Chapter 32

Relying on the Quanzhen true qi he had cultivated through months of ascetic practice, Su Yi, in one breath, successfully cultivated the first volume of the *Nine Yang Manual*.

After all the true qi in his body was converted into Nine Yang true qi, he felt the true qi flowing within him, surging ceaselessly. Compared to before, his strength had increased by more than just a notch or two.

With his internal cultivation method now greatly improved, Su Yi no longer rushed to search for other supreme martial arts. Instead, he settled down in the small inn, dedicating himself to the study of the second volume of the *Nine Yang Manual* every day.

The *Nine Yang Manual* was profound and intricate, with every word and sentence containing mysteries that were hard for ordinary people to understand. His rapid success in cultivating the first volume was purely due to good fortune. Starting from the second volume, Su Yi's progress slowed down, but he was not anxious. Cultivating internal skills was a process that required patience. His classmate Xiao Zhang, who had laid such a solid foundation, still spent five years to fully master the four volumes of the manual.

Su Yi had plenty of time, and he could take his time to comprehend it without rushing.

Especially in the second volume, there was a phrase: "Inhale and exhale the Nine Yang, embrace the One and contain the Primordial."

According to Su Yi's estimation, if he could successfully cultivate the second volume, the Nine Yang true qi in his body should reach the initial stage of completion. At that point, the true qi would circulate spontaneously, endlessly, and even during battles, it could still replenish itself.

Therefore, Su Yi planned to complete the cultivation of the second volume of the *Nine Yang Manual* in the inn before considering other matters.

Thus, Su Yi once again displayed the dedication he had shown in his gaming days. For two whole months, he diligently cultivated the *Nine Yang Manual* in the inn. During his free time, he would only go out for a brief stroll to relax. Although the life was monotonous, for a homebody like him, this kind of life was sweet!

Two months later.

Su Yi sat quietly on the bed, embracing the One and maintaining his focus, quietly cultivating. His breathing was now extremely long and deep, clearly indicating significant progress in his internal strength.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The breath turned into a white mist that lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate.

This was already a very high level of internal cultivation, but the person who produced the breath seemed unsatisfied.

"Sigh... I didn't expect the *Nine Yang Manual* to be so abstruse. After two months of hard cultivation, I've only managed to cultivate half of the second volume..."

Su Yi couldn't help but sigh. The *Nine Yang Manual* became increasingly difficult to cultivate the further he progressed. Although his two months of hard work had brought him more progress than his previous six months of cultivating the Quanzhen true qi, he had recently felt that his progress in the *Nine Yang Manual* had significantly slowed down.

"Have I already hit a bottleneck so quickly?" Su Yi scratched his head in frustration. He had hoped to complete the second volume in the inn, but it seemed that if he wanted to finish it, it would take at least another six months!

It seemed he would indeed need to rely on those rare treasures!

Su Yi was no ordinary person; his mind worked faster than a wheel. Realizing that mere hard practice wasn't enough, he immediately thought of relying on external aids. He instantly recalled the Bosuqiao snakes and the large viper raised by Liang Ziweng outside Xiangyang City.

Both types of venomous snakes were rare treasures. The large viper, with its extremely potent venom, had been raised by Liang Ziweng for twenty years, fed on various rare herbs, and its venom had long been transformed into medicinal properties. It was arguably the most valuable snake in the world. However, Su Yi hadn't returned home for over half a year and wasn't sure if Liang Ziweng had already joined Wanyan Honglie's ranks.

The Bosuqiao snakes, on the other hand, were abundant outside Xiangyang City. Su Yi's future son, Yang Guo, had eaten them for a long time and still hadn't finished. More importantly, Su Yi had long been coveting the *Nine Swords of Dugu*.

"Alright! I'll set out for Xiangyang tomorrow!" After a brief moment of thought, Su Yi made up his mind. After all, there were fortune points to be gained and a supreme sword technique to be learned. What more could he ask for?

Su Yi had already reached the initial stage of completion in the *Phantom Sword Technique*, but every time he practiced it, he gained new insights. He felt it was truly the most supreme sword technique in the world. The *Nine Swords of Dugu* was even more powerful than the *Phantom Sword Technique*. What kind of sword technique was it?

