Mountain God Temple

Beside Clear River stood Mount Clear River.

Within the mountain was an abandoned Mountain God Temple.

Inside the Mountain God Temple.

Shen Yi gently laid Qin Jianghe flat before the toppled statue, allowing him to recover on his own. Then, he found a corner and sat down.

[Host] Shen Yi
[Cultivation] Second-Rate
[Martial Arts] Wind Severing Saber Technique (Perfected), Bone Dislocation Hand (Entry Level), Array Breaker Art Fragment (Great Accomplishment)
[Ultimate Skill] Listening Wind Slash
[Seclusion] Remaining 6 years and 8 months

The weather was clear and bright, with auspicious purple energy coming from the east.

Resources were abundant.

It was the perfect time for a breakthrough.

Shen Yi immediately chose to pour three years of seclusion time into his inner cultivation art. Instantly, he entered a state of focused concentration.

[You peruse the Array Breaker Art Fragment once more, memorizing the key points, preparing for the final breakthrough.]
[After a year of seclusion, you circulate your inner energy like a rushing river, further solidifying the meridians and acupoints you previously opened.]
[After two years of seclusion, your inner energy becomes even more refined and condensed, your will as firm as a rock, and you begin to attempt to break through the final blocked acupoint.]
[After three years of seclusion, through persistent tempering and impact, you finally open the last acupoint of the Array Breaker Art Fragment, thus constructing a broader cycle of energy. Your inner energy flows like a cascading silver river, falling from the heavens, gradually forming an endless torrent.]
[Your Array Breaker Art Fragment enters the realm of Perfect Completion.]
[Your cultivation enters the First-Rate realm of the jianghu.]

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging internal force throughout his body, tumultuous like a waterfall, and then gradually fading away.

He could see the subtle details of everything.

He could hear the sounds of all things.

The world in his eyes seemed to have had a veil lifted, becoming clearer and more real.

He stood up and strode to the temple door.

With a clang, he drew his saber from its sheath.

He casually slashed horizontally with the saber.

This slash had no fancy moves.

It was just a simple saber strike, reduced to its essence.

Yet, this simple slash.

Seemed to send out an invisible saber aura, and a tree in the distance, as thick as a bowl, instantly had a smooth cut appear.

Then, with a creak.

It crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar.

First-rate cultivation involves gathering energy into a blade's aura.

A surge of joy welled up in Shen Yi's usually calm heart.

A first-rate cultivation realm in the jianghu.

In the Dong Commandery Pacification Office, he could steadily hold the position of Centurion, a figure whose name would be known to the Pacification Commissioner.

And in the jianghu.

First-rate cultivation was, as its name suggested.

Already stepping into the upper echelons of the jianghu.

Beginning to become a jianghu legend that people talked about with great interest.

This also meant that Shen Yi's ability to protect himself had risen to another level.

But the Array Breaker Art Fragment had reached the realm of Perfect Completion.

It also faced the same bottleneck as his saber technique.

Either he found the subsequent chapters of the Array Breaker Art, which he would have to seek from the Pacification Office.

Shen Yi wasn't stupid enough to walk into a trap.

Or he would have to seek other internal cultivation arts, borrowing from various schools and drawing on their strengths to further deduce and develop his own techniques.

This path.

Shen Yi glanced back at the burly man lying quietly in the Mountain God Temple.

Whether it could be walked through, would depend on...

Qin Jianghe.

However, Shen Yi also noticed that the blade of his saber was covered with jagged nicks.

He had bought this saber from a blacksmith's shop for five taels of silver. Although it was considered refined by the blacksmith, it wasn't exactly a high-quality, famous weapon.

Shen Yi had encountered many battles in Mount Luo Xia and Little River Village, and the saber in his hand was already on the verge of breaking.

It was on the verge of being scrapped at any moment.

If he had no saber in hand, his combat power would be greatly reduced.

Shen Yi re-examined what he had learned. Apart from saber techniques and inner cultivation methods, all that remained was a nearly forgotten martial art:

Bone Dislocation Hand.

In fact, although Bone Dislocation Hand was similar in quality to the Wind Severing Saber Technique, both being second-rate martial arts, it was also in a state of neglect within the Pacification Office.

