Without Looking at Yourself, You Cannot Know How Far You Have Come

After parting from Xie Linchuan, Yu Tunzhou headed straight back up the mountain.

As he went, the mountain wind swept through the woods, rustling the branches and leaves, and a faint stirring rose in his heart.

Today, through Xie Linchuan, he had learned how quickly his peers cultivated. He had gained a preliminary sense of their abilities, and the way ahead suddenly seemed clear.

His enemies were not as strong as he had imagined, and he was not as weak as he had imagined.

That was how things generally were in the world-

Without climbing high, one could not know there were mountains beyond mountains; without looking at oneself, one could not know how far one had come.

He suppressed the sharp edge stirring in his heart, and his steps grew steady again. Still, he felt a little more assured.

The next day.

It was time for the weekly Dragon Fish delivery again. Yu Tunzhou rose early and made a special trip into town to deliver the fish.

Taking the opportunity, Yu Tunzhou once again got a rough look at the outstanding young talents from the thirty-nine factions in town, enough to recognize them by sight.

They, too, were sizing Yu Tunzhou up.

The delivery went quite smoothly, with only one unexpected incident when he delivered the fish to Chen Xuanye.

Chen Xuanye completely changed his previous attitude, greeting him with the utmost warmth and inviting him into the residence for a visit.

Unasked-for favors meant treachery or theft.

Alarm bells rang in Yu Tunzhou's mind, and he excused himself, saying he had something to do.

On his way back to the mountain, Yu Tunzhou carried his fish basket. Apart from the two he had given Chen Xuanye as agreed, three fish remained in it.

When he reached the stone bridge over the river, he paused and leaned on the railing, looking down at the flowing water.

Watching the school of Dragon Fish in the water, Yu Tunzhou truly understood what it meant to "stand at the edge of the water and covet the fish": he was guarding a treasure trove but could not reach inside.

Given the peculiar nature of his Primordial Spirit visualization, entering the river to catch fish should no longer be a problem.

But once he visualized Little Black, the entire river's waterway fortune and Qi flow would gather around him of their own accord, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

So he had to deal with that big fellow first...

Yu Tunzhou looked no longer. He hurried across the stone bridge and headed up the mountain.

Beneath the stone bridge, a heavy shadow slowly spread out. It lingered in silence for a moment, then receded without a sound, leaving not a ripple behind.

What Yu Tunzhou did not know was-

While he was on his way back up the mountain, a considerable uproar had already broken out deep in the town.

The representatives stationed there by the various factions had called Old Mo, the town's guardian, to account, and Yu Tunzhou was at the center of the uproar.

"You, Mo! It was one thing to turn a blind eye before, but now you're not even pretending? He delivered two to the Chen Household, and he can still damn well carry three Dragon Fish back up the mountain? You tell me how that adds up!"

"Mo Laoliu, are you stupid, or do you take all our factions for fools and think we can't even count?"

"Guardian Mo, I don't know who you really are, but this is no place for you to do as you please!"

Accusations rose one after another, the representatives denouncing him without end.

Old Mo gave a grunt and spread his hands. They could do whatever they liked; either way, they couldn't pin it on him.

In all his life, he, Mo, had nothing on his conscience!

Yu Tunzhou returned to the mountain and tipped the Dragon Fish into the fish tank. Just then, he saw Li Jingxuan walk out of the Daoist temple.

"Senior Brother Yu." The young Daoist wore a smile, his tone mild.

"Junior Brother Li, are you going to the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple?"

"I'm going down the mountain to visit the various factions. We'll all be in the same grotto-heaven from now on, after all, and we're bound to run into each other. Saying hello will help us get along."

Yu Tunzhou asked no more. He watched the mysterious Junior Brother Li head down the mountain, then turned to his own work.

Starting today, he would stay on the mountain and devote himself to cultivation.

There was still some time before noon. Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled spots across the courtyard.

Yu Tunzhou prepared to practice his boxing again.

He walked to an open space and slowly began his forms. Each move was unhurried. As he went through the stances, his inner Qi traveled along his meridians and through the Great Spirit Courtyard, its flow growing ever smoother and more harmonious.

At the same time.

The Dongting residence.

A middle-aged man named Luo Shiwu wore a dark, angry expression as he looked in the direction of the town's guardian.

"Lawless! Utterly lawless!"

"This Luofu Grotto-Heaven isn't his personal Daoist temple. How can he act so willfully, showing such favoritism and indulgence?!"

Hearing Master Luo's low, angry rebuke, Liu Zhizhou knitted her delicate brows slightly. She, too, was baffled.

She could not understand why the town's guardian favored that country boy so much. She, a dignified dragon princess of Dongting, held an exalted status, yet had taken the initiative to visit him, observing the courtesies due from a junior. Still, he had ignored her, pretending to sleep and acting as though he had heard nothing.

Could it be that he had an old grudge against Dongting?

It was not impossible. The man's identity remained a mystery to this day; even Dongting's intelligence network had failed to uncover who he truly was.

As for the other thirty-eight factions, she could not tell whether they were truly ignorant or knew perfectly well but kept silent.

It was just then.

Luo Shiwu's rebuke came to an abrupt halt.

A Daoist came down the mountain and entered the town. With his mind in the Pure Land, he used his inner voice to greet the representatives stationed there by the various factions.

[Li Jingxuan of the Supreme Purity Lineage greets my fellow Daoists from all factions.]

Fellow Daoists, not seniors.

Liu Zhizhou watched as Master Luo's expression changed from fury to shock. Then his brows drew tightly together, and he looked toward a spot in the town with what seemed like uncertainty and suspicion, his expression growing uglier by the moment.

