Over the next few days, Li Yuan diligently continued his cultivation without pause, maintaining a pace of opening one meridian a day. In total, he opened three meridians.
The true qi within his body had tripled!
This brought a tremendous boost to Li Yuan's strength. His power was now growing at a rapid pace every day.
He opened meridians very quickly; it took him only two incense sticks of time to open one. In his spare time, Li Yuan would also give Dong Yuezhen some guidance on her cultivation.
After Li Yuan's repeated instruction, Dong Yuezhen's mastery of Cinnabar Palm grew increasingly profound. She had fewer and fewer points she couldn't understand. After spending some time together, Li Yuan had formed a very good impression of her.
Her talent in martial arts was decent, but she had suffered from a lack of careful guidance and taken many wrong turns. Otherwise, her progress in martial arts could have been even faster, and she might even have had hope of breaking through to the True Qi Realm.
Since Dong Yuezhen was promising and had a good disposition—not a treacherous or crafty person—Li Yuan didn't mind nurturing her a little more. He simply passed on his Shocking Step to her as well.
"Master, how could I accept such an honor?"
Dong Yuezhen was startled and blurted out.
Shocking Step had been created by Li Yuan. That day, when Li Yuan had fought Qi Zhengyang, he had used this footwork technique. The moment it was unleashed, his body had moved like a ghost, impossible to fathom, leaving a deep impression on all the disciples who had watched.
And now Li Yuan was willing to teach this martial art to her, which left her utterly shocked.
Li Yuan smiled faintly. "You're very suited to cultivating Cinnabar Palm. I'll teach you Shocking Step as well."
Previously, Dong Yuezhen had given him a copy of Iron Body Skill, allowing his physical strength to cross an entire major level and bringing him tremendous help. As the saying went, one gave peaches and received plums in return. Li Yuan had decided to repay her with Shocking Step.
He had been instructing Dong Yuezhen for many days and had invested a great deal of effort in her. The other disciples of the martial arts school also knew that Dong Yuezhen often sought his guidance. Recently, Li Yuan had even vaguely gained the reputation of being her half-teacher.
Li Yuan didn't dislike this reputation.
Dong Yuezhen was worth teaching.
Since that was the case, he couldn't allow her talent to go to waste.
If Dong Yuezhen were easily defeated by someone in the future, wouldn't it damage the reputation of this half-teacher?
Having made his decision, Li Yuan rose and stood straight. In the courtyard, he began demonstrating Shocking Step, move by move, explaining the essentials of the footwork as he went.
A True Qi Realm martial artist was imparting his knowledge with utmost care. Knowing that this opportunity was rare, Dong Yuezhen stopped being coy and immediately focused her entire attention on learning.
Li Yuan's Shocking Step had evolved from the Shocking Force of Cinnabar Palm. It was a unique application of Shocking Force, and its many ingenious subtleties made Dong Yuezhen exclaim again and again at how marvelous it was, admiring Li Yuan's extraordinary ingenuity.
After he taught it several times, Dong Yuezhen also learned this lightness footwork. With diligent practice, she would be able to master it smoothly.
"Master, thank you." Dong Yuezhen's tone was somewhat complicated.
Li Yuan had achieved such accomplishments at such a young age, and his future was boundless. The talent he displayed was even more dazzling. Among all the men Dong Yuezhen had met, not one could compare with him. Sometimes, when she watched Li Yuan, she would become slightly absent-minded.
"What are you thinking about? You're just standing there like a dazed goose."
Li Yuan interrupted her thoughts. Dong Yuezhen's face flushed slightly, and she hurriedly shook her head. "Nothing."
"Mm. I'll be going out to carry out a mission these next few days, so I won't have time to guide your cultivation."
"I've taught you everything I can. With your talent, you'll be more than capable of relying on yourself from here on."
The Special Capture Division had already sent him a message. Tomorrow, he would lead the Nineteenth Squad to carry out a difficult mission, and he probably wouldn't be able to return for a short while.
After making arrangements for Dong Yuezhen, Li Yuan quietly cultivated in the courtyard, adjusting his condition to its peak in preparation for the next day's mission.
A mission arranged by the Special Capture Division that required a True Qi Realm martial artist to take action naturally wouldn't be simple.
