Eight Sects of the Nine Provinces

Duan Rong returned to the escort agency. In a secluded corner of the Martial Arts Field, he placed a slice of Blood Antler Velvet in his mouth and began his stance training.

Duan Rong could clearly feel a current of heat flowing down with his saliva, entering his stomach and spreading through his entire body...

"Blood Antler Velvet... it truly is top-grade!"

With the surging medicinal potency of the Blood Antler Velvet nourishing the blood vessels throughout his body, Duan Rong found that he could maintain his stance indefinitely.

One hour, two hours...

Duan Rong noticed that the circulation of his Inner Breath had begun to undergo subtle changes!

It had not become faster, but more agile!

The Inner Breath within his meridians was no thicker than a strand of hair, like gossamer threads!

Yet with every passing hour, another hair-thin strand joined his Inner Breath.

Those gossamer threads resembling Inner Breath were gradually growing stronger!

By evening, Duan Rong had stood in that secluded corner for an entire day. He had not moved once, like a stone man.

Over the course of the day, he had already held three slices of top-grade Blood Antler Velvet in his mouth!

The tender golden afterglow of dusk painted the entire Martial Arts Field yellow. Duan Rong stood shrouded in the fading light, steam rising from his head like mist!

Suddenly, Duan Rong dispersed his power and exhaled. A stream of white vapor as thick as an infant's arm burst from his mouth, shooting nearly a zhang straight ahead before dispersing!

At the same time, Duan Rong pressed his hands downward through the air before him, stopping only when they reached his Dantian.

"At this rate, the first level of Inner Breath will be achieved very soon!"

In truth, the first level of Inner Breath was the easiest to attain among the four realms of Inner Breath.

That was because, during cultivation of the first level, it would squeeze out and absorb the residual Innate True Essence remaining within the meridians.

The Innate True Essence lingering in the subtle recesses of the meridians would be stirred by the medicinal potency and flow into the Inner Breath.

If Duan Rong continued cultivating this way, he would likely achieve the first level of Inner Breath within a few days.

Of course, an ordinary martial artist could never progress this quickly.

The circulation pathways of Inner Breath were incomparably complex.

For martial artists who had only just begun cultivating an Inner Power Cultivation Method, even if they could barely control their Inner Breath, completing one full circulation without making a mistake was easier said than done.

The meridians twisted and turned a thousand times over. One wrong path, and that entire circulation would be wasted—they would have to start all over again.

For someone like Duan Rong to handle it as easily as an old driver familiar with the road from the moment he started, cycling through one circulation after another, was simply monstrous!

It was dinner time now, and there were not many people in the Martial Arts Field. Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead and went to the dining hall for dinner.

After dinner, Duan Rong returned to the Martial Arts Field.

Although he had spent the entire day practicing his stance, having used up three slices of Blood Antler Velvet, he did not feel particularly tired.

He wanted to try practicing forms again, train the union of breath and force, then continue with his stance training!

Duan Rong drew his saber and stood ready, performing the forms move by move!

This time, Duan Rong clearly sensed the changes. It was not merely that the sound of the blade cutting through the air had become sharper and more concise!

More importantly, with the Inner Breath flowing through and coordinating with his movements, the moves he had once failed to understand now possessed clear meaning.

Moves were not merely flashy postures. They existed to coordinate with Inner Breath Power!

Only after one's Inner Breath reached a certain realm could one understand why there were pauses and reversals within those moves.

Xiao Zongting's words rang in Duan Rong's ears once more: "Martial Arts uses Martial Skills as methods of attack, Inner Power Cultivation Methods as its foundation, and Mental Strength as its core!"

At the very least, Duan Rong felt that he now understood the first half of that sentence!

And upon grasping this, Duan Rong suddenly thought that the martial arts of his previous life had been called flashy postures most likely because the inheritance of Inner Power Cultivation Methods had been lost!

Without Inner Power Cultivation Methods, techniques originally meant for killing had degenerated into performances!

Because without Inner Power Cultivation Methods, the pauses and reversals in those moves lost all meaning.

Duan Rong performed the complete form three times in a row, every sequence flowing as one, utterly exhilarating!

Yet it had only been a little over twenty days since he had devoured the weapon spirit from Zhao Mu's weapon.

After finishing the forms, Duan Rong was in high spirits. The shadow cast by his earlier killing seemed to have completely dispersed at that moment!

He sheathed his saber, held another slice of Blood Antler Velvet in his mouth, and practiced his stance for another two hours before returning to the dormitory courtyard.

