Chapter 3: Eight Years Too Long
True Martial Mountain.
Like a sharp sword thrusting straight into the clouds, steep and spectacular, it was originally called Divine Sword Mountain, but ever since Dragon Mountain Daoist won this mountain in a bet against the Divine Sword Mountain Master, he rebuilt the True Martial Sect here.
Gradually, this mountain became True Martial Mountain.
In the Great Yan World’s Thirteen Provinces, True Martial Mountain was located at the border between Qingzhou and Yunzhou. Dragon Mountain Daoist was carrying Ning Qi, and he would occasionally stop to beg some food for Ning Qi, so his speed was not particularly fast.
At the foot of the mountain.
Dragon Mountain Daoist breathed a sigh of relief. Being on his own turf was good.
Along the way, he had worried that someone might come to intercept and kill them. Now it seemed that the culprit behind the scenes probably thought Ning Qi had already perished in the sea of fire and had no idea that Snow Plum Villa had left behind such a survivor.
This made him even more determined not to reveal Ning Qi’s identity for the time being, lest it bring crisis to Ning Qi.
Ning Qi curiously surveyed the True Martial Mountain before his eyes.
During this time following Dragon Mountain Daoist, he had seen some local customs and practices. Through the information from this scale and claw, he had gained a certain understanding of the world he had transmigrated to.
This world was similar to the feudal society of his previous life’s ancient times, with the ruling dynasty named Great Yan. But unlike the ancient times of his previous life, this world had powerful existences called martial artists, and martial culture flourished.
Martial artists.
Those who pursued the Martial Way, their combat power and lifespan far exceeded that of ordinary people.
The low-level ones could split monuments, crack stones, and tear apart tigers and leopards with their bare hands without issue. The high-level ones could even unleash sword qi a hundred zhang long to sever rivers and block flows.
And his Master, Dragon Mountain Daoist, belonged to the latter, with considerable reputation in the world.
This made Ning Qi secretly click his tongue in astonishment while also feeling somewhat relieved. Although he had become an orphan right from the start and things hadn’t gone smoothly, he had at least apprenticed under a pretty good Master.
At this moment.
One by one, Daoists with powerful auras and fit figures had already come to welcome them. There were youths and young Daoists among them, including one female Daoist. The congregation all showed excitement upon seeing Dragon Mountain Daoist and respectfully saluted:
“Greetings, Master!”
Dragon Mountain Daoist nodded slightly.
These were the eight disciples he had taken in before. All had extraordinary talent, and he placed great hopes on them, hoping that one day they could revitalize the True Martial Sect.
“Wentian, is everything fine in the sect recently?”
Dragon Mountain Daoist looked at the honest-faced youth at the forefront. This was his Eldest Disciple, Luo Wentian.
Luo Wentian respectfully said:
“Reporting to Master, the disciples in the sect are carrying on with their lessons as usual, and the Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters are all diligently cultivating.”
The entire True Martial Sect.
Had hundreds of disciples under it.
Divided into Outer Disciples and Inner Disciples, as well as Luo Wentian and the other eight True Disciples.
Dragon Mountain Daoist smiled with relief:
“Diligence is naturally good, but one must also balance work and rest.”
“We will keep Master’s teachings in mind. Was Master’s trip to Snow Plum Villa smooth?”
Several disciples showed curiosity in their eyes. It wasn’t about Dragon Mountain Daoist’s whereabouts, but rather the infant he was holding in his arms. Especially the sect’s only female Daoist Ye Qinghe and the youngest young Daoist Qin Yun—they had already begun making faces at Ning Qi, trying to tease him.
However, Ning Qi just rolled his eyes and ignored the two.
He wasn’t really some infant who knew nothing.
This instead made the two even more astonished, unable to hide smiles on their faces.
Dragon Mountain Daoist didn’t keep them in suspense. He didn’t mention what had happened at Snow Plum Villa and simply smiled:
“This infant is named Ning Qi. From now on, he is your Ninth Disciple, Junior Brother.”
Upon hearing this.
Astonishment appeared in everyone’s eyes.
After all, since Master had founded the sect, he had rarely directly taken in True Disciples. Luo Wentian and the other seven had all risen step by step from Outer Disciples, eventually being listed as True Disciples by Dragon Mountain Daoist.
Only Qin Yun, who had joined ten years ago, was an exception. He had been made a True Disciple directly upon entry, but Qin Yun’s talent was so high it could be called unparalleled. Dragon Mountain Daoist called it Heavenly Human talent, and there was even a slight hope he could step into the Martial Saint Realm.
