Chapter 197: A Different Path of Learning

The white paper was densely covered with characters.

Seven divine arts, six of the Ten Great Demonic Arts, over seventy supreme techniques, encompassing fist, palm, sword, and saber, as well as agility and lightness training.

A single glance left Li Yuan overwhelmed, secretly astonished by the depth of the Star-Picking Tower.

The Divine Weapon Valley had preserved only one supreme technique over a thousand years, accessible only to successive valley masters; compared to this, the gap was truly immense.

"Dragon-Tiger Heavenly Hammer."

Li Yuan carefully selected.

The Split-Sea Black Whale Hammer required a supreme-level hammer art, and among all the martial arts listed on this page, only this one was a hammer technique.

Hammer arts were never mainstream in the martial world; among the divine art fragments listed, not a single one related to hammer techniques existed.

"Hmm, Dragon-Tiger Heavenly Hammer? That's a supreme art of Dragon-Tiger Temple, passed down to at most one or two disciples per generation, immensely powerful—your taste is excellent."

Wang Wen yuan stroked his beard and smiled faintly:

"But once chosen, it cannot be changed."

"Not changed."

Li Yuan nodded.

Compared to other supreme techniques and divine art fragments, this hammer art was far more useful to him.

Even without the Split-Sea Black Whale Hammer, he would likely have chosen this hammer art anyway, since his current weapon mastery still centered primarily on hammer techniques.

"Good."

Wang Wen yuan lit the page with the oil lamp: "What you've seen today must not be disclosed."

"Your humble disciple understands."

Li Yuan nodded repeatedly: "That hammer art..."

"Hmm... supreme arts cannot be lightly transmitted. I'll do my best to urge them."

Wang Wen yuan thought for a moment: "It'll take at least three to five months, possibly three to five years, before there's a response."

"So long?"

Li Yuan's joy dimmed slightly: "Master, does this require approval from the elders or the tower lord?"

Li Yuan knew little about the internal structure of the Star-Picking Tower; beyond the One Hundred Eight Core members, he only knew of elders and the tower lord.

"The tower lord is in seclusion, and those elders ignore mundane affairs—even if they did care, my recommendation of a true seed for cultivation doesn't require their approval."

Wang Wen yuan stroked his beard, his expression slightly uneasy:

"Rest assured—the divine art fragments may still face complications, but a single supreme art should not go awry."

"Should not?"

Li Yuan's heart lurched—he sensed something was off: "Master, what do you mean by that?"

"Cough! Why are you asking so many questions?"

Wang Wen yuan glared and shooed him out: "I have my own arrangements—just wait!"

"Yes, Master."

Li Yuan felt something was strange, but didn't press further; he bowed and took his leave.

"Dragon-Tiger Heavenly Hammer... hmm, Dragon-Tiger Temple's supreme art—just as I expected, he still chose a hammer technique. Thank goodness, thank goodness—if he'd picked something else, it would've been more troublesome."

After Li Yuan left, Wang Wen yuan shut the door, pulled a blank sheet from the bookshelf, and sat beneath the oil lamp to write:

"Brother Xi Xiang, we've been apart over sixty years—I miss you dearly. How have you been lately? In the Coiled Dragon Mansion, I've found a prodigy with extraordinary talent in hammer arts..."

"Hmm, is that too direct?"

Midway through writing, Wang Wen yuan frowned, crumpled and shattered the letter, then rewrote it.

"Hmm, first reminisce, recall old memories, then mention a few words about our past journey together to Ducheng..."

Wang Wen yuan muttered to himself, and moments later, with a draft ready, he wrote swiftly, filling a full sheet in short order.

Finally, he casually added one line: "I know you thirst for talent—I recommend one person who may inherit your legacy..."

Whoosh~

Satisfied, he flicked the letter, nodding to himself.

Though he hadn't written a recommendation letter in years, his skill remained intact—over a thousand words, truly heartfelt.

"Is this enough?"

Wang Wen yuan murmured to himself.

He hurried to the back courtyard, descended a tunnel into a secret chamber, and soon emerged with a golden-feathered hawk.

Hawks were the fastest messengers; ordinary hawks could fly seven hundred li in an hour, sustaining flight for seven consecutive hours.

The golden hawk surpassed ordinary hawks in both speed and endurance; just this one bird was worth more than ten thousand gold pieces.

"Little treasure, hurry back quickly."

He fed it a pill, released it into the air, and only then did his heart ease slightly.

"I hope that old bastard doesn't refuse a good offer..."

Hoo~

In the night, the hawk flew eastward, swift as an arrow piercing through clouds.

Wang Wen yuan stood still for a moment, extended his hand, and a black-feathered hawk descended on the wind, landing in his palm.

"Li Li Yuanba..."

Unfolding the letter, Wang Wen yuan grew irritable: "All these old bastards are asking me—who the hell is Li Li Yuanba?"

He shattered the letter with a flick of his hand, frowned, and cast a divination in his room—but still found no clue.

"When truth becomes false, falsehood becomes truth? True or false—utterly baffling."

