Chapter 55 · Volume 1

Ji Dao, Five Forms

Qi Feng looked at his two red-faced junior brothers, his expression rather grim. “I tell you to practice hard every day, but you all slack off. In the end, as dignified Third Realm inner disciples of a cultivation sect, you performed worse than a mortal martial artist. Aren't you ashamed to let others hear of this?”
The two Third Realm disciples hung their heads in shame and muttered, “Senior Brother is right to lecture us. We have learned our lesson.”
“Alright, put away this bear carcass and let's go.”
Qi Feng was also somewhat exhausted. He waved his hand and led the two injured disciples out.
Arriving at the entrance of Black Wind Valley, he gathered the two Second Realm disciples who were guarding the perimeter. The group quickly transformed into several streaks of light and returned to the Blue Moon Sect.
Meanwhile, Su Yueli was in no hurry to leave Black Wind Valley.
She wandered around and found a hidden, narrow cave deep within the canyon. After sealing the entrance with loose rocks, she collapsed onto the ground.
“Whew...”
Panting heavily, Su Yueli pulled back her right sleeve.
The dark gold fist blade, Xiaohei, on her right hand had dimmed to the extreme, its body still trembling slightly.
As Su Yueli focused her mind, Xiaohei sent her a wave of grievance and fear, as if complaining about how much that clash had hurt.
Su Yueli gently flicked the blade, a pale smile appearing on her lips. “Alright, stop playing pity. If you hadn't withstood most of that beast's force just now, my arm would probably have been shattered to pieces.”
“Once I get the Blood Marrow Pills, you'll get your share of benefits.”
Hearing that there would be Blood Marrow Pills to eat, Xiaohei stopped trembling. The dark gold blood veins on its surface wriggled twice, transmitting a wave of anticipation and excitement.
After comforting Xiaohei, Su Yueli leaned against the stone wall, her brow furrowing slightly.
She was actually wondering if Qi Feng would stand her up after returning to his sect.
After all, those were the materials of a late stage Fourth Realm demon beast, which were of immense value. If he grew greedy and simply never returned, she wouldn't have any good way to deal with it.
But on second thought, cultivators valued karma above all else. Qi Feng's guilt and promise at the time did not seem fake.
Besides, she was now a Tenth Realm Martial God. As long as Qi Feng wasn't a fool, he wouldn't completely offend someone like her over a few martial artist pills.
“I'll trust him this once. If he dares to trick me, I'll go wait outside the Blue Moon Sect and catch him.”
Su Yueli's eyes flashed with determination. She then closed her eyes and began to circulate her blood qi to heal her injuries.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Demonic energy rampaged within Black Wind Valley, but fortunately, no other high-level demon beasts came to disturb her during these two days.
Relying on her powerful physical foundation, the ruptured meridians in Su Yueli's body had mostly healed, and her injuries were largely recovered.
But as she inspected her physical condition, a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes.
“Strange...”
Su Yueli touched her cheek, then carefully examined her dantian and blood qi internally.
According to what her master, Lu Chen, had said back then, the fifth form of the Life Burner Fist Technique, Life Burner, was a forbidden killer move that truly consumed one's lifespan. Once used, it would easily strip away twenty to thirty years of life.
After a mortal martial artist used it, not only would their blood qi wither and their hair turn white, but they would also be left with severe, incurable hidden injuries.
Yet right now, aside from feeling slightly exhausted, her internal blood qi remained as vast and vigorous as a boundless ocean, without a single hidden injury left in her meridians.
Burning thirty years of her lifespan felt like nothing more than scooping a spoonful of water out of the ocean. She felt absolutely nothing.
“Could it be... because I'm immortal?”
Su Yueli rubbed her temples.
When she was forced into the forbidden area thirty-five years ago, she had already lived for nearly a century without aging.
To this day, she still didn't know how much lifespan she actually possessed.
If her lifespan was infinite, wouldn't this Life Burner move be a regular trump card she could use whenever she pleased?
Furthermore, she had only barely touched the threshold of mastery for this fifth form, and was still far from reaching the grand completion stage.
If she could train it to grand completion in the future, the explosive power it unleashed might truly allow her to slay those high-and-mighty, powerful cultivators with a mere mortal body.
Su Yueli stood up, patted the dust off her rear, and clenched her fists.
This nameless fist technique passed down by her master had accompanied her for so many years. It was time to give it a proper name.
“I'll call it Ji Dao.”
Su Yueli looked up at the dark ceiling of the cave, her eyes deep as she murmured, “Master, your fist technique finally has a name now...”
“That fellow Shen Huai'an is already in the late stage of the Fourth Realm. But don't worry, your disciple has a longer life and harder fists than him now. I will thoroughly investigate your blood feud.”
If it really was Shen Huai'an's doing, she would make him pay a hundredfold.
Rustle...
In the silent cave, a faint rustling of footsteps suddenly echoed, accompanied by several powerful auras rapidly approaching her direction.
Su Yueli's eyes narrowed. She instantly concealed all her blood qi, slightly parting the fingers of her right hand as the dark gold fist blade, Xiaohei, slid out from her sleeve once more.
There were three newcomers.
They hadn't noticed Su Yueli hiding inside the cave, but as they passed by the pile of rubble, they seemed to sense some residual traces of battle and stopped in unison.
The light outside the cave was somewhat glaring. Su Yueli squinted her eyes to size them up.
All three wore scarlet robes, with a blazing fire emblem embroidered on the chest.
She recognized these robes; she had seen them earlier at the entrance of Black Wind Valley. They seemed to be disciples of the Chiyang Sect, one of the three great sects.
The leading man was around twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
He was exceptionally tall with healthy bronze skin. He had sharp, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, which occasionally flickered with faint, fiery light as he looked around.
The man exuded a burning, overbearing aura akin to the blazing sun, carrying a strong sense of majesty.
It seemed the three of them had also chased a demon beast to this location.
The leading man scanned the pile of rubble and quickly noticed the displaced stones at the entrance of the hidden cave.
Furrowing his brows, he took a step forward into the cave, coming face-to-face with Su Yueli as she slowly emerged from the shadows.
The man gave the solitary Su Yueli a slightly surprised look, but he conducted himself with great manners.
Stopping in his tracks, he politely cupped his hands to Su Yueli.
“Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Lie Yangfeng, an inner disciple of the Chiyang Sect. May I ask if a heavily injured mid stage Fourth Realm Black Wind Demon Leopard passed by here earlier?”
Hearing that they were hunting a demon beast, Su Yueli shook her head and replied in a cold tone, “I haven't seen it. I only arrived here recently.”
“Is that so? It seems we've lost its trail.”
A flash of disappointment crossed Lie Yangfeng's eyes. He cupped his hands to Su Yueli once more and was about to turn and leave with his two junior brothers.
But the moment he took a step, his body suddenly froze.
As if he had suddenly discovered something unbelievable, Lie Yangfeng turned back in surprise and doubt. His fiery eyes stared intently at Su Yueli, scanning her up and down.
“Wait, fellow Daoist. There doesn't seem to be even a trace of a cultivator's purple mansion spiritual light on you. Are you... a martial artist?”

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