As evening drew near, tendrils of cooking smoke drifted upwards.
“They’re here,” Xiaoping called, her feet moving as if treading on clouds, deftly arriving at the dining table with a tray in each hand. Following her, Li Jun also carried a tray, while Old Wang and Teng Shou simply brought their bowls. Soon, the table was laden with dishes, and the group settled down around it.
“Hmm, this looks incredibly delicious,” Teng Qingshan praised with a smile.
Li Jun’s eyes crinkled with happiness upon hearing this.
“Uncle,” Xiaoping deliberately pouted from beside her, “Uncle hasn’t been here for almost twenty days. We’ve been having just two dishes and one soup every day. Now that Uncle is back, it’s suddenly six dishes and one soup! Sister Xiaojun, you are truly too biased. You only dote on Uncle and completely ignore the rest of us.”
At this, a blush rose on Li Jun’s face, and she couldn't help but glare at Xiaoping: “You little imp.”
“Did I say something wrong?” Xiaoping teased playfully.
“No, you didn’t,” Teng Shou murmured from the side.
“See, Ah Shou says I didn’t say anything wrong.” Xiaoping’s laughter grew more unrestrained, making Li Jun’s face burn. She couldn't help but glance at Teng Qingshan, who returned her gaze.
“Haha, everyone, let’s eat,” Teng Qingshan said with a faint smile.
Teng Qingshan looked around at the people accompanying him: Li Jun, who had followed him faithfully; the lively and clever Xiaoping; the fierce youth ‘Teng Shou’; and the ever-smiling stableman, Old Wang. Having spent so much time together, Teng Qingshan had grown accustomed to them, which lent him a subtle sense of home.
“Ah Shou, while I was away these past few days, how has your fist technique progressed?” Teng Qingshan inquired.
“It’s alright,” Teng Shou nodded.
Teng Qingshan was surprised. His eldest disciple, because Teng Qingshan had been too harsh when first instructing him, always assumed his own performance was inadequate. For Teng Shou to say ‘alright’ implied that he must have achieved a significant breakthrough!
“Brother Teng,” Li Jun said excitedly, “you don’t know—during this time you were gone, Ah Shou practiced his fists with incredible diligence. He even managed to cultivate the Earth Element Gang Jin!”
“You cultivated Gang Jin?” Teng Qingshan was greatly shocked.
Although Teng Shou had long ago reached the state of Bone and Tendon Resonance, the various fist techniques Teng Qingshan created, such as the Fist of Earth Element and Fist of Water Element, were all imbued with the Way of Heaven and Earth. Only by practicing these specific techniques and grasping their artistic conception could the internal energy and spirit undergo miraculous changes throughout the body, transforming into Gang Jin!
Once Gang Jin appeared, in its early stages, the Gang Jin alone was comparable to a peak Xiantian Void Core, augmented by Teng Shou’s physical strength!
This would absolutely surpass an ordinary Xiantian Void Core.
“Yes,” Teng Shou confirmed, nodding. “I cultivated it the day before yesterday.”
“Good, very good. Haha…” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but laugh heartily. Cultivating the Fist of Earth Element and other techniques to generate Gang Jin! Although Teng Qingshan was confident, this had only been his conjecture. After all, he himself had only created the fist techniques after comprehending a portion of the ‘Dao.’
The effect on others practicing these techniques had, until now, merely been Teng Qingshan’s speculation.
Now, Teng Qingshan knew!
Upon reaching the Grandmaster realm, practicing any of the Five Element Fists could indeed lead to the cultivation of Gang Jin!
“With the Twelve Forms of Xingyi, the Five Element Fists, and the Three Stance Form... this entire lineage is sufficient to lead one to the Grandmaster realm! And the Five Element Fists I created through my comprehension of the Way of Heaven and Earth are also enough to allow a Grandmaster to cultivate Gang Jin!”
“In this way, my lineage of Internal Martial Arts can rival that of the Daoists and the Buddhist Sects, and it can be truly carried forward and developed!”
Teng Qingshan was filled with absolute confidence.
“Excellent, Ah Shou, continue your diligent practice.” Teng Qingshan said solemnly, then quickly asked, “The one you cultivated is the Earth Element Gang Jin? Just this one?”
“Only this one.” Teng Shou glanced at Teng Qingshan somewhat anxiously.
He knew his master possessed several types of Gang Jin.
“Good. Starting today, you will focus solely on practicing the Fist of Earth Element and the ‘Three Stance Form,’” Teng Qingshan stated seriously. “This Fist of Earth Element, while appearing simple, is infinitely profound. The fact that you could cultivate Gang Jin only means you have grasped the superficial layer! Specialization is superior to being scattered. Mastering the Fist of Earth Element alone will be enough for you to dominate the world.”
“Yes, Teacher,” Teng Shou replied respectfully.
He himself sensed the vastness and depth of the Fist of Earth Element; the more he practiced, the more limitless its foundation seemed. Simultaneously, his admiration for his master, who could create such a technique, grew even stronger!
...
After dinner, the sky was completely dark.
Teng Qingshan and the others walked together toward the underground cavern of Divine Axe Mountain.
“Xiaojun, have these past days been treating you well?” Teng Qingshan walked alongside Li Jun on the stone steps of the passage. Li Jun smiled happily and nodded: “Yes, it’s been very nice. The days have been leisurely, and I even went shopping in Nanshan City several times. The West Street and Huayang Street there are quite interesting.”
