Chapter 121 Fierce Turmoil in Yuan City, Yixuan Martial Arts Hall, Profound Skill Introductory Method

The Wei River was not entirely turbulent; having switched to a larger ship, the ride felt much smoother.

To avoid exhausting Ghostly Roar, Xu Guang tamed two giant catfish in the water. These fish should be considered Exotic Beasts. They had distinct characteristics: massive size and great strength, though they were rather ugly.

Originally, Xu Guang thought the journey would take three or four months. However, just two months later, the ship arrived at the source of the Wei River—Yuan City.

The Wei River originated in Yuan Mountain outside Yuan City. Besides the Wei River, several other great rivers also traced their sources to this mountain.

When You State was mentioned, many people’s first impression was that of a battleground, constantly facing invasion and pillaging by the Northern Barbarians. Although Yuan City was considered a border city, it had Yuan Mountain acting as a natural chasm. There was no fear of Northern Barbarians appearing at any moment; it was far less dangerous than Jingbian City. Ping City was actually quite good too, but its central city was a bit too far from the Wei River.

Not many refugees from the Central Plains Region came to You State, making Yuan City seem very open. Even a small village on the edge of the Wei River boasted a rather bustling pier. The passersby were either travel-worn outsiders or locals transporting their fish catches.

Occasionally, one could spot bald monks with ordination scars on their heads. However, they lacked red lotuses between their brows, indicating they were likely Monks from Buddhist Sects near Yuan City. Naturally, there were also Daoists in Daoist Robes, along with uninhibited Martial World Travelers in rugged clothing.

What surprised Xu Guang was the sight of an arena at regular intervals, almost as frequent as basketball courts in the urban life of his past life. Most arenas were surrounded by large crowds watching two people wrestling, exchanging punches, or practicing swordsmanship. Cheers erupted from time to time.

The martial ethos here was highly evident.

Just from the liveliness of this place, named Yuanfeng Pier, one could see the vibrant vitality of Yuan City. The sense of happiness on people’s faces as they walked by was something Feiyun City simply couldn’t compare to.

This was the difference between an open city and a closed one.

Xu Guang sighed internally. Duan Jue was undoubtedly a good official, but he was not a Martial Artist and was restrained by Lin Yu. He couldn’t do much for the commoners. The fact that the people of Feiyun City hadn’t collapsed after being overwhelmed by refugees was already a miracle born of countless hardships.

An hour later, Xu Guang followed a middle-aged man speaking with a You State accent to a small manor.

"Guest from afar, this is the best house in Xiaohe Village. It used to be our boss’s residence, but he later moved into the city and decided to sell the courtyard," the man explained.

The manor sat on a small hillside. Behind it was a cliff over a dozen meters high, with the Wei River flowing below. The original owner was quite elegant; he had built a plank road beneath the cliff, along with a small pier for docking boats and several pavilions. Outside the front gate lay a bamboo forest connecting to the rear side of the manor, separated by a narrow path. The estate was massive—covering nearly a hundred acres—and the backyard even featured a small training field dedicated to martial arts practice.

Although it wasn’t inside Yuan City, the environment was beautiful, and Xu Guang liked it very much.

"How much?" Xu Guang asked.

The middle-aged Yazi rubbed his hands together. Looking at Xu Guang’s appearance, he gritted his teeth and said, "Three thousand gold coins!"

Xu Guang looked at him in silence. A rural landlord’s manor in a village, asking for three thousand gold coins? Did he think Xu Guang’s money blew in with the wind?

Under Xu Guang’s sharp gaze, the Yazi slowly changed his tune. "One thousand gold coins..."

Xu Guang still didn’t speak. He simply stared. Having killed countless people, an image akin to a mountain of corpses and a Blood Sea leaped into the Yazi’s mind.

Knowing he had encountered an expert, he helplessly avoided Xu Guang’s eyes. "Young master, I’m terrified of you. My boss told us to sell it for no less than three hundred gold coins. Pay what you think is fair."

Xu Guang couldn’t help but curse inwardly. "You bastard, you tried to sell me something worth three hundred gold coins for three thousand?" In fact, he suspected he could haggle the three hundred gold coins down even further.

Three hundred gold coins was equivalent to over three thousand taels of silver, which was actually quite reasonable. After all, although it was a bit remote, the surroundings were beautiful and the facilities were complete. Construction costs alone would be no less than two thousand taels. Including the land, three thousand taels of silver was a very fair price—even a bargain.

