A Word To Heaven

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The formal disciples’ side was more strict—identities needed to be verified. After all, even evil sects feared righteous sect members infiltrating to cause trouble. As for the lay disciples’ side, it was much more chaotic. By the time Xu Yan received his technique and squeezed out of the crowd, he looked at his own hands.

Clean and spotless, without any red marks. Whose hand had he used to make the handprint earlier?

The name wasn’t his, and the handprint wasn’t his either. Having received the technique and waist token, Xu Yan happily left North Street. He ate a large bowl of wontons by the roadside and packed another large bowl for Little Black, then returned to Plum Fragrance Tower with satisfaction.

When entering, he casually took Eight Fingers Wang’s steel blade that was only sharpened but never practiced with. In his small courtyard, Xu Yan began examining Ghost King Gate’s Seven Star Sword Manual.

The fifty taels of silver weren’t wasted. Besides the sword manual, there were also records of the six realms of innate martial artists. Xu Yan, flipping through the technique, appeared very curious, blinking as he immersed himself in the world that belonged only to innate martial artists.

Governor, Conception, Penetrating, Yin, Yang, Union—the locations of the six innate meridian gates. The sword manual briefly mentioned the names of the six meridians, followed by a section introducing the characteristics of six-meridian martial artists.

First meridian: true qi enhancement. Second meridian: hearing wind to discern position. Third meridian: observing in all six directions. Fourth meridian: body light as a swallow. Fifth meridian: striking stone into stele. Sixth meridian: sword emerges like a rainbow.

Each time a meridian was broken through, an innate martial artist would gain a rare talent. This talent came with the opening of meridian gates—simply summarized as six obvious characteristics that strengthened the body.

“Striking stone into stele?”

When reading this section introducing the characteristics of six-meridian innate martial artists, Xu Yan’s gaze stopped at the ability of fifth-meridian innate martial artists. These four words “striking stone into stele”—he seemed to have heard them somewhere before. After thinking briefly, it seemed to be the half-sentence that Liao Jiuming had roared out when he died.

When Flying Centipede was killed, Xu Yan himself had also fallen into the pain coming from his left eye. He hadn’t heard clearly what Liao Jiuming said at the time, but vaguely it seemed to be these four words: “striking stone into stele.”

Liao Jiuming was only a two-meridian innate martial artist. Who was he referring to with “striking stone into stele”?

Xu Yan frowned. He wasn’t talking about himself, was he?

The Twin Sparrows fired at close range could indeed make Xu Yan’s stones directly embed in mountain rocks, but whether this level of force counted as “striking stone into stele,” Xu Yan wasn’t clear. After thinking for a moment, he dismissed his doubts and began studying the Seven Star Sword Manual.

Step on the seven stars, sword follows the Big Dipper, qi sinks to the dantian…

While reading the sword manual, Xu Yan casually gestured with the blade. The sword manual wasn’t difficult—the moves even had illustrations. It was just that the methods for circulating qi through meridian gates seemed somewhat obscure. However, for Xu Yan, there was a familiar feeling. This method of circulating qi was somewhat similar to when he practiced the Flying Stone technique.

As he read and practiced, the steel blade in Xu Yan’s right hand gradually became covered with a thin layer of light. As the blade edge turned, with a crack, it cut off a corner of the solid wooden table.

The blade edge had only accidentally touched the wooden table and should have left at most a notch, but it was directly cut through. When the sound appeared, Xu Yan’s gaze naturally followed. When he saw the dim light appearing on the steel blade, he was so startled that he let go.

With a clang, the steel blade fell to the ground, and the light on the blade edge disappeared.

True qi!

Xu Yan scratched his head, thinking to himself that he had only been gesturing casually and hadn’t even started practicing properly. How had true qi appeared?

With a creak, the door opened, and an alluring figure pushed through.

“Can’t even hold a blade steady, yet you want to learn martial arts like others. You’re only suited for feeding pigs.”

Mei Sanniang entered the room, reached out to take the sword manual, and sat directly on the bed. She wouldn’t be polite with Xu Yan.

