Chapter 37: Silent Verdict
On the Training Ground.
All gazes were drawn to the battle between the two.
Inner Yuan Realm Nine Stacks, with extremely condensed Inner Strength that could attach to the flesh or Weapon, even extending a zhang long for the skilled ones, though it would immediately dissipate once separated from the body.
One cultivated Heaven Shaking Strength, the other Sea Covering Strength; their every move and gesture possessed astonishing destructive power.
Ning Qi watched intently.
Yet in his heart, a growing strangeness emerged.
“Senior Disciple Brother and Fifth Senior Brother are very strong, their Inner Strength nearly a zhang long, but why do I feel like I have the strength to fight them?”
He somewhat wanted to battle them to verify exactly how strong he was now, but in the end, he suppressed this thought.
Soon.
Jiang Baishan won with a slight advantage.
The congregation watched with excitement boiling over.
Luo Wentian was full of gratification:
“Fifth Junior Brother, from now on, you are the True Martial Sect’s second Expert!”
Jiang Baishan waved his hands repeatedly:
“If not for Senior Disciple Brother you being distracted by sect affairs, you would likely have already broken through to Gang Yuan Realm; Junior Brother is ashamed.”
Luo Wentian laughed loudly:
“You and I as Senior Brothers, why be so distant? You all strong means I as Senior Brother am strong!”
The congregation was all moved.
Dragon Mountain Daoist watched his Disciples so harmonious and also smiled with gratification.
Next.
True Disciples sparred with each other, while the other Disciples watched with hearts full of yearning, their motivation even stronger.
They had seen the prowess of superior Stacked Strength Technique; in True Martial Sect, as long as you made contributions, there was a chance to exchange for superior Stacked Strength Technique.
Ning Qi looked at Luo Wentian, sighing inwardly: True Martial Sect was all one family, so what did it matter who was stronger or weaker? Whether he was now stronger or weaker than Senior Disciple Brother and Fifth Senior Brother was fundamentally unimportant; the slight competitive thought he had originally instantly dissipated.
He suddenly felt that he had been a bit immature before; back when Divine Sword Sect came up the mountain, even if he let the little fatty beat all of True Martial Sect without rival, so what.
Unbeknownst to himself, he felt his State of Mind had become much more open.
This was learned from Senior Disciple Brother.
…
The Year End Grand Competition ended smoothly, True Martial Sect’s cohesion stronger than ever before, the Disciples’ martial training enthusiasm even higher than previously.
Winter passed, spring arrived.
Outside Seeker’s Courtyard.
Several Peach Blossom trees had been added.
These were transplanted by Ning Qi from True Martial Mountain; he always felt the courtyard was sometimes a bit monotonous, but now looking at it was much better, with Peach Blossoms in full bloom, possessing their own Artistic Conception, which could make his mood more comfortable by a few degrees.
Ning Qi was creating a method.
After White Ape delivered several Secret Manuals, it went off to play.
Now Ning Qi rarely went to Scripture Depository; ever since the last Year End Grand Competition, Disciples’ martial training enthusiasm was high, and they would frequently go to Scripture Depository to borrow books, so naturally it was no longer so leisurely.
Simply, Ning Qi had White Ape go to Scripture Depository to fetch the books he wanted to read.
Ordinary Disciples were explicitly prohibited from approaching Seeker’s Courtyard.
Ning Qi looked at the several Martial Arts in his hand.
“Mysterious Turtle Breath Technique.”
“Dry Wood Breathing Technique.”
“Breath Holding Technique.”
“…”
“These Martial Arts are all superior Breath Concealing Martial Arts; if cultivated to a profound realm, they can make ordinary people unable to discern the true from false, essential for wandering the rivers and lakes.”
Ning Qi turned the thought in his mind.
His aura began to change.
Sometimes the aura was long and slow, barely audible; sometimes decaying like dry wood, like a valley devoid of Vitality; sometimes the aura completely vanished, making one feel as if there was nothing before their eyes…
Clearly, he had already cultivated these several Martial Arts to an extremely proficient realm.
