Chapter 121: Chapter 107: Got You (Requesting Monthly Tickets)
True Martial Mountain.
Seeking Tao Institute.
Zhuang Chen had already woken up two days earlier. Over these two days of recuperation, his external injuries had mostly healed, but the most troublesome issue was the shattered Sword Bone within him.
"Ninth Senior Brother, is there really still a way to restore my Sword Bone?"
There was a look of hope on Zhuang Chen’s face.
If possible, he certainly did not want to be reduced to a cripple. He still had to seek justice for his master and personally ask Dong He why he did such a thing.
Ning Qi nodded slightly.
After a few days of research, he successfully advanced the Innate Sword Body Secret Technique further and deduced a method to restore the Sword Bone.
However, the process would not be pleasant.
Ning Qi asked solemnly:
"It will be very painful. Are you sure you don’t want to wait until the injuries fully recover?"
Seeing Zhuang Chen unmoved, he added:
"It will be dozens of times more painful than when the Celestial Being Grand Ceremony explored your Sword Bone."
A trace of fear involuntarily appeared in Zhuang Chen’s eyes but was quickly replaced by determination.
"Ninth Senior Brother, I’m not afraid! The sooner the Sword Bone recovers, the sooner I can start cultivating!"
He was afraid of pain, but he feared even more becoming a cripple for life.
"Alright, to reassemble your Sword Bone is not too difficult. The key lies in the Innate Sword Body Secret Technique I taught you before. You have already relearned the Reversing Fate Technique over the past two days, but now you have no Inner Strength, so you will have to rely on mine."
"The Secret Technique’s resonance can guide the revival of your Sword Bone, but the process is incredibly painful, even more terrifying than being flayed alive. Also, the power comes from me, so you will be repelled by my strength, enduring double the pain. Throughout the process, you must keep your willpower clear, not letting it waver, or you will suffer even more serious injuries."
Ning Qi warned seriously.
Zhuang Chen took a deep breath and finally nodded firmly:
"Come on, Ninth Senior Brother, I can do it!"
"Alright."
Ning Qi didn’t waste any time.
The two sat facing each other, their palms facing each other, and the White Ape was guarding them.
In an instant.
Ning Qi moved. He circulated Gang Qi, diluting its strength as much as possible, skillfully controlling it within the limits that Zhuang Chen could bear while still being effective, before flowing it into Zhuang Chen’s body.
Zhuang Chen trembled all over, remembering Ning Qi’s warnings.
He channeled this foreign power, reversing the Innate Sword Body Technique.
In an instant.
Vibrations formed, resonating with the shattered Sword Bone within his body.
He felt his whole body tremble as an indescribable pain attacked his soul, like countless steel needles piercing through his body. Not even the pain of being gnawed by ten thousand ants could describe his discomfort. Zhuang Chen’s eyes bulged out, he grit his teeth ferociously, blood oozed from them, and a low growl was forcibly swallowed back...
Ning Qi paid close attention to Zhuang Chen’s condition.
He had stated the situation so seriously earlier, but if Zhuang Chen truly couldn’t hold on, he could stop immediately, preventing Zhuang Chen from suffering unnecessarily.
At this moment.
Seeing Zhuang Chen endure it, Ning Qi could not help but be impressed. Originally, he thought Zhuang Chen might need several attempts to adapt, but unexpectedly, he persisted through it in one go.
Looking at the chubby boy in front of him biting his teeth with bloodshot eyes, Ning Qi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
He remembered the Celestial Being Grand Ceremony earlier when even just exploring the Sword Bone made Zhuang Chen scream like a baby. Yet now, he endured the pain dozens of times greater by gritting his teeth. The changes at the Divine Sword Sect indeed had a great impact on Zhuang Chen.
Yet misfortune and fortune co-exist.
Through this ordeal, if his Sword Bone breaks and then stands, forging such a tenacious will, Zhuang Chen’s future will truly be unlimited.
After the incense stick burned out.
Ning Qi slowly withdrew his hands as Zhuang Chen collapsed on the ground like a lump of soft mud, gasping for air, his body twitching continuously, but there was an unexplainable excitement in his eyes:
"Ninth... Ninth Senior Brother, I... I should have... succeeded, right?"
Ning Qi smiled approvingly:
"It went very smoothly this time. However, reviving the Sword Bone will not be easy. I will guide you a few more times. Once your Sword Bone is preliminarily restored, you will be able to operate the Secret Technique on your own to recover the Sword Bone. In a month, there might be hope for complete restoration."
Zhuang Chen clenched his fists, extremely excited.
"Thank you, Ninth Senior Brother!"
He looked at Ning Qi, full of gratitude, while marveling. From the first time they met, Ning Qi’s sword had seemed extraordinary to him, and now, having glimpsed just the tip of the iceberg, he felt this Ninth Senior Brother was unfathomable to the extreme.
Ning Qi merely smiled and waved his hand:
"No need to be so polite between us brothers. Rest well, we’ll continue tomorrow."
He felt an unusual sensation in his heart.
Although Zhuang Chen was technically three years older than him, a junior disciple is still a junior disciple. This made Ning Qi, who had always been used to the role of a junior, experience the feeling of being a senior brother for the first time.
...
Midnight.
Outside True Martial Mountain, a figure in black quietly approached. Upon closer inspection, it was surprisingly a bewitching woman with striking beauty, one of the Primordial Core Realm individuals who had gathered earlier.
