Deciphering

A one-in-a-thousand chance was far too small.

Yet after breaking through to the innate stage, he could feel that the Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill within him had reached an unprecedented realm.

Blazing astral qi burst from his body, flames and lightning blooming within it as the temperature throughout the room soared at a terrifying speed.

Wherever he looked, Zhang Jian saw the brocade bedding around the canopy bed turn to charcoal at a visible rate. Yet it did not ignite; instead, it was reduced directly to powder by the searing heat. Even the stone slabs beneath his feet had been burned through.

The Heavenly Dipper inner breath cultivated by the Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill was, in truth, pure yang inner breath.

Rooted in the spark of true yang possessed by a virgin body, it was exceptionally fierce and domineering.

It could be called ultimate yang.

In the unseen world, wisps of intangible spiritual energy were twisted and pulled by this terrifying force field, threatening to form a vortex and merge into Zhang Jian's body.

Zhang Jian sensed that, through the Bridge of Heaven and Earth, he could already draw upon the spiritual energy hidden between heaven and earth.

Though the inner breath and astral qi of internal martial artists at the Nourishing Origin stage were certainly formidable, the astral qi within their bodies had its limits. Innate-stage internal martial artists, however, could draw upon a wisp of heaven and earth's spiritual energy through the Bridge of Heaven and Earth.

Under the pressure of heaven and earth's power, the force that erupted was naturally far beyond anything an internal martial artist at the Nourishing Origin stage could compare to.

Zhang Jian could sense that the Jade Lake Golden Lotus Seed still contained an endless stream of power that was flowing into the depths of his soul, causing his innate spiritual awareness to continue growing.

It was profoundly mysterious.

"Drawing upon just a thread of heaven and earth's power at the innate stage is already this terrifying. I wonder what step one could reach after entering the gate of that Great Dao?"

Zhang Jian's eyes shone brightly.

He was already growing impatient.

"Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity!"

With Zhang Yi's help, Zhang Jian's deciphering progressed much faster. At last, after half a month, he completed the task.

Within the study, Zhang Jian frowned. Just as he and Zhang Yi had hoped, the ancient golden script contained in those dozen or so paintings was indeed a cultivation method.

This was an immortal cultivation art.

Even with only a cursory glance, Zhang Jian could sense its vastness and profundity.

At this moment, Zhang Jian could not hide his smile.

"Brother Jian, how is it?"

Zhang Yi stood at the side. One hand was clasped in prayer, while the other gripped his whisk tightly. Clearly, he was still nervous, afraid that something might go wrong.

Zhang Jian smiled back. "We succeeded!"

"Good!"

Zhang Yi's face twitched slightly, and his body trembled. Though he uttered only a single word, he could not suppress the surging emotions in his heart.

Zhang Jian smiled. "Uncle Yi, I'll teach you the complete method later. Also, this cultivation method is somewhat special!"

There was something unusual in his gaze, and Zhang Yi instinctively looked over.

"According to the information I deciphered from this ancient golden script, this may be a cultivation method passed down by a sect!"

Zhang Jian's expression was somewhat solemn.

More precisely, this was the entry-level cultivation method of a certain sect.

It was exceptionally complete.

Most rare of all, the end of the method even included many cultivation tips, such as explanations of certain terms and taboos in practice. It also came with three minor spells, making it a complete inheritance.

However, it currently contained only the first three layers. According to the information following this ancient golden script, to obtain the core methods that came later, one had to find the location of "Paulownia Mountain."

"Then does the end of this text mention where that 'Paulownia Mountain' is located?"

Zhang Yi was slightly stunned as well.

"It doesn't!"

Zhang Jian shook his head.

Zhang Yi nodded, without any disappointment on his face.

Though it was somewhat unexpected, it did not affect the uncle and nephew's enthusiasm. That was a matter for the future.

At the very least, it had no bearing on the present.

Whether such an immortal cultivation art could even be practiced was still unknown.

While the uncle and nephew devoted themselves to comprehending this marvelous method.

Twin Pagoda Mountain

At this moment, several hundred soldiers shouted as they brandished their weapons, staging a fine counter-encirclement. Teams of "bandits" charging down from the mountain pass were shot down by crossbow bolts loosed by a group of red-clad soldiers.

Crossbow bolts fell into the valley like a torrential rain, and groups of vicious bandits collapsed to the ground in terror.

Screams and pleas for mercy rang out as one.

These red-clad soldiers had resolute brows, broad shoulders, and powerful waists, their bodies steeped in Sha Qi. At a glance, one could tell they were elite troops tempered by countless battles.

