The Nine Cauldrons

Honesty

“Help me attain Innate Realm within a year?” Xue Xin stared at the mysterious white-cloaked man before his eyes. He felt astounded as he thought to himself, “Innate experts are extremely rare. The same is true for the Gui Yuan Sect, the second greatest sect in Yangzhou, which is rumored to have only three to four innate experts. Only one in ten thousand can attain the Innate Realm. Despite those odds, this person says that he can help me attain Innate Realm within a year?”

Xue Xin swallowed hard as he stared fixedly at the person before him.

In his opinion, the white-cloaked man before his eyes was terrifyingly powerful.

“Quit dreaming. If you wish to take the easy road and have me help you attain the Innate Realm, you will have to hurt me first.” Teng Qingshan said with a smile, “I will be standing within this area of three Chi.” A flash of golden fire emerged on the tip of Teng Qingshan’s right foot, and he then drew a circle with it.

“Innate True Origin?” Xue Xin’s heart was pounding.

“Just do your best. If you manage to force me out of this circle, then it means I lose.” Teng Qingshan grinned as he looked at Xue Xin.

“Senior is an innate expert. If you protect yourself with Innate True Origin, I won’t be able to wound you,” Xue Xin said.

“I won’t be protecting myself with Innate True Origin.” Teng Qingshan regained his composure and said, “Attack me now!”

When Xue Xin heard this, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed, “It’s such a small circle. He won’t protect himself with True Origin, nor will he step out of the circle. In this small circle, he won’t be able to evade my attacks. If I can’t even wound him with my saber, then the three years I’ve spent practicing the saber art will all be for nothing.”

Immediately after thinking that, Xue Xin said respectfully, “Senior, be careful!”

With this, he gripped the horse-slaying saber and stared at Teng Qingshan with a composed expression. For a moment, it was as though he and his opponent, Teng Qingshan, were the only ones existing in this world.

“Interesting,” Teng Qingshan remarked as he scrutinized Xue Xin.

“Whoosh!”

The horse-slaying saber instantly transformed into a beam of cold light, attacking Teng Qingshan like splashes of water. However, the strange thing was that Teng Qingshan’s entire being blurred occasionally and seemed to vanish at times. Within this area of three Chi, four to five blurred images of Teng Qingshan appeared instantly. The blurred images then congealed, turning into the tangible figure of Teng Qingshan.

“This—” Xue Xin blinked with disbelief filling his eyes.

“Use your best move,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

“Senior, the moves I am about to use are from Whole Gale Slash, a technique I created by myself.” Xue Xin took a deep breath and launched himself forward. When he was one Zhang away from Teng Qingshan, his entire being transformed into a circular arc-shaped shadow and began swirling. Simultaneously, the horse-slaying saber held near his waist flashed with curved beams of light!

“Whew! Whew! Whew!”

Eighteen violent strikes were slashed wildly around Teng Qingshan’s circle.

“Whew~~Whew~~” Then as Xue Xin stood nearby, he gasped for breath, with drops of perspiration covering his forehead.

“Good saber art.” Teng Qingshan still stood within the circle. However, the white cloak still appeared very clean, without even the smallest cut.

“This… How is this possible?!” Xue Xin lowered his head as he stared at the horse-slaying saber in his hand. During these past three years, he had escaped many calamities and killed many enemies with this horse-slaying saber… He trusted this horse-slaying saber in his hands the most.

Xue Xin thought that if his eighteen strikes slashed every inch of the area within the circle, he would definitely wound Teng Qingshan.

However…

When he performed his saber art, he had also felt that his every slash was futile ashe had not actually slashed anything.

“Senior,” Xue Xin suddenly said as he cupped his hands in veneration, “This junior has been too arrogant… Senior, you have been standing in this circle, and yet, the saber of this junior couldn’t even touch you. Please forgive the insolent words of this junior.”

Teng Qingshan smiled.

An Emptiness Realm Expert was putting a Postliminary Expert to the test. If this scene were witnessed by other Emptiness Realm Experts or the Sovereigns of the sword sects, they would probably ridicule Teng Qingshan for being a big bully.

