by <unknown>
The old woman beside almost had her deer eyes popping out from her face, she mumbled, “The Geng Jin Sword Qi can heal the missy’s body? Then what was madam turning from side to side looking for remedies all these years for?”
Chapter 59: The Gates that Opened |
Zhong Yue pinched his fingers together, he could feel the smooth and creamy texture of her skin, he then furtively peeped at Qiu Jin'er’s legs while his heart undulated like the ocean at high tide. He quickly collected his thoughts and asked her curiously, “Did Junior Martial Sister Jin'er not practice this Geng Jin Sword Qi before?”
Qiu Jin'er lowered her head and poked her legs with her fingers, she was surprised and overjoyed, she then shook her head and said, “I have learned the Geng Jin Sword Qi but it is quite different than yours. The Geng Jin Sword Qi can only absorb and manifest the Gold Qi, it is useless against the Wood Qi in my body.”
Her words dawned on Zhong Yue and his doubt was answered, he smiled and said, “So junior martial sister didn’t see through and reach the mystical sword totem carvings in the Geng Jin Sword Qi sword totem carving. If that’s the case, I will teach you about it.”
His character was all forthright and honest, he hadn’t the slightest thought of keeping the totem carvings of the ‘Boundless Great Sword Qi’ that was christened by Xin Huo to himself, he smiled and said, “Junior martial sister, I will teach you the true quintessence of the Geng Jin Sword Qi, you and I will then smite away the wood element Qis in your body, then you can recover quicker. Maybe, not long after, you will be able to walk with your legs.”
Qiu Jin'er’s heart was filled with joy, she quickly turned to Grandmother Lu and said, “Grandmother Lu, quickly deliver this news to my mother, just say that Senior Martial Brother Zhong is here and he found a way to remedy my body, ask her not to kneel and beg the headmaster anymore!”
However, Grandmother Lu twitched her mouth and stared vigilantly at Zhong Yue, she shook her head and said, “Missy, I am here to look over the palace under madam’s order, I will never ever take a step out of this place. With me here, no one can ever bully you.”
Qiu Jin'er smiled and asked, “With Senior Martial Brother Zhong here, who else can bully me?”
“He is exactly the one I am worried about.”
Grandmother Lu blurted out, “Missy, your body is not well, what if he decided to release his beastliness on you and bullied you, you will have nowhere to cry by then. That was exactly what happened to madam many years ago, she was bullied by your short-lived father, if only I was there, I would have beaten your father to his death. If I leave you here alone, it is hard to say whether or not you will follow madam’s footsteps.”
Zhong Yue was dumbfounded at her words while Qiu Jin'er’s face turned crimson red, she glanced at him and whispered lowly, “Grandmother Lu, Senior Martial Brother Zhong is not this kind of person….”
“Hard to say.” Grandmother Lu retorted.
“Then my mother will have to suffer for a little bit more.”
Qiu Jin'er was helpless against the persistent Grandmother Lu, she then turned back to Zhong Yue, “Senior Martial Brother Zhong, shall we start now?”
Zhong Yue’s psyche flooded out and formed the sword totem carving of ‘Boundless Great Sword Qi’ while Qiu Jin'er was aside studying the totem carving.
Although there was only one totem carving, it was very complex, even with Zhong Yue’s incredible psyche, it was still hard for him to wholly present the swords totem carving in the air.
Especially when he needed to present it to Qiu Jin'er, he had to delineate and demonstrate every single minutia in the swords totem, this would require a great deal of psyche and meticulous control.
While learning the swords totem carving was also a test of Qiu Jin'er’s intelligence and talent.
Zhong Yue, on one hand, presented the totem carving while on the other hand, he was expounding upon its intricacies to her, the technique in the totem carving was obscure and inscrutable, Zhong Yue’s comprehension of it can only be attributed to Xin Huo’s careful guidance, but even so, he still spent half a month on it before he could truly grasp it.
It was hard for Qiu Jin'er to learn it, especially when the totem carving looked simple on the surface but beneath which, were hidden innumerable complex structured totem carvings. There was no room for mistake.
