Chapter 1 A Big Loss of Face

“This time, you’ve caused Six Doors to lose a great deal of face. If you hadn’t discovered the Soul-Stealing Demonic Art and reported it in time, the merits and demerits would have balanced out. You should be in the Heavenly Prison right now.”

Xue Chaoyang stood with his hands behind his back and said indifferently.

Ming Tang’s voice was hoarse:

“It is my subordinate's incompetence.”

“Indeed incompetent.”

Xue Chaoyang said coldly:

“You’ve been complacent for too long. To be crippled and not even know who did it is truly laughable, extremely shameful!”

Ming Tang’s face was unsightly, and he dared not speak.

*Ta ta ta*~

Xue Chaoyang slowly paced back and forth, his stern face expressionless:

“Dongmen Ruo and Zhao Yanyan still won’t talk?”

From the shadows, another figure appeared, bowing slightly as he replied:

“Reporting, sir, these two are very tight-lipped. They haven’t uttered a word despite being without food or water for seven days. Should we resort to torture?”

“If they still haven’t revealed the culprit’s identity in three days, chop off both of their ring fingers!”

Xue Chaoyang’s expression was focused, his eyes flashing with a hint of violence:

“After that, chop off one finger from each of them every day. After the fingers are gone, chop off their toes. After the toes are gone, remove their facial features!”

“Yes.”

The person in the shadows retreated.

Ming Tang stood hunched over, hesitant to speak.

“Want to say something?”

Xue Chaoyang glanced at him.

“Sir, behind those two are the Extreme Divinity Sect and the Moon Worship Villa. After some time, when the people from the Directorate of Qin arrive, they will have ways to find the culprit. Why must we go this far…”

Ming Tang responded through gritted teeth.

No one hated his attacker more than he did, but the consequences of offending the Extreme Divinity Sect and the Moon Worship Villa were equally severe.

It was hard to say whether, when they couldn’t deal with Xue Chaoyang, they would vent their anger on him.

“They have backers? The imperial court is behind me!”

Xue Chaoyang’s gaze was extremely cold:

“I have already given the Extreme Divinity Sect and the Moon Worship Villa enough face, but unfortunately, they won’t give me any!

In that case, I won’t save them any face either!”

Xue Chaoyang’s tone was deep, and the dark room suddenly turned cold, causing Ming Tang to shiver involuntarily.

“Sir is wise…”

Ming Tang’s throat was dry.

Having someone stand up for him should have made him grateful, but for some reason, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Xue Chaoyang snorted coldly and said:

“In recent years, as the imperial court has increased its surveillance over the martial world, many people in the Six Doors, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern and Western Depots have been infiltrated by martial artists…”

“If we can take this opportunity to catch the spies, the significance will be no less than obtaining the Soul-Stealing Demonic Art!”

Xue Chaoyang gave Ming Tang a deep look:

“You’ve had too much contact with these martial artists, and you’ve forgotten that in this world, the most powerful force has always been the imperial court, always our Great Feng Dynasty!”

Ming Tang’s body trembled.

Only then did he realize that the leak of information about the Soul-Stealing Demonic Art was likely intentionally allowed by this man.

He knew very well that among the six famous constables, this one was the most disgusted with martial artists.

Catching spies might be true, but those martial artists who were lured here were likely also…

…

The morning sun broke through the sky.

Three great suns rose together in the east, illuminating tens of thousands of miles of clouds and shining upon the earth.

Nanliang City, Yangxiao Hall.

Yun Dongliu climbed onto the towering eaves of Yangxiao Hall, looking down from above.

He saw in the courtyard the old Daoist priest he had seen yesterday sitting facing east, the light shining upon his body, as if a wisp of purple energy flashed between his nostrils.

Under the bright golden light, this white-haired old Daoist actually gave him a feeling of being as majestic as a mountain and as solid as the earth.

“I misjudged him. This old Daoist… is actually a master…”

Yun Dongliu was surprised in his heart.

He naturally wouldn’t think that this old Daoist was inhaling the morning sun’s purple energy. Only those who had achieved great success in their Qi channels could reach that level.

“I find it strange, why do you always like to break windows and climb walls instead of using the door?”

In the courtyard, An Qisheng slowly calmed his breathing.

Overnight, he had completed the Baodan stage. All the internal force in his body had completely merged with his blood. Although this was partly due to his meager internal force, it also showed how fast it was.

As the internal force merged with the blood, he could feel the blood becoming thicker. With each flow, the strength of his limbs and bones increased, and correspondingly, he could feel his body becoming heavier.

It was as if the originally hollow bamboo had been filled with something.

Although his physique remained unchanged, he gave people a thicker, more solid feeling.

*Hoo*~

Discovered, Yun Dongliu didn’t dodge. With a movement of his body, he had already landed in the courtyard.

His movements were very fast, but he landed lightly, as if a falling leaf fluttering down, without raising a speck of dust.

“Daoist priest, you are actually a master.”

Yun Dongliu’s gaze was strange.

“I’ve lived for more than ninety years after all. I have some skills, but I can’t be called a master.”

An Qisheng shook his head slightly, his white hair moving in the wind.

“What the Daoist priest says makes sense.”

Yun Dongliu glanced at the fluttering white hair and couldn’t help but nod.

With seventy or eighty years of internal force cultivation, even if his aptitude was average and his martial arts weren’t high, his internal force would likely be considerable.

Putting aside this thought, Yun Dongliu turned to ask:

“Daoist priest, are you sitting here to inhale the morning sun’s purple energy and cultivate your internal force?”

