Translator: AnubisTL
"What's the situation now? Did our benefactor win or lose?"
"I don't know either. But it's been quiet for a long time. Not even those feathered freaks have come out again."
"Even the strongest fists can't beat four hands. After all, our benefactor is just one person."
"No, we have to go back and inform the alliance leader!"
Whispers filled the stone hall. The Inner Strength Martial Artists of the Giant Rock City Martial Alliance were visibly panicked.
Though they had never directly faced Tianliang Mountain's two mountain leaders, they could glean some insight from the blackfeather disciples.
While they usually dismissed them as "feathered freaks," they were acutely aware of the black-feathered mutated persons' formidable strength.
The fact that the two mountain leaders could command so many blackfeather disciples meant their own power must be utterly terrifying!
Not long after, footsteps echoed outside the blood pool stone hall.
The Inner Strength Martial Artists, their limbs crippled, fell silent, their eyes fixed anxiously on the hall's entrance.
When a tall, upright figure finally appeared in their sight, everyone froze for a long moment. Then, a wave of unrestrained joy surged through their eyes.
"Benefactor! You're safe! This is wonderful!"
"The two mountain leaders of Tianliang Mountain... are they really dead?"
"Those bloodsucking parasites are really gone? Tianliang Mountain is finished! Hahaha, Tianliang Mountain is finished!"
At that moment, Li Qing's tall figure appeared incredibly imposing in their eyes, as if he could hold up the sky itself if it were to collapse.
It was a miracle! He had single-handedly defeated the two mountain leaders of Tianliang Mountain!
"From now on, there will be no more Tianliang Mountain," Li Qing replied with a smile. He then patted his storage pouch and produced the Serpent-Head Spirit Boat.
The sudden appearance of a spirit boat out of thin air left the Martial Artists gaping in astonishment, their eyes wide with disbelief.
One shocking event followed another, leaving them completely overwhelmed and unable to react. They stammered incoherently:
"Th-this... this..."
"Benefactor, who exactly are you? And how did you conjure that?"
"..."
To their barrage of questions, Li Qing simply smiled and remained silent, gesturing for them to board the boat and speak inside.
Moments later, the Serpent-Head Spirit Boat streaked across the sky above Tianliang Mountain's territory at incredible speed, so fast that the scenery outside blurred into streaks of light for those aboard!
At the front of the Serpent-Head Spirit Boat, Li Qing channeled spiritual energy with one hand to power its flight, his expression calm as he skillfully steered the vessel.
The Martial Artists seated behind him, however, were a different story. Each craned their necks, eager to watch the dark earth below blur into a hazy blur.
"It's flying! It's really flying!!!"
"Benefactor is truly a divine being! Hahaha, Benefactor must be a god sent down to save us."
"We're already at the Bloodthirsty Mushroom Forest! I think I can even see Giant Rock City!"
"..."
The Inner Strength Martial Artists were like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, utterly fascinated by everything about the spirit boat. They craned their necks left and right, utterly baffled as to how the thing actually flew! [1]
Hearing the commotion behind him, Li Qing couldn't help but chuckle.
He remembered his own first time flying on a spirit boat—his excitement had been much the same.
Feeling the wind whistling past his ears, Li Qing's mind finally cleared.
This journey to Tianliang Mountain had been incredibly fruitful, and he knew it would take a long time to fully digest his gains.
But the trip to Giant Rock City wouldn't be a waste of time. He didn't want to miss the newly revealed qi blood nine revolutions Cultivation Method, a breakthrough in the new martial arts.
"The Qi Blood Nine Revolutions might be the key to my Second-Tier martial arts breakthrough," Li Qing murmured to himself, then accelerated the Serpent-Head Spirit Boat's speed once more.
Whoosh!
On the horizon, the Serpent-Head Spirit Boat's trajectory resembled a shooting star, its destination Giant Rock City!
Giant Rock City, once the Green Gang's main headquarters, now served as the martial alliance's base.
"How is it? What's the situation now?"
"Just now, from afar, I felt a surge of powerful Vital Energy, like a river rushing past. Alliance Leader Miao must have reached the Qi Blood Nine Revolutions level!"
At these words, the numerous Martial Artists gathered at the martial alliance's main headquarters erupted in excitement.
Ever since Grandmaster Zhao pioneered the path of the Qi Blood Nine Revolutions, no one had successfully reached this realm. Even Grandmaster Zhao himself had failed due to unforeseen circumstances within the Green Gang, leading to Zhao Kou's death.
"Excellent! Qi Blood Nine Revolutions—even the mountain leader of Tianliang Mountain wouldn't dare underestimate this level, would they?"
"What's the next step? Can Alliance Leader Miao take this crucial step?"
No one knew the answer. As a newly forged path, the Qi Blood Nine Revolutions had no predecessors to draw upon. Every pioneer had to feel their way forward, step by step.
Miao Xi was no different.
Soon, a cry of surprise erupted from the crowd:
"The alliance leader has emerged from seclusion!"
Like a stone thrown into a thousand-layered lake, every Martial Artist present turned their gaze toward the place where Miao Xi had been in seclusion.
Boom!
Vital Energy surged skyward, accompanied by a long, resounding roar. The sound waves rippled through the air, causing many Martial Artists in the crowd to feel a deep sense of unease.
This was the qi blood nine revolutions—the final transformation, which elevated the entire person to a new level of existence.
