Chapter 146: River Crossing Torrential Step
Li Tongya returned home, and with Li Xuanfeng not yet back from the prefecture, he returned to his cave dwelling on Meiche Peak instead.
Opening the stone door, he lightly tapped his storage pouch. A rather simple-looking longsword materialized in his hand right away.
"This long sword of Yu Mujian... Its material seems unremarkable," he muttered to himself as he inspected the sword, noting an engraved 'Yu' character[1] on the hilt, finally understanding the source of the familiar feeling he felt.
"Ah... so it's an artifact from Lingyu Gate," he murmured to himself.
Activating his spiritual sense, he channeled the River True Essence from within him into the sword, causing it to emit a bright light.
Li Tongya channeled about ten percent of his mana into the sword, and soon enough, a sound of rushing water emerged. His eyes lit up as he heard this, and he continued pouring more true essence into the blade.
The River True Essence condensed by the River One Qi Technique was naturally powerful in the first place, and after receiving empowerment from the Deep Ocean Long Whale Talisman, Li Tongya's mana was astonishingly vast—much like the ocean.
Now, even ten percent of his mana was comparable to half of the mana for an average early-stage Qi Cultivator.
The sound of the water emanating from the sword became increasingly violent.
After several moments focused on channeling his mana into the sword, one stroke of the 'Yu' character on the sword hilt suddenly lit up.
It took about fifty percent of Li Tongya's true essence and the time taken to burn a stick of incense to fully illuminate the entire 'Yu' character.
"Hm... the mana required for this feat far surpassed the capability of a peak Qi Cultivator. It seems this sword was originally intended to select cultivators who practiced the River One Qi Technique and reached the Foundation Establishment Realm..."
Recalling the River Mountain Sutra , Li Tongya had a plan.
Considering Zhang Yun's words, The River One Qi Technique is likely a preliminary technique to the technique in the River Mountain Sutra. If I can unlock that jade slip, my family will possess a complete legacy of the Purple Mansion Realm!
While he pondered these thoughts, the sword in his hand buzzed and levitated, emitting shimmering water light that illuminated the cave. It projected onto the cave walls, revealing a series of hidden text.
"The River Crossing Torrential Step.. ?"
Li Tongya was overjoyed.
Footwork techniques were the rarest among all the techniques. Not only were they expensive, but they were also seldom seen for sale. He eagerly memorized the content projected by the water light. After a brief moment, the light finally dimmed.
The River Crossing Torrential Step was a footwork technique from Lingyu Gate, sealed in the sword by a predecessor named Xiao Xianyou. The text mentioned that he acquired this footwork technique at a mountain river, and at the end, it even included a minor technique called the Blood Escape Technique , an escape method that consumed essence qi and life and only to be used in times of desperation, potentially saving one's life in critical moments.
" River Crossing Torrential Step is a Grade Three footwork technique... Xiao Xianyou sealed the Lingyu Gate's legacy into this sword, using sword light to pass on the legacy. It appears this predecessor's swordsmanship was also quite profound!" Li Tongya marveled, his eyes twinkling in slight amazement.
"This footwork technique, whether for combating enemies or escaping, provides a safeguard for the descendants of my Li Family. This is truly a great find!" he added joyously.
Keeping the sword levitating mid-air with his mana, Li Tongya bowed slightly as a gesture of gratefulness and respect to the predecessor.
An epiphany struck him as he thought, The Xiao family of Lixia claims legacy from Lingyu Gate, and this predecessor also bears the surname Xiao... Could he be an ancestor of Lixia's Xiao Family?
Putting the sword away, Li Tongya considered visiting the Xiao Family to inquire further and took out a jade slip to carefully record everything with his spiritual sense.
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Li Xuanfeng landed in the market of Cloud Crowned Peak, noticing a decrease in foot traffic compared to previous years. After all, it was usually busier during the days of tribute payment when many clans were busy trading in the market. Now, on an ordinary day, it was not nearly as lively.
Li Xuanfeng entered a leather shop and called over a few attendants of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, dropping bear meat sealed with a spell from his pouch onto the floor with a clattering sound.
"How many Spirit Stones can this fetch?"
The attendants nodded vigorously at his request. Upon seeing that it was a demonic beast of Qi Cultivation Realm, they hurriedly called over the shop owner who was a Qi Cultivator and clad in leather.
He evaluated the bear meat with an eager gaze before speaking. "Fellow Daoist, this bear meat is full of spiritual qi and hasn't been dead for long... I'll value it at twenty-one Spirit Stones!" he declared cheerfully.
