Son of Heaven Qi-Watching, Inner Scenery Deity Visualization

The Daoist School of the present age had countless branches. From the Primordial Era to now, innumerable lineages and traditions had evolved.

The "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art" came from Creation Dao Sect, a branch of the Daoist School from the late Primordial Era.

To escape the great chaos that swept the world at the end of the Primordial Era, Creation Dao Sect secluded itself overseas. From then on, no news of it remained, and its sect inheritance was cut off. Still, a few scattered techniques circulated through the martial world.

The two most famous were the "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art" and the "Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method," both Heaven Tier secret arts.

The Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art saw Heaven and Earth; the Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method saw oneself.

One focused outward, observing the phenomena of Heaven and Earth and turning their myriad transformations to one's own use.

The other focused inward, contemplating the deity within one's inner scenery, unlocking the mysteries of the flesh and breaking through the gates between life and death.

If Chen Yuan could seize the "Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method" this time, he could use its power to control his body more perfectly and suppress the runaway Blood Fiend Power.

After learning why Zuo Xinglie was being hunted, Chen Yuan could not help but sigh. That old fox Zuo Xinglie truly was a shrewd old hand.

Any overlord who had built his foundation from nothing on the Nine-Dragon River was no simple character.

No wonder that, whether in the original plot or this time, he had so decisively and readily handed over the "Autumn Water Startled Swan Saber" and the "Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula."

One reason was to deliberately throw out a target and draw the fire. The other was that, with a Heaven Tier technique in hand, he had already begun to look down on those two signature arts of his.

But he was already a cripple. What could he do even with the "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art"?

The "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art" possessed strange and marvelous power, but Chen Yuan had never heard that it could rebuild severed meridians or regrow broken limbs.

Chen Yuan was slightly puzzled, but after some thought, he came to a guess.

It seemed Zuo Xinglie was still unwilling to accept things.

He had said he would wash his hands in a golden basin and retire from the martial world, but in truth, he still wanted to fight his way back and take revenge.

Only, he would not be the one fighting his way back.

He would rely on his granddaughter to do it.

That granddaughter of his was still young, but Daoist techniques had always placed the greatest emphasis on foundations.

If he had his granddaughter cultivate the "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art" from childhood, observing the phenomena of Heaven and Earth and comprehending Dao Essence, then once she formally began practicing martial arts, her progress would surely be swift beyond measure.

At that moment, the leader of the six men watched Chen Yuan ponder in silence for a long while. He could not help but plead, "I've told you everything I know. There's no way I can return to the Mystic Whale Gang. Please, spare my life."

Chen Yuan nodded. "You indeed can't return to the Mystic Whale Gang. All your men are dead, and you sold out the gang's secrets. Going back would be walking straight into death. The Mystic Whale Gang won't spare you."

At those words, a flicker of joy immediately appeared on the man's face.

But in the next instant, Chen Yuan exerted force with his hand, and a spray of blood bloomed across the man's throat.

The leader stared at Chen Yuan in disbelief, his eyes brimming with confusion and incomprehension, before he finally crashed to the ground.

"But you're so afraid of death that, if the Mystic Whale Gang captured you and took you back, you'd definitely sell out my information too. It's safer if you're dead."

Shaking the droplets of blood from his blade, Chen Yuan lifted the window and left directly.

Everyone the Mystic Whale Gang had sent to Youzhou to investigate Zuo Xinglie had been killed by him. That gave the old fox Zuo Xinglie even more time.

He believed that if Zuo Xinglie hid again this time, he would certainly choose a safer place.

By that calculation, Zuo Xinglie had fobbed him off with just two techniques. Chen Yuan seemed to have gotten the worse end of the bargain.

Still, Chen Yuan remembered this information. Once he no longer feared pursuit by the Murong Clan, he would definitely return to Youzhou and meet Zuo Xinglie again.

Early the next morning, Chen Yuan left the inn. At the inn beside it, people were carrying corpses outside.

The local constables merely took a casual glance before ordering the bodies dragged to the wilderness woods beyond town and buried.

All the dead were outsiders. One look was enough to tell it was a martial-world vendetta.

The local constables could not be bothered to meddle in such matters. They simply searched the bodies for silver, kept ninety-nine percent of it for themselves, and gave the inn a tiny sum—just enough to scrub the blood from the floor—which already counted as having a conscience.

Chen Yuan took one look and left. In town, he found a blacksmith's shop and prepared to have a scabbard made.

The town blacksmith was only an ordinary smith. Normally, he forged kitchen knives, axes, and the like, at most a hunting knife.

The moment the old blacksmith saw Chen Yuan's Azure Dragon Blooddrinker, his spirits rose.

"Fine saber! A truly fine saber! Rest assured, sir, I'll absolutely forge you a scabbard worthy of it.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I spend my days making kitchen knives and hoes. My master's master's master was once a weaponsmith from the Directorate of Palace Construction in the Capital City, forging weapons specifically for princes and nobles."

"It's only a scabbard. Something ordinary will do."

"How could that do? Just wait and see, sir!"

The old blacksmith felt that Chen Yuan did not quite believe in his skills, and his competitive spirit immediately rose. He swung his hammer and began working.

After a full half day, the old blacksmith finally forged the outer shell of the scabbard from superior refined iron.

After testing it, he found it fit perfectly, light yet tough.

But he was not finished. To match the dragon head on the saber hilt, the old blacksmith also engraved exquisite dragon patterns onto the scabbard.

Then he hauled out a large chest and dug out a piece of blue sharkskin to cover the scabbard.

Inside were various metal inlays and jade pieces that glimmered with different hues. The old blacksmith selected several and embedded them as decorations.

