Night Battle Eight Trigram Saber! Street Battle!

Name: Su Que (17 years old)

Lifespan: 70

Talent Value: 12

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (Peak Mastery, Level 5, 1%), Five Animal Frolics (Initial Glimpse, Level 1, 1%)

Compared to when he had first entered the previous level, his lifespan had increased by eight years. After passing the milestones of sixty-five and seventy years, his Talent Value had also risen by two points.

"The lifespan increase from the Seven Injuries Fist is already less than before..."

"The deeper I cultivate the Seven Injuries Fist, the greater the damage it should inflict on my body..."

"Could it be that my five viscera are too robust, and my Yin-Yang Qi too abundant, so the damage from the Seven Injuries Fist no longer counts for much?"

Su Que looked at the Attributes before him and pondered to himself.

"Perhaps only by finding a more aggressive evil art can I rapidly extend my lifespan once again..."

"I'll go gather some information tomorrow."

With that thought, Su Que stopped dwelling on it. He intended to test the strength he had gained from his breakthrough.

He ran through the forest and found a rock the size of three palms. He gathered his fist force and smashed down fiercely!

Bang!

Under the impact of seven streams of fist force, the rock immediately exploded!

Chunks of stone shot in every direction along with the fist force.

Su Que clenched his fist, knowing that his current punch could shatter a rock in a single blow.

Not long after he had first entered Level 4, Outstanding, he had also used rocks to test his fist strength.

Back then, he had needed three punches to completely smash apart a rock.

Because of the breakthrough, the medicinal power within his body had been exhausted again. Su Que returned to the Cave, picked up a Clay Pot, and drank the Body Strengthening Soup inside.

He now used three Clay Pots at once to brew medicine in the Cave.

As his realm rose, medicinal power was consumed extremely quickly when he practiced his fists. The amount of Body Strengthening Soup he drank each day was also increasing.

"It seems the Body Strengthening Soup Prescription is no longer very suitable for me."

However, the Body Strengthening Soup Prescription was the only one he had, so he could only make do with it for now.

Nearly another month passed, and Su Que lived an exceptionally calm, regular, healthy life every day.

One evening while practicing his fists, he summoned the Attributes again.

Name: Su Que (17 years old)

Lifespan: 71

Talent Value: 12

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (Peak Mastery, Level 5, 13%), Five Animal Frolics (Initial Glimpse, Level 1, 1%)

Although he drank large amounts of Body Strengthening Soup every day, the Seven Injuries Fist was progressing more and more slowly.

"Could it be that Peak Mastery, Level 5, is nearly the cultivation limit of the Seven Injuries Fist?"

"I wonder how great the gap is between my current strength and those vicious fiends of the White Lotus Sect..."

"And..."

He glanced at the medicine chest in the Cave.

Over the past month, the medicinal ingredients had been consumed in great quantities. In another half month or so, he would likely have no ingredients left to use.

By then, the progress of his Seven Injuries Fist would become even slower.

"I'll go into the city the day after tomorrow and look around. Maybe I can learn something."

"See where I can obtain internal arts that damage oneself, or Prescriptions more advanced than the Body Strengthening Soup..."

The next afternoon, after bidding the children farewell, Su Que headed toward the south of the city.

That was where gambling houses, taverns, and brothels were most numerous, and also where information flowed.

As he neared the southern district, Su Que saw another group of White Lotus Disciples approaching grandly from afar.

At their head was the White Lotus Monk Su Que had often seen—the one wearing an eerie Buddhist crown, holding a snow-white whisk, and dressed in a white monk's robe embroidered with a black lotus.

"Misery fills the world; the White Lotus lives eternal!"

"Immortal Mother, save the world and deliver us from suffering!"

More than a dozen White Lotus Disciples, including the White Lotus Monk, moved slowly down the street. Some shouted their doctrine, some blew suonas, and some shook bells.

The peddlers and passersby on the street quickly moved aside.

The sight of those three martial arts schools being razed to the ground, and the families of their disciples lying dead in the streets, had filled everyone with dread.

No one dared provoke this extremist cult in the slightest.

Yet the White Lotus Sect's propaganda was not entirely useless.

Some people with extreme minds, or those who had completely lost hope in life, were swiftly brainwashed by the White Lotus Sect's doctrine and joined the sect.

Su Que, like the other passersby, moved to the side and let the White Lotus Disciples pass.

As everyone stood aside quietly and waited for the White Lotus Disciples to go by—

A sudden clamor came from directly ahead of them.

