Chapter 29

"Hmm?"

Jiang Yi's eyes suddenly turned cold, not because the other party wanted him to join their family, but because Yi Longyu mentioned the Jiang family.

However, Jiang Yi soon understood. Since Yi Longyu was the strongest of the younger generation of the Yi family, he was clearly very familiar with the Jiang family's martial techniques, so it was normal for him to easily recognize that Jiang Yi was using the Jiang family's martial techniques.

He remained silent for a moment before firmly refusing, "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Yi, but I am of low status and do not deserve Miss Lingxue."

Yi Longyu smiled and walked out without saying much more. After a few steps, he turned and smiled, "You are indeed mysterious. After fighting with you, my Flowing Cloud Hands have improved somewhat. If I fight with you a few more times, I might achieve great success. Rest assured... I will keep this secret for you. However, as compensation, I and the young disciples of the Yi family will often ask you to practice with us. I hope you will give it your all every time."

"His martial techniques have improved again? Could it be that this black essence energy is really that mysterious? The problem is, the black essence energy is in my body, and I just fought with them. How could their martial techniques have any insight? It's too mysterious..."

Martial artists gain insights into martial techniques through comprehension and hard practice. Generally, as long as one has sufficient comprehension, achieving mastery in any martial technique is just a matter of time. If one's comprehension is insufficient, even a lifetime of hard practice may not lead to proficiency. In this training room, with essence energy sealed, one relies solely on physical strength and martial techniques to fight, which helps in mastering martial techniques to some extent, but it is absolutely impossible to achieve great success just by practicing a few times.

What's the problem?

Jiang Yi didn't know, and at that moment, Manager Yang and Elder Fei, who were sitting in a secret room, also didn't know. They had been observing Jiang Yi's battles with others for a long time. They saw how Lingxue's various martial techniques rapidly improved, and they had analyzed it for a long time but could not figure it out.

"Elder Fei, have you figured anything out?"

Manager Yang watched the battle between Jiang Yi and Yi Longyu on the wall twice, his old face full of confusion. He could only seek help from this elderly man, who was highly powerful and influential in the Martial Hall.

Elder Fei, with his white hair and beard, had a ruddy complexion, a typical example of a crane-haired, child-faced person. He shook his head slightly and sighed, "I can't understand it. I think only the Hall Master can see through this. The Hall Master will return in half a month. During this time, the Yi family will likely keep finding this boy to practice with. Record every battle and wait for the Hall Master to return."

"Yes!"

Manager Yang nodded and then mentioned another matter, "Elder Fei, this boy's cultivation speed is very fast. His current cultivation speed is not much worse than the top geniuses in the city. The strange thing is, if this boy has always had such a fast cultivation speed, why was his realm so low before? I remember a few months ago he was only at the first level of the Cauldron Casting Realm, and now he will likely break through to the fourth level of the Cauldron Casting Realm in less than a month."

"So fast?"

Elder Fei's white eyebrows twitched, and soon a look of regret appeared on his face, "Even if he can reach the speed of the Ji family's girl, it won't be of any use! Unless the main hall cultivates him with top-tier resources, but do you think the higher-ups will agree? There are many geniuses on this continent who are five or ten times more extraordinary than him..."

Manager Yang nodded and said no more. As the unofficial king of the continent's merchant guilds, the Martial Hall had too many resources and too many choices. Ordinary geniuses were not even worth a second glance.

In the following days, the Yi family indeed took turns to find Jiang Yi for practice, but only three people entered the Martial Hall each day. Each person who fought with Jiang Yi for half an hour would leave. Jiang Yi suffered greatly every day. Each practice session consumed three filters of black essence energy, and he had to refine three more filters, which slowed down his cultivation speed and the speed of breaking the seal runes.

A slower cultivation speed was not a big issue, but the Yi family's grand actions would eventually attract others' attention. If the Ma family found out, his identity would no longer be hidden...

But Manager Yang showed no concern, and Jiang Yi could only grit his teeth and go on. Fortunately, Ma Heiqi and Liu He did not cause him any trouble, which gave him some relief.

Ten days later, the Yi family's frequent actions finally caught the attention of other young masters and misses. Some people started to specifically request Jiang Yi for practice. Those who sought Jiang Yi were at least at the fourth or fifth level of the Cauldron Casting Realm. Without using black essence energy, Jiang Yi could only be beaten. However, after he used black essence energy, the four young masters and misses who sought him out seemed to have discovered a new continent and began to find Jiang Yi for practice every day, just like the Yi family.

The Yi family saw the situation and increased the number of family members sent each day from three to six, making it even harder to avoid attracting attention. People started to queue up to find Jiang Yi for practice...

"This is going to end badly..."

Jiang Yi felt like dying. Every night, he cultivated ten strands of black essence energy, but he had no chance to break the seal. The power of the enhancement pills was all consumed in practice. Moreover, the number of people queuing up to find him was increasing, and he feared that ten strands of black essence energy would not be enough. Most importantly, one of the people seeking him for practice was a Miss from the Ma family...

Jiang Yi found Manager Yang, but he had no solution. He was just a small manager and could not afford to offend any young master or miss. He could only let Jiang Yi endure, but he did raise his pay threefold.

Sssss!

Half a month later, a special guest arrived in the training room. It was a middle-aged man, tall and robust, wearing a dark blue robe with black edges, with a square head and large ears, exuding a natural aura of dominance. He had a silver earring on his left ear, which looked quite peculiar.

