Two-Timing

In the secret chamber...

Candlelight curled around the walls, forming a ring as it swayed faintly, illuminating two figures in the center.

Lu Yan made an exception and drank a cup of wine. His injuries had not yet healed, and ordinarily he never touched alcohol.

Qi Yu seized the opportunity to ask, "Uncle Yan, I've already mastered this entry-level stance method, so as for the follow-up techniques... Is it really impossible for me to practice even a little more?"

Lu Yan froze for a moment, then remembered how he had tricked Qi Yu into cultivating Hunyuan Contending Force. He shook his head, his expression turning solemn as he warned, "You must not practice my follow-up method. Otherwise, disaster will surely befall you."

Seeing Qi Yu fall silent, Lu Yan softened his tone and consoled him, "There are always greater heavens beyond the heavens and greater men beyond men. But you needn't belittle yourself. Being able to reach this point already makes you exceptional."

Qi Yu smiled faintly, then asked, "Since Uncle Yan is unwilling to teach me the follow-up techniques, if I want to practice several battle arts simultaneously and try to temper my entire body, you can at least give me some guidance, right?"

The issue of "Skill Points" had become a major headache for him.

He had nearly squeezed all the Skill Points out of the "stance methods." Even if he found a new stance and practiced it arduously, he might not gain any Skill Points because of the overlap.

So he had turned his attention to battle arts.

But battle arts involved tempering the skin into armor. Different techniques would alter the skin to varying degrees. If he practiced recklessly, he could easily damage his sinews and bones, becoming permanently crippled.

"Temper your entire body?"

Lu Yan stared at him in astonishment.

Qi Yu asked, "Is that not possible?"

Lu Yan pondered before saying, "Even the great sects have no method for tempering the skin over the entire body, because there's no need for it.

"First, martial cultivation emphasizes progressing layer by layer, moving from skin to flesh, tempering the blood and forging the bones, all the way to the five viscera and six bowels. As long as each layer is cultivated properly, that's enough. As for the subsequent techniques, they need not necessarily follow the same lineage. When the time comes, consult a physician and have them examine the abundance or deficiency of your qi and blood. You'll naturally have other choices.

"Second, the qi, blood, and heat within the human body all have limits. This means cultivators must choose a focus. Trying to grasp too much will only lead to accomplishing nothing.

"Third, techniques are dead, but people are alive. A highly skilled martial artist can adjust or even alter a technique according to their own circumstances, gathering the strengths of many schools, taking the essence and discarding the dross, until it reaches perfection.

"If you feel that your whole body's defenses are insufficient, you can simply put on armor to protect yourself. If you still find armor unreliable, you can also practice a horizontal tempering art as an auxiliary. Although horizontal tempering also tempers the skin, it does so at the cost of strength and speed. It's destined to be difficult to develop it deeply as your primary cultivation method.

"As for the 'skin armor' formed by the two techniques having different properties, I do have the ability to 'stitch' them together for you, prescribing the right remedy for your condition so they can coexist without conflict and spare you the trouble of torn skin and damaged sinews and bones."

Qi Yu nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Uncle Yan."

Lu Yan smiled. "I'm not teaching you for nothing. I heard Changshun say that the secret land's spirit fields have already been secured. Several medicinal herbs I need for my recovery can be cultivated there. However... your second uncle's family certainly won't let the matter rest. Quite a few of the conflicts now are actually tied to you. The stronger you become, the more stable our side's situation will be."

The two chatted a little longer. Afterward, Lu Yan had Qi Yu lie down on the couch and examined his body, lest he have some hidden injury or the like...

Smack.

The red sandalwood box sprang open.

Master Chen's gaze fell upon the secret medicine inside. Satisfaction surfaced on his face, and he raised a hand, pushing the box toward the person opposite him with some reluctance.

The woman seated across from him had a grim, icy face and rigid eyes. She lowered her head slightly, her cheeks sinking into darkness. Only her cold, hard chin caught the candlelight, along with a pair of thin lips devoid of color.

She was a member of the Black Umbrella, named Xiang Nanfeng.

"This settles the payment for the last time I asked you to act."

Xiang Nanfeng glanced at the priceless secret medicine but did not take it. Instead, she raised her hand and slowly pushed it back.

Under Master Chen's puzzled gaze, she pulled a long, narrow transparent jade case from her sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

Inside the jade case lay a single "hair."

It was extraordinarily long, utterly beyond anything a human could possess. Its color was a filthy, murky shade that seemed capable of absorbing light. Merely looking at it gave one the feeling that an invisible distortion and frigid aura were seeping out through the case.

Master Chen's pupils constricted. His breathing suddenly quickened, and heat and greed appeared in his eyes.

He clearly recognized the object and knew even more clearly how precious it was.

