Bearing Great Fortune

The moment the command was issued, his blood and qi value dropped to 0.1, and intense weakness and dizziness washed over him.

The blood and qi required to transplant the final layer of Taishan Fist had only been 1.8 before, yet transplanting just the first form of the Red Sun Saber Technique now consumed the same amount.

This showed just how extraordinary the Red Sun Saber Technique was.

As Ten Thousand Questions circulated, Xie An seemed to become a saber-wielder himself, training with his blade amid ice and snow for five long years while reciting the vast, majestic saber formula.

"Yang is not solely fierce; stance is its bone. A saber is not solely sharp; intent is its soul. When crouching, be like a mountain suppressing rivers; when sinking, be like an abyss still as a mountain. When pushing, be like the sun shattering cloud-waves. When crimson, the saber is my body, its radiance piercing through the great thousand worlds."

"The first form is called Tiger-Subduing, taking its meaning from subduing fierce strength and using righteousness to suppress evil. With the stance of taming a ferocious tiger, it is like a great sun cleaving toward the earth, suppressing one's opponent in an instant. This is the opening form of the Red Sun Saber Technique..."

[Transplant successful]

Suppressing his exhaustion, Xie An pulled open the drawer and took out a Vital Blood Pill to swallow.

About half a quarter-hour later, Xie An felt that his blood and qi had completely recovered. He got out of bed and moved his limbs around. His muscle memory began flowing on its own, and even barehanded, he performed the first form of the Red Sun Saber Technique at the perfected level—though it felt a little off.

After all, there was no saber in his hand.

"I need to get a saber and test its effects."

Xie An pushed open the door and walked out.

Qiu Lan had yet to return. Only Chen Mo remained, seated in the main hall waiting.

Chen Mo immediately rose to her feet. "Young Master Mingxi, have you finished reading the Red Sun Saber Technique formula?"

Xie An nodded. "Mm, I've finished."

Chen Mo said, "The Red Sun Saber Technique is an exceedingly dangerous art. Though its moves are simple, it places particular emphasis on the methods of exerting force. The slightest misstep may injure yourself. I shall demonstrate it for you now and explain the essentials of getting started in detail."

Chen Mo felt immense pressure over teaching Xie An martial arts.

After all, Xie An was the eldest legitimate son of the Xie Residence. Should anything go wrong while he practiced the saber technique, she would have to bear the responsibility.

"Instructor Chen, wait a moment." Xie An walked to the entrance of the hall and shouted, "Li Dao!"

Before long, Li Dao slipped over from the back courtyard carrying his broadsaber. "Young Master, I've already locked that wicked woman in her room. What other instructions do you have?"

Xie An pointed at the saber at Li Dao's waist. "Give me the saber."

Li Dao was startled. "A saber is a weapon of slaughter. Young Master has yet to begin weapon training, so you must be cautious..."

Before he could finish, Xie An shot him a glare. Li Dao could only remove the broadsaber and offer it to Xie An with both hands. "It isn't a good saber, just an ordinary iron weapon."

Xie An weighed it in his hand. "How heavy?"

Li Dao answered truthfully, "Thirteen jin including the scabbard. That is the standard weight for broadsabers in the Great Qian martial world."

Thirteen jin?

Why did it feel a little light...

Clang!

Xie An abruptly drew the saber from its sheath, then strode into the courtyard. "Instructor Chen, come exchange a few moves with me."

Having just mastered the Red Sun Saber Technique, Xie An had originally wanted to spar with Li Dao, an Organ Tempering expert of the Four Barriers.

But weapons were implements of great slaughter and killing. Xie An truly feared that if he failed to hold back, he might hack Li Dao to death.

Only by having Chen Mo, who possessed Manifest Force, spar with him could he freely unleash the full might of the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

Besides, Xie An also wanted to witness the methods of an internal Martial Master.

Chen Mo carried her sword into the courtyard and gently reminded him, "Saber techniques are different from fist and foot techniques. Even if something goes wrong while practicing fist and foot techniques, you will not necessarily hurt yourself. Saber techniques are exceedingly dangerous. Young Master Mingxi should proceed steadily, one step at a time."

Xie An tightened his grip on the broadsaber. "I gained quite a few insights while reading the Red Sun Saber Technique just now. I ask Instructor Chen for guidance."

Seeing that Xie An remained insistent, Chen Mo had no choice. She thought to instruct him gradually during their sparring. "Young Master Mingxi, please make your move."

