Inheritance Chamber

Nothing eventful happened afterward.

After the match ended, Su Ti accepted a bank card containing ten million from Li Zong. It was his appearance fee for the fight against Demon Mountain. The money on it was all clean, so there would be no complications.

Afterward, they signed and sealed an agreement in front of everyone, setting a date one month later for another match between Su Ti and Li Mingsheng.

With matters settled, everyone from Dragon Gate Martial Hall left.

At Long Yuanzheng's villa, after he dismissed the disciples once more, only Su Ti and Long Yuanzheng remained.

Looking at Su Ti before him, Long Yuanzheng spoke.

"Su Ti, do you know how strong Li Mingsheng is?"

Su Ti shook his head. Though he had accepted the challenge, he truly did not know.

Long Yuanzheng shook his head.

"Don't be fooled by how brainless he looks. He's actually an expert, the strongest person in the Death Fist Society aside from Li Zong!"

"He's at the Inner Refinement Fifth Layer and has already reached the Great Accomplishment of Inner Refinement. His Black Fiend Fist is at intermediate mastery and not far from great accomplishment. In other words, he is only one step away from the Perfected Circle Realm. Once his fighting techniques reach great accomplishment, he'll enter it completely!"

"Not only that, he has also trained in a first-rate external art called the Adamantine Saaga Skill. It has already reached great accomplishment. His muscles can be soft or hard. When soft, they're like dough, impossible to exert force against and impervious to blades. When hard, they're as tough as iron, impossible to pierce even with a hammer!"

"Compared to him, Demon Mountain's external arts and fighting techniques are a joke. If he got serious, Li Mingsheng could take on ten Demon Mountains!"

"He's that strong?"

Su Ti was somewhat surprised. He truly had not expected Li Mingsheng to be this formidable.

Long Yuanzheng sighed.

"Li Zong raised two fine sons. The eldest inherited his talent for martial arts, while the second inherited his intelligence and ruthlessness. But since you dared accept his challenge, Su Ti, I assume you have something to rely on."

Since the rules allowed surrender, Long Yuanzheng was not too worried. He smiled faintly.

"Li Zong is quite a figure himself. Unfortunately, he fought too fiercely in his youth and was left with hidden injuries. Though he forcibly broke through that realm, it left behind many problems. His weakened perception is one of them. When you stood beside him, he never noticed that you had reached the Inner Refinement Second Layer. He thought you had merely gotten lucky and broken into the Inner Refinement Stage, still remaining at the first layer."

"Reaching the Inner Refinement Second Layer in a single week... What talent. I was blind back then, Su Ti. You are a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand, within our sect!"

Su Ti froze. He had always relied on the modifier to cheat, but he truly did not know how good his talent for martial arts was.

"My talent is that good?"

Long Yuanzheng nodded.

"There's something I never told you. Though our Dragon Gate's Golden Snake Molting internal cultivation method is a superior technique, it places extreme demands on one's natural physique and talent. If your talent is poor, this technique's potential is extremely limited."

"When you first entered the sect, I examined your bones. The result showed that your bone structure was abysmally poor. With such a physique, Golden Snake Molting could reach at most the second layer before hitting its limit. I didn't tell you because I was afraid of discouraging you. But now it seems your master made a mistake."

Long Yuanzheng sighed.

"Not only is your natural physique not terrible, it is the complete opposite. You are a martial arts genius, one in ten thousand, and you are exceptionally compatible with Golden Snake Molting, the cultivation method of our Golden Snake Sect!"

"A genius like this once appeared in Dragon Gate, but that was several centuries ago. That man was named Wang Yuehong, your martial grandmaster. In less than half a year, he practiced Golden Snake Molting and shed his skin seven times in succession. He was the greatest genius in the history of our Dragon Gate lineage!"

"Su Ti! You shed twice in succession within one week. Clearly, you are that kind of martial arts genius, one in ten thousand!"

"Our Dragon Gate lineage is destined to flourish in your hands, Su Ti."

Long Yuanzheng looked deeply excited. Just then, Su Ti awkwardly interrupted him.

"Master, my Golden Snake Molting has already reached great accomplishment. It seems you didn't examine me wrong. My natural physique really isn't very good."

Long Yuanzheng's mouth fell slightly open, his face full of shock. Then he snapped back to his senses.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"You reached the Inner Refinement Second Layer and shed twice in two weeks. How could your talent be poor?! Could someone with poor talent cultivate that quickly?!"

"Master, it's true. I have a particular trait. I learn any martial art very quickly."

Still unconvinced, Long Yuanzheng directly reached out and examined Su Ti's body. After feeling around for a while, his expression went blank as he muttered to himself.

"That shouldn't be... It really has reached great accomplishment. You cultivate so quickly, so your potential shouldn't be so low. But it is..."

After muttering to himself for a while, Long Yuanzheng seemed to understand something. He stared at Su Ti with a strange look in his eyes.

"When you cultivate, do you often enter sudden states of enlightenment? Is that why your progress is so rapid?"

Su Ti had no way to explain the modifier, so he could only nod.

Seeing him nod, Long Yuanzheng sighed.

"I heard your Senior Sister Yao Juan mention your enlightenment before, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I never expected you really were this sort of person—your comprehension is exceptionally high, but your natural physique is abysmally poor. This lets you advance in martial arts by leaps and bounds, but your upper limit is extremely low."

In Ancient Martial Arts, comprehension and natural physique complemented each other. One determined the speed at which a person cultivated martial arts, while the other determined the upper limit of their martial arts.

