Unsheathed

After an hour or so, the old man sitting cross-legged inside the room stood up and ordered in a solemn voice, “Chen Ping’an, it’s time to start training!”

Chen Ping’an sighed and walked inside. The little boy in azure gulped and helped close the door behind him. He didn’t dare to even glance at the disheveled old man.

After closing the door, the little boy in azure jumped onto the railing on the second floor and sat down with a melancholy expression.

I was all-powerful in the Imperial River for hundreds of years, and I was extremely famous throughout the entire Yellow Court Nation. I commanded wind and rain, and I had a full court of distinguished guests and friends.

So, why am I always encountering obstacles in this tiny little Dragon Spring Prefecture? My luck has been far too terrible recently, no? Perhaps I might even hit some random god when I go out to piss in the future? And then I’ll be killed with a single punch?

This is completely at odds with my expectation of dominating the cultivation world!

There was a sullen expression on the little boy’s face as he forcefully slapped the railings. He was extremely annoyed.

Meanwhile, the little girl in pink helped Mountain God Wei Bo light a fire and cook a large vat of medicines on the first floor of the bamboo building. Medicinal fragrance wafted into her nose.

This large vat of medicinal ingredients wasn’t very expensive. In terms of silver, it only cost Wei Bo 80,000 taels of official silver.

Poor people became scholars, while wealthy people practiced martial arts. Their ancestors hadn’t been lying.

Of course, the large majority of martial artists in the world wouldn’t spend money as recklessly as Wei Bo. Otherwise, they would spend themselves poor regardless of how wealthy they originally were.

In the room on the second floor of the bamboo building, the old man glanced at Chen Ping’an who was in decent spirits and said, “Apart from helping you comprehensively disperse your Qi, I’m also going to help you temper your physique and soul at the same time. If you can persist until the very end, then advancing from the second tier to the third tier will be a very smooth and natural process. If you’re fortunate, you might even be able to advance to the fourth tier.”

If he was fortunate…

After hearing this, Chen Ping’an was sure that this would be impossible.

The old man smiled faintly and continued, “In a moment, I’m going to carefully control my power each time I attack you. Things won’t feel unbearable from the very beginning, but when we reach the end… Heh, you’ll naturally understand at that time.”

Chen Ping’an had a very bad feeling about this.

The smile disappeared from the old man’s face, and his mental state instantly became still and impervious to everything. He slowly assumed a simple and ancient-looking fist stance and explained, “When I was young, I liked to travel around without any weapons. I simply relied on my fists to fight those from the mountains or those from outside the mountains. I once witnessed a Heavenly Master beating the drums to welcome spring!

“It’s rumored that in the ancient past, the Thunder God used to ride his chariot and beat his drums to deter all of the sinister beings in the world. The sound of the drums would eliminate the filthy and promote the pure.”

The old man’s expression was calm as he continued, “After witnessing this, I attained enlightenment and came up with this technique. I call it the Deity Drumming Technique!”

Chen Ping’an listened to the old man with pricked ears, and he didn’t dare to miss a single word.

The reason for this was very simple. He couldn’t suffer pain for nothing!

“Stand still, young lad! Eat these 10 punches first!” the old man commanded in a stern voice.

It was as if crisp firecrackers were going off in the room on the second floor.

The 10 relentless punches slammed into different areas on Chen Ping’an’s body. The power of these punches traveled through his acupoints, causing his aura to fluctuate without pause. It was as if a broom had swept through his body and brought up plumes of dust.

After throwing the 10 punches, a strange smile appeared on the old man’s face.

Chen Ping’an had already prepared for the worst, yet he had been slightly astonished by the mild nature of the old man’s punches in the beginning. He could easily endure these punches.

In the next instant, however, blood suddenly flowed from all of the orifices on the young boy’s face. He collapsed to the ground and rolled around in pain.

However, Chen Ping’an bit his lips and refused to cry out in pain.

After starting to practice fist techniques, Chen Ping’an had heard from Zhu He that those who had just embarked on the journey of martial arts couldn’t consume alcohol, as doing so would harm one’s body. He had also heard many others say that one couldn’t allow one’s breath to falter.