He tucked the coins away, yawned, and was truly exhausted.

He glanced at the four full moons hanging in the night sky, then let his eyelids droop.

"Forget it. If the sky falls, someone else will hold it up—what's it to me?"

……

"That's a Golden Feather Eagle?"

Li Yuan, who hadn't gone far, shaded his eyes and saw that streak of golden light receding in the distance; his heart stirred slightly.

A Golden Feather Eagle is immensely valuable—each one worth at least ten thousand gold pieces, and only a handful of major powers can breed them.

At the very least, Divine Weapon Valley doesn't have anything this good.

"The Star Plucking Tower's depth truly shouldn't be underestimated."

Li Yuan rubbed his chin, finally understanding why his elder brother had joined the Star Plucking Tower—simply because it was too generous.

An ultimate technique—even within the Dao Sect—isn't easily acquired; even true disciples must endure countless trials.

For a prefectural-level sect, it's even harder.

"An ultimate technique."

Li Yuan felt a flicker of anticipation, but then his thoughts turned to worry.

He'd originally planned to stay in Gao Liu County for a few days before heading to Dechang Prefecture to find Old Han, but the Xieshen Sect's leaked news threw his plans into chaos.

Old Han had returned to Zhe Long Prefecture, and Li Yuan didn't know what to do.

"I'll wait for Brother Fang's message first."

Suppressing the flutter in his chest, Li Yuan returned to the Li family courtyard under cover of night, ate dinner, and resumed his hammer training and bone-altering exercises as usual.

"Huh!"

"Hss!"

After a long while, Li Yuan exhaled deeply, sweat pouring down his body; the Soldier Body Posture, practiced daily, revealed new insights each time.

"A superior secret transmission—at least before reaching the peak of Meridian Penetration—offers no obstruction. If paired with a method for 'converting internal Qi into true essence,' perhaps it's no different from an ultimate technique?"

Li Yuan pondered this, washed himself, changed clothes, then lay on his bed, eyes half-closed, sensing the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon form diagram.

He'd possessed this ultimate-level hardening foundational diagram for quite some time, and had already met its mastery conditions.

"Mastery!"

Li Yuan closed his eyes.

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In the next instant, he felt his skin tighten and burn, as if engulfed by a surge of heat.

"Roar!"

A dragon's roar suddenly exploded—he'd prepared himself, yet still saw darkness flash before his eyes.

But he was long accustomed to the backlash from mastering high-grade weapons; after a moment's pause, he closed his eyes and sensed inward.

Before him, a sea of clouds seemed to rise, and a majestic, ferocious spirit dragon, pierced through and through by countless weapons, roared in fury—vivid and lifelike.

"Truly a self-torture Wu Gong."

Merely sensing this spirit dragon made Li Yuan's entire body ache; the Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon, as the name implies, requires ten thousand blades to pierce the body.

The principle: endure ten thousand blade piercings, then transform the body into a dragon.

"I don't even know what ointments, oils, or internal/external pills this hardening style requires…"

Li Yuan massaged his temples; he'd possessed this hardening style for a long time, and had delayed entering it precisely because of this.

Hardening is Ku Gong—but practicing Ku Gong without proper method can kill you.

"Still, even without the method, it won't stop me from altering my dragon-shaped roots—Spirit Dragon Thirteen Forms."

Li Yuan kept his eyes shut; every day he sensed this form diagram, preparing himself for this ultimate-level hardening style.

"Gao Liu County alone has at least seven inferior foundational diagrams; adding the three I already have, ten forms won't be hard to gather. Besides, Mang Niu Gong, Hawk Step, Eagle Claw Grappling Hand, and Bai Lu Leaping Art are all close to perfect mastery."

Li Yuan thought and planned his cultivation with half his mind.

For now, he hadn't yet fallen into a state of having no techniques to practice—but as his form-alteration deepened, his rate of root-alteration grew faster.

Even ten foundational diagrams wouldn't suffice for a year's needs, especially if he split his focus on techniques like the Ancient Elephant Six-Form Hammer.

"Too good a talent can be troublesome…"

Li Yuan squinted, and before sleeping, he entered the Shan Xuan Bing Mi Jing once more.

His second climb up the mountain had only two thousand steps, and he'd already reached the final three hundred—but those three hundred were truly difficult.

"These last six are heavyweights…"

Slowly raising his head, he stared at the six figures formed of true Qi atop the final three hundred steps; his lips twitched.

Even with identical form-alteration, the gaps between forms were immense.

These were legendary masters from a thousand years ago—among them, even the founder of Yunshu Tower.

And…

Looking at the figure wearing a ghost mask, Li Yuan's eyelids twitched; the appearance, the aura—it was the same Thunder and Wind Ruyi Mallet.

"You're not Han Han Chuijun?"

……

……

Whoosh!

Tides surged, the Pingjiang Grand Canal cutting through two Liuzhou and twenty-one prefectures, entering the sea through Mount Hengshan's estuary.

Between the mountains, the tide churned.

