Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

"Heh heh, I've seen many young people like you who think that just because they have some talent, they can surely make a name for themselves. Navigating the martial world is not that simple. I actually didn't really want to take you as my disciple; I just felt it was a bit of a pity."

Before he could finish speaking, he couldn't help but add another sentence, "Do you truly not wish to take me as your master?"

"To each their own, Commandant, please do not blame me." Chu Zheng slowly shook his head, gradually piecing together some information in his mind.

Li Mingzhou is an envoy from the Imperial Court, representing the Emperor's attitude to some extent.

If he had come to kill, Li Mingzhou would not have assumed such an attitude.

Although the Vermilion Bird Divine Guards arrived with great fanfare, it seemed more like a superficial show for the world to see.

Perhaps the Imperial Court did not wish to get involved in the matter, but they had to come because the eyes of the world were watching.

There were secrets here that he did not know.

As Chu Zheng was momentarily distracted, Li Mingzhou suddenly raised his hand next to him, flipped his palm over, and pressed it toward the void outside the hall.

This simple press, seen by Chu Zheng, had a mysterious trajectory that instantly mesmerized him.

Boom!

A palm struck down, and a three-inch-thick green stone wall, more than ten feet away, suddenly collapsed, dust flying everywhere, revealing the door that it had been concealing.

"This is a scattering hand technique I chanced upon from a stone wall many years ago. I suppose I'm the only one in the world who knows it."

Li Mingzhou slowly retracted his hand, suppressing his slightly hurried breathing:

"How about it? Take me as your master, and I will teach it to you."

At that moment, Chu Zheng was too preoccupied to listen to what he was saying, as his mind was entirely occupied by the panel prompt.

[Xuan Tian Seal Third Form (Fifth Order/Incomplete): From the hand of a deity, a masterpiece of the martial path that splits into nine forms, lacking verification, extremely difficult to repair for you.]

[Current repairable: Xuan Tian Seal Third Form (0/30000)]

Fifth Order!

What does Fifth Order mean? It is a whole level stronger than the complete Dragon-Tiger Body and only one level lower than the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline, and this is just one of the forms!

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Chu Zheng brought up the panel, and after inspecting it, his expression changed again,

[Name: Chu Zheng]

[Cultivation: Zeroth Order]

[Cultivation Technique: Great Circulatory Qi Guideline (Sixth Order/Incomplete), Dragon-Tiger Body (Fourth Order/Incomplete)...]

[Divine Skills: Xuan Tian Seal Third Form (Fifth Order/Incomplete)]

[Repair Master: Zeroth Order (357/1000)]

[Remaining daily repairs: 0]

[Currently repairable: Xuan Tian Seal Third Form (0/30000), Great Circulatory Qi Guideline - Upper Volume (0/1000), Dragon-Tiger Body - Upper Volume (75/100)]

On the original panel, there was an additional entry; the Xuan Tian Seal was not a cultivation technique but a divine skill that could enhance combat power.

Chu Zheng regained his composure and asked somewhat nervously, "May I ask, Commandant, where is this stone wall?"

Being just one of the forms already at Fifth Order, if he could obtain that piece of the stone wall, he might acquire the complete Xuan Tian Seal.

Seeing Chu Zheng's expression finally change, Li Mingzhou felt somewhat smug and casually said, "That stone wall only had one corner left, which I took rubbings from before throwing it into the sea."

Crack—

Hearing this, a vein throbbed on Chu Zheng's forehead as he clenched his fists involuntarily, his knuckles cracking.

Moments later, he weakly opened his hand, lamenting how the people of this world had no reverence for the ancients, and naturally, there was even less to say about preserving the legacies left behind by them.

From Li Mingzhou's perspective, his actions were justifiable; destroying the stone wall was the best option to prevent it from being seen by others.

"The sky is getting dark. If there's nothing else, please allow me to take my leave, Commandant."

With a soft sigh, Chu Zheng bid farewell, no longer mentioning the Xuan Tian Seal.

Li Mingzhou still had rubbings of the fragmented stone wall, and if Chu Zheng had asked, Li Mingzhou likely would not have refused.

But since he could not give Li Mingzhou what he wanted, it was better to act as if this matter had never happened.

Obtaining the Xuan Tian Seal Third Form was already worthwhile. One must not be too greedy, for it can backfire; contentment brings happiness.

Li Mingzhou's eyes were complex, he said no more, turned his back, and waved his hand, signaling Chu Zheng to leave.