Many in the jianghu only knew of the Pacification Office's Wind Severing Saber Technique and were unaware of Bone Dislocation Hand.

This was actually easy to understand.

As introductory martial arts, the Wind Severing Saber Technique allowed the constables to take advantage of their weapons. As the saying goes, "An inch longer, an inch stronger..."

Whenever the Pacification Office recruited new members, they focused more on saber techniques, with fist and foot techniques being supplementary options.

But Shen Yi's situation was different now. He had plenty of time for secluded training, with three years and eight months remaining.

He could completely choose to focus on training [Bone Dislocation Hand].

Another reason was that when he had fought the Black Cloak leader earlier, the opponent had immediately called out the name of the Wind Severing Saber Technique.

This saber technique was almost synonymous with the Pacification Office.

Once Shen Yi revealed his saber while traveling the jianghu, he would likely be recognized and face the Pacification Office's wanted notices.

Therefore, learning another fist and foot technique that wasn't well-known was very necessary in Shen Yi's opinion.

Shen Yi immediately chose to pour two years of secluded training time into [Bone Dislocation Hand], and his mind entered the spiritual space for secluded training.

[Bone Dislocation Hand] had twelve forms in total.

Divided into six grappling techniques and six striking techniques.

When practiced to a profound level, one could integrate the principles of fist and foot techniques, laying a solid foundation for studying other fist and foot masterpieces.

The essence and techniques of [Bone Dislocation Hand] that the instructor had taught him appeared in Shen Yi's mind, and then he entered secluded training.

You begin to practice the twelve forms of Bone Dislocation Hand. At first, it is clumsy and slow, and you occasionally have to stop to think, feeling the knack for generating force. Gradually, you become skilled and can freely use the six grappling techniques and six striking techniques.

After three months of secluded training, your Bone Dislocation Hand crosses the threshold and enters the minor achievement stage, with each strike sounding like a firecracker.

After eleven months of secluded training, you have integrated the twelve forms of Bone Dislocation Hand, no longer bound by the usual patterns of attack. Your Bone Dislocation Hand enters the stage of gaining proficiency.

You continue to focus on the study of Bone Dislocation Hand, tirelessly and single-mindedly. Through the practice of Bone Dislocation Hand, you have a preliminary understanding of the mysteries of grappling and striking. After two years of cultivation, your Bone Dislocation Hand combines hardness and softness in its attacks, making it unpredictable, and your skill reaches a high level of mastery.

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes.

Host

Shen Yi

Cultivation

First-Rate

Martial Arts

Wind Severing Saber Technique (Perfected), Bone Dislocation Hand (Mastered), Fragment of Array Breaker Art (Perfected)

Ultimate Skill

Listening Wind Slash

Secluded Training

Remaining 1 year and 8 months

Raising his hand, Shen Yi's palm subconsciously formed a claw.

It reached out like a shadow.

Emitting a crisp sound as it cut through the air.

Inner strength surged, demonstrating endless power.

Shen Yi was very satisfied. The [Bone Dislocation Hand], cultivated to mastery, could be described as a complete transformation.

At least, as far as Shen Yi knew, there wasn't a single Black Cloak in the entire Dong Commandery Pacification Office who had specialized in Bone Dislocation Hand to such a high level of mastery, so he didn't have to worry about being recognized by people in the jianghu.

Just then, a coughing sound came from the temple.

Qin Jianghe was awake.

Shen Yi tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his clothes and tied it around his forehead as a crude headband, then ruffled his hair to make himself look more uninhibited.

At least in appearance, Shen Yi's face was now completely different from the wanted poster of the Pacification Office, making it impossible to associate him with it.

He tidied himself up.

Only then did he turn and stride into the temple.

Stopping three steps away from Qin Jianghe, Shen Yi watched as Qin Jianghe struggled to push himself up from the ground, supporting himself with his hands. Shen Yi called out from a distance, "Raging Tide Gang, Broken Blade Hall, Qin Jianghe."

With each word Shen Yi spoke, Qin Jianghe's eyelids twitched, and his expression became more serious.

"Hall Master Qin, I am Chen Yu."

"A pleasure."