After the Great Dao Died

Early the next morning, Chen Lingxi had just drawn half a bucket of water from the well and finished washing up when he heard light footsteps outside the courtyard gate.

Liu Zhu stood outside the threshold empty-handed. She simply relayed a message: ”The young lady said that from now on, delivering flower arrangements once every ten days will suffice. There is no need to make the trip every five days.”

Chen Lingxi gave a hum of acknowledgment. As he watched Liu Zhu’s silhouette disappear behind the moon gate, he could not help but commend her in his mind: This Lin Longyue is truly a clever person.

She did not know what had transpired between the Crown Prince and him, nor could she guess why the Crown Prince had let him return.

Yet she had her doubts. Instead of turning these suspicions into interrogations or overcompensating with excessive warmth, she merely tightened the leash of his preferential treatment slightly. Not too loose, not too tight—it was just right.

It left leeway without seeming cold, and it avoided forcing him to expose his flaws while letting him know he was still under her watchful eye.

’This Lin Longyue can certainly be considered a formidable figure... It is just...’

Chen Lingxi’s thoughts, however, drifted to another matter entirely.

The great medicine.

During the Thorough Awakening deduction that day, he had been struck by the jade-colored blood qi storm, shattering every bone in his body. The words that drifted down from the mountain right before his death still echoed in his ears.”Do not damage that great medicine.”

And when Lin Longyue had cut her forehead, her blood was actually fragrant. The scent was cool and refreshing, even evoking an indescribable, mouth-watering craving.

Furthermore, County Princess Yunhe seemed to be harvesting Lin Longyue’s qi for her own cultivation.

’Is Lin Longyue actually a great medicine herself?’

He shook his head, pushing these thoughts aside for the time being.

These matters were still too distant for him; there was no need to rush.

For the rest of the day, he went about his usual routine of picking flowers, arranging them, and practicing his boxing.

When night fell, Chen Lingxi stood before the Mohe Flower and took a deep breath, inhaling a large amount of the Mohe fragrance. He wrapped the highly toxic scent in spiritual qi and concealed it deep within his body.

Only then did he push open the gate and leave the courtyard. His steps were incredibly light, making only the faintest rustle against the bluestone paving as he moved like a prowling night cat.

The Concealed Edge Method circulated silently within him, tightly concealing all traces of his aura.

’I’ll go to the Yin’an Courtyard to find Zhao Yong.’

’Since we are ”fellow path-seekers,” I might as well make use of this Zhao Yong.’

The Yin’an Courtyard was located on the western side of the marquis’s estate, serving as the residence for the guest ministers.

Although Chen Lingxi had lived in the marquis’s estate for a long time, he rarely set foot here.

Following the winding corridors all the way west, he passed through two moon gates before hearing the sound of a sword.

The sound was incredibly faint, as light as the wind brushing across bamboo tips. Had his five senses not been vastly heightened after reaching Qi Circulation 3rd Floor, he would have barely caught it.

He followed the sound and arrived before an open Martial Arts Courtyard on the eastern side of the Yin’an Courtyard.

There was someone in the courtyard.

A man stood beneath the moonlight. He was tall and slender, wearing a plain white scholar’s robe, with a handsome face.

This was the very same handsome middle-aged man who had been walking with Wang Kong in the back garden the other day—the one whose mere presence had thrown Chen Lingxi’s blood qi into chaos.

Chen Lingxi had asked around afterward and learned that this man was Zhao Qinglou, a guest minister of the Yin’an Courtyard.

Right now, Zhao Qinglou was wielding a sword.

The sword in his hand was extremely long, its blade as narrow as a leek leaf. It was entirely silver-white, devoid of any ornamentation, and only gleamed with a cold, piercing light under the moon.

His swordsmanship was not complex; in fact, it was utterly simple. A thrust, a flick, a wipe, a slice—each stroke was as slow as an old ox pulling a cart. Yet wherever the blade passed, the air was ripped open with countless fine lines, resembling a shattered mirror covered in a spiderweb of cracks.

What shocked Chen Lingxi even more was the aura surrounding Zhao Qinglou.

