Book 1: A New Lease on Life

Chapter 17: Beiqingsi

He conversed with the other two for a while, agreeing to meet again on this day every month since they might not all be free simultaneously at another time. With that done, he saw them off.

Watching the silhouette of the two people leaving, Zhong Shan shook his head. They were like flowers in a greenhouse, effortlessly blooming without suffering any hards.h.i.+ps.

Bringing his provisions, Zhong Shan once again headed towards the Flaming Fruit Cave Paradise, and once inside, he continued to practice the Dayang Shengong.

He had reached the second level of Xiantian and he had even chosen a pretty good technique. However in this group of people, there were already those who had reached the third level of Xiantian. Even if their abilities were top notch, their training speed wasn’t as fast as his.

His own innate talents weren’t good enough, he could only rely on his own efforts. The only way to improve was to put in more effort than other people.

As such, Zhong Shan kept practicing the Dayang Shengong at the Flaming Fruit Cave Paradise, non-stop. Only when he grew irritated of practicing did he enter the mountains to fight and kill some monstrous beasts instead. He did this repeatedly, improving his own abilities undeterred.

It was the eighth month since Zhong Shan had arrived at the Kaiyang School, however, Zhong Shan still hadn’t reached the second level yet. Now, he was at the peak of the second level of Xiantian, even training in the Flaming Fruit Cave Paradise, a better environment than where the others trained, he still could not break through. Zhong Shan wasn’t in a hurry, if he didn’t break through now, then he would just keep working on it. After all, wasn’t that what everyone had done for decades? Patience is a virtue!

Returning to Ting Shui Xie, he once again harvested the crops, carried it and now stood outside in the fields. Zhong Shan no longer chopped firewood anymore because over time, Zhong Shan realised that his innate talents weren’t good but he was incredibly intelligent. He also trained his sword skills such that it was like second nature to him now. Looking at the timber once, even if he closed his eyes, he could still accurately slice it along the grains of the wood.

Because of his lack of innate talent, his internal practices were not significant, however his genius level intellect, meant that his external practices were abnormally fast-paced.

He was already fluent with the Mountain Splitter and Annihilating Slash of the Dayang Shengong however, Zhong Shan still practiced it day after day. The simpler the technique, the more diligently he would practice. Originally it was splitting wood, now, it transitioned to splitting stone. Zhong Shan was currently looking for the cracks in the stone, they were not visible on the outside, however, he could sense them before his strikes made contact. Zhong Shan’s goal was to identify the cracks within the stone the moment before his machete struck it and with one strike destroy it along its weakest points.

Easier said than done. It required incredible accuracy.

This was what Zhong Shan did at Ting Shui Xie. Nanbatian and Tianling-er also came to where Zhong Shan was and sat down.

“Zhong Shan, did you know? Our third s.h.i.+jie’s hair and eyebrows turned white overnight.” Nanbatian helped himself to the teapot.

Of course Zhong Shan knew of the third s.h.i.+jie that Nanbatian was talking about. She was the second generation s.h.i.+jie Beiqingsi. Nanbatian and Tianling-er were very confident in reaching the Gold Core Stage and as such from very early on, they had already begun to think of themselves as second generation disciples at Kaiyang School.

“All of her hair turned white?” Zhong Shan furrowed his brows at Nanbatian.

“Yeah, although, it’s a very pretty white. It’s not a pallid white, but a very vibrant, glossy white. Amazingly beautiful.” Nanbatian let out a small sigh.

“Of course it’s not a pallid white, according to my father, the reason for her hair turning white is that she triggered her Bloodline Inheritance. It’s an ability pa.s.sed down through her bloodline. I asked about that ability but my father wouldn’t say anything, I then asked Qingsi but she wouldn’t reveal it either. What a pain.” Tianling-er sipped some tea.

“Bloodline Inheritance?” Zhong Shan stared at the two of them.

“Yeah, I heard that a Bloodline Inheritances are special abilities that only a member of a clan can have. They’re meant to be really powerful.” Tianling-er replied after some thinking.

“Oh, so it was because of a Bloodline Inheritance.” exclaimed Nanbatian.

“Oh yeah, Xiaonanzi, I heard that you also have a Bloodline Inheritance, only it hasn’t appeared in your family for generations, what is it?” Tianling-er asked interrogatively.

“Me? Who said I had one? I don’t have one.” Nanbatian replied, immediately shaking his head.

“My father said so.” Tianling-er said.

“I don’t know.” Nanbatian said with a poker face, not wanting to admit it.