The bewitching woman’s face was somewhat sullen. She never expected to draw the lot herself.
"Damn Zhao Dong, I’ve played along with you in bed so many times, and now you send me on such a dangerous mission. You refuse to recognize me once the deed is done; serves you right for being useless!"
She cursed the leader in her heart.
Though it was labeled as drawing lots, who could say there wasn’t some trickery involved?
Gazing at the distant True Martial Mountain, she felt a flicker of trepidation.
The renown of True Man Tianjian naturally instilled fear.
Though Zhao Dong’s analysis was somewhat reasonable, everyone understood that those Primordial Core Realm members going to carry out the mission were prepared to be sacrifices. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the preparation of the Heaven-Sensing Gu. Once it sensed the fluctuation of the Power of Heaven and Earth, it would instantly shatter, spreading its lethal poison, resulting in certain death.
No one would find it odd; even those in the Primordial Core Realm were vulnerable before the Celestial Human Realm, the gap being too vast.
But she dared not refuse the mission, for the consequences of refusal were even more severe.
Now the bewitching woman’s only hope was that True Man Tianjian was not on the mountain, or that Zhao Dong’s speculation was correct and that he wouldn’t act over trivial matters. If so, she might have a slim chance of survival and even hope to complete the mission.
If she could indeed bring back the Innate Sword Bone, it would be a great achievement, and she could settle her scores with Zhao Dong later.
"I must stay as quiet as possible, preferably abduct that little fat kid silently."
Quietly, the bewitching woman donned a black face covering, concealing herself in the night, sliding forward like a snake with a somewhat strange body technique.
Evading several patrols, she headed in the direction of the Seeking Tao Institute. Through reconnaissance, they knew Zhuang Chen was currently staying at the residence of the True Martial Sect’s ninth True Inheritor.
...
Ning Qi was cultivating in the Scripture Pavilion using the Heaven and Earth Grinding Wheel Quenching Gang Technique.
Though not as fast without the Golden Jade Pill, he still needed to accumulate slowly, step by step.
Suddenly.
He furrowed his brow, paused his cultivation, and looked in a certain direction.
"Someone has snuck in?" Various thoughts arose in Ning Qi’s mind. "Seems like they’re heading my way. Coincidence, or are they coming for Shi?"
His first thought was that Taoist Longshan’s plan had succeeded; indeed, a snake had been lured out.
But it couldn’t be confirmed completely.
Without hesitation.
Ning Qi stepped out of the Scripture Pavilion, his entire appearance and figure transformed. In a breath, he had turned into a plain-looking young Taoist. The background of this intruder was unknown, and Ning Qi planned to capture them alive. Looking younger might make them underestimate him.
Soon.
Ning Qi saw a figure in black darting through the shadows, moving at great speed, scanning around, lurking towards the direction of the Scripture Pavilion and the Seeking Tao Institute.
"Looks like not the Celestial Human Realm? Primordial Core Realm?"
Ning Qi planned to take action; he needed the opponent to relax their guard. He couldn’t appear too strong, lest they commit suicide, and he aimed to seize the person by surprise.
The bewitching woman was traversing within the True Martial Sect, evading several patrols while secretly mocking that aside from True Man Longshan, there were only a few weak practitioners. In her complacency, her heart suddenly leaped; instinctively, she struck a palm to the side, the Primordial Core surging with Gang Qi, fiercely powerful.
A dull thud.
The assailant was struck in the chest by her palm, rolling away into the distance, spitting several mouthfuls of blood in the air. The bewitching woman’s eyesight was excellent, and she immediately saw the attacker’s face—a plain-looking young Taoist, with not very high cultivation, only in the White Mist Realm.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief yet remained vigilant, her eyes welling with intense killing intent.
She hadn’t forgotten that she was inside the True Martial Sect, and if too much commotion attracted others, it would spell trouble.
"I need to conclude this swiftly!"
In an instant, the bewitching woman devised her strategy—to quickly subdue the young Taoist before he could react, to prevent him from summoning others.
The woman tapped her toes repeatedly, her Primordial Core vibrating, Gang Qi ejecting, her speed incredibly fast, like lightning in the night.
She didn’t hold back at all; everything happened in a flash, and before the young Taoist even landed and could vomit blood in midair, she had already closed in, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
A fierce killing intent appeared in the bewitching woman’s eyes.
But immediately.
This killing intent turned to astonishment.
She saw a pair of eyes; the young Taoist looked at her, with indifference, tinged with faint mockery.
The bewitching woman sensed an ominous foreboding, but it was too late to react, the astonishment in her eyes rapidly transformed into deep horror.
She only saw those hands gently waving, and her fierce Gang Qi was dispersed, as effortlessly as swatting a fly—no, like dust—simply unbelievable.
A boundless mighty force pressed down on her; unable to resist, she became immobilized, unable even to move a finger, her inner Gang Qi forcibly suppressed.
"How could this be?? Why didn’t the Heaven-Sensing Gu react? Could this person not be in the Celestial Human Realm?"
The Celestial Human Realm was far superior to the Primordial Core Realm due to the blessing of Heaven and Earth’s Power. Without utilizing Heaven and Earth’s Power, a Celestial Human wouldn’t render a Primordial Core expert utterly powerless, unable even to commit suicide.
A terrifying thought arose in her mind, yet she was powerless to move.
A hand clasped her neck.
Ning Qi’s calm voice resonated:
"Got you."