A person sacrifices himself to become a saint in a chaotic world of martial arts.

Chapter 130 Assassination of Su Bai

In a dilapidated courtyard in the west of the city.

The courtyard wall was made of adobe bricks, and most of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the straw and yellow soil underneath. Several clumps of withered grass grew in the corner, their stems trembling in the wind.

Su Bai stood shirtless in the center of the courtyard.

A wooden stake, as thick as a bowl, stood in front of him, covered with a thin layer of frost.

He took a deep breath.

He took a deep breath, his chest bulged, and his ribs were clearly visible.

As the cold air filled his lungs, he exhaled a cloud of white mist.

He holds the sword in his right hand.

The sword was an ordinary iron sword, yet its blade faintly gleamed with a cold light.

The cold light flowed from the hilt to the tip of the sword, like mercury flowing.

The blade is so thin it's almost transparent; you can see the setting sun's light shattering into countless tiny points of light on the edge.

"Frost Sword Technique, Seventh Form"

He gave a low shout, and his sword flashed like lightning.

In an instant, it looked as if a snow had fallen in the courtyard.

Wherever the sword light passed, fine ice crystals condensed in the air and fell down in a flurry.

The ice crystals shimmered in the sunset, red, gold, and white, like a colorful snowfall.

Ice crystals settled on his shoulders, hair, and eyebrows, a thin layer that turned him into a frosty figure.

The wooden stake was struck by the sword tip and, with a "crack," split in two from the inside out.

The cracking process was very slow. First, a thin crack appeared in the middle, and then the crack widened and extended to both sides.

The break was covered with a thick layer of frost, and the wood grain could be seen underneath, with each grain clearly visible.

The wooden stake fell to the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Su Bai sheathed his sword and stood there, exhaling a breath of white air.

The white mist condensed in the air and did not dissipate, like a slender snake, slowly swimming, and finally disappeared into the twilight.

"It's done."

The Frost Sword Technique has nine forms.

He spent three whole months finally mastering the seventh form.

That sword strike just now was able to condense the cold air at the tip of the sword, penetrate into the wooden stake, and freeze it from the inside out.

If it were to pierce a person's body—

He closed his eyes, imagining the feeling of that sword piercing his flesh.

The sword tip pierced the skin, the cold air rushed into the blood vessels, the blood instantly froze, the heart stopped beating, and the whole person was frozen into an ice sculpture from the inside out.

He opened his eyes, his gaze calm.

He put down his sword, sat cross-legged, and began to activate the seventh level of the Golden Bell Cover.

The sword was placed beside his knees, and the cold gleam on its blade gradually faded, returning it to its ordinary form as an iron sword.

Su Bai closed his eyes, his internal energy flowing through his body.

He could feel that internal energy, like warm water, surging from his dantian and flowing along his meridians. It flowed through his limbs, his internal organs, and every inch of his flesh.

Wherever it passed, the skin felt slightly warm, as if it were pressed against a heater.

The seventh level of the Golden Bell Shield has been completely secured.

Next, we need to work on breaking through the eighth level.

The eighth level is different from the previous seven.

The first seven stages are designed to increase the hardness of the skin, muscles, and internal organs, turning the body into an iron plate and increasing its external resistance to blows.

The eighth level involves gathering the internal energy scattered throughout the limbs, refining it, and gradually integrating it with the flesh and bones to form a unified whole.

By then, he himself will be a golden bell.

Internal strength and physical body are perfectly integrated, each containing the other.

No matter what kind of opponent he encounters, he will be fearless in the face of any attack.

It would be very difficult for an opponent at least at the True Qi Realm to defeat him.

After a long while, Su Bai finally stopped.

He opened his eyes; dusk was already quite deep.

Look up at the sky.

It was already dark, with a few stars scattered overhead.

A waning moon rose in the eastern sky, its light casting a silvery glow over the courtyard.

He didn't know what Ning Yuechan was doing.

Were they going to help him find an explanation?

Did you make it?

He recalled Ning Yuechan's face and the expression on her face when she said those words.

Those eyes were very bright, and there was something in them that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Is it determination? Is it stubbornness? Or something else entirely?

After all, he knew that Ning Yuechan was, in the end, just a woman from the Ning family.

There are many things she simply cannot make decisions about.

Actually, for Su Bai...

He doesn't really need these things.

If the Li family wants to deal with him, then let them do it.

Kill one if one comes, kill two if two come.

Once he masters the eighth level of the Golden Bell Shield and breaks through to the True Qi Realm, he will fear no one.

However, he would not refuse Ning Yuechan's kind offer.

He stood up and stretched his limbs. His joints cracked, the sound particularly clear in the quiet night.

