Martial Lecture Hall Master

In truth, that was indeed the case. After sitting in a cave for more than ten years, Gu Han's understanding of the Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms was now unmatched beneath Xiantian. If Gu Han claimed second place, no one would dare claim first. Even the First-rate Masters of the Yue Kingdom who could achieve True Qi Manifestation were, in Gu Han's own estimation, inferior to him. Much less in this world, where the highest realm was only the Internal Qi Realm—when it came to understanding Blood Tempering and Organ Refining, Gu Han was absolutely invincible!

"Little girl, show me your swordplay once."

At that thought, Gu Han's heart immediately brightened, and he spoke.

"This... yes!"

A trace of hesitation flashed across Liu Yiyi's face when she heard Gu Han's command, but she quickly agreed.

Ordinarily, casually displaying one's martial arts to others was a great taboo in the martial world. Yet for some reason, Liu Yiyi always had a feeling toward the words of this young saber wielder before her: if she did not obey him, she would surely regret it for the rest of her life.

Thus, after hesitating for less than a breath, she drew the three-foot sword from her waist with a clang and began to perform her inherited River Condensing Swordplay.

"Sword qi stretched across the sky, the sword pointed to the stars, water and sky became one..."

Upon the deck of the great ship, Liu Yiyi slowly performed every move and stance of the River Condensing Swordplay. At the same time, the qi and blood within her body gradually began to boil under the guidance of this exquisite swordplay.

As Liu Yiyi performed her swordplay, a divine light seemed to flash in Gu Han's eyes. With every movement of her sword, the circulation of qi and blood throughout her body appeared in his eyes as tangible threads flowing around her.

"Qi rushes through Chize. There is a blockage in your arm. When you perform Sword Qi Across the Sky, you should guide your qi and blood to strike that area as much as possible."

"Qi rushes through Chengshan. There is another blockage in your thigh. When you perform Water and Sky Become One, the qi and blood in your body should mainly strike that area."

On the quiet deck, aside from the whistling wind produced by Liu Yiyi's sword swings, only Gu Han's voice remained, continuously instructing her on how to break through the Blood Tempering barriers.

Time slowly passed.

One incense stick's time!

Two incense sticks' time!

Three incense sticks' time!

A quarter of an hour!

Half an hour!

Three quarters of an hour!

Only after a full half hour had passed did Liu Yiyi finally come to a halt with her longsword. She had no idea how many times she had performed the River Condensing Swordplay or how many barriers she had broken through. At that final instant, a powerful force of qi and blood erupted from her body.

From then on, Liu Yiyi's strength coursed through her entire body, her qi and blood flowed through all four limbs and eight meridians, and her power surged. She broke through Blood Tempering and stepped into the ranks of First-rate Masters in this world!

"What!"

Seeing Liu Yiyi truly break through, everyone present erupted in uproar. All wore looks of shock, their hearts utterly shaken. Only now did they realize that this young saber wielder truly had the skill. Not only did they no longer dare speak ill of him, but their gazes toward Gu Han burned with eagerness, as though begging for guidance just like Liu Yiyi had received.

Naturally, Gu Han had no time to concern himself with these people. His goal today was only one: Liu Yiyi before him.

"Haa!"

After breaking through Blood Tempering, Liu Yiyi closed her eyes to savor the feeling for a moment. Then she let out a soft breath, sheathed her longsword, and knelt on one knee before Gu Han, her eyes filled with gratitude and excitement.

"Sir possesses great talent. By helping Yiyi break through Blood Tempering today, you have saved me who knows how much time. Such kindness is akin to granting me a new life. I beg you, sir, to accept Yiyi as your disciple today. From now on, Yiyi shall treat you with all the rites due a master."

As Liu Yiyi spoke, her eyes were filled with fervor. Though she was a woman, she had been obsessed with martial arts since childhood. Otherwise, no matter how gifted she was, she could never have achieved such accomplishments at her age.

