Chapter 172: Monumental Breakthrough
Lan Yiyi went down the mountain.
Everyone watched her leave. Dragon Mountain Daoist originally wanted to speak up and dissuade her, but in the end, he still didn’t say it out loud. Lan Yiyi’s only request was not to tell Qin Yun that it was she who saved him. He didn’t know what hidden story was behind this, but he could only respect Lan Yiyi’s decision.
The congregation watched Lan Yiyi’s back disappear into the horizon, reverence rising in their hearts.
Ning Qi felt somewhat emotional.
The words Lan Yiyi had said to him before let him know that this Miss Yiyi probably had extremely deep feelings for his Eighth Senior Brother.
He had left a strand of his aura on Lan Yiyi.
Since he had promised to owe Lan Yiyi a favor, he would not go back on his word.
“Master, after Little Eight wakes up, are you really not going to tell him the truth?” Ye Qinghe felt somewhat reluctant.
Dragon Mountain Daoist sighed lightly:
“Your master knows your feelings, but since we promised Miss Yiyi, we cannot break our word. After Little Eight wakes up, we’ll just say it was Little Nine who cured him. As for what happens between him and Miss Yiyi, let them handle it themselves. If he has feelings for her, he surely won’t be able to let go of Miss Yiyi after waking up.”
He could see it clearly too.
The relationship between Qin Yun and Lan Yiyi was not like that between Jiang Baishan and Lin Ruhua, where they had already expressed their feelings to each other. The two might already have each other in their hearts but were hindered by some reason from breaking through that layer of window paper. This might also be why Lan Yiyi didn’t want to tell Qin Yun the truth.
In such a situation, if outsiders forcibly interfered, it would likely backfire. It was better to let things take their natural course.
The congregation all nodded silently.
As long as Qin Yun could wake up, there would be plenty of time in the future. The two might still have a chance to achieve fruition, but thinking of the Southern Border Saintess as an opponent of the True Martial Sect made Dragon Mountain Daoist smile bitterly in his heart.
He rarely had two disciples who found their loved ones.
In the end, one was the daughter of the Demonic Sect Vice Sect Master, and the other was even the Southern Border Saintess.
The affinities of the world were truly hard to explain clearly.
……
Time passed.
The True Martial Sect gradually returned to calm.
But within the Great Yan Dynasty, dark currents continued to surge. The Demonic Sect’s forces were deeply rooted and intertwined, making it not easy to clean them up. They needed to be excavated bit by bit to avoid any oversights.
In such a situation, many Martial Arts Sects gradually noticed that something was wrong.
After realizing that the Demonic Sect was retreating steadily, they were all horrified and became even more reverent toward Great Yan. When the Demonic Sect was around, there was at least one force capable of contending with Great Yan, which had made Great Yan somewhat lenient toward the Martial Arts Sects under its rule.
But now, with the Demonic Sect eliminated, many Martial Arts Sects inevitably began to worry whether Great Yan would become even stricter with them afterward.
However.
Such worries did not last too long.
The war in the north erupted again.
On the grasslands, the Northern Barbarians gathered their forces and caught King Zhenbei off guard. It was said that he was seriously injured and was now recuperating, while the Northern Barbarians advanced southward. Fortunately, the Imperial Court swiftly sent reinforcements to halt the decline.
Several Great Generals led their armies there, and now they were in a stalemate.
And besides that.
The remaining Demonic Sect remnants seemed to have received help from some unknown force, showing extremely strong resilience. Although they were still no match, they were no longer being crushed like before. After all, no matter how powerful Heavenly Human Realm Experts were, they couldn’t carry out indiscriminate slaughter, as that would cause heavy losses to themselves even if they destroyed the Demonic Sect.
With such internal troubles and external threats.
The originally favorable situation became stalemated instead, especially after the Northern Barbarians diverted their attention, making it even harder for Great Yan to swiftly eradicate the Demonic Sect remnants.
This news reached True Martial Mountain.
After hearing Luo Wentian’s report, Ning Qi fell into thought.
“An unknown force has appeared behind the Demonic Sect remnants? Has that Demonic Sect Leader emerged, or is it someone else?” His eyes flickered slightly.
“And the Northern Barbarians choosing to strike at this exact time—is it a rescue operation like encircling Wei to save Zhao, or some other reason? King Zhenbei has guarded the northern pass for so many years, yet this is the first time he’s encountered such an attack and been severely wounded. It’s unprecedented. The Northern Barbarians must have planned this for a long time.”
“Is there some connection between these two?”
Luo Wentian frowned and said:
“On the Demonic Sect side, perhaps some Martial Arts Sects are involved… Many people do not want to see the Demonic Sect completely destroyed. If Great Yan frees up its energy, it might impose even stricter restrictions on the Martial Arts Sects.”
Ning Qi nodded slightly.
The sects had submitted to imperial power, but if there was a chance, everyone hoped for freedom.
