Chapter 161 - 103: A Noble Lady Becomes an Attendant, Holding a Bow and Leading a Spirit Deer, Great Increase in Dao Skill, Master’s Sect and Senior Brother, The Celestial Blade School

Chapter 161: Chapter 103: A Noble Lady Becomes an Attendant, Holding a Bow and Leading a Spirit Deer, Great Increase in Dao Skill, Master’s Sect and Senior Brother, The Celestial Blade School

The line between dusk and nightfall.

Duan Chenzhou nodded. He had watched as Ji Xiu, using his palm as a blade, channeled his Qi and Blood until it roared like a dragon. With this power, he had fought and defeated a young woman from a Prefecture City Grand Lineage, one who had genuinely achieved Bone Tempering Perfection and reached the state of Mercury Blood Silver Marrow.

This was the essence of Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate. Once infused with Dragon Blood, one’s bones and sinews would undergo their fourth transformation, evolving from Silver Carp, to Fish Dragon, to Flood Dragon Species...

Even in all the world, it ranked among the finest Foundation Establishment Treasure Skills.

Even the Superior Bone Tempering Methods of the Prefecture’s Grand Lineages, which relied on various secret medicine formulas for refinement and forging, could not compare.

And when Ji Xiu spoke, belittling Ye Ningzhi’s accomplishments to the point of worthlessness and almost shattering her Martial Arts Zen Heart, a sharp glint flashed in Duan Chenzhou’s eyes. He began to laugh and applaud.

"Now that’s what I call my disciple."

’Look at how he speaks. Isn’t it brilliant?’

’To be a Martial Artist, you have to be like this. If all you do is train and cultivate, fighting but never killing, how can you ever achieve true mastery?’

’This fine disciple of mine, ever since completing his foundational conditioning and his Martial Arts took shape, has been freely navigating the Earth Dragon Cave Mountain Dao with his Broken Jade Longbow on his back, as if it were level ground—and he is only sixteen.’

’The number of demons that have died by his hand is already countless. How could these young ladies from the Grand Lineages possibly imagine such a thing?’

’It was just like me, Duan Chenzhou, back in the day. I made a living at a fishing stall in the Prefecture City, braving the wind and rain. I steered my little sampan into Shuwan, witnessed countless insidious schemes, and battled so many Thief Demons on the open water. That was how I forged my skills!’

’Such experiences allowed me to break the Three Limits in my youth. If not for ill fortune, I would have broken through my shackles and become a Grandmaster a decade ago.’

But even so...

’After struggling for more than a decade, I can still swim against the current. I still have a chance to achieve Circulation Qi Collection—the state that comes after the Qi Sea and symbolizes the Fourth Great Limit of a Martial Artist’s Body!’

’And what did I rely on to do it?’

’Not a life of luxury and inherited treasures.’

’It was exactly as Ji Xiu said...’

’I relied on my Killing Skills, and the fire I nurtured in my heart!’

"Did Ye Luan send you?"

Duan Chenzhou trod on the deep snow. He looked at Ye Ningzhi, whose Martial Arts Zen Heart was trembling, her gaze fixed on Ji Xiu as if he were a haunting shadow, and asked his question.

Ye Ningzhi froze. She raised her eyes to the purple-clothed Martial Artist. In the shifting twilight, currents of Qi swirled around him like an Immortal Robe, making his Treasure Body seem like that of an immortal or a sage.

Seeing Qin Zhuo by his side, she recognized the man’s identity in an instant, without a second thought.

’Crescent Celestial Saber, Duan Chenzhou!’

"...No. I heard the rumors that you had taken a disciple, so I came on my own accord."

Ye Ningzhi brushed herself off, trying to regain some composure, and spoke in a low voice.

"Your Master, at least, used to play by the rules. She wasn’t like those from the Daoist Schools who chase fame or the Grandmasters who pursue profit, harming others and forcing them to submit at the slightest provocation. That’s why, despite fighting her so many times, I never dealt a killing blow."

"But my disciple is different from me. He hasn’t experienced the sordid affairs of the Prefecture, so he might not show you any mercy."

"And don’t you feel indignant about your loss."

"His Bone Tempering was different from that of ordinary people. To forge the skeleton he has now, he had to shatter and reform his bones, undergo multiple blood exchanges, and constantly transform... The effort he expended is beyond your imagination."

"You don’t have to be in a Prefecture City or a famous School to build a good foundation. A Martial Artist from a backwater county can be just as much of a prodigy."

Ye Ningzhi listened to Duan Chenzhou’s lecture like a junior receiving instruction.

Finally, looking at Duan Chenzhou’s impassive expression, she couldn’t hold back any longer.

"But... Elder Duan, didn’t you and my Master fight dozens of times without you ever losing? My Master has always brooded over it. She swore an oath to defeat you with her sword, face-to-face, when you are at your absolute peak. You..."

A cool breeze drifted by. Hearing this, Duan Chenzhou suddenly clicked his tongue. "Tsk."

"Is that what Ye Luan told you?"

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Only someone like her who has never won would brood over it."

"But, little girl,"

Duan Chenzhou said, flicking his saber nonchalantly,

"I have never considered those I’ve defeated to be my rivals. Especially not someone who has lost to me dozens of times over her life without a single victory."

"As far as I’m concerned, Ye Luan is merely a diversion for my leisure time—a junior I can offer a bit of guidance to."

"So what if, since then, she became a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, earned a place in the Prefecture Examinations, and gained the Merit and Fame of a Prefecture Official?"

"She is still no match for me."

Dejected and dusty, Ye Ningzhi’s eyes widened in shock as she finished hearing his words. It was as if a door to a new world had been thrown open. She stared blankly at Duan Chenzhou’s back, a shattered constellation of light glimmering in her eyes.

But Cai Ling’Er, who stood to the side while Ji Xiu pestered her for some reward, gave the purple-clothed Martial Artist a strange look. ’Those words...’ she thought, ’...they sound awfully familiar.’

’A few days ago, on the Earth Dragon Cave Mountain Dao, when I failed to subdue Ji Xiu and was instead pinned down, completely helpless—that boy had the exact same arrogant air about him!’

’No wonder they say, like master, like disciple!’

’Birds of a feather really do flock together.’

Cai Ling’Er shot Ji Xiu a resentful glare.

Ye Ningzhi, however, wore a serious expression.

"I have been taught a valuable lesson."

"Then... may I follow you and train for a time?"

"I have already passed through the stages of Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, and Mercury Blood Silver Marrow. My Skin Membrane has been refined to be like jade and has reached the right point. I am ready to break through at any moment."

"You said that my cultivation and training are not lacking, only that I lack real combat experience. I wish to ask for your guidance on how to improve my Swordsmanship, so that I can reach the level where my Master will bestow upon me the Secret Martial Dao, ’Startled Swan from the Sleeve.’"

Duan Chenzhou raised an eyebrow.

"Your Martial Dao aptitude isn’t bad; you’ve even cultivated your Sword Stance to Perfection. However, you haven’t even crossed the most basic threshold—the one where blade and sword are one—called ’Ten Steps One Kill, Forsake Life and Death.’"