"What do you mean?"

"Foreign Affairs Envoy Chen, that boy from the Qi Family should have been recommended into the sect by you, right? Given his martial aptitude, even if his aptitude for secret texts is lacking, there should still be plenty of people fighting over him..."

Master Chen abruptly raised his head and asked, "You want Qi Yu as your partner too?"

Xiang Nanfeng said, "My previous partner just died. I was looking for a promising young man to change my mood and have some fun."

With that, she raised a finger and nudged the jade case forward again. "I'm being very sincere."

Master Chen's gaze remained firmly locked on the strange hair inside the jade case. His expression shifted unpredictably. After several breaths, he grinned, snatched up the jade case, and tucked it into his robes.

"Good! It seems there'll be plenty more chances for us to cooperate in the future."

His mood greatly improved, and he casually pulled the red sandalwood box back as well.

To reap benefits from both sides in a single affair—that was naturally wonderful.

Qi Changshun watched his son emerge from the secret chamber in the study and said amiably, "Go get some rest early."

Qi Yu stopped, turned around, and said seriously, "Father, I'd like you to find me a superior horizontal tempering technique. Also, the more manuals on various nurturing methods, the better."

Qi Changshun agreed without the slightest hesitation, nodding at once. "Good. The Qi Family's financial power and connections are gradually returning to our branch. Resources of this sort should naturally be used for my son first."

Only then did Qi Yu leave the study.

Outside, the bright moon hung high in the sky, its clear radiance spilling everywhere. The road ahead was bright and open...

The next day...

Early in the morning.

The sky had only just begun to lighten.

Qi Yu was already practicing in the courtyard.

He performed the thirty-two forms of Hunyuan Contending Force one by one. These strange postures did more than wring every last bit of strength from his body—they also gave him a wondrous feeling of having "seen through every move under heaven."

He practiced the thirty-two forms well, but when he reached the final four, he still found it difficult to hold them for long...

Once he assumed the posture, some part of his body would inevitably begin to ache after a short while.

"Sure enough, Hunyuan Contending Force is far beyond what someone with my level of comprehension can easily fathom."

He sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, he still had the shortcut of Skill Points.

Afterward, he began performing the Spirit Serpent Pathfinding Step, then repeatedly tempered the two forms of the Spirit Serpent Killing Technique, continuing his cultivation.

As he practiced, another strange feeling arose within him.

If he had never cultivated Hunyuan Contending Force, he might have thought these two killing forms exquisite and vicious. But looking at them now, he found them overly rigid—almost so rigid that it felt like, "The moment you move your hand, I already know what you're about to do next."

He practiced straight through until the sun reached the middle of the sky.

At lunch, several slices of a red exotic fruit had been added beside his plate.

Qi Yu casually picked them up and ate them. As the fruit pulp entered his stomach, the fatigue of the morning vanished in an instant. A hot current of energy rose from his abdomen and surged abundantly through his limbs and bones.

Even before his Eighth Rank foundation had stabilized, this was already helping him accumulate heat in preparation for the Seventh Rank.

Just these few slices made Qi Yu suspect that, if an Eighth Rank martial artist at full completion lacked resources and had to tough it out alone, they would need at least several months to barely reach this point.

After he finished eating, there was actually a carriage waiting outside. Ding Yi was driving it. When he saw Qi Yu, the commander of the household guards waved with a smile. "Young Master, didn't you say you were going to..."

His words were deliberately ambiguous.

Qi Yu froze for a moment, but still climbed into the carriage and asked, "What is it?"

Ding Yi lowered his voice. "It's about what Master mentioned yesterday at noon. The initiation ceremony has already been prepared."

Qi Yu understood at once and said no more.

The carriage rumbled away into the distance.

On the way...

Qi Yu suddenly asked, "Old Ding, you're also a member of the sect, aren't you?"

Ding Yi said, "I'm only a disciple. I haven't gone very deep."

Qi Yu asked, "What about your partner?"

Ding Yi froze, then lowered his voice. "The Umbrella Sect is a den of demonesses. Although the sect has no shortage of powerful men, it's said that all the true top experts are women. When men join the sect, most can only passively wait to be chosen... and not everyone even has that qualification."

As they spoke, the carriage entered the outer city and stopped before an ordinary-looking residence.

Qi Yu had just gotten out when he saw a freight cart across the way unloading cargo. The person directing the work was none other than his older female cousin, Qi Zhao.

His gaze swept over the goods on the cart, and he understood immediately—these were undoubtedly assets of the Qi Family, being gifted to the Umbrella Sect without compensation to maintain his cousin's qualification as an "Internal Affairs Envoy."

He frowned slightly but said nothing.

Qi Zhao saw him as well and said, "Cousin, hurry inside. Quite a few people have already arrived."