Soon, a towering, muscular figure emerged. His arms were thick and powerful, one of them as thick as two ordinary people's thighs!
"Welcome, Alliance Leader!"
The cry rang out in unison, every Martial Artist's face filled with genuine respect for Miao Xi.
Miao Xi walked forward step by step. Now the martial alliance leader, he naturally carried an air of authority.
He was completely different from the naive young man Li Qing had first met. Every movement was deliberate and steady.
Meeting the gazes of the Martial Artists, Miao Xi declared in a deep voice, "Deploy martial defenses throughout the city!"
"If any disciples from Tianliang Mountain dare to invade again, kill them without mercy!"
"The Martial Artists of our martial alliance and the people of Giant Rock City will not be bullied by them any longer."
Miao Xi's words weren't particularly stirring, but they ignited an overwhelming sense of confidence in every Martial Artist of the martial alliance. Some even teared up, moved to tears. After years of oppression by Tianliang Mountain, their martial alliance and their vital energy martial dao finally had a foundation to stand on!
"Understood, Alliance Leader!"
The resounding shout echoed as the martial alliance swiftly began spreading the vital energy martial dao throughout Giant Rock City.
Regardless of age or gender, everyone received a basic Martial Arts Legacy. The content was comprehensive, covering everything from Outer Strength to the qi blood nine revolutions, including methods for refining vital energy and harnessing the Red Moon Secret Power.
In addition, the martial alliance established dedicated Martial Arts Masters who held daily lectures and demonstrations for the citizens of Giant Rock City.
In no time, the city's atmosphere became saturated with Martial Dao. Everyone began practicing martial arts.
Even if not to become a martial arts master, the new martial dao's promise of improved health alone made countless citizens flock to it.
Furthermore, Miao Xi had the martial alliance publicize a crucial point: practitioners of the new martial arts could reduce the likelihood of their offspring developing deformities or mutations!
With the martial alliance leader's personal endorsement, the new martial dao spread smoothly, creating an atmosphere of prosperity.
In this city steeped in martial arts culture, Li Qing finally landed his spirit boat in Giant Rock City.
"You... you're Gao Han? Impossible! You're still alive?!"
"Lin Dashan! Weren't you captured by Tianliang Mountain? Did you escape?!"
The Giant Rock City Martial Alliance guards immediately recognized Li Qing's group.
Ignoring their reunion, Li Qing, having delivered them to Giant Rock City, considered his duty fulfilled. He walked alone into the city.
As his spiritual sense spread, Li Qing was astonished by Giant Rock City's all-encompassing martial arts culture.
"Everyone practices martial arts, everyone is like a dragon... they've actually achieved this."
As Li Qing spoke, he walked toward a large courtyard. Inside, several young children, no older than seven or eight, were practicing martial arts with grunts and shouts.
At the courtyard entrance, a basic inheritance manual for the vital energy martial dao lay casually on the ground, like a children's book.
"Qi Blood Nine Revolutions," Li Qing murmured to himself, then picked up the manual and began to read.
"The Qi Blood Nine Revolutions requires Red Moon Secret Power as a catalyst for each transformation, but it doesn't involve absorbing or integrating the power. Instead, it uses the Red Moon as a mere guide."
"Zhao Kou's ingenuity in devising this method to forge a new path in the Martial Dao is truly remarkable."
This praise was sincere. At least in his case, he would never have willingly risked using Red Moon Secret Power as a martial arts experiment.
Before long, one of the young children practicing in the courtyard noticed Li Qing engrossed in the manual.
"Uncle, are you a Martial Artist too?"
The boy, no older than seven or eight, had a sickly pale complexion, a common trait among children living in this sunless world.
In addition to this, a nascent horn, somewhat like that of a rhinoceros, sprouted from the little boy's forehead.
The other young children, who were practicing martial arts stances with grunts and groans, were similarly affected. Each bore some degree of mutation: one's skin was covered in scales, another's face was matted with animal fur, and another's claws were razor-sharp.
This was all due to their incomplete absorption of the Red Moon Secret Power while still in their mothers' wombs.
"Ah, I'm a Martial Artist too," Li Qing said with a smile. His spiritual sense swept over the children, and he found that their bone structures were indeed promising for martial arts training.
The boy's eyes lit up, and he stared at Li Qing with admiration. "Can you teach us? The Martial Artists from the martial alliance are always too busy, and we never get any guidance. We have to practice on our own here."
"We want to reach a profound level of cultivation, eliminate our mutations, and pave the way for new martial arts!"
Listening to the children's grand ambitions, Li Qing smiled gently and replied, "Alright, I'll help you with anything you don't understand."
Listening to the children's grand ambitions, Li Qing smiled gently and replied, "Very well. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll teach you."
TL/N:
[1] The phrase "Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden" (劉姥姥進大觀園) is a very famous idiom from the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢).
It comes from a scene where Granny Liu — a simple, uneducated old woman from the countryside — visits the lavish, aristocratic Grand View Garden for the first time. She's amazed by everything she sees: the wealth, the beauty, the refined lifestyle. She gawks at everything, not understanding most of it, but is endlessly curious and impressed.
In modern Chinese, this phrase is used to describe someone who is seeing an amazing, unfamiliar place for the first time and is wide-eyed with awe and curiosity — often with a bit of comedic innocence.
(End of the Chapter)
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