Born with 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.

Previously, transplanting the final layer of Taishan Fist had only required 1.8 blood and qi. Now, transplanting the first form of the Red Sun Saber Technique cost the same amount.

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

As Ten Thousand Questions circulated, Xie An seemed to transform into a saber wielder, practicing his blade amid ice and snow for five long years while chanting the vast and majestic saber formula.

"Yang is not fierce alone; momentum is its skeleton. A saber is not sharp alone; intent is its soul. When crouching, be like a mountain suppressing rivers; when sinking, be like an abyss, still as a towering peak; when thrusting, be like the sun breaking through cloud-tossed waves; when crimson, the saber becomes my body, its light piercing through the great thousand worlds."

"The first form is called Tiger-Subduing, drawing upon the intent of subduing fierce strength and using righteousness to crush evil. With the bearing of taming a savage tiger, it is like a blazing sun cleaving down upon the earth, instantly suppressing one's opponent. This is the opening stance of the Red Sun Saber Technique..."

[Transplant successful]

Enduring his exhaustion, Xie An pulled open the drawer, took out a Vital Blood Pill, and swallowed it.

About half a quarter-hour later, Xie An felt that his blood and qi had fully recovered. After getting out of bed and moving his limbs, his muscle memory began to flow on its own. Even barehanded, he could perform the first form of the Red Sun Saber Technique at the perfected level—though it felt somewhat off.

After all, he had no saber in 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, waiting in the sitting room.

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 vicious art. Though its moves are simple, it places particular importance on techniques of exertion. The slightest mistake can injure oneself. This servant will demonstrate it for Young Master Mingxi and explain the essentials of getting started in detail."

Teaching Xie An martial arts placed tremendous pressure on Chen Mo.

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

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

Before long, Li Dao slipped over from the rear courtyard with his broadsword in hand. "Young Master, I've already locked that vile woman in her room. What other orders do you have?"

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

Li Dao was startled. "Sabers are weapons of slaughter. Young Master has yet to begin training with weapons, so you must be careful..."

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

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

Li Dao answered honestly, "Thirteen jin with the sheath included. That is the standard weight for broadswords used by Great Qian martial artists."

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 only just mastered the Red Sun Saber Technique, Xie An had initially wanted to spar with Li Dao, a Four Barriers Organ Tempering expert.

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

Only by having Chen Mo, who wielded Manifest Force, accompany him in practice could he unleash the full might of the Tiger-Subduing Stance without restraint.

Besides, Xie An also wanted to witness the methods of an internal martial arts master.

Chen Mo brought her sword into the courtyard and gently reminded him, "Saber techniques are different from fist and foot techniques. Even if one goes wrong while practicing unarmed martial arts, it is unlikely to injure oneself. Saber techniques are exceedingly vicious. Young Master Mingxi should proceed steadily, one step at a time."

Xie An tightened his grip on the broadsword. "I gained quite a few insights while reading the Red Sun Saber Technique just now. I ask Instructor Chen to guide me."

Seeing that Xie An remained insistent, Chen Mo had no choice but to plan on gradually instructing him during their sparring. "Young Master Mingxi, please make your move."

Xie An held the saber with both hands level with his brows. His entire body crouched like a fierce tiger, power rising from his heels, passing through his waist and hips into both arms... Then, his saber swept down at Chen Mo like a blazing sun striking her head-on!

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

Chen Mo's pupils suddenly contracted.

This momentum, this technique, this familiarity... how could this be someone who had only 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.

Hadn't Young Master Mingxi only just read the Red Sun Saber Technique?

How was that possible...

Before Chen Mo had time to think, the icy, sinister blade flashed before her face.

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

Clang!

A piercing hum exploded beneath the rain curtain.

Xie An suddenly felt the saber body struck by a tremendous 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 braced the hilt with his other hand, barely managing to hold on to it.

Even so, both his arms were numb and aching from the impact.

A casual flick of the finger possessed such tremendous force!

Was this the power of a Manifest Force martial artist?

Truly formidable!

"Again!"

Xie An gripped the hilt tightly and savagely cleaved down with the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

Chen Mo stood motionless where she was. With a mere flick of her finger, she dissolved every bit of the saber's force, even sending the backlash through Xie An until his hands and feet went numb.

Knowing that he could not hurt her, Xie An simply threw himself into it, erupting with the methods of Taishan Fist and the Five True Forms all at once.

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

Was this really perfected Muscle-Tendon Tempering?

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

And... wasn't that the Five Animal True Form Diagram that Father had pondered over for ten years without understanding?

It had only been a few days.

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

Where had he learned that method?

How had he cultivated it?

At first, Chen Mo had found it impossible to believe. Yet she 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 would suddenly attain Awakening Enlightenment—awakening to martial arts in the morning and breaking into the internal arts by evening.

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

There were even literary titans who awakened memories of past wisdom overnight, writing masterpieces that would be passed down through the ages and leaving their names to flow through history. There were also martial arts grandmasters who awakened such wisdom, roaming the Northern Sea in the morning and reaching Cangwu by dusk.

But such things were, after all, only folk rumors. Chen Mo had never seen them herself.

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

With that thought, Xie An's image rose higher and higher in Chen Mo's heart, swiftly reaching heights no one else could match.

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 needs as a sparring partner.

Chen Mo, however, was perfectly suitable.

What was more, after the matter 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 their own.

Since there was already talk of Awakening Enlightenment, and there were experts in the household watching over him, there was no need to be coy and hesitant. Making ruthless use of a sparring partner to grow stronger as quickly as possible was the only hard truth.

After discovering that his saber technique could not harm Chen Mo in the slightest, Xie An considered 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 wound a Manifest Force martial artist.

Clang!

Xie An swung his saber once more. The moment Chen Mo used her index finger to flick the saber's flat, he boldly unleashed Withered Abyss!