The news that Li Qingshan had challenged ten martial arts schools in Jinmen in succession and broken through to Transformation Jin in battle spread swiftly across the land, as if it had sprouted wings.
Not only was Jinmen's martial arts world shaken,
but even some prominent families and special departments in the capital began paying attention to this young grandmaster who had suddenly appeared.
People from all sides sent agents to investigate the mysterious expert's origins,
but all came back empty-handed. In City C, Li Qingshan had appeared as if out of thin air, leaving no way to determine his background.
Early one morning, as the sun rose, Li Qingshan was practicing his fists beside the Hai River.
Using the Bagua Step, he moved along the riverbank like a swimming dragon,
at times like a fierce tiger bursting from its cage,
and at others like a nimble snake emerging from its hole,
blending Xingyi, Bagua, Taiji, Baji, and other fist arts into a seamless whole, displaying the bearing of a Transformation Jin grandmaster.
Suddenly, he sensed something, finished his movement, and stood still, looking north.
A middle-aged woman in an army-green uniform was walking slowly toward him.
She was about thirty-five or thirty-six, her posture straight as a pine and her steps steady as a mountain, each one as precise as if it had been measured.
Her temples bulged slightly, her eyes were sharp as a hawk's, and she carried the imposing presence of someone long accustomed to high office.
Even more startling was the vast blood and Qi contained within her body, surging ceaselessly like the great rivers.
"Li Qingshan?"
The woman stopped ten paces away. Her voice was cool and resonant, carrying an unquestionable authority.
"That's me. And you are?"
Li Qingshan finished his movement and stood still, his expression calm, though waves rose in his heart.
He could sense that the woman's cultivation was above his own and had reached an entirely new realm.
"Yan Yuanyi."
The woman answered evenly,
"Of the Yan Family in the capital, deputy director of the Special Service Department."
Li Qingshan's pupils contracted slightly.
The Yan Family of the capital was a distinguished family in the martial arts world. Its members had practiced martial arts for generations and had deep connections in both the military and the police.
Several Transformation Jin grandmasters had emerged from the Yan Family's ancestors, and in the original work, Yan Yuanyi was an Elixir Jin expert,
holding a position of great importance in the capital's martial arts world.
The Special Service Department was an even more mysterious special department, dedicated to handling unusual incidents that ordinary police forces struggled to deal with.
Its experts were said to be as numerous as clouds, and the minimum requirement for entry was peak Hidden Jin.
Yan Yuanyi herself was known as the "Iron Lady" in the capital's martial arts world.
"Director Yan, what can I do for you?"
Li Qingshan asked without betraying his feelings, ready to fight at any moment.
Yan Yuanyi smiled faintly, though her smile carried an unquestionable authority:
"Master Li, your name has been ringing in my ears like thunder lately.
The Special Service Department is in need of people. Would you be willing to serve the country, Master Li?"
Li Qingshan was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head:
"Thank you for your generous regard, Director Yan, but I'm used to living freely. I can't abide restrictions."
A flicker of displeasure passed through Yan Yuanyi's eyes, but she quickly concealed it:
"There's no need to rush to refuse, Master Li.
Since coming to Jinmen, you've challenged ten schools in succession. You truly are a rare martial arts prodigy.
But from what our colleagues in other departments have learned, your background is rather interesting too.
You appeared abruptly in City C half a year ago, and as soon as you arrived, you sold gold bars to a gold shop. Clearly, you were short of money.
You became acquainted with Cao Yi of the city's criminal investigation detachment and were once caught up in a major local drug trafficking case.
Even your identity documents were arranged with Cao Yi's help.
You only came to Jinmen half a month ago, yet despite all your exquisite martial arts, no one knows who taught you.
Interestingly enough, the Chen Group secretly sent people to find you.
Fortunately, you weren't there, or they probably wouldn't have come back."
She paused briefly, her gaze sharp as a blade, as if it could pierce through Li Qingshan's outward appearance:
"You're like someone who burst from a stone, appearing out of thin air.
