Chapter 54: Exploration II

“Grandpa, looking at background alone, our family has Summoners too. What’s so amazing about that?” The young man in blue frowned unconvinced.

“Summoners are different from Summoners. Low, medium, high—the gap between each level is immense. Even among High-tier Summoners, Yu Ying is in the tier of extremely strong power. Plus, her father is an Elder of the Shayue Sect, her mother comes from a major clan in the Inner City, and she herself is cruel by nature. Among the Three Sects and Six Gangs, she has taken the Vice Sect Master of the Fushan Sect as her master. Her strength and background are even more exaggerated…”

Huang Shangying sighed. “And that Lin Hui, young as he is, has already reached the limit of Body Tempering at nineteen. Although he still won’t give up on the Clear Wind Sword and might be slightly lacking in practical combat, his movement speed is fast enough, and his ability to preserve his life is strong enough. For someone with his background, that is sufficient. The gap between such a figure and you all…”

He didn’t finish the rest of the sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

The two young people looked a bit ugly, but they were still unconvinced. However, Lin Hui had left a deep impression on them.

On the other side.

Mingde led Lin Hui slowly out of the restaurant, walking along the sidewalk.

“Speak. What did you want to see me about?”

“Master, this disciple wants to ask, how can one generate Internal Force during Secondary Body Tempering?” Lin Hui asked in a low voice.

“You’ve maxed out your Primary Body Tempering?” Mingde was stunned.

“Yes.”

“…Did you use medicine?”

“Used some,” Lin Hui answered honestly.

“That doesn’t affect much.” Mingde exhaled. “For Secondary Body Tempering, have you really decided to use the Clear Wind Sword? With your current background, your father should be able to force you into the Three Sects and Six Gangs of the Inner City. Once inside, you can learn stronger Internal Force cultivation methods. Entering the Three Great Powers isn’t impossible either. You need to think it over carefully.”

“…This disciple is certain.” Lin Hui recalled the soon-to-evolve Wild Wind Sword Style, his expression calm.

“Alright. Indeed, suddenly switching to cultivate other Secondary Body Tempering martial arts now would take a long time. Since your family has risen anyway—Old Lin is riding high and can hire Internal Force experts with money—as long as you guarantee you run fast enough when escaping, that’s enough. In terms of running away, the Clear Wind Sword does have a huge advantage,” Mingde nodded.

He stopped walking and looked back at his disciple.

“Actually, seeing you and Vivi manage the Sword Sect so well during this time, I feel ashamed. I am the Sect Master, yet the biggest pressure has fallen on you young people. But I really can’t muster the energy to start from scratch and redevelop the Sword Sect step by step.”

He sighed.

“The Clear Wind Sword has fallen too far behind other martial arts. Perhaps digging out advantages solely from running speed can barely continue the inheritance, but such a struggle is too hard.”

“Master…” Lin Hui opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Mingde raising his hand.

“Don’t rush, let me finish.” Mingde’s gaze drifted, as if looking at something farther and higher, his pupils losing focus.

“Actually, turning the Sword Sect into an elderly health class is a very good idea. Although it can’t develop, at least it can survive. So, I plan to hand the Sword Sect over to you completely.”

“Master, what do you mean?!” Lin Hui shivered, sensing something wrong.

“Literal meaning. From now on, I will retreat behind the scenes. You are the Sect Master, and Vivi will be the Elder. I see you teach disciples well; the future development of the Clear Wind Sword Sect depends on you!” A relaxed smile appeared on Mingde’s face as he patted Lin Hui’s shoulder.

“…Master, you aren’t thinking of… running away, are you?” An ominous premonition rose in Lin Hui’s heart.

“How could that be? Do you think I’m that irresponsible?” Mingde frowned. “I still want to watch you and Vivi carry forward the Clear Wind Sword Sect through another path!”

“…I understand.” Lin Hui breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t expected his teacher to decisively pass the position of Sect Master to him after confirming he didn’t intend to defect.

“Continuing with the question just now, how does the generation of Internal Force appear?” Mingde returned to a serious expression. “Do you remember our sect’s fundamental diagram, the Bright Moon Mountain Range Diagram?”

“I remember.”

“Do you think the essence of Body Tempering is mastering force points, then letting the body absorb more food faster to achieve the effect of increasing strength?” Mingde asked.

“Isn’t it?”

“Of course not.” Mingde smiled. “In actual Body Tempering, mastering force points is only to let the body naturally stimulate its own invisible power to form a special External Weave on the body surface.”

“External Weave?” It was the first time Lin Hui had heard this term, and obvious curiosity appeared on his face.

“Correct. This layer of weave is woven from the invisible power emitted by our own bodies. It is closely related to our bodies. The effect of Body Tempering is merely a byproduct generated during the process of weaving this layer.” Mingde explained.

“Then why weave this layer?” Lin Hui asked.

“Naturally, for Internal Force.” Mingde smiled. “You didn’t think Internal Force comes from digesting and transforming the food we eat, did you? Actually, it’s not… It is filtered and captured from the external space through our weave.”

“You know spiders? The weave is like a spider web. As we practice the sword, we constantly attract a large amount of various unknown auras into our bodies. Among these unknown auras, some are useful, some are useless, and some are even toxic and harmful. We need an extra woven net to filter and screen them.” Mingde explained simply.

