Chapter 240 - 129: Celestial Blade Style, the Titled Chen Danding of the Past, a Shrine Tablet Carved with the Martial Saint’s Ultimate Skill

Chapter 240: Chapter 129: Celestial Blade Style, the Titled Chen Danding of the Past, a Shrine Tablet Carved with the Martial Saint’s Ultimate Skill

"Old Sixth, I know you’re close to Third Senior Brother—he taught you more than half of your Martial Arts. But the Sect is weak now. According to Master, this is a time for us to lay low and build our strength."

"As long as we protect the Ancestral Hall, and with the fragmented True Inheritance left by Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang, our lineage will always have a chance to rise again."

"Don’t let your emotions get the better of you..."

Yinn Hong and Li Songxi recalled the recent events in Jiangyin Prefecture, their hearts heavy with worry.

More than a decade had passed.

The lingering might left behind by Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang was fading bit by bit, prompting the other Sect Leaders and their subordinate Daoist Schools to move from probing to outright action.

Old enemies came knocking, extorting the Sect’s treasured Earth Treasures and Spiritual Marrow.

Junior Martial Uncle Duan Chenzhou slew a Grandmaster from the Purple Mist Daoist School and fled to the East Canghai.

Afterward, the Celestial Blade School’s Daoist School was delisted in Jiangyin Prefecture. Infuriated, Third Senior Brother Yuu Zhai tried to emulate what Junior Martial Uncle Duan Chenzhou had done years ago. He issued challenges to the Six Great Daoist Schools, aiming to dominate the Power Barrier and reclaim the Sect’s honorific plaque. But he was defeated, his legs were crippled, and he returned to the Sect, broken and disheartened...

One incident after another followed in quick succession.

The Sect’s prestige plummeted to rock bottom. The Outer Sect disciples and those managing the businesses in the prefecture lost heart and scattered. Left with no other choice, Master dismissed everyone but the True Inheritance disciples and sealed off the island, closing the Sect’s gates.

This also left his True Inheritance disciples on edge, startled by the slightest disturbance and prone to overreacting.

As the two successors of the Celestial Blade Style drew near the coast, their expressions grew even more tense.

"What a terrifying Great Flood Dragon..."

"I heard that the Jiangyin Prefecture Fishing Trade once supported a Flood Dragon Monarch from the East Canghai. He’s said to be incredibly powerful, possessing a Dragon Descendant’s lineage. Even an ordinary Qi Cultivation Grandmaster would be no match for him!"

"This flood dragon... could it be that because Junior Martial Uncle Duan has resurfaced recently, that Master Chen specially invited it to make things difficult for our lineage?"

Ever since Eldest Senior Brother Qin Zhuo went to Anning County and brought news back to the Sect about the deeds of Duan Chenzhou and his disciple, Ji Xiu...

Sect Leader Chen Hex, as well as a few of his disciples, all learned that their Junior Martial Uncle, the Sword Dao Genius from all those years ago, had not only survived but had become a Grandmaster.

Furthermore, he had taken on a young prodigy who had suppressed a demonic scourge, swept through the Central Yellow, and broken through the Second Great Limit!

He had even solidified the foundation laid down by Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang, perhaps even surpassing it!

Yinn Hong and Li Songxi had heard these stories often, so it was only natural that their minds began to race.

Just as they tightened their grips on their saber hilts and drew closer, they saw Duan Chenzhou and Ji Xiu...

’Wait, that person is...?’

Seeing the Martial Artist in fluttering purple silk robes, wearing a Crescent Saber, their eyes widened. They found a familiar source for this image in the hazy memories of their youth and couldn’t help but exclaim in unison:

"Junior... Junior Martial Uncle Duan!?"

"Then this young man must be..."

When they saw Ji Xiu’s smooth and crystal-clear skin, looking as though he had just perfected the Jade Skin stage, they glanced at each other, utterly bewildered.

They, too, had achieved Jade Skin.

But...

The caliber of the Jade Skin this young man before them had achieved...

...was unmatched by anyone in the entire Celestial Blade Style!

’Is this the prodigy Junior Martial Uncle took in at Anning County?’

Seeing the shock in the two’s eyes,

Duan Chenzhou gazed at the distant cluster of pavilions, built from green bricks and gray tiles, that had once been prosperous and thriving. He could no longer find the bustling crowds or the solemn, dignified atmosphere of the past.

Now, all that remained was a scene of desolate silence.

Seeing this,

He lowered his gaze, gave a faint "mm" of acknowledgment to the two juniors whom he vaguely remembered, and then led Ji Xiu inside.

No matter how competitive or concerned with face he was,

to see his own lineage even more dilapidated and ruined than when he had left...

He recalled how the sect had flourished at its peak when the Ancestral Master was still alive.

The contrast between its rise and fall.

It was hard not to feel a pang of sorrow.

...

Celestial Blade Style.

On the Sword Casting Platform, made of green bricks and gray tiles.

Chen Hex, the Sect Leader of the Celestial Blade Style and eldest disciple of Wang Xuanyang—the ’Vast Sea Celestial Saber’ who once shook Jiangyin Prefecture—looked at the master and disciple pair. They had traveled from afar, yet still appeared full of vigor.

His gaze lingered for a moment on Duan Chenzhou’s severed arm before shifting to Ji Xiu.

When the stern, gray-haired Sect Leader saw that Ji Xiu’s tendons were like a True Flood Dragon’s and his bones like those of the Dragon Descendants...

He couldn’t help but fall into a trance for a moment:

’The True Intent of the Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake, the four scrolls of Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate...’

’He’s truly mastered them all.’

’Before you came, I thought Qin Zhuo was pulling my leg.’

’He’s just like Wang Xuanyang back in the day.’

Beside the Sect Leader—who carried a broadsaber on his back, and whose figure, though desolate from behind, stood as still as a deep abyss and as tall as a mountain—

Qin Zhuo, the Great Robe Inheritor of the Celestial Blade Style whom Ji Xiu had met before—a man with thick, righteous-looking eyebrows—beamed upon hearing this:

"What do you think, Master? I was right, wasn’t I?"

"I told you, Little Junior Brother is a dragon among men! He trains tirelessly in Martial Arts and Cultivation Techniques. In the future, he’s sure to surpass you and the Ancestral Master..."

Qin Zhuo lavished praise on Ji Xiu right in front of him, making Ji Xiu feel a bit embarrassed.

The process had certainly been arduous, but as for whether it was truly *difficult*...

...only he himself knew the truth.

With that thought, Ji Xiu studied the Sect Leader, Chen Hex, from the corner of his eye. After observing him, he couldn’t help but think to himself:

’This doesn’t match the image my Master has been feeding me all this time.’

He originally thought that this Senior Master of the Celestial Blade Style would be a gentle person who knew when to show weakness.

But looking at him now, although his back seemed desolate, his spine was ramrod straight.

With a broadsaber on his back, one could tell at a glance that he didn’t walk the same saber path as Duan Chenzhou.

But in terms of the depth of his Qi Dao, he seemed faintly superior, exuding more of that "great mountain" feeling, which made Ji Xiu click his tongue in astonishment.