Mortal Saint

’An Iron Token?’

Ji Xiu pondered for a moment, then went back into his room. After fumbling around for a bit, he came out with an ’Iron Token’.

"Senior Sister, is this what you were talking about?"

When he first arrived at Lu Manor, he had reached the threshold of "Ten Steps One Kill" in his Sword Skill. When Lu Chengfeng saw this, he not only granted him the stipend of a Sword-carrying Guest but also gave him this Iron Token.

At the time, Ji Xiu didn’t know its significance. He just thought it was some kind of ’designation’ for the manor’s Sword-carrying Guests.

But now, seeing Lu Hongyu’s hurried expression...

’It seems there’s another purpose to it.’

"Yes, that’s the thing!"

Seeing Ji Xiu holding up the Iron Token, Lu Hongyu nodded repeatedly.

"Hold on to it. From today onward, you are going to truly, completely turn your life around!"

’Turn my life around?’

Ji Xiu held the Iron Token, turning it over and over, but after a long while, he couldn’t find anything special about it.

He was already a Sword-carrying Guest, a Ninth Grade Pill Master, and a Martial Artist who had genuinely reached Blood Nourishing Perfection and was preparing to begin Muscle Forging.

One more step and he would reach Bone Marrow Tempering. With just a pair of iron fists, he could make a name for himself and become a skilled expert in the county.

At that point, the so-called ’Three Great Gangs’—formed from vagrants and townsfolk and organized by the county...

...and the disciples of the ’Four Great Halls’ of Fist, Spear, Saber, and Sword, who fought their way up from all the various martial arts schools...

...would all have to look up to him and treat him with respect.

One could say his future was bright.

He just needed to keep progressing steadily like this.

In the future, he could build his own courtyard and set up his own pill shop.

Once he had the silver coins and capital, he could mentor a promising talent in Alchemy Skill like ’Zheng Jun’, have him work for him, fire up the furnace to refine some Ninth-grade Pills, and sell them.

Then, when he went out, he could wear a long robe, be a man of status and reputation, recognized by all. Just like Lin Zhenhai of the Lin Residence, he’d be respectfully called ’Boss’ and support a whole group of people under him!

’Whatever this "turning my life around" is, could it be any better than that?’

Seemingly sensing the doubt in Ji Xiu’s heart...

Lu Hongyu’s eyebrows curved into a mysterious smile.

"Anning County, five hundred li across. Would you say that’s big?"

Ji Xiu answered without hesitation.

"It’s huge!"

’The five-hundred-li Anning County... Just this somewhat remote Fire Kiln Street is bustling and well-connected, supporting tens of thousands of households.’

’He, Ji Xiu, had gone from a slave to a Groom, then latched onto Lu Manor and became a Sword-carrying Guest.’

’He had merely moved from a sewage-filled slum alley to the opulent Lin Residence, and then to the Sword Manor in the heart of the Fire Kiln district.’

’He hadn’t even left this corner of Fire Kiln Street. The farthest he’d ever been was a trip to the Household Department in the County Yamen to change his status from slave.’

’In the five-hundred-li Anning County, besides the Government Office...’

’The Four Instructors of Fist, Spear, Saber, and Sword; the Three Gangs of Lion, Leopard, Eagle, and Falcon; Fire Kiln Lu, Chai Market Xu, and Niu-Yang Wei!’

’This saying, which had been circulating for a few years, represented the ’top ten’ powers in Anning County...’

’And he had only ever been involved with one of them: Fire Kiln Lu.’

’As for Lu Chengfeng’s skill—that Flying Flower Picking Leaves technique so light it didn’t even ripple the water—even though he had only revealed a sliver of it...’

’...was already countless times greater than his own!’

’Fist, Spear, Saber, Sword... Lion, Leopard, Eagle, Falcon!’

’He hadn’t met a single person who could compare to Lu Chengfeng, who could stand on equal footing with Master Lu, Lu Dabingzhu.’

’Based on all this...’

’...to him, the five-hundred-li Anning County was like a single leaf blocking his view of the entire forest. How could it not be considered vast?’

"No. It’s not big."

"Quite the opposite. It’s... pitifully small!"

A few strands of hair came loose from Lu Hongyu’s ponytail, blown by the wind, but her eyes slowly began to shine.

"Axiu, you’ve never been to ’Jiangyin Prefecture’. You don’t know... what the real world is like."

"Schools, Grand Lineages, Secret Martials, Qi Barriers, and dashing heroes in fine clothes on spirited horses!"

"Martial Examinations, Flower-Pinning, Autumn Hunts, Great Selections—a hundred boats surging forward in a race!"

"The five-hundred-li Anning County is like mud on the shore;"

"But Jiangyin Prefecture, which commands the seas and mountains, is like a boundless, raging tide."

"Here, the masters of Fist, Spear, Saber, Sword, and the gangs of the Lion, Leopard, Eagle, and Falcon can spend thirty or fifty years, until their Qi and Blood declines, just to achieve the ’Skin Refining’ stage of Martial Arts. With that alone, without even reaching Outer Gang or donning an Immortal Robe, they can dominate a region."

"But..."

"A few years ago, I went with my father to Jiangyin Prefecture to witness a ’Flower-Pinning Banquet’."