After learning these principles with much difficulty, Chen Ping’an cherished them greatly and adhered to them without fault. Even after hearing Lin Shouyi say that A’Liang’s wine contained great fated opportunities, Chen Ping’an still didn’t regret his decisions a single bit.

The old man looked at the young boy rolling around and sneered, “How is it? Does it feel good? The essence of this fist technique lies in the fact that it can multiply its might with each subsequent punch. As long as you can unleash enough punches at a quick enough speed, even Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals who are regarded as indestructible can be obliterated!”

The old man appeared slightly adrift after saying this.

When standing at the summit of martial arts back then, he had always wanted to know one thing.

If the Dao Ancestor or Buddha were willing to stand there and not fight back, allowing him to accumulate might using this fist technique, how many hundred of punches could they eventually withstand?! And how many hundreds of punches could he successfully unleash?!

However, the old man quickly came to his senses and explained, “Rest assured, I used a special method when throwing the 10 punches just then, so they won’t harm your physical body at all. The punches only landed on your soul. So, if you grit your teeth, you can most likely overcome this pain.”

Chen Ping’an rolled around on the floor for seven or eight minutes. Afterward, he sat still and breathed according to the breathing technique that Old Man Yang had taught him. At the same time, he channeled the Eighteen Stops technique that A’Liang had taught him. Only after doing this was he able to recover and slowly stand up after 15 minutes. He was drenched in sweat, and it was as if he had just come back from a swim.

The old man nodded with a smile and said, “By the looks of it, 10 punches is still within your limits. Then here, eat another 15 punches.”

After a short moment, Chen Ping’an started to roll around on the floor again. He crashed into the wall at some time, yet it was as if he didn’t notice this even though his head slammed into the wall.

Chen Ping’an lay on the floor for half an hour, yet he was still unable to sit back up. Thus, he was naturally unable to stand up and curse the old man.

The disheveled old man silently observed the aura that was undergoing subtle changes inside Chen Ping’an’s body. He then continued, “Martial Dao, Martial Dao, this is also one of the Great Daos! Qi refiners always look down on pure martial artists, and they insist on referring to this path as martial arts instead of Martial Dao. They claim that martial arts can never reach the height of Dao. However, I refuse to believe this!

“So, I studied all of the texts of the hundred schools of thought. One day, I read a paragraph that described a slender woman of breathtaking beauty. The text said that she was a rain goddess who cared greatly about the mortal beings in the world, so much so that she was even willing to audaciously break the divine rules and offer rain to the suffering people. Afterward, her godly body was restrained on a God Lashing Platform where she was forced to endure punishment day and night.

“The Heavenly Emperor also delivered a divine edict which contained the phrase ‘bear the ill consequences of one’s own doing.’ After reading this I immediately slammed the table and stood up, loudly cursing him and calling him a bastard! However, I was still unable to quell my anger, so I walked outside where it was coincidentally pouring with rain. I unleashed a punch and caused the rain to retreat more than 30 meters into the sky!

“So, I named this punch the Rain Evaporation Technique!”

The old man silently arrived beside the young boy and stomped down on his abdomen. “If you can’t get up, then remain lying down,” he sneered. “I can still make you experience the ingenious nature of this punch!”

A deafening boom tore through Chen Ping’an’s sea of Qi, and it was as if it were encountering some earth-shattering change.

When returning to Yellow Court Nation from Great Sui Nation with Cui Dongshan, Chen Ping’an had passed a large body of water that was covered in rising mist. This was a spectacular sight, and from Cui Dongshan’s colorful and sophisticated description, he had learned that this was a majestic scene of water being evaporated into mists and clouds.

However, as beautiful as this imagery was, it didn’t feel too pleasant when it was unleashed inside his body by the brutal stomp of the old man. This was truly a euphoric but agonizing feeling. After being stomped on, the sea of Qi that was initially located at the bottom of Chen Ping’an’s Dantian rapidly shot upward, making him feel as if all of his intestines were being severed and crushed. In the next moment, it was as if he were about to vomit all of his organs.

Each time clouds and mists rose in Chen Ping’an’s sea of Qi, he would rise up from the floor as if he were being dragged up by someone. He would then crash back down after a short while. This process repeated itself again and again.

After a while, the old man seemed to get annoyed with the sight of the “jumping” young boy, so he stomped down on his abdomen again and roared, “Stay still!”