"Welcome, Hall Master!"

After the middle-aged man appeared, Manager Yang and the guards and servants in the training room all knelt on one knee. All the practice partners hurriedly knelt and shouted in unison, and two young masters also bowed their heads.

"Deputy Hall Master of Tianyu City's Martial Hall?"

Jiang Yi's heart trembled as he felt the mountain-like aura of the middle-aged man. His breathing quickened. This was the second strongest person in Tianyu City, second only to Ji Tian, and also a peak Purple Mansion Realm expert. The Grand Elder's ranking was even lower than his.

"Hmm?"

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall strode in and suddenly stopped near Jiang Yi. His tiger-like eyes swept over, and his sword-like eyebrows raised as he asked in a deep voice, "Why don't you kneel?"

Being scanned by the Hall Master, Jiang Yi felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his body and soul trembling. Under the mountain-like aura, he felt suffocated, his legs trembling, almost unable to resist and falling to his knees.

Despite this, Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and struggled, managing to say a few words with difficulty, "My great-grandfather said... a man's knees are worth more than gold, and can only kneel to heaven, earth, and parents!"

"Hmph!"

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall grunted heavily but said nothing, retracting his gaze and aura and walking straight into a small room. Manager Yang hurriedly stood up, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, gave Jiang Yi a slightly reproachful look, and rushed into the small room.

"Phew..."

Jiang Yi let out a long breath, his body swaying, almost falling over. He found his back drenched in sweat. He secretly marveled at the power of a peak Purple Mansion Realm expert. If the Hall Master wanted to kill him, he could probably crush him with his aura alone. The Grand Elder had always been kind to him and never revealed his aura, so he had never taken it seriously. Now, he deeply understood the power of such a strong expert.

In the small secret room, Manager Yang immediately activated the array mechanism and played the footage of Jiang Yi's battles with others, explaining quietly.

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall sat there like a tiger or a dragon, saying nothing, his eyes fixed on the footage on the wall. After a full hour, he waved his hand and said, "That's enough, no need to watch more!"

Manager Yang hurriedly walked over, activated his essence energy, and pressed the mechanism on the wall, turning to smile apologetically, "Hall Master, based on my and Elder Fei's judgment, the martial artists who have practiced with Jiang Yi recently have all made rapid progress in their martial techniques. We have studied it for a long time but cannot figure out the reason. Have you discovered anything, Hall Master?"

"Unfortunately..."

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall shook his head, the silver circular earring on his left ear jingling, and he sneered, "Jiang Yunshan, the fool, has actually wasted a Earth Spirit Body. If he had discovered and cultivated it five or eight years ago, the Jiang family would definitely have gained another Purple Mansion Realm expert, and even the first Divine Traveling Realm expert in Tianyu City might have been born. With Jiang Yunhai missing, the Jiang family seems destined to be destroyed by this fool, Jiang Yunshan."

"Jiang Yunshan, an Earth Spirit Body?"

Manager Yang was stunned. He had long seen that Jiang Yi was a descendant of the Jiang family. The Shadow Fist, Illusion Step, and Silk Hand techniques that Yi Longyu recognized as belonging to the Jiang family, how could Manager Yang not recognize them? He was surprised by the latter, as he had never heard of an Earth Spirit Body before. He asked in confusion, "Hall Master, what is an Earth Spirit Body? I have heard of Fire Spirit Body and Water Spirit Body."

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall paused and explained, "There are many innate Spirit Bodies in this world, such as the Fire Spirit Body, which accelerates the cultivation of fire-based techniques, and the Water Spirit Body, Wood Spirit Body, Metal Spirit Body, and so on. These Spirit Bodies are relatively common and known to the world. However, there are three very rare Spirit Bodies: the Earth Spirit Body, the Heaven Spirit Body, and the Divine Spirit Body!"

"These three Spirit Bodies are naturally in harmony with heaven and earth, extremely extraordinary! Even the lowest-level Earth Spirit Body can comprehend the Heavenly Dao patterns much faster than others, and there are almost no bottlenecks when breaking through realms. They can comprehend martial techniques especially quickly, and... when they use martial techniques, they can naturally bring a trace of Heavenly Dao patterns, which makes the people they fight with unconsciously gain faster insights into martial techniques. You should know that all the martial techniques in this world are derived from Heavenly Dao patterns. So, when people fight with this boy, they unconsciously immerse themselves in Heavenly Dao patterns, how can their comprehension of martial techniques be slow?"

"Dao patterns! This..."

Manager Yang trembled, his face full of shock. Comprehending the Heavenly Dao was an unattainable goal for him, even for Divine Traveling Realm experts. He never imagined that a mere fallen descendant of the Jiang family could naturally bring a trace of Heavenly Dao patterns when using martial techniques.

"Hmph, what's so surprising about this? Our Martial Hall has not only Earth Spirit Bodies but also many Heaven Spirit Bodies. Moreover, this boy's Spirit Body is clearly wasted. He is only at the third level of the Cauldron Casting Realm, and his achievements in this life are limited."

The Hall Master of the Martial Hall glanced at Manager Yang and said in a deep voice, "I forgot to tell you one thing. As the realm of these three Spirit Bodies increases, they require more and more spirit energy. So, even if the Martial Hall cultivates this boy with all its resources, his strength will be at most at the Purple Mansion Realm. And without reaching the peak of the Divine Traveling Realm, comprehending Dao patterns is no different from not comprehending them..."