Chapter 318: Contending with Heaven and Earth, Red to the Point of Black

Hum—

Li Li Yuanzhong's eyelids snapped open; that violent dragon's roar still reverberated in his heart, leaving his head somewhat dizzy.

"Demon-Subduing Dragon Divine Form…"

Recalling the dragon's roar that had torn the sea of clouds, Li Li Yuanzhong only felt his temples pounding; with just that single dragon's cry, his true-qi body had instantly shattered.

"At the very least, it's an Absolute-rank Yin Bo Gong!"

Li Li Yuanzhong's teeth ached a little; the weight of this man who stood first under heaven was truly heavy, catching him off guard with a pleasant surprise.

And until the shattering, he still hadn't been able to see the true face of that 'Crouching Dragon Divine Form' in full.

"Took a hundred blades, but it's a pity the advantage of my Absolute-rank Ten Thousand Blades Spirit Dragon Body couldn't be brought out, otherwise… no, that's not right either; that Wan Wan Zhuliu probably also practices horizontal body tempering."

Gently kneading his temples, Li Li Yuanzhong's mood was nonetheless good; using this blade intent as a mirror, one could also see how great his progress had been—in just a few short months, from one blade, to a hundred.

"If I were to drive the Sea-Splitting Mystic Whale Hammer, could I…"

Li Li Yuanzhong shook his head inwardly; to rely on a momentary burst to ambush that Wan Wan Zhuliu, he could no longer manage it for now, but in his heart he was somewhat tempted nonetheless.

"Eh?"

As his thoughts turned, Li Li Yuanzhong detected something amiss; the old dragon-head opposite him had suddenly flushed red, his whole body trembling, and white smoke began to puff from his bald head.

"Qi deviation?"

Li Li Yuanzhong struck out swiftly, about to seal the major acupoints all over his body, but before he could get close, a layer of Bai Guang had repelled him, and the pain in his fingers was like breaking bones.

"Mm?"

Long Xi Xiang opened his eyes, drew a deep breath, and only then did the flush fade from his face, but his gaze was terrifyingly bright, staring at Li Li Yuanzhong until he couldn't help but change the subject:

"Master, is this true-gang?"

"Dragon Elephant True-Gang."

Long Xi Xiang flexed his fingers, reining in his emotions; hearing Li Li Yuanzhong's question, he rose and walked into the courtyard.

Li Li Yuanzhong followed him out.

"True qi is the symbol of a martial artist's qi and blood refined to the extreme, while true-gang is the beginning of contending with heaven and earth, from the inside out…"

Long Xi Xiang rolled up his sleeves, deliberately slowing his movements.

Under Li Li Yuanzhong's gaze, he slowly extended five fingers; a white light visible to the naked eye flashed across his fingertips, and the surrounding air immediately rippled with a light like water waves.

Whoosh!

Long Xi Xiang raised his hand and grabbed.

Li Li Yuanzhong only felt the gale rushing at his face; his eyelid twitched. The air above the courtyard seemed to boil violently like water brought to a rolling boil, and then, in an instant, transformed into a Da Shou Yin visible to the naked eye that covered the entire small temple.

"Contending with heaven and earth?"

"Force unleashed one chi, qi reaches three zhang; when inner qi transforms into true qi, one may reach ten zhang; those who cultivate true-qi tempering arts might reach several dozen zhang, but true-gang…"

Long Xi Xiang released his palm, and that ball of white light dropped to the ground, rolled over once, and had already transformed into a Monk about a chi tall, with rosy lips and white teeth:

"If one cannot contend with heaven and earth, how could one strike forth a thousand li away?"

"This disciple understands."

Seeing this scene, Li Li Yuanzhong couldn't help but feel a touch of envy; the methods of a grandmaster of the Rudaode Sect, in his current eyes, could also be called immortal marvels.

When the realm is not reached, no matter how great the strength, it still cannot be done.

"Given your talent, it's only a matter of time."

Long Xi Xiang was reining in his emotions, yet still couldn't help showing a bit of delight on his face; if he didn't offer a few words of praise, he truly felt uneasy in his heart:

"With talent at the absolute peak like yours, this master has never seen in his life; to withstand a hundred blades on your first strike—truly, remarkable."

How could it be merely remarkable?