“But just some small moves by Martial Arts Sects probably couldn’t achieve this level. There must be other forces involved—people from the Southern Border or other powers? Or perhaps all of them?”
The Southern Border was extremely low-key now, but it was unknown if they were behind these two events.
In any case.
The originally clarifying situation had become complicated again, with multiple forces seemingly involved.
Luo Wentian thought for a moment and said in a low voice:
“The Northern Barbarians’ mobilization might be related to a certain rumor.”
Ning Qi said:
“What rumor?”
Luo Wentian pointed toward Yan Province:
“It’s said that… after the Great Yan Martial Saint emerged a hundred years ago, he has been in closed-door cultivation without any response. Perhaps something has gone wrong with him. The Northern Barbarians were just probing in the past few years, but now for some reason, they’ve suddenly begun a full southward advance.”
Ning Qi’s spirit shook slightly.
The Great Yan Martial Saint was the only Martial Saint openly remaining in the current world, a towering mountain pressing down on everyone. The Demonic Sect, Southern Border, Northern Barbarians, or any other forces wanting to shake Great Yan could not bypass this mountain.
“Where did this news come from?”
“Unknown. It suddenly started circulating in the Martial World. The Great Yan Dynasty has suppressed quite a few Martial Artists for it, curbing large-scale spread, but those with good information sources basically all know.”
Ning Qi nodded.
In that case, it wasn’t good to probe further.
After discussing for a moment, the two ultimately agreed unanimously that it was best not to wade into muddy waters. The True Martial Sect had many precious foundations that Ning Qi brought back from the Demonic Sect Headquarters. What they needed most now was to develop low-key. They didn’t need to do anything else.
Anyway, with the True Martial Sword Stele and Myriad Dao Tower there, even if the True Martial Sect had no disciples going down the mountain, its prestige would absolutely not be lost; on the contrary, it would increase day by day. More and more people receiving the True Martial Sect’s kindness would give face to the True Martial Sect.
Ning Qi watched Luo Wentian leave.
He thought to himself:
“If the Great Yan Martial Saint’s condition is truly not as before, perhaps it can be seen as a breakthrough for solving the Heaven and Earth Power problem afterward?”
He had considered this direction before, but the Great Yan Martial Saint had suppressed the world for so many years, so it was probably not simple. Now it could be considered.
Then, he shook his head.
Unless absolutely necessary, he still didn’t plan to take this path. The risk was too great.
He calmed his mind and spirit.
Ning Qi took out the King Yu Bead again and studied it carefully.
The blood color of the King Yu Bead had already become very faint, almost returning to its original jade-like luster.
“Today should be the day it succeeds!” There was some anticipation in Ning Qi’s eyes.
These days of deduction were not in vain. Ning Qi’s control over the King Yu Bead was now far beyond comparison to before. If the Demonic Sect Grand Elder were revived, he would probably be dumbfounded. Having refined the secret treasure for hundreds of years, he had only scratched the surface.
With a thought, blood-colored ribbons immediately swirled around Ning Qi’s side.
As Ning Qi’s mind changed, the ribbons transformed endlessly—sometimes into a Heavenly Saber, sometimes into a Divine Sword, sometimes condensing into a mountain, sometimes surging like a river. Not only that, they continuously evolved into various exotic beasts with all sorts of different powers.
The mysteries within were probably beyond what even the Demonic Sect Grand Elder could comprehend in a thousand years.
Ning Qi was very satisfied.
He was not only researching the method of condensing Martial Saint Power but also deducing its applications. The same secret treasure could unleash completely different power in different hands. That day, the Grand Elder’s control of Martial Saint Power was just reckless charging and unrestrained explosive power—very rigid. How could it compare to Ning Qi’s fluid and natural control, with power differing by several times?
After manipulating it for a moment, there was some reluctance in Ning Qi’s eyes.
If used sparingly, this Martial Saint Power could still be used in combat a few more times at least.
But one couldn’t catch a wolf without parting with the cubs.
His gaze gradually firmed as he began to fully activate the King Yu Bead.
Strands of Martial Saint Power rushed out, the blood-colored ribbons growing denser. Then, with a thought from Ning Qi, he let them disperse on their own. In an instant, the blood-colored ribbons began to collapse—like smoke, like mist—turning into the purest Heaven and Earth Power, no longer fluid as before, until they completely disappeared at last.
The King Yu Bead now looked like its original bright jade treasure bead form, emanating a warm and gentle luster.
“Break and then establish! If the Martial Saint Power condensed by the Great Yu bloodline isn’t dispersed, how could it be replaced by the Martial Saint Power condensed by my method? There would be repulsion between them!”
“This attempt is not only further exploration of the King Yu Bead but also an attempt at the Martial Saint Dao!”
If he didn’t have sufficient confidence, he wouldn’t have been so decisive.
In Ning Qi’s mind, streams of spiritual insight kept flashing, their essences intertwining.
