Ten Years of Cultivation to Meet Divine Dragon Li

"Green Willow Manor? The name certainly suits the scene."

Around noon that day, Chen Youchun and the others reached the shores of Lake Tai. After following the shore for nearly another hour, they saw red walls and blue tiles beside a bay ahead. Willow groves surrounded the walls, their countless branches swaying as the lake breeze swept past.

Man Zhan laughed. "It certainly does. Who in the South Canal martial world doesn't know how Li Yu built himself up from nothing in just a few short months, winning tremendous renown with his Returning Wind and Swaying Willow Sword Technique? And besides..."

Walking at the front, Chen Youchun stiffened at the words "built himself up from nothing."

His martial arts were far from weak, and he had repeatedly rendered meritorious service. He considered his qualification as a five-pouch disciple thoroughly deserved!

Yet there were always petty men who, consumed by jealousy, speculated that he had relied on his connection to his adoptive father, Tie He.

At first, he had taken it as sweet as honey.

After all, others could only wish for such a connection to lean on.

But in recent years, he had watched Murong Fu, a year or two younger than himself, soar in prestige throughout the martial world. Everyone acknowledged that "Gusu Murong Clan" meant Murong Fu; he no longer needed the title of "young manor lord" hanging over his head.

Chen Youchun felt stifled and gradually came to believe that his adoptive father, Tie He, was holding him down.

"And besides what?"

"Besides, Li Yu has another outstanding quality."

"What quality?" he asked hastily.

Man Zhan glanced at Chen Youchun out of the corner of his eye. His face was covered in bumps, astonishingly ugly. In theory, once a third-rate expert developed internal power and cleared his meridians a little, his blood and Qi should be healthier than an ordinary person's. Looking like this meant he either had some hidden ailment, or...

Suppressing his curiosity, he affected a casual air and said with a smile.

"Everyone who saw Li Yu at the Flower-Honoring Banquet that day, friend or foe, praised his handsome looks and extraordinary bearing with one voice. The stories have grown so fantastic that there's even a children's rhyme going around the streets and entertainment houses..."

Chen Youchun's face darkened as he listened. "What children's rhyme?"

Man Zhan pretended to recall it. "How did it go... A hundred years of cultivation to meet Murong Fu, ten years of cultivation to meet Divine Dragon Li. Hahaha! This place is full of ignorant men and women who love crooning over the wind and moon. Nothing worth mentioning, nothing worth mentioning at all!"

There was no children's rhyme. He had simply been struck by inspiration and made it up on the spot.

It was true that the South Canal martial world spoke of the Divine Dragon Cult leader's handsome appearance, but the stories were nowhere near so exaggerated.

He secretly observed Chen Youchun's expression and thought, Once I get back, I'll have people spread it quietly. Ideally, it'll offend the Murong Clan too. That would truly kill two birds with one stone...

Throughout the ages, children's rhymes had mostly been spread by people with an agenda.

Hadn't the founding emperor of the current dynasty seized the Chai Zhou realm with the line, "The chief inspector shall become emperor"?

Heh heh.

The West Canal Gate's master of fanning the flames secretly congratulated himself.

"A hundred years of cultivation to meet Murong Fu, ten years of cultivation to meet Divine Dragon Li!"

Chen Youchun tightened his five fingers around his round-headed iron pestle, his gaze icy and his displeasure deepening. He knew the West Canal Gate might be sowing discord, but being surpassed by the same person in two of the matters he was most sensitive about still rankled.

To make one's way in the martial world, martial arts came first.

But reputation and looks were also powerful weapons.

There was Shan Zheng, the Iron-Faced Judge of Shandong, for instance. His family's martial arts were nothing remarkable, but with the reputation for "iron-faced impartiality and fair, decisive judgment" that he had built over many years, he settled disputes everywhere. Even Shaolin and the Beggars' Sect treated him with respect.

As for looks, if the Gusu Murong Clan had a pockmarked face, its prestige would surely have suffered greatly no matter how accomplished its martial arts were. Not to mention those peculiar sects that chose disciples based on their appearance.

As another outstanding young talent of the Gusu martial world, Chen Youchun had always ranked himself second only to Murong Fu, whether in martial arts, reputation, or looks. He would never tolerate anyone challenging that position!

"Divine Dragon Li!"

Chen Youchun gazed at Green Willow Manor as it drew nearer, the flames of jealousy blazing in his chest. A cold smile appeared on his face. "I'd like to see just what sort of man deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the Gusu Murong Clan!"