As he circulated his energy, his blood qi and sword qi intertwined. They did not clash, but rather amplified each other layer by layer.

A golden radiance bloomed around him.

It seemed to seep out from deep within Zhao Qinglou’s bones, rendering his flesh almost transparent. From afar, he looked like a statue cast from pure gold standing under the moon, shining as brilliantly as the sun.

Chen Lingxi held his breath, watching with utmost focus. He noticed that as Zhao Qinglou circulated his energy, his bones emitted a deep, resonant hum akin to a golden bell.

The sound was deep and profound, not jarring in the least, but drawn-out and lingering. It was like a thousand-jin bronze bell struck in an ancient temple, its echoes reverberating endlessly.

’Golden Body...’ Chen Lingxi murmured in his heart.

He had heard Jiang Yuan speak of the might of the Golden Body realm.

A Golden Body cultivator tempered their bones to the absolute limit, turning them the color of pure gold. With their blood qi and marrow perfectly fused, their bodies naturally produced the tolling of a golden bell.

Such a figure carried thousands of jin of force in every punch and kick. Ordinary swords and sabers striking them felt like a mere itch. Even the Bone-Piercing Force of a Silver Bone Realm expert would sink in like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir the slightest ripple.

But Zhao Qinglou before him possessed a golden radiance and a bell-like resonance that far surpassed a typical Golden Body.

Chen Lingxi had a faint feeling that this man had likely reached Golden Body Great Completion and successfully cultivated the legendary Purple-Gold Wheel. Once activated, that golden wheel would turn the body’s golden light into a deep purple-gold color, rendering it indestructible. It could even suppress and kill with blood qi through the air, wielding peerless destructive power.

And after mastering the golden wheel, the next step would be Golden Body Consummation—the Golden Astral Energy realm. By then, the golden light would solidify into astral qi, becoming tangible—impervious to blades and invulnerable to fire and water. Further up still was the legendary Jade Qi Realm.

Chen Lingxi was somewhat lost in thought as he watched.

”What are you doing here?”

Chen Lingxi’s heart jolted. The Concealed Edge Method immediately surged within him, wrapping his blood qi and spiritual qi even tighter before he slowly turned around.

Zhao Yong stood just three steps behind him, still clad in that dark green cloak. His collar was turned up high, concealing the lower half of his face and leaving only a pair of eyes as dead as dry wells visible.

Chen Lingxi’s heart sank slightly, but his expression remained impassive. He dropped his hands and bowed, greeting respectfully, ”Chief Steward Zhao.”

”Come with me.” Zhao Yong turned away.

Chen Lingxi followed, and the two made their way to the Eastern Warm Pavilion.

In the courtyard, Chen Lingxi straightened up, injecting a measured note of urgency into his tone. ”I do not know when the Mohe Envoy will arrive. Feeling anxious, I thought I should seek out the Chief Steward to ask.”

His spiritual qi shifted slightly, releasing a surge of the Mohe Flower’s fragrance.

Zhao Yong’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, a faint glimmer of delight flashing in those lifeless eyes.

He narrowed his eyes, catching the scent of the Mohe Flower that Chen Lingxi had deliberately released.

”There is no need to rush,” Zhao Yong said, withdrawing his gaze. With his hands clasped behind his back, he glanced toward the golden figure in the Yin’an Courtyard. His tone was flat. ”The Mohe Envoy’s movements are not something you should ask about. When the time comes, they will naturally seek you out.”

Chen Lingxi softly voiced his compliance and stood in place, seemingly hesitant about something.

After a few breaths, he suddenly looked up and asked, ”Chief Steward Zhao... I boldly ask, could you give me a decent blade technique?”

Zhao Yong frowned slightly. ”Why do you want to practice the blade?”

Chen Lingxi’s breathing quickened a fraction.

”One day, I will surely sever my enemy’s head with a blade,” he declared, his voice carrying a chilling edge. ”To avenge my parents, who were beheaded at the execution ground.”

Zhao Yong stared at him, remaining silent for several breaths.

