Yan Chixia

Roar!

With an angry bellow, Yuan Zhi grabbed his staff and smashed it at Zhou Yi.

Boom!

The blow missed, pulverizing the floor tiles into dust.

Mad Demon Staff Technique!

The hundred-and-eighty-pound staff whistled through the air in Yuan Zhi's hands.

Any tables, chairs, or benches it touched were instantly shattered. Several water bandits who failed to dodge in time had their bones crushed, plastered against the walls so thoroughly that they could not fall.

Zhou Yi kept retreating until he reached a mountain bandit. He drew the man's steel saber and struck him with his palm at the same time.

"Borrowing your weapon."

An ordinary steel saber, infused with Purple Sun Sword Qi, instantly became capable of slicing through iron like mud.

A flash of blade light.

Yuan Zhi, who had been wreaking havoc, froze in an instant.

Then a line of blood appeared across his neck, and his gleaming bald head rolled away with a rumble.

Only when the Black Iron Staff hit the floor did they see that it had been cut cleanly in two.

"Daoist techniques against mundane martial arts really are a bit unfair."

Zhou Yi looked at the remaining mountain and water bandits, who stood silent as cicadas. He showed no mercy. One look at the Malevolent Qi surrounding them was enough to tell him they had committed no shortage of evil in their daily lives.

Blade light flickered. He only made sure they died quickly, without feeling even a trace of pain.

Zhou Yi casually tossed the steel saber into the pool of blood. Looking up at the dumbfounded Chen Jinyu, he shrugged and smiled.

"Have someone clean this up. Send the small fry to the yamen, and take the two bandit chiefs to Father's grave."

In the rear hall.

Zhou Yi and Chen Hong sat in the seats of honor. Chen Jinyu, usually so forceful, obediently served tea and poured water before her husband and elder.

The tea was a Great Jing tribute product, originally reserved exclusively for the imperial family. Officials from the Tea Horse Department openly named exorbitant prices and amassed wealth on a grand scale.

When the palace did not have enough to drink, they substituted inferior goods. In any case, those who drank it were no tea connoisseurs and could not tell the difference.

Chen Hong held back for a long while before finally asking.

"What realm has your martial arts reached?"

"I've opened all Eight Extraordinary Meridians."

Zhou Yi had spent three months opening six meridians. Purple Sun Sword Qi was incomparably sharp, and opening meridians with it was more than ten times faster than with Internal Qi.

Over the next two months, he opened his Ren and Du Meridians as well, forming a Minor Circulation within his body. In terms of meridians alone, he had already reached the acquired realm's peak.

Zhou Yi repeatedly tried to connect with the outer world, but unfortunately, he could not sense even a trace of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

Having used up the last batch of century-old Spirit Medicine, Zhou Yi no longer forced the matter and emerged from seclusion to clear his mind.

"One year, and already at the acquired realm's peak..."

Chen Hong had watched his disciple break through the limits of common understanding step by step.

In just one year, he had gone from a frail scholar ignorant of martial arts to one of the foremost experts in the world.

"This disciple was born with unobstructed meridians and opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians with ease. In truth, my Internal Qi cultivation is still far from sufficient."

Zhou Yi knew his own limits. Those who truly advanced step by step with Internal Force to the acquired realm's peak possessed an oceanic amount of Internal Qi in their Dantian.

Purple Sun Sword Qi had an extraordinary effect on opening meridians, but condensing it consumed an enormous amount of Internal Qi. At present, the sword qi in Zhou Yi's Dantian was only a thumb-sized clump. To fill his Dantian's sea of qi, he still needed at least ten times as much sword qi, which meant at least five more years of work.

"No wonder, no wonder. It is said that Bodhidharma, patriarch of the Buddhist Sect, was born with all his meridians open. He attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree in a single day and rose from an ordinary man directly to an Innate Grandmaster."

Chen Hong seemed to have found an explanation and barely managed to comprehend his disciple's talent.

Zhou Yi took a booklet from his robes. It was a handwritten copy of the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture.

"Master, this is a Daoist sword qi secret art. It contains this disciple's annotations, so cultivate it yourself. Before you succeed in cultivating it, you must not let a second person learn of it."

"A sword qi secret art? Could this be the technique you used to kill Yuan Ji?"

