Time passed slowly.
Bright Martial Pavilion.
Taoist Longshan slowly opened his eyes and sighed softly:
"The Celestial Human Realm is indeed as difficult as ascending to heaven. I've been in the Primordial Core Realm for over ten years, but wanting my Divine Intent to resonate fully with the heavens and earth is still lacking."
He smiled wryly.
Just over a month ago, after teaching Ning Qi, he felt somewhat stimulated, a faint sense of crisis, and decided to take advantage of this momentum to break through the bottleneck in one go, but unexpectedly, he still couldn't succeed; the foundation he lacked still needed time to develop.
However, he wasn't discouraged.
A Celestial Being has a lifespan of up to eight hundred years; at a hundred years, a Celestial Being strong person is very young. Most celestial beings achieve mastery around two hundred years old, and some only break through as their four-hundred-year lifespan approaches its end.
And Taoist Longshan is only in his eighties, very young.
He realized that he had been a little impatient lately, perhaps influenced by the increasingly chaotic situation in the Great Yan dynasty.
He shook his head, realizing that this was not right.
Although this retreat didn't lead to a breakthrough, it wasn't without gains; at least it helped him regain the right mindset.
"It's been more than a month. I wonder how Jiu is doing now? Just when Jiu began touching upon the Martial Path, I, as his teacher, have been somewhat negligent."
Taoist Longshan felt a bit of regret.
Thinking back to the day he taught the Martial Path, he couldn't help but smile wryly. The impact back then made him believe he had found the key to breaking through, leading to his hasty retreat.
"Jiu is a peerless gem, with talent far surpassing mine. If properly nurtured, there's great hope for him to become a Martial Saint!"
Taoist Longshan stood up, his form shrinking the land as he appeared at the pavilion entrance. This was an extremely profound body technique. He planned to first visit Ning Qi to fulfill his responsibility as a teacher. After all, no matter how gifted the student, there are bound to be things he does not understand. Having practiced stance skills for so many years, there was always something here that Ning Qi could learn from.
He felt he needed to plan a suitable path for Ning Qi, to avoid wasting this great talent.
Although the True Martial Sect occupies True Martial Mountain, they've actually constructed their pavilions in the essence of the mountainside.
Taoist Longshan and the nine true disciples live in the core area, while the rest of the Inner Sect and Outer Sect disciples' residences are arranged outward in succession.
With Taoist Longshan's speed, it wouldn't take long to reach Ning Qi's courtyard.
He wore a gentle smile, with hands clasped behind his back, his Taoist robe fluttering, exuding a crane-like, immortal air.
He had already sensed the distant life aura.
But suddenly, his expression changed.
"Roar!"
A faint dragon roar sounded from the courtyard ahead, carrying a hint of majesty.
"This is..."
Taoist Longshan's pupils contracted sharply, his heart skipped, and his figure silently appeared outside the courtyard. The sight before him immediately made him freeze in place.
Inside the courtyard, white mist was swirling, constantly rolling. Within it, the dragon's roar emerged intermittently, as if a young True Dragon was soaring and leaping.
With Taoist Longshan's eyesight, it was naturally clear that this was not a young True Dragon but his terrifyingly talented young disciple.
At this moment, Ning Qi's skin was as crystalline as jade, but beneath it, his muscles and flesh were faintly red and continuously pulsing.
Compared to a month ago,
Ning Qi's figure had grown taller and stronger. The most striking change was the life aura, which had grown much more vigorous.
"Flesh Refining Realm?!"
Taoist Longshan's breathing quickened slightly.
Even with his temperament, it was hard to remain composed. This speed was simply astonishing. Although he anticipated Ning Qi's cultivation speed to be beyond imagination, it still surprised him. He almost doubted whether he remembered the time correctly, whether he'd been in retreat for more than a month or longer.
But that was not the most shocking part.
"This stance skill... isn't the Bian Stance!"
With Taoist Longshan's level, he immediately detected the traces of True Martial Nine Stances from this unfamiliar stance skill, almost seeing the shadow of every stance skill.
But just watching it left him in awe; the degree of dominion in body tempering far surpassed the True Martial Nine Stances.
As he continued to watch,
A sudden flash of insight crossed Taoist Longshan's mind, and his entire being shuddered with excitement.
"This is... the True Martial Stance?!"
His breathing quickened, emotions roiling, and his originally concealed breath technique fluctuated.
Ning Qi immediately sensed the presence of another aura outside the courtyard. He stopped his stance skill and shouted sharply:
"Who is it?!"
When his sharp gaze scanned over, Ning Qi was momentarily stunned, then joy surged in his eyes.
"Master, you've come out of seclusion? How did you arrive so quietly?"
He had just asked his senior brother about it yesterday, unexpectedly today his master had come out of seclusion.
Taoist Longshan felt a little embarrassed; he had originally intended to secretly observe his young disciple's progress in martial arts so as to be prepared for his teaching later. However, he hadn't expected to witness such an astonishing scene.
He couldn't care about anything else.
In an instant, he appeared before Ning Qi.
He gazed intently at Ning Qi, forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked:
"Jiu, tell your master, who taught you the True Martial Stance? Is this master still in True Martial Mountain? Did he say anything else?"
Taoist Longshan kept asking.
Ning Qi was frozen on the spot.
He hesitated and said:
"Master, the True Martial Stance you're talking about is?"
"It's the stance skill you were practicing just now!"
Ning Qi suddenly realized, instantly understanding some things. His previous guess might be close to the truth; beyond the True Martial Nine Stances, there indeed existed a stronger stance skill, possibly named the True Martial Stance?
However, judging from his master's expression, it seemed the True Martial Stance was not part of the True Martial Sect.
He truthfully replied:
"Master, this is the True Dragon Stance I created myself, not the True Martial Stance you mentioned."
As the words fell,
Taoist Longshan's fluttering goatee paused; he looked at Ning Qi as if he were a sculpture, doubting what he had heard.
"You say... this was created by you??"
This was even more implausible than someone from the True Martial Sect leaving a legacy behind to give as inheritance, but Taoist Longshan knew his disciple, though young, he definitely wasn't prone to talk nonsense.
Ning Qi had long intended to come clean with Taoist Longshan; this moment was simply because Taoist Longshan approached him first.
"Reporting to Master, after you entered seclusion, I learned several other stance skills from my senior brothers and sisters. After mastering the True Martial Nine Stances, I always felt there was a commonality between these nine stance skills, and finally, there was a moment of enlightenment where I deduced a stance skill backward..."
Ning Qi explained his thought process and methodology in creating the True Dragon Stance.
Meanwhile, he handed over a meticulously prepared manual that recorded the True Dragon Stance in detail.
Taoist Longshan finally recovered from the emotional turbulence, he forcibly calmed down, glanced through the manual in his hand, listening to his young disciple's explanation, waves of emotion still rippling in his eyes.
Of course, he was aware of the connection between the True Martial Nine Stances.
But the issue was, understanding that connection was one thing, but using it to deduce the True Martial Stance was as challenging as creating an unparalleled stance skill anew!
It was simply fantastical!