True Man Ling

You Su had grasped a sword at the age of three and had been practicing swordsmanship for fifteen years. Though he could not see, his perception of the sword far surpassed that of his peers. Although his opponent's cultivation was higher than his own, the man was also overconfident in his cultivation, relying on his massive qi force. The sword move he launched was merely the simplest of thrusts.

You Su had executed this kind of thrust no fewer than a hundred thousand times, so dealing with it came as naturally as breathing. Unfortunately, he had no sword in his hand.

In the time it took lightning to strike and flint to spark, the sword's gleam came howling toward him. How could You Su simply wait to be captured? Just when the Old Immortal Master thought victory was within his grasp, You Su suddenly drew upon the Profound Energy throughout his body, channeling it into both feet as he twisted and charged forward.

When faced with a thrust one could not evade, the best solution was to find a way to subdue the weapon in the opponent's hand!

Using his palm as a sword, You Su snapped it against the protruding bone at the Old Immortal Master's right wrist with a sharp smack. The Old Immortal Master held the sword in his right hand. When the thrust failed, he tried to bring it down in a slash, only to discover that the boy had caught him at exactly the right spot. The blade could not be swung downward even a fraction.

You Su did not stop there. He clenched his left hand into a fist and hurled it at the Old Immortal Master's elbow, wrapped in the strongest force he could unleash.

The Old Immortal Master was astonished! He saw it clearly: not only had this blind boy failed to be cowed into submission by his pressure, he even wanted to put on a show of snatching a blade barehanded! If his right arm were knocked crooked, his entire forearm would fall under the boy's control, and having his sword taken would be effortless.

He was, after all, a Water Condensation Realm Immortal Master. If he truly let a boy who had only recently broken through into the Spirit Platform Realm take the sword from his hand, what face would he have left? He had to admit that he had underestimated the boy—but swordsmanship had never been the greatest thing this old man relied on!

You Su's left fist had already arrived, yet the old man's arm did not bend as he wished. This long-plotted punch was like a mud bull plunging into the sea, vanishing without a trace and leaving one in despair.

The Old Immortal Master then let out a thunderous shout:

"Retreat!"

A powerful force burst from the Old Immortal Master's body. Even though You Su had prepared himself and poured all his strength into resisting it, it was useless. He was blasted several meters away, losing his only chance to engage in close combat.

He had succeeded this time only because his opponent had underestimated him. Moreover, the Old Immortal Master's swordsmanship was mediocre. When he had dispelled the evil presence earlier, he had not used his sword, but instead manipulated qi to injure his enemy. This clearly showed that the Old Immortal Master was more skilled in controlling qi.

You Su understood that once a great cultivator at least in the Condensing Water Realm fully unleashed his Qi Manipulation, trying to get close to him again would be little more than a fool's dream.

All cultivators under heaven possessed spiritual meridians, absorbing the Mystic Qi of heaven and earth to cultivate. Whether opening the Profound Meridians, building the Profound Platform, condensing Profound Water, or advancing into the even more wondrous realms beyond, Mystic Qi was the foundation of everything a cultivator did.

Yet the use of qi was divided into two major schools. One involved controlling Mystic Qi to produce all kinds of immortal arts. Earth Explosion Heavenly Star, World Tree Descent, and countless other Dao techniques belonged to this path. The other involved lodging qi in external objects to unleash even greater effects through specialized techniques. Sword Cultivators, Pill Cultivators, Talisman Cultivators, and countless other paths belonged to this school.

The two did not conflict, but people possessed different talents in each of them.

Taking warning from his previous mistake, the Old Immortal Master had transformed most of his Mystic Qi into Protective Aura, causing the heavy pressure from before to dissipate by more than half. You Su reacted extremely quickly. By then, the Old Immortal Master's strike had sent him to a relatively safe distance. After stabilizing himself, he manipulated his qi and retreated.

He had walked this bluestone road back to the sect at least tens of thousands of times. Not to mention that after that proud and overbearing master of his had left, the lonely You Su had encountered countless attempts by cultivators his age to ostracize and surround him on this very road.