Chen Ping’an was forcefully pinned to the floor. His limbs continued to convulse, and there was a twisted expression on his face and a murky look in his eyes.

In fact, countless tiny beads of blood started to slowly seep from the follicles on his body, eventually converging together to form large puddles of blood.

“Chen Ping’an! Listen carefully!” the old man roared in anger. “You have already discovered that breath of Qi critical to the initial stages of martial arts, so are you merely going to put it aside and not do anything with it?! So what if you can’t move?! That breath of Qi can’t be abandoned!”

Chen Ping’an was barely conscious, and he could only vaguely hear the angry roar of the old man. Almost by instinct, he silently spoke in his mind and somewhat issued a command, telling the mysterious wisp of aura that was like a fiery dragon to freely roam around by itself and go wherever it wanted to go. This was because Chen Ping’an could no longer control his limbs. In fact, he could not even move a single finger at this moment.

The old man looked down, only to see a wisp of aura that was as thin as a thread and shaped like a fiery dragon chaotically swimming around in the meridians located in Chen Ping’an’s chest. He roared with laughter and remarked, “Very good!”

He retracted his foot and placed a single hand behind his back. Meanwhile, he started to snap his fingers at Chen Ping’an using his other hand, saying, “I once observed a battle between two armies from atop a mountain. That was a truly splendid spectacle, and it was as if I were witnessing a battle of strength between a dragon and an elephant. Dragons are the strongest creatures in the water, while elephants are the strongest creatures on the land. As such, that battle was like a one-in-100-year swansong! Observing it allowed me to comprehend a punch called the Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique!”

Each time the old man casually snapped his fingers, one of Chen Ping’an’s ribs would be forcefully snapped in half.

This was the first time that Chen Ping’an had wailed because of pain.

However, there was nothing he could do about this, as this was a heart wrenching pain that attacked not only his physical body, but also the depths of his soul.

The little boy in azure was petrified when he heard this, and he almost fell off the railing that he was sitting on. Meanwhile, the little girl in pink was in extremely low spirits on the first floor, and she suddenly squatted down and wrapped her arms around her head, not daring to listen to her master’s wails of agony anymore.

In the end, the disheveled old man looked at the unconscious young boy before expressionlessly walking to the door. After opening it, he turned to the trembling little boy in azure and ordered, “Carry him downstairs and directly toss him into the tub of medicinal water. There’s no need to take off his clothes or shoes. Don’t underestimate these things, as they’re extremely important to Chen Ping’an if he wants to stabilize his cultivation base. They can’t be removed. Also, tell that feminine mountain god not to gild the lily and add additional medicines to the tub. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less, but that young lad would have suffered for nothing today.”

After seeing the old man and listening to his command, the little boy in azure was so terrified that he didn’t even dare to walk down the stairs. Instead, he directly jumped down from the railing and told the little girl in pink to head upstairs to carry Chen Ping’an over. He didn’t dare to cross paths with the old man at all.

However, he didn’t forget to remind Wei Bo not to add additional medicines to the tub after arriving on the first floor. After doing this he jogged back to the little girl in pink who was standing outside the bamboo building. He gritted his teeth, and with a tap of his foot and then another tap, he gracefully arrived back on the second floor. Rushing over before the little girl in pink could arrive, he summoned his courage to enter the room and sling the bloody Chen Ping’an onto his back.

After carrying his master downstairs, he carefully placed him into the tub of medicinal water.

The face of the little girl in pink was tear-stained, and she asked in a quiet voice, “Mountain God Wei, is Master truly okay?”

Wei Bo glanced at the unconscious Chen Ping’an and replied, “If he can endure until the end, then he’ll naturally be okay. If he gives up halfway, however, things will be far worse than simply falling at the final hurdle. It’s very likely that he’ll suffer many negative after-effects. For example, he might be stuck at the second tier or third tier of martial arts for the rest of his life. Because his foundation is too solid, trying to advance to a higher tier will be analogous to a little child trying to lift a large block of stone. It’s simply impossible.”

The little girl in pink was slightly dumbfounded.

The little boy in azure walked out of the room by himself and sat down on a bamboo chair. He rested his cheeks in his hands and stared blankly ahead.