“So, Internal Force actually originates from unknown auras outside the body?” Lin Hui understood.

“Yes. Therefore, whether you can generate Internal Force during Secondary Body Tempering has a lot to do with the net you wove before, and also with the environment where you temper your body. Let me tell you a secret.” Mingde laughed. “When I tempered my body and generated Internal Force, it was during stormy weather. Not just me; your Senior Uncle Daoist Baohe also completed his Internal Force generation in strong winds.”

“Also,” he continued, “different fundamental diagrams, mental cultivation methods, and moves, when combined, weave different nets and screen different unknown auras. This is the key leading to the different nature and strength of martial arts Internal Force. Since you are about to step into this stage, I will tell you a common point of caution in the Internal Force Realm.”

“Point of caution?” Lin Hui sharply noticed the serious tone in his teacher’s voice when saying this word.

“Yes. Actually, not entering the Inner City and choosing the Three Sects and Six Gangs can be considered a correct choice. At least with your father’s protection, if you inherit the family business smoothly later, you will live longer than many Inner City martial artists. The competition in the Inner City is cruel to the extreme. Some residents who can’t get by will even actively draw blood to condense Feather Blood for sale. Even Inner City residents with wealthy ancestors are like this; you can imagine how much pressure the martial artists inside face.”

A look of reminiscence appeared on Mingde’s face.

“You must remember, once martial arts reach Internal Force, it is another new beginning. Above this dividing line, all Internal Force martial arts are universally divided into two categories: Limit Martial Arts and Ordinary Martial Arts.”

“What does that mean?” Lin Hui asked in a deep voice.

“As the name implies, Limit Martial Arts pursue intensity, progress, and cultivation base by any means necessary, rushing forward madly and constantly breaking limits. Almost all martial arts in the Inner City are Limit Martial Arts. Their characteristic is that the practitioner’s progress and intensity far exceed Ordinary Martial Arts, but the side effects are enormous. Basically, all practitioners are accompanied by physical and mental problems, large or small.” Mingde explained.

“…Are such martial arts really worth practicing?” Lin Hui’s heart tightened as he asked.

“Without doing so, without enough intensity, martial artists are useless to Summoners in the Inner City. So everyone has to fight. If you don’t fight, you will be eliminated and driven out to the Outer City. Once in the Outer City, wanting to go back is extremely difficult,” Mingde answered.

“Do martial artists in the Inner City all serve Summoners?” Lin Hui asked again.

“Essentially no. It’s just that Summoners are closer to the true nobility. The ones ruling the major urban districts are still the extremely few Origin Blood Nobles. They are the direct bloodline of the Mist People and the fundamental source maintaining the mist-free zones of the major urban districts. Summoners are just servants serving the Origin Blood Nobles. Compared to martial artists, they are closer to the Origin Blood.” Mingde replied.

Lin Hui had never heard of Origin Blood Nobles, nor had he heard of Mist People.

“Then why have we never heard of or seen them?”

“Because the Inner City is very, very large. Your father doesn’t want to tell you these things either. Guess how big our Tuyue Inner City is?” Mingde smiled.

“I heard father mention that the Inner City population is over nineteen million…” Lin Hui answered with slight hesitation.

“Want to go in and take a look? I happen to have two temporary passes I applied for earlier.” Mingde tempted.

“…Can I?” Lin Hui was full of curiosity about the Inner City. After all, with his experience from his previous life, he knew very well what a city with a population of tens of millions meant.

“I know of over eighty towns on the periphery of Tuyue, and the distance between each one is huge. These towns surround the Inner City in the center. Guess how big the Inner City is?” Mingde laughed.

Without waiting for Lin Hui’s answer, he led his disciple straight toward the endless massive white wall.

The two crossed the streets. Pedestrians on both sides became fewer and fewer, as did vehicles.

In the end, only a few ox carts transporting supplies remained, slowly heading toward the city wall.

Before long, the two arrived at the base of the white city wall, in front of a huge white circular arch gate.

The gate was ten meters high and eight meters wide. Its surface was engraved with marks that seemed to be both text and patterns.

Its material appeared to be some kind of stone. At the very top of the gate, black crystals were inlaid to form three large characters: South Ninth Gate.

At the bottom of the large gate, a small five-meter-wide door was opened for the flow of traffic.

What surprised Lin Hui was that this door was completely unguarded. The door was wide open, allowing anyone to enter or exit.

“No one is foolish enough to enter the Inner City voluntarily, especially without permission. Staying inside for too long will lead to trouble.” Mingde seemed to see his confusion.

“Feather Blood, permits—these are items issued by the Inner City to protect residents. Even this incredibly tall city wall has the effect of blocking certain internal radiation forces.”

Lin Hui seemed to understand. Following his master without stopping, they quickly entered the city wall through the one-meter-wide gray pedestrian stone path on the left side of the small door.

Behind the door was a somewhat dim tunnel.

The tunnel was about thirty meters long. Before reaching the end, bright skylight shone in from ahead.

In that white skylight, there were sounds of birds chirping, crowds clamoring, livestock lowing, and vendors hawking wares.

Mingde stuffed a piece of sky-blue jade into Lin Hui’s hand.

“Follow me closely.”

He gave a reminder, then took the lead, stepping into the white skylight.

(End of Chapter)