The Generation of Myriad Things

"Let's talk inside!" Gong Haoyue's group crowded around Qi Hong and entered the Four Swords Sect first.

Though the people saw Ying Xiao's iron cavalry ride away, their hearts still trembled with lingering fear.

Liu Yunshen helped the eight-foot-tall man prop up a crossbeam, and the man thanked him again and again. Liu Yunshen called out, "The sect masters have already resolved the matter of the earth veins' spiritual energy. Folks, just hurry and get on with the spring plowing." The villagers' faces lit up with excitement as they rushed off to spread the news.

Hu Lieshan rubbed his way over to the Zhao father and daughter, his face red. When Zhao Lanlan softly thanked him, Hu Lieshan—whose back was fiercely poked by the old man—hurriedly promised, "Uncle! Lanlan! Rest easy and stay here. If anything comes up, come find me!"

The old man smiled without speaking. Zhao Dingjiang shook his head. "Brave as a tiger in ordinary times, yet you become mute when it comes to asking for her hand?"

When Lei Zhaoye secretly glanced at Miss Zhu, Liu Yunshen and the other two started jeering at him. Lei Zhaoye laughed and scattered them with a shove, then jabbed Liu Yunshen in the ribs. "Brother Liu, you've gone bad following them too!"

Cai Yuelin pinched his throat and imitated a young lady's voice. "Father, I'll marry no one but Big Brother Lei! Ah! I was wrong! Big Brother Lei, let go!" Before he could finish, Lei Zhaoye seized his ear, drawing a pig-slaughtering scream from him!

Cao Langao clapped and cheered. She lightly pushed Lei Zhaoye and encouraged him, "Senior Brother Lei, be more bold! What are you afraid of? Go on. Look, Miss Zhu has been watching you the whole time."

Lei Zhaoye drew a deep breath and walked over, gazing at the young woman. She was so beautiful that she could topple a city, her splendor beyond compare.

Her skin was like congealed cream, her lips like cinnabar dew; her limpid eyes were clear as a mountain stream.

Water and fire clashed to give birth to rosy mists; hardness and softness joined as one, transforming into rainbow clouds.

"I have yet to thank you for saving my life, sir. May I know your name?"

The young woman gazed at the youth before her, his body like a mountain. Over the past few days, an inexplicable attachment had already taken root in her heart.

"My name is Lei Zhaoye. May I ask, miss... no, I have been discourteous..." Lei Zhaoye sighed, lowered his head, and stepped back half a pace. Then he heard the girl's clear voice. "This humble girl is Zhu Dancheng."

Lei Zhaoye was wild with joy. As he turned his head, he caught sight of Ouyang Qingcang speaking with the father of the Zhu Clan girl. "May I ask your honored surname, sir?"

"This old man is Zhu Xun."

The moment the words "Zhu Xun" left his mouth, everyone was stunned. Liu Yunshen, Ouyang Zhenyue, and the others hurried forward to question him.

"May I ask for your birth date and eight characters?"

"This..." Faced with this sudden turn, the old man was dumbfounded and at a loss. Zhu Dancheng took hold of her father and softly urged him, "Father! Our benefactors mean no harm."

A moment later, Ouyang Zhenyue deduced a shocking fact—the eight characters were completely identical to those of the Zhu Xun who had been killed!

After Cai Tingyue investigated, he was even more shocked: among the villagers, there were actually people whose eight characters matched those of the Son of Heaven of Zhou.

"The abduction of civilian women was likely just a smokescreen. Using living people to test evil arts was the true purpose of those beasts!"

As Ouyang Zhenyue faintly revealed his anger, the villagers were joyfully rebuilding their homes.

"Brother Ox, we'll be relying on you for meals from now on!" Cao Langao stroked the old yellow ox led over by the villagers. The ox answered with a "Moo!"

Lei Zhaoye quietly begged his father to propose marriage for him and was teased by Cai Tingyue. After everyone settled the Zhao and Zhu families, they returned to Sword Qi Hall.

A short while later, the four great sect masters, Liu Yunshen, Hu Lieshan, Zhao Dingjiang, the four young sect masters, and a handful of core disciples had gathered in a circle.

