Volume One, Chapter 57: The High Priest of Yunhuang

This set of martial arts techniques truly left them utterly shocked.

"Shi Ming, did you understand it?" Li Hanzhou asked, looking at Shi Ming at that moment.

"I didn't understand it," Shi Ming replied honestly.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't understand it; just contemplate it slowly on your own." Li Hanzhou walked over and patted Shi Ming on the shoulder. "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep first."

"Uncle-Master, what is the name of this martial art?" Shi Ming hurriedly asked.

"Tai Chi..."

Leaving behind those two words, Li Hanzhou climbed into the carriage and immediately fell into a deep sleep, snoring softly.

Shi Ming quickly hurried onto the carriage, covered Li Hanzhou with a blanket, and then stepped back outside to apologize to Tang Wanshu and Lang Xiaoyun. "I'm sorry, my Uncle-Master had too much to drink and acted a bit unseemly."

"It's fine," the two of them hastily shook their heads.

How could they dare to mind such a thing?

Shi Ming walked over to an open patch of ground nearby, recalled the fist techniques Li Hanzhou had just performed, and began to practice them himself based on his memory.

Every movement and stance actually looked somewhat decent.

Tang Wanshu watched Shi Ming practice from the side, but he could see very clearly that Shi Ming's Tai Chi was completely incomparable to Li Hanzhou's.

"This Shi Ming really seems to have terrible talent," Lang Xiaoyun could not help but remark.

"I heard they are heading to the Tianxuan Academy to find the Spring of Immortality," Tang Wanshu said with a smile as he stood up. "When the Master practiced his fist techniques just now, he let us watch without hiding anything from us. Does that mean if the two of us learn this set of techniques, the Master won't be angry?"

"Probably so," Lang Xiaoyun thought about it and said.

"I'll give it a try too."

Tang Wanshu took a deep breath and started from the opening posture.

He slowly executed each movement and stance one by one.

Lang Xiaoyun stood by and watched.

When Tang Wanshu finally finished the entire routine of Tai Chi and looked over at Lang Xiaoyun, who wore a puzzled expression, he could not help asking, "How was it?"

"Why is your performance even worse than Shi Ming's?" Lang Xiaoyun asked with a strange look.

"Huh?"

Tang Wanshu was stunned. He couldn't help but look at Shi Ming, who was still practicing diligently. Was he really performing worse than him?

No way, right?

Could it be that Shi Ming actually had some hidden talent for this Tai Chi?

Early the next morning, when Li Hanzhou woke up inside the carriage, he felt that he really had drunk way too much last night.

It seemed that in the future, it would be better to use spiritual energy to metabolize the alcohol whenever he drank.

Last night was purely a case of drinking out of sheer joy.

Li Hanzhou emerged from the carriage and immediately saw that Shi Ming had woken up early, currently practicing his fist techniques on the grassy field.

"This kid is quite diligent."

Li Hanzhou felt that among all the disciples of the Longevity Temple, Shi Ming practiced the hardest. Knowing that his talent was poor and that he was slow-witted, he hoped to make up for his clumsiness with diligence.

Yet, unfortunately, he was born with stone meridians; no matter how hard he worked, his cultivation speed was always much slower than everyone else's.

Perhaps the progress he made through three months of bitter cultivation could be matched by Yun Qianzhu in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Li Hanzhou felt something was amiss.

What Shi Ming was practicing... was actually Tai Chi?

Where did he learn that?

"Uncle-Master, you're awake."

Seeing Li Hanzhou wake up, Shi Ming withdrew his stance.

"Master, you're up."

Lang Xiaoyun and Tang Wanshu had also woken up long ago.

"Shi Ming, where did you learn that Tai Chi?" Li Hanzhou asked with curiosity.

"Didn't you teach it to me, Uncle-Master?" Shi Ming asked, looking astonished.

"Ah? I taught it?" Li Hanzhou was completely bewildered. When did that happen?

"Last night, after you drank some wine, Uncle-Master, you taught me the Tai Chi," Shi Ming said. "Big Brother Tang and the others can prove it."

