Chapter 14: Dragon Mountain Daoist Emerges From Seclusion
Time passed slowly.
Mingwu Pavilion.
Dragon Mountain Daoist slowly opened his eyes and sighed softly:
“The Heavenly Human Realm is indeed as difficult as ascending to heaven. I have been in the Core Elixir Realm for over ten years, but I still lack the necessary foundation to make my Divine Intent resonate with Heaven and Earth.”
He smiled wryly.
More than a month ago, after teaching Ning Qi, he felt somewhat stimulated and had a faint sense of crisis. He simply seized the momentum to attempt a breakthrough, but unexpectedly failed. The missing foundation still required time to accumulate.
However, he was not discouraged.
The Heavenly Human Realm granted a lifespan of eight hundred years, and a hundred years was still very young for a Heavenly Human Realm Expert. Most Heavenly Human Experts succeeded around two hundred years old, and some even broke through just before their four hundred years of lifespan ended.
Dragon Mountain Daoist was only in his eighties, very young.
He felt he had been somewhat impatient these days, perhaps influenced by the increasingly chaotic situation in the Great Yan Dynasty.
He shook his head, realizing this was wrong.
This closed-door cultivation, though without a breakthrough, was not without gains. At least it helped him readjust his state of mind.
“Over a month has passed. I wonder how Little Nine is doing now? Little Nine has just started contacting the Martial Way, and I’ve been a somewhat incompetent Master.”
Dragon Mountain Daoist felt somewhat annoyed.
Recalling the scene of imparting the Martial Way that day, he couldn’t help but smile helplessly. He had indeed been impacted then, thinking he had found the opportunity for breakthrough, which led him to hastily enter closed-door cultivation.
“Little Nine is a peerless raw jade with talent far surpassing mine. If properly cultivated, there is great hope for him to become a Martial Saint!”
Dragon Mountain Daoist stood up, his figure shrinking the ground as he appeared at the pavilion door. This was an extremely profound Movement Technique. He planned to first go to Ning Qi’s place to check on him and fulfill his responsibility as Master. Even the most prodigious disciple would have areas of confusion. Having practiced Stance Technique for so many years, he could offer high-level guidance with places worth learning for Ning Qi.
He felt he needed to plan a suitable path for Ning Qi to avoid wasting this great talent.
Although the True Martial Sect occupied True Martial Mountain, it actually only built pavilions in the prime area midway up the mountain.
Dragon Mountain Daoist and his nine True Disciples were in the core area, while the residences of the other Inner Disciples and Outer Disciples were arranged outward in sequence.
At Dragon Mountain Daoist’s speed, reaching Ning Qi’s small courtyard would take little time.
He had a smile on his face, hands behind his back, Daoist Robe fluttering, exuding the air of an immortal.
He had already sensed the life aura from afar.
But suddenly, his expression changed.
“Roar!”
A faint dragon roar sounded from the courtyard ahead, faintly carrying a majestic aura.
“This is…”
Dragon Mountain Daoist’s pupils contracted sharply. His heart jumped, and his figure silently appeared outside the courtyard. What he saw immediately froze him in place.
In the courtyard.
White Mist steamed and rolled continuously, with dragon roars occasionally emerging from within, like a young True Dragon soaring and leaping.
With Dragon Mountain Daoist’s eyesight, he naturally saw clearly that this was no young True Dragon, but his terrifyingly talented little disciple.
Ning Qi’s skin was crystalline like jade, but the flesh and blood beneath faintly glowed red, constantly surging.
Compared to a month ago.
Ning Qi’s figure had grown taller and much more solid. Most striking was his life aura, which had become far stronger.
“Muscle Refining Realm?!”
Dragon Mountain Daoist’s breathing quickened slightly.
Even with his state of mind, he could hardly stay composed. This speed was too exaggerated. Although he had expected Ning Qi’s cultivation speed to be beyond imagination, he was still shocked. He almost thought he had misremembered the time—perhaps the closed-door cultivation wasn’t a month, but longer.
But this was not what shocked him most.
“This Stance Technique… is not the Bi An Stance!”
With Dragon Mountain Daoist’s realm, he immediately discerned the foundation of the True Martial Nine Stances from this unfamiliar Stance Technique, seeing traces of nearly every kind.
Just watching it made his heart race. The domineering degree of Body Tempering far surpassed what the True Martial Nine Stances could match.
Slowly watching.
A thunderclap suddenly flashed in Dragon Mountain Daoist’s mind, making his whole body tremble with excitement.
“This is… True Martial Stance?!”
His breathing quickened, emotions surging. His Breath Concealment, which had blended with Heaven and Earth, immediately fluctuated.
Ning Qi instantly sensed an extra aura outside the courtyard. He stopped the Stance Technique and shouted sharply:
“Who is it?!”
As his sharp gaze swept over, Ning Qi was stunned, then joy rose in his eyes.
“Master, you’ve come out of seclusion? How did you arrive so quietly?”
He had asked Senior Disciple Brother yesterday and hadn’t expected Master to emerge today.
Dragon Mountain Daoist felt slightly embarrassed. He had originally wanted to secretly observe his little disciple’s Martial Way progress to prepare for guidance later, but unexpectedly witnessed such an astonishing scene.
He paid no heed to other things.
He instantly appeared before Ning Qi.
Staring at Ning Qi, he forcibly suppressed his inner excitement and said:
“Little Nine, tell Master, which expert taught you the True Martial Stance? Is he still on True Martial Mountain? Did he say anything else?”
Dragon Mountain Daoist asked repeatedly.
Ning Qi stood stunned in place.
He hesitated:
“Master, what True Martial Stance are you referring to?”
“It’s the Stance Technique you were just practicing!”
Ning Qi understood suddenly. He instantly grasped something—his previous guess might be close to the truth. Above the True Martial Nine Stances, there was indeed a stronger Stance Technique, seemingly called True Martial Stance?
But seeing Master’s expression, it seemed this True Martial Stance was not in the True Martial Sect.
He answered truthfully:
“Master, this is the True Dragon Stance I created myself, not the True Martial Stance you mentioned.”
The words fell.
Dragon Mountain Daoist’s twitching goatee froze. He looked at Ning Qi like a statue, suspecting he had misheard.
“You say… you created this yourself??”
This was even more outrageous than someone from the True Martial Sect leaving an Inheritance in the world, but Dragon Mountain Daoist understood his disciple. Though young, he was definitely not one to speak nonsense.
Ning Qi had long planned to come clean with Dragon Mountain Daoist. This was merely Master finding him first.
“Reporting to Master, after you entered closed-door cultivation, I learned several other Stance Techniques from the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters. After mastering all the True Martial Nine Stances, I always felt there was some common thread among these nine Stance Techniques. Finally, one time I fell into Enlightenment and reverse-engineered a Stance Technique…”
Ning Qi explained the thought process and steps of creating the True Dragon Stance.
At the same time, he handed over a prepared Secret Manual, which detailed the True Dragon Stance.
Dragon Mountain Daoist finally recovered from that shaken emotion. He forcibly calmed himself, flipping through the Secret Manual in hand and listening to his little disciple’s explanation, his eyes still rippling with waves.
Of course he knew there was some common thread among the True Martial Nine Stances.
The problem was, knowing was one thing, but reverse-engineering the True Martial Stance from it was no less difficult than creating a Peerless Stance Technique anew!
It was simply a pipe dream!