Qi Hong took the supreme treasure known as the Seven Sufferings Screen from his sleeve. It expanded a hundredfold, enveloping the entire Sword Qi Hall!

"Now we needn't fear anyone eavesdropping!" Cai Tingyue had never seen such a treasure before and kept examining every panel.

"Truly marvelous!" Hu Lieshan was dumbstruck. He gently touched the screen behind him, finding it smooth and resilient.

Zhao Dingjiang looked toward the screen. The first panel depicted a divine tree reaching the heavens; the second showed a Kunpeng striking the waters; the third was a scene of magnificent palaces; the fourth depicted a group of beautiful women dancing.

"This!" Zhao Dingjiang flushed scarlet and dared not look further. The young men also stopped at the fourth image!

Unmoved, Liu Yunshen looked toward the fifth image. He immediately sprang up in terror. A demonic voice rose in his heart, cold sweat pouring over his entire body as he nearly began to dance along with it. "Human vegetables and meat for food! Starved corpses strewn across the fields!"

"Little Brother Liu, calm down!" Lei Zhouyue pressed a palm onto his shoulder. Liu Yunshen seemed to lose all strength and collapsed back into his chair!

Qi Hong silently praised him. His mental strength is remarkable, and his sword intent cultivation has far surpassed that of his peers!

"Mr. Qi! What kind of great path is Martial Dao?" Ouyang Qingcang asked with utmost respect.

Lei Zhaoye was greatly surprised. He looked toward his father at the head of the gathering, and Lei Zhouyue transmitted, "My son, don't ask so much. Listen carefully, and don't miss a single word!!"

"Yes!"

"I imagine you all have many doubts. Even the four sect masters likely have matters they do not understand concerning the domain of Martial Dao!" Qi Hong sat upright at the head, sweeping his gaze across the crowd with the bearing of a great sect lord.

"Mr. Qi speaks truly. The Alchemical Method inheritances of the four of us came from our masters' sects and have endured for a thousand years. Though they have shown signs of breaking off in recent times, their foundations remain deep. But as for Martial Dao cultivation methods..." Ouyang Zhenyue shook his head.

"Indeed. In Martial Dao, it was only from my great-grandfather's generation that any understanding began to emerge and was compiled into books. Even now, it has been barely over a hundred years. Brother Ouyang's clan should be much the same!" Lei Zhouyue looked toward Cai Tingyue and Gong Haoyue.

Cai Tingyue gave a bitter smile. "My father only gained some understanding after he was past twenty. He was far behind you two!"

"My father was the first in our family as well. By my generation, it has only been a few decades!" Gong Haoyue sighed.

"I am a few years older than all of you and have gained a little insight over the years. Let us use the power of one Alchemical Method realm and casually spar before the children. It cannot be taken seriously!"

Qi Hong smiled and walked into the center.

"Such an opportunity is rare! Which of us will go?"

The four sect masters spoke in low voices. The other three looked to Ouyang Zhenyue, and in the end, Ouyang rose. "Please instruct me, sir!"

"Martial Dao is divided into three realms: Life, Overcoming, and Union! The Life Realm alone is divided into nine heavens. Each person's comprehension may differ greatly. What this old man has comprehended is the first heaven—Valley Spirit Never Dies!"

Qi Hong smiled, raised his palm, and slowly brought it down. Ouyang Zhenyue watched that palm force, steadied his heart, and extended two fingers toward Qi Hong's wrist.

Ripples appeared around both men. Ouyang Zhenyue retreated half a step! Qi Hong also stepped back half a step and smiled. "Sect Master Ouyang has long comprehended this level. This is the beginning of the generation of qi. The cultivator's dantian gains the power to connect with the origin of heaven and earth! The gate of the Mysterious Female, the root of heaven and earth—generation upon generation, without end!"

Cai Yuelin raised his hand. "Elder Qi, isn't the first realm of the Alchemical Method similar to this?"

"It is not the same! The Alchemical Method requires more than ten times as much vast pill power before it can possess the virtue of endless generation! Martial Dao, however, needs only a single thought. To put it more harshly, one need not even reach the first realm of Qi Refinement to communicate with heaven and earth and draw in spiritual qi from the world's origin!"