You Su never fought back, doing his utmost only to flee. He understood that beating the young would bring out the old, and those old men simmering with anger were just waiting for an excuse to make their move. After years upon years of this, one could say that no matter where he stood on this road, You Su could instantly devise a reasonable route of retreat.

The Old Immortal Master had not expected You Su to flee so decisively. One second, he had still been fighting back with all his might; the next, he had turned and run. The entire sequence flowed as one, and whether it had been planned in advance or born of a flash of inspiration, it was enough to prove that this boy was no simpleton.

The Old Immortal Master, however, did not lose his composure. Instead, his face remained calm. He held his fingers in an orchid gesture, while his sleeves billowed despite the absence of wind. His lips moved as he chanted, "The sun rises in the east, dark vapors surge. Mountains before, waters behind; Azure Dragon to the left, White Tiger to the right."

"Immobilize!"

With that single word exploding through the air, You Su suddenly discovered that his rear leg was as heavy as a ten-thousand-jin boulder and could not be lifted no matter what he did. Only after examining it carefully did he realize that his entire body had become abnormally rigid, unable to move even a fraction, as if bound by a thousand iron chains.

You Su drove his qi like a sword, trying to hack apart those invisible shackles. Two breaths later, he found the force immobilizing him suddenly disperse. Yet after regaining his ability to move, he no longer tried to escape. Instead, he straightened and calmly brushed at his black lightweight robe, because he knew he could not get away.

Those brief two breaths had been more than enough for the Old Immortal Master to leisurely move to You Su's side.

The old man's eyes gleamed as he said in surprise, "Even a Condensing Water Realm cultivator would be immobilized for an instant by my Body Immobilization Spell. Yet you, a fledgling who has only just entered the world, broke through it in two breaths. And you're blind at that. You certainly have some skill."

"You flatter me, senior. It was only because you showed mercy." You Su remained neither arrogant nor self-effacing.

"Oh? You knew I was testing you just now?" The Old Immortal Master's gaze sharpened, and his astonishment deepened.

"If Senior truly wanted to subdue me, you could have dealt with both me and that evil creature together long ago. There would have been no need to speak with me first and attack afterward."

"Though your eyes are clouded with dust, your heart is as clear as a mirror." The Immortal Master stroked his long beard. "Then why did you run?"

You Su raised his head with a faint smile and looked straight at the Immortal Master. "I know that in Senior's eyes, I'm no more than fish on a chopping block. But sitting around waiting for death truly isn't this junior's style."

Meeting that unfocused gaze, the Old Immortal Master felt as though he were looking into a deep, bottomless abyss. He could not help showing a trace of approval, but it vanished in an instant. Turning solemn, he said, "Unfortunately, disaster is already close at hand, and you still know nothing of it."

You Su was no fool. During that brief confrontation, he had already figured out one thing—though he had been born blind, he did not seem to be completely sightless. Rather, he could see those inexplicable "filthy things." He had already formed some vague guesses.

"This junior doesn't understand what Senior means."

"Do you truly not understand? Or do you simply not wish to?" The Old Immortal Master lowered his eyelids slightly and shook his head regretfully.

You Su raised his hand in a respectful salute, his tone solemn. "Please enlighten me, Senior."

"I am True Man Ling of the Spiritual Treasure Sect of Mount Henggao. Where did you study?"

"Reporting to True Man, this junior is You Su."

True Man Ling lifted his eyes toward the boy, a trace of helplessness in their depths. He had not expected that even after the conversation had reached this point, this jade-like boy would still remain guarded, giving only his name and not his origins. Could it be that he truly intended to persist in his folly and seek his own death?

You Su was also startled inwardly. He had not expected this old man to be an Immortal Master from the divine mountain.

Before this, the only cultivator connected to the divine mountain whom he had ever met was the old city lord of Chuyun City.

It should be known that this old city lord was merely an Outer Disciple of Xuanxiao Sect, the foremost sect of the divine mountain. Because he had no hope of breaking through yet was unwilling to lose the sect's resources, he had been dispatched to this remote place to serve as lord of a city.