Martial Arts Master

“The Jindan?” exclaimed Yan Zheke, frowning slightly with confused eyes. Her eyes then widened. “You mean the Jindan from the Longhu Immortal?”

“How incredible…” mused Yan Zheke. Contemplating, she asked, “In that case, can you interact with it? Like activating it with the Confrontation Formula?”

If he did not have the Jindan at that time, Cheng’s sequela, most likely the result of overexertion and a deficiency in his 99, wouldn’t go as far as giving him regular fits of freezing or burning…

Who’s knows if that’s for better or worse…

“The Confrontation Formula? How am I supposed to use it in a state of Force Concentrating?” questioned Lou Cheng, amused.

Right as he said those words, an idea came to him. He paused, then said, “Eh, perhaps there is a way…”

My Force Concentration is different from other martial artists, so I can maintain the state for a considerably long time!

He quickly put those thoughts into action. Lowering his waist, he raised his hands and formed the hand seal for the Confrontation Formula, then compressed his Qi, blood, mind, and force, concentrating all of those to one point. Ice and fire formed a spiral, rotating into stability.

At the point of concentration, a starry sky, pitch-black and icy, with a Great Sun in it seemed to form and stretch endlessly. Like the real universe, every entity performed their roles dutifully, maintaining an interesting balance and slowly expanding to an end.

Inside that universe, a nebula gathered and revealed itself. Icy and brilliant, yet red-hot and scorching. It was no other than the Jindan from the Longhu Immortal!

In the state of Force Concentration, Lou Cheng wasn’t able to maintain the state of All-Seeing God. His willpower, or rather, his consciousness, had become a part of the Human Body Big Dan, compressed within the vast starry skies. However, with Encountering Gods in the Voids, he made his consciousness rise up to the pinnacle of the ‘universe’, overlooking everything that was below him. Controlling his Qi, blood, mind, and Ice and Fire Forces, he reshaped the layout of darkness and light. Stroke by stroke, he visualized the ancient and profound character for Confrontation!

The appearance of the cleansing Confrontation character resonated with his preformed hand seal. Instantly, the mysterious effects were triggered.

Right at that moment, the Jindan suddenly began trembling! The waters rippled, and the stars shuffled, forming into a Confrontation character! A Confrontation character right in the center of it all!

Buzzzzzz! The bright light, turning into a brush and calligraphed down a page of Taoist techniques. The contents were oddly familiar to Lou Cheng, since it was no other than the first section of the cultivation manual he had been studying!

At the same time, six other parts of the Jindan began emitting a dazzling light that circled around the Confrontation Formula. They came close to combining into one, but something was lacking. Still, Lou Cheng felt as though his bond with the Jindan had strengthened by a little.

Discomfort seized his body, so he stopped and disintegrated the Human Body Big Dan after roughly memorizing it. He felt the surge of strength, felt the feeling of unstoppable power that he hadn’t felt in the longest time.

In an instant, coldness rose up in him, numbing his legs and rooting him to the spot.

To Lou Cheng, this was already a daily occurrence. Paying no heed to the stifling coldness, he smiled at Ke Ke while shuddering.

“It worked! And it kind of spat out the opening pages! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even have thought about trying it!”

“You are welcome! I’m merely doing my job as your coach~” said Yan Zheke. Exultant, she lifted her chin playfully.

“Whew. When I gather all of the Nine Words Formulas and combine them into one, something might really happen. Even if it doesn’t do much to help resolve my sequela, it will bring opportunities of digesting the Jindan, seeing how it deepened my connection with it,” Lou Cheng moved his legs which were no longer immobilized. “I’m gonna try more and see if I can memorize the entire opening chapter.”

He rested in between attempts, and with Little Fairy’s aid, he managed to gradually replicate the opening chapter of Longhu Immortal’s original manual.

“It’s quite different from what we got from Ge Hui…” said Yan Zheke, her right index pressed at the bottom of her lips. The information remained puzzling to her despite having formed some theories of her own.

“It’s nothing strange. Martial Arts have constantly been evolving over the years, so cultivators wouldn’t follow the teachings of their antecedents blindly, like a certain incompetent professor…”

“I think I know who you are talking about…” The girl’s lips pursed into a smile.

Lou Cheng pondered for a few seconds, then said, “We’ll look deeper into it later. We might be able to learn something by comparing the different parts and deducing the reason and logic behind those alterations.”

“Mhm!” Yan Zheke nodded obediently, a smile dimpling her face. “Why not now though?”

“I’ll need some time to train my Emperor Yan Force and Ice Spirit Force. At the same time, I’ll do some data collection to see if I can find a certain pattern,” confessed Lou Cheng.

“What pattern?” Yan Zheke looked puzzled.

Stopping what he was doing at hand, Lou Cheng said, “I have been taking notes in this period of time, to see if the parts of my body that suffered the Freezing and Burning effects from the sequela correlated with my exercise method and location.”