While the technique it contained was even more obscure, Zhong Yue taught her everything he knew about the technique while he smote away the wood element Qi in her body at the same time. Nearly half a month or more later, Qiu Jin'er was finally able to understand and try practicing the Sword Qi that was imbued with the intricacies of swords totem carvings.
The concentration of the Wood Qi in her body was greatly reduced. Over these few days, Zhong Yue had smitten away the Wood Qi that affected her heart and effectively prevented her heart from turning to wood; however, her legs were still incapable of walking.
“This is the innate spirit body?”
Zhong Yue’s soul stood in his psyche ocean, he looked at the Sword Qi that formed after he absorbed and manifested the wood element Qi in Qiu Jin'er’s body, in the short time of a few dozen days, the Wood Sword Qi was cultivated to a level no weaker than his Xiang Dragon Sword Qi!
One had to know that the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi was cultivated from the beast god essence that came from the inner core of a Xiang Dragon beast god. While the Wood Sword Qi was not any weaker than Xiang Dragon Sword Qi, didn’t it imply that Qiu Jin'er was exactly like a beast god inner core?
“Brat Yue, if you can copulate with this young girl, your prowess will increase greatly!”
Xin Huo was serious and solemn, “This young girl is like a walking inner core, a strong tonic that brings great benefits, she can definitely allow you to cultivate a shockingly strong Wood Sword Qi!”
Zhong Yue feigned a cough and took out the sword token, he placed it in Qiu Jin'er’s hands and said, “Since Junior Martial Sister Jin'er you have successfully learned the Geng Jin Sword Qi, all you need to do now is to keep on cultivating. Around half a year or more later, your legs will fully be recovered. I still have matters to attend to, I will leave now.”
Qiu Jin'er was a little unwilling when she heard that Zhong Yue was leaving, she said, “Where is Senior Martial Brother Zhong staying at? When my legs have fully recovered I will visit you!”
Zhong Yue told her where his cave dwelling was and then he stood up and left, he thought in his heart, “Even I have never ever visited my cave dwelling, but the Ethereal Palace still has a vacancy for me, I have to be there once and show my existence.”
As of this moment, right outside of Zhong Yue’s cave dwelling, there were many young Qi Practitioners outside under the sun waiting for Zhong Yue to make his appearance.
“Half a month’s time and the Zhong Shan Clan disciple is still not here yet, is this little brat scared?”
One of the young men could not help but holler out, “If he is not coming out, then are we going to wait here forever?”
Ta Wuyou snorted coldly, “If you can’t wait, you may leave, no one will stop you.”
The others all sneered but all of them stayed down.
After all, the sword token held in Zhong Shan Clan’s hands was very important to them, it contained the greatest technique of Swords Gate; no one would ever let such a good opportunity to slip away from their fingers.
In the Ethereal Palace, Zhong Yue glanced around, there were a total of over a hundred sword gates standing high in the palace, behind each gate was contained a type of spirit and if the spirit behind the gates approbates the cultivator, then it would open the gate and allow the cultivator to enter. However, it is up to the cultivator’s abilities whether he is able to connect with the spirit and manifest a spirit of his own.
“This time, the Ethereal Palace has prepared for you the strongest spirit in the Great Wilderness!”
The Ethereal Palace guardian elder sat in the lotus position, his brows moved as he speaks in
a deep voice, “Right in this swords gate, is contained the spirit of Swords Gate – the sword spirit! This gate has been closed for ten years, the spirit it in is immensely strong! Sense it and see whether if you can open this gate!”
Zhong Yue’s heart shifted, he bowed and asked, “Elder, has Shui Qingyan come over? Which gate has she entered?”
“The young lady from Shui Tu Clan? She is crowned as the strongest upper house disciple as you are, she was here tens of days earlier than you, she entered the godly gate.”
The elder lowered his sights but his long white brows fluttered in the air, he pointed at a swords gate and said, “Behind this swords gate is the spirit of Swords Gate’s first headmaster, his spirit is as strong as a god, not any weaker than the sword spirit.”
Zhong Yue gazed at that godly gate, his eyes flushed with killing intent. All of a sudden, the gate opened and a young lady walked out from it, a winter-white muffler made of mink fur wrapped around her neck, matching her jade-like complexion.