Moreover, this was his first mission after joining the Special Capture Division. He naturally couldn't be careless and had to complete it beautifully.
Time flew by. Early the next morning, Li Yuan hurried to the Special Capture Division.
The members of the Nineteenth Squad also arrived one after another. When several of them saw Li Yuan, they stepped forward and saluted him in turn.
They still didn't know what their mission was. Someone would soon come to relay the details, but when the person conveying the mission emerged from the corner ahead, Li Yuan couldn't help freezing, because he knew her.
"Zong Lin?"
Li Yuan had gained a certain understanding of the Special Capture Division. For minor matters such as relaying missions, they wouldn't send a Spirit Master.
Zong Lin walked over and smiled as she nodded at Li Yuan.
"I'll be conveying your mission."
"Also, I'll be accompanying you on this mission."
A Spirit Master was joining them on this mission?
A faint sense of foreboding welled up in Li Yuan's heart.
Zong Lin had also been present during the previous Changgan mission, and quite a few unexpected changes had occurred as a result. Only those who had experienced it personally could understand the danger involved.
It seemed that anything connected with a Spirit Master was never anything good.
And the facts were indeed just as Li Yuan had thought. A simple mission could be handled by martial artists. If even a Spirit Master needed to take the field, then the matter was likely to be troublesome.
Zong Lin swept her gaze over the Nineteenth Squad. "Time is tight. We'll discuss the details on the way."
The six of them quickly left the city and hurried toward their destination.
After Zong Lin's explanation, Li Yuan also understood the nature of the mission.
Ten days earlier, signs of large numbers of Evil Creatures had appeared around Meishan County, putting the county on alert.
Before long, Evil Creatures began harassing the towns and villages. Behind them, there were even traces of large numbers of Evil Warriors!
This was actually the work of Evil Warriors driving the Evil Creatures to attack various places in Meishan County!
Evil Creatures were difficult to deal with, while Evil Warriors were even harder. The situation in Meishan County was growing increasingly grim!
Meishan County was not within Jiujiang Commandery. It lay in Yangxing Commandery, north of Jiujiang Commandery. The Yangxing Commandery Special Capture Division immediately dispatched large numbers of martial artists and Spirit Masters to suppress the Evil Creatures and Evil Warriors. Unfortunately, there were simply too many enemies, and Yangxing Commandery was unable to suppress them, so it sought aid from several nearby commanderies and counties.
The people from Jiujiang taking part in the relief effort were Zong Lin, Li Yuan, and the others.
To be honest, the scale of this support was somewhat small.
Unfortunately, Zong Wencheng had only just awakened, and his strength had yet to recover. The other Zong family Spirit Masters stationed in Jiujiang Commandery's city needed to care for Zong Wencheng and were likewise unable to spare themselves. Thus, Jiujiang sent only Zong Lin, its sole Spirit Master, to Meishan County for support.
There were also few martial artists on their side: only Li Yuan, a single True Qi Realm expert, along with three Inner Force Realm martial artists and Mi Lan, who was in the Body Tempering Realm. The lineup looked even more threadbare.
This was an unavoidable choice. Jiujiang Commandery had its own difficulties, and those difficulties were inconvenient to explain in detail.
Aside from Li Yuan, Jiujiang Commandery had several other True Qi Realm martial artists. But there was another reason why Li Yuan had been specifically summoned for this relief mission.
"Li Yuan, do you know why your squad was called up for this mission?"
Li Yuan was taken aback. "I don't."
Zong Lin smiled faintly. "If I remember correctly, during the previous trip to Changgan, the illusion technique of that Half-step Blood Robe... seemed to have no effect on you, right?"
During the battle against the Half-step Blood Robe, Li Yuan had secretly used the Martial Dao True Intent, Dragon's Bloodshed, to resist the Half-step Blood Robe's illusion attack. He didn't wish to say much about the matter, but neither did he deny it. He merely nodded.
Seeing Li Yuan admit it, Zong Lin continued.
"That is why the Special Capture Division arranged for you, a True Qi Realm martial artist, to support Meishan County."
"Several Blood Robe Evil Ghosts have appeared in Meishan County recently, and they've already caused heavy casualties."
"These Blood Robe Evil Ghosts are difficult to deal with, but we believe you're the most suitable person to handle them."
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