Translator: Lordbluefire
Editor: Lordbluefire
Si~
Both parties were forced back after the collision. The young girl retreated four steps and shook her thumb that was burning in pain. She spoke with disbelief, “You are clearly at the fourth radiance-level while I’m at the fifth. Why is your inner force even denser than mine?”
Her cultivation base was a level higher compared to Xia Qingchen’s, but when the density of their inner force was compared, she was actually the one inferior.
“It’s naturally because the cultivation art he cultivates is superior to yours.” The old man walked over.
The young girl was unwilling to accept this. The [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] was famous throughout the world because of how pure its inner force was. Among those with the same cultivation base as her, only an extremely few people were able to compare to her with regards to the density of their inner force.
“Let’s spar again!” The young woman persistently spoke. She didn’t believe that the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] that had been passed down for generations in the Shine would ever be inferior when compared.
Xia Qingchen waved his hand and calmly spoke, “Let’s stop right there. The [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] is a martial skill that has long since been obsolete. I urged you to use it less if you can. It would be best if you completely give it up.”
An obsolete martial skill?
The young woman was somewhat angered. She admitted that her opponent’s cultivation art was brilliant. But disparaging what others worked so hard to learn and cultivate on was truly unbecoming of a gentleman.
“It’s very hard for me to ignore your sentence!” The young woman’s aura was outstanding. Her inner force flowed through her arms. “Receive another one of my strikes!”
“White Crane Spreads Its Wings!”
Her feet lightly tapped on the ground as she leaped half a feet in the air. After that, her long leg swept out horizontally, aiming for Xia Qingchen’s chest.
This was a mid-grade yellow-tier martial skill in the Shrine named [Three Attacks of Flowery Shadow].
This was different from the [Light-Dark Heaven Heart] and [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll]. Those were cultivated for one to gain inner force and could be considered cultivation arts.
The [Three Attacks of Flowery Shadow] was classified as an attacking-type martial skill and was capable of outputting immense might.
Her leg swept over, causing the wind to roar.
Xia Qingchen’s expression was calm. He didn’t avoid it right away. When the leg swept over, his fingers agilely dabbed on her inner thigh with precision.
Ah~
A lovable-sounding groan rang out. The young woman felt like a bolt of current just ran through her inner thigh, causing her lower body to be completely numbed.
Her legs could no longer move freely. Her body, which was in mid-air, wasn’t able to maintain balance and began to fall.
Xia Qingchen was prepared. His right arm shot over and pressed against her slender waist, allowing her to land safely on the ground.
However, due to her legs being numb, she couldn’t stand straight and leaned into Xia Qingchen’s embrace without being aware of it.
“I already said, the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] is obsolete. Before your cultivation gets too deep, you should give it up. If not, you would become the same as your grandfather sooner or later. The martial meridians of your body would be twisted and your cultivation would be half-crippled,” Xia Qingchen slowly spoke. After that, he walked away with his hands folded behind his back, leaving behind the young woman whose face was filled with shock.
Staring at Xia Qingchen’s departing back, the young woman asked in disbelief. “Grandfather, why was my lower body numb just from his casual finger strike?”
Earlier, Xia Qingchen’s finger strike wasn’t executed with any martial skill. By logic, it shouldn’t have caused any damage.
But her grandfather still hadn’t replied after a while. Hence, she involuntarily turned her head to look at him.
From her gaze, she discovered that the aged eyes of her grandfather were shining like torches, filled with bewilderment. He was staring unblinkingly at Xia Qingchen’s back.
“Grandpa, what’s wrong?” From her memories, her grandfather had always been able to remain calm no matter what. Even back when he had participated in the war in Qing Country, when he had been facing thousands of troops, his brows hadn’t even furrowed.
Yet now, such an expression actually appeared on his face.
“Zhilan, we may have met an expert.” The old man retracted the strange look in his eyes.
His tone was filled with shock and heaviness that he was unable to wipe away.
