Eight Years Was Too Long

Chapter 3: Eight Years Old Was Too Long for True Martial Mountain

Like a sharp sword thrust straight into the clouds, steep and magnificent, it had originally been called Divine Sword Mountain. But ever since Dragon Mountain Daoist won this mountain in a wager against Divine Sword Mountain's master, he had rebuilt the True Martial Sect here.

Slowly, this mountain came to be known as True Martial Mountain.

Among the Thirteen Provinces of the World under Great Flame, True Martial Mountain stood at the border between Qing Province and Yun Province. Dragon Mountain Daoist carried Ning Qi in his arms, stopping every now and then to find food for him, so their pace was not particularly fast.

At the foot of the mountain.

Dragon Mountain Daoist let out a breath of relief. Being on his own turf was good enough.

Along the way, he had worried that someone might come to intercept and kill them. Now that he thought about it, the culprit behind everything likely believed Ning Qi had already perished in the Sea of Flames, utterly unaware that Snow Plum Manor had left behind this one survivor.

That only strengthened his resolve not to reveal Ning Qi's identity for the time being, lest he bring danger upon Ning Qi.

Ning Qi curiously surveyed True Martial Mountain before him.

During this time following Dragon Mountain Daoist, he had seen a little of the local customs. From these scattered glimpses, he had gained a certain understanding of the world he had transmigrated into.

This world resembled the feudal societies of his previous life. The ruling dynasty was called Great Flame, but unlike the ancient world of his previous life, this world possessed powerful beings known as martial artists, and martial customs flourished.

Martial artists.

Those who pursued the Martial Dao possessed combat strength and lifespans far beyond ordinary people.

At the lower levels, smashing steles, splitting stones, and tearing tigers and leopards apart with bare hands were nothing difficult. At the higher levels, one could release Sword Qi a hundred zhang long, sever rivers, and cut off their flow.

His own master, Dragon Mountain Daoist, belonged to the latter category and enjoyed no small reputation throughout the land.

While this secretly left Ning Qi clicking his tongue in amazement, it also gave him some comfort. Though he had become an orphan right from the start and his beginning had not been smooth, at least he had taken a rather good master.

At this moment.

Daoists with powerful auras and agile builds came forward to greet him. There were young men and youths among them, as well as a female Daoist. Seeing Dragon Mountain Daoist, all of them were excited and respectfully saluted.

"Greetings, Master!"

Dragon Mountain Daoist gave a slight nod.

These were the eight disciples he had accepted previously. All possessed extraordinary talent, and he had placed great hopes on them, hoping that one day they could revive the True Martial Sect.

"Wentian, has everything in the sect been well recently?"

Dragon Mountain Daoist looked toward the honest-faced young man at the front. This was his eldest disciple, Luo Wentian.

Luo Wentian respectfully replied,

"Reporting to Master, the sect's disciples have continued their lessons as usual, and all our junior brothers and sisters have been cultivating diligently."

The entire True Martial Sect.

Had several hundred disciples under its banner.

They were divided into Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, and the eight True Disciples led by Luo Wentian.

Dragon Mountain Daoist smiled in satisfaction.

"Diligence is naturally good, but one must also know when to work and when to rest."

"We shall remember Master's teachings. Did everything go smoothly during Master's journey to Snow Plum Manor?"

Several disciples revealed curiosity in their eyes. It was not Dragon Mountain Daoist's whereabouts that interested them, but the infant he held in his arms. In particular, the only female Daoist, Ye Qinghe, and the youngest Young Daoist, Qin Yun, had already begun making faces at Ning Qi, trying to amuse him.

But Ning Qi merely rolled his eyes and ignored the two of them.

He was not truly some infant who understood nothing.

This only made the two of them even more astonished, and smiles could not help appearing on their faces.

Dragon Mountain Daoist did not keep them in suspense. He did not mention what had happened at Snow Plum Manor, merely smiling as he said, "This infant is named Ning Qi. From today onward, he is your Ninth Junior Brother."

At those words.

Everyone's eyes filled with surprise.

After all, ever since their master had founded the sect, he had rarely accepted True Disciples directly. Luo Wentian and the other seven had all emerged step by step from the Outer Disciples before finally being admitted by Dragon Mountain Daoist as True Disciples.

Only Qin Yun, who had entered the sect ten years ago, had been an exception. He had become a True Disciple the moment he entered, but Qin Yun's talent was so high it could be called peerless. Dragon Mountain Daoist had described him as possessing Heavenly Talent, with even a sliver of hope of stepping into the Martial Saint realm.