After chatting with Dragon Mountain Daoist last time, Ning Qi had been thinking to pay more attention to concealing his own aura in the future; after vaguely being seen as somewhat unusual by Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters this time, it further solidified his thought to create a powerful Breath Concealing Martial Art.
“These Breathing Techniques are all good, but each has flaws; after operating, others indeed can’t see your depth, but at a glance, they know you’re not simple.”
For example, Mysterious Turtle Breath Technique: after operating, the aura is long and slow; as long as you don’t circulate power or actively display strength, ordinary people indeed can’t see your Strength, but the characteristics of Breath Concealment are equally obvious, so others naturally know you’re deliberately hiding yourself.
The other Breath Concealing Martial Arts were more or less the same.
This did not meet Ning Qi’s expectations.
He needed the kind where others completely couldn’t see his Vitality intensity, even reaching the realm of Disguise that was real yet fake.
“Perhaps… I can draw from the False Death State of Great Dream Nine Deaths Technique.”
A Spiritual Insight flashed in Ning Qi’s mind.
The essences of the several Breath Concealing Martial Arts flowed through one by one.
Soon.
A Martial Art had already taken shape; for Ning Qi, creating this kind of technique-oriented Martial Art was far less difficult than cultivating a Cultivation Method.
Silent Art.
That is, flesh body sinks into silence, Vitality becomes calm.
Ning Qi circulated the newly created method, and his body’s Vitality immediately lowered, soon reaching about the same Vitality intensity as an ordinary Tendon Refining Realm.
A slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Then he reversed the method, and Vitality intensity visibly surged, in an instant already surpassing Luo Wentian and Jiang Baishan!
“The Silent Art I created not only conceals Vitality intensity but can also imitate higher realms; though I’ve only seen Master and Divine Sword Elder as Gang Yuan Realm Experts, so imitation might not be perfect, but even so, fooling ordinary people is no problem.”
Ning Qi was in a good mood.
He was confident that even Dragon Mountain Daoist couldn’t discern his true nature when circulating Silent Art.
Even during combat, as long as not going all out, he wouldn’t expose his true Realm.
However, he hadn’t seen Heavenly Human Realm yet.
He didn’t know what this so-called Heavenly Human resonance of the Realm was; Silent Art might not fool Heavenly Human, but he could slowly perfect it later upon encountering such Experts.
For now, it was sufficient.
“Besides Breath Concealing Martial Art, I also need a Martial Art to change the body.”
Ning Qi thought; his current body was too young, features too distinct; if one day he really needed to act, best not to expose his identity.
He kept that day’s admonition from Dragon Mountain Daoist in mind.
Two days later.
Ning Qi looked at the pile of horizontal training Martial Arts and Bone Shrinking Techniques in his hand, getting what he wished.
Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art.
It could Disguise, could Shape Shift.
Ning Qi’s proficient Medical Arts played a great role; as his Martial Way reached Inner Yuan Realm and birthed Inner Strength, his Medical Arts became even more powerful, his control over Needle Technique even more exquisite; Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art was just one manifestation.
Ning Qi circulated Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art.
One could see his originally jade-like face visibly become unfamiliar, features turning ordinary; then cracking sounds from bones rang out nonstop, his body began to grow taller, in the blink of an eye already about the same as a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Youth.
The originally Spiritual Gathering little Daoist child instantly became an utterly ordinary plain Youth.
Ning Qi nodded in satisfaction.
“Not bad, but this is not yet the limit of Body Shifting and Bone Changing Art.”
“Such methods ultimately require some Medicines to cultivate to Perfection; at that time, whether Disguise or Shape Shifting effects will be better.”
This was different from the various methods he created before; for example, Iron Cloth Shirt—even if Ning Qi could instantly comprehend its subtleties, he still had to practice step by step, because such methods fundamentally tempered the flesh body, not just relying on Comprehension.
However.
Ning Qi’s flesh body was very strong, so practicing would take less time than for ordinary people.
