Chapter 136

The five halls of the Divine Weapon Valley mostly take secret martial arts as their names; the Hammer Hall and the Staff Hall belong to this category.

The Spear Hall was renamed the "Li Chen Hall".

The mountain peak where the Li Chen Hall is located is slightly larger than that of the Hammer Hall; its summit is flat, entirely paved with bluestone, forming a massive training ground.

Every morning, the disciples of the Li Chen Hall practice martial arts and strengthen their Qi here; as long as Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong is within the sect, he never misses a day.

Hoo!

When the morning light broke the dawn, the crowd of disciples on the training ground finally dispersed.

In the lingering mist, Qiu Qiu Changying stood in black robes, holding a spear upright; the three-zhang-long refined iron spear remained motionless in her hands.

She stood just like that, eyes closed, holding the spear, from before dawn until the sun rose.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, the sound of a bowstring snapping open exploded; three arrows pierced the long sky like meteors, shooting straight toward her.

Swish!

Qiu Qiu Changying's eyelids snapped open; the long spear trembled lightly like a bow, knocking the three arrows down.

"Good."

Outside the training ground, Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong strode over, seemingly in an excellent mood:

"Qiu Changying, your progress these past few days is considerable; your spear technique is likely not far from perfection!"

"For this, quickly it takes half a year; slowly, perhaps three to five years."

With a casual flick, she inserted the great spear into the weapon rack, took a deep breath, and asked:

"Your old self seems to be in a good mood?"

"Mm, very good."

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong stroked his long beard, making no secret of it:

"The Xieshen Sect's hidden base in Zhelong Prefecture has been uprooted; Su Su Wanxiong is being hunted by Kui Yue and his whereabouts are unknown."

"Su Su Wanxiong."

Qiu Qiu Changying's eyes grew slightly cold; previously by the Dahe River, she had nearly fallen into the hands of that old fellow.

Even with a fully developed Meridian Opening, he was far beyond her ability to contend with, even while suffering heavy injuries.

"That Su Su Wanxiong cultivates the 'Blood-Worshipping Vajra Method'; his Qi and blood are immense and extremely difficult to crush. If you wish to kill him, you will have a chance in the future."

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong naturally knew her thoughts and smiled slightly:

"But before that, you must achieve full development of the Meridian Opening, and the Li Chen Spear Technique must reach Great Perfection."

"Great Perfection..."

Qiu Qiu Changying did not wish to speak.

Although her bone structure was good, her comprehension was far inferior to Shi Hong's; achieving Great Perfection in the Li Chen Spear Technique, without a sudden enlightenment, would likely require fifteen years or more of grinding effort.

"Pity, I do not know who killed Ding Zhi."

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong expressed slight regret, then looked around, frowning: "Where is that boy?"

"Him?"

Qiu Qiu Changying snorted lightly: "He asked me for instruction, and I sent him back."

"Oh?"

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong's eyes flickered slightly: "How is his Wu Gong?"

"His bone structure is good, and his talent is also good."

Qiu Qiu Changying's expressionless face stated: "His internal strengthening is not far off, and the Soldier Dao Combat Hammer has already reached Minor Perfection."

"It has only been this short a time, and he has already reached Minor Perfection?"

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong was startled in his heart, then immediately snorted coldly:

"It must be that Han Han Chuijun disregarded the rules; he taught him Wu Gong back when they were in Gao Liu County. Such a talented disciple, wasted on him..."

Ignoring her great-great-grandfather's muttering, Qiu Qiu Changying spoke in a low voice:

"His talent is second only to Shi Hong, and his bone structure is far superior; in the future, he will inevitably be another Han Han Chuijun."

"Han Han Chuijun... that boy is cautious in character, understands the rules, and observes propriety; he is far superior to that old thing."

Over the past half month, he had met Li Yuan many times.

Discovering that this boy was not as arrogant as his master, and also knew well how to respect elders, his dislike in his heart had diminished considerably.

"Understands the rules?"

Qiu Qiu Changying snorted lightly:

"He likely has his eyes on our family's 'Soul-Chasing Arrow'; a few days ago he secretly watched me practice archery, and later, I do not know from whom, bought some bows and arrows, burying himself in hard practice."

