Chapter 127: Chapter 119: Comprehending the Nine Divine Lightning Slash_1
"Sanjue Martial Arts Hall has already pledged allegiance to me. Yet, you send people to assassinate them. Doesn’t this mean I can send an expert to kill your people too?"
Li Cangqing continued, his tone filled with murderous intent.
Li Canglin’s expression darkened. He said, "I’ve already mentioned that I didn’t send anyone. Don’t falsely accuse me."
"Fine, I will personally visit our ancestor and have Li Changshan confront you face-to-face. Yang Zhihuan fought against him, he wouldn’t be mistaken."
Having said that, Li Cangqing turned around to leave.
Li Canglin’s face turned ashen. Seeing Li Cangqing about to leave, he hurriedly caught up and forced a smile, "Cousin, this minor incident, there’s no need to escalate it to our ancestor. I merely sent someone to test Lu Shanchuan’s skills, there was no other intention. Besides, Lu Shanchuan is fine, isn’t he?"
By saying this, he was admitting it.
Li Canglin really didn’t dare to escalate this matter to the Elder of Li Family.
The Elder of the Li Family, who is also the current Clan Leader, was aged and preparing to select his successor. Therefore, the Li Wenxin and Li Wenxuan factions were openly jostling for power, to which he had turned a blind eye.
After all, only a person with techniques, strategies, and strength could become the future leader of the Li Family, leading them to prosperity.
However, discreet assassinations between the two factions, especially targeting the Martial Marquis, was absolutely not allowed.
If things kept going like this, the Li Family would cease to exist due to internal strife, even without external interference.
Sending Li Changshan could be viewed as a grave matter or merely a simple test.
If viewed as a simple test, that was it. But, if viewed as an assassination attempt, that was a whole different story.
Who knew how the Elder of the Li Family would interpret it?
"It doesn’t matter? Were Yang Zhihuan not present, Lu Shanchuan would have died. I will definitely report this to our ancestor."
Li Cangqing stated.
"Cousin, the ancestor is in seclusion. Why bother him? Tell me what you want, and I’ll compensate."
Li Canglin said.
Li Cangqing halted and looked at Li Canglin, "Five acres of Spiritual Land and we will consider this matter closed."
"What? Five acres of Spiritual Land? Li Cangqing, are you dreaming? That’s a king’s ransom, it’s impossible."
Li Canglin nearly jumped up and spat at Li Cangqing, livid.
Li Cangqing remained emotionless, merely looking at Li Canglin calmly.
"One acre."
Li Canglin calmly offered a counteroffer.
"Four acres." responded Li Cangqing.
"Two acres." Li Canglin gritted his teeth, his face pale.
Spiritual Land was land where Spiritual Medicine could be cultivated.
The cultivation of Spiritual Medicine had high requirements for the quality of the land, it wasn’t something any ordinary plot of land could support.
Spiritual Land had to be painstakingly nurtured.
The process of nurturing Spiritual Land was extremely complex.
Firstly, the quality of the soil had to be top-notch. Then, one would use Martial Food to make a meat broth and use that broth as fertilizer, watering it every seven days.
After three years, a piece of Spiritual Land was ready.
And even after all this, the Spiritual Land would have to be maintained yearly. Otherwise, it would become barren and impossible to grow Spiritual Medicine on.
The entire Li Family possessed only a few dozen acres of Spiritual Land in total.
After haggling, Li Canglin agreed to settle the matter with three acres of Spiritual Land.
When the deeds to the three acres of Spiritual Land were finally handed to Li Cangqing, Li Canglin’s heart bled.
But Li Cangqing, filled with joy, left with the deeds in hand.
Leaving Li Canglin’s mansion, Li Cangqing did not return right away but headed towards the Li Family’s Blood Land Vein instead.
He was going to borrow the Divine Intent Diagram of the top-tier martial arts skill, Nine Divine Lightning Slash.
With his status, borrowing the Divine Intent Diagram of a top-tier martial arts skill for a period of time was an easy task. There were no obstacles and he had obtained the Divine Intent Diagram smoothly.
...
"Pavilion Master Lu..."
Lu Yan was ’healing’ in the guest room of Li Cangqing’s mansion. He could hear Li Cangqing’s voice from afar.