"Thank you for your guidance today, Commandant."

Chu Zheng expressed his gratitude and slowly left the City Lord's mansion.

As they reached the entrance, Song Tonghai, Song Lingxue, and Song Yun were all waiting at the steps. Seeing him come out safely, they all let out a sigh of relief.

...

...

Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, dancing lightly like fine fluff against the silvery-gray, dull and lightless sky.

The group treaded on the snowy ground, walking slowly towards the Song Residence.

Following beside Song Lingxue, Song Yun opened the oil-paper umbrella he was holding and raised it above Song Lingxue's head.

Song Lingxue took it willingly, and held it over Chu Zheng's head, asking softly, "What happened in there just now? Why was there such a commotion?"

Chu Zheng responded succinctly, "Li Mingzhou intended to take me as his disciple, but I politely refused. He then deliberately used his skills to subdue me."

"I see," Song Lingxue nodded in realization, raised her feet slightly, and held the umbrella a bit higher, "Did he mention Yuan Xingcai?"

"No."

Chu Zheng shook his head slightly and directly shared his speculation, "This move by the Imperial Court, I'm afraid, is not really about catching the culprits but more about saving face."

"Really?" Song Lingxue was slightly astonished, "How did you know?"

"Read more books, and you too will understand," Chu Zheng admitted.

Chu Zheng remembered the stone wall and breathed another light sigh, "The experiences we're going through now have surely been encountered by our predecessors. Lessons from the past can guide those to come."

Song Yun followed beside Song Lingxue, his expression blank, as the falling snow gradually wet his shoulders and whitened his head.

...

...

After Chu Zheng left, Li Mingzhou's expression gradually regained its calm, though a hint of desolation lingered in his brow.

Heroes face twilight years, and the weight of time is too heavy, weighing one down. Though he appeared full of vigor, in his prime, he was nearly a hundred years old.

Finding a suitable successor whose eye one could catch was exceedingly difficult.

Everybody knows the difficulty of pursuing the path, that every step is hard, yet finding a disciple is as tough as reaching the heavens.

Chu Zheng, being overly young and with an overwhelming root bone, would definitely achieve greater heights than him, and might even explore that legendary path of the Martial Immortal.

Who wouldn't want to enter the Immortal Sect and cultivate if they could? Practising martial arts was merely something done out of necessity, but lacking that certain 'bone' doomed one to be forever apart from becoming an Immortal.

Entering the Immortal Sect through the martial path was after all just a legend.

A Vermilion Bird Divine Guard paced briskly into the main hall, placing a detailed inventory in front of Li Mingzhou:

"Commandant, this is the account book found in a secret chamber in Yuan Xingcai's house. Besides this, there are seventy-three thousand two hundred and sixteen taels of gold, five hundred and ninety-six thousand three hundred and twenty-seven taels of silver, various jewels, a five-hundred-year-old medicine herb, and thirty-four hundred-year-old medicine herbs..."

The list went on long enough for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, listing countless rare and wondrous treasures.

"Richer than me, damn it," Li Mingzhou muttered under his breath after glancing at the inventory, while the expression of the Vermilion Bird Divine Guard beside him remained unchanged, clearly used to such occurrences.

"Are there any records of Song Tonghai's bribes in the account book?"

"Yes, about a dozen entries, totaling more than twenty thousand taels of silver."

A cold light flashed in Li Mingzhou's eyes. He poured a cup of tea, drank it all, then said slowly:

"Prepare a memorial to report to the emperor. After checking, it has been found that Yuan Xingcai, before his death, engaged in countless acts of corruption and solicitation of bribes, arousing public anger. Now we have confiscated: seventy thousand taels of gold, five hundred thousand taels of silver, various jewels... the rest need not be written. Divide it among the brothers."

"Understood."

...

...

Late at night, just past midnight.

Chu Zheng sat cross-legged, preparing to cultivate, while his mind was still reflecting on the events of the past two days.

Suddenly, a flash of light streaked through his mind, and Chu Zheng's eyes snapped open, his pupils dilating.

The attitude of the Imperial Court was sufficient to reveal that the people who attacked the Song Residence that night had no connection with the court.

That being the case, only the Hidden Immortal Sect was left.

Rustle rustle—

As he was deep in thought, a light sound suddenly arose within the room; Chu Zheng looked up, pulled the Iron Mace from under the bed, narrowed his eyes slightly, and watched as dust trickled down from the cracks in the rooftop tiles.

There was someone on the roof, and not just one person...