"As expected of a representative from the Sword Pavilion, you’re so knowledgeable. I, on the other hand, still don’t even know where I ca from."
Qi Huan chuckled, his voice hoarse. He was well aware of his own mysterious origins, but Pei Yan had brought it up so bluntly, with a tone that was less than courteous.
’I can’t beat Xu Yunfan, but against Pei Yan in his current condition... I’m reasonably confident.’
Qi Huan deliberately bared his broken fangs. "But Brother Pei, it seems your Profound Origin Force can no longer suppress the Jiao Poison, can it?"
The cave plunged into a dead silence.
No one spoke.
After finally stabilizing his internal injuries, Pei Yan let out a long, slow breath.
"Thank you!"
Pei Yan finally responded. He was grateful that the two hadn’t taken advantage of his weakness, and for saving his life. His expression, however, was tinged with sorrow as he offered his thanks.
Hearing this, Xu Yunfan naturally understood the reason for his sorrow.
"It seems your hunt for the flood dragon failed."
Pei Yan slowly sat up and said calmly, "Ninety-six disciples of the Sword Pavilion entered this Secret Realm. We failed in our attempt to besiege the Evil Flood Dragon and suffered a terrible backlash. Now, I am the only one left. The Jiao Poison has seeped deep into my body, and I fear my ti is short. I can only hope that a Supre Elder from my Sword Pavilion will once again wield a Divine Weapon, use their power to scour heaven and earth to find the Evil Flood Dragon, and behead it to avenge the fallen disciples."
Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. He understood exactly what Pei Yan was implying.
It was both a statent of fact and a veiled warning.
The Sword Pavilion, the leading Sect of Jiangnan Dao.
Among the Six Paths of the Great Zhou, only Jiangnan and Jade Capital were truly prosperous, both economically and culturally. As the leading sect of Jiangnan Dao, the Sword Pavilion’s power was ranked among the very best of the Six Top Sects.
Otherwise, how could he, a re disciple of the Sword Pavilion, have been allowed to participate in the Various Sects Martial Arts Performance hosted by the Profound Daoist Sect in Lingnan Dao, let alone win a spot and bring other disciples into the Secret Realm?
As Xu Yunfan mulled this over, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of wry amusent. ’A single spot in this place is sothing others can only dream of, yet Pei Yan, relying solely on his status as a Sword Pavilion representative, managed to bring nearly a hundred of his fellow disciples into the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.’
However, for the Profound Daoist Sect to have allowed it, there must have been so shady dealings involved. Xu Yunfan couldn’t be bothered to guess the details.
At this mont, he didn’t answer Pei Yan. Instead, his eyes were fixed on him, a stare so intense it made Pei Yan’s skin crawl.
Pei Yan’s expression remained impassive, but his gradually tensing body revealed that his nerves were stretched to their absolute limit.
Beside them, Qi Huan silently scooted back a few steps.
’If a fight breaks out, I’ll definitely have to help,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, once Xu Yunfan deals with this and turns his attention to , I’m a dead man.’
After a long mont, Xu Yunfan, who had been leaning forward, slowly sat up straight.
He said coolly, "Brother Pei, how about we make a deal?"
Pei Yan remained impassive. "I’m listening."
"I have a Treasure dicine that can help you purge the Jiao Poison from your body."
"What do you want?"
"I’m missing a martial art that can take to the Ninth Realm. The technique I practice, the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hamr Technique, can only bring to the peak of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, even at Perfection. The path to the Organ Cultivation Realm is a complete blank. I must find another thod."
He paused, his fingertips tapping a steady rhythm on his knee. A regular TAP... TAP... TAP... echoed through the cave.
He suddenly leaned forward again, the campfire light dancing in his eyes like two golden sparks.
"When I brought you here, Brother Pei, I discovered a source of Earth Fire about thirty li from here. It could burn away so of the Jiao Poison. If you’re willing to offer the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique as paynt..."
Pei Yan’s expression changed drastically. He could no longer maintain his composure and flatly refused.
"Impossible! The Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique is the very foundation of the Sword Pavilion! Its secrets are carved upon the Celestial Sword Stele in our Ancestral Hall. Don’t even ntion the fact that I am not a True Inheritor of it; even if our Sect Leader himself were here... It is the Sword Pavilion’s secret technique for Refining the Internal Organs, and it’s passed down directly by the Sect Leader. I have no way to teach it, because I haven’t even learned it myself!"
