From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The soul of a talisman is its inner essence.

These talismans, drawn out of thin air with Qi, are different from those drawn on yellow paper. To break them, you must first break their core; otherwise, you can only activate them and consume the Qi they contain.

However, even with Ren Tingting's current level of skill, she can only draw a talisman out of thin air.

It's not that there's a lack of Qi.

However, drawing talismans out of thin air is extremely mentally taxing.

Ren Tingting's exceptional talent in visualization, coupled with her resilience and perseverance in the face of family upheavals, makes her mentally far superior to that of ordinary people; otherwise, she could never have created talismans out of thin air.

"Senior brother, your female disciple is remarkable! She has reached the Qi Transmission Realm at such a young age? She is no less impressive than our eldest senior brother!"

The Four-Eyed Taoist stared wide-eyed, utterly incredulous.

In terms of spiritual cultivation, Ren Tingting was far inferior to him, but even this senior uncle of his had not cultivated to the level of "Qi Connecting with Heaven and Earth".

According to the Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing, to cultivate "Qi Tongtianzhen", one must at least refine the five Qi in the chest, master the skill of controlling the small fire for a day, and have a preliminary sense of the changes of the four seasons and six Qi in the world!

"So-so."

Despite this, Lin Jiu held his head high and looked smug.

"Young Master Jiang, why don't you give me some pointers?"

Ren Tingting suggested this to Jiang Liu.

"Row."

Jiang Liu agreed, stood up, and, along with Hong Gu Niang and the others, left the main hall and went to the courtyard. He planned to have Hong Gu Niang and the others spar with Ren Tingting before the official start of the martial arts competition, so they could get a feel for the general combat situation against the Zheng Yi lineage...

Having failed to obtain the light point, Jiale, who was getting acquainted with Wencai and Qiusheng, was surprised to see Ren Tingting proactively inviting Jiang Liu for guidance. She asked, "Is this pretty boy really that amazing?"

"Pretty boy?"

Having witnessed Jiang Liu's methods before, Qiu Sheng chuckled twice and said with amusement, "Don't let his age fool you; he's quite capable."

Let alone our master, even the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain might not be his match!

There was also the strange phenomenon six months ago, which was said to be the Heavenly Dao celebrating his becoming a 'sage'!

"that is!"

Wen Cai echoed Qiu Sheng, "We are Jiang Liu's friends! Friends of the Sage! You're not qualified to try and get close to us!"

What are you three talking about?

Seeing his two good-for-nothing disciples and Four-Eyes Junior Brother's disciple talking nonsense nearby, Lin Jiu was furious and scolded them, "Watch carefully! Learn properly! Don't embarrass me!"

This is Longhu Mountain, not a mortuary!

And Jiale, as your senior apprentice, I also want to advise you: don't take my two good-for-nothing disciples as role models, lest you learn bad habits from them.”

After being reprimanded, Wencai and Qiusheng immediately fell silent.

The Four-Eyed Taoist said, "Senior brother, my son Le is also useless. He can't learn to be bad at all, because he's already 'bad' enough. He even slept with my neighbor, Master Yixiu's female disciple, and depleted his virginity... I brought him out this time to let him see the best of the various sects of Zhengyi, to broaden his horizons, so that he won't sink into the trap of pleasure..."

"Well, so you already have a wife!" Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai exchanged a glance, then each helped Jia Le out of the courtyard, ready to teach him a lesson.

Wen Cai grabbed Jia Le's ear: "How dare you stare at our junior sister?"

Qiu Sheng pinched Jia Le's cheek: "Still eyeing Hong Guniang and the others? You're not being honest, Junior Brother Jia Le. As your senior brothers, we have to teach you a lesson!"

"No! That's not true! I don't have a wife!"

Jiale called out.

Wen Cai exclaimed excitedly, "What? You slept with another family's female disciple and you're still not married?"

Qiu Sheng scolded, "Then they need to be taught a good lesson!"

What are you doing?

At that very moment.

The senior disciple of the Shangqing Maoshan School led his son and disciple over. Seeing Wencai and Qiusheng teasing Jiale, he scolded them, "So impetuous, they have no composure whatsoever as a young Taoist. They should be punished by copying the rules and regulations of Shangqing Maoshan one hundred times!"

"what?"

"Two hundred times!"

"Go right now!"

X3

Qiu Sheng, Wen Cai, and Jia Le dared not refute, simply because Shi Jian, as the senior disciple of Maoshan, was also qualified to teach his junior brother's disciples a lesson.

of course.

Generally speaking, when their respective masters were still alive, their other senior and junior masters would not "overstep their bounds," but this Shi Jian was extremely domineering and his word was law.

If those three dare to refute me again, I might have to copy it three hundred times!

"A disciple with one eyebrow and four eyes is truly useless!" Shi Jian sneered, watching the three figures flee in panic. "They've really disgraced Maoshan!"

"Father, as long as I haven't disgraced Maoshan, that's enough."

Shi Shaojian chuckled.

"You should also be more composed and watch your words when you speak in Longhu Mountain. Don't be as casual as you are outside." Seeing this, Shi Jian also reminded him, "I can handle myself, but if any juniors from Longhu Mountain come to you and use the excuse of sparring with you to teach you a lesson, I, as your father, can't get involved."