With this in mind, he said softly, "Then three hundred gold coins it is."

The Yazi’s face displayed a bitter expression.

Xu Guang continued, "By the way, help me spread the word. Tell them a Martial Arts Hall will be opening here. Those interested can come to sign up in ten days. For the first three months, we’ll accept ten disciples per month. We’ll see about the rest later."

Hearing Xu Guang’s words, the Yazi froze, glancing at him carefully and nervously. "Do you know the rules for establishing a Martial Arts Hall here?"

Xu Guang shot him a half-smile. He suddenly extended a hand, his palm swirling with the cyan glow of the Returning Mountain Skill Power. "Refining Viscera, right?"

"Establishing the staff" was the rule for opening a Martial Arts Hall in You State. Anyone wanting to open a hall had to plant a staff and raise a flag. On the opening day, other Martial Artists in the city would gather to watch and send their disciples to challenge the hall. If the founder managed to fend them off, the staff was considered established. If they failed, they would have to drop the idea of opening the hall entirely.

Generally speaking, only a Refining Viscera Martial Artist was qualified to open a hall.

"Young master is fierce, and your Power is extraordinary. I am a member of the nearby Little Cao Bang. Since you intend to establish a staff here, I’ll take it upon myself to gift this manor to you as a token of respect!" The Yazi instantly became incredibly enthusiastic, his face plastered with a fawning smile.

"You certainly know how to curry favor."

The Yazi giving the manor away was not as simple as it seemed. After all, Xu Guang had boldly claimed he would establish a staff. According to You State’s tradition, the masters of the city’s Martial Arts Halls would come to challenge him. If Xu Guang succeeded, he would have formed a good relationship with the Little Cao Bang, earning them a favor. If he failed, Xu Guang’s only option would be to leave with his tail between his legs, while the manor would remain exactly where it was.

Xu Guang naturally didn’t want to get involved in these schemes. He signaled Song Tao, who was holding the horses nearby, to take out a hundred gold coins and hand them to the Yazi.

With that, the transaction was complete.

Before leaving, the Yazi suddenly thought of a question and asked, "By the way, what will your Martial Arts Hall be called to the public?"

Hearing this, Xu Guang fell into thought. For some inexplicable reason, the face of that old man flashed through his mind. He then sighed softly. "Yixuan. Just call it the Yixuan Martial Arts Hall."

Not many people actually knew his courtesy name, Yixuan. Besides, this was the easternmost part of You State, so there was no need to be overly cautious.

"Alright! I’ll spread the word for you today!"

Having bought the manor, Xu Guang had Song Tao take the horses inside first while he turned around to fetch his family, who were still on the ship.

A month earlier. Outside Feiyun City.

Cheng Lian’Er looked at the Cultivation Technique Secret Manual in her hand, her eyes locked onto Xu Sanduo. "Xu Guang asked you to give this to me?"

Xu Sanduo nodded in silence. He didn’t even know why Cheng Lian’Er had taken a fancy to Xu Guang. Perhaps it was because of Xu Guang’s strength and genius. Geniuses never lacked female confidantes.

Cheng Lian’Er glared at Xu Sanduo. "Where did he go?"

Xu Sanduo shook his head, feeling as though he had no secrets before this woman. "I told him we might return to You State or Tai State. He only said we might meet again in the future."

Hearing this, Cheng Lian’Er pulled out a map and carefully examined the depiction of the Eastern Domain’s one circuit and three states.

Xu Guang was cautious by nature. With Tai State currently in turmoil and him having no connections there, he likely wouldn’t choose to go there. That left You State.

Cheng Lian’Er’s eyes flickered with a bright light. If it was You State... She remembered her grandfather saying that the major cities there had frequent exchanges. When the time came...

One day later.

The news of an outsider Martial Artist aiming to establish a staff in Xiaohe Village spread wildly throughout the city. You State revered martial arts, making such news akin to top-tier gossip. In just one day, the foot traffic in Xiaohe Village increased significantly.

In the backyard of the manor.

Ji Xiaolu looked at the massive courtyard with a slight headache. This place was simply too big.

Miss Chun noticed Ji Xiaolu’s dilemma and couldn’t help but say, "Madam, the manor the master bought seems a bit too large. We’ll need to hire more hands."

"Then let’s hire more. I’ll talk to my husband about it tonight."

In the bamboo forest behind the manor, Xu Guang closed his eyes and concentrated.

