The next day, Shi Feizhe and Brother Shan went their separate ways.
That was how things went in the jianghu. After a chance encounter, it was back to wandering the jianghu.
Everyone had their own path to walk.
Shi Feizhe was heading to Qiu Yang City, while Brother Shan was returning to Yan Province.
"Brother Shan, we're not friends, and we're not brothers!" Shi Feizhe suddenly said as they were parting.
"Oh?" Brother Shan looked a little confused.
"That way, I won't stab you with a sword in the future!" Shi Feizhe said with a grin.
"Hahahaha..." Brother Shan roared with laughter. "Brother Shi, you really have a great sense of humor!"
"Though the green hills may change!"
"The green waters will flow on!"
After they bade each other farewell, Brother Shan watched Shi Feizhe leave, then went to Ye Qiandeng's grave.
Calling it a grave was a bit much; it was really just a small mound of earth. He and Shi Feizhe had buried Ye Qiandeng there that morning.
Shi Feizhe hadn't wanted to bury him at first. Brother Shan had to persuade him before the two of them finally laid Ye Qiandeng to rest.
After all, before Ye Qiandeng had poisoned and plotted against him, Brother Shan had truly considered him a friend!
Friends were all the more precious in this deceitful, treacherous jianghu. But that was exactly why they were worth seeking!
After a long, long while, Brother Shan sighed and left Ye Qiandeng's grave, heading toward Yan Province.
Shi Feizhe traveled southeast toward Qiu Yang City. He made good progress, spending the days on the road and training, and finding somewhere to stay at night.
Sure enough, once he left that walking bad-luck charm, Brother Shan, it wasn't so easy to run into trouble!
His Blood Qi Barrier training was going smoothly. Each day, after finishing the punches and kicks from the "Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record," he practiced the sword techniques of the "Twelve Story Building." Both trained his body, but they complemented each other.
For example, swordplay was good for training the wrists, arms, and other parts, while the punches and kicks focused on the core around the waist and the coordination of the whole body. Practicing both together brought twice the results for half the effort.
But his visualization method for the Spirit Barrier wasn't going well.
The trouble was that techniques for training the body could complement each other, but visualization methods for training the spirit clashed.
A person's spirit was limited. It was impossible to visualize the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and, at the same time, imagine oneself as a divine sword.
If he fused the two together, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven holding a long sword would look ridiculous!
Even he couldn't bear to look at it. How could he visualize it?
Of the three techniques Shi Feizhe had, the "True Origin Sword Finger Technique" was the least trouble. All he had to do was stand in a fixed posture each day and keep at it. In time, a quantitative change would bring about a qualitative one.
He had learned the "Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record" at Three Talents Manor under Hua Xiaomei's guidance. With his exceptional martial talent, he had even replaced the Ten Kings of Hell in its visualization with the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
The "Twelve Story Building" was a chance find, taught to him by Brother Shan.
If he hadn't already mastered the basics of the "Nether Springs Divine Shadow Record" and visualized the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, he would have dropped it without hesitation and focused solely on the "Twelve Story Building"!
Once mastered, the "Twelve Story Building" would surely greatly benefit the "True Origin Sword Finger Technique." Now that he had visualized the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, he found it hard to let go.
But there was no helping it!
After turning it over in his mind again and again, he could only give up visualizing the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. From then on, he would visualize a divine sword each day and practice the "Twelve Story Building"!
After traveling for over ten days, he finally arrived at Qiu Yang City.
Qiu Yang City was an ancient city in Yi Province, with a history of one or two thousand years. Merchants traveling north and south brought their goods here to trade. Its walls stood twenty zhang high, no lower than those of Yi Yang City, and soldiers patrolled along the top.
Shi Feizhe had come from the north, so he entered through the north gate. As soon as he joined the queue and passed through, he saw a crowd gathered to watch something.
Shi Feizhe had no interest in gawking. All he wanted was to find a place to stay, bathe, and change clothes, but then he heard someone in the crowd shout:
"The Sun Moon Radiance Sect is recruiting outer disciples!"
"Strong, healthy candidates with a foundation in blood qi are welcome!"
"Once you join, you can practice the Sun Moon Radiance Sect's secret 'Sun Moon United Heart Art'—strengthen your spirit and focus on two things at once. It's the supreme path to becoming an expert!"
"Three meals a day, room and board included, plenty of benefits, and a monthly allowance! Limited spots, so sign up now!"
At those words, people in the crowd raised their hands and shouted, "I'm in! I'm in!"
The promise of room and board, plus a monthly allowance, was enough to make the city's idle vagrants rush to sign up. Only a few old hands of the jianghu sneered to themselves and walked away without looking back.
There was no such thing as a free lunch!
When sects recruited disciples, they either took in people with connections, or orphans they had raised from childhood, or children from wealthy families. Every one of them came from a clean, known background.
A sect recruiting outer disciples so publicly was either looking for cannon fodder or test subjects!
Shi Feizhe hadn't been interested in joining a sect. He wasn't short on techniques, and he wasn't short on money. What good would joining a sect do him? But then he heard the man shouting that the "Sun Moon United Heart Art" could strengthen the spirit and allow one to focus on two things at once.
Wasn't that exactly what he needed? And they'd provide room and board, plus money?
There was actually a good deal like this?
It was as if someone had handed him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy!
So he pushed into the crowd and saw two men at a table. Beside it stood a banner bearing the words "Sun Moon Radiance Sect."
One man sat behind the table, recording names with a brush. The other stood in front, sizing up the idle men who had raised their hands to sign up. "No! You don't have a foundation in martial arts, so you're not qualified!"
Shi Feizhe saw that the man was tall and broad, with thick eyebrows and bulging muscles. An imposing aura emanated from him, intimidating the idle men. He had actually cultivated true qi.
"Would I qualify?" Shi Feizhe asked the big man.
The big man examined him closely and saw the clear signs of training on his body. He nodded, then turned to the man behind the table. "Martial Uncle Hua, what do you think? Will he do?"
The man behind the table was around fifty or sixty, with a plain, weathered face. He looked up at Shi Feizhe and said, "His blood qi isn't especially abundant, but his essence is stable. He's worth a try!"
"Good! Come stand behind me. Later, you can return to the sect with me!" the big man told Shi Feizhe.
"Wait. I have a few questions," Shi Feizhe said. "I don't know much about your sect, so it shouldn't be unreasonable to ask a few things, right?"
"Not at all. Go ahead," the big man replied politely.
"Does your sect have any enemies? Is there a chance they'll show up one day and slaughter us all?" Shi Feizhe asked in a low voice.
After what had happened at Three Talents Manor, he was genuinely scared.
The big man's face darkened. "Our Sun Moon Radiance Sect may not be a famous sect, but our sect master is a Circulatory Heaven Expert! We're fairly well-known in Qiu Yang City, and we don't have any particular enemies!"
"What's the standard for the three meals a day?"
"Meat and vegetables, as much as you like! Our sect isn't stingy!"
"How much is the monthly allowance?"
"Five taels of silver!"
"Another question..."
Shi Feizhe asked several more questions, clearing up every doubt he had before contentedly taking his place behind the big man.
This sect was practically inviting a wolf into its den. Its fate was sealed.
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