Mountain God Temple

By the Clear River stood Mount Clear River.

In the mountains stood an abandoned Mountain God Temple.

Inside the Mountain God Temple.

Shen Yi laid Qin Jianghe flat before the toppled statue, letting him recover on his own before finding a corner to sit down in.

Host: Shen Yi

Cultivation: Second-Class Realm

Martial arts: Wind Severing Saber Technique (Mastery), Bone Dislocation Hand (Beginner), Fragmentary Array Breaker Art (Great Accomplishment)

Ultimate skill: Listening Wind Slash

Remaining secluded cultivation: 6 years and 8 months

The sky was clear and bright, purple qi arriving from the east.

Supplies were plentiful.

It was the perfect time for a breakthrough.

Shen Yi immediately poured three years of secluded cultivation into his internal cultivation method. In an instant, he entered a state of utterly focused cultivation.

You once again reviewed the Fragmentary Array Breaker Art, committing every crucial point of the mental art to memory as you prepared for the final breakthrough.

After one year of secluded cultivation, you circulated your inner breath like a surging river, further reinforcing the meridian pathways and acupoints you had previously opened.

After two years of secluded cultivation, your inner breath became even purer and more condensed. Your will had been tempered as solid as a boulder, and you began attempting to break through the final obstructed passage.

After three years of secluded cultivation, through unceasing tempering and impact, you finally opened the last crucial passage of the Fragmentary Array Breaker Art. Thus, you constructed an even broader circulation. Your inner breath surged like the Milky Way pouring down from the nine heavens, gradually forming an endless, rolling torrent.

Your Fragmentary Array Breaker Art entered the realm of complete mastery.

Your cultivation entered the First-Class Realm of the martial world.

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes, sensing the surging inner force throughout his body. It roiled like a flying waterfall and rushing spring before gradually sinking back into concealment.

The slightest details of all things entered his sight.

The myriad sounds of the world entered his ears.

It was as though another veil had been lifted from the world before his eyes, making it clearer and more real.

He rose to his feet and strode to the temple entrance.

With a clang, he drew his saber.

He casually swept the blade in a horizontal slash.

There was no particular move in this slash.

It was merely a saber strike that simplified complexity into simplicity.

Yet it was this very simple slash.

As though an invisible blade aura had burst forth, a tree as thick as a bowl at its trunk suddenly gained a perfectly level cut.

Then came a creak.

With a crashing roar, it toppled to the ground.

Once one's skill reached the First-Class Realm, qi could condense into a blade aura.

Even Shen Yi's calm and unruffled heart could not help but well up with joy.

The First-Class Realm of the martial world.

Even in the Dong Commandery Pacification Office, he could securely hold the post of General Banner and become someone whose name the Pacification Commissioner knew.

And in the martial world.

First-Class cultivation lived up to its name.

It had already stepped into the upper ranks of the martial world.

One would begin to become a martial-world legend people spoke of with relish.

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

But with the Fragmentary Array Breaker Art reaching complete mastery.

He now faced the same bottleneck as with his saber technique.

Either he found the subsequent portions of the Array Breaker Art. For that, he would have to seek them from the Pacification Office.

Shen Yi was not foolish enough to walk into the net himself just yet.

Or he would have to seek other internal cultivation methods and further deduce his art by drawing upon the strengths of countless schools.

This path.

Shen Yi glanced back at the rugged man lying quietly within the Mountain God Temple.

Whether it could be opened up or not would depend on...

Qin Jianghe.

However, Shen Yi also noticed that the blade of his saber was covered in jagged, dog-toothed chips.

He had bought this saber from a blacksmith's shop for five taels of silver. Though it counted as refined work from that shop.

It was hardly some fine, famous weapon.

Shen Yi had fought battle after battle at Mount Luo Xia and Little River Village. The saber in his hand was already on the verge of breaking.

It stood at the edge of becoming scrap at any moment.

If he had no saber in hand.

His combat strength would be greatly reduced.

Shen Yi once more examined everything he had learned. Apart from saber techniques and internal cultivation methods, only one nearly forgotten hand-to-hand art remained.

Bone Dislocation Hand.

In truth, though Bone Dislocation Hand was similar in quality to the Wind Severing Saber Technique and was likewise a Second-Class martial art.