Now that she had encountered someone like Gu Han, who could help her break through Blood Tempering with a few casual pointers, how could she fail to realize that she had met a true master? How could she possibly let such a rare opportunity slip away? She had to seize it!

"Mm, accepting the Princess as my disciple is not impossible. I have roamed north and south these past years, and my heart has grown somewhat weary. I happen to wish to find a place to settle down.

"Now, I have heard that Prince Liu is recruiting worthy men and has established a Martial Lecture Hall under his command. It not only contains ten thousand volumes of divine martial arts, but also specifically gathers heroes from all directions. Might I enter and take the position of a hall master?"

Gu Han smiled warmly, opening his mouth like a lion as he put forth his condition. He then waited calmly for Liu Yiyi's response.

"Haha! Sir, you jest. For the Martial Lecture Hall to have a divine figure such as yourself join it would make our humble dwelling shine with splendor. How could we dare not retain you? So long as you join, Yiyi is willing to personally persuade Father to treat you with the position of hall master!"

Liu Yiyi did not hesitate upon hearing this and immediately agreed.

Clearly, this little Princess of Prince Liu held an even higher position within Prince Liu's Estate than Gu Han had expected. She could agree to grant even the office of Martial Lecture Hall Master with a mere word.

Of course, it might also have been because Prince Liu did not value the Martial Lecture Hall that highly.

After all, Prince Liu himself was powerful, and he had quite a few expert direct subordinates. Moreover, not every martial arts expert in the jianghu was as heaven-defying as Gu Han, possessing an indestructible body that could ignore blades, spears, swords, and halberds striking them.

In truth, when two armies clashed, even ordinary martial artists at Minor Accomplishment of Internal Qi or Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi, and even someone as formidable as the Barbarian King A Yanda, could only rely on their Inner Qi to wreak havoc for a short while amid armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions, carrying out the feat of beheading generals and seizing banners from within a million-man army.

Should they be careless and fall into an army's encirclement until their Inner Qi was exhausted, their lives would even be in danger.

Therefore, although Prince Liu was said to thirst for worthy men, recruiting talents and placing great value on martial artists who joined him, their true standing in his heart might genuinely have been far beneath that of this little Princess.

"Haha! Since the Princess has agreed, then I, Ran Han, shall accept the Princess as my disciple. I hope the Princess will cultivate diligently in the future and break through to Internal Qi as soon as possible."

Gu Han's thoughts raced, and he quickly understood everything. Smiling, he gave a false name and accepted her request.

When he had fled Treasure Pearl Temple, he originally had two goals. First, to devote himself to martial arts and collect all the secret manuals under heaven. Second, to search for the relatives of his junior brother Jingyuan.

Yet during the months of fleeing afterward, Gu Han finally came to understand that one person's strength was ultimately limited. Even if his power towered to the heavens, how could he compare to countless millions working together when it came to finding people and objects? Thus, he had long entertained the idea of joining a powerful faction and borrowing its strength.

Now, Prince Liu was a rather good choice. It happened to fulfill his wishes perfectly.

The next day, the sky was clear and the sun shone high.

Led personally by Prince Liu and Princess Liu Yiyi, the Martial Lecture Hall of Prince Liu's Estate in Qinghe City welcomed a new hall master.

This man's origins were mysterious. Though he was not very old, his strength was boundless.

The moment he acted, he defeated the original Internal Qi Realm hall master of the Martial Lecture Hall. Afterward, he gave repeated guidance, speaking true words that helped several Martial Lecture Hall martial artists stuck at Great Accomplishment of Muscle Tendon Strengthening break through to Blood Tempering.

He became famous overnight, winning over everyone!

Moreover, once the news spread, countless martial artists in Qinghe City moved at the scent of the wind, yearning for his guidance. It even drew outsiders here, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

Yet after that one display of power, this newly arrived Martial Lecture Hall Master seemed to become much more low-key. Every day, he focused only on studying martial arts and saw no outsiders, letting the world shift and change as spring came and went.