“This is… Ghost King Gate’s sword manual?”

After looking at it twice, Mei Sanniang quickly closed it and scolded: “You brat, you joined Ghost King Gate? That’s the leader of Qi Nation’s evil sects. Third Sister was still counting on you to care for me in my old age. If something happens to you, who will take care of me!”

“I’m a lay disciple, hehe.” Xu Yan grinned foolishly: “Third Sister, feel free to look. If you can break through one meridian, you’ll also become an innate martial artist.”

Hearing he was a lay disciple, Mei Sanniang’s expression finally improved. She snorted: “Even as a lay disciple, sword manuals can’t be casually shown to outsiders. If Ghost King Gate people knew you were privately transmitting sword techniques, wouldn’t they cause you trouble?”

“They won’t. This sword manual belongs to Flying Toad.” Xu Yan said with a smile.

“Flying Toad?” Mei Sanniang knew the little Taoist was full of mischief and asked curiously: “You didn’t use your own name? And who is this master Flying Toad?”

“Zhuang Laosi, of course.” Xu Yan laughed heartily, and Mei Sanniang also laughed until she swayed back and forth.

“Bad boy, Zhuang Laosi meeting you was eight lifetimes of bad luck.” Mei Sanniang said with a light laugh: “Get up early tomorrow and prepare more fine wine. Tomorrow, an important person will come to our Plum Fragrance Tower. Be alert and don’t make any mistakes.”

Hearing about an important person, Xu Yan’s eyebrows moved slightly.

“The Green Wood Hall master?”

The hall master Xu Yan mentioned was Yue Chengfeng, who had been pursuing Mei Sanniang lately.

“It’s a Ghost King Gate guardian, hosting General Yan of Fengdu City.” Although it wasn’t Yue Chengfeng, Mei Sanniang’s expression obviously changed slightly when she heard about that Green Wood Hall master.

“Third Sister, Yue Chengfeng will be trouble sooner or later.”

Xu Yan could see Mei Sanniang’s annoyance and consoled her: “Third Sister said before that if we can’t provoke him, we can avoid him. If we really can’t solve it, you and I will just leave. Whether we wander in foreign lands or return to Great Pu to farm and raise pigs, it’s better than being coerced by others.”

Speaking thus, Xu Yan confidently patted his chest: “I’ve saved up a lot of money—enough to build a Taoist temple and support Third Sister.”

The woman burst out laughing and said irritably: “Third Sister has a wealthy fate. You, a poor Taoist, can’t support me yet. I won’t go chant scriptures with you. Don’t worry, I have my own sense about Yue Chengfeng’s matter.”

Xu Yan knew Mei Sanniang’s scheming well. Seeing her so confident, he stopped worrying. After Mei Sanniang left, he picked up the steel blade again and began practicing.

With the help of this sword manual, Xu Yan gradually discovered that he could indeed circulate true qi, and the light on his blade was much brighter than both Lu Hai’s and Liao Jiuming’s. This point left Xu Yan completely puzzled.

Could it be that he had already broken through meridian gates and reached the innate realm, but had never known it himself?

Recalling that over these years, apart from practicing the Flying Stone technique his master had taught him, he had never practiced any blade or sword techniques, Xu Yan could only attribute his possession of innate true qi to the movement technique the old Taoist had taught him.

Master was still the best to him—the Flying Stone technique could actually lead directly to the innate realm!

Holding the inexplicable Seven Star Sword Manual, Xu Yan grinned foolishly alone in his room. He was wondering if he could now swagger through Willow Street, because he often saw figures who were said to be innate masters, and they all swaggered when they went out, like crabs.

Having true qi was good. Whether it was first-meridian innate or six-meridian didn’t matter much to Xu Yan.

Being able to go directly from an ordinary little Taoist to a dreamed-of innate martial artist, Xu Yan was already overjoyed. Look, even in the middle of the night, he was still in the pig pen telling Little Black about today’s miraculous encounter, making Little Black grunt and snort.

What innate true qi was, the pig didn’t know. The pig only knew that the late-night snack its master brought back was too delicious.