“As for the sequela, even if we do find a solution, it might be a year or two later before it fully goes away. With such a long time, it’s not guaranteed that I wouldn’t be involved in another accident, so I want to recover as much combat power as possible.”

“Think about it, Ke Ke. If I can find some kind of pattern, I would be able to deduce the number of times I can use Ice Spirit Force before suffering the scorching effect. On the same note, I can deduce how many times I can use Emperor Yan Force before being hit by the cold-natured energy backflow. Plus, I’ll also know which parts the manifestation will occur, whether it’s my hands, feet, or half of my body. With that, I can plan and control in advance, so as to prevent being fully incapacitated. If I treat the affected parts of my body as external weapons, perhaps I can arrive at a new style of combat…”

“As such, even if I’m against an opponent of the same league, I wouldn’t go down instantly, or be completely helpless…”

From Lou Cheng’s long-winded explanation of his sequela to his future plans, there were utterly no signs of negativity. As Yan Zheke listened to the methodical, gentle, and calm man, she suddenly came to realize that Lou Cheng had become a real man through and through. In the face of danger and adversity, he was not blinded by rage or taken by fear. With the burden of responsibility on his back, he marched forth, steady like an unmovable monolith.

Her eyes, brilliant like the shimmering waters, were filled with emotion. She watched as Lou Cheng struck another stance and began to practice, every move full of power. Sometimes, he was interrupted by the cold attacks, and sometimes, by the heat attacks. But he never stopped.

Perspiration slid off his face in drops. Having just recovered from a grave injury, Lou Cheng didn’t want to take risks by over-practicing. Recovering from his stance, he heaved a corrupted breath.

“Using Ice Spirit Force twice triggers the burning effect, and using Emperor Yan Force causes the freezing effect. If I use them in alternation, I can use them four times in total… Using the last used force as criteria… But then the effects will spread across my entire body… What I just did were merely basic moves. I’ll try blending in Dan Stage secret arts from the Fire Sect and Ice Sect tomorrow… Without using force, I still can’t find the pattern at the moment…”

Yan Zheke pursed her lips and smiled. “It’s like doing qualitative and quantitative experiments.”

“It’s actually not much different,” said Lou Cheng. Recovering the scorching pain in his body, he smiled and walked inside the room to wash up.

It was only 4 pm. The sky was still lit, and it was too early for dinner. The couple retreated back to the bedroom. They began comparing Longhu Immortal’s opening chapter and Ge Hui’s cultivation manual, discussing the logic behind the improvements made.

It’s not necessarily guaranteed that beings today are stronger than their ancestors. However, if there hadn’t been any omnipotent beings as old as the universe itself, or omniscient beings who had mastered all the rules, the advancement with the times would be inevitable in a civilization where knowledge is handed down from generation to generation.

Yan Zheke, who was beginning to get the hang of cultivation, was extremely enthusiastic. Even after all of their research, she couldn’t stop herself from pestering Lou Cheng with related questions. She didn’t realize he was getting distracted until his hand looped around her waist and ventured into her home clothes.

She turned her head blankly, protesting in a daze, “We have not yet had dinner!”

She knew Lou Cheng was in high spirits that day, and so was she. She also knew that he had been holding it in for three months, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, she was prepared to go along with his wishes. Still, she expected the time to come before bed, but who would have thought?

This hooligan!

“Still early… It’s only 5, plus… Don’t we… usually eat at around seven?” said Lou Cheng in intervals as he repeatedly kissed the girl’s swan-like neck—white, long, and slender. His right and slowly explored upwards.

“In broad daylight!” chided Yan Zheke, blushing.

Lou Cheng darted forward and shut the curtains. Darkness fell across the room. He then turned, smiling.

“Not anymore.”

“…” Yan Zheke couldn’t refute. She wanted to protest further, but when she saw the stiff pause in Lou Cheng’s returning gait, her heart instantly softened. Gently biting her lips, she humph-ed and turned her head to the side, letting Lou Cheng embrace her and actively playing along.

…

During dinner, Lou Cheng buried his head while eating, occasionally receiving indignant stares from his little fairy beside him. She was radiant and exquisitely beautiful, but for her occasional frown.

Life went back on track, and these days continued on until the arrival of the couple’s winter break.

At that moment, more and more people were entering Solemn Silence in Lou Cheng’s cultivation class. They had also more or less adjusted themselves to the Taoist techniques. Of course, if George and the others wanted to achieve the stage of Force Concentration and Dan Equilibrium, they would need at least one more year.

Before returning to Xiushan, Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke made another trip to the military base. As usual, they ran experiments on Lou Cheng’s blood, and as usual, no results turned up.

“But I have got some good news for you,” said the military Technician Geek, propping up his glasses.

“What good news?” asked Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke at once.

The military personnel produced a silver pendant.

“Following the clues left by Ge Hui, we retrieved the Formation Formula!”