate technique, showing the enemy weakness, then struck with full force in an instant — a cunning and ferocious style of combat. When did you become so sly?"

"I wonder who taught you that."

Li Guanyi let go of his weapon in dejection and said: "Besides you, who else?"

Xue Shen Jiang laughed heartily.

He had Li Guanyi sit cross-legged there, then picked up a brush and wrote a character 'zheng' on Li Guanyi's glabella, saying proudly: "Today another stroke is added."

Li Guanyi was not annoyed.

This second battle today was also merely feigned.

When the 【Tiger's Roar Bone-Forging Art】 is mastered and the power of the Dharma Aspect can be employed, that will be the true deciding of victory and defeat. Li Guanyi realized that Rolling Wave and Mountain Crusher, these two techniques, relied only on the physical body and weapon, and could not fully unleash their might.

If the power of the Bai Hu Monitor-Warrior breaking the enemy were mixed into Rolling Wave.

If the power of the Crimson Dragon Burning Mountain were mixed into Mountain Crusher.

How much further would the might of these two linked techniques rise?

At that time, seizing the chance of Xue Shen Jiang's carelessness, there would be a possibility of truly defeating him by one strike.

Show inability when capable, show weakness when strong.

Li Guanyi suddenly felt that he could slowly come to understand this knowledge he had once only bragged about, and naturally apply it to his own battles and clashes. Having lost again today, Li Guanyi gained a clear sense of his own strength, and left the Mystical Realm with Yaoguang.

He looked at this Mystical Realm, and finally at Xue Shen Jiang's proud smile, and could not help feeling annoyed.

He picked up a stone and hurled it into the mountain stream, splashing water, and said: "One day, I will surely defeat you!"

Yaoguang was silent.

Li Guanyi, a little embarrassed, said:

"If I win, will you dismantle this Mystical Realm?"

Yaoguang nodded.

Li Guanyi hesitated, his gaze dropping slightly, then gathered his courage and said solemnly: "This Mystical Realm was said to be given to me; if you dismantle the Mystical Realm..."

The silver-haired girl tilted her head, then understood the meaning hidden in Li Guanyi's words, and said in a calm voice: "I will keep the covenant. No matter where you go — to the ends of the earth, or into the chaos of the age — I will accompany you."

"To recreate the Mystical Realm for you."

Li Guanyi said: "The old covenant didn't have this in it."

Yaoguang replied: "This counts as a new covenant."

"Not an ancient covenant, but a new one made between you and me."

For some reason, Li Guanyi's mood suddenly lifted. He stretched out his hand, his brows arching, and said:

"Then I'll prepare all kinds of delicacies for you too — lamb dipped in chive sauce from the Northern Domain, assorted dried fruits and pastries from the Western Regions, fish from even farther away, the wheat dishes of the Central Plains. The world is vast; I can promise you, you won't grow tired of the food!"

"Are you planning to travel to such distant places?"

Yaoguang looked at the finger Li Guanyi had extended.

This was something the children of the Central Plains liked to do — linking pinkies to promise the future.

Still children, unaware of the heartlessness of the world, they would think that because their fingers were joined, the promise would never be broken for the rest of their lives. Li Guanyi had played this game with those children before; caught up in the moment, he hadn't thought about it, and now, having made this gesture toward one who truly understood fate, he felt a bit embarrassed and wanted to pull his hand back.

"So you have such a childish side too."

Yaoguang considered for a moment, but still reached out her finger and hooked it with the young man's.

Finger met finger.

"But since it is your invitation, I will not refuse."

…………

In the days that followed, one of the sons of those military-merit families — a general's son — took his own life; the others were all placed under strict control. Because of the matter with General Yue Qianfeng, the court suddenly began a severe investigation into the past deeds of these noble scions.

Those matters would normally have been beneath notice, but before the great sacrifice of Chen, everything had grown much heavier; and because they were tied to General Yue Qianfeng, they were investigated ruthlessly.

It was heard that the court was furious.

Those noble scions were either sent to the army or beaten half to death, their Wu Gong abolished; even their fathers suffered for it, flayed alive, in a most pitiful state. The two surviving military-merit sons who returned home were hung up by their fathers and beaten within an inch of their lives.

Before Li Guanyi had even gone to Jingcheng, he had already gained a new title — Li the Death Star — the first reaction of every noble scion.

This man was like a fierce tiger; extremely not to be trifled with.

There were also some eager to try, planning to tug the tiger's whiskers.

Li Guanyi himself was baffled, having somehow gained several more merits.

The merits these noble military-merit sons provided him were enough to fill a whole year of duty reports.

At the same time, the atmosphere within Jingcheng grew more solemn with each passing day.

Even the atmosphere around Yicheng had shifted somewhat.

Among the guests at the relay station, many faces from foreign lands now appeared; the merchant guilds grew ever more prosperous, and in the taverns, Western Region beauties who had come to Chen with the opportunity — the footfalls of the Hu Xuanwu — blended perfectly with the Central Plains' zither music. Scholars and young knight-errants grew drunk at the gaze of those Western Region beauties.

In contrast, defensive matters grew ever more stringent.

Jianghu martial artists grew more numerous with each passing day.

The vortex of Chen's great sacrifice had finally begun to radiate its influence outward to the nearest border city.

Each day, Li Guanyi merely practiced his breathing and cultivation.

He tried to adjust and control the two Dharma Aspects — Bai Hu and the Crimson Dragon — so that they would remain in a state of balance, preventing their auras from clashing against each other in rivalry. This inadvertently honed his own aura greatly, as though he were constantly in a standoff against a powerful foe.

His aura grew ever more condensed and refined.

And when less than a month remained before Chen's great sacrifice, a rider on a fast horse arrived in Jingcheng at the Xue family residence.

When the palace sent word to the Xue family for the third time, Li Guanyi finally saw, in the old tavern he often frequented, that old man whose capacity for drink was poor, who was often drunk yet loved to drink.

Li Guanyi walked over, sat down beside the old man, and ordered a pot of wine and a few side dishes.

"Elder, how did things go?"

Master Siming squinted sidelong at him and said:

"What did you just call me?"

Li Guanyi thought for a moment and said: "Old man?"

The old man burst into laughter, pointed at Li Guanyi, and nodded.

He tipped his head back and took a swig of wine, then said in high spirits:

"I have not disgraced the mission!"

The tension Li Guanyi had been holding because of the approaching great sacrifice finally eased somewhat.

Master Siming had returned.

The Tiger Roar Bone-Forging Art — the foundation of golden muscle and jade bone, dragon sinew and tiger marrow — was about to begin.