Teng Qingshan looked at Li Jun but didn't elaborate.
Teng Qingshan understood Li Jun very well!
When her family was destroyed, Li Jun was a very fragile and naive girl. Afterward, she followed her master and entered the clandestine super-sect, the ‘Palace of Heavenly Gods.’ Under the Palace’s tutelage, Li Jun gradually changed, eventually ascending to Mount Tianshen to become a lofty Divine Maiden!
While outwardly aloof and severe, her heart remained very tender.
When with Teng Qingshan, she always tried to appear strong on the surface.
Even though she waited by the lake every day for these twenty days, she would claim those twenty days had been joyful, leisurely, and carefree!
“Crossing the ocean with me, yet you hold things in your heart and won't tell me,” Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly.
Teng Qingshan knew precisely how torturous it was to suppress various grievances deep within one’s soul. He had endured his own training as an assassin in his previous life that way, only later finding solace and mutual reliance when his feelings for Little Cat deepened.
...
In the vast cavern, scattered iron-leaf fruits resembling luminous pearls cast a faint, dreamy green halo over the entire space.
Li Jun and the others retired to their respective sleeping quarters. Only Teng Qingshan took out the Divine Axe that Split Mountains, placing it aside before snapping the iron chain.
“Clang!”
Teng Qingshan opened the iron chest and carefully took out the six stone carvings one by one, arranging them in a straight line against the cavern wall. Each carving bore intricate pictograms, and each featured the character ‘Dao’ etched with a distinctly different aura. Simply gazing at these six carvings sent an overwhelming pressure washing over Teng Qingshan.
“These six carvings are the sixth, twelfth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth forms of the Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting,” Teng Qingshan determined the sequence upon seeing the engraved content. “The carving I obtained earlier after capturing Dong Zizhi was the ninth form.”
Seeing this content, Teng Qingshan was overjoyed!
Because...
The Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting was the most formidable ultimate skill of Emperor Yu! Therefore, the later the form, the more profound its meaning. The overly profound moves might be incomprehensible even to a beginner at the Void Realm. What Teng Qingshan feared most was encountering moves numbered toward the end, such as the thirty-second or thirty-third forms; such deeply esoteric techniques would be useless to him.
“As expected of the Rising Sun Merchant Guild, a great guild with three thousand years of heritage! Among these six carvings, four are consecutive forms.”
Teng Qingshan was even happier.
The seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth forms—moves that followed closely together generally shared interlocking concepts, making them easier to comprehend.
“Let’s begin.”
Teng Qingshan picked up the Divine Axe that Split Mountains resting nearby. Immediately—the strange power contained within the axe connected with the imprints left by Emperor Yu in the six stone carvings. Faint wisps of light connected the axe in Teng Qingshan’s hand and the carvings, making the stone reliefs seem to come alive.
“Rumble~~~”
At that moment, Teng Qingshan was completely immersed in Emperor Yu’s world!
The marvelous and profound stances—these six forms were further broken down by Emperor Yu into over a hundred sub-movements. Waves of phantom figures executing various stances continuously manifested before Teng Qingshan’s eyes, as he poured his entire being into cultivation.
Nearby, Qing Luan was curled up on the ground.
Not far away, at the entrance to the passage, the massive triangular head of the Six-Legged Saber Mantis also rested there, its eyes opening briefly to observe the cultivating Teng Qingshan. Then, the Saber Mantis closed its eyes and resumed its sleep.
...
Cultivation knows no passing of days. Teng Qingshan practiced day and night, even instructing Li Jun not to disturb him for lunch or dinner!
At Teng Qingshan’s current level, he could go for several months without a single meal. However, Teng Qingshan was still reasonable; despite his obsessive dedication, he would emerge to eat roughly once every seven or eight days.
Soon, more than three months slipped by.
One afternoon, the sunlight felt warm on his skin, and the thick ice on Crescent Lake had melted, making the water dazzling under the sun.
“This sixth form is less difficult than the ninth, so grasping it was easier. But this twelfth form is clearly much harder,” Teng Qingshan remarked, walking through the woods. This was his first time leaving the underground cavern in a month; no matter how hard one cultivates, relaxation is necessary. Indeed, that twelfth form proved exceptionally challenging.
“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan suddenly caught sight of a human figure amidst the trees.
“Old Wang?” Teng Qingshan walked over.
...
Old Wang was perched on a tree branch, a long sword hanging at his waist, yet he was leisurely puffing on his pipe, the sound ‘pa-pa-pa’ echoing softly, his gaze distant.
“Following the Young Master for so long, my swordsmanship is more than ten times better than before. The sword techniques the Young Master taught me are indeed top-tier in the world. But… reaching the Xiantian realm for me is too hard, too hard!” Old Wang’s mind was a mess. “How many Martial Saints are there in the world? Do I have to wait until I become a Martial Saint before I can advance?”
“I’m afraid I won’t manage it even on my deathbed.”
Old Wang’s facial muscles trembled slightly.
“Old Wang, what are you doing?” A voice came from below.
Old Wang looked down, immediately leaped down from the branch, and respectfully said, “Young Master.” Old Wang held boundless gratitude for Teng Qingshan.
“Old Wang, I always feel like you have something weighing on your mind. If you don’t mind, why don't you speak of the concerns in your heart?” Teng Qingshan said.
Old Wang froze, a look of complexity crossing his face.