"Croak, croak!"
Seeing Chen Jue and Liu Shiqing enter, the middle-aged Daoist made his chest resonate, producing two croaking sounds. Then he snorted through his nose, the hot breath scattering the autumn leaves across the courtyard. Meanwhile, supporting himself on two fingers, he drew in his legs and rose from his hovering, coiled posture into a perfectly straight handstand.
"Wudang Golden Needle Finger Skill!" Chen Jue naturally recognized the middle-aged Daoist's two-finger technique. He had learned this finger skill himself, but had never supported himself upside down with his fingers against the ground like this.
Only after the middle-aged Daoist flipped over and stood up did his purplish face slowly regain its healthy color. This was a sign of releasing his held breath and ending the exercise.
It was like divers and swimmers taking a deep breath before underwater training, only surfacing for another breath when their faces turned purple from holding it in. This was a process of developing lung capacity through long-term exercise.
"Martial nephew Shiqing, bringing a guest over so early? My little clinic hasn't even officially opened for business yet." The middle-aged Daoist finished his exercise. He stood 1.78 meters tall and had a lean build, a ring of black beard around his mouth, and jet-black hair wound into a Daoist topknot. There were slight wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and on his forehead, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. Clearly, he practiced some secret eye technique similar to the Daoist Giant Spirit Divine Eye.
"Uncle-Master Shizhen! This is Master Chen Jue, whom I mentioned to you last time. He also took first place in this Grand Martial Arts Competition," Liu Shiqing said, stepping forward to pay his respects and introduce Chen Jue.
"Oh?"
"So you're Master Chen Jue, the man who defeated Instructor