"Soul-Chasing Arrow?"

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong's expression darkened, then he sneered coldly:

"Without guidance, no matter how much he practices, it is a waste of effort!"

Qiu Qiu Changying nodded; she had not learned to walk before learning to draw a bow, and it took twenty years before she achieved any success.

Even if that boy's talent is even better, could he possibly figure out the Soul-Chasing Arrow from thin air?

"However, our family's Soul-Chasing Arrow..."

Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong implied something; the Soul-Chasing Arrow has always been passed to sons and not daughters; he made an exception to pass it to Qiu Qiu Changying because there was no successor.

Qiu Qiu Changying's face turned black; she spoke seriously:

"When the Valley Master returns, I should go to pay my respects."

"The Valley Master has returned—I should go pay my respects."

……

……

Boom!

The bowstring snapped taut, the arrow pierced the air, and struck a cypress trunk.

The force of this shot was tremendous; the iron plate hanging on the great tree was pierced clean through in one go, the arrow feathers trembling and emitting a buzzing hum, enough to show how great the force was.

But the aim was slightly off, missing the bullseye drawn in red ink on the trunk by a finger's width.

Over two hundred meters away, Li Yuan lowered his longbow and savored the motion for a moment: "Mm, the aim was a bit off, but it's not a big problem."

Comparing it with Qiu Qiu Changying's form, he adjusted his own movements; the force grew greater and greater, and the aim grew more and more accurate.

In no time at all, one arrow had struck dead center!

"Not bad."

Setting down the bow and arrow, Li Yuan was inwardly satisfied.

This was not his first time learning martial arts; he was an internal-strength martial artist who had mastered many Wu Gong, and his understanding of his own strength and Wu Gong was far beyond what a beginner could compare to.

Although the 'Startled Bird Arrow' he was learning was harder than the Cloak Hammer, he estimated he could enter the door in at most three days.

Reaching the level of "within three hundred meters, no arrow flies empty."

"A bow that fits the hand really is different; the feel is much more comfortable too."

Li Yuan played with the longbow in his palm; this was something he had pieced together from some discarded old bows bought from the Qiu family, none of which were graded.

【Spirit Ox Hardwood Bow (Second Grade)】

【Divine Fire as the guide… the hardwood longbow thus fused, having gathered the bowmanship of many, is faintly spiritual…】

【Wielding Requirement: Any one arrow art at entry level】

【Wielding Effects: Soul-Seeking Arrow (Minor Mastery) (Green), Hundred-Pace Pierce (Blue), Every Shot Finds Its Mark (Blue)】

This was a small-grade treasure.

Having handled no telling how many hundreds or thousands of different weapons, Li Yuan had his own judgment regarding the merits and flaws of various weapons.

Weapons of the same grade also had differences; a small-grade treasure among second-grade weapons was sometimes no worse than third-grade.

This bow belonged to that category.

Very few weapons would manifest a 'green wielding effect'; of course, this was because he had carefully selected over a dozen old bows to fuse it.

"It's a pity the Qiu family disciples are too wary of me; I couldn't buy a graded bow, and besides, I don't have any third-grade incense offerings right now…"

Li Yuan felt some regret, but relatively speaking he was still satisfied.

During these days at the Dust-Cleansing Hall, although many people were watching him, exchanging over ten days for a small-grade treasure second-grade longbow was not a loss.

Only when he thought of Qiu Qiu Changying's longbow did this one feel less appealing.

That longbow was the truly good thing…

"That bow, I probably can't get my hands on it… let alone the bow; learning the complete Soul-Seeking Arrow won't be easy."

Li Yuan shook his head; unless he became the Qiu family's son-in-law, that old fellow would never pass the Soul-Seeking Arrow on to him.

Retrieving the arrows one by one, Li Yuan paid no heed to the Qiu family disciples following behind to 'protect' him.

Shouldering the bow, he headed toward the Library Pavilion.

True Inherit disciples had three chances to enter the pavilion each year; luring out Su Su Wanxiong had earned him one more.

In this half month, the only thing he had delayed was the alteration of his bone structure.

This time, he planned to learn a Wu Gong that combined two forms, completing the thirteen forms in one stroke.