But I, Yan Yuanyi, and the Special Service Bureau as well, don't concern ourselves unduly with a person's origins.
And from the time you appeared until now, you haven't seemed like someone who would endanger national security.
As long as they don't endanger national security, we turn away no one with ability. The Special Service Department needs people. Would you be willing to serve, Master Li?"
"Perhaps you don't understand the nature of the Special Service Department, Master Li.
Although we're under the military, we have a great deal of freedom.
We mainly handle special cases, and it won't interfere with your martial cultivation.
Besides"-she paused and spoke meaningfully-
"with that status, many things will be much more convenient.
The resources of the Special Service Department are far beyond anything an ordinary martial arts school can offer."
Her words carried an obvious implication and threat. How could Li Qingshan fail to hear it?
But he still shook his head, his tone firm:
"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. I appreciate your kind offer, Director Yan.
The value of my martial cultivation lies in following my heart. If I were constrained, I'd be taking an inferior path instead."
If not for the secret of the stone gate, joining the Special Service Bureau wouldn't have mattered. After all, the six gates were a good place to cultivate.
Unfortunately, he carried a great secret and was unsuited to joining the authorities.
The atmosphere grew tense at once.
The smile gradually vanished from Yan Yuanyi's face, replaced by a cold authority:
"Do you know, Master Li, that by refusing the Special Service Department's invitation, you're not only missing a rare opportunity,
but may also bring unnecessary trouble upon yourself?"
Her tone had begun to carry an unmistakable threat.
"I choose to walk my own path."
Li Qingshan answered calmly, though his gaze grew sharper.
"Martial cultivation is like drinking water: only the drinker knows whether it's hot or cold.
No matter how good someone else's path is, it may not suit me."
Yan Yuanyi snorted coldly:
"It's good for a young person to have pride, but what is too rigid breaks easily.
Do you know how many people want this opportunity but can't get it?
A place in the Special Service Department is something countless martial artists dream of."
Her tone held a trace of disdain, as though she thought Li Qingshan didn't know what was good for him.
"Everyone has their own aspirations. They can't be forced."
Li Qingshan's tone remained calm, but his presence had already begun to gather around him, like a sharp sword about to leave its sheath.
The two faced each other for a moment, and even the air seemed to freeze.
The birdsong and chirping of insects around them suddenly vanished, leaving only the rushing of the Hai River.
Yan Yuanyi's presence surged abruptly, and the fist intent of an Elixir Jin grandmaster swept toward Li Qingshan like a tide.
An ordinary Transformation Jin expert would already have had their mind shaken under such fist intent,
but Li Qingshan stood immovable as a reef, his mind focused to the utmost and his eyes growing brighter instead.
"Good! You do have some skill."
A flicker of approval crossed Yan Yuanyi's eyes, but they immediately grew fiercer.
"Since you're unwilling to join the Special Service Department, Master Li, how about letting me experience your skills?"
Her words sounded like a suggestion, but they allowed no refusal.
Li Qingshan knew the fight was unavoidable and immediately assumed the Three-Body Stance:
"Please instruct me, Director Yan."
His whole body relaxed, but his mind was intensely focused, sensing Yan Yuanyi's every minute movement.
Yan Yuanyi held nothing back in courtesy. Her figure flickered as she closed in like a ghost, sending a straight punch at his centerline.
The punch looked simple, but it contained the condensed force unique to an Elixir Jin expert.
Before the fist arrived, the wind from it had already made Li Qingshan's face sting.
The punch also carried a pressure on the mental plane, as if it meant to utterly destroy its opponent's will.
Li Qingshan dared not be careless. Using the Bagua Step, he slipped aside like a swimming fish,
while using the force of Taijiquan to neutralize the force of the punch.
The two forces met with a muffled burst of air.
Li Qingshan felt a force condensed like steel penetrate his body and hurriedly used yielding force to neutralize it,
but he was still shaken back three steps, his arm going slightly numb.
