Chapter 11

In order to gain the right to live alone outside, Xiaoming was willing to lie. Naturally, it was for the purpose of practicing the martial arts in the *Nine Yin Manual*. After a month of arduous practice, the current Xiaoming was no longer the novice who knew nothing about martial arts.

With Xiaoming's current strength, even among the third-generation disciples of the Quanzhen Sect, he had already surpassed most of them. Compared to core disciples like Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, there might be a slight gap, but compared to the others, he was not inferior at all.

Up until now, Xiaoming's patience had reached its limit. Although the lower volume of the *Nine Yin Manual* did not contain internal cultivation techniques, it encompassed a wide range of martial arts, including whip techniques, sword techniques, palm techniques, fist techniques, and lightness skills. Apart from the Spiral Nine Shadows lightness skill, which Xiaoming had already started to practice, he did not dare to touch the others... The feeling of being unable to enter a treasure mountain was extremely frustrating.

Now that he could finally go out at will, Xiaoming was naturally very excited. He dragged Yin Zhiping, the only fellow disciple he knew, to the Quanzhen Sect kitchen to fetch a month's worth of ingredients, and took his daily change of clothes, then rushed down the mountain with great enthusiasm.

Both of them were accomplished martial artists with internal cultivation, and in just one day, a simple wooden house was already built, thanks to Yin Zhiping's help. Otherwise, Xiaoming alone would have been busy until dawn the next day.

To show his gratitude, Xiaoming personally hunted a wild chicken and cooked it for his guest. He was not short of money and bought plenty of spices to aid in the cooking. The roasted chicken was naturally fragrant and delicious. Yin Zhiping, holding half a roasted chicken, had his mouth full of oil. Looking at Xiaoming, who was sitting opposite and eating heartily, he suddenly felt that living at the foot of the mountain was indeed much happier than living on the mountain. At least, the fragrant wild game was something he could never taste on the mountain.

However, Yin Zhiping was a well-behaved child. If he were to live at the foot of the mountain and enjoy special treatment, he would never do it. He could only occasionally think about it.

After finishing the roasted chicken, he patted his bloated stomach and made a deal with Xiaoming to often bring some wild game up the mountain to reward him. Satisfied, Yin Zhiping burped and returned to the mountain.

It was the time when the moon was just rising. The luxurious life of his previous life had already made Xiaoming accustomed to not sleeping until the early hours of the morning. Even though he was now in the ancient times, where spiritual life was extremely impoverished, he had not changed this habit.

Without computers and the internet, without QQ and games, but with martial arts, Xiaoming rested for a moment, then drew the long sword standard for the third-generation disciples of the Quanzhen Sect and began practicing sword techniques in the middle of the night.

In the hazy moonlight, a young man in a blue Daoist robe was leisurely practicing sword techniques by the lake. His figure was graceful and his movements were free and easy. The sword shadow flickered, sometimes like a dragon emerging from a cave, sometimes like a demon diving into the sea, indescribably natural... At the end of the practice, the figure and the sword light merged, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other... If someone were to see it, they would surely marvel at how, despite his young age, the young man had already grasped the essence of the Quanzhen sword technique, displaying a masterful style.

After finishing a set of Quanzhen sword techniques, sweat had already formed on Xiaoming's forehead. He held the long sword and went to the lakeside, scooped up a handful of lake water to wash his face, and even drank a few sips. The unpolluted lake water was clean and clear, tasting incredibly refreshing and slightly sweet, far better than the water in the future.

While he was lost in thought, Xiaoming suddenly noticed something strange in the reflection on the lake. Among the patches of branches behind him, there seemed to be a black shadow that looked like a human figure...

"Who's there!?"

Xiaoming shouted, and with a reverse grip, he threw the long sword straight at the black shadow behind him.

After throwing the long sword, Xiaoming turned around and saw that someone was indeed standing casually on the treetop, swaying gently with the branches. Just this lightness skill made Xiaoming feel a chill. He had already made some progress with the Spiral Nine Shadows, but even so, he could not achieve such ease and freedom... It seemed that the person's martial arts were far superior to his.

Sure enough, in the face of Xiaoming's full-force thrown sword, the person just waved his sleeve and sent the long sword flying back.

Xiaoming caught the flying sword, raised the tip, and used the "Moon Over the Lake" technique from the Quanzhen sword technique to attack the person.