Li Xuanfeng nodded. As a seasoned demonic beast hunter, he was familiar with the market and found the price reasonable. He quickly agreed, exchanging the goods for Spirit Stones and pocketing them, feeling satisfied with the earnings.
Stepping out, he encountered a young man in fox fur who greeted him with a warm smile.
"Brother Xuanfeng, we meet again!"
"Brother Changdie!" Li Xuanfeng greeted Liu Changdie in a cheery manner.
The young man held jade beads in hand and wore a pristine fox fur coat.
"I was looking for a formation material in the market and didn't expect to run into you! Let's sit down for a chat; my treat!" he proposed generously.
Pulling Li Xuanfeng toward a nearby tavern, Li Xuanfeng, in high spirits, agreed and followed him inside.
Liu Changdie was the first to strike a conversation between the two.
"Is the Sun Rite Profound Light Formation working well?"
"Perfectly fine!" Li Xuanfeng replied right away with a nod.
After ordering a few dishes and bringing up the wine, Liu Changdie pondered for a moment, then thought to himself, It's been over a decade since that demonic disaster... I wonder if this fellow in front of me has any news about it. However, considering the fact that the calamity affected the Azure Pond Sect and Golden Tang Gate, Li Xuanfeng might not be aware.
Filtering his thoughts, Liu Changdie came to his own conclusion.
Might as well ask; who knows if there might be some knowledge to gain...?
With this thought, he smiled at Li Xuanfeng and leaned forward in a casual manner.
"Brother Xuanfeng, have you heard of someone named Jiang Yan?"
"Jiang Yan...?" Li Xuanfeng mumbled as he thought for a moment. After a brief pause, he realized he had no clue and chuckled.
"Never heard of him! Why? Are you looking for this person?" he asked, rather amused.
"Haha, just asking!" Liu Changdie replied as he quickly changed the subject, feeling somewhat helpless inside. He had hoped to achieve great things in this life, but aside from cultivating faster and bringing back his knowledge of array formations, he found almost nothing else useful.
The powerful figures from his past life had not yet risen, and they never publicly shared their rise to power, leaving Liu Changdie at a loss on how to seize an advantage beforehand. He only remembered some major events from his past life, barely managing to establish some relationships with potential figures.
Feeling somewhat down lately, he spent his days setting up formations for others to earn some Spirit Stones while feeling uncertain about his own future.
Seeing the carefree Li Xuanfeng, he could not help but feel envious.
"Brother Xuanfeng... what do you think is the meaning of life?"
Caught off guard and a bit amused by such a sudden question, Li Xuanfeng simply waved off the question. "Just to live a happy life, that's all!" he responded with a light-hearted laugh.
With this statement, an unrestrained and unruly aura enveloped him. Liu Changdie replied with an incredulous look, "Brother Xuanfeng, your words are almost demonic, resembling the chaos sown by the demonic faction..."
Li Xuanfeng laughed heartily before picking up a piece of demonic beast meat and sipping another mouth of wine. "Whether it's the righteous path or the demonic path... when the top sects disregard lives so loosely, how are they any different from the demonic faction? The common people struggle to survive. I care for not much in this world; as long as my family is not bullied, I can drink and eat meat freely, I don't care if the world falls apart!" he proclaimed with a tight smile.
Setting down his wine cup, Li Xuanfeng solemnly said, "Life is full of disappointments... When faced with adversity, grit your teeth and get through it. When times are good, make the most of it! Otherwise, you'll regret it when you die someday..."
"Brother Xuanfeng is really..." Liu Changdie chuckled wryly, finding Li Xuanfeng's carefree demeanor somewhat relaxing.
Since his rebirth, he had been constantly calculating nonstop, leading to him being exhausted and dizzy from such extensive effort. He found time spent with Li Xuanfeng to be quite relaxing in contrast.
"However, Brother Xuanfeng... we shouldn't speak too plainly in public," Liu Changdie cautioned after scanning their surroundings.
Since it was still early in the day, there were only very few people around. He breathed a sigh of relief and raised his cup to Li Xuanfeng with a smile.
Raising his cup, Li Xuanfeng suddenly thought of the old man named Xu San. He felt a squeeze in his heart and mumbled to himself, "Xu San, just wait! When the opportunity arises, I'll also make Golden Tang Gate taste blood!"
1. "Yu" as in the "yu" Lingyu, not the "Yu" in Yu Mujian. ☜