Surging Tide Art

Ji Chengkong forced the words out, his voice rough, faint as a thread of breath:

"Where... is Fang Yu...?"

"Dead."

It was Shen Yi who answered.

Listening to that unfamiliar voice, Ji Chengkong curled his lip as if he wanted to laugh, yet no laughter came.

"So... that was how it was?"

Qin Jianghe paused. Facing the former brother who had betrayed him, he had thought he had countless things to say, countless questions to ask.

That was why he had used his inner force to rouse him.

But only now did he realize it.

Why had he betrayed him? Why had he never been honest with him?

So many whys...

They all seemed unimportant now.

Yet he still asked one question—the final question.

"Chengkong, is there anything else you want to say?"

Ji Chengkong's face abruptly flushed red. This was the final blaze before death, and even his voice gained a little more life:

"Hall Master, I have nothing to say."

"It is merely the victor becoming king and the loser becoming bandit."

His face dimmed. He closed his eyes peacefully and passed away.

Shen Yi curled his lip.

After scheming with every last ounce of calculation, all had ultimately come to nothing.

His name truly suited the occasion.

Shen Yi let out a long breath and rose to his feet:

"Let's go."

"With injuries all over you like that, if they aren't treated in time—"

"I'm afraid they'll leave behind an incurable root of illness."

Qin Jianghe paused.

"Wait."

He opened a hidden compartment beneath the stone bed, took out a thin booklet, and handed it to Shen Yi.

Shen Yi accepted it and looked it over by the faint glow of the night-luminescent pearl.

The cover bore the words "Surging Tide Art."

Shen Yi looked at Qin Jianghe in surprise. Hadn't he said this was a secret gang inheritance, not to be shown lightly to others?

Qin Jianghe saw the doubt in Shen Yi's eyes.

Then he sat back down on the ground to rest:

"I'm not some stubborn old fossil."

"And you saved my life again."

"I have nothing with which to repay you."

"You have always yearned for martial arts that would let you advance. I have half a cultivation art here, enough to cultivate to the Acquired Realm, all the way to perfection."

"Memorize it here. Afterward, just say it was destroyed when Fang Yu broke into the secret chamber."

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow.

What a flexible moral bottom line.

Old Qin seemed like someone worth befriending.

Shen Yi pressed his advantage and asked:

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Any saber arts, fist techniques, footwork, movement arts—bring them all out and let me have a look."

Qin Jianghe gave a snort.

"You brat."

"How did I never notice your skin was this thick before?"

"So, are you giving them or not?"

Qin Jianghe hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook his head.

"Still no."

"My Golden Saber Art and peerless Free Will Saber Art are supreme arts of the sect and gang. They cannot be passed on lightly."

"Unless you join the Raging Tide Gang and steadily accumulate merit. Or I can recommend you to travel to Sichuan and enter the Golden Saber Wang Family."

"If you become an inner disciple, you can also receive the complete Golden Saber supreme art."

This time, Shen Yi completely gave up on the idea.

After what had happened with Broken Blade Hall—

He was even less willing to join any jianghu faction for the time being.

The Pacification Office was still hunting him down. He had no desire to be stabbed in the back by someone like Ji Chengkong in the future, then have them claim the reward.

Shen Yi picked up the upper volume of the Surging Tide Art and read through it as Qin Jianghe had instructed.

He would first commit the cultivation art to memory.

Then study it carefully afterward.

Shen Yi read through it once and relied on the system to store the cultivation art in his mind:

Martial Art: Surging Tide Art
Quality: Acquired Realm
Realm: Not Initiated

Shen Yi flipped through it another two times.

Once he confirmed nothing had been missed, he handed the booklet back to Qin Jianghe:

"I've memorized it all."

Qin Jianghe raised a hand to take the booklet, astonishment on his face.

That fast?

He casually turned to a page to test him. He recited the first half of a sentence, and Shen Yi answered fluently with the latter half.

Qin Jianghe was shocked once more.