After the Seven Injuries Fist reached Peak Mastery, Level 5, Su Que's ears and eyes had become exceptionally sharp. Amid the distant noise, he could hear the faint sound of hoofbeats.

Then, the hoofbeats drew closer and closer.

Before long, five burly men on horseback galloped over.

The leader was around forty years old, broad and powerfully built, with thick brows and large eyes.

What caught the eye most was the thick, curled beard beneath his chin.

"Are you people from the White Lotus Sect?"

A fierce gleam burst from Big Beard's leopard-like eyes as he glared at the monk leading the White Lotus Sect.

"Indeed. Might I ask what instruction this layman has for us?"

The monk flicked the whisk in his right hand and laid it across the crook of his left arm.

Then he pressed the fingers of his right hand together into a palm, held it upright before his chest, and offered a salute.

"Was Zheng Tianen, master of the Zheng Family Martial Arts School in Jade Water City, killed by your White Lotus Sect?"

Big Beard raised his voice. His eyes remained fixed on the monk, murder intent bursting forth from them.

The Zheng Family Martial Arts School was one of the three martial arts schools the White Lotus Sect had razed to the ground.

Hearing this, the onlookers immediately guessed that the men led by Big Beard had come to avenge Zheng Tianen, who had been killed by the White Lotus Sect.

Sensing the drawn-swords-and-bent-bows tension, the common people feared being caught up in the fight or even killed by mistake. They hurriedly scattered to the sides and watched from afar.

Su Que also moved farther away with the common people.

"Zheng Tianen and his disciples disturbed our sacred sect. We merely delivered him on behalf of the Immortal Mother!"

The White Lotus Monk met Big Beard's murderous gaze without fear, his words ringing like metal and striking the ground with force.

"You bastards... Where is your White Lotus Sect stronghold in Jade Water City? Take me there!"

As he spoke, Big Beard drew a gleaming saber half a man's height from beside his horse's belly and gripped it in his hand.

Since beginning martial arts training, Su Que had often paid attention to weapons. He knew that this half-man-high saber was called an Eight Trigram Saber.

He had once heard that Zheng Tianen, master of the Zheng Family Martial Arts School, had mastered a saber technique from the Eight Trigram Sect called the Night Battle Eight Trigram Saber.

The Zheng Family Martial Arts School had some connection to the Eight Trigram Sect, which was renowned throughout the Liang Kingdom.

He had even heard that Zheng Tianen had opened his martial arts school here to select disciples for the Eight Trigram Sect.

Now, it seemed that rumor was probably true.

This Big Beard was very likely Zheng Tianen's fellow disciple. Upon hearing of Zheng Tianen's death, he had come here specifically for revenge.

"Heh."

The White Lotus Monk glanced at Big Beard's Eight Trigram Saber, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"Layman, do you intend to make a move?"

"Bullshit!"

Su Que had guessed correctly. Big Beard and Zheng Tianen were indeed fellow disciples, and Big Beard was Zheng Tianen's senior brother.

They had both been sent out by the Eight Trigram Sect to select disciples for the sect.

Zheng Tianen had come to Jade Water City and opened a martial arts school.

Big Beard was stronger than Zheng Tianen, so he had opened a martial arts school in a city larger and more prosperous than Jade Water City.

Ever since receiving news of his junior brother Zheng Tianen's death, he had come here in fury.

Now, seeing the White Lotus Monk's utterly indifferent expression, the flames of rage in his heart burned even hotter.

He suddenly rose from horseback, his entire body shooting into the air in an instant.

Gripping the saber in both hands, he raised it high above his head. Brilliant saber light carved an arc through the air as it slashed fiercely toward the White Lotus Monk!

The White Lotus Monk flung both hands backward, and a burst of Qi erupted.

It knocked the White Lotus Disciples behind him away.

He himself tapped the ground and flew backward in retreat.

Seeing the White Lotus Monk evade, Big Beard withdrew his saber in time.

Yet the force of that slash still struck where the White Lotus Disciples had been standing.

Boom! Dust and dirt surged into the air.

A saber mark more than a zhang long appeared on the ground.

"What powerful saber force. This Big Beard has likely undergone Blood and Qi Body Tempering three times!"

From within the crowd, Su Que suddenly heard a powerfully built man five paces away staring at Big Beard as he spoke to his companion.

This was the first time Su Que had heard such a term. It was likely something about martial cultivation that he did not know.

At once, Su Que squeezed through the crowd, patted the man on the shoulder, and said:

"Sir, what was that Blood and Qi Body Tempering you mentioned just now? Please explain in detail."

Having been patted, the man immediately turned around and looked strangely at the handsome, refined scholar before him.