After more than three months, the Searcher finally yielded results.

[Current search results are as follows:]

[1. Enter through slaughter: Find a gathering place for Demon Fiends, enter alone, and eradicate the entire area of Demon Fiends to pass the Demon-Vanquishing Tribulation. Note: This method is fraught with danger. There must be Demon Fiends whose Realm is higher than your own for it to be considered a tribulation. Additionally, the Demon-Vanquishing Tribulation is the Nine Calamities General Outline and is indispensable.]

[2. Enter through calamity: Xu Guang has cultivated five types of Refining Viscera Cultivation Techniques. You can dissipate all Five Viscera Power, condense the Blood Seal between life and death, and pass the Scattering Tribulation.]

[3. Enter through martial arts: Condense nine types of Martial Intent, consume a Poison Pill to shatter the Martial Intent, and pass the Breaking Intent Tribulation while your consciousness is fading.]

[4. Enter through emotion: Slay your wife and sacrifice your son. Fall into madness, reaching the extreme of emotion only to sever it. Achieve extreme depression and extreme martial prowess to pass the Ruthless Tribulation.]

[Note: The current search results display four options.]

Of the initial three entry methods, the Scattering Tribulation seemed the most suitable. The fourth option was directly ignored by Xu Guang. That was far too twisted.

Xu Guang silently searched the same question again. Since he had the Searcher, out of the Nine Calamities Tribulation—excluding the Ruthless Tribulation—he would choose the strongest one!

As the Searcher began working again, Xu Guang finally felt at ease enough to cultivate.

During the journey, he took Ji Xiaolu out every day to spend some quality time together as a couple. With the Essence of Life Qi, four of his viscera had already reached Perfection. His entire body had No Leakage, and his aura was completely hidden, making him seem like an ordinary person.

Next up was... Five Viscera Seeing God!

In the bamboo forest, Xu Guang slowly closed his eyes. Cloud Serpents frolicked in the woods like sprites. A Cyan-Scaled Horse let out a neigh. In the distance, a massive Black Tiger lay lazily on the ground, a harness fixed to its back carrying a tiny baby who was giggling away.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

The banner of Yixuan was already flying high in front of the manor. At the foot of the low slope, a sea of people had gathered, forming a long queue that wound around several times. The queue consisted of men and women, young and old, but more than half were young boys and girls, all intending to become disciples.

Although no one knew if Xu Guang would successfully establish the staff in two days, paying their respects early was better than waiting until after he succeeded. In fact, starting from the second day, people had been coming to request apprenticeship. Xu Guang simply hadn’t opened the doors until today, and even then, he had left everything to Wang Ming and Song Tao.

Wang Ming just loved watching the commotion and had unilaterally crowned himself the title of Second Master. Xu Guang let him be. After all, this was his brother-in-law. His eldest sister liked him, so Xu Guang indulged him.

It was a very ordinary night.

After coaxing his son to sleep, Xu Guang embraced Ji Xiaolu for some intimate moments.

After the Essence of Life Qi surged into the Blood Eye, the Blood Eye seemed to reach some sort of limit. Suddenly, a sensation of extreme comfort burst forth, spreading through Xu Guang’s limbs and bones. The next moment, the Blood Eye abruptly opened, flashing with an alluring red glow in the night.

At this moment, Xu Guang couldn’t bother to notice any of that. He saw a corner of an absurd world! It was a world containing only gray—completely silent, yet carrying an indescribable sense of shock. Silent colossi, pale gray giant trees, and endless floating pale gray fog... It felt as if... a toddler was looking up at the universe through a telescope for the first time, realizing their own insignificance.

This feeling quickly disappeared. No matter how wide Xu Guang opened his Blood Eye, he couldn’t see any changes in the world.

"The descriptions of Seeing God didn’t seem to match this. At most, one should only be able to faintly sense another world. But just now, I saw directly through the two realms. The only pity is that I saw too little. Is the Profound World pale gray?"

Xu Guang felt a bit regretful, faintly sensing something was wrong, yet the changes in his body made him excited. He had entered the Five Viscera Realm!

Once he achieved the Great God-Seeing Perfection, he could attempt to pass the Scattering Tribulation and switch his Cultivation Technique to the Nine Calamities Demon-Vanquishing Chaotic Profound Skill. He held the utmost anticipation for this Profound Skill’s description of the Power of Calamity.

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed. The opening day of the Yixuan Hall had arrived.