Xu Yunfan casually poked the fire, the bursting sparks illuminating the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.
"I heard that three years ago at the Jiangnan Dao Heroes’ Banquet, your sect’s Elder Lingxu ntioned while he was drunk that among the current generation of disciples, only you, Brother Pei, had been taught the secret of ’Sword Qi Circulating Through the Three Jiaos.’ It caused quite an uproar. People said you were comparable to the Saintess of the Celestial Pivot Start Sect, having cultivated a strand of Sword Qi while still in the Outer Three Harmonies realm."
Pei Yan’s heart trembled, and he nearly lost control of his internal injuries. A sweet, tallic taste surged up his throat, and in a daze, he once again saw the flowing silver patterns on the Celestial Sword Stele.
He suddenly rembered that night of torrential rain. He had knelt before the Stele for seven days and seven nights before finally glimpsing the first secret of "Empty Clarity Sword Washing": using the lungs as a sheath and the ridians as a path, one must refine all the internal organs into vessels for nurturing qi.
At the Great Success stage, every breath would resonate with qi, and even a single falling strand of hair could slice through gold and jade.
Each of the Six Great Sects of the Great Zhou specialized in a technique for a particular realm.
For example, the Taoist Sect’s Pure Yang Qi Skill could perfectly rge the three powers of sinew, bone, and skin.
The Nine Radiance Sect had its Nine Glories Swallowing Qi Skill for the Blood Exchange Realm, and Mituo Temple had its Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill for the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm...
And for the Organ Cultivation Realm, the Sword Pavilion’s Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique was considered unrivaled.
Once the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique was perfected, the lungs and ridians would all transform into channels for containing qi. One could even retrace their cultivation, re-cultivating all nine realms from the beginning.
This martial art was truly miraculous, almost beyond belief.
Three hundred years ago, Dugu Jiu, known as the Celestial Sword, cultivated the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique to the Perfection Realm and dominated his entire generation. In order to break through the shackles of the Ninth Realm, he betrayed the Sword Pavilion, forcibly stole the strongest technique for each realm from the Six Great Sects, and then vanished without a trace.
Unsubstantiated rumors in the Mortal World claid that the one who confronted that Female Witch in Jade Capital City that day was none other than the forr Celestial Sword, Dugu Jiu.
Hearing Pei Yan’s refusal, Xu Yunfan didn’t press the issue. He simply watched Pei Yan’s ever-changing expression with a faint, knowing smile.
"Think it over carefully, Brother Pei. This Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm is fraught with danger. As ti goes on, the scent of our qi and blood will attract many Demon Fiends.
Your sect still hasn’t torn open the Secret Realm to send anyone in, which ans they’re probably being obstructed by sothing. You need to think about that, Brother Pei. In your current condition, it’ll be very difficult to survive."
After saying his piece, Xu Yunfan fell silent. He left Pei Yan and Qi Huan to themselves, picked up his Thunderfire Qilin Hamr, and began to practice his Hamr Technique.
As the wild ga over the campfire began to release a spicy aroma, Pei Yan, his expression wavering with uncertainty, suddenly saw a skewer of roasted at being held out in front of him.
"Have sothing to eat. You need strength to recover. In your current state, if it weren’t for that Divine Armor you’re wearing, you’d probably drop dead any second. This ga is an Exotic Beast. The Essence Qi it contains can’t compare to a Demon Fiend, but it’s much better than any ordinary animal."
Pei Yan was silent for a mont before propping himself up and taking the roasted at.
"Thank you, Brother Qi."
His mind was still wandering as he watched Xu Yunfan practicing his hamr technique in the distance. He casually put the at in his mouth and chewed, and his eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
"Brother Qi, this roasted at tastes incredible. I’ve known you for so long and never realized you had this kind of skill."
Qi Huan shrugged. "It wasn’t . The spices on the at... Junior Brother Xu picked them along the way. I was just in charge of cooking it."
’In fact, Xu Yunfan even taught how to manage the heat,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, I would have completely ruined it. I even got a harsh beating from him back when I was learning before I finally got it right.’
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