Long Xi Xiang had let out several long howls within the divine realm before coming out.

Long Long Xinglie, with his world-shaking bearing, personally cultivated and instructed by a great grandmaster, having trained in martial arts for years and undergone many trials, even so, six years ago it took him dozens of fierce battles before he could just barely withstand ninety blades.

Li Li Yuanzhong's performance, in his view, was also inconceivable.

"…"

Praised like this, Li Li Yuanzhong didn't even know how to be modest; how could this be his first strike? He'd done it dozens or even a hundred times already.

"Your hammer technique has not reached great perfection; besides, you also lack an Absolute-rank lightness skill—otherwise, you might not have stopped here.

Moreover, your Thunder Dragon combination is decent, but compared to that Demon-Subduing Dragon Divine Form, it still falls far too short…"

Long Xi Xiang paced the courtyard, pointing out Li Li Yuanzhong's weaknesses, while inwardly pondering how to shore up his shortcomings.

Before Li Li Yuanzhong made his move, even though he had seen his performance in the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda, he had not harbored much hope in his heart; but now, his thoughts had begun to stir.

Li Li Yuanzhong nodded; he naturally knew where his weaknesses lay.

With the blessing of the Soldier-Controlling Register, his instantaneous explosive power and speed were naturally extremely fast, but there was still quite a gap in his martial techniques and lightness-step movement—of course, this was in comparison with that Town Martial King of the same rank.

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What Li Yuan currently lacks is 'purity,' not a hodgepodge of things. Cultivating the Dragon Elephant Merging Stream to Great Completion and using it to counter the Dragon God Manifestation of Demon-Subduing is the proper path.

"Wait a moment—never mind. Tomorrow, come find me in the afternoon. Your master will take you to receive some things. These are a special reward bestowed by your Senior Uncle."

Long Xi Xiang waved his hand, dismissing Li Yuan.

He had originally had quite a few plans for today, but now his mind was in disarray, and his heart was in disarray too.

"A special reward from the Dao Lord?"

Li Yuan's heart leapt with joy; he knew this was the reward for ascending to second on the Dragon Ranking.

"Are there any spiritual pills?"

"Naturally more than that."

Long Xi Xiang smiled. If it weren't for maintaining his condition, he would have wanted to shove even that Dragon Tiger Great Pill into Li Yuan's hands.

"More than that?"

Li Yuan wanted to ask more, but seeing his smile and silence, he felt helpless and simply bowed and took his leave: "This disciple takes his leave."

"Not inferior to Wan Wan Zhuliu!"

After the temple doors closed, Long Xi Xiang's chest heaved; he had to pinch his fingers to keep from laughing out loud: "The Patriarch bless me, Long Xi Xiang!"

Who could have imagined that a disciple he had only taken on out of human sentiment, and felt compelled to accept, would bring him such a great surprise?

In over two thousand years of the Dragon Tiger Temple, there had been only three disciples of epoch-making talent in total—and that count included Li Yuan!

"Haven't seen you in forty years, Old Wang has actually changed his ways? A disciple of such talent, and he's willing to hand him over to me…"

Long Xi Xiang muttered to himself, feeling he might have misjudged Wang Jing in the past. Though that old fellow was usually unreliable, he did have some dependability to him after all.

He returned to the small temple, burned three sticks of incense for the Patriarchs, then strode out.

"Contending with Heaven and Earth, true qi transforms into true gang."

In the small courtyard, Li Yuan looked back at the little temple; he could still faintly see the Da Shou Yin that hadn't fully dispersed. He paced within the courtyard, digesting the things Long Xi Xiang had crammed into him like a goose being fattened.

Yin-Yang, Divine Realm, Spirit Manifestation, True Gang…

"Hoo—"

After quite a while, Li Yuan finally let out a breath, feeling he had reaped a full harvest. He nimbly went to stew a pot of spiritual rice, adding firewood while pondering.

"Next, I need to temporarily set aside other matters and focus on cultivating the Dragon Tiger Heaven-Splitting Hammer. Though there's nothing else going on anyway—Nie Xianshan's Pure Yang Sword probably can't be forged for the time being."

Li Yuan was about to crack a few Nuqing Eggs when he suddenly heard footsteps. Looking toward the sound, he saw Fang Fang Yunxiu, absent for many days, already at the courtyard gate.