Among all weapons, Su Yi loved swords the most. Now that he had the opportunity to obtain the strongest sword technique in the world, how could he not be excited? However, his internal strength was still weak, and he had just started the *Nine Yang Manual*, so he had to suppress his eagerness and focus on cultivating his internal skills.

Now that the *Nine Yang Manual* had reached a bottleneck, it was inevitable that he would have to make a trip outside Xiangyang City.

While he was deep in thought, Su Yi's ears twitched. His internal strength had grown significantly, and although it still couldn't match that of renowned top-notch experts, it was already on par with the weakest of the Quanzhen Seven, such as Sun Budan.

With his advanced internal skills, his senses were naturally sharp. Even without deliberately eavesdropping, he seemed to have heard something.

Focusing his true qi into his ears, Su Yi's hearing became much clearer. He concentrated and heard people discussing something in the backyard.

"I've been eyeing this fat sheep for a long time. Once the deal is done, I want fifty percent!" A sharp voice said vaguely, seemingly negotiating the split.

"No way, such a big fat sheep, can you even handle fifty percent?"

"Hmph, exactly, with so many brothers here, can you really take half?"

Fat sheep? Such a professional term, it seems the inn has been infiltrated by bandits...

Su Yi immediately perked up, rubbing his chin with interest and continuing to listen intently.

What followed was a series of haggling. The owner of the sharp voice argued about how hard he had worked to scout and why he should get more, while the others refused to agree... The situation almost escalated into a physical fight.

As the argument grew more intense, before they could even get to the fat sheep, they were about to turn on each other. Suddenly, a deep voice spoke up.

"Everyone, stop arguing, listen to me for a moment..."

The last speaker seemed to have great authority. Once he spoke, everyone fell silent.

He continued, "We haven't been involved in such dirty work for years. We all know how much we suffered to clean up our past. Now, seeing such a big fat sheep, I understand why you're tempted. After all, if we pull this off, we won't have to worry about food and drink, and we can enjoy a life of luxury... We won't have to do this exhausting business anymore..."

He paused and continued, "But, I want to make one thing clear. I won't stop you if you want to do it, but I won't be involved this time. It's not easy to live a peaceful life, and I don't want to go back to the days of constant fear and being hunted. I want to live honestly as an innkeeper and have a peaceful life. Besides, my nephew is about to be born, and I need to accumulate some good karma for him!"

Innkeeper? Su Yi was shocked. Damn, is this a black inn? I've been staying here for two months without realizing it, how stupid can I be?

Angrily pounding his forehead, Su Yi continued to listen carefully.

The sharp voice said, "Since the boss doesn't want to do it, we won't force you. Don't worry, boss, we'll take the fat sheep far away and kill him, then disappear immediately. We won't drag you into it!"

At this point, Su Yi recognized the voice. It was the waiter who had been serving him all along. He never expected this guy to be a former bandit.

"Don't be too confident..." the boss, who was also the innkeeper, warned, "This guy has been staying in the inn for two months, rarely leaving his room. From what I can see, he's likely an internal expert, cultivating here... Be careful, or you might end up in a ditch!"

"Hehe..." the waiter laughed sinisterly, "Boss, this guy is young, how skilled can he be... Besides, you forget, I've been serving him for two months. I've already given him a sedative. He hasn't even noticed it yet. With such a poor mind, how skilled can his martial arts be..."

"You've been planning this all along?" The innkeeper looked around, seeing the sinister smiles on his brothers' faces, and sighed.

"Fine, do what you want. I'm old and won't get involved in these dirty things anymore."

Saying this, he sighed repeatedly, and the sound of footsteps indicated he was leaving.

Then the waiter's voice said, "Alright, for the boss's sake, we'll split the gold and jewels evenly. Don't say I'm not taking care of you..."

"That's how it should be..."

"Right, if you had said that earlier, it would have been settled..."

Everyone was now satisfied.

After listening for so long, how could Su Yi not understand? He stared at his nose in shock, realizing that the fat sheep they were talking about was him!