"So miraculous?"

All the youths cried out in astonishment.

"The second heaven of the Life Realm—At the Tip of Green Duckweed!" Qi Hong extended that chubby palm once more. The pressure on Ouyang Zhenyue surged. He gathered the perfected pill power of the first realm and overlaid it with his Martial Dao domain before he barely managed to receive the strike! Yet his body was still sent back a full step!

Qi Hong also stepped back one pace.

Lei Zhaoye walked to his father's side and whispered into his ear, "Look! This is what they call 'worldly wisdom becomes literature.' Elder Qi's cultivation is likely far beyond yours and Martial Uncle Ouyang's, yet he deliberately steps back each time, giving our Four Swords Sect all the face we could ask for!"

Lei Zhouyue laughed and cursed, "Your father isn't an idiot. Do you think I can't see that?"

"At the Tip of Green Duckweed, vitality is incomparably vigorous, just like the Yellow Sprout in my dantian! But my Yellow Sprout is watered with jade liquid formed from pill power, while the Life Realm domain displayed by Senior Qi Hong takes Martial Dao as its root and forcibly cleaves open the shackles of heaven and earth! How tragic and heroic is that!"

Liu Yunshen watched that unending, indomitable qi and could not help shedding tears. "What I comprehended seems to be Martial Dao's Life Realm, but the second heaven may still be unimaginably far away!"

Qi Hong nodded inwardly. Little Brother Liu's comprehension is truly extraordinary. He actually guessed the root from which Martial Dao was born!

After receiving that finger strike, Ouyang Zhenyue's heart was filled with indescribable delight. He immediately closed his eyes in contemplation. Twenty-four breaths later, when he opened them again, brilliant green light shot from those eyes filled with supreme sword intent. Like green duckweed drifting upon water, it seemed rootless, yet its vitality was incomparably tenacious!

"Please instruct me, sir!" Ouyang Zhenyue's face was flushed. The vigorous life force at his fingertips transformed into Sword Qi, its power more than ten times greater than before!!!

"Tenfold!!"

"Each increase of one Martial Dao realm increases one's power tenfold!"

All the youths in the hall were overjoyed and shocked. In her excitement, Cao Langao tightly grasped Cai Yuelin's hand beside her. Suddenly noticing that the hand was somewhat too delicate, she lowered her head for a look and hurriedly flung it away, already blushing crimson with embarrassment!

Gong Liefeng chuckled. "I'm over here."

"Go!" Cao Langao smiled shyly and lightly pinched the tender flesh on the back of his hand. Gong Liefeng's face reddened with pain.

"Sect Master Ouyang, try receiving the third heaven of the Life Realm—Peach Blossoms Ablaze!"

With a thunderous boom, as if lightning had exploded, endless azure radiance burst from Qi Hong's fingertips! Ouyang Zhenyue once more surged with pill power, still maintaining the perfected first realm of Qi Refining, overlaid with the second heaven of the Life Realm!

The two finger forces collided! Ouyang Zhenyue retreated three steps in succession before finally steadying himself. Delighted, he said, "So this is the third heaven! This old man understands now. Given enough time, I will surely break through!"

Yet Qi Hong did not withdraw his power. A thread of qi still lingered at his fingertip.

Liu Yunshen asked in alarm, "Senior, you said earlier that if we only comprehend the fourth heaven of the Life Realm, our sect will no longer fear the danger of the earth veins' spiritual energy being cut off!"

Qi Hong did not answer. He extended a finger, and a vast will enveloped the hall. Countless tender shoots burst from the earth, piercing through the exceedingly hard granite floor of Sword Qi Hall!

"This!!"

"A Dao technique of such power would require at least the perfected fourth realm of Qi Refining to perform!" Ouyang Zhenyue knelt on the ground and stroked the tender shoots. "Inconceivable!"

Everyone cheered in delight.

"Senior, what of the Overcoming Realm?" Liu Yunshen stepped forward respectfully.

"Greedily seeking more than you can obtain—do you wish to die?" Qi Hong's expression turned cold, his voice rough and hoarse as surging killing intent emerged!