Su Bai dried herself off.

The water was drawn from a well; it was icy cold and gave me goosebumps when poured on me.

He dried himself with a rag.

He put on his clothes, fastened his belt, and went back inside.

The room was dark, with only a little moonlight filtering in through the window.

The moonlight drew a square of light on the ground, and within that light were the shadows of window panes, one by one.

He blew out the oil lamp.

I lay in bed, looking at the starlight outside the window.

Su Bai rested his head on his arm, feeling his own heartbeat, steady and strong.

The starlight outside the window twinkled like countless eyes blinking.

Tomorrow, I'll continue practicing.

Three days later, at dusk, the setting sun was like blood.

Su Bai sat cross-legged under the tree, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and steady.

In the past few days, he once again found wealthy families in the surrounding counties, collected enough money, purchased offerings, and sacrificed the Frost Sword Technique to its peak.

He felt as if he had found a new and exciting door.

Why bother trying to raise money yourself?

Those wealthy families have plenty of money.

The key point is that nine out of ten of these wealthy households are heartless and cruel.

He didn't take action against those who genuinely worked for the people.

But there aren't many people like that.

"Ding!"

With a soft sound in my mind, it was as if some kind of barrier had shattered.

The next moment, countless fragments of memory surged in like a tide—those were not illusions, but real insights.

He "saw" himself standing atop some unknown snow-capped peak, the cold wind like a knife, stinging his face.

He held a long sword horizontally in front of his chest, its blade covered in frost, and each breath he exhaled released a faint chill.

He "saw" himself traversing the depths of a dense forest, battling ferocious beasts, with blood spraying wherever his sword flashed, every move exuding a chilling killing intent.

He also "saw" himself standing under a waterfall, looking up at the ceaseless flow of water, and suddenly realized that the sword's momentum should be like flowing water, continuous and unstoppable.

Those scenes were so real, so real, that it seemed as if he had actually practiced this sword technique for more than ten years in some past time and space.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, a cold glint seemed to flash and disappear, like the edge of a blade tempered with ice.

He slowly rose, his movements very light, yet they carried a faint chill.

Walking to the old locust tree in the courtyard, the trunk was covered with crisscrossing sword marks, left by him when he practiced swordsmanship. The marks were of varying depths, showing his past inexperience.

He didn't draw his sword; he simply stood there, silently observing the sword marks, then extended his right hand and made a soft press on the O.

The eighth move of the Frost Sword Technique: Frost Condensation.

There was no sign of any leakage of true energy, nor even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power.

But just three inches from his palm, the air suddenly froze, emitting a faint hissing sound.

A thin layer of white frost appeared on the trunk of the old locust tree at a visible speed, spreading from the palm of the hand outwards. Wherever it passed, the bark quickly darkened in color, as if it had been frostbitten.

At the edges of those old sword marks, tiny wood chips were frozen and cracked, making a soft "crackling" sound. A few chips fell from the sword marks, landed on the frost-covered bark, bounced lightly, and rolled to the ground.

The eighth move already possesses such power.

What if it's the ninth move?

Su Bai's mind stirred slightly, and he took two steps back.

His movements were extremely slow, as if he were measuring something.

His right hand was loosely clenched, as if he held an invisible sword in his palm, with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

The ninth move of the Frost Sword Technique: Frosty Sky for a Thousand Miles.

This is the ultimate move of the entire sword technique, and also the supreme skill of the Diancang Sect. Legend has it that once this move is unleashed, everything in the path of the sword energy will be frozen, and frost and snow will cover thousands of miles.

I'm afraid that even among the Diancang School, very few people would actually master this move.

Maybe if they see that Su Bai has mastered it, they won't hold it against him for practicing the Cangshan Sect's secret manual?

Actually, Su Bai had no choice. If he had other good martial arts, he definitely wouldn't have practiced the sword techniques of the Diancang School.

But he currently only has the Zhenyue Saber Technique.

Although he had reached the state of perfection and comprehended the essence of the sword.

But it is, after all, a inferior technique.

At worst, everyone who sees him use the Frost Sword Technique will die, right?

Su Bai did not actually unleash his true energy; he merely used a starting stance to experience the essence of the movement.

Even so, the air temperature within three feet around them suddenly dropped several degrees.

On the drooping branches of the old locust tree, the edges of the few yellow leaves that had not yet fallen turned white, forming a fine ring of frost.

The withered grass blades on the ground stood upright, each one covered with white frost crystals that refracted a faint light in the twilight.

His clothes fluttered without wind, and faint white mist rose from his cuffs.

"Excellent swordsmanship."