It had similarly been forgotten within the Pacification Office.

Many martial artists only knew of the Pacification Office's Wind Severing Saber Technique and did not recognize Bone Dislocation Hand.

This was actually easy enough to understand.

Though both were introductory martial arts, the Wind Severing Saber Technique allowed the constables to seize the advantage of weaponry. As the saying went, an inch longer, an inch stronger...

Whenever the Pacification Office recruited new men, it generally placed greater emphasis on saber training, while hand-to-hand techniques were merely supplementary alternatives.

But Shen Yi's circumstances were different. He had ample time for secluded cultivation, with three years and eight months remaining.

He could absolutely choose to cultivate Bone Dislocation Hand.

There was another reason as well. When he had fought the black-clothed leader just now, the man had immediately called out the name Wind Severing Saber Technique.

This saber technique was practically synonymous with the Pacification Office.

Once Shen Yi traveled the martial world and drew his saber, there was a great chance he would be recognized and draw the Pacification Office's pursuit.

Therefore, Shen Yi felt it was still very necessary to cultivate another obscure hand-to-hand art.

Shen Yi immediately poured two years of secluded cultivation into Bone Dislocation Hand, and his mind promptly entered the spiritual space of secluded cultivation.

Bone Dislocation Hand had twelve forms in total.

They were divided into six grappling forms and six freehand forms.

When practiced to profound depths, it could integrate the principles of fists and kicks, laying a firm foundation for studying other supreme hand-to-hand arts.

The essence and secrets of Bone Dislocation Hand taught by the instructor surfaced in Shen Yi's mind, and he entered secluded cultivation.

You began practicing the twelve forms of Bone Dislocation Hand. At first, they were awkward and slow, and you occasionally had to stop and ponder, sensing the key to exerting force. Gradually, you became more proficient and could freely perform the six grappling forms and six freehand forms.

After three months of secluded cultivation, your Bone Dislocation Hand crossed beyond the beginner stage. Your strikes cracked like firecrackers, entering the realm of Minor Accomplishment.

After eleven months of secluded cultivation, you fully integrated the twelve forms of Bone Dislocation Hand and were no longer bound by habitual movements. Your Bone Dislocation Hand entered the realm of true mastery.

You continued concentrating on the study of Bone Dislocation Hand, tireless and single-minded. Through practicing it, you gained an initial understanding of the profound principles of grappling and freehand techniques. After two years of cultivation, your Bone Dislocation Hand combined hardness and softness in every move, ever-changing and impossible to predict. Your skill reached Great Accomplishment.

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes.

Host: Shen Yi

Cultivation: First-Class Realm

Martial arts: Wind Severing Saber Technique (Mastery), Bone Dislocation Hand (Great Accomplishment), Fragmentary Array Breaker Art (Mastery)

Ultimate skill: Listening Wind Slash

Remaining secluded cultivation: 1 year and 8 months

As he raised his hand, Shen Yi's palm instinctively formed into a claw.

It shot out like a shadow.

A crisp crack split the air.

Inner force surged, displaying boundless might.

Shen Yi was extremely satisfied. Bone Dislocation Hand at Great Accomplishment could truly be called a rebirth from the flesh and bones.

At least, as far as Shen Yi knew.

Among all the black-clad guards in the Dong Commandery office, none had specialized in Bone Dislocation Hand to the realm of Great Accomplishment. Thus, he had even less reason to worry about martial-world people recognizing his identity.

Just then.

A bout of coughing sounded from inside the temple.

Qin Jianghe had awakened.

Shen Yi tore a strip from the hem of his clothes and tied it around his forehead as a crude headband. Then he mussed up the hair atop his head, making himself appear more unruly.

At least in appearance.

Shen Yi's face now was as far removed as north from south from the wanted portrait issued by the Pacification Office. No one could connect the two.

After putting himself in order.

Only then did he turn and stride into the temple.

Stopping three steps away from Qin Jianghe, Shen Yi watched him struggle to brace himself with both hands and rise, then called out from afar:

"Raging Tide Gang, Broken Blade Hall, Qin Jianghe."

Each time Shen Yi spoke a word, Qin Jianghe's eyelid twitched, and his expression grew another degree more solemn.

"Hall Master Qin, I am Chen Yu."

"A pleasure to meet you."