Chapter 60 - 60: Observing the Martial Temple’s Martial Chief Stone, Where’s the Limit of the Young Man?
The small pavilion and secluded garden were draped with emerald foil. The clouds were light, and the sun was thin and faint.
In the Lin Residence, the spring breeze gently stirred up ripples in the pool.
Madam Hua sat upright on the couch and looked at the increasingly handsome young man with surprise in her eyes.
Spirit Refinement Shedding Mortality was a huge hurdle among the five realms. If cultivation enlightenment was a screening, it was a screening of the difference between mortals and cultivators.
The Shedding Mortality Realm was the division between mediocre and talented cultivators.
Those who had entered Shedding Mortality could naturally be a little smug.
However… Madam Hua had personally watched An Le grow up and bestowed the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique and the Sword Waterfall Diagram. At that time, the young man had just started cultivating.
But now, in just a few days, the young man had already stepped into the Spirit Refinement Shedding Mortality. This cultivation speed was indeed unimaginably fast.
Although there were some fortuitous encounters mixed in, coupled with painting to help with the Spirit Refinement, Madam Hua was still shocked.
An Le walked to the main hall of the Water Pavilion and bowed to Madam Hua and Madam Ye.
Madam Hua looked at him and restrained the surprise in her heart. She smiled and said, “You broke through in Spirit Refinement again?”
An Le smiled and nodded. He knew that Madam Hua must have seen through him. “I comprehended something in the battle last night and didn’t sleep the entire night. I condensed the Sword Furnace and stepped into the Shedding
Mortality Realm.”
In the Water Pavilion, the wind blew gently.
Everyone was shocked. Among them, Lin Zhuifeng and Lin Qingyin were the most shocked. Like Madam Hua, they knew when An Le started cultivating.
However, they did not expect that his Spirit Refinement would already reach Shedding Mortality in such a short period of time.
It was quite unreasonable for an 18-year-old to cultivate from the beginning and have such an unbelievable cultivation speed. Could it be the so-called late bloomer who had great talent and accumulation?
Ye Wenxi maintained her virtuous appearance and smiled.
The young girl beside her, Ye Yinping, widened her eyes curiously and sized up Master An, who had now become famous in Lin’an Prefecture because of an ink bamboo painting.
“Not bad.”
Madam Hua praised, “A late bloomer is indeed extraordinary.”
“You once said that there’s a sequence to the Dao. It seems to be true.”
Madam Ye’s gaze landed on An Le. “You’re Master An?”
“Madam Hua also shared the ink bamboo painting you made with me. It’s extremely good. It opened the first river of ink bamboo, making it look even more youthful and proud. It’s quite extraordinary.”
Madam Ye was very friendly to An Le and praised him.
An Le bowed. “Thank you for your praise, Madam.”
“I heard that you came to Lin’an this year to participate in the Spring Quarter Examination?” Madam Ye took a sip of the freshly brewed West Lake Longjing tea and asked, “Are you confident in this Spring Quarter Examination?”
“I’ll definitely do my best,” An Le replied with a smile.
There was no high-pitched speech, nor did he shout that he wanted to be the top scholar. However, the young man’s eyes were filled with confidence.
Madam Ye smiled. “If you can be ranked on List A and enter the Scholar
Rankings, you’ll have a chance to participate in the Hall Examination, face His Majesty directly, and take a gamble on Storm Calming to resolve some future storms for the Lin Residence.’
An Le was stunned.
Madam Hua interrupted softly, “Sister, Young Master An is also good at drawing horses. I remember that General Ye also likes horses very much. His White Dragon Horse is even like a True Dragon of the East Sea. It’s extremely handsome. If possible, when General Ye returns to Lin’an, you can invite Young Master An to draw a painting for this White Dragon Horse.”
Madam Ye was stunned. She looked at Madam Hua in confusion and immediately understood. It seemed that Hua Jiebing did not intend to let An Le fight for Storm Calming.
Or did she feel that An Le had no hope of winning?
“Young Master An is also good at drawing horses? Husband’s White Dragon Horse is indeed magical and extraordinary. If possible, you must invite Master An to splash ink on the White Dragon Horse.” Madam Ye looked at An Le and smiled.
An Le cupped his fists. “It’s my honor to be able to paint General Ye’s White
Dragon Horse that gallops on the battlefield and is filled with glory.”
Madam Ye smiled and a gentle look surged in her eyes when she talked about her husband.
Madam Hua smiled. “Your Spirit Refinement has entered Shedding Mortality.
In comparison, the Body Tempering Qi Blood is much slower. I think the Five
Animals Body Tempering Technique I taught you is not good enough.”
An Le said, “I’m naturally grateful to Madam for giving me the technique. Why would I complain about the grade of the Five Animals Body Tempering
Technique?”
Madam Hua shook her head. “Your talent is a little beyond my expectations. Now that you’ve cultivated the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique and have already forged the Spirit Bone, it means that you’re actually not bad in the Body Tempering Dao. At that time, I didn’t think you could be so elegant.”
Then, her beautiful eyes landed on Madam Ye and she smiled. “It just so happens that Madam Ye is here as a guest today, so I’ll give up my face and ask Madam Ye to give you a chance to enter the Martial Temple to see the Martial
Chief Stone.’
Madam Ye was stunned for a moment. Then, she narrowed her eyes and opened her red lips in surprise. “Sister Jiebing, you did this on purpose, right?”
She came to the Lin Residence as a guest today because she was invited by Hua Jiebing. It turned out that she had set a trap and was waiting for her here.