Su Ti became somewhat anxious upon hearing this. He did not know much about Ancient Martial Arts, having entered the field only a few days ago. There were many things he did not understand, and Long Yuanzheng's words now made him worried.

"Master, does that mean I'll only ever be at the Inner Refinement Second Layer? That I'll never be able to advance?"

"No, there are other methods."

Long Yuanzheng let out a breath and spoke slowly.

"What methods?"

"First, certain spiritual medicines that can alter one's fate can improve a person's natural physique. These prescriptions and Ancient Martial Arts were both handed down from the Wu Dynasty. But by modern times, not only could the medicinal ingredients no longer be found, even the prescriptions themselves had largely been lost. I've only heard of them and have never actually seen them."

The first method was no different from no method at all. Su Ti asked again.

"What about the second?"

"The second... Su Ti, come with me."

Su Ti followed Long Yuanzheng deeper into the villa.

The villa was enormous. The first floor held a massive reception hall spanning several hundred square meters, along with Long Yuanzheng's master bedroom. The second floor contained seven or eight clean guest rooms for receiving visitors, and his three senior brothers and sister often stayed there overnight as well.

As for the third floor, it was a rooftop training area.

This time, Long Yuanzheng took Su Ti neither to the first floor nor to the second or third floors, but underground.

The basement.

Through a hidden door in the first-floor training room was a basement.

An old man sat at the entrance to the basement.

The old man looked to be in his sixties or seventies. His white hair was combed back, and when they arrived, he was playing Chinese chess on his phone. A pot of tea sat steeping beside him. He looked no different from an ordinary old gatekeeper.

"Su Ti, this is Uncle Liang, Dragon Gate's elder in charge of imparting techniques, an expert of the Perfected Circle Realm."

Long Yuanzheng raised a hand to introduce them.

"Uncle Liang, this is Su Ti, my fourth disciple. He entered the sect only recently, and because of certain matters, I'm only bringing him to meet you now."

Su Ti was somewhat surprised. Aside from his three senior siblings, Long Yuanzheng's villa only had household staff, such as the aunties who cleaned and cooked. This was the first time he had met Uncle Liang.

And he had never expected this ordinary-looking old man to be an expert of the Perfected Circle Realm. That meant he had achieved great accomplishment in both fighting techniques and cultivation methods!

"Master of Dragon Gate."

Upon seeing Long Yuanzheng, Uncle Liang first lowered his head in salute. He then looked Su Ti up and down and smiled.

"Not bad, not bad. You've reached the Inner Refinement Second Layer at such a young age. You must have been in the sect for one or two years already, right?"

"Uncle Liang, how could you tell?"

Su Ti was surprised. How could both Long Yuanzheng and Uncle Liang see his martial arts realm?

"Hahaha, Master of Dragon Gate, after all this time, you still haven't told your disciple about the Perfected Circle Realm. Today, this old man will overstep his bounds and explain to you, young brother, why I can see your cultivation realm."

Uncle Liang laughed.

"The Perfected Circle Realm is a realm where one's perception and control of qi and blood have reached an extremely high level. One's qi and blood become perfectly unified, making one highly sensitive to any external stimulus. One can even feel the weight of an insect landing on one's shoulder. Thus, one can detect things ordinary people cannot, such as breathing."

"Breathing?"

"That's right, breathing. Young Brother Su Ti, have you noticed that after entering the Inner Refinement Stage, your heartbeat and breathing have both become slower than usual?"

Su Ti paused. He truly had not noticed. After all, who would deliberately observe their own breathing and heartbeat? But after Uncle Liang brought it up, he calmed down and checked, only to find that it really did seem as Uncle Liang said.

"An ordinary person's resting heart rate is seventy to eighty-five beats per minute, while mine is only... thirty beats per minute, more than twice as slow as an ordinary person's!"

Uncle Liang smiled.

"That's perfectly normal. Upon reaching the Inner Refinement realm, a martial artist's internal organs are greatly strengthened. To put it simply, the blood supply that an ordinary person's heart can achieve in three beats requires only one beat from an Inner Refinement martial artist, because their heart is three times stronger than an ordinary person's and its pumping force is greater. It may seem slower, but it is actually more efficient."

"The same applies to breathing. An Inner Refinement martial artist's lungs are stronger than an ordinary person's, and their breathing rhythm is longer as well."

"And at the Perfected Circle Realm, one can sense things at close range that ordinary people cannot, such as your heartbeat and breathing."

Su Ti understood upon hearing this.

"You used the sound of my breathing and heartbeat to judge what realm I'm in."

Uncle Liang smiled and nodded. It was clear that he was very friendly toward Su Ti and answered every question without reservation.

"The so-called aura refers to a person's breathing and heart rate. The stronger a person's aura, the more powerful their heartbeat and the longer their breathing. These are merely small tricks of the Perfected Circle Realm, nothing worth mentioning. When you reach the Perfected Circle Realm one day, you'll understand as well."

Su Ti had learned a great deal. He cupped his fists and bowed. Long Yuanzheng nodded slightly at the sight and got straight to the point.

"All right, all right, Uncle Liang. Open the door to the Inheritance Chamber first. I'll take Su Ti inside to choose a few things."

"Yes, Master."

The door to the Inheritance Chamber was sealed extremely tightly and required two keys to open.

Long Yuanzheng took one from his sleeve, while Uncle Liang removed the other from around his neck. They inserted them at the same time and turned them. The door opened.