These hundred or so men were the fruits of Zhang Yi's painstaking cultivation over the past decade.

Though there were only a little over a hundred of them, every one was an elite soldier who had endured countless killings and survived bloody battles against bandits and mounted raiders.

The Nine-Pearl Divine Crossbows in their hands were also heavy weapons of the Great Qian army.

The Zhang family had spent a fortune to obtain them from the military.

When money paved the way, many things became much simpler.

Today, Zhang Yi had handed these hundred-odd elites over to Zhang Kui as a surprise force to slaughter the allied bandits from the three strongholds gathered here.

This alliance consisted of White Horse Stronghold, Black Tiger Stronghold, and the mounted raiders of Minor Cold Mountain. All three were famous strongholds within the Twin Phoenix Mountains, their vicious reputations spread far and wide as they frequently gathered in howling hordes to block roads and rob travelers.

The wealthy households and merchant caravans around Fengxi County had suffered terribly at their hands. They gritted their teeth in hatred, yet had never been able to do anything about these three strongholds.

This time, however, they had been brought together by someone with ulterior motives to resist Zhang Kui's bandit-suppression troops.

The valley had already become a river of blood, with mounted raiders and bandits lying one after another in pools of gore.

Even several leaders of the three great strongholds had met their deaths in succession beneath the military weapon, the Nine-Pearl Repeating Crossbow. Only the two leading bandits and the Northern Five Heroes had relied on their formidable external cultivation techniques and used corpses as shields to block wave after wave of arrow rain.

The "good friends" before them had become targets for arrows, and as wave after wave of arrow rain poured down as though money were no object, the human shields in their hands were visibly being pierced through.

The men were all beginning to panic. The arrowheads of the Nine-Pearl Divine Crossbows were specially made to pierce qi force; they could not withstand many of them at all.

"Damn the Zhang family! Just how many arrows did they buy?"

Black Eagle Zhu Heng, the leader of the Northern Five Heroes, nearly ground his teeth to pieces.

They were simply throwing their money around and doing whatever they pleased.

They knew that those people in the military would not budge without profit. Such heavy military weapons were usually difficult to buy, and even when they leaked out, they came at an enormous price.

Yet the rain of crossbow bolts in Zhang Kui's hands came down round after round.

Every arrow fired was a string of copper coins and silver!

"Zhu Heng, didn't you say this battle was foolproof? How did it come to this?"

The remaining leader of Black Tiger Stronghold was grief-stricken and furious. Watching the human shield in his hands gradually get pierced through by the dense arrow rain, he roared in despair and sprang forth like a ferocious tiger. Yet in an instant, he was swallowed by the arrow rain and struck by more than a dozen arrows amid agonized howls.

He was exceptionally fierce. Even after becoming a "hedgehog," he still clutched his executioner's blade and charged savagely toward Zhang Kui. His Tendon-Transforming qi shattered great swathes of mountain rock, sending shards flying.

But in the next instant, a figure beside Zhang Kui raised a spear and nailed him to the ground.

That fierce, powerful force drove straight through the stone several feet deep.

Faced with such a situation, the Northern Five Heroes each fell into despair.

One after another, they charged out, but their circumstances were no better. They had only rushed to Zhang Kui's front when they were surrounded by more than a dozen estate guards and beaten as a group.

Before a well-organized army, individual martial prowess still had enormous limitations.

Especially before elite troops equipped with such heavy military weapons.

Of course, the Northern Five Heroes had also been plotted against and separated. Otherwise, even if Zhang Kui could kill these external martial artists, he would have had to pay a price.

"A pack of homeless dogs, incapable of amounting to anything!"

Zhang Kui was broad and burly, his face covered in pockmarks left behind by childhood smallpox. He truly looked fierce and vicious.

The handsome middle-aged man beside him, holding a red-tasseled spear, reminded him.

"Fourth Master, leave a few alive. Whether we can bring down Yang Qing may very well depend on them!"

He was Wang Quan, the Spear King of Fengyang. Alongside Jian Yao and Zhao Jinhong, he was one of the Zhang family's three most capable retainers.

Zhang Kui glanced at the valley flowing with blood, then nodded slightly, signaling his men to leave some survivors. Though the Northern Five Heroes were indeed fierce, each had already been struck by quite a few stray arrows and could hardly escape.

Zhang family, inner residence

Gu Xiu'er's inner breath had been sealed, leaving her unable to move. Yet her expression remained calm, without the slightest panic.

The white veil on her face had been removed. Her exquisite jade-like face was exposed, her skin as fair as jade. She was exceptionally beautiful, with an orchid-like, immortal air.