The mink fur muffler was not only an adornment, she wore it mainly to cover the conspicuous scars on her neck. During the battle between Zhong Yue and herself, she almost had her neck severed off by the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi, although the wound was healed, a hideous scar was left behind as a permanent reminder of her humiliation!
As the duo fixated their sights on each other, the elder felt a surge of uneasiness in the air, he could feel the veritable killing intent that hung over the Ethereal Palace.
“Senior Martial Brother Zhong.” ‘Shui Qingyan’ smiled and greeted him.
“Junior Martial Sister Shui.” Zhong Yue returned the formality.
‘Shui Qingyan’ then chuckled and strode away, Zhong Yue shifted his sights away but he was uncomfortable in his heart, I have been summoned by the elders to a trial and yet Tian Myriad Mother was all safe and sound. Even the Swords Gate is not entirely fair and square! If Swords Gate is this inequitable, the sword spirit will also be unjust, it is fine even if I don’t sense and manifest it!
He sat down in the common lotus position but not even the slightest effort was given to sense the spirits, moments later, he stood up and said, “Elder, I can’t sense the spirit in this swords gate, it seems like I am not suitable for it….”
The eyes of the elder finally opened, he gazed deeply at Zhong Yue and said, “How will the swords gate open when you have not sensed the spirit in it? I can teach you if you don't know how to sense it. Visualize the Swords Gate in you psyche ocean and reach out with your psyche, you can then sense the spirit behind it. If the spirit approves of you, they will open the gate and wait for your manifestation. Even if the swords spirit rejects you, there will surely be some other spirits that will accept you. Young man, never give up so easily.”
Zhong Yue blinked his eyes and thought in his heart, I will leave the Swords Gate to manifest the spirits of the moon and sun, but I suppose it would be hard to manifest them. Why don't I seize this chance and get a feel for how to manifest a spirit?
He sat down calmly, gathered his psyche and visualized the Sui Sovereign. The elder on the side gently nodded his head, he thought to himself, This young man is still teachable, although he acted a little bit too reckless, he is willing to correct his mistakes. I wonder if he could open the gate of sword spirit….
Just when the thoughts crossed his mind, he could hear sounds of a door creaking, one of the swords gate slowly opened.
He nodded again in approval, Not bad, to be able to attain the recognition of a swords gate so quickly denotes that he possesses a strong psyche. Sadly, it is not the gate of the sword spirit….
All of a sudden, creaking noises incessantly resounded the whole Ethereal Palace, one after another, over hundreds of gates were slowly opening up!
The sword spirit gate, the godly spirit gate, all of the gates ... opened!
This meant that, every spirit behind the gates all approved of this young man!
This was the first time such an improbable situation ever happened in the history of Swords Gate!
Even an innate spirit body couldn’t have done this, allowing all the gates to open for him, how could he have done it?
The elder was shocked, moments later he recollected his thought, he cast his gaze over to where Zhong Yue was but Zhong Yue was nowhere to be found, his heart thumped, Which gate did he enter?
Right outside of Ethereal Palace, Zhong Yue walked down and out of the Swords Gate Mountain and whispered, “Reaching out to the spirits, doesn’t seems to be hard at all… Xin Huo, shall we depart now?”
Xin Huo was excited, he said, “The sooner the better. What swords spirit, godly spirit? How can they even possibly compare to the heritage of the great Xin Huo? Let’s go and search for the teleportation portal I’ve left behind, I will first send you to the moon and get you to the moon spirit!”
In front of Zhong Yue’s cave dwelling, Ta Wuyou and the others were still waiting, the young Qi Practitioners all assured each other and reinforced, “The Zhong Shan Clan disciple will definitely be back!”
“This brat must be in the Ethereal Palace, as long as we wait here, we can definitely catch hold of him!”
“Persist! All the fruits of our hard work will be harvested!”
Chapter 60: The Croc Dragon's Debt of Gratitude |
“Tian Myriad Mother, you say that that Zhong Shan Clan disciple might know of your identity?”
