Before, General September had only speculated that Ling Xiao was cultivating the Tianlong Golden Body in the Treasure Pavilion.
Mortal martial arts are incredibly difficult; even getting started is a challenge.
So he hadn’t expected Ling Xiao to achieve much in such a short time.
But now, it seemed Ling Xiao’s Tianlong Golden Body had reached a minor level of mastery.
Could he be mistaken?
No one could answer him.
Meanwhile, a massive bear paw merged with Ling Xiao’s palms, and with a surge of energy piercing the heavens, his palms solidified, meeting the enormous blade head-on.
Bang! Crack!
The bear paw collided with the blade in midair, and to everyone’s shock, the blade was clamped tightly between the palms.
“Empty-handed blade seize?”
“Is that even possible?”
Boom!
Amid the crowd’s murmurs, the bear paw yanked back, shattering the blade. The genius youth from Tianren Academy was sent flying, spitting blood, and collapsed, unable to rise.
“In truth, I didn’t need to meet this move head-on. It’s flashy but lacks substance—looks impressive, does little,” Ling Xiao said calmly, looking at the fallen youth. “I chose to clash directly just to show you: defeating you takes three or four moves at most. Ten moves? I overestimated you.”
“You!”
The youth had just struggled to his feet, but Ling Xiao’s words hit him like a blow, enraging him. He spat another mouthful of blood, his face growing even paler.
“This battle goes to Qianlong Camp! Haha, Ling Xiao, you’ve done us proud—no, you’ve done the Border General’s Manor proud! You’ve done the human race proud!” General September announced, snapping out of his brief daze.
“Long live!”
“Long live Commander Ling!”
“Ling Xiao! Ling Xiao!”
The next moment, Qianlong Camp erupted in thunderous cheers. Whether they liked Ling Xiao or not, everyone roared with excitement.
They’d had enough of being humiliated.
And now, they understood: it wasn’t that Tianren Academy was superior, but that their own efforts had fallen short.
Look at Ling Xiao—a newcomer to Qianlong Camp, yet through his own ability, he’d achieved this victory.
What excuse did they have not to strive harder?
What reason to complain?
“You three, where’s the wager?” General September asked the Tianren Academy trio with a grin.
“Hmph, a bet’s a bet. We lost, and we’ll own it. Here are two quasi-mortal martial art manuals. Take them,” the languid youth said, pulling two books from his storage ring and handing them to General September. “But don’t say we didn’t warn you—memorise the contents quickly, because in a quarter of an hour, these books will self-destruct.”
He glanced back at Ling Xiao coldly. “I admit you’re strong, but beating me is no big deal. Next time you visit Tianren Academy, you’ll face far tougher opponents. Compared to our true geniuses, you’re still leagues behind.”
With that, he turned and left, supported by the lively girl and the chubby youth, looking somewhat dishevelled.
“Ling Xiao, your memory’s sharp. Memorise these two books first, then pass one on to Ling Yixue,” General September said, hurriedly handing the manuals to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao nodded, flipping through them casually.
In that instant, copies appeared in his Mountain and River World.
“Two internal energy techniques?”
Ling Xiao frowned. “General September, there’s a problem. Key parts of these books have been altered.”
“That’s not unusual,” General September sighed. “While rules forbid major tampering with manuals, tweaking a few critical points is allowed. We’ve done it too. Whether you can cultivate them depends on your own skill.”
“Understood,” Ling Xiao nodded.
For others, this might be frustrating, but for him, it was no issue.
With his Mountain and River Martial Soul, he could analyse and decode quasi-mortal martial arts with just a few altered points.
“You understand? You’re not going to hand them to me for a ninth-stage martial master to decode?” General September asked, puzzled.
“How long would that take?” Ling Xiao inquired.
“At least a month,” General September estimated.
“No need,” Ling Xiao thought. My Mountain and River Martial Soul could probably decode them in moments. I’ll handle it myself.
“No need? You’re sure?”
“Absolutely certain!”
With that, Ling Xiao returned to his private courtyard, followed by Ling Yixue and Leng Mei.
“You two, make yourselves at home. I’m going to study these quasi-mortal martial arts,” Ling Xiao said, entering the training room.
The two quasi-mortal martial arts from Tianren Academy were Burning Soul Technique and Snow Lotus True Solution.
Both were internal energy techniques but differed significantly.
Snow Lotus True Solution was an advanced version of Snow Lotus Qi Technique.
It made sense—Snow Lotus Sword Technique was a mortal sword art, while Snow Lotus Qi Technique was merely a top-tier martial art, hardly a match.
Snow Lotus True Solution likely had a higher version, probably a full mortal martial art.
Still, Ling Xiao was content with a quasi-mortal internal technique.
As a quasi-mortal martial art, it had clear advantages over top-tier ones.
Snow Lotus True Solution’s strength lay in fully converting the foundation built by Snow Lotus Qi Technique.
For Ling Xiao, this meant cultivating it would be twice as effective.
Moreover, the true essence it produced carried a potent icy attribute. Even more fearsome, it could alter an opponent’s true essence attribute.
Sounds minor, right?
Not so.
If an opponent specialised in fire or earth true essence, their techniques would align with those attributes.
Imagine using a Blazing Palm with icy true essence—would it still pack a punch?
Of course, this change was gradual, not instant, so its benefit was weakening an opponent’s attacks.
Paired with the Mountain and River Martial Soul’s ability to devour true essence, opponents would suffer greatly.
Burning Soul Technique was intriguing. Less an internal technique, it used soul force as true essence.
Beyond conversion, it also boosted soul force.
This was practically tailor-made for Ling Yixue.
Her true essence lagged behind others, even those of the same realm, because she was a soul clan member.
But with Burning Soul Technique, she wouldn’t need to refine true essence anymore—she could use soul force as the energy source for her techniques.
Given Ling Yixue’s immense soul force, likely surpassing even peak ninth-stage martial masters, mastering Burning Soul Technique would elevate her strength dramatically.
Of course, Ling Xiao could cultivate Burning Soul Technique too.
