Chapter 361: Martial Display: First Trial

Daoist Master Li was content with the simple life, and took pleasure in being busy.

Each day he shuttled between the Frightful Waves Hall and the Scripture Pavilion, and occasionally crossed over to the small temple opposite to consult Long Xi Xiang, who could not help sighing that this lad really knew how to live.

Not a single trace of the medicinal potency of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan went to waste.

"Huff!"

"Suck!"

Beneath the old tree, Long Xi Xiang reclined in a rocking chair, with assorted melons, fruits and pastries laid out on the small table before him; chewing as he watched Li Yuan in the courtyard strike his stance and perform Xu Tui's stance Wu Gong.

At a certain moment, Li Yuan slowly gathered his posture, arms dropping to his sides, body half-squatting, head raised as he breathed out toward the heavens.

"Huff!"

The instant Li Yuan opened his mouth to inhale, a violent gale sprang up above the small temple, the old tree rustling loudly as the whistling airflow suddenly swelled, as though it meant to blow the courtyard walls down.

In the course of it, his chest swelled high, his loose Daoist robe pulling taut in an instant, his whole body puffing up like a balloon, visibly expanding.

One single breath, sand and stones flying, as though he meant to swallow the very sky into his belly.

This was the Great Toad Breath he had learned from Nie Xianshan.

"Huff!"

A moment later, Li Yuan's chest sank down, and a column of turbid Qi came rushing out, producing a piercing burst of escaping air.

After quite a while, Li Yuan gathered his posture and looked up; that breath of turbid Qi had condensed without scattering, stretching out twenty or thirty meters in the air, like the contrail left behind by a jet plane streaking at high speed in his previous life, lingering long without dispersing.

"It's done!"

Li Yuan regulated his breathing, feeling only that his viscera were clear through and refreshingly cool.

This art of the Great Toad Breath was also quite effective in tempering the heart and lungs; it was not purely a matter of refining the stomach. Likewise, Long Xi Xiang's Mysterious Tortoise Method was not confined to the kidneys.

"Not bad, your progress is swift."

Long Xi Xiang brushed the melon-and-fruit crumbs from his hands and gave a slight nod:

"The Great Toad Breath has reached an adequate level at this stage; choose a single breath to store in your stomach, and with the passage of time it will naturally reach Great Completion."

With top-tier talent, self-discipline and diligence to boot — such a disciple, Long Xi Xiang found it hard to be displeased. The only thing not so good was that every time he saw this lad being so diligent, he could hardly sit still himself.

"Regarding this breath, do you have any thoughts?"

"Erm, do you, Elder, have any suggestions?"

Li Yuan dusted himself off; on this matter, he did have a few thoughts of his own.

"Your Thunder Dragon True Qi is quite decent — split off a strand and nurture it in your stomach. It can further temper the intestines and stomach, and at a critical moment serve as a trump card."

Long Xi Xiang had clearly given this question some thought.

"It's not unworkable."

Li Yuan considered it, but did not rush to decide. He meant to first temper his viscera through one cycle, then attempt to explore how to use the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer to grind and temper his viscera.

But with no one to guide him in this, whether it would work was still uncertain; if it could not, then the Thunder Dragon True Qi would be the backup.

"The Great Toad Breath emphasizes the long accumulation of years; nurture it for a hundred years, and even an ordinary sword Qi, its might will be no small matter."

Long Xi Xiang did not interfere with his disciple's choices; the tempering of the viscera itself was of greater importance than these secret arts.

"This disciple understands."

In the sixth month, hot and rainy, the master and disciple had chatted but a few lines when the sky had already darkened, black clouds churning, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing — it seemed a heavy downpour was about to come.

"How is your practice of the Mysterious Tortoise Method coming along?"

Li Yuan went off to stew a great pot of spirit rice; upon his return, Long Xi Xiang suddenly shot him a glance, a half-smile tugging at his lips.

"...... It's passable."

Daoist Master Li was slightly embarrassed — abundant kidney water meant vigorous vitality; even with his high-intensity martial arts and forging, day in and day out, he was rock-hard.

