Mortal Saint

Chapter 64: Chapter 63: Nourishing Stance and Concealing Martial Arts, Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance! Unlocked in an Instant, Is My Disciple a Reincarnated Sword Master?

The sun was high in the sky.

Inside the Duan Residence.

Ji Xiu slowly woke.

The first thing he saw was Duan Chenzhou, sitting upright at his desk and poring over a book. The memory of what had just happened made his scalp tingle.

’In a single day!’

’He’d actually tempered his bones three times in a row!’

’By the end, his mind had grown so hazy he couldn’t even speak clearly. He could only rely on pure instinct, refining his Mercury Blood and hammering away at his spine again and again.’

’But...’

Ji Xiu vaguely remembered...

’He was sure he’d lost his voice by the end, but Master Duan had simply pretended not to hear. A single slap from that large palm had pushed him all the way to completing the first volume of the Silver Carp Transformation.’

As this memory surfaced, he realized that someone had dressed him at some point.

He gently pushed himself up from the bed and began to speak. "Master Duan..."

The words had barely left his mouth when a jolt of shock ran through him. His body felt incredibly light. It was as if his spine itself was propping up his meridians and Mercury Blood; a slight shrug sent an endless torrent of Force surging through him.

"You’re awake?"

Duan Chenzhou glanced over, setting down the old book in his hands.

"Last night, I hunted over a dozen Little Demons—all of them sentient and blooded, with cultivation ranging from Bone Marrow to Bone Tempering."

"I didn’t find any ’Hundred Years’ demons affected by the Abyss Ruins, but I was able to collect their Heart Blood. It was more than enough for a complete blood replacement for you."

"One blood replacement and three rounds of bone breaking have allowed you to forge the ’Spinal Dragon’ and achieve the Iron Bone state ahead of schedule."

"This is an accomplishment others couldn’t hope to achieve even after several tries."

"As you are now, provided your techniques are solid, you can take on anyone short of an expert at Bone Tempering Perfection—the kind who’s reached the Iron Bone state and is impervious to weapons. Even if your opponent is at the Great Success stage..."

"...you could kill them with a single punch!"

"Here. Take this."

He tossed the book he was holding.

It landed squarely in the young man’s hands. He had just gotten to his feet and had been staring at his own palms for a good while, marveling at the unending stream of blood, qi, and essence within them.

"What’s this?"

Ji Xiu was taken aback.

"Sword Formulas."

Duan Chenzhou replied, his voice casual.

"Sword Formulas..."

"The Secret Martial Art: Crescent Celestial Saber!?"

"Master, you finally acknowledge me! Are you going to teach me our school’s ultimate technique, the Sect’s Martial Arts?"

Ji Xiu’s spirits soared. He was instantly energized. The moment his fingers closed around the ancient book, he leaped to his feet.

But with his newly transformed flesh and bones, and his Mercury Blood roiling like signal smoke, he was as nimble as an ape.

Even without the aid of a Light Body Skill, his leap nearly sent him crashing into the ceiling beams, making Duan Chenzhou jump up and slam his hand on the desk.

"Be more careful! Now that your body is forged, leaping over eaves, running up walls, and jumping twenty or thirty feet at a time will be trivial for you!"

"I’ve spent a fortune training you, and it’s not like we have any ’business’ coming in right now. If you break the roof, are you going to pay for it?"

He snorted.

"You’ve never seen the world, boy. Do you have any idea how precious a Secret Martial Dao is? In Jiangyin Prefecture, you couldn’t get one for a thousand pieces of gold! It’s not something money can buy."

"Besides..."

His expression softened slightly.

"It’s not that I won’t teach it to you. With your current physical vessel and your level of attainment in Saber Technique, you wouldn’t be able to handle it, let alone unleash its true essence."

"If you haven’t reached Great Success in the Power Barrier and your Sword Realm hasn’t reached the second stage, you’d never be able to comprehend the ’Sword Essence’ within the Secret Inheritance."

’Great Success in the Power Barrier, and a second-stage Sword Realm?’

’The Power Barrier relates to Flesh, Bone, and Skin. So what’s the second stage of the Sword Realm...?’

Ji Xiu sat obediently on the edge of the bed, suppressing the triumphant hum of energy in his flesh and blood. He latched onto the key part of Duan Chenzhou’s explanation.

"All Martial Arts, whether they involve Fist and Foot or Sword Weapons, are divided into levels of ’attainment’."

"Take your Ten Steps One Kill, for example. That’s the first stage of the Sword Dao. Any Martial Artist with fire in their heart, with the intent of ’a common man’s fury splatters blood for five paces,’ can reach it with a bit of luck."

"Even a common mortal who has never trained with a Sword Weapon could, by wielding a Butcher’s Saber day after day, eventually have a moment where the blood rushes to their head and they figure out the trick to it."

"But to go any higher..."

"...is another matter entirely."

Duan Chenzhou’s eyes narrowed. A tremor ran through his frame as he lightly rested a hand on the saber sheath at his side.

In that instant, a ’Stance’ like a raging wildfire began to fill the small room.

Ji Xiu felt the restless energy thrumming in his bones get forcefully suppressed by this rising Stance.

"What is this...?"