Yet who would have thought that, ten years later, their master would take another disciple—and that it would be a tiny infant?

Moreover, they all knew that the ninth disciple held extraordinary significance for the True Martial Sect.

Could this infant also possess peerless talent?

Everyone congratulated him.

"This disciple congratulates Master on finding such an excellent disciple!"

Dragon Mountain Daoist only smiled.

Qin Yun could no longer wait to take Ning Qi from Ye Qinghe's hands. Grinning, he used a finger to tease Ning Qi's cheek, the fondness in his eyes overflowing. He had always been the youngest, but now, someone smaller than him had finally arrived.

Qin Yun's voice was jubilant, his heroic spirit soaring to the heavens.

"After ten years, Master has taken another disciple. Our True Martial Nine Sons are finally complete!"

"Give Junior Brother eighteen years. In the future, the True Martial Nine Sons will shake Great Flame together and restore the True Martial Sect's former glory!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Their eyes brimmed with yearning.

Dragon Mountain Daoist was the same.

The True Martial Nine Sons.

This was a saying that had arisen after he obtained the True Martial Inheritance, and it was inextricably linked to the inheritance within.

The True Martial Inheritance said that if the True Martial Nine Sons became the Nine Heavensborn, they could stand against a Martial Saint.

And thus.

The True Martial Sect of old might not have produced a Martial Saint in every generation, but it had never feared Martial Saints in any generation.

It had been at the height of its splendor.

Only later, for some unknown reason, had it completely vanished into the long river of history.

All these years, he had never accepted a final disciple. Who would have thought that, by a twist of fate, he would encounter Ning Qi? It could be considered the will of heaven.

"The True Martial Nine Sons?"

Listening to the heartfelt laughter all around him, Ning Qi was infected by it and could not help smiling.

His senior brothers and sisters all seemed quite nice.

He began to feel a faint anticipation for his coming life on True Martial Mountain.

In truth.

Ning Qi's senior brothers and sisters truly were very good to him.

Perhaps because Ning Qi was the youngest and also the final ninth disciple, his many senior brothers and sisters were exceptionally fond of him. Third Senior Sister Ye Qinghe and Eighth Senior Brother Qin Yun in particular came to play with Ning Qi every few days.

Ning Qi, too, gradually went from resisting at first to slowly accepting it.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

He had completely integrated into the True Martial Sect.

During these past six months.

Ning Qi had likewise displayed extraordinary qualities. Perhaps because of the dense Innate Qi within his body, he grew and developed far faster than an ordinary infant.

With Max Level Comprehension, he learned everything incredibly quickly.

Learning to read and write was merely the most basic of matters.

At only half a year old, he could already walk steadily on his own and speak clearly with others. This astonished everyone greatly. They called Ning Qi a prodigy and looked forward even more to seeing his performance in the Martial Dao once his Bone Structure Formed.

Yet this was merely what he showed everyone. In truth, Ning Qi was far more astonishing than they imagined.

Because his body had not yet fully formed, he could not touch the Martial Dao for now.

After learning this world's writing system, Ning Qi plunged headfirst into the True Martial Sect's Miscellaneous Studies Classics.

Astronomy, Feng Shui, Qi Men Dun Jia, Medical Arts...

So long as it was something he could learn at present, he had left virtually nothing untouched.

To a certain extent, he was also laying the foundation for his future Martial Dao.

With Max Level Comprehension, Ning Qi had no need to worry about Grasping for too much. Through self-study alone, he had already reached an exceedingly profound realm in every major field.

Dragon Mountain Daoist and the others only assumed that Ning Qi was flipping through books out of a child's curiosity. They had no idea what level he had already reached.

Take Medical Arts, for example.

Ning Qi could already be called a Divine Doctor of his generation.

Based on the theories within numerous Medical Classics, he had created his own unique Ning's Medical Treatise. He had also devised exquisite needle techniques such as the Suspended Needle Technique, Golden Needle Acupoint Transference, and Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles. He was only limited by the fact that he had yet to touch the Martial Dao and could not use certain techniques. Otherwise, he would surely have ascended to an even higher level.

Even so.

Ning Qi had already formed many ideas. Once his strength was sufficient in the future, he could naturally accomplish them in one stroke.

Recently.

After his body had grown enough for him to walk steadily, Ning Qi had constantly been considering a question.

That was.

How could he hasten the formation of his own Bone Structure and come into contact with the Martial Dao sooner?

According to his senior brothers, for the overwhelming majority of people, their Bone Structure would only fully form at eight years old. Only a very small number of people with unusual constitutions might possibly do so earlier.

He felt that waiting until Eight Years Old was far too long.