“I certainly can’t inhale the morning sun’s purple energy to practice,”

An Qisheng smiled slightly and said:

“This is something else.”

“Oh?”

Yun Dongliu waved his sleeve and sat down on the cold stone slab: “I would like to hear the details.”

“When people live between heaven and earth, they will inevitably be affected by heaven and earth.”

An Qisheng raised his head slightly, facing the morning sun, his heart seemingly filled with vigor:

“The high sun will make people invigorated, the starry river at night will make people calm, dark clouds will make people feel depressed, rumbling thunder will make people tremble with fear, and violent wind and snow will make people subconsciously escape…

Similarly, when the heart is burdened, the bright sunlight will feel dazzling, the moonlight will feel sad, and one will lament spring and grieve autumn…”

What was calmer than his voice was An Qisheng’s expression.

With the completion of Baodan, the Qi and blood that were circulated nourished not only the physical body but also the spirit and mind.

In other words, his heart was calmer, and his thoughts turned faster.

Thoughts could be numerous, or they could be spotless.

His walking, standing, sitting, and lying were in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth. A step further was the unity of heaven and man mentioned in Xuanxing Internal Fist.

Just like Juechen Daoist, he often appeared in the thundering Golden Summit, and his spirit and mind contained the intent of thunder.

Over time, his actions were like the Dragon King spreading rain, and everywhere he went was filled with the intent of thunder.

“What the Daoist priest is saying, is it a Qi field?”

Unexpectedly, Yun Dongliu was even more surprised when he heard this. This was something that his master, the Heroic King Yun Haitang, had only come to understand after mastering his Qi channels.

“Qi field? I call it a magnetic field, but it’s probably the same thing.”

An Qisheng wasn’t surprised, he simply nodded.

In the past few months, he hadn’t used his Daoist power to obtain the experience of other experts, but instead, he had chosen to enter their dreams to personally experience the martial arts of the Jiu Fu world.

Over the past few months, he had entered the dreams of countless experts, including Tong Zhengyang, Kong San, Ming Tang, Huiguo, Zhao Yanyan, and Dongmen Ruo.

While learning dozens of martial arts, he also gained a deeper understanding of the martial arts of this world.

In his opinion, there were three major barriers in the Jiu Fu world.

The first was blood exchange, the second was Qi channels, and the third was divine channels.

After blood exchange, the physique surpassed ordinary mortals and could withstand true Qi. After the Qi channels were mastered, the true Qi was connected to heaven and earth, causing wind and thunder to shake, and there was no worry about the exhaustion of true Qi.

A master who had mastered the Qi channels could travel tens of thousands of miles without exhausting his true Qi.

As for what changes would occur after the divine channels were activated, An Qisheng didn’t know much at this time, but according to some legends in the martial world, he speculated that once the divine channels were activated, one should be able to mobilize the power of heaven and earth.

As far as he knew, the few times that the clash of divine channels had been recorded in the martial world were almost like myths.

“Daoist priest, you have comprehended the mysteries of Qi fields without a teacher. Yun is extremely impressed.”

Yun Dongliu exclaimed in his heart.

In his opinion, An Qisheng was just an old Daoist in a small county town, nearly a hundred years old and had seemingly failed to exchange blood, so he could be said to have average talent, an average environment, and the martial arts he cultivated were also very average.

But even so, he was able to comprehend the connection between the human body and the Qi field.

He had to know that he listened to his master’s lectures every day, but even now, he couldn’t understand what a Qi field was.

Immediately, his heart stirred.

If An Qisheng wasn’t much older than his master, he might have wanted to try his hand with him.

“It’s nothing.”

An Qisheng didn’t say much, and looked at Yun Dongliu:

“I wonder why Hero Yun has come here today, what is the matter?”

“It’s like this.”

Yun Dongliu took out a bag of broken silver from his pocket and handed it over:

“Yesterday, Yun made a big fight in the restaurant, not only destroying the restaurant’s windows but also scaring away many guests. This bag of silver is my apology.”

“There’s no need for that.”

An Qisheng wasn’t surprised by his intention and took two qian from it: “It’s just a window. Two qian of silver is already enough, you don’t need so much.”

“Daoist priest, don’t be polite. This bag of silver was also taken by Yun from those demonic sect villains. After compensating you for your losses, the extra money will be my meal money and room fee for the next few days.”

Yun Dongliu pushed the silver back:

“I don’t know how many people from those demonic sects have come. I’ve killed one, and the others are likely to take action as well. These demonic bastards are inhumane and unscrupulous. Daoist priest, please be careful these days.”

Without waiting for An Qisheng to refuse, he jumped onto the eaves of Yangxiao Hall and cupped his hands slightly:

“Since Yun has taken action in Yangxiao Hall, I must ensure that no hidden dangers remain!”

With that, his body moved and disappeared into Yangxiao Hall.

“A good person…”

An Qisheng weighed the bag of broken silver in his hand and sighed slightly:

“A tragic end awaits him.”

After learning about Yun Dongliu’s miserable fate in the second half of his life, An Qisheng’s feelings became even deeper. What kind of changes would cause such a big transformation in such a person?

“Master, did someone really send money?”

Zhang Hao Hao poked his head out of the room, exclaiming in surprise:

“So much silver, we probably can’t earn this much in a month.”

*Whoosh*~

An Qisheng tossed the broken silver to Zhang Hao Hao:

“Go buy your vegetables.”