He fully mobilized himself, his body even glowing.
In an instant.
The Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit condensed at the apex!
The qi in the entire Seeker’s Courtyard became abundant several times over.
“Heaven and Earth Power, gather!”
Ning Qi shouted lightly in his heart.
He recalled the experience of Blade Demon’s breakthrough, the records left by Wu Jianghe on the silver pages, and all his recent thoughts. Without any hesitation, surging Heaven and Earth Power gathered, turning the entire Seeker’s Courtyard into the center of a vortex.
Dragon Mountain Daoist, who was digesting the medicinal power of the Heaven-Connecting Pill in Mingwu Pavilion, instantly sobered and turned to look toward the Seeker’s Courtyard.
Blade Demon, in closed-door cultivation in the back mountain, was also drawn by the sudden fluctuation of Heaven and Earth Power. His expression shifted slightly, somewhat excited, because he sensed the same fluctuations as when he had attempted to break through to the Martial Saint Realm that day.
“Could it be that Tian Jian Fellow Daoist has already begun attempting it?” He couldn’t help standing up and gazing in that direction.
Fortunately, Ning Qi had made preparations in advance, so the several Heavenly Human Realm Experts studying at the True Martial Sword Stele and Myriad Dao Tower did not notice.
Ning Qi was undistracted.
Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex formed a peculiar ‘funnel’, not much different from the one Blade Demon had condensed, but much stronger in intensity.
Strands of Heaven and Earth Power gathered through the ‘funnel’, seemingly ‘filtered’ once.
Ning Qi’s divine intent bore waves of oppressive sensation.
He was restraining the outpouring of Heaven and Earth Power.
Enduring the urge to refine the Heaven and Earth Power into his body, that vague terror made him know that the ‘funnel’s’ ‘filtering’ probably wouldn’t be of much use. He shouted lowly in his heart, and all connections instantly shifted to the King Yu Bead before him.
This was exactly Ning Qi’s plan.
Normally, the next step would be to refine Heaven and Earth Power into the body and then condense it into Martial Saint Power. But knowing the abnormality of Heaven and Earth Power, he naturally didn’t dare. So he took a different path, perfectly combining it with the King Yu Bead.
In a sense, this was somewhat like the previous external pill method.
The inspiration did come from that method, but the difficulty was completely incomparable. Even Ning Qi only had ninety percent confidence.
Ning Qi didn’t dare slack off.
His divine intent continued to communicate with the King Yu Bead. The bright pearl glowed, warm and powerful. The special patterns inside began to operate, drawing in strands of Heaven and Earth Power. Ning Qi split his attention to make the Heaven and Earth Power oscillate at a special frequency.
The King Yu Bead’s light grew increasingly blazing, like a small sun.
In the Seeker’s Courtyard.
Gigantic Waves.
Waves of Heaven and Earth Power gathered, but with no outlet to vent, Ning Qi’s pressure grew greater and greater. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead.
Fortunately, this stalemate didn’t last too long.
Ning Qi’s previous deductions were not in vain. Under his constant adjustments, the King Yu Bead finally showed change!
“Buzz!”
Invisible fluctuations spread outward.
The Heaven and Earth Power surging into the King Yu Bead finally began to metamorphose and compress at an astonishing speed. Ning Qi’s spirit shook as he carefully comprehended the changes. He discovered that after the King Yu Bead’s special patterns operated, some substance merged into it, and then the vast Heaven and Earth Power transformed into strands of essentially transcendent Martial Saint Power!
Strands of lustrous white power condensed within, completely different from the previous blood-colored ribbons.
“Success! As expected, the Martial Saint Power purely condensed from Heaven and Earth Power is somewhat different from what the Demonic Sect Grand Elder condensed using that secret technique. This Martial Saint Power is more upright and serene. Perhaps this is the correct path, but the Demonic Sect Grand Elder and the others simply couldn’t master it before.”
“That’s right. Martial Saint secret treasures are inherently only controllable by Martial Saints. Aside from me, others can only use some clever secret techniques to activate part of the power. Even I now might not have fully activated this secret treasure.”
Various thoughts flashed by, and Ning Qi’s heart was filled with immense joy.
Without a doubt.
This was a milestone breakthrough.
It meant that he had for the first time independently condensed Heaven and Earth Power into Martial Saint Power. Although it relied on the secret treasure’s power, it was still extremely valuable.
From now on.
The King Yu Bead would no longer be a rootless weed. It wouldn’t lose Martial Saint Power bit by bit with use like before. This would greatly increase Ning Qi’s combat strength, but most importantly, Ning Qi could now freely deduce and study Martial Saint Power. As long as he figured out the mysteries of how the King Yu Bead condensed Martial Saint Power, the Martial Saint Realm would practically open its doors to him afterward.
The only thing he needed to do was solve the abnormality of Heaven and Earth Power and then naturally step into the Martial Saint Realm.