Chen Hong's eyes lit up. He had seen it with his own eyes: from three feet away, Zhou Yi pointed one finger, and the top expert Yuan Ji died instantly.

Releasing true qi three feet from the body was practically comparable to the legendary Innate Grandmasters.

Chen Hong carefully put away the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture. He could no longer sit still. After saying a few casual words, he immediately returned to study the sword qi.

His aptitude had never been particularly high or low. After cultivating Internal Qi, he had spent more than twenty years opening only the Yang Linking Vessel, with no further progress afterward.

Now that he had obtained the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture, how could he possibly restrain himself?

Once Chen Jinyu saw her second uncle leave, she immediately discarded her dignified and virtuous manner. She sprawled carelessly in her chair and even crossed her legs.

Within the Chen Family of the Golden Saber Sect, Chen Jinyu no longer feared even Chen Xiangyan. The only person she feared was her second uncle, Chen Hong.

It was not only because Chen Hong had no children and had treated Chen Jinyu extremely well since childhood, immediately thinking of her when he found a good match. It was also because Chen Hong was Zhou Yi's master. A master and disciple were as close as father and son, so Chen Jinyu had no choice but to behave obediently.

Zhou Yi did not mind Chen Jinyu's girlish behavior and asked, "Has Yan Chixia, the man who often comes to drink on credit, visited these past few days?"

"He hasn't come for several days. He's probably almost out of alcohol. Hurry up and tell me, why do you let him drink for free?"

Chen Jinyu had always followed Zhou Yi's instructions, whether it was letting Yan Chixia drink on credit for free or spending vast sums of gold and silver to gather century-old Spirit Medicine.

Ever since Immortal's Brew began raking in money, Chen Jinyu had continuously purchased century-old Spirit Medicine in unlimited quantities. Those who traded century-old Spirit Medicine could even bypass anonymous auctions and directly collect Immortal's Brew.

This was because Zhou Yi had tested a century-old ginseng plant. The Gateway to Myriad Wonders absorbed the spiritual energy within the ginseng and converted it into 2 points of Origin.

He later tested other century-old Spirit Medicine and found that ginseng and lingzhi were the most efficient, converting into 2 to 5 points.

This was currently the only means of increasing Origin, so Zhou Yi naturally did not begrudge the money.

Of the mountains of gold and seas of silver earned by Immortal's Brew, at least a third had gone into purchasing Spirit Medicine.

Otherwise, Zhou Yi could not have opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in half a year. The human body's meridians were fragile; they could not be forced open through sheer brute force alone.

Four months ago, Chen Jinyu had told Zhou Yi that a bearded man carrying a sword wanted to drink on credit because he lacked the money.

The next day, he brought back a tiger on his shoulders to settle the debt.

The bearded man could drink heavily, downing an entire jar of Immortal's Brew at once.

Immortal's Brew was no ordinary liquor now. Even a drunkard who called himself a Wine Immortal or Wine God would be drunk after two bowls, which was why it was called Immortal's Brew.

The first person Zhou Yi thought of was Yan Chixia, and it was later confirmed.

From then on, Yan Chixia only had to put his drinks on the tab. He could repay it whenever he wished.

Zhou Yi said, "Yan Chixia is a true master."

Chen Jinyu blinked. "How great a master? Could he be stronger than you?"

In Chen Jinyu's eyes, Zhou Yi was the strongest person in the world. Whoever he pointed at died.

"At least three stories high. I do not even measure up to one."

Zhou Yi was not belittling himself. It was precisely because of the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture that he understood the gap between martial arts of the jianghu and true Daoist arts.

One was practicing martial arts; the other was cultivating immortality.

"So powerful!? Then why is he so poor that he doesn't even have money to buy alcohol?"

Chen Jinyu found it difficult to understand how a true reclusive master could not afford alcohol. In her eyes, powerful people would never lack wealth. Great-Granduncle Chen Xiangyan was still worth a fortune despite being far inferior to Yuan Ji and Yuan Zhi.

"You will understand someday. I'm going to find him now. If there comes a day when I'm not around, go find Yan Chixia. He owes you alcohol money, so he will definitely help you."

As Zhou Yi spoke, he vanished before Chen Jinyu had time to think.