"When did Senior Sister Fang return?" Li Yuan wiped his hands and went out to greet her.

Fang Fang Yunxiu, who had quite the air of a life-risking heroine about her, was either on a mission or on the way to one most of the time; in a whole year, he would only see her a handful of times.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Li, on ascending to second on the Dragon Ranking."

Fang Fang Yunxiu cupped her fists in congratulation, feeling quite dizzy inside.

In just one day, the news of Li Yuan ascending to second on the Dragon Ranking had spread throughout both the inner and outer sects, and even within Mount Hengshan City there was no lack of discussion. Naturally, she had heard of it.

Compared to others, the shock in her heart was far greater.

In a certain sense, Li Yuan had been discovered by her, as a Talent-Seeking Envoy, from Gao Liu County.

"Between us, where's the need for such formality?"

Li Yuan smiled and welcomed her in: "Perfect timing, I've stewed a pot of spiritual rice—let's eat together."

"Mm."

Fang Fang Yunxiu was somewhat absent-minded.

The murmurs she had overheard on the way up to Dragon Gate Main Peak had truly made it hard for her to calm down.

Looking at the stalwart, pine-straight Li Yuan before her, she truly found it hard to associate him with the callow youth who had practiced hammer techniques outside the Lu residence years ago, barely at Minor Accomplishment of Qi and Blood.

Six or seven years had passed in between. Back then, she herself, already at the threshold of Body Transformation, had barely cultivated to the doorstep of Meridian Opening, while the Li Yuan before her was now the second person on the Dragon Ranking.

He had even pressed Xin Xin Wenhua—a true-successor disciple of the Dao Sect at Great Accomplishment of Marrow Refining—beneath him.

"Senior Sister Fang?"

Li Yuan called out to her. She came back to herself, then recalled the matter at hand:

"Yesterday, the Valley Master and Elder Feng and the others came. If you have nothing on…"

"The Valley Master and the others came?"

Li Yuan immediately set down his bowl and chopsticks, closed the room door, and went down the mountain with Fang Fang Yunxiu to return to the city.

Dragon Tiger Temple was livelier than in previous days, especially around the Dragon Tiger Pagoda; from a great distance one could see a dense, dark mass of people.

"Is Junior Brother Li going down the mountain?"

"Junior Uncle Li…"

"Junior Uncle Li, my father wishes to invite you to a banquet—might you have the time?"

On the mountain path, disciples who caught sight of Li Yuan would bow from afar, their faces full of reverence and awe.

"This is the treatment Senior Brother Long gets."

Li Yuan nodded in response, chatting a few words with disciples he knew. He clearly felt the change in attitude among his fellow disciples—clear and strong.

Within the temple it was so; the elders and disciples of the outer sects were even more rather respectful.

"Junior Brother Li has truly set the jianghu abuzz."

Fang Fang Yunxiu's impression ran deeper; she recognized a disciple paying respects in the distance.

During last year's sect examination, she had seen him strike—his bladework fierce, his inner qi vast and powerful; she was far from his match.

"Empty fame…"

Li Yuan's instinctive words of humility had barely left his mouth when his gaze suddenly shifted, looking toward the mountain path in the distance.

"Junior Brother?"

Fang Fang Yunxiu sensed something was off. Following his gaze, she saw an old man in a grey robe gazing at the Dragon Tiger Tower not far away.

"Senior Sister Fang, I still have some matters to attend to. Please trouble yourself to invite the Valley Master and the others into the mountain." Li Yuan said, his expression unchanging.

"Very well."

Fang Fang Yunxiu seemed to sense something, nodded, and left.

Li Yuan, meanwhile, cast a sidelong glance at the old man's back, barely managing to keep his heart from pounding wildly.

"This little friend has excellent root bone."

Li Yuan nearly stopped his heart on the spot. He turned around, smiled, and cupped his hands: "Senior, you flatter me."

The old man wore a single grey robe, carried nothing on him, and from his outward appearance, there was nothing remarkable about him at all. Li Yuan was making conversation, yet felt cold sweat about to soak through his clothes.

The depths of his eyes seemed to reflect a patch of light.

Black, red so dark it was nearly black!