“Expert? Him?” The young woman thought about it for a little while before her lips curled up in disdain. “Is it just because his cultivation art is brilliant? I will concede this point. But as for him being an expert? I truly am unable to tell how this is so.”
After being subdued by Xia Qingchen in a single stroke, the young woman was convinced that his cultivation art was superior.
But how could a mere youth be worthy enough to be called an ‘expert’?
She would never be willing to admit that someone around her age could be an expert.
“Zhilan, do you know that grandfather’s body and cultivation base are deteriorating every year?” the old man slowly spoke.
The young woman’s expression turned solemn. She nodded, “I know. Twenty years ago, you were ambushed by Gu Qianhen, the martial devil sovereign of Divinebloom Duchy, and your nine major meridians were damaged.”
This incident wasn’t a secret. The young woman knew about it long ago.
“This is what everyone in the world guessed. In truth, long before I clashed with Gu Qianhen, my cultivation base was already deteriorating. If not, I wouldn’t have lost to him,” the old man spoke hoarsely, revealing the secret of twenty years ago.
The young woman’s heart pounded. “Grandfather, don’t tell me that the brat’s words are real? Your damaged martial meridians weren’t because you were injured in that battle but rather…”
“That’s right!” The old man’s eyes flashed brightly. “It is because I cultivated in the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll]!”
Ah!
The young woman covered her mouth with her hands, not daring to believe what she had just heard.
The supreme cultivation art passed down for generations by the Shrine Masters would actually cause harm to one’s body if they cultivated it all the way to the end!
“Your cultivation is still shallow, and your internal injuries are merely concentrated at your inner thigh. It can be considered very light to the point where you didn’t even realize it.”
This was why her lower body turned numb when Xia Qingchen casually pierced out with his finger there.
The young woman then felt relieved. “In that case, he must have heard of the negative points about the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] from others.”
The old man shook his head meaningfully. “I’m the first person to cultivate the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll]. I’m also the only one who knows of its negative points!”
Yet, Xia Qingchen knew about the truth of his martial meridians being twisted, as well as correctly pinpointing the accumulated damage on Zhilan’s inner thigh.
“Could it be he has seen the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] before?” The young woman was shocked and filled with disbelief.
The old man cast his gaze into the distance. That year, after he had acquired the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] from the ruins, he had memorized it completely and destroyed the manual.
The possibility of that young man obtaining the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] was immensely low.
“Maybe,” the old man slowly spoke. He then continued, “Let’s go and take a look at what he came here for.”
….
Xia Qingchen went to the counter where various ingredients could be exchanged for. Very soon, he found the three main ingredients that could be used to concoct the Dragonblood Powder as well as eighteen supportive ingredients.
He asked before. A divine scroll could be used to exchange for materials that had a total worth of 100,000 taels of silver.
The ingredients needed for a portion of Dragonblood Powder was roughly 10,000 taels of silver. With a divine scroll, he could exchange for ten portions of them.
However, when Xia Qingchen was searching for the necessary ingredients, he happened to see an insignificant-looking block of wood.
Its outward appearance was rough, showing signs that it was about to rot. There were even traces of worms boring into the wood.
“There’s actually a Thunderfire Char here,” Xia Qingchen involuntarily exclaimed in shock.
Thunderfire Char was a type of precious material.
When thunder from the sky struck a forest and caused a huge fire to be ignited, some ancient trees over five hundred years old could take the chance to absorb the blazing flames and thunder force, leaving behind a charred tree heart.
This block of wood only had a single purpose. And that was to cure the root of internal injuries that medical substances couldn’t cure.
No matter the internal injuries, it could cure them completely. It could even be said to have the ability to transform something rotten into something wondrous.
But leaving aside the fact that it was very difficult for this material to form, its outward appearance was like an ordinary block of wood. Unless one had very good judgment, they would be sure to miss it and treat it as an ordinary piece of charred wood, thereby ignoring it.
Hence, there was an extremely low number of people selling Thunderfire Chars on the market.
He didn’t expect the Shrine to have one of them. What a surprise.