Ning Qi arrived upon hearing the news.
Just as he reached the courtyard outside Jiang Baishan's residence, he heard Senior Brother's hearty laughter:
"Old Five, are you saying you were taken down by a little girl?"
Ning Qi stepped into the courtyard and saw Jiang Baishan's left arm wrapped in layer after layer of white cloth, looking a bit disheveled.
"What happened?"
Ning Qi was a little curious.
He had originally thought something serious had happened, but seeing Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother like this, it didn't seem too bad. In fact, he became more interested in what Jiang Baishan had experienced. As a White Mist Realm expert, it shouldn't be possible for him to end up in such a state.
Jiang Baishan looked even more embarrassed when he saw Ning Qi, but still slowly explained what had happened.
Ning Qi's expression gradually turned strange.
So that was it.
Jiang Baishan had gone down the mountain this time, everything had gone well at first, and he was even gathering information for Ning Qi about tales related to Martial Saints. But one night, while traveling through the mountains, he found a secluded pool and decided to take a bath.
Who would've thought that halfway through, someone else emerged from the other side—and the two found themselves face-to-face, stark naked.
You could imagine the result.
The woman wasn't one to be trifled with either, her cultivation wasn't low. She chased Jiang Baishan with her sword for a month.
Jiang Baishan felt guilty, thinking he had seen her body and thus didn't fight back the whole time. But he hadn't expected her to nearly chop off his left arm with a single sword strike. In the end, he managed to escape only after taking the Blood Ignition Pill Ning Qi had given him.
Ning Qi's expression was odd, while Luo Wentian couldn't help but burst into laughter and tease:
"Old Five, oh Old Five, for someone so decisive in killing, who'd have thought you'd go soft on a woman. Tsk tsk, I bet she must've been drop-dead gorgeous for you to show mercy."
Jiang Baishan's face flushed slightly red, and he growled fiercely:
"B******t! I just felt I was in the wrong, so I held back. Just wait, once I recover and go down the mountain again, I'll give her a proper lesson."
He felt rather humiliated.
Ning Qi chuckled, but still thought that woman was pretty ruthless—she really did try to chop him down. If Fifth Senior Brother hadn't dodged in time, he might've lost an entire arm.
"Fifth Senior Brother, you should heal up first before anything else."
Jiang Baishan slapped his chest and said firmly:
"Little Junior Brother, don't worry. This time I won't hold back. I'll strip that brat naked and toss her into the river!"
The three shared a good laugh, then got down to business.
"Still, on this trip down the mountain, I did notice that the Great Yan Dynasty has changed from a few years ago."
Luo Wentian asked with concern:
"How so?"
He now oversaw many aspects of the Zhenwu Sect and cared a lot about such matters.
"This time I went to Chuzhou. If a few years ago the Demonic Sect was still lurking in the shadows, now it's much more frequent. They're in every prefecture and county. Their influence has spread far and wide. This shows that their century of recuperation shouldn't be underestimated." R̃𝔞ɴǑＢƐś
"The court and the Demonic Sect are locked in a silent struggle. Some regions might even already be under the Demonic Sect's control. I used to think the court had the upper hand, but now I'm not so sure. Their recent cessation of war may have had something to do with this."
After all, no matter how powerful Heaven-Man Realm experts are, if the dynasty's foundation is compromised, it won't be able to last.
You can't exactly solve everything with one Heaven-Man attack that levels a city.
The Great Yan clearly doesn't want its territories turned into wastelands and is trying to find a solution.
"Besides that, the martial world is far more chaotic than before. Many martial sects have started settling old scores and purging rivals while the court and Demonic Sect are distracted. There are way more conflicts now. You often hear about entire sects being wiped out. This world is on the verge of chaos."
"Who knows if it'll end up like a hundred years ago, when the Great Yan Martial Saint stepped in and stabilized the realm."
At this point, Jiang Baishan lowered his voice:
"Now there are whispers in the martial world suggesting the Great Yan Martial Saint has already fallen. But no one knows for sure."
Luo Wentian looked a little worried.
He was thinking about what the Zhenwu Sect should do in such a situation.
Although they had Master and the Heavenly Sword True Person—both Heaven-Man Realm experts—they still had to tread carefully.
Ning Qi just listened quietly.
He actually felt that this chaotic situation would likely last a long time. It was far from being resolved. From how the court and the Demonic Sect had held back, it was clear both sides were still restraining themselves, still preparing something.
As for the Great Yan Martial Saint's supposed fall?
Ning Qi thought it probably wasn't true. If he were in the same position and approaching the end of his life, he'd at least clear the path for future generations. It wouldn't make sense to just disappear quietly.
Ning Qi wasn't too worried.
Give it another two or three years. As long as he stepped into the Heaven-Man Realm, protecting the Zhenwu Sect wouldn't be difficult.
Jiang Baishan's injuries weren't too serious. After a month of recovery, he went down the mountain again, full of fire and determined to redeem himself. He even patted his chest and promised Ning Qi that this time he'd bring back more information about the Martial Saint Realm.
Ning Qi just nodded with a smile, and gave him two more Blood Ignition Pills, reminding him to stay safe.
He wasn't too concerned—Jiang Baishan was strong, and Ning Qi had seen the wound. It looked nasty, but the other party had clearly held back. It felt more like a grudge between rivals.
…
Time passed quietly.
Autumn gradually arrived.