"Father, don't you know my abilities? Zhang Tianshi's disciples are all about my age, your peers. They're too embarrassed to challenge me to a duel, and how could a younger Taoist boy be my match?" Shi Shaojian said dismissively. He entered the courtyard with Shi Jian and saw Lin Jiu's female disciple sparring with Duanmu Ying from the Confucian Association. Their fists and feet clashed, their lives hanging in the balance. Her heroic figure made his eyes glaze over, and he couldn't help but be distracted.

"Senior Brother!" x2

Upon seeing Shi Jian enter, Lin Jiu and Simu hurriedly bowed to him.

The latter simply grunted in response and strode toward Jiang Liu, cupping his hands in greeting. He said, “President Jiang, I know that after this martial arts competition, regardless of who wins or loses, my Zhengyi lineage will cooperate with the Confucian Association. That is why I am dissatisfied and went to block your way before. I hope you will forgive me.”

"Master Shi, you don't need to worry about it so much. Didn't we already let it go in the Celestial Master Hall?" Jiang Liu returned the greeting with a fist and a smile.

"President Jiang is so magnanimous!"

Shi Jian sighed, but his gaze sharpened, and he said quietly, "But I am still not convinced and want to have a match with you."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Ying and Ren Tingting, who were competing in the arena, stopped fighting at the same time and looked at Jiang Liu and Shi Jian.

"Senior Brother!"

Lin Jiu stared at him, advising, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

"Lin Jiu, you've been making a living down the mountain for most of the year and rarely come back, but I suppose you haven't forgotten that your senior brother from Maoshan is also a martial arts fanatic?"

Shi Jian glanced at Lin Jiu, his tone slightly sarcastic.

Lin Jiu realized that his senior brother was angry because he didn't call him by his Taoist name "Yimei" but instead called him by his given name, and even emphasized the title "Senior Brother of Maoshan".

Lin Jiu still retorted, "Senior Brother, I naturally remember that you are strong-willed and eager to fight, but the competition starts tomorrow. If anything goes wrong today, Master might blame us."

"It's alright, I know what I'm doing."

Shi Jian sneered and cupped his hands to Jiang Liu, "President Jiang, would you dare to lend me a hand? If you feel your cultivation is inferior to mine, I can use only three-tenths of my strength."

Seeing that Shi Jianming was clearly there to cause trouble, Jiang Liu was not annoyed. He simply smiled and said, "Uncle Jiu, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Then, he said to Shi Jian, "Since Daoist Shi wants to spar, that's fine with me. But I wonder what you want to spar about?"

What can you do?

Shi Jian frowned and asked in return.

"My knowledge is very diverse; I know a little bit about everything."

Jiang Liu's smile remained unchanged. "When in Rome, do as the host says."

Now Shi Jian was in a dilemma. After thinking for a while, he said, "What Lin Jiu said makes sense. If Chairman Jiang is injured, it will be my fault."

Everyone: "......"

"In that case, let's have a literary contest."

Shi Jian shook his head and held up one finger.

"Comparing poetry?"

"President Jiang possesses literary talent and the bearing of a sage. I would never dare to presume to teach him a lesson in this field. What I mean by a literary contest is a contest of strength."

Shi Jian gave Shi Shaojian a look, and the latter immediately took out a palm-sized gray bag from his waist and pulled out a stone table and two stone stools.

It's a Qiankun Bag!

Magical artifacts are rare to begin with! Storage magical artifacts are even rarer!

Given Shi Shaojian's talent, he couldn't possibly have crafted the Qiankun Bag himself. It must have been Shi Jian who helped him craft it and then gave it to Shi Shaojian to use—their cultivation methods must be the same, otherwise Shi Shaojian wouldn't have been able to use the Qiankun Bag even if he obtained it.

Shi Jian sat down, resting his right elbow on the stone table, his forearm at a sixty-degree angle to the table, his palm open, and said, "How about an arm wrestling match?"

"Listen to Master Shi."

Seeing his confident demeanor, Jiang Liu also sat down, extended his right hand, and shook hands with Shi Jian's right hand. He then said to Lin Jiu, "Uncle Jiu, could you be a witness?"

Seeing that it was just an arm-wrestling match, Uncle Nine finally relaxed. He coughed twice, walked to the stone table, put his hands together with the two men's clasped right hands, and said in a serious tone, "I'll count to three, then you can exert force."

"one."

Shi Jian's gaze was sharp.

"two."

Shi Jian's Qi circulates throughout the body.

"three!"

As the sound fell, Shi Jian assumed a horse stance, channeled his strength into his right hand, and exerted force. However, he found that the force he exerted was like a mud ox entering the sea, dissolving into nothingness without even causing a ripple.

Jiang Liu's right hand remained completely still.

"Master Shi, I'm going to unleash my power!"

Jiang Liu kindly reminded him and gently exerted force, causing Shi Jian's right arm to fall to the side of his hand at an extremely slow but visible speed.

At this moment, Shi Jian felt that Jiang Liu's hand was like the cauldron of the nine provinces. Before, it was just a slight lift of one foot, but now it fell down. Its weight was so heavy that if human man tried to stop it, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or like Mount Tai pressing down on him. It was impossible to succeed!

We cannot lose!

In an instant.

Shi Jian unleashed streaks of blue lightning from his palm, spreading outwards and startling the Four-Eyed Taoist into retreating hastily, while Lin Jiu jumped up in alarm.