Ji Xiu’s pupils constricted in alarm. He felt a shadow fall over his spirit.

Duan Chenzhou gestured to the ancient book clutched in his hand.

"Ninety-nine percent of martial arts in the mortal world are third-rate."

"A martial art that can help you cross the Force Barrier is called an ’Entering Force Martial Arts.’ If you train relentlessly, year-round, you can comprehend ’Force.’"

"With consistent guidance, someone with talent can achieve this in two or three months. Someone less gifted might grasp it in a year or two."

"But Force is just a kind of energy that flows through the meridians and originates in the Blood Marrow."

"Its power depends entirely on the foundation a Martial Artist has built through tempering and forging their body. It has nothing to do with the sophistication of the martial art itself."

"Many Martial Artists at the Bone Tempering realm, even those who’ve broken through the threshold of Skin Refining, lack the right connections. They’ll spend their entire lives knowing only two or three ’Entering Force’ Martial Arts."

"However, above that..."

"...there is also ’Nourishing Stance and Concealing Martial Arts’."

As Duan Chenzhou finished speaking,

Ji Xiu immediately glanced down at the book in his hands. On the blue cover of the yellowed tome, written in stark black ink, were the words—

[Sword Skill: Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance]

"A Sword Stance is a type of Superior Martial Arts, subordinate to the Secret Martial Dao. It’s a concept one can only cultivate after fully grasping its profound mysteries. It’s how one truly ’enters the inner hall’ of martial prowess."

"In Heaven and Earth, there is wind, fire, water, and myriad other forms. Any of these can become a ’Stance’!"

"Your cultivation realm is now sufficient, but you have no actual techniques—no Fist and Foot, no Martial Arts, no specialized Arts, and no Light Body Skill."

"The Celestial River Saber is too low-grade. It’s unworthy of the body you now possess. Therefore..."

"I, your master, am bestowing this ’Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance’ upon you."

"I’m probably being too abstract. You might not fully grasp it."

"To put it simply, Entering Force Martial Arts are like ’County-Level Martial Arts.’ They aren’t fit for the big stage. Even a Superior one can only be used for Foundation Establishment."

"But the true signature techniques of the core disciples from various Schools and Scholarly Clans are the ’Nourishing Stance and Concealing Martial Arts,’ also known as ’Mansion-Level Martial Arts’!"

"Cultivate this technique. At Minor Success, you will grasp the ’Sword Mountain Stance,’ making your Sword Stance incredibly fierce. At Great Success, you’ll comprehend the ’Sea of Fire Stance,’ which will be like a Fire Prison, hot enough to incinerate the very air!"

"As for reaching complete Perfection with this technique... forget it. That would take decades of tireless practice. It’s nearly impossible otherwise."

"Also, this is a ’Fighting Technique,’ not a ’Refining Technique’."

"See, those so-called ’Three Great Gangs’ and ’Four Great Halls’ in the prefecture... their supposed top fighters and True Inheritance disciples are nothing special."

"But they’re perfect for you to practice Nourishing Stance."

"When you go challenging their halls, don’t you dare use my name."

"However, if you get into trouble you can’t handle... you can come find me."

"I’ll have your back."

As his master’s voice faded, the Primordial Daoist Talisman silently materialized before Ji Xiu’s eyes.

[Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance, Rank: ’Nourishing Stance’ Level Martial Arts.]

[Tread the Sword Mountain, plunge into the Sea of Fire. To comprehend this Stance and this Sword, one must embrace utter fearlessness and strive forward with fierce and vigorous progress. Strike high to sever the neck; strike low to rupture the organs. Only then can its Truth be seen.]

[Prerequisite for Advancement: Afterward, every swing of the sword, every duel, every life-or-death battle... all may increase comprehension progress!]

[Does the Tutor wish to advance to the entry level?]

’Even though I didn’t get the Crescent Celestial Saber...’

But after hearing Duan Chenzhou’s explanation, Ji Xiu’s eyes couldn’t help but light up.

’If I master this Sword Stance, and also break through my first Great Limit... then in all five hundred li of Anning County, wouldn’t I be unrivaled among the younger generation, second only to those old Skin Refining geezers?!’

’Not bad at all.’

’My body is strong now, but whenever I fight, I’m just hacking and slashing, or throwing a punch. I’m relying purely on brute force.’

’It really is time I learned a proper, high-level martial art.’

’Advance it!’

With that thought, Ji Xiu cleared his mind. He felt a lotus of fire bloom from the void. His Divine Soul sat cross-legged at its center, surrounded by millions of Sword Weapons that hummed and chimed.

[Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance: Entry Level.]

[Current Progress: (1/1000)]

Duan Chenzhou watched as Ji Xiu flipped through the book once, then closed his eyes as if in a sudden moment of enlightenment. A short while later, a faint wisp of a Sword Stance began to rise from him...

Duan Chenzhou’s expression gradually froze.

’Isn’t this kid’s aptitude for the Sword Dao just average? It took him a full seven days just to reach the entry level for the Celestial River Saber!’

’How is it that the more advanced the technique, the faster he masters it??’

’Hiss... To enter the Nourishing Stance stage with a single thought... I’ve only ever heard of such a feat from the legendary Sword Master of the Sword Sect.’

’Could it be...’