Su Bai stopped his stance and stood still. The biting coldness receded like a tide, and the frozen air began to flow again.

A faint smile appeared on his face, not one of smugness, but of calm satisfaction.

How long would it take an ordinary martial artist to master such a set of sect-defining sword techniques?

Those with exceptional talent, ten or twenty years?

Those with mediocre talent may not even be able to grasp the basics in thirty to fifty years.

Many more people lose patience halfway through and switch to other methods, only to find themselves scratching the surface of things in their entire lives.

All he needs to do is accumulate enough offerings.

He looked up at the last rays of sunlight on the horizon. The crimson hue was fading from the edge of the clouds, the sky was darkening, and twilight was settling in. In the distance, a few barks of dogs drifted in, mixed with the calls of children returning home, and wisps of smoke rose from the rooftops of neighboring houses, drifting gently in the evening breeze.

The True Qi Realm is merely the starting point.

The real, higher levels are yet to come.

late at night.

Moonlight is like water.

Su Bai lay on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the roof beam.

Moonlight streamed through the window paper, casting a hazy white glow on the ground, like a thin layer of frost.

The chirping of insects outside the window was intermittent, and occasionally a few cries of night birds would come from afar, only to quickly disappear into the night.

He was still thinking about martial arts.

The True Qi Realm involves opening up the dantian and qi sea, transforming the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into one's own, nourishing the physical body, and tempering the muscles and bones.

He has now reached the pinnacle of True Qi Realm, his dantian is full of Qi, and every inch of his meridians is slightly swollen from the True Qi, like a pond full of water, just waiting for a breach so that it can gush out.

The next step is to break through to the True Qi Realm.

The True Qi Realm is a completely different level.

If the True Qi Realm is about incorporating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, then the True Gang Realm is about condensing the true qi within the body into "gang" and using gang qi to interfere with reality.

True Qi leaving the body is something that only those at the True Qi Realm can do.

However, the protective energy can remain condensed and not dispersed after leaving the body, and can even materialize to injure people from a distance or form armor to protect the body.

That's on a completely different level from the True Qi leaving the body in the True Qi Realm.

Once you reach the True Qi Realm, a single palm strike can shatter rocks three zhang away with the condensed Qi of your palm.

With a sweeping strike, the blade of qi formed a blade capable of slicing through refined iron.

That is the threshold for true strength.

In an ordinary small town, a martial artist at the True Qi Realm can roam freely.

But when you get to the prefectures and counties, the ones who can truly keep things in check are all experts at the True Qi Realm.

Su Bai turned over, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He has a golden touch.

Once you master either the Azure Origin Technique or the Golden Bell Shield, entering the True Qi Realm is just around the corner.

It's just a matter of finding a few more gangs and wealthy households.

By then—

As he was lost in thought, suddenly, "click."

An extremely faint sound.

From the roof.

The sound was so faint that an ordinary person would not be able to detect it at all.

It sounds like a night owl stepping on a tile, or like the wind blowing down withered leaves, or perhaps it's the natural sound of the tile expanding and contracting with temperature changes.

But Su Bai heard it clearly—it was the sound of a person's toes touching the tiles, using the force to move.

Land lightly on your toes first, then slowly lower your heels to shift your weight, making sure each step lands on the seam of the tile to avoid making a loud noise.

He's a trained fighter.

Moreover, his agility is quite impressive.

Su Bai's previously relaxed body tensed instantly, but only for a moment before relaxing back to its previous posture. He remained lying down, his breathing rhythm unchanged. His chest rose and fell steadily, his eyelids motionless, as if he were fast asleep.

But his ears were already perked up.

At the pinnacle of True Qi Realm, how astonishing is one's hearing?

He could hear the man's footsteps moving from the east side of the roof to the west side, each step extremely light and steady.

The man seemed to be searching for something, pausing a few times before continuing to move. The tiles sank slightly under his feet, making an almost imperceptible scraping sound.

assassin?

Su Bai's mind raced.

In this small town, there are quite a few people who have a grudge against him.

But there aren't many people who can hire such a master of lightness skills.

The most likely candidate is the Li family.

But it could be someone else.

After all, this small town is a melting pot of all sorts of people, and he has offended so many that he can't count them on one hand.

"Take it first and we'll talk about it later."

Su Bai made up his mind.

He didn't get up; instead, he deliberately turned over and made a muffled sound, as if he had been disturbed in his sleep, before turning over and continuing to sleep.

His breathing remained steady, and the rhythm of his chest rising and falling was perfectly normal.

The footsteps paused for a moment on the rooftop.

The man had clearly heard the creaking of the bed and was checking to see if he was awake.