But unexpectedly, after ten years, their Master was taking another disciple, and it was a little infant.
Moreover, they all knew that the Ninth Disciple held special significance for the True Martial Sect.
Could it be that this little infant also had unparalleled talent?
The congregation all offered congratulations:
“This disciple congratulates Master on finding an excellent disciple!”
Dragon Mountain Daoist just smiled.
Qin Yun couldn’t wait any longer and took Ning Qi from Ye Qinghe’s hands. He grinned and poked Ning Qi’s cheek with his finger, his eyes brimming with affection. Previously, he had been the smallest one, but now, finally, there was one even smaller than him.
Qin Yun’s voice was excited and full of heroic spirit:
“After ten years, Master has taken another disciple. Our True Martial Nine Sons are finally complete!”
“Give Little Junior Brother eighteen years, and in the future, we True Martial Nine Sons will together awe Great Yan and make the True Martial Sect regain its former glory!”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Aspirations shone in their eyes.
Dragon Mountain Daoist was the same.
True Martial Nine Sons.
This was a term he had come up with after obtaining the True Martial Inheritance back then, and it was inextricably linked to the inheritance within it.
The True Martial Inheritance stated that if the True Martial Nine Sons were all Heavenly Humans, they could rival a Martial Saint.
And so.
The True Martial Sect of the past might not have produced a Martial Saint every generation, but no generation had feared a Martial Saint.
It could be called at its peak.
But later, for some unknown reason, it completely vanished from the river of history.
These years, he hadn’t taken the last disciple. Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, he had met Ning Qi. It could be considered Heaven’s Will.
“True Martial Nine Sons, huh?”
Ning Qi listened to those hearty laughs from the heart and couldn’t help but smile, infected by them.
His Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters all seemed pretty good.
He felt a bit of anticipation for his upcoming life on True Martial Mountain.
…
In fact.
Ning Qi’s Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters were indeed very good to him.
Perhaps because Ning Qi was the smallest and the final Ninth Disciple, the many Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters doted on him especially. In particular, Third Senior Sister Ye Qinghe and Eighth Senior Brother Qin Yun would come to play with Ning Qi every few days.
Ning Qi also went from initial resistance to gradually accepting it.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
He had fully integrated into the True Martial Sect.
During this half year.
Ning Qi had similarly showcased his extraordinary nature. Perhaps due to the dense Innate Qi in his body, his growth and development were far faster than that of an ordinary infant.
With Max Level Comprehension, he learned everything extremely quickly.
Recognizing characters and reading was the most basic of basics.
At just half a year old, he could already walk steadily on his own and speak clearly to communicate with everyone. This left the congregation even more amazed, and they all called Ning Qi a prodigy, eagerly anticipating his performance in the Martial Way after his bone structure fully formed.
But this was only what was shown to everyone. In reality, Ning Qi was far more exaggerated than they imagined.
Due to his body not yet fully formed, he temporarily couldn’t touch the Martial Way.
After learning the script of this world, Ning Qi dove headfirst into the True Martial Sect’s miscellaneous classics.
Astronomy, Feng Shui, Qimen Dunjia, Medical Arts…
Whatever he could learn now, he basically didn’t miss any.
In a certain sense, he was also laying the foundation for the Martial Way to come.
With Max Level Comprehension, Ning Qi didn’t need to worry about biting off more than he could chew. Through self-study alone, he had already reached extremely profound realms in various fields.
Dragon Mountain Daoist and the others only thought Ning Qi was flipping through things out of a child’s curiosity and had no idea what level he had actually reached.
For example, in Medical Arts.
Ning Qi could already be called a generation’s divine doctor.
On the theoretical foundation of a bunch of Medical Way classics, he had created his own Ning Family Medical Book, and also invented wondrous needle techniques such as《Hanging Needle Technique》,《Golden Needle Acupoint Passage》,《Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles》, and more. But due to not yet touching the Martial Way, some techniques couldn’t be executed. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly reach an even higher level.
Even so.
Ning Qi had many ideas in mind, just waiting until his strength was sufficient in the future, when he could naturally achieve it in one step.
Recently.
After Ning Qi’s body grew enough for steady walking, he had been pondering one question.
That was.
How to accelerate the formation of his own bone structure and touch the Martial Way as early as possible.
According to what his Senior Brothers said, for the vast majority of people, bone structure fully formed at eight years old. Only a very few with special physiques might form it ahead of time.
He felt that waiting until eight years old was too long.