In an empty palace, ‘Shui Qingyan’ stared at the figure in the shadows, her eyes were filled with vigilance, the figure smiled and said, “Rest assured, I have found out how that Zhong Shan Clan member acquired that old geezer’s Great Boundless Sword Qi. The old geezer commiserated with the daughter of the Qiu Tan Clan, Qiu Jiner, on her innate spirit body, he doesn’t want the Wood Qi to fully affect her body, hence, he allowed the Qiu Tan Clan to steal away the sword token. But sadly, Qiu Jiner didn’t realize the profundity contained in the token gave it off to the Zhong Shan Clan member. The Zhong Shan Clan disciple might know of your identity but the old geezer would not, you may lift the worries off your head.”
‘Shui Qingyan’ heaved a breath of relief, she said, “What should we do with the Zhong Shan Clan disciple? He knows who I truly am, and that is a great threat, a potential bomb that might sabotage our plans. No one would believe his words as of now, but one day, if the old geezer decides to meet with him which by then, his status and influence would have reached new heights. If he decides to reveal my identity, even the elders would give serious consideration to his words! Heihei, if I am exposed, don’t expect that I will keep your identity a secret!”
The figure hiding in the shadows smiled and said, “Don’t you worry too much about it. I’ve passed down the words, he will not walk out of Swords Gate alive.”
‘Shui Qingyan’’s heart thumped in shock, she shouted out involuntarily, “You want to obliterate him in Swords Gate? You are mad! That little brat has attracted the attention of that old geezer, if he dies here, you will surely be exposed and I will be implicated!”
“Tian Myriad Mother, calm your heart.”
The figure was all relaxed, “I will not leave a single clue behind, if I want to kill someone, then I intend to do it right in your face, you wouldn’t even realized it was me that did it. My influence and reputation in Swords Gate is way beyond your imagination. Shui Tu Clan is not the only one supporting me. The death of the Zhong Shan Clan disciple will only be like a petty rock that was tossed into the boundless ocean – the transient little ripples caused by his death will subside to nothing in the blink of an eye….”
Zhong Yue carried the medicine basket on his back and made his way to the escarpment, he struck the copper gong and out came the Croc Dragon from the clouds. It flew over and stopped right beside the escarpment.
“Senior Croc Dragon, please send me over to the other end.” Zhong Yue leaped onto the Croc Dragon’s back and said politely.
The Croc Dragon turned and flew into the clouds towards the other side, when they were
halfway through in the clouds, Zhong Yue furrowed his brows as the Croc Dragon slowed down its speed and finally came to a stop.
“Young man, it’s not that I have the intentions to kill you, but I owe someone a great deed and I have to pay a debt of gratitude.”
Beneath Zhong Yue, the Croc Dragon mumbled lowly, “Don’t you blame me….”
Zhong Yue’s heart skipped a beat, all of a sudden the Croc Dragon beneath him rolled vigorously, his sights were spinning, his body, the sky and earth were all upended!
The death roll of a crocodile!
Obviously, this Croc Dragon intended to throw him down from its back into the Swords Gate forbidden land beneath them!
The Swords Gate forbidden land was the place where the devil souls were sealed, the demonic aura in was egregiously strong, there were even flesh meats growing and climbing up the steep slopes of the escarpments, the blood-red flesh meats were nefarious and wicked, only the ancient seal from the gods could repress them!
If he was thrown into the forbidden land, death would be his only ending!
However, Zhong Yue’s reactions were quick, the moment the Croc Dragon started rolling, he crouched down and clasped his hands onto Croc Dragon’s skin, his body went all upright and he almost fell down into the forbidden land.
Visualize the Sui Sovereign!
The moment the thoughts flashed across his mind, his psyche shifted in the psyche ocean but the demonic aura was too strong and the god’s seal was too powerful, his psyche nearly formed the Sui Sovereign but was crushed instantly, he could not visualize at all!
In the clouds, Croc Dragon started rolling again, this time with renewed momentum and with great determination to throw him down into the forbidden land.
Zhong Yue’s hands were on the verge of sliding off from Croc Dragon’s skin, his heart sunk and all of a sudden, he let go of his hands. He was then instantly flung out.
“Erupt!”
Zhong Yue shouted aloud, he fell towards the forbidden land like a flaming meteor; suddenly, his legs stomped heavily in the air. The air within the radius of thirty feet was compressed into a seemingly tangible platform – Dong! A loud bang was audible!