Thanks to the combined effect of the Millennium Sunfire Jade and Bloodsun Ganoderma, Daoist Longshan's injuries finally healed—much faster than expected.
He hadn't forgotten his promise to Ning Qi. After informing Ning Qi of his condition, he quietly left the mountain to track down the Blood Rain Pavilion.
Such assassin organizations were extremely well hidden.
Destroying them wasn't hard with their strength, but the key was to first find them—and to find the culprit who had wiped out Xue Mei Manor.
Fortunately, Daoist Longshan had plenty of friends who could help.
Ning Qi was very grateful.
If he had to do it all on his own, it would've taken a lot of effort—and he might not even have found anything.
In his free time, he began simplifying several of his secret arts to pass on to Daoist Longshan. Not because he didn't want to share the full versions, but because others simply couldn't grasp them with their level of comprehension.
As for the many martial secret techniques Ning Qi had placed in the Scripture Pavilion, he had already told Daoist Longshan about them, and through him, informed Luo Wentian to handle them properly.
Although he wanted the Zhenwu disciples to grow stronger, there had to be a system in place. If everyone slacked off, relying solely on ready-made secret arts, the sect would be doomed.
During this time—
Just after Ning Qi took his sixth Golden Jade Pill, Ye Qinghe also returned to the mountain.
Her situation was much better than Jiang Baishan's. She had found an opportunity during her trip and was on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Origin Realm. Now that she was back, all she needed was a Condensed Qi Pill to speed up the process and become Zhenwu Sect's fourth Qi Origin Realm expert.
However—
Before going into seclusion, Ye Qinghe came to find Ning Qi.
"Little Nine, while I was traveling, I passed through a small town and heard an old blind man tell a story about a Martial Saint. They say that place was his hometown. Someone once glimpsed the Martial Saint in his old age—a flash of brilliance, impossibly aged. Apparently, he never ascended, and vanished without a trace."
"This story has been passed around for many years. No one knows how true it is."
Ye Qinghe looked a little embarrassed.
She had left the mountain with great ambition, only to find out how little information there was about Martial Saints. This was the only story that even slightly resembled something useful.
She felt like she'd let Little Junior Brother down.
Ning Qi asked her for the location of that small town and said he loved hearing stories like that. Only then did Ye Qinghe brighten up.
After she left, Ning Qi fell into deep thought.
There were at least two details in the story worth pondering.
"First, if the Martial Saint had fully achieved unity of essence, energy, and spirit, then even facing death, his body shouldn't decay... unless he suffered a major injury?"
"Second, he didn't ascend? Was his cultivation not enough, or was there another reason?"
Ning Qi silently recorded these details.
He just put a question mark in his mind for now. After all, this was just a tale Ye Qinghe had heard, with no way to confirm its truth. If the chance came, he'd go visit the town himself.
Shaking his head—
Ning Qi set the matter aside.
This would be a long journey of discovery. If he still couldn't find any more records on the Martial Saint Realm later, he'd set out himself—but only after he reached the Heaven-Man Realm.
Only then would he have enough confidence.
Turning his gaze inward—
His internal Qi had grown massively compared to when he first entered the White Mist Realm. Mist swirled within his dantian, now gleaming faintly. After months of cultivation, aided by the Heaven-Earth Grinding Qi Refinement Method and Golden Jade Pills, his progress was shockingly fast.
If anyone saw the sheer volume of Qi in Ning Qi's body, they'd be utterly stunned.
"This is the last Golden Jade Pill. In half a month to a month, I can try turning the White Mist into Jade Liquid."
Ning Qi was looking forward to it.
This was a qualitative transformation.
Jade Liquid Realm Qi was far more powerful and began developing a subtle spirituality. For most cultivators, that meant their Qi would simply become more agile—but with Ning Qi's astonishingly vast Qi reserves, it might result in something far more extraordinary, perhaps even allowing him to achieve feats previously impossible.
…
Time trickled on.
Outside the Seeking Dao Courtyard, the peach trees withered, their vitality fading. Cold winds howled, and a few snowflakes had already begun to fall.
Ning Qi stood inside the courtyard, experimenting with improvements to the Qingxuan Bodyguard Technique.
A faint green glow appeared on his skin, occasionally solidifying with a sense of heavy resistance. He had also infused it with the intent of mountains and the Black Turtle, greatly increasing its defense—already reaching 70% of the Qingxuan Treasure Armor's power.
"But… this is the limit."
Ning Qi sighed.
Pushing further would yield diminishing returns. He'd spend immense time for only marginal gains—not worth it.
The root cause—
Was the quality of his Qi. It had a ceiling.
Even a sheet of paper, no matter how you fold it, has a limit. Replace it with iron, and it's a whole different story.
To make the Qingxuan Bodyguard Technique stronger, he had to upgrade the quality of his Qi.
Fortunately, that wasn't hard.
Ning Qi smiled faintly.
With his hands behind his back, he looked up at the sky. The snowflakes fell more steadily now. He willed it—and instantly entered the Unity of Heaven and Man state.
Heaven and Earth Grinding force gathered around him.
His vast and unbelievable Qi began to spin in a strange rhythm. The True Qi of All Phenomena circulated, the white mist continuously compressing and condensing. Everything happened naturally, without effort.
Drip!
Inside his dantian, a droplet of jade-glowing liquid fell. Ripples of Qi spread outward, signaling the beginning of transformation.
This was how White Mist turned into Jade Liquid.