Now Chen Yuan believed him. His forebears really might have been weaponsmiths from the Directorate of Palace Construction.

Ordinary weaponsmiths in the martial world might not even know such flashy craftsmanship.

After embedding the final jade piece, the old blacksmith handed the scabbard to Chen Yuan with satisfaction.

"Give it a try, sir."

Chen Yuan sheathed his saber, and it gave a pleasant, clear hum.

The blue sharkskin scabbard with its dragon patterns matched the Azure Dragon Blooddrinker perfectly. Anyone unaware of the truth would have thought they had originally come as a set.

"Master, your craftsmanship is incredible. How much?"

The old blacksmith waved his hand. "No need for money. With a saber this fine, I could never forge one in my lifetime.

"To make a scabbard for such a fine saber in this life means I haven't disgraced my ancestors' craft. Sir, you've fulfilled one of my wishes as well."

Chen Yuan smiled, slung the saber at his waist, mounted his horse, and tossed a silver ingot backhandedly. It landed before the old blacksmith.

The old blacksmith picked it up and was just about to return it when he realized Chen Yuan had already vanished.

"What a good man."

The old blacksmith sighed.

Little did he know that the murder case everyone in town had been discussing was committed by that very "good man."

Chen Yuan rode south, now nearing the edge of Youzhou.

Beyond this point lay no longer within the Murong Clan's sphere of influence. Even if the Murong Clan discovered something, its reach could not extend this far.

Three days later, Chen Yuan arrived at a place called North Sea Market.

To find the "Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method," he would have to begin here.

Youzhou also had an outlet to the sea, but only one stretch of coast. It lay several miles north of North Sea Market.

Though this place was a sea outlet, it consisted mostly of rugged mountains, and several nearby small cities had all been built upon the mountains.

Only North Sea Market occupied a stretch of flat land, making it the center of trade and travel among the surrounding small cities.

At first, North Sea Market had indeed been nothing more than a market. But after so many years of development, it had grown to roughly the size of a small town.

Many sailors heading out to sea replenished their supplies here, while merchant caravans bound overseas recruited martial artists as guards here as well.

Likewise, martial artists returning from overseas often sold any good finds directly at North Sea Market, making the place extraordinarily prosperous.

The moment he entered North Sea Market, a damp, salty fishy smell rushed at him.

Many fishermen had set up stalls selling all manner of bizarre sea goods. Some martial artists had stalls too, selling rare treasures they claimed to have unearthed from overseas ruins.

Of course, ninety-nine percent of them were fake.

At the end of the Primordial Era, the Gods and Devils vanished, and chaos engulfed the world.

The countless clans, sects, and cults of the Central Plains fought one another in a tangled melee, while martial arts underwent tremendous change and development during that era.

Some sects and aristocratic families had not held such great ambitions and were unwilling to join the wars of the Central Plains, so they fled far overseas to live in seclusion.

Thus, overseas lands possessed many lineages and inheritances absent from the Central Plains, and it was indeed possible to find many sect ruins from the late Primordial Era.

The "Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art" in Zuo Xinglie's possession had been found overseas.

But after so many years of searching, nearly every island in the near seas had been turned inside out. There had long been nothing worthwhile left.

Only on distant islands, where winds howled high and waves surged fierce, could one still make discoveries.

"Young hero, take a look! This is a Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Cauldron left behind by an ancient Daoist School. Daoist scriptures are inscribed within it! You look like a young prodigy of exceptional talent—perhaps you'll comprehend some peerless technique from it."

Within bustling North Sea Market, a raggedly dressed middle-aged man with a mouthful of rotten teeth stopped Chen Yuan and hawked a crudely made little cauldron in his hands.

"From an ancient Daoist School?"

The middle-aged man patted his chest. "Absolutely ancient!"

Chen Yuan pointed at the inscription on the cauldron with a smile that was not quite a smile. "Last week, more like it. If you're going to forge something, at least put some effort into it. You could have scribbled some ancient minor-clan script onto it at random. Ancient cauldrons used Great Xia official script—you made this fake a little too obvious."

"Young hero, you're an expert."

The middle-aged man chuckled without the slightest shame at being exposed.

"I've got genuine goods here too. Let me show you."

Chen Yuan waved a hand. "No need to see the goods. Where is Myriad Connections Tavern?"

As he spoke, Chen Yuan tossed out a small piece of broken silver.

The middle-aged man immediately beamed. "Go straight ahead, turn right when you see the long street, and head directly toward the center of North Sea Market. Are you going to Myriad Connections Tavern to hire people for a voyage?"

"No. I'm a bounty hunter. I'm going there to take a job."

Watching Chen Yuan's departing back, the middle-aged man curled his lip. "Who are you trying to fool? Just using me for a laugh."

He had seen it clearly earlier. This young man's scabbard was exceptionally exquisite, with dragon-pattern sharkskin and jade decorations embedded in it.

He used silver rather than copper coins just to ask for directions. One look showed he was some young master from a wealthy family.

How could someone like that possibly be one of those impoverished bounty hunters?

In truth, Chen Yuan had given silver directly not because he was generous, but because he had silver on hand and no copper coins.

Before leaving the Heavenly Wolf Gang, he had looted quite a bit of Jiang Kaitai's wealth.

There were banknotes, gold bars, and silver ingots, totaling more than ten thousand taels.

That silver was enough for Chen Yuan to live very comfortably, but it was not enough for martial cultivation.

For example, pills produced by Medicine King Valley, like the Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill, were simply unavailable even at a price. They could only be exchanged for all manner of rare treasures.