Immediately, he saw Li Cangqing and Yang Zhihuan enter. The other two scattered on their own.
"Young Master Cangqing, please just call me Shanchuan."
Lu Yan stood up and bowed fist to palm.
"Alright, Shanchuan, how are your injuries?"
Li Cangqing asked.
"I’m alright. It’s merely a minor injury."
Lu Yan replied.
"That’s good. Thanks to your effort this time, I managed to get a good sum from Li Canglin."
After saying that, Li Cangqing unravelled the package on his back, revealing a gilded wooden box. Opening the box, a rolled-up painting and a book detailing the martial arts techniques were revealed.
"This is the top-tier martial arts skill, Nine Divine Lightning Slash- its sword technique chart and Divine Intent Diagram. Shanchuan, you can take them to study."
Li Cangqing handed the wooden box to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan was taken aback.
Although Wang Dao had mentioned before that Li Cangqing might give him the Nine Divine Lightning Slash to cultivate, he couldn’t help but feel excited when the actual contents were laid out before his eyes.
This was his first time directly encountering a top-tier martial skill in this world.
Even though he had already mastered two top-tier martial arts techniques, they were a combination of second-rate martial arts and had lost the effect of an Acquired Martial Body.
He speculated that he could still develop an Acquired Martial Body by directly cultivating a top-tier martial arts skill and enhance his physique.
However, he wasn’t sure which aspects would be enhanced when cultivating an Acquired Martial Body at the Martial Marquis realm.
"Thank you, Young Master."
Lu Yan bowed, making a fist-to-palm salute, then accepted the wooden box.
Li Cangqing also revealed a smile.
When Lu Yan took the wooden box, it was a declaration that he was officially aligning himself with Li Cangqing - he was joining his camp.
"However, there are rules in the Li family. The Divine Intent Diagram is extremely precious, you cannot take it away and can only comprehend it in my mansion,"
Li Cangqing added.
"That’s only natural."
Lu Yan nodded.
"Yes, Wang Dao, you take Lu Shanchuan to pick a practice room specially for him, then a bedroom. At the beginning of first-rate martial arts, one has to rely on the Divine Intent Diagram, it won’t be mastered in a day or two."
Li Cangqing instructed.
"Yes, Young Master."
Wang Dao nodded.
He then took Lu Yan to select a practice room and a bedroom.
In the practice room, Lu Yan couldn’t wait to open the wooden box and take out the Divine Intent Diagram and the Knife Scroll.
After pondering for a bit, Lu Yan started by reading the Knife Scroll.
If practice methods are missing, just relying on the Divine Intent Diagram won’t help much. To cultivate first-rate martial arts, one must use both in unison.
First-rate martial arts are obscure and hard to understand, but Lu Yan is not deterred.
Lu Yan possesses two first-rate martial arts that produce the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, his vision is so high that few at the Martial Marquis realm can compare.
Therefore, he was able to understand and memorize the Knife Scroll in only two days.
Next, it was time to comprehend the Divine Intent Diagram.
He unrolled the scroll.
In the scroll, there was a man in a green shirt, long hair flowing, holding a war knife.
Lu Yan stared intently and after a while in his eyes, the man in the green shirt in the illustration started to move. A knife struck out, and the sharp knife intent came head-on.
Lu Yan sat still, watching intently.
After several hours, he closed the Divine Intent Diagram, closed his eyes to think, comparing it with the practice methods in the Knife Scroll, feeling that he had gained a lot.
However, mastering first-rate martial arts is not that easy and is much more difficult than second-rate martial arts.
For example, it took Wang Dao, with a second-rate martial art with the Unity of Man and Martial Arts as a foundation, four months to master it.
In this regard, one can see the gap between Wen Yuan and Wang Dao.
Wen Yuan, a novice who had only been exposed to martial arts for a few years, mastered the Vajra Indestructible Skill in just three months, earning him the title of martial arts genius.
As for those with average talent, it’s quite common to spend years to master, and even a lifetime for some people may not be enough.
Lu Yan devoted himself to comprehending the Nine Divine Lightning Slash, even forgetting to eat and sleep.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
In a month’s time, Lu Yan had mastered the basics of Nine Divine Lightning Slash.