The few disciples following him exchanged glances, all somewhat shocked; they had personally witnessed Li Yuan learn archery from nothing.

In less than a day, his archery was probably about to enter the door…

"The Xieshen Sect branch has been uprooted completely,

it should be coming to an end."

Li Yuan's heart eased slightly.

The Qiu family 'protected' him, yet did not restrict him from going to other places on the island, or from interacting with other disciples.

Naturally, the upheaval in Fucheng during this period, he knew it all.

Over the past half month, Lord Master Gongyang Yu's Lei Ting methods had left even him somewhat amazed; he had originally thought that, with this Valley Master's damaged viscera, he could no longer keep the situation under control.

Now it seemed…,

"Perhaps, he was also fishing?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself, feeling it was not impossible.

Given Han Han Chuijun's temperament, someone who could suppress him for most of his life could not possibly be what he appeared on the surface.

"Old Han is really fierce; going to Pinggou County and slaying two great elders of Qianjun Cave, that's really…"

Thinking of Han Han Chuijun, Li Yuan's teeth ached again.

The death of one True Inherit disciple had already shaken the sect and turned Fucheng upside down; Qianjun Cave had lost two great inner-sect elders!

No need to think; Qianjun Cave's experts must be hunting Old Han.

"Senior Brother Sha's spiritual light is still fine, but that temper of Heroine Fang…"

Li Yuan's thoughts wandered idly; he greeted the old man playing chess outside the Divine Weapon Valley, and also gave a word to the dozing Fatty inside the sect.

Under the envious gazes of several Qiu family disciples, he walked toward the inner floor of the Library Pavilion; they had no qualification to go to the inner floor.

Even after completing tasks and accumulating enough contributions, they could only choose from the catalog, not enter the inner floor.

"Whoosh!"

Just up the stairs, white light flickered before Li Yuan's eyes; it was unmistakably scroll after scroll of fundamental charts crafted from spirit-beast hide.

"So many?"

Li Yuan's heartbeat quickened.

The inner tower's layout was much the same as the outer tower — still a long corridor, with rooms on either side, labeled with things like "Qing Gong," "Hammer Techniques," "Sword Techniques," "Blade Techniques," and so on.

"White Ape Cloak, Little Green Snake Blade, Green Snake Spear, Tiger Roar Blade…"

Li Yuan sensed briefly; all the Wu Gong foundational charts he had learned were among them,

including the four Wu Gong that included the 'Mang Niu Gong' Han Han Chuijun had left him that day.

"Picking Mang Niu Gong would be too much of a loss."

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.

He didn't need to enter the rooms to choose, but to avoid drawing attention, he still went in and out of the rooms one by one.

The inner tower's manuals were less than one percent of the outer tower's, but everything placed here was without exception a fine work.

Foundational charts, mid-grade Wu Xue, Qing Gong and footwork, even horizontal-training Wu Gong — there were even introductory chapters of the inner sect's five great upper-grade Wu Gong that Li Yuan spotted.

"Four chances, I could use them all at once, but then I could only borrow four manuals or foundational charts…"

Li Yuan carefully distinguished and selected.

"The control conditions for that Hun Jin Da Xi Yi Hammer still need a mid-grade hammer technique; second, I need a foundational chart that combines at least two forms…

Lastly, I need to find something related to 'Qian Jun Qi Gong.'"

Li Yuan understood his own needs very well, and very soon, he had already found a mid-grade hammer technique.

"Nine Turns Tide Hammer, hmm, quite a few senior brothers in Bingtang have learned this hammer technique, perfect…"

Li Yuan chose this hammer technique, and also chose a foundational chart that combined two forms, and one that wasn't lacking in people within the sect practicing it.

【Turtle-Crane Dual Blades Foundational Chart (Second Tier)】

【A foundational chart written on 'Spirit Ox Hide' with the blood of a Spirit Crane and Spirit Turtle by a martial artist who achieved Great Perfection of the Turtle-Crane Dual Blades】

【Control Conditions: Turtle-Crane Dual Blades at Major Completion】

【Control Effects: Turtle-Crane Dual Blades Great Perfection (Blue), Turtle Back Crane Form (Blue)】