He drew up a bucket of water from the well and scrubbed away the foul sweat all over his body with cold water, then climbed naked beneath the blanket on his bed.

Though Duan Rong was thoroughly exhausted, he did not sleep. Instead, he lit an oil lamp and, under its dim yellow light, pulled a book from the bundle of miscellaneous volumes by his bedside and began reading it with great interest.

Duan Rong had specifically selected these books from a bookstall. They contained knowledge about this world that he had been most curious about.

Some things might have been common knowledge, but for an extraterritorial heavenly demon like him, common knowledge was precisely what he most needed to learn.

Duan Rong read three books in succession. Only when he was yawning repeatedly and his eyes had begun to ache did he reluctantly close the book, blow out the lamp, and lie down on his bed.

In the darkness of his bed, Duan Rong closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander.

He had long known from the original owner's memories that this world was ruled by sects and contained the lands of the Nine Provinces.

But only today had he learned from the books the basic details of the Eight Sects of the Nine Provinces.

The Taiyi Sect dominated Qing Province. It was where he himself was, and thus the sect he knew best.

Besides the Taiyi Sect, the other seven sects were the Free and Unfettered Alliance, Dharma Appearance Sect, Heavenly Evolution Sect, Divine Intent Gate, Hundred Mechanisms Institute, Limitless Palace, and Azure Sun Gate.

Among the Eight Sects, the Azure Sun Gate possessed the greatest power.

One sect occupied the lands of two provinces, looking down upon all the sects beneath heaven!

The successive masters of the Azure Sun Gate had implemented a strategic game referred to in the books as the "Sect Equilibrium Strategy"!

The so-called "Sect Equilibrium Strategy" meant that whenever one of the other seven sects began to grow more powerful, the Azure Sun Gate would contact the sects in surrounding provinces and employ strategies of alliance and division to weaken it!

In this way, it could maintain a balance among the other seven sects while using that balance to consolidate its own position as the sole dominant power!

This strategy used the strength of the seven sects to check the momentum of the seven sects!

It could only be called outstanding and sublime!

Thanks to this strategy, the Azure Sun Gate had remained the number one sect of the Nine Provinces for thousands of years!

With such thoughts in mind, Duan Rong gradually drifted into a heavy sleep...

The next day was the assessment day Xiao Zongting had mentioned, three days later.

After breakfast, Duan Rong and Kong Bin both arrived early and stood in Xiao Zongting's courtyard.

The two waited for the time it took an incense stick to burn before Xiao Zongting finally emerged from the Back Courtyard, smoking his pipe and limping as he walked.

Xiao Zongting came to a stop, exhaled a ring of smoke, and said, "How has your study of the Inner Power Cultivation Method gone? Come on, practice it and let me see."

Upon hearing this, Kong Bin sighed. His gaze flickered toward Duan Rong before he closed his eyes and assumed his stance.

He naturally knew he was inferior to Duan Rong, but even a duck driven onto the perch had to flap its wings.

Xiao Zongting glanced at Kong Bin and nodded lightly. Kong Bin had already gained preliminary control over his Inner Breath. In only three days, that was not bad.

Xiao Zongting's gaze passed over Kong Bin and settled on Duan Rong, who was still standing there. "Hey, kid, what are you staring blankly for? I told you to practice so I can take a look. Didn't you understand?"

After killing someone in the alley, Duan Rong seemed to have gained some mental fortitude. The oppressive feeling Xiao Zongting had once given him appeared to have faded considerably.

Could that oppressive feeling actually have been killing intent?

Only after hearing Xiao Zongting's question did Duan Rong stop his train of thought and return his attention to the scene before him.

He had already made up his mind about today's assessment. There was no need to hide anything anymore. This master is a monster, so what?

Duan Rong turned toward Xiao Zongting with a clear, bright smile. Then he suddenly drew his saber, circulated his Inner Breath, and began performing the Five Tigers Herd Sheep Saber form, one move after another.

The whistle of the blade slicing through the air intertwined with the fierce flap of his sleeves in the wind!

"Inner Breath Power!"

Xiao Zongting froze. A mouthful of thick smoke went down the wrong pipe, making him cough repeatedly...

By the time Duan Rong finished a complete form, Xiao Zongting's coughing had only just subsided.

Xiao Zongting wiped away the turbid tears that had been choked from the corners of his eyes and looked at Duan Rong with a complicated expression.