"Speaking of which, quite a few families within the sect have set their sights on you. This old man has looked them over; the maidens of several households are quite decent — good talent, good features."

"......"

Daoist Master Li had no notion of preserving his chastity like jade; what he practiced was not Fayin Fayin Tongzi either, but as for arranged matchmaking, he politely declined.

"With your kidney water so abundant, all these years......"

"Impudent!"

Sensing

something odd in this lad's gaze, Long Xi Xiang's old face instantly felt he could not save face, and he glared at him.

"You'd best take your rest, Elder."

Li Yuan made his attitude clear, and Long Xi Xiang thenceforth broached the matter no more, instead inquiring into his progress with the Mysterious Tortoise Method.

"It's done, I suppose, but it's still quite a way from Completion."

Blessed with epoch-defying talent, Li Yuan's practice of Wu Gong was as though aided by the gods; the viscera-tempering secret art, famed for its obscurity, he picked up with great speed, mastering it in mere days.

Were it not for his concurrent cultivation of multiple stance Wu Gong and Wu Gong, his speed would have been even faster.

"Normally, when tempering the viscera, cultivating one secret art is enough — the Great Toad Breath, the Mysterious Tortoise Method, or Xin Yuan Gong; mastering any one of the three will suffice to begin marrow tempering. But your talent is excellent, and with the Long Hu Longhu Dadan added in, the more secret arts you can cultivate, the more you should cultivate."

Reaching out to catch a drop of rainwater, Long Xi Xiang well understood the principle of Yincaishi Sect; were it another disciple, such as Dou Yue or Yin Fa, he would never have gone to Long Long Yingchan to ask for Xin Yuan Gong.

Breadth and depth had no hierarchy between them, but breadth-and-depth combined was naturally higher still — it was simply that the demand on a martial artist's talent was too great.

"This disciple understands."

Li Yuan nodded; Xin Yuan Gong was the main-line viscera-tempering secret art, which he had learned from Daoist Master Long just a few days prior, and had already mastered.

Xin Yuan Gong — as the name implied — tempered the heart.

The heart was the dwelling of the spirit, the master of the blood, the ancestor of the vessels; once this Xin Yuan Gong was cultivated, Qi and blood, true Qi, and even spiritual power would all be tempered and enhanced to varying degrees.

"The Divine Viscera Scripture is certainly excellent, but if you cannot cultivate it, it won't matter much."

Shooting a glance at Li Yuan, Long Xi Xiang rose and walked into the small temple.

"This disciple will not force it."

Li Yuan nodded, but he already had some understanding of this Divine Viscera Scripture.

He followed him into the small temple, lit incense and candles, and paid respects to the patriarch.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed. The new batch of incense burners he had made also had incense qi residue on them, but at most only first or second rank, and not many.

"Three sticks of incense a day — to nurture seventh-rank or above incense qi, it would take at least a hundred years."

Li Yuan glanced over.

Incense qi needs quantity to have quality. The incense and candles lit by a Grand Master are no different from those lit by ordinary people. To nurture incense qi, one still needs many believers.

This point, the imperial court clearly understood.

"The Five Dao Nineteen States, plus the Dragon, Ten Thousand Dragon Nine States — so many cities, how much incense qi must the imperial court have accumulated?"

His thoughts scattered a little, and Li Yuan felt somewhat terrified. Able to contend against the Wudadao Sect single-handedly, the imperial court's foundation was truly inestimable.

Inside the small temple, master and disciple chatted for a long time. Most of it was Long Xi Xiang speaking, Li Yuan listening, until the meal was ready, then they stopped.

"Master."

At this moment, Dou Yue arrived.

"Senior Brother."

Li Yuan cupped his hands in greeting. His perception was sharp, and at a glance he had already sensed something amiss.

At this moment, Dou Yue's aura was restrained, seemingly the same as usual, but within his body it was as if it contained an active volcano about to erupt, making one's heart tremble.

"How are your preparations?"

Long Xi Xiang's expression also turned Solemn.

"Only missing that Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Pill, but this disciple does not intend to wait any longer."

