In the afternoon sunlight, Dan Tonghai, dressed in casual brocade robes, gripped a riding whip in both hands and stepped out onto the river ice, testing his way forward one step at a time. After twenty or thirty paces, he suddenly stumbled, and the ice collapsed beneath his feet.
But a plume of white true qi edged in gold immediately rose beneath Dan Dalang's feet. It was none other than authentic River-Cutting True Qi.
The trouble was that River-Cutting True Qi took its name from its ability to sever rivers and was exceptionally sharp. As he pressed it downward, it sliced the ice below to pieces and continued cutting into the water. Fortunately, Dan Tonghai could manipulate his true qi freely. He promptly changed its shape, smoothing away its sharp edges, and successfully pushed off to leap backward out of the collapsed area.
Yet when he landed on the ice behind him, he triggered another collapse. The powerfully built Chief Dan had no choice but to leap backward several more times before finally landing on the riverbank.
Needless to say, his movements were agile. Cheng Dalang, watching from the bank, knew all the more clearly that the other man's cultivation had reached a considerable level, perhaps even matching his own, and could not help narrowing his eyes slightly.
But another mishap occurred. Having reached the south bank of the Wen River, Chief Dan withdrew his true qi and turned toward Cheng Dalang, smiling as he started uphill and began to speak. Who could have expected that, just as he opened his mouth, before a sound even emerged, he would slip on the mud beneath the loose snow on the shaded side of the riverbank? Caught completely off guard, he had to brace himself with one hand, coating an entire sleeve