It was several times faster compared to Wen Yuan and Wang Dao.
But this was because Lu Yan had the foundation of two first-rate martial arts that unite man and martial arts, and his martial arts vision is already extremely high.
If he were to comprehend third-rate martial arts now, he would grasp it with one look, and could master it with just a bit of comprehension.
After mastering the basics of Nine Divine Lightning Slash, a Martial Arts Avatar could be condensed on the Dao Book.
After condensing a Martial Arts Avatar, Lu Yan’s subsequent cultivation would no longer require the Divine Intent Diagram.
However, Lu Yan did not immediately inform Li Cangqing, Wang Dao and the others of his progress.
Even if his talent in the Way of the Sword is extraordinary, mastering it in a month would still be too exaggerated. He planned to wait another month.
It was reasonable if he claimed to have mastered it in two months considering Wang Dao took four months to master it.
Then he instructed someone to tell Li Quan and Wang Lin to send over a batch of Dried Martial Food.
However, when Lu Yan consumed the Dried Martial Food, he found out that the first rank martial food did not improve the progression of the Nine Divine Lightning Slash at all.
He ate another one to try, but the result was the same.
"It seems that in order to improve a first grade martial arts avatar, a second rank martial food must be used at least."
Lu Yan was a little worried.
The second rank martial food is not only expensive, but also scarce.
He couldn’t ask the Zhou Clan’s martial chefs to cook large quantities of ’second-rate Yinuo lizard meat’. They were only providing a few kilograms per day, on average.
Even at this rate, in two years, the accumulated amount of Blood Armor Lizard meat would reach almost two thousand kilograms.
Two thousand kilograms in two years is reasonable, because some Martial Marquis level Feudal Lords with means could also obtain that much.
The Zhou Clan’s martial chefs thought that Lu Yan had purchased it through Li Cangqing, given his closeness to him.
But if the amount increased, providing several thousand to tens of thousands of kilograms in a year would be unrealistic, and they would probably be suspicious.
In the final analysis, his own strength was not sufficient. If he had master-level cultivation, he wouldn’t have to care about it, even if he openly hid the second-level Blood Land Vein, he wouldn’t be afraid.
"The key lies in being able to cook myself. In this past year, I have focused on enhancing the Martial Food Avatar. I already have two categories of first-grade martial food reaching the ’Man and Food Integration’ level. Coupled with Yinuo Lizard Meat, that’s three categories - the basic understanding of a martial chef. After returning, I will start practicing cooking ’second-grade Yinuo Lizard Meat’."
Lu Yan silently chanted, starting to plan the subsequent cultivation.
Given that first grade martial food is ineffective, there’s no need to accelerate Nine Divine Lightning Slash for the time being. It’s good enough to stably improve the cultivation and another Martial Food Avatar with first grade martial food.
Another month passed in the blink of an eye.
Lu Yan informed Li Cangqing that he had mastered the basics of Nine Divine Lightning Slash and would no longer need the Divine Intent Diagram.
Not everyone who grasps the basics of a first grade martial art could do without the Divine Intent Diagram.
Those with less talent would still need to refer to the Divine Intent Diagram for cultivation even after mastering the basics, otherwise progress would be hard to achieve.
There are even some people who can only completely break away from the Divine Intent Diagram when they reach the point of integration.
But those with high martial arts talent can break away from the Divine Intent Diagram as long as they master the basics because they have remembered the ’true intent’ of martial arts from the Divine Intent Diagram. With their own comprehension and comparison, they can continue to cultivate.
Of course, Lu Yan has the Dao Book. As long as it’s a complete martial arts, mastering the basics is enough.
Despite Lu Yan dragging it on for a month, Li Cangqing, Yang Zhihuan, Wang Dao and others were still amazed when they found out. They praised Lu Yan’s talent in the Way of the Sword as the rarest they’ve seen in their lives. In the six provinces of Lingdong, the number of people who could match Lu Yan in the Way of the Sword could be counted on one hand.
After returning the martial arts manual and the Divine Intent Diagram to Li Cangqing, Lu Yan returned to the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall and had a plate of second grade Yinuo Lizard Meat. He carefully observed the Martial Art Avatar of Nine Divine Lightning Slash.