Dou Yue stood at the doorway, broader than the door itself, his voice resonant, his eyes seeming to burn with flames:

"Place oneself in a deadly situation to seek life, abandon all retreat. This disciple has seventy percent confidence. With that Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Pill, perhaps there would be no danger of perishing, but that is not necessarily a good thing."

"Senior Brother is about to break through to Grandmaster?"

Li Yuan's heart jolted.

"Mm, it is also time."

Dou Yue nodded.

"If that is so, then do as you wish."

Even though somewhat worried, Long Xi Xiang still did not interfere with Dou Yue, taking a booklet from his bosom:

"This is some insights from your master. Read it a few times during your seclusion."

"Many thanks, Master."

Dou Yue received it with both hands, bowed deeply, then rose to take his leave. Approaching the doorway, he thought of something and looked at Li Yuan:

"Junior Brother, leave that Yangsheng Pill to you."

"Ah?"

Li Yuan was stunned, not even having time to say anything before Dou Yue had already vanished into the rain curtain.

"Master, Senior Brother Dou Yue, he..."

"Seventy percent, that is already very high."

Long Xi Xiang gathered his thoughts and said calmly: "The Dragon-Tiger Yangsheng Pill is the least-refined spiritual pill within the sect. It has the effect of tempering the divine soul and cleansing qi and blood."

He gently patted Li Yuan's shoulder:

"Your senior brother harbors a resolve to die if he does not succeed. Since this pill is left to you, just accept it. If he does not succeed, his disciples and descendants will also need someone to look after them."

"This..."

Li Li Daoye was at a loss for words for a moment. In Old Long's words he heard worry — clearly Dou Yue's breakthrough could also result in death.

After Dou Yue departed, neither of their moods was very good. After hastily finishing the meal, Li Yuan took a bamboo hat, put it on, and went out.

With his current Wu Gong, even without this bamboo hat, not a single drop of rain could touch his body, but he still habitually wore the bamboo hat when taking a stroll.

In the rain curtain, he looked toward the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda.

The sixth day of the sixth month had already been seven days ago. The preliminary selection of the Various Dao Martial Competition had already begun. He had gone to take a look at the time — the scene was grand.

The Dragon Dao Lord, Nie Xianshan, and even the lords of many Dao-level and State-level sects all appeared. The disciples present numbered in the tens of thousands, and the clamor nearly drew out those few "Jiao ancestors" of Hundred Beasts Mountain.

"Entering the Dao is like leaping the Dragon Gate. With Senior Brother Dou Yue's talent, having prepared for over a decade, he still only has seventy percent confidence..."

Lightning serpents streaked through the rain curtain. Li Yuan felt somewhat suppressed in his heart. He preferred to advance step by step, solidly. This kind of gambling nature, he truly did not like.

"How about I lend those few incense burners of mine with the blessing effect of good fortune to Senior Brother Dou Yue first?"

Luck is very metaphysical, and Li Yuan himself could not fathom it, but he still decided to try. Perhaps it would be just that bit of luck that made the difference?

Crack!

Thunder roared, lightning flashed, the rain fell heavily.

Li Yuan strolled and arrived at the small courtyard where Brother Zhongli Wang Luan was confined.

It was called confinement, but in fact there was no one guarding it at all. At a glance, under the eaves of the courtyard gate, Brother Zhongli Wang Luan and his nephew were gazing toward the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda.

"Junior Brother Li has come to see us again?"

Seeing Li Yuan, Chu Hun Tian Zhu was quite warm. These past few days, apart from Senior Brother Dou Yue the Monk, only Li Yuan would come every time it rained.

"Senior Brother Chu is in good spirits."

Li Yuan cupped his hands in greeting: "Uncle Zhong has also come out? That is rare."

The Wudadao Sect — how things were behind the scenes was hard to say, but on the surface they were indeed of one breath and connected branches, addressing each other as senior and junior brothers.

"Cooped up too long, one must come out for a walk."

Brother Zhongli Wang Luan gazed at the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda:

"Kid Li, aren't you going to give it a try?"