However, it was not difficult to let a young man enter the Martial Temple to see the Martial Chief Stone. Compared to what she had promised Hua Jiebing, it was worlds apart.
“Martial Chief Stone?” An Le was a little puzzled. He had not been in contact with cultivation for long, so he did not know much about the Martial Temple’s Literary Department.
Ye Wenxi, who was sitting at the side, smiled and said, “The Martial Temple’s Martial Chief Stone is the treasure of the Martial Temple. When the martial artists of the Martial Temple reach the top position, they will take a drop of heart meridian blood essence to water the Martial Chief Stone. After countless years, the Martial Chief Stone has long been enlightened.”
“If a Body Tempering Martial Artist observes the Martial Chief Stone and resonates with the blood essence on the Martial Chief Stone, he will have a chance to comprehend a technique suitable for him.”
“There are top-notch martial techniques hidden in the Martial Chief Stone, but very few people can comprehend top-notch martial techniques by looking at the Martial Chief Stone. Most of them use the effect of the Martial Chief Stone to sort out their martial arts shortcomings and find other methods to make up for it.”
Ye Wenxi explained to An Le.
“Sister, you’re talking about someone who has caught the eye of the Martial Chief Stone. Most people look at the Martial Chief Stone like it’s an ordinary stone, but it can’t attract any phenomenon,” Ye Yinping, who was filled with heroic spirit, interrupted.
Ye Wenxi glanced at Ye Yinping with a smile. “Young Master An is no ordinary person.”
These words made Ye Yinping unable to retort.
After Ye Wenxi’s introduction, An Le understood the use of the Martial Chief Stone. Perhaps Madam Hua had invited Madam Ye as a guest to give him a chance to see the Martial Chief Stone?
After all, An Le was not from the Martial Temple and had not entered it to cultivate.
“General Ye is the Martial Chief of the current era. Madam Ye naturally has an additional opportunity. Isn’t this opportunity a waste if unused? If you go to the Martial Chief Stone, you can just keep a calm mind and view it normally.” Madam Hua smiled.
When An Le heard this, he said gratefully, “Thank you, Madam Hua. Thank you, Madam Ye.”
Madam Ye shook her head and chuckled. “Since Sister Jiebing has said so, I can’t reject you. It’s still early now. Let Ye Chong bring you to the Martial Temple. Eh? So Sister Jiebing specially invited Ye Chong over because she had already prepared it.”
Madam Ye was a little surprised by how much Madam Hua valued An Le.
It was rumored that Madam Hua was Master An’s Dao Protector. Now, it seemed that it was not groundless.
Ye Chong, who was sitting upright like a pine tree at the side, suddenly stood up and cupped his fists.
Then, he looked at An Le. “Young Master An, I will bring you to the Martial Temple to take a look at the Martial Chief Stone.”
“Thank you, General Ye Chong.” An Le bowed and smiled.
Moreover, with a thought, he absorbed Age Qi four times from him.
From three times a day to four times a day, An Le immediately felt heroic.
Four wisps of Age Qi lingered around An Le. Then, he absorbed from Ye Wenxi, Ye Yinping, and Lin Zhuifeng, who had almost been sucked dry.
After absorbing five people, he reached the upper limit and could no longer absorb any more.
An Le felt a little unsatisfied, but he was happy with a total of 20 wisps of Age
Madam Hua ordered Xi Xiang to prepare a carriage.
Ye Chong had already walked out of the Water Pavilion. An Le wore a green
robe and the Green Mountain and Ink Pool Sword. After bidding farewell, he
also strode out.
“We’ll go take a look too.”
Ye Wenxi and Ye Yinping also stood up and bade farewell to Madam Hua and Madam Ye.
On the other side, Lin Zhuifeng, who was playing with the fire stick, couldn’t wait anymore. After saying that, she pulled Lin Qingyin and followed them out.
The Water Pavilion suddenly fell silent.
Madam Ye and Madam Hua sat upright. The two of them looked at each other and smiled.
“You want Young Master An to view the Martial Chief Stone because you want him to obtain the top-notch Martial Chief Scripture, right? However, it’s not easy to comprehend the Martial Scripture on the Martial Chief Stone.” Madam Ye took a sip of hot tea and said.
Madam Hua also picked up the hot tea. The green porcelain tea lid rubbed gently, and the fragrance of the tea spread.
“Compared to Spirit Refinement, the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique has indeed become his shortcoming in martial arts. If he wants to switch to a profound martial arts technique, I don’t have anything suitable for him. Why don’t we let him try his luck on the Martial Chief Stone? If he can obtain the Martial Scripture, it will naturally be suitable for him. It can also be considered to make up for his shortcomings. In the future, he will have an advantage in the Little Sacred Ranking.”
Madam Hua chuckled.
A gentle breeze blew, and the Water Pavilion was still cold.
Madam Ye and Madam Hua’s black hair fluttered, and their clothes fluttered in the wind.
“You really think highly of this child.” Madam Ye looked at Madam Hua and sighed.
Madam Hua took a sip of the Longjing tea and smiled sweetly. “The talent he displayed here is worthy of this favor.”
“On the path of cultivation, I was the one who lit the green lamp for him and illuminated the path ahead. In that case, I have to be responsible for him and help him shine brighter and further. I can’t stay in Lin’an for long. I’ll help him as much as I can. In the future, if he can become someone like General Ye or
Old Madam Lin, it can be considered a blessing for the people of Great Zhao.”
“Of course, it was also unintentional from the beginning. Now, I’m curious and want to know…”
“What’s the limit of this young man with a ferocious tiger in his heart?”