"Did I blackout from drinking?" Li Hanzhou felt a bit awkward.

At that moment, however, Tang Wanshu and Lang Xiaoyun felt their hearts skip a beat.

Li Hanzhou had been drunk and imparted such a brilliant martial art like Tai Chi to Shi Ming. Since Shi Ming was one of Li Hanzhou's people, that was fine, but the two of them had also seen the technique and even learned it.

If Li Hanzhou found out, would he be angry?

"Master, we also saw your fist techniques last night..."

Tang Wanshu cautiously brought it up after all.

"Oh, if you saw it, then you saw it," Li Hanzhou yawned, showing complete indifference.

It was just Tai Chi.

When he was on Earth in his past life, wasn't it something everyone knew?

The old men and women in the parks all practiced it extremely well.

There were also piles of videos teaching Tai Chi online.

What did it matter if they saw it?

Seeing that Li Hanzhou had no intention of pursuing the matter, the two of them finally let out a sigh of relief.

They boarded the carriage and continued on their journey.

Cloud Wilderness.

Deep within the Cloud Wilderness lay an ancient town.

Surrounded by dense jungles and sprawling swamps, the living conditions here could be said to be extremely harsh, yet the local people still labored diligently.

Rows upon rows of houses stood here, resembling a massive mountain village.

At this moment, inside the largest building in the ancient town, a figure in a black robe was seated quietly. Several powerhouses radiating powerful true qi surrounded the area, pointing their swords at the black robe. Yet, the black robe showed not a trace of panic, still sitting there calmly.

It was as if the sharp swords all around posed no threat to him whatsoever.

"I wonder what kind of wind blew the First Pavilion Master of the Blood Sacrifice Pavilion all the way to this godforsaken place in my Cloud Wilderness?" At that moment, a hearty voice rang out.

In the next second, like a gust of wind blowing past, a figure materialized directly before the black-robed person.

The newcomer was an old man, his withered and emaciated body looking almost like a skeleton, giving off a terrifying aura.

His sunken eye sockets seemed capable of seeing right through a person's soul.

Seeing the old man, the surrounding people all lowered their weapons and respectfully greeted, "Great High Priest."

"Step down."

The Great High Priest waved a hand.

Only then did the crowd disperse.

"The Great High Priest of the Star Luo Kingdom truly lives up to his reputation," the First Pavilion Master glanced at the Great High Priest.

"If the First Pavilion Master has something to say, speak plainly. I presume you didn't come to this ghost town of my Cloud Wilderness just to make small talk," the Great High Priest said as he sat down.

"Then I'll get straight to the point," the First Pavilion Master said indifferently. "Lately, your Cloud Wilderness has been reaching its hands a bit too far."

"What do you mean?" The Great High Priest frowned.

The First Pavilion Master said nothing more. With a casual wave of his hand, a corpse flew out from his storage bag and landed on the ground.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Great High Priest asked.

"Take a look at his wounds," the First Pavilion Master pointed.

The Great High Priest walked forward and looked at the assassin's fractured sternum and the massive hole in his chest.

"Hm?" The Great High Priest's expression shifted. "The Grand Heavenly Phenomenon Art."

"Still want to say it has nothing to do with your Cloud Wilderness?" the First Pavilion Master said coolly. "Let's leave the matter of Zhao Qian秋 aside for now, but this time, a gold-badge assassin of my Blood Sacrifice Pavilion has died by the Grand Heavenly Phenomenon Art. Your Cloud Wilderness needs to give me an explanation."

"Condensing raindrops into swords."

The Great High Priest said with a solemn expression, "To be able to condense raindrops into swords and slay a master of the Profound Passing Realm, this person's Grand Heavenly Phenomenon Art must have reached at least the seventh stage."

"However, among us in the Cloud Wilderness, there are no more than four people who understand the Grand Heavenly Phenomenon Art. The one with the highest cultivation among them is this old man, and I have barely reached the sixth stage. How could you possibly think this matter has anything to do with the Cloud Wilderness?"

The Great High Priest said with a bitter smile.