Xie An gripped the saber in both hands and raised it level with his brows. His entire body crouched like a fierce tiger, strength rising from his heels, passing through his waist and hips into both arms... Then, like a great sun, his saber cleaved straight at Chen Mo's face!

The blade split through the boundless curtain of rain, unstoppable as a tiger descending the mountain.

Chen Mo's pupils suddenly contracted.

That bearing, that technique, that proficiency... how could this be someone who had just begun learning the Red Sun Saber Technique?

He was clearly a wandering saber-wielder who had trained bitterly for years and cultivated the Tiger-Subduing Stance to great mastery.

Had Young Master Mingxi not only just read the Red Sun Saber Technique?

How was that possible...

Chen Mo had no time to think further. The chilling, icy blade had reached her face in an instant.

Chen Mo did not even draw her sword. She merely raised her right hand and lightly flicked the saber's flat.

Clang!

A piercing hum exploded beneath the curtain of rain.

Xie An suddenly felt the saber body struck by an immense force like a mountain flood. Even the web between his thumb and forefinger went numb from the shock, and he nearly lost his grip.

Crack.

Xie An immediately placed his other hand on the hilt as well, barely managing to hold the saber steady.

Even so, both arms still felt numb, sore, and aching from the shock.

A flick of her finger possessed such tremendous force!

Was this the power of a Manifest Force Martial Master?

It truly was formidable!

"Again!"

Xie An clenched the hilt and brought down the Tiger-Subduing Stance with savage force.

Chen Mo stood motionless where she was. With a flick of her finger, she dissolved every bit of the saber's momentum and sent vibrations back through Xie An until his hands and feet went numb.

Knowing he could not hurt her, Xie An simply let loose, combining the methods of Taishan Fist and the Five True Forms as he erupted with all his strength.

At first, Chen Mo paid it no mind, but as they fought, her expression changed.

Full Muscle-Tendon Tempering?

Even someone at perfected Organ Tempering would find it difficult to unleash such tyrannical attacking power.

And that... was that not the Five Animal True Form Diagram that her father had pondered for ten years without understanding?

It had only been a few days.

Young Master Mingxi had actually mastered all Five True Forms!?

Where had his training method come from?

How had he cultivated it?

When she first heard of it, she had found it impossible to believe. But Chen Mo had personally watched Xie An master the first form of the Red Sun Saber Technique in less than half a quarter-hour... so she had no choice but to believe.

She knew that some people suddenly experienced Awakening Enlightenment—comprehending martial arts in the morning and breaking into internal arts by evening.

It was like the Heaven-Bestowed Bards of hidden lands, who could wake from a single night's sleep and naturally recite millions of words of ancient secret texts.

There were even literary titans who awakened their wisdom from past lives in a single day, writing immortal masterpieces and leaving their names to flow through the ages. There were also grandmasters of martial arts who awakened such wisdom, roaming the Northern Sea at dawn and Cangwu at dusk.

But those were, after all, merely folk rumors. Chen Mo had never seen anything like it herself.

Could it be... that Young Master Mingxi was one of those people blessed with great fortune?

At that thought, Xie An's image rose ever higher in Chen Mo's heart, swiftly reaching a height no one else could compare to.

In truth, Xie An had not considered any of that. He merely wanted to master martial arts as quickly as possible and gain the strength to protect himself.

Li Dao could no longer satisfy Xie An's requirements for a sparring partner.

Chen Mo, however, was perfectly suited for the role.

What was more, after the incident at the Zhao Residence, Uncle Shui had personally instructed Chen Mo to come to the residence and serve as his sparring partner. From now on, Chen Mo was one of his own people.

Now that Awakening Enlightenment was already a thing, and there were experts in the household to protect him, there was no need to be coy or hesitant. Ruthlessly making use of his sparring partner to grow as quickly as possible was the only sound principle.

Seeing that his saber technique could not harm Chen Mo in the slightest, Xie An began entertaining the thought of using her to test the power of Withered Abyss.

Chen Mo had been using her fingers to flick the saber's flat.

Even if Withered Abyss worked, at most it would injure one of Chen Mo's fingers... it would not matter.

Then he would learn whether Withered Abyss could severely injure a Manifest Force Martial Master.

Clang!

Xie An swung his saber again. When Chen Mo used her index finger to flick the blade's flat, he brazenly activated Withered Abyss!