Chapter 39: Challenge Invitation |
Qin Yun's return to the mountain caused quite a stir in the Zhenwu Sect. After all, he had been away for more than half a year, not even returning for the year-end.
All the disciples missed him dearly.
All the True Disciples on the mountain gathered around Qin Yun.
"Well, well, Little Eight, you stayed down the mountain without a word for so long. Don’t tell me the temptations of the outside world blinded you."
Looking at all the familiar faces, Qin Yun felt a strange sense of dislocation, like it had been a lifetime.
He was just about to speak.
Ye Qinghe had already grinned and said,
"Drink this pot of wine, and we'll forgive you."
Looking at the wine Ye Qinghe handed over, Qin Yun’s scalp tingled. He had once been the victim of her experimental brewing. Still, he braced himself and drank it—and was surprised that it wasn’t bad.
Qin Yun didn’t hold back on the praise.
Ye Qinghe smiled even more joyfully, but when he noticed the sly grins on everyone's faces, he started to get a sense of what was going on. His eyes landed on the White Ape, then shifted to Ning Qi.
He instinctively tried to sense Ning Qi's depth, but couldn’t read him.
"Little Nine."
He smiled warmly, just like in the old days.
But Ning Qi felt as if Qin Yun were suppressing something.
Later, Qin Yun went to see Daoist Longshan. Unexpectedly, perhaps because of his long absence, Daoist Longshan ordered Qin Yun to remain in seclusion. Even Luo Wentian, who tried to speak up gently, got scolded.
All the True Disciples were stunned—this rarely happened.
They could only hope Master would calm down soon.
Ning Qi sighed a little.
The human heart is hard to fathom.
He vaguely felt that this had something to do with Eighth Senior Brother's current state.
But it wasn’t something he could intervene in—not yet.
All Ning Qi could do was cultivate in silence.
He hoped Qin Yun would recover soon.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, the year-end approached again.
Ning Qi had performed two more false-death states, completing two more layers of Fold Energy.
Two months ago, he successfully advanced to the Fifth Fold Realm, officially surpassing Seventh Senior Brother Song Cheng in cultivation.
"One more Fold Energy completion, and I’ll reach major achievement in the Inner Origin Realm. Most Inner Origin Realm martial artists only begin to apply special attributes to their internal energy at this stage, but I could already do that at the minor achievement level."
"Now my internal energy is even more condensed. If I reach the major achievement stage, I might be able to extend it outside my body like others at the perfected level."
This made Ning Qi a bit excited.
With Inner Origin Nine-Fold Perfection, internal energy could extend nearly a zhang outside the body, drastically boosting power. He figured he wouldn’t be far off—maybe even surpass it.
"But... I should already be able to go toe-to-toe with a White Mist Realm expert, right?"
Ning Qi wasn’t entirely sure, but the thought gave him hope.
The force of the Qi Origin Realm’s Qi was overwhelming, but he felt he could fight back.
He hadn’t forgotten his target—the Blood Rain Pavilion. One day, if he could defeat his Master easily, he could take his revenge.
"It’s just... the force conversion method in the Great Dream of Nine Deaths Force is still just a prototype. It’ll take some time."
But Ning Qi wasn’t in a rush.
His standards for force conversion were high—since it would determine how he cultivated in the Qi Origin Realm.
He wanted his internal energy’s traits to encompass all phenomena.
That was very hard.
But with the Origin of All Phenomena Stance as his foundation, it wasn’t impossible—just required time to study and refine. Without full-level comprehension, Ning Qi wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.
Ning Qi believed next year would be the breakthrough.
"Let’s go, Tiansheng."
Looking at the diligent White Ape beside him, Ning Qi smiled and called out.
The White Ape had now reached Perfect Bone Refinement and was attacking the bottleneck of Organ Refinement. Maybe in six years, he’d complete Body Tempering—that was fast. Even Chubby Zhuang Chen couldn’t match him, let alone Qin Yun.
And the White Ape's strength surpassed others of the same realm.
His physical foundation was solid. While not as strong as Ning Qi’s, he was likely on par with those practicing the Zhenwu Stance.
Ning Qi noticed that as the White Ape's cultivation level rose, some strange transformation seemed to be happening inside his body—maybe awakening a bloodline.
That made Ning Qi even more curious.
He figured, once he could extend his internal energy outside his body, he might explore this further.
With thoughts swirling, Ning Qi and the White Ape arrived at the Martial Arena.
Last year’s year-end competition had gone very well.
Naturally, Luo Wentian was eager to carry on the tradition.
Only after arriving did Ning Qi find out—
Qin Yun was there too.
He had been under house arrest by Daoist Longshan for over half a year. But now, at year’s end, he was allowed out. At that moment, he was chatting with other True Disciples.
Everyone advised him—if he had offended Master in any way, he should just apologize and stop being so stubborn.
Qin Yun only smiled and nodded.
When he saw Ning Qi,
Qin Yun instinctively looked his way, sensing his presence.
"Little Nine."
He could tell that Ning Qi’s aura had grown much stronger since half a year ago, but he wouldn’t know the exact realm unless Ning Qi fought.
Ning Qi also took a seat.
Everyone chatted.
Then the outer sect disciples’ matches began again.
Compared to last year, the outer sect’s overall strength had improved. A few standout disciples emerged, to everyone's delight.
Then came the inner sect disciples.
After awarding the top twenty, it was time for True Disciples to spar and answer others’ questions.
But this time, Qin Yun joined in.
Luo Wentian faced Jiang Baishan again—and lost even more decisively than before.
That firmly established Jiang Baishan as the second strongest in Zhenwu Sect.
Nowadays, Jiang Baishan might break through to the Qi Origin Realm before turning forty—becoming the second Qi Origin expert in the sect.
In a world where martial artists lived long lives, forty was still considered young—and his momentum was strong.
But as Ning Qi watched the fierce battle between them, he felt calm. He was more certain than ever that even if First Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother teamed up, they wouldn’t be a match for him.
Then, after Luo Wentian lost, Qin Yun suddenly challenged Jiang Baishan.
As expected, Qin Yun lost.
But what shocked everyone was—
Qin Yun revealed that he had reached the Sixth Fold of the Inner Origin Realm!
Keep in mind—
Qin Yun was only in his twenties and already at Inner Origin major achievement. At this rate, he might reach the Qi Origin Realm before thirty-five—maybe even sooner.
Everyone in Zhenwu Sect was ecstatic.
They loudly praised Qin Yun.
It was a sign of Zhenwu’s rise.
Only Daoist Longshan showed a hint of concern in his eyes.
Ning Qi was also a bit surprised—Qin Yun’s cultivation speed seemed unnaturally fast. Could he have had a fortuitous encounter while away?
After Jiang Baishan stepped down,
Qin Yun stood in the center of the Martial Arena. He didn’t leave, but looked at Ning Qi and issued a challenge:
"Little Junior Brother, how about giving it a try? Senior Brother will go easy on you."
There was something strange in his gaze. Even the other disciples could vaguely sense something off.
A year ago, when Jiang Baishan issued an invitation like this, Ning Qi could simply smile and decline.
But now, a year later, Qin Yun made the invitation again—
And Ning Qi hesitated.
Qin Yun was different from Jiang Baishan. He felt that the changes Qin Yun had undergone in recent years might have something to do with him as well.