In the eyes of an Emptiness Realm Expert, the slashes and strikes of a Postliminary Expert were really too slow. While the Postliminary Expert launched his strike, the Emptiness Realm Expert could even run and kill someone several Li away, and then return to the same spot to block this strike! Through this, one should know how great a the difference there was between the speed of a Postliminary Expert and that of a Emptiness Realm Expert.

It couldn’t be helped. An Emptiness Realm Expert could move a distance of one to two Li with just a single step.

“Your saber art is not bad,” Teng Qingshan smiled while asserting Xue Xin.

Xue Xin’s trembled inwardly.

Would this mysterious expert really accept him as his disciple? He had suffered greatly during these past three years, and he really wished to be taught by a powerful teacher.

“Tell me, how did you manage to build your strength?” Teng Qingshan inquired curiously, “Based on my observations, you do not have inner strength. You use purely physical strength.” As one of the most powerful cultivators of the Internal Martial Art, Teng Qingshan had always loved the martial cultivators who used strength.

“Senior,” Xue Xin replied with a bitter smile, “This junior has no teacher. When I was wandering in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, I trained hard to build up my strength.”

“How did you train?” Teng Qingshan asked inquisitively.

Building up one’s strength to several thousand Jin wasn’t that easy.

If the good men of Teng Jia Village trained by themselves, it would be impossible for them to build their strength to several thousand Jin.

“In the beginning, this junior simply cultivated. However, the training I did was not very useful. It even harmed my body.” Xue Xin shook his head and continued, “In the end, I began spending more time pondering upon the method to increase my arm strength, since it’s necessary to have great arm strength to wield weapons. After observing horses, wolves, and other wild animals, I realized that the forelegs of those quadruped animals were much stronger than their hindlegs.”

Hearing this, Teng Qingshan’s eyes glistened with joy.

“At that time, I wondered what would happen if humans moved by crawling on their hands and feet. Would it result in an increase of the strength of one’s arms?” Xue Xin exclaimed, “I did not expect for the training to be that effective! I spent fourteen to sixteen hours everyday crawling on the ground, and my arms were strengthened!

“I ate wild fruits in the mountains and crawled every day. One day, I accidentally ate an azure-colored fruit. After eating it, my stomach ached, but after the pain, I realized that my strength increased profusely.”

A radiant smile showed on Teng Qingshan’s face when he heard this.

Crawling on the ground was indeed a simple and effective method. If humans crawled on the ground like animals since birth, the strength of their arms would be of similar strength to their legs after a time of 10-20 years. However, it was impossible for this training method alone to build up one’s strength to several thousand Jin.

Xin Xin’s experience was rather strange.

“I will perform this fist art. Watch carefully,” Teng Qingshan instructed with a solemn expression.

“Yes.” Xue Xin’s eyes immediately widened, worried that he might miss even one move performed by Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan suddenly posed his hands into the form of tiger claws, and when he glared, his eyes were like the fierce eyes of a tiger. He began performing the Tiger Form Fist Art. At Teng Qingshan’s level, each and every move was like that of a tiger and even a glance would frighten others.

“Bang!”

With his hands and feet on the ground, Teng Qingshan instantly sprinted a distance of several dozen Zhang, moving as quick and as violent as thunder. He was like a fierce tiger dashing down the mountain!

“Chi—”

The force of the claws ripping the air apart caused a surge of air currents in his vicinity

“Roar~~” A deep roar like that of a tiger rang out.

Teng Qingshan was like a tiger swinging its tail back and forth and cutting the air into two as easily as cutting bean curd.

At the side, Xue Xin didn’t even dare to blink as he watched.

“Did you see it clearly?” Teng Qingshan withdrew his force and stopped.

“Yes, yes.” Xue Xin nodded hastily.

“Perform the moves you saw,” Teng Qingshan said as he stared at Xue Xin calmly.

Since young, Xue Xin had loved poetry, and he had always been very smart. Initially, the Tiger Form Fist Art had not been complicated at all. Thus, Xue Xin remembered the moves easily… However, being able to remember the moves was not enough. The Internal Martial Art was not as simple as Xue Xin imagined.

In the spacious area, Xue Xin began practicing the moves of the Tiger Form Fist Art.