Beyond the estuary, beyond the mountains, stood a colossal city.

This city bordered the sea and the mountains—one side a plain stretching thousands of li, the other a range of mountains extending ten thousand li.

Mount Hengshan Dao City, situated here for over three thousand years, expanded dozens of times, has become a giant city capable of holding nearly ten million people.

It lies sprawled between mountain and sea, waterways from all directions converging here, swallowing and spewing countless streams of people each day.

To the north, against the mountains, stands Dragon Tiger Temple.

Wooo~

In the night, Dragon Tiger Temple was utterly still; the sky had not yet brightened, yet disciples had already woken from their dreams.

Some alone, some in groups of three or five, they led fine horses from the stables, swung themselves up, and wove between the temple buildings, lighting lamps, lighting incense.

Dragon Tiger Temple — a temple, yet not a temple; within it stand hundreds of shrines, yet it does not enshrine the many deities formally canonized by the imperial court of Da Yun, but rather the patriarchs of every generation.

Because its lineage stretches back too far, the palace complex has been expanded again and again; every day, over a hundred disciples light lamps and incense,

and because the grounds are so vast, riding at full gallop is required.

"Hah!"

"Hup!"

On the Qi-Sensing Platform of Dragon Tiger Temple, disciples had already begun to move in the night — some sat cross-legged in meditation, some danced with blades and staffs, the sounds of exertion and breathing never ceasing.

Dragon Tiger Temple emphasized the merging of Buddhist and Daoist streams; within the sect, monks and Daoists were both plentiful, and though they shared the same ground, they seemed sharply divided.

Only a very few were not of this sort.

"Grand Uncle-Master, there's a message from a feathered hawk — it says it's an old friend of yours!"

At that moment, a disciple came striding quickly.

Whoosh!

The Qi-Sensing Platform in the night seemed to flare suddenly bright.

"A letter from an old friend?"

A young monk in a wide Daoist robe opened his eyes; his gaze was like a bolt of silk.

His skin was crystalline as jade, his complexion rosy, his teeth Bai Xi, not a single hair on his head, gleaming and polished.

The old man who had come hurrying twitched the skin of his face and quickly lowered his head:

"Yes, Grand Uncle-Master."

"This poor Daoist's old friends are few and rare these days."

Long Xi Xiang rubbed his gleaming, polished back of the head and slowly rose.

Within Dragon Tiger Temple, all incoming letters — no matter who wrote them, no matter who sent them — had to be uniformly inspected first, then distributed to the various halls and individuals.

"Grand Uncle-Master…"

"Uncle-Master Long."

"Uncle-Master…"

Long Xi Xiang was no longer young, and his seniority was very high; everywhere he passed, whether monks or Daoists, all bowed and saluted.

Soon, he had already seen that letter.

"To my brother Xi Xiang, personally opened — your younger brother Wang Wen Yuan pays respects."

"Wang Wen Yuan?"

Long Xi Xiang rubbed his chin: "Mm, it's him."

He opened the letter; seeing the familiar tone, he could not help recalling the old matter of years ago when he had gone to the imperial capital to as… tour.

That time, he had Suffered heavy wounds; had it not been for his senior brother Long Yingchan who came to the rescue, the grass on his grave mound would probably be several zhang tall by now.

Mm, that old fellow had also lent a hand, more or less.

"Heh."

Only upon reading the final line did Long Xi Xiang catch the drift: "Recommending a disciple to me…"

He frowned slightly, flipped back and read it through again — where in these flowing thousand-plus characters was the catching up on old times?

It was clearly a threat…

"Old bastard, how dare he threaten me?"

Long Xi Xiang's eyes flickered; he suddenly glanced at the old man attending beside him: "Who was your master again?"

"Reporting to Grand Uncle-Master, my master is Gong Gong Jiuchuan…"

The old man's face twitched: "This disciple is Zhou Sheng Fu."

"Oh, a disciple of little Gong."

Long Xi Xiang nodded: "Little Gong went to Zhe Long Mansion?"

"Reporting to Grand Uncle-Master, Master went to Zhe Long Mansion because the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer is suspected to have emerged into the world…"

Zhou Sheng Fu hurriedly recounted the major and minor events surrounding the emergence of the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer.

He knew that although this Grand Uncle-Master had cultivated to the Gao Shen Jing Fa Jie of returning to childhood from old age, his memory was extremely, extremely poor.

"Oh, the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer?"

Long Xi Xiang nodded and asked: "Who was your master again?"

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"……"

Zhou Sheng Fu gave a wry smile, hurriedly replied once more, and while he hadn't yet forgotten, deepened the impression for him.

Under his prompting, Long Xi Xiang caught the drift: "Mm, mail this letter to your master, let him go take a look."

"Yes!"

Zhou Sheng Fu's heart eased; he hurriedly turned to relay this Grand Uncle-Master's decree, and before long, one golden-feathered hawk after another had already torn through the sky.

Long Xi Xiang glanced over, satisfied, and took his leave; before he had gone a few steps he turned back again: "Right, who was your master again…"

"……"