Fulfillment

"Just these two sheets of paper?"

Yan Yongjie looked at the two sheets in his hands and asked.

The pages were yellowed.

"They do look like they have some age to them."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the pages. At first, he was somewhat casual, but his expression quickly changed, his eyes turning grave. Then, to Qiu Yan's surprise, he set down the papers and looked up at him.

"Th-this... was truly passed down through your family ancestors?" he asked uncertainly.

Qiu Yan nodded. "That's right. It's just that no one in my family could make sense of it. We only knew it concerned methods for tempering the body and strengthening one's physique."

"This is no ordinary method for tempering the body." Yan Yongjie shook his head as he spoke, handing the papers back to Qiu Yan. "Or rather, it is indeed a body-tempering method, but compared with it, the methods found in the martial world are utterly like a small witch before a great wizard! The difference is as vast as heaven and earth!"

"Brother Yan, what do you mean?"

"This thing is far too precious. Once word gets out, it will immediately stir up bloody storms throughout the martial world. You must never reveal it." Yan Yongjie gave Qiu Yan a deep look. "Brother Qiu, you possess martial skills yourself. You should be able to understand it, shouldn't you?"

Qiu Yan did not take the papers. He merely said, "The martial skill I possess was not gained through bitter training, but through a fortunate opportunity."

"I see. It seems Brother Qiu is a man blessed with great fortune." Yan Yongjie pointed at the papers in his hand. "What is recorded on these pages is no trivial matter. Even several of the foremost masters in the martial world would be tempted upon seeing it. To be honest, after merely reading a few lines, I was already deeply stirred. If I kept reading..." He shook his head.

"Are they truly that precious? Can they help you as well, Brother Yan?" Qiu Yan knowingly asked. The contents on those papers had been written by him in the first place, incorporating several methods from the Life Cultivation portion of The Way of Nature and Life. They already touched upon the path of Life Cultivation. In the hands of someone like Yan Yongjie, at the Foundation Establishment Peak, they were enough to let him break through his limits and step into a higher realm. How could secret manuals of the mortal martial world compare?

"The value of these two sheets of yours, to Yan..." Yan Yongjie hesitated, then took out the book from yesterday from within his robes. "It is no less than this travel journal."

"This travel journal records an immortal's fated path. How could my family's two pages possibly be mentioned in the same breath as it?" Qiu Yan was genuinely surprised this time. He had not inspected the travel journal closely yesterday, but the illustration on its final page alone had given him no small shock.

"The methods I wrote down are not precious within The Way of Nature and Life. Even in the cultivation world, they likely would not rank among anything noteworthy. Just several incomplete methods from Zhan Yuan's memories surpass this by far. It is clearly only a foundational technique. How can it compare to this travel journal? The illustration on the travel journal's final page alone is exceedingly exquisite, and the mysteries it contains vastly surpass this set of methods."

In terms of value, the two pages he had written were far inferior to the travel journal. Though Yan Yongjie knew nothing of Life Cultivation methods, his martial arts were formidable, and he could see this much as well. Qiu Yan had no intention of taking advantage of him.

Yet Yan Yongjie shook his head and explained, "Although this travel journal concerns an immortal's fated path, it drifts ethereally above. Yan has searched all along for immortal fortune in order to break through the limits of martial arts and ascend another level. Thus, year after year, I investigated tirelessly, sparing no effort to traverse more than half of Great Rui. But now..." He raised his hand and shook the two sheets of paper. "That goal is in my hands."

Hearing this, Qiu Yan's heart stirred, and he recalled a few lines from The Way of Nature and Life.

"The Great Dao is ethereal, not something achieved in a day or night. One should take nature and life as one's foundation, cultivate nature and life first, strengthen the roots and nourish the origin, only then seeking the Dao."

"What is Little Brother saying?" Yan Yongjie asked in confusion.

"Nothing." Qiu Yan changed the subject and returned to their earlier discussion. "In that case, Brother Yan may as well study it. If it allows you to break through the shackles of martial arts, would that not be a joyous thing?"

"Now that you know the value of these two sheets, you are still willing to let Yan study them?" Yan Yongjie's expression became solemn.

"Of course. I invited Brother Yan here in the first place because I hoped that, after reading them, you could tell me their true meaning." As Qiu Yan spoke, he turned and walked out of the study. "Brother Yan, please study them here. This younger brother will go to the tavern on the street corner to buy some wine and dishes." Without waiting for Yan Yongjie's reply, he left first.

Watching Qiu Yan's retreating back, Yan Yongjie opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, it became a sigh. He looked at the two papers in his hand and gave a bitter smile. "This debt of gratitude is far too great. I spent half my life seeking immortality, yet I never expected this immortal fortune to fall upon a seemingly ordinary scholar. So be it. He treats me with sincerity; I must naturally repay him..."

As he spoke, Yan Yongjie's gaze returned to the papers, a trace of fervor appearing in his eyes. Before long, he was completely absorbed in reading them.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

When Qiu Yan returned carrying wine and food, he saw from afar that the craftsmen he had hired were standing outside the courtyard in panic. Several neighbors had gathered around them, while the courtyard gate, only half-installed, trembled again and again.

"Scholar Qiu, you've finally returned! We have no idea what's wrong with your courtyard—it suddenly started shaking! Isn't that strange?"

The craftsmen immediately ran over upon seeing Qiu Yan.

"There is no need to panic. Just wait a moment." Qiu Yan was unsurprised and remained calm and composed. He first reassured the two craftsmen, then dispersed the neighbors watching the commotion before stepping into the courtyard.

Strangely enough, the instant he entered, the tremors in the courtyard and ground immediately stopped.

Afterward, under Qiu Yan's urging, the craftsmen hurriedly finished their work in a fluster and hastily took their leave. Qiu Yan paid them no mind. He circled the courtyard once, then finally arrived before the study door and pushed it open.

The Room Gate opened at once!

Whoosh!

A fierce wind surged out through the doorway, instantly making Qiu Yan's robes billow. Then a tall figure emerged from within, heat rolling off his body. His clothes had been stretched round and swollen, and from afar, he looked like an enormous balloon.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Sounds like raging waves pounding against the shore came from within the "balloon," an unceasing rush of water filling the air.

"What is this?" Though he had been prepared, Qiu Yan's pupils still contracted at the sight.

"Marrow cleansing and blood renewal! Shedding the mortal body and remaking the bones!" A voice came from within the "balloon," each word rumbling like a tremor and making the entire study quiver.

The figure flashed, already leaving the study and entering the courtyard. Then explosive cracks rang out from his body, bursting from within outward, like silk being torn apart. Fragments of cloth danced through the air.

An unusual pattern appeared over his chest, crimson as blood and faintly writhing. It gradually formed an image. Behind him, a phantom rose, expanding and contracting unpredictably before swiftly shrinking back and vanishing.

Crackle! Pop!

Immediately afterward, every joint in the man's body shook. His blood roared like waves, and surging heat spread forth, reaching an area of one zhang around him.

Feeling the heat wave rushing into his face, Qiu Yan narrowed his eyes.

"That phantom is... a Soul Shadow! Yan Yongjie has refined one soul!"