Chapter 14: The Daoist of Longshan Emerges from Seclusion

Time passed slowly.

Mingwu Pavilion.

Daoist Longshan slowly opened his eyes and sighed softly

"The Heaven-Human Realm is truly as difficult to reach as ascending to the heavens. I have stepped into the Yuan Dan Realm for over ten years, but I am still lacking the necessary depth to resonate my divine intent with the heavens and the earth."

He gave a faint, bitter smile.

More than a month ago, after teaching Ning Qi, he had felt somewhat stimulated. A faint sense of crisis had taken hold, and he had decided to seize that momentum to break through his bottleneck in one go. However, he had not expected to fail; the missing foundation still required time to be polished.

Yet, he was not discouraged.

Those in the Heaven-Human Realm live for eight hundred years. At one hundred, one is still very young for a Heaven-Human expert. Most Heaven-Human experts only achieve their breakthroughs around the age of two hundred, and some only finally break through when their four-hundred-year lifespan is nearing its end.

Daoist Longshan was only in his eighties; he was very young.

He felt he had been a bit impatient lately, perhaps influenced by the increasingly chaotic situation in the Great Yan Dynasty.

He shook his head, realizing this was not the right mindset.

Although he had not broken through during this period of seclusion, it was not without gains; at least it had allowed him to correct his state of mind.

"It has been over a month. I wonder how Xiao Jiu is doing now? Xiao Jiu has only just come into contact with martial arts, and I have been a rather incompetent master."

Daoist Longshan felt a bit vexed.

Recalling the scene of teaching martial arts that day, he couldn't help but smile helplessly. He had indeed been impacted at the time, leading him to believe he had found the opportunity to break through, which was why he had rushed into seclusion.

"Xiao Jiu is a peerless piece of unpolished jade, with aptitude far exceeding my own. If nurtured properly, the hope of him becoming a Martial Saint is great!"

Daoist Longshan stood up, his figure appearing at the pavilion entrance as if he had shrunk the distance. This was a highly advanced movement technique. He intended to go see Ning Qi first to fulfill his duties as a master. Even the most gifted disciple would have things they did not understand. Having practiced stake techniques for so many years, he was sure that from his vantage point, there would always be something worth teaching Ning Qi.

He felt he needed to map out a suitable path for Ning Qi to avoid wasting such great talent.

Although the Zhenwu Sect occupied Mount Zhenwu, they had actually only built their pavilions on the essential part of the mountainside.

Daoist Longshan and his nine direct disciples resided in the core area, while the dwellings of the other inner and outer sect disciples were arranged outward in sequence.

At Daoist Longshan's speed, it did not take long to reach the small courtyard where Ning Qi stayed.

He wore a smile, his hands behind his back, his Daoist robes fluttering; he possessed the grace of a crane and the spirit of an immortal.

He could already sense the life force in the distance.

But suddenly, his expression changed.

"Hum!"

A faint dragon's roar echoed from the courtyard ahead, carrying a hint of majesty.

"This is..."

Daoist Longshan's pupils constricted sharply. His heart skipped a beat, and his figure appeared silently outside the courtyard. What he saw caused him to freeze in place.

Inside the courtyard

White mist billowed and rolled, with the sound of a dragon's roar occasionally emerging from within, as if a young true dragon were soaring and leaping.

With Daoist Longshan's eyesight, it was naturally not difficult to see that this was no young true dragon, but his own terrifyingly gifted young disciple.

At this moment, Ning Qi's skin was as crystalline as jade, but the flesh beneath was faintly flushed and pulsing continuously.

Compared to a month ago, Ning Qi's figure was taller and much sturdier. Most striking of all was his life force, which had grown far more vigorous.

"The Flesh-Refining Realm?!"

Daoist Longshan's breathing grew slightly rapid.

Even with his state of mind, he could hardly hold it together. This speed was simply too exaggerated. Although he had expected Ning Qi's cultivation speed to be beyond imagination, he was still startled. He almost thought he had misremembered the time, and that his seclusion had not been one month, but much longer.

But this was not what shocked him the most.

"This stake technique... it's not the Bi'an Stake!"

With Daoist Longshan's level of cultivation, he immediately recognized the roots of the Zhenwu Nine Stakes in this unfamiliar technique; the shadows of almost every stake technique could be seen within it.

Just watching it made his heart race. The level of dominance in tempering the body was far beyond what the Zhenwu Nine Stakes could compare to.

As he watched slowly, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through Daoist Longshan's mind, and his whole body began to tremble with excitement.

"This is... the Zhenwu Stake?!"

His breathing was ragged, his emotions stirred. The breath-concealment technique that usually made him one with the world suddenly fluctuated.

Ning Qi noticed the presence of an extra aura outside the courtyard almost immediately. He stopped his stake technique and shouted sharply

"Who is it?!"

When his sharp gaze swept over, Ning Qi froze, and then a look of pleasant surprise rose in his eyes.

"Master, you've come out of seclusion? Why did you arrive so silently?"

He had just gone to ask his eldest senior brother yesterday; he hadn't expected his master to come out of seclusion today.

Daoist Longshan felt slightly awkward. He had originally intended to observe his young disciple's progress in secret to be prepared for teaching him later, but he hadn't expected to see such an astonishing scene.

He could not care about anything else.

He appeared instantly before Ning Qi.

He stared at Ning Qi, forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked

"Xiao Jiu, tell Master, which expert taught you the Zhenwu Stake? Is he still on Mount Zhenwu? Did he say anything else?"

Daoist Longshan questioned him repeatedly.

Ning Qi stood there, stunned.

He hesitated and said

"Master, what is this Zhenwu Stake you speak of?"

"It's the stake technique you were just practicing!"

Ning Qi suddenly understood. He realized some things instantly; his previous guesses might have been close to the truth. There was indeed a stronger stake technique above the Zhenwu Nine Stakes, and it seemed to be called the Zhenwu Stake?

However, looking at his master's expression, he feared that this Zhenwu Stake did not exist within the Zhenwu Sect.

He replied truthfully

"Master, this is the True Dragon Stake I created myself, not the Zhenwu Stake you mentioned."

As his voice fell, Daoist Longshan's twitching goat-like beard went still. He looked at Ning Qi like a statue, doubting he had heard correctly.

"You said... you created this yourself??"

This was even more outrageous than someone from the Zhenwu Sect having left behind a legacy to be gifted, but Daoist Longshan knew his disciple. Although young, he was definitely not one to spout nonsense.

Ning Qi had long planned to come clean with Daoist Longshan; he just hadn't expected Daoist Longshan to come looking for him first.

"Reporting to Master, after you went into seclusion, I learned the other stake techniques from my senior brothers and sisters. After I had learned all of the Zhenwu Nine Stakes, I always felt there was some commonality between these nine techniques. Finally, during a moment of sudden enlightenment, I deduced a new stake technique..."

As Ning Qi explained the thought process and the journey of creating the True Dragon Stake, he handed over a manual he had prepared long ago, which recorded the True Dragon Stake in detail.

Daoist Longshan finally recovered from the shock. He forced himself to calm down, flipping through the manual in his hands while listening to his young disciple's explanation, his eyes still filled with turbulent waves.

Of course, he knew there was some commonality between the Zhenwu Nine Stakes.

But the problem was, knowing it was one thing, but wanting to deduce the Zhenwu Stake from it was no less difficult than creating a peerless stake technique from scratch!

It was simply a fantasy!