At Green Willow Manor, waves pounded the shore.

"Chase the Tiger Across the Ravine!"

"Kill!"

"Fierce Tiger Scissors Its Tail!"

"Kill!"

On the training ground before the bay, beneath a fluttering golden dragon banner, a hundred or so sturdy men stood in ten ranks. All wore black and held thick-backed ring sabers, hacking and slashing fiercely, roaring again and again as they advanced and retreated, kicking up yellow sand.

"Like a Tiger Grown Wings!"

"Kill!"

This Black Tiger Saber Technique emphasized progressing from the external to the internal. Once the movements were thoroughly mastered and the blood and Qi nourished to abundance, practitioners could sense Qi amid their shouts and might then develop internal force, becoming ranked martial artists whose standing would be entirely different from then on.

That was the theory.

But fewer than one in ten ordinary people had a chance to cross that iron threshold. Although the Divine Dragon Cult freely provided techniques and supplied medicinal ingredients in appropriate quantities, innate aptitude meant that ninety-nine percent of martial men could only remain low-ranking members all their lives.

At present, aside from Li Yu himself, the Divine Dragon Cult had only two ranked experts.

White Dragon Envoy Lin Mang was in the middle tier of the third rate.

He was usually stationed on White Sand Island, under orders to contact the Seventy-Two Peaks of Lake Tai. But since the Divine Dragon Cult's influence currently extended no farther than South Canal, not a single faction besides Tao Jinwang of Turtle Back Island was willing to submit.

The other was Fu Rong, who had only recently advanced to become a quasi-third-rate expert. At the moment, she was patrolling the front of the training ground, supervising the cult members' practice. During a free moment, she turned to look out over the lake.

"The cult leader really is diligent."

Far away among the undulating waves, a bamboo raft was faintly visible, with a figure in a blue robe seated squarely in its center. He raised his right arm and curled four fingers into a fist. Internal force issued from his dantian and traveled through the Hand Taiyin Heart Meridian, flowing unobstructed all the way like abundant water through a channel.

"Surging Giant Waves, Guanjiao and Shaoshang!"

Finally, it gathered at the Shaoshang point at the tip of his thumb, bringing a tingling numbness like an electric shock.

"Whoosh~"

Li Yu extended his thumb and thrust it through the air.

A stream of force shot from his thumb, but it dispersed of its own accord after traveling only a few inches from his body, unable to remain concentrated.

"The form is easy to grasp; the spirit is hard."

"The finer the martial art, the harder it is to master."

He shook his head slightly and sighed softly. Even this much progress in a few short days owed much to the Minor Formless Skill.

The outrageously detailed annotations in Wang Yuyan's handwritten copy were truly pearls in every word, heartfelt care in every line.

"Murong Fu owes a great deal of his knowledge of a hundred schools' martial arts to her..."

Li Yu tried several more times, but ultimately could not master the first move of the Soul-Losing Finger. He was in no hurry, having already made his calculations. Although he did not have a genius girl beside him to instruct him at every turn, he had a strength Murong Fu could not match.

He slowly lowered his head and looked solemnly down below his belly.

"With the plum wine's help that day, I successfully mastered the Returning Wind Brushes the Willow Sword."

"The Giant Wave Finger is majestic in momentum and immense in power. I'll need to find an aged wine with an equally fierce temperament to serve as my teacher and guide."

Li Yu had already asked Guo Xie to arrange for people to make inquiries in the martial world.

In the martial world, those who disliked drinking were the odd ones.

The Divine Dragon Cult leader's reputation for an obsessive love of wine and a fondness for collecting fine vintages had long since spread.

No one paid it any particular attention.

Compared to some of the strange predilections of the former Red Flower Society and Tyrant Tiger Gate, it could hardly have been more normal.

"Splash..."

Water surged noisily.

Li Yu looked toward the sound. A white wake raced toward him, swift as a galloping horse. Guo Xie swung his long pole as fast as a turning wheel. At first, his expression was fairly composed, but as he drew closer, anxiety repeatedly flashed across his face.

"Splash~"

When the two were three feet apart, Guo Xie stirred his long pole and sprang off his feet, turning the bamboo raft around in an instant.

Seeing signs that the youth was developing internal force, Li Yu nodded slightly.

"What brings you here?"

"Reporting to the cult leader, Chen Youchun of the Beggars' Sect has come to pay a visit."