He had never expected to encounter a genius.

What a pity.

This man did not belong to the Raging Tide Gang.

Fortunately, neither did he belong to the Whale Gang, nor any gang hostile to the Raging Tide Gang.

Qin Jianghe closed the book and released a burst of inner force from his palm.

The thin booklet instantly turned to dust.

With that, all matters came to an end.

Only then did Shen Yi leave the secret chamber with Qin Jianghe. Qin Jianghe was still dragging Ji Chengkong's corpse, at least intending to see him properly buried.

By the time the two emerged from the secret chamber—

The Broken Blade Hall gang members had already been waiting for a long while.

The three physicians from Clear River Town were also summoned by them, taking turns examining and treating Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe.

Under the physicians' instructions, and with the united help of the gang members, Shen Yi and Qin Jianghe's external injuries were first thoroughly treated.

Afterward, they were wrapped up until they nearly resembled rice dumplings.

They were sent to the same bedroom in another residence, making it easier to assign people to watch over them.

Furthermore, their three daily meals and everyday needs—

Were all attended to by servants.

Although Shen Yi did not like seeing himself in such a helpless state, his injuries were severe and he had to rest and recuperate.

Taking this opportunity, Shen Yi began studying his latest gains.

After several hard-fought battles and bouts of expenditure, he now had six years and ten months of secluded cultivation time. It seemed rather plentiful.

Yet Shen Yi also had quite a few matters requiring secluded cultivation.

First, after his Fragmentary Array Breaker Art had reached perfection and he entered the First-Class Realm, his internal cultivation art had ceased to advance.

Now, the Surging Tide Art had finally fulfilled his wish. Though it was merely another step forward, the road of martial arts was long.

Advance an inch, gain an inch of joy.

Second, he currently possessed the perfected Wind Severing Blade and Hidden Edge Blade, and his understanding of the variations and artistic conception of saber arts had grown even deeper. He believed that if he entered secluded cultivation for saber arts again, he would no longer be sitting idly in bitter contemplation. He would surely gain something new. Only by seeing much could one gather the strengths of all schools.

"Allocate three years to the Surging Tide Art."

Shen Yi spoke silently in his heart.

At once, he entered secluded cultivation for the inner cultivation art.

You continued reading the Surging Tide Art and gradually came to understand its nature. The so-called surging tide emphasized inner force rising and falling like the tides, unpredictable and ever-changing, combining hardness and softness.

In the first year of secluded cultivation, you began practicing the Surging Tide Art according to its essential formulas. Part of its meridian circulation overlapped with the Fragmentary Array Breaker Art, making cultivation twice the work for half the result. Your Surging Tide Art crossed the threshold of initiation and reached Minor Accomplishment.

In the second year of secluded cultivation, you focused on opening up the Surging Tide Art's unique meridian pathways, using your abundant inner force to strike through blocked meridians. This reminded you of the difficult days when you had painstakingly cultivated the Array Breaker Art.

In the third year of secluded cultivation, the Surging Tide Art's meridians were further opened, forming a complete circulation and entering the realm of accomplished mastery. The Surging Tide Art valued change and emphasized continuity without end; the Array Breaker Art valued explosive force and pursued fighting intent and momentum. You began pondering how the Surging Tide Art and the Array Breaker Art might complement and merge with each other.

The secluded cultivation of the inner cultivation art ended, and Shen Yi opened his eyes.

The Surging Tide Art and Array Breaker Art formed two currents of inner force with entirely different natures within his dantian. Their properties differed, yet they did not interfere with one another.

This meant Shen Yi's endurance in battle had greatly improved.

At the same time, nourished by Surging Tide inner force like spring water, the wounds he had suffered earlier were healing at an accelerated pace.

After sensing the changes in his inner force, Shen Yi sank back into his mind. This time, he would cultivate saber arts.

"Allocate three years to secluded saber cultivation."

Shen Yi felt his consciousness being pulled once more into a mysterious spiritual space. Secluded saber cultivation began.