Mortal Saint

Chapter 73: Chapter 71: So What About the Immortal Robe? Give Me 3 Years and I’ll Beat Your Realm Down; One Blade to Challenge an Entire Sect

This sudden turn of events stunned everyone, and they couldn’t help but look back.

A single glance was all it took to see...

A figure in blue silk robes hurried over, flanked by thirty to fifty elite soldiers in armor, carrying crossbows. The sight made Hex Shouyi’s expression change.

"Magistrate Zhao..."

He frowned. "This man killed the legitimate son of ’Tomb Tiger’ Yang Daohan in the street. As the Instructor for the County Soldiers and Guards, I heard the news, gathered my disciples, and came to apprehend the villain and throw him in prison. This is my duty. What you’re saying, County Magistrate..."

However, before he could finish, Zhao Jiu cut him off loudly.

"What villain? There is no villain here!"

With that, Lord Zhao the County Magistrate shot a look at the servant beside him, then yanked on Hex Shouyi’s sleeve and hissed in a low voice,

"Old Hex, don’t be a fool... Even if Duan Chenzhou is half-crippled, I did some digging before coming here. He took on the establishments of the Three Great Gangs all by himself."

"Do you really think your attainment in the second step of Skin Refining, ’Outer Gang,’ is enough to beat him...?"

Zhao Jiu’s intentions in coming here were simple.

To put it bluntly, he just wanted to sit in his position quietly and peacefully for another two years. He couldn’t care less about the Divine Fist Sect or Duan Chenzhou.

Their life-and-death struggles had jack squat to do with him.

He’d muddle through for another two years, then have his family pull some strings back home in Jiangyin, and everything would fall into place.

Was it worth stirring up so much trouble?

As for whether Hex Shouyi appreciated it or could actually kill Duan Chenzhou... he didn’t care. At least he had tried to intervene, and out of good intentions.

If things truly got out of hand, the blame wouldn’t land on him in the end.

However.

Hex Shouyi let Zhao Jiu tug at his sleeve, remaining silent. But across the surface of his skin, an Outer Gang, spurred by his Force, slowly spread to cover every inch, leaving no gaps, as if he were cloaked in an ’Immortal Robe’.

Not a feather could be added, nor a mosquito could land.

His entire body was impervious to water and fire. This was the Peak of Skin Refining, Great Success in the Power Barrier.

It was the third step of Skin Refining, known as the ’Immortal Robe’!

Though it was a step below the ’Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe’—the state of Third Refining Perfection and the Peak of the Power Barrier—which involved opening the body’s major acupoints to complete a full corporeal cycle.

Thus, it could only be called Great Success, not ’Perfect Attainment’...

But it was still enough to qualify him to challenge the realm of a ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’!

This immediately made the rest of Zhao Jiu’s words catch in his throat. His pupils widened.

"You... you broke through?"

To the side, the Zhao Family’s old servant, Liang Tao, had been hunched over. He had just reached Ji Xiu and was about to offer some placating words on behalf of his master.

But in the blink of an eye, he saw what was happening. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, his body tensing like a drawn bow, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

Hex Shouyi, however, just shrugged his shoulders, shaking off a speck of dust.

Under the twilight sky, he held out his pair of Gang-covered Divine Fists. His gaze was calm, truly like that of a Grandmaster. He simply nodded lightly.

"A recent, minor gain."

"So..."

"I’m taking him with me today, and no one can stop me."

He slowly turned his head to look at Ji Xiu, his eyes apologetic.

"Kid, you have good talent. You’ll definitely have a great future. Frankly, what your Master did wasn’t necessarily all his fault."

"But..."

"Back in the Prefecture City, I had a bit of family wealth and a modest reputation. Among the instructors of the ’Four Great Halls,’ I was the youngest and most promising candidate to break through to the ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’ level."

"But because of your Master, I was stuck at this ’Immortal Robe’ barrier for nearly a decade."

"His feud with the Jadeite Cai Family was their own business."

"But just because I took on a ’Sea Dart’ escort mission, I became an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. I’ve had to swallow that injustice for a full ten years!"

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

His entire spinal column straightened, his blood-qi rising like wolf smoke. His gaze was so intense that anyone he glanced at would immediately lower their head and stare at their own feet, daring not to meet his eyes.

The only exception was the youth in black, who narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on the saber at his waist.

"Hex Shouyi, do me a favor. At least go after the person you actually have a problem with."

Zhao Jiu’s expression darkened.

But Hex Shouyi ignored him. "After this is over, I will return to ’Jiangyin Prefecture.’ Now that I have achieved the Immortal Robe and am only one step away from the Qi Barrier, why would I waste my years here?"

"When the time comes... I will personally visit the Zhao Family’s clan elders at the Wine Shop to apologize."

"But today, I’m taking this kid to find that Duan Chenzhou of his and settle the score!"

"At his peak, he could kill a ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’ at the cost of an arm. I admit I would have been no match for him."

"But now that his Treasure Body is damaged, I’d like to see..."

"...if he can do anything to me!?"

As soon as his voice fell, a large palm shot out to grab Ji Xiu.

However.

Ji Xiu just watched the fierce palm strike approach. The Gang Qi stung his skin, but he didn’t retreat a single step.

Instead, he tightened his grip on his saber’s hilt. Even as Lu Hongyu tugged at the corner of his clothes from behind, he didn’t retreat but advanced, letting out a sudden, scornful laugh.