At this moment, the moon shifted, and the moonlight shone on the person, revealing a light blue Daoist robe and a face with a long beard. The person turned out to be Qiu Chuji.

Xiaoming immediately relaxed, exerted force with his wrist, and curved the sword back into the scabbard.

Qiu Chuji nodded inwardly. The ability to casually retract a fully exerted sword technique was already a sign of excellence among the third-generation disciples.

Although Qiu Chuji was very satisfied inwardly, his face remained expressionless. He said coldly, "Do you know how big a mistake you have made?"

Xiaoming was about to complain about being scared, but the other party had already taken the initiative. Hearing Qiu Chuji's words, he thought for a moment and then asked tentatively, "I shouldn't have thrown the sword?"

"Exactly. I have already shown you my superior lightness skill. If I were your enemy, you would have no hope of escaping. With a sword in your hand, you might still have a chance to fight back, but you threw the sword as a projectile. If I had sent the sword flying far away, what would you do? Would you fight me with your bare hands, given that your skills are all based on the sword?"

Xiaoming nodded in agreement. Qiu Chuji's words made sense. He said sincerely, "Thank you, Master, for your guidance. I have learned my lesson."

Seeing Xiaoming's good attitude, Qiu Chuji nodded in satisfaction and praised him, "However, your diligence is indeed commendable. I came to check if you were used to living alone, and I didn't expect you to still be practicing sword techniques. Your progress in the Quanzhen sword technique in just one month is remarkable. Your talent is even better than I imagined! Bringing you to the Quanzhen Sect was indeed the right decision."

After saying this, Qiu Chuji's face showed a sense of沧桑 (沧桑 means "沧桑" in Chinese, which can be translated as "the vicissitudes of life" or "the passage of time"). He looked up at the moon and sighed, "In the blink of an eye, it has been sixteen years... You are already sixteen years old. Time flies so quickly!"

Xiaoming laughed foolishly, but inwardly he thought, "Bro, I was already sixteen ten years ago. I'm just a old cucumber painted green, pretending to be young. Although my real age isn't as old as yours, I could still be your brother. But the power of the main god has made me ten years younger, which you can't envy."

Qiu Chuji, of course, did not know what Xiaoming was thinking. He said, "Before I came here, I thought for a long time and decided to tell you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

Qiu Chuji asked, "Do you know your own background?"

Yang Kang's background? Xiaoming immediately understood what it was about...

After thinking for a moment, he felt that as Yang Kang, he shouldn't know this, but then he thought that Qiu Lao Dao seemed to want to tell him about Yang Kang's background. If he pretended not to know, he would have to act surprised later, and if he didn't act convincingly enough, he might be exposed... It would be better to admit it directly.

After thinking this, Xiaoming said straightforwardly, "Is it about who my biological father is?"

Qiu Chuji was surprised and asked, "How did you know? When I wanted to tell you, your mother was afraid that you, being young and lacking in tact, might reveal something and incur the displeasure of Wanyan Honglie, leading to his harm. Therefore, she firmly prevented me from telling you. Did she tell you?"

Xiaoming lied, "No, but once, when she was seriously ill and unconscious in bed, I heard her rambling and talking about the past. That's how I found out. To avoid worrying her, I pretended not to know all these years."

This statement could not be verified, and Qiu Chuji had no choice but to believe it. Qiu Lao Dao sighed and said, "It seems you are a filial child. To be honest, I feel guilty for what happened to the Guo and Yang families back then. Now that both of your families' children have grown up safely, my guilt has decreased somewhat."

Qiu Chuji gazed at the moon and sighed for a long time. Then he said, "Do you know that back then, I made a bet with the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. I went to find the orphan of the Yang family, and they went to find the orphan of the Guo family. We agreed to have a martial arts competition between the two families' children after eighteen years to prove who was more skilled, me or the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan... To be honest, it was a provocation, but do you know? This simple provocation led to the death of one of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, and the other six were stranded in the desert. Although they found the child of the Guo family, sixteen years in the desert is a long time. How many sixteen years does a person have? Now, I feel that I have wronged them!"

As he spoke, Qiu Chuji recalled what his senior brother had said to him earlier, "Junior brother, I know you are competitive and unwilling to admit defeat, but this time, I hope you will take the initiative to admit defeat. The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan have put in so much effort for this competition. Our Quanzhen Sect owes them a great deal. If you win this competition, wouldn't it make their years of hard work in vain? I beg you, admit defeat!"

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