He could feel that Yan Yuanyi's force was far more condensed than that of any opponent he had faced before.
It was like comparing steel refined a hundred times to pig iron; their quality was utterly different.
What formidable Elixir Jin!
Li Qingshan was secretly startled, but he was more excited than anything.
Crossing hands with an expert like her would greatly benefit his martial cultivation.
Yan Yuanyi was also slightly surprised.
"I didn't expect him to have already broken through to Transformation Jin."
The instant they exchanged blows and their forces met, Yan Yuanyi knew that Li Qingshan's cultivation had already reached Transformation Jin.
For her second move, Yan Yuanyi changed her fist into a palm and chopped down like a giant axe splitting a mountain.
The palm strike contained the intent to cleave everything apart, and the wind from it was so fierce that it seemed it would split even the air.
It made one feel that it could not be resisted.
Li Qingshan took a deep breath, circulated the blood and Qi throughout his body, and met it with a Xingyi Splitting Fist.
He drove his force to its utmost, his blood and Qi rushing through his vessels like mercury.
The two fierce forces collided violently with a deafening explosion.
Li Qingshan was shaken back again, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes shone even brighter.
He could feel that, in a confrontation of such intensity, his understanding of force was improving at a tremendous pace.
"You can still take it?"
Surprise flashed in Yan Yuanyi's eyes. Though she had not used her full strength in those two moves, she had used half of it.
An ordinary Transformation Jin expert would have long since fallen to the ground with grievous injuries.
This Li Qingshan was indeed no ordinary man.
For the third move, Yan Yuanyi finally grew serious. Her body spun like a top,
and a spinning kick swept toward Li Qingshan with a sound of tearing air.
The kick contained the condensed force of Elixir Jin and possessed astonishing power.
Its true trajectory was also difficult to judge.
In a flash of inspiration, Li Qingshan suddenly recalled what he had learned while watching the tides by the sea,
and met it with the Taijiquan move "Cloud Hands,"
his force surging in overlapping layers like the tide, gradually neutralizing Yan Yuanyi's fierce force.
At the same time, he perceived the kick's true trajectory and precisely found the point where its force circulated.
With a thunderous bang, both of them retreated three steps.
Yan Yuanyi looked astonished. Though Li Qingshan's face was pale, his eyes shone with excitement.
Three moves had passed, and he had actually met Holding the Elixir head-on with Transformation Jin cultivation without being defeated!
In the martial arts world, this was simply an unheard-of miracle.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Yan Yuanyi said "good" three times in succession. The fierceness in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by complicated emotions.
"I didn't expect someone at Transformation Jin to take three of my moves without being defeated. You truly are a heaven-gifted prodigy."
She had to admit that this young man really did have exceptional abilities. No wonder he was so proud.
Li Qingshan regulated his breathing for a moment, then said slowly:
"You flatter me, Director Yan.
The power of Holding the Elixir truly lives up to its reputation."
He could feel that Yan Yuanyi had not yet used her full strength. Otherwise, he could not possibly have taken three moves so easily.
The terror of an Elixir Jin expert far exceeded his imagination.
She paused, her tone growing serious:
"But remember, the doors of the Special Service Department are always open to you."
With that, Yan Yuanyi turned and left, her steps as steady as ever.
She had originally been at leisure and happened to be in Jinmen. The bureau's personnel section was short-handed, so she had made the trip for them.
She had thought recruiting a Hidden Jin martial arts prodigy would be easy.
She had not expected him to have already broken through to Transformation Jin, much less that she would not only be refused but also fail to defeat him in three moves when they fought.
For someone as proud as her, it was impossible to strike again.
Li Qingshan watched Yan Yuanyi's departing figure, waves rising and falling in his heart as well.
This exchange had given him a true taste of how terrifying an Elixir Jin master could be,
and had also made him realize that his own strength still had tremendous room for improvement.
But at the same time, it had strengthened his resolve to follow his martial path.
"Elixir Jin."
Li Qingshan murmured to himself, his eyes shining with longing.