"You’re still not good enough."

"I don’t know what kind of feud exists between you and Master Duan."

"But..."

"On the path of a Martial Artist, there is no right or wrong. Weakness is the only original sin!"

He watched the large palm descend with a WHOOSH, fearless and undaunted.

"I may have never met a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster face-to-face, but..."

"You had ten years, yet you never once dared to appear before Master Duan. That is cowardice."

"You’re using thirty years’ more training in External Skills to bully someone younger in front of everyone. That is a lack of virtue."

"Your heart is timid and hesitant, you lack Fierce and Vigorous Progress, you don’t have the do-or-die mindset of a Martial Artist, your virtue is lacking, and you have no regard for face. With conduct like this..."

"...if you can still break through your Shackles and pass the Qi Barrier..."

"...then all the ’Qi Cultivation Grandmasters’ under heaven would be disgraced."

HISS!

What a... what a vicious mouth!

Everyone from the Fire Kiln was shocked. Lu Hongyu wished she could grab this ’reckless fool’ and clamp a hand over his mouth.

But Ji Xiu saw Hex Shouyi’s palm strike halt, saw his face twitching and steam practically rising from his forehead, and the corners of his own lips curled up slightly.

"A Martial Artist is fearless; the Martial Dao is endless."

"That is the principle Master Duan taught me."

"You brute, I stand here and dare to say you’ve wasted the last thirty years of your life. Believe it or not, give me three more years, and I’ll beat that ’Immortal Robe’ right off your skin!"

After speaking, Ji Xiu raised his gaze and swept it over the disciples in white robes and black kerchiefs behind Hex Shouyi.

"If you don’t believe me..."

"...then pick one of your precious True Inheritance disciples and see if any of them can withstand my saber!"

These words made Hex Shouyi’s knuckles crackle as he clenched his fists. He was like an enraged old lion, panting heavily, but in the end, he didn’t completely lose face in front of everyone.

Otherwise, wouldn’t he be proving the sharp-tongued brat’s words true?

"Kid, you’d better not regret this!"

"My True Inheritance disciple... has reached Bone Tempering Perfection, an attainment that makes him impervious to blades and spears!"

"Who do you think you are!?"

He squeezed a name out from between his clenched teeth, then shouted,

"Qin Ming!"

"Here!"

A reply like a clap of muffled thunder came from the thick-browed young man at the front of the group.

However, just as this young man named Qin Ming, dressed in a white robe with a black kerchief, took two steps forward, he saw—

Ji Xiu shook his head gently.

"A challenge, a duel."

"But what’s the point... without any stakes?"

Hex Shouyi’s voice was grim.

"What kind of bet do you want to make?"

Ji Xiu’s gaze drifted into the distance, toward the Inner Street of the ’Four Great Halls.’ Then he spoke slowly,

"The Master’s debt... his disciple will bear it for him today."

"I no longer care to know the rights and wrongs of the past."

"But..."

"From this moment on, I’m going to kick down the plaque of the ’Divine Fist Sect’!"

The youth’s eyes burned with intensity.

"With a single saber, I will defeat your entire sect!"

"If I win, from this day forward, the Divine Fist Hall will no longer be allowed to stand in Anning County. How about it?"

Hearing this, Hex Shouyi was so enraged he started laughing.

"Hah, you’ve got guts, kid!"

"And..."

"...what if you lose?"

"I won’t lose."

"But what if you do!"

"I said, I won’t lose."

Just a few short words.

They conveyed all the youthful spirit of one who had mastered his Pile Skill and achieved his Saber Stance.

The veins on Hex Shouyi’s forehead bulged.

"Good, good, good!"

"’I won’t lose’..."

"Then, I’ll invite everyone in Anning County to watch closely..."

He practically spat out the last few words from between his teeth.

"...and see how you get thrown out of my Divine Fist Sect!"

...

"You’ve really taken on a fine disciple..."

Gu Baichuan exclaimed from the roof beams, then couldn’t help but add,

"Aren’t you afraid that Hex Shouyi from the Divine Fist Sect will go crazy, really bully the weak, and slap Ji Xiu to death with a single palm?"

"It would break my heart to see such a promising talent get wasted!"

Duan Chenzhou, dressed in purple robes that rustled in the wind, shook his head upon hearing this.

"I forged for him a foundation with the ’Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake,’ nurtured the ’Spinal Dragon’ of the ’Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate’ until it achieved the color of Iron Bone, and on top of that, gave him a ’Saber of Nourishing Stance’..."

"If even with all that, he can’t develop true courage, then the Crescent Celestial Saber cannot be passed down, and I cannot leave just yet."

"But now... he has shouldered the burden."

"I can only say, he is truly worthy of being the disciple of a man such as myself!"

Hearing Duan Chenzhou’s faintly spoken words, which carried an intangible pressure, Gu Baichuan was suddenly choked speechless.

"Let’s go. My good disciple has kindly set the stage for a grand show for us..."

"As his Master, how can I not go and watch?"

"Besides..."

"This ’Divine Fist Sect’... never heard of it."

"Probably some small fry who got accidentally caught in the aftershocks at some point. To think he actually sees himself as a somebody, heh."

"That palm strike just now, if he had let it fall, his hand..."

"...would have been gone."

The four words fell.

Brimming with killing intent.