"Master Luo, what is it?" Liu Zhizhou asked.

Just then, Luo Shiwu seemed to receive some news, and his previously wretched expression gradually improved.

He took a deep breath. "Someone from the Supreme Purity Lineage has come. It's that Daoist Youwei!"

"Daoist Youwei?" Liu Zhizhou's expression changed dramatically, and she cried out, "He's here? Is he taking part in this Dao contest too? How can he take part in the Dao contest?!"

The young people from the various factions in town were all outstanding members of their generation within their respective sects, but they were still not true immortal seeds. Only by leaving this world as victors would they qualify to be counted among the immortal seeds.

But Li Jingxuan of Supreme Purity had been born an immortal seed.

"If I remember correctly, Father once said this man was suspected to be the reincarnation of a god or Buddha!" Liu Zhizhou had already risen to her feet and was pacing uneasily. "If he takes part in this Dao contest too, who can stand against him?!"

Even if everyone were tied together, they probably would not be his match!

"He does indeed possess a bearing close to that of an immortal. His mind has already entered the Pure Land; his attainment in Nature Cultivation far surpasses that of his peers." Luo Shiwu sighed softly. "But Your Highness can rest assured. He has not come as a participant in the Dao contest, but as the representative stationed here by the Daoist School."

"His mind has entered the Pure Land?!"

Liu Zhizhou's face went pale. She could only enter meditative concentration with the aid of a visualization diagram. She was still a long way from giving birth to wisdom through concentration, to say nothing of the Pure Land, the second realm of Nature Cultivation.

The gap between them was truly that between clouds and mud. Was this what a true immortal seed was like?

Only after hearing the rest did Liu Zhizhou breathe a sigh of relief and ask softly:

"Will he be the next sage stationed here?"

"Correct. He has come to take over that Daoist master's position." Luo Shiwu comforted her. "Your Highness need not feel ashamed of yourself. The one from the Supreme Purity Dharma Lineage brought him into the sect when he was young, even taking him as a disciple on his own master's behalf. The Supreme Purity Dharma Lineage has devoted all its resources to nurturing him since childhood. He has had far more than a single step's head start."

Liu Zhizhou stared blankly for a long time before suddenly realizing something. "He lives on the mountain too. Doesn't that make him Yu Tunzhou's neighbor as well?"

How could that fellow be so lucky?

Who on earth had read his fortune back then and said he had the fate of barnyard grass and wildfire?!

Luo Shiwu was taken aback, then shook his head.

"Your Highness worries too much. The town guardian's attitude toward Yu Tunzhou is questionable. We still suspect he has an ulterior motive. Even Yu Tunzhou's 'accidental entry' into this place may have had something to do with him!"

"As for Daoist Youwei..."

Luo Shiwu paused, choosing his words tactfully.

"Let alone one Yu Tunzhou, I'm afraid even everyone in town put together might not catch his eye."

"Once Your Highness establishes an immortal foundation, you might try paying him a visit. Only after establishing an immortal foundation would you have a chance of associating with an 'existence' like him as an equal."

Liu Zhizhou nodded slowly, then suddenly asked, "What has that wretched woman from the South Sea been doing lately?"

Luo Shiwu fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "Your Highness, the grotto-heaven has been sealed since yesterday. No one else may enter, which also means the Dao contest has officially begun. I can no longer offer you assistance in guiding your cultivation."

Now that the Dao contest had officially begun, the stationed representatives could not even leave their residences!

There was no chance of anything like the Zhang Household's previous interference happening again.

If anything similar occurred, the town's guardian and the two sages of the grotto-heaven would step in to handle it.

"You can't even share information?" Liu Zhizhou frowned. "I remember things weren't this strict in previous contests."

Luo Shiwu's expression darkened. "It's that town guardian. We kept too close an eye on him these past three years, and now it's come back to bite us."

On the mountain.

Yu Tunzhou did not know that an uproar had arisen because of him, only to subside soon afterward.

He slowly began his forms, Qi following his fists. He relaxed his shoulders and dropped his elbows, feeling the flow of Qi within his body.

What Xie Linchuan had said today had led him to make a decision. Besides breaking through to the Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer as soon as possible, he also needed to master a move he could use in actual combat.

The move could not be too complicated, nor did it need to be particularly sophisticated. His attainment in martial arts was truly not high, and it would not be to his advantage to get caught in a prolonged fight with someone else. So he had to keep it simple and aim to decide victory or defeat in a single blow.

That also meant the move had to be tremendously destructive.

At that moment, he examined the world of the human body.

Fists, legs, elbows, knees...

No single limb could be called the "strongest."

The strongest was "whole-body force."

It was the unified force governed by the waist and hips, transmitted through the spine, and delivered to the limbs and every bone.

As the saying went, "The whole body is one family; when one part moves, none remain still."

The technique that made the greatest use of whole-body force was the "lean," such as the relatively classic Iron Mountain Lean of Bajiquan.

Among the eight classic methods of Taijiquan, the "lean" came last, giving rise to the saying, "Last among the eight methods, first in power."

In this move, one flew diagonally with the shoulder, and behind the shoulder was the back. Once it gained momentum, it crashed down like a pounding pestle!

It was precisely the kind of move suited to deciding victory or defeat in one blow.

And seeing the great fish attack today had given Yu Tunzhou another insight.

When the great fish was still, it was as quiet as a maiden; when it moved, it shook heaven and shattered stone!

Was that not in keeping with the essence of Taijiquan-the interplay of movement and stillness, the mother of yin and yang?

And to make the move even more powerful, he had to incorporate an explosive release of inner Qi.

When the time came, whether in speed or strength, he had to leave his opponent unable to react or defend!