“Fine then don’t tell me.” Tianling-er said with an equally expressionless face.

Watching Tianling-er, Zhong Shan shook his head while chuckling. Although Tianling-er was a bit naive and straightforward, he found her presence enjoyable, it’s also the best way to relax after training.

“There are still four months left until the end of your first year, you haven’t broken through yet?” Nanbatian asked while looking at Zhong Shan.

“Not yet, I’m planning on leaving for a bit longer next time, all the way until the end of the first year, then we’ll meet up again.” Zhong Shan said whilst looking at the other two.

Seeing Zhong Shan like this, the two of them knew that Zhong Shan was going to push himself to the limit, but they just nodded.

“Do your best.” Tianling-er said with a hint of worry.

“Don’t worry.” Zhong Shan told her with a small shake of the head.

Once again seeing the two of them off, Zhong Shan prepared his provisions of crops and meat.

This time, four months, he would definitely break through to the third level of Xiantian.

Four days left until all the new disciples gathered for their first year’s end.

Zhong Shan sat inside the Flaming Fruit Cave Paradise, also reaching the most important moment. Perhaps, in the next moment, he could reach the third level of Xiantian. Red light shone from his body in all directions, copious amounts of red aura surrounded Zhong Shan’s body like mist.

Zhong Shan sweated profusely. Relentlessly training, pus.h.i.+ng for the breakthrough.

“Sizzle~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

Zhong Shan exhaled sharply, all of the sweat evaporated and his bloodshot eyes widened. He also felt excitement. Finally, he finally broke through to the third level of Xiantian.

It was exhausting, right now Zhong Shan absolutely despised his lack of innate talent, causing him to suffer so much, however, this suffering was what made Zhong Shan unrelentlessly determined.

The third level of Xiantian, he did some breathing exercises to regulate his breathing and then slowly put his clothes and Wind Chaser Boots back on, ready to leave, heading towards Ting Shui Xie to await the arrival of the end of their first year. Zhong Shan knew that on that day, all of the second generation disciples as well as the Grandmaster and the Headmasters will be there to welcome the new disciples, if he was lucky, if such a high ranking person could give him some pointers, it would save Zhong Shan a lot of time.

As Zhong Shan reached the third level of Xiantian, a fleeting white silhouette arrived at the Hot Spring Valley which was connected to the Flaming Fruit Cave Paradise.

A snowy white silhouette, white hair, white eyebrows, white skin, a pair of bright big eyes, walking with a snowy white longsword, which was wreathed in a heavy mist.

This was a woman, beautiful beyond belief, like a snow lotus found at the top of an ice-capped mountain, like it was entirely surrounded in a holy light. The only problem were those eyes. Her eyes were so a.n.a.lytical. They looked as though they could see through the entire world, filled with a slight coldness.

The woman seemed to be very clean, her whole body was entirely white, even the bracelet she wore was pure white, that bracelet was a storage bracelet, turning her hand, she took out sixteen small flags from the storage bracelet.

She placed the small flags out in a circle pointing in all directions, creating an array of flags.

She struck the array of flags with a technique and immediately, the mountain valley was enveloped by an infinite expanse of white mist, and very soon, it was impossible to see through.

Of course, this array of flags does not only have the power to obscure, there is another function, which is to turn an area into an enclosed s.p.a.ce, so that none may enter.

Feeling like the flag array was completed, the woman gracefully unbuckled her belt and smoothly unclothed herself, piece by piece. With a head of snowy white hair, she slowly walked into the hot spring, bathing her perfectly toned body.

Softly, whilst soaking inside the hot spring, she carefully washed her body with its water, she seemed to enjoy it while sitting on the cobblestone, leaning against a large rock, leaving just her head above water. After was.h.i.+ng for a while, she closed her eyes softly, whilst relaxing.

Elsewhere... Zhong Shan was at the bottom of the hot spring, finally blocking the entrance, began to leisurely swim to the surface.

The bottom of the hot spring, where Zhong Shan was, was very deep. Normally, the time it takes to swim to the surface was the time needed for a stick of incense to burn completely. Zhong Shan wasn’t in a hurry so he just swam upwards at a leisurely pace.

After the incense finished fully burning, the woman also felt as though she bathed for long enough. She slowly made her way to the bank. Beside the bank, where the spring water only reached her knees, the woman inspected her perfect body again. As she patted herself, she felt a sudden trembling and her eyes widened suddenly.

“Splash~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

In the center of the spring, with a sudden spurt of water, Zhong Shan bursted through the surface clothed in white.