While he was practicing, he stopped to ponder. Then Xue Xin resumed his practice, constantly modifying his moves. As he modified his moves, the Tiger Form Fist Art that he was performing began to seem more authentic. Xue Xin had only watched Teng Qingshan perform it once, but after only an hour of practicing, he managed to perform the Tiger Form Fist Art well, displaying the essence of this fist art.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan’s eyes beamed as he exclaimed, “I didn’t expect that I could be this lucky. Haha… This is an unexpected blessing. A truly unexpected blessing.”

In order to deal with Qing Hu Island, Teng Qingshan had originally planned to simply choose someone. He had not expected to find someone talented in the cultivation of the Internal Martial Art.

Actually, it wasn’t strange for Xue Xin to have such achievements. Previously, Xue Xin had crawled in the mountains and copied the moves of wild animals. He had already acquired some understanding of the essence of ‘Xing Yi.’ Thus, he was naturally able to learn the Tiger Form Fist Art even more quickly.

“Senior,” Xue Xin cupped his hands together and said apologetically, “This junior can only practice this fist art to this level. The fist art this junior performed was still nowhere near as powerful as yours.”

Teng Qingshan erupted with laughter.

‘Nowhere near?’

Teng Qingshan himself was an Emptiness Realm Expert, an existence who had entered the Dao. He was much stronger than the other grandmaster of the Internal Martial Art. If Xue Xin’s fist art possessed one-tenth of the force of Teng Qingshan’s fist art, then Xue Xin would be on par with Teng Shou, who was an innate expert.

“You did well,” Teng Qingshan said as he looked at Xue Xin with a smile. “Wu Yi, would you like to be my third disciple from today onwards?”

Xue Xin was elated. With a ‘Bang’ sound, he knelt down and was about to kowtow to Teng Qingshan when he suddenly froze.

A complicated expression emerged on his face.

In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, the status of a teacher was equivalent to the status of a father! Once a teacher, forever a father! This was not a lie. If one ventured the entire world, they had to rely on his skills and strength, And a teacher was someone who would impart these knowledge and skills to them.

“Senior.” Xue Xin struggled mentally for a long while. Then he stared at Teng Qingshan and gnashed his teeth as he said, “This junior’s name is not ‘Wu Yi.’ My name is Xue Xin!”

“Xue Xin?” Teng Qingshan deliberately acted surprised and said in shock, “The Xue Xin wanted by Qing Hu Island?”

Xue Xin was wanted by the entire Qing Hu Island as a major incident had occurred after Teng Qingshan left the Land of the Nine Prefectures. All the well-informed people knew of this major event.

“Yes.” Xue Xin lowered his head and sighed to himself.

Maybe…

Xue Xin might miss this chance of finally becoming the disciple of this powerful expert. However, he did not regret revealing his identity. He knew that if his existence harmed his teacher in the future, he would feel remorse for the rest of his life. His family members had all died. Thus, he really wasn’t willing to let yet another person, who was nice to him, die.

“Haha…” Teng Qingshan grinned as he stared at Xue Xin. His heart had already completely accepted Xue Xin.

In the beginning, Teng Qingshan certainly had the intention of using Xue Xin, but he now absolutely viewed Xue Xin as a disciple like Teng Shou and Yang Dong.

“Xue Xin, from today onwards, you will be my disciple,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

Xue Xin’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe it.

“This… this…. Senior, I committed an offense against Qing Hu Island!” Xue Xin said hastily.

Qing Hu Island was one of the eight Supreme Sects in the Land of the Nine Prefectures. In Xue Xin’s opinion, even the powerful innate experts wouldn’t dare to offend large sects like Qing Hu Island.

“Qing Hu Island?” A cold glint flashed in Teng Qingshan’s eyes as he replied, “Even if the Island Lord of Qing Hu Island comes, I can still kill him with one strike.”

Xue Xin was stunned, and his body trembled slightly. He now knew that he had encountered an extremely powerful teacher!

“Are you not going to respect me as your teacher?” Teng Qingshan chortled as he looked at his disciple.

Kneeling on the ground, Xue Xin regained his composure. Feeling overjoyed, he kowtowed hastily.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Three continuous kowtow sounds rang out.

Then Xue Xin raised his head. Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, he shouted out loud, “Disciple Xue Xin Xin pays respect to Teacher!”