”Good.” That was the only word he offered before turning to walk deeper into the Yin’an Courtyard. His dark green cloak fluttered in the night breeze, melting into the shadows cast by the corridor pillars until he vanished from sight.

Chen Lingxi kept his composure and returned to the servant quarters.

”Blade technique...” he muttered under his breath, the fire in his eyes dancing silently.

Early the next morning, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, a knock fell upon the courtyard gate.

Chen Lingxi got up to open it. Outside stood a fair-skinned young servant in green clothes, his eyes downcast and submissive. In his hands, he held a thin booklet.

The servant offered the booklet with both hands, simply stating, ”Chief Steward Zhao ordered me to deliver this,” before bowing and retreating.

Chen Lingxi took the booklet and opened the cover.

Four characters were written in bold, vigorous ink on the title page.

—Evil-Slaying Blade Technique.

Holding the manual, he sat down at his desk and read through it carefully from start to finish.

This blade technique was not considered profound. It could not compare to the fierce, lethal edge of Qiu Chihu’s Gold-Illuminating Blade Technique, but it excelled in being solid and comprehensive.

The entire manual comprised six blade forms and one hundred and forty-two variations. Beneath each form lay detailed methods for circulating blood qi, precisely explaining the many nuances of infusing blood qi into a long saber.

When to exhale, when to inhale, when to condense blood qi onto the edge to increase its sharpness, and when to disperse it across the spine to neutralize recoil.

These elements seemed ordinary, but they were the culmination of experience that countless martial artists of the jianghu had spent half their lives figuring out. Now, laid out clearly in black and white, they saved him from countless detours.

Chen Lingxi thought to himself, ’This Zhao Yong... he’s certainly willing to invest a decent sum just to keep me steady.’

He flipped back to the first blade form and read word by word, growing increasingly astonished with every line.

It was not that the blade technique was shockingly obscure, but rather, he was shocked by the changes within himself.

’I’ve only been studying this for half a day, yet I’ve already grasped the vast majority of the first form’s blood qi circulation method.’

Those bottlenecks that previously required repeated contemplation and meticulous word-by-word analysis now made sense to him after a single read. It was as if an illiterate child had suddenly achieved enlightenment; the crooked ink characters suddenly became structured and clear to his eyes.

’Climbing a floor in Qi Circulation has actually improved my comprehension this much,’ he mused with a sigh, continuing to read through the remaining blade forms.

By dusk of the third day, he had memorized the entire Evil-Slaying Blade Technique by heart.

The six blade forms, the one hundred and forty-two variations, the blood qi circulation methods for each form, and the blade trajectories of every variation were clearly etched into his mind, as if he had been practicing them for years.

For the remaining days, he practiced the blade by day and consumed pills by night, alternating without interruption.

He took the five Silver-White Pills one after another. Every time one entered his stomach, it released the same blistering heat. The silver marrow blood qi surged like a tide through his meridians, scouring the marrow cavities deep within his bones over and over again.

On the dawn of the twenty-third day, when he awoke from his breathing exercises, he suddenly felt a faint itch at the tips of his fingers. Looking down, he saw that the bones of all ten fingers were actually radiating a faint silver light in the morning sun.

The silver light was not blinding but extremely subdued, like ten fine needles forged of pure silver embedded beneath his flesh, giving off a warm yet chilling luster.

’Silver Bone Small Success, and the initial stage of the Silver Marrow Finger.’

He retracted his fingers, taking the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber out of his Cosmos Bag and gripping it in his hand.

The faint golden patterns on the blade gleamed with a deep, cold light under the morning sun. He channeled his spiritual qi, executing the first form of the Evil-Slaying Blade Technique. The azure qi from his dantian and the silver marrow blood qi in his meridians flooded into the blade simultaneously. Instantly, the golden patterns flared up, as sparks and thunder intertwined in brilliant resonance.

With the Evil-Slaying Blade Technique paired with the Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber, further supported by the Silver Marrow Finger and the Dragon Roar Technique...

’I wonder if my current combat strength is enough to match someone who has just entered the Golden Body realm?’