"The Fire Kiln’s business, in your eyes, is it a big deal?"

"But once we entered the ’Prefecture’, my father and I were just ordinary wealthy merchants, forced to keep a low profile."

"That day, even through the sea of people, I still saw the scion of the Noble Family who took first place..."

"He looked to be just in his early twenties, but he had already reached Skin Refining. If you put him in our five-hundred-li Anning County, it would be no exaggeration to say he could fight his way from Chai Market on West Street all the way to the East Street Fire Kiln."

"Normally, if an ordinary ’County Household’ wants to ’enter the Prefecture’, even if you’re a Martial Artist, you can’t stay for long, let alone find a path to advance."

"But now, things are different."

She pointed at the Iron Token and said solemnly,

"My father’s master from when he learned fist techniques in his youth just recently broke through the Qi Barrier in Jiangyin Prefecture and became a ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’."

"That Grandmaster wants to establish a legacy, to found his own School."

"And this token..."

"...is the credential, selected by my father, for someone from Lu Manor who has proven themselves worthy to join that ’School’."

"As long as you establish a firm foothold, you’ll be able to enter the Prefecture with the status of a ’School Disciple’!"

...

The old, dilapidated alley was filled with overflowing sewage, the weather freezing cold.

Lame in one leg and with a broken arm, Lin Du—despite his Qi and Blood surging and possessing the power of Great Success in Marrow Refining—had been crippled. Unable to exert a single bit of Force or even move properly...

...he stumbled and staggered into a drafty, ruined temple.

The Great Xuan dynasty had been founded nearly a thousand years ago.

For the first three hundred years...

...all rituals and structures like ’Daoist Temples’, ’Temples’, ’Divine Shrines’, and ’Demon Sacrifices’ were forbidden.

If any were discovered, anyone involved—from the highest royal nobles down to the common folk—was to be executed!

At that time, any path that did not follow the way of the Martial Artist, that did not rely on the immense power of Qi and Blood to reach the heavens, but instead used external forces to delude the mind, was condemned as the ’Outer Dao’.

Whenever a scene of an ’Outer Dao Manifested Saint’ connected with reality in any state, prefecture, or county in the realm, it was uniformly called an ’Outer Dao Mirage’.

Armies would be dispatched, Qi Cultivation Grandmasters sent, and even... Titled Martial Dao experts, all to annihilate it and leave no trace behind!

But as the first three hundred years passed...

...during the middle three hundred years, traces of the Outer Dao gradually appeared, unconsciously eroding the Great Xuan’s lands. At that time, the various states and prefectures still adhered to the policy of ’exterminating the Outer Dao’.

Until—

The last three hundred years.

Across the three mountains and nine rivers, the prelude to the ’Yang Nine Great Tribulations’, a cataclysm that engulfed the entire Great Xuan, finally erupted.

From then on, the flames of war raged across the land for three hundred years and have not subsided to this day.

Now, the Great Xuan’s first ’millennium’ was approaching.

The realm still upheld the policy of ’expelling the Outer Dao’, yet the ruins of broken Daoist Temples, temples, and sacrificial shrines could be seen almost everywhere.

And the so-called standard for an ’Outer Demon’...

...had also been gradually lowered, changed to describe lawless troublemakers who abducted people, held unsanctioned sacrifices, and brought disaster to the prefectures and counties—a far cry from what it once was.

Lin Du, a complete wreck, collapsed under the cobweb-covered rafters, clutching a small box tightly to his chest.

"Lin Ruxue..."

In the dead of winter, he bit his gums until they bled.

Using his one remaining arm, he carefully opened the box.

With extreme caution, he brought out an ancient and mysterious Divine Shrine, within which was enshrined a lifelike, miniature Divine Being.

On the left, it read: ’Divine Decrees Are Equal’.

On the right: ’Peace Under Heaven’!

Written above was ’Central Yellow Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General’!

He gazed at the Divine Shrine, recalling the rumors about the ’Outer Dao’ that had occasionally circulated in the five-hundred-li Anning County over the years. Looking at the statue of the Divine Being, he hesitated.

But then his thoughts turned, and his expression hardened.

"I’ve fallen to this state! What choice do I have left!"

"If this Venerable Deity doesn’t choose me, *that* would be the true heaven-collapsing disaster!"

Thinking this, he began to chant a sacrificial prayer, spitting out a mouthful of Essence Blood and guiding it with his will. In just a moment...

...wisps of clear smoke began to curl upwards. The tiny statue slowly opened its eyes, shooting out a mysterious light that coalesced into lines of small text in mid-air!

"Worship with piety, and you may enter this gate."

"Go eight hundred paces from here and find the ’Tiger and Leopard Hall’."

"Someone will be there to receive you."

The tiny words solidified for an instant before scattering like sand in the wind, surging into Lin Du’s organs and Qi and Blood...

...causing his broken bones, muscles, and Skin Membrane to begin to heal!

Then, it transformed into an invisible ’shackle’ that locked onto the great dragon of his spine.

But all of this...

...he was completely unaware.

"Tiger and Leopard Hall... one of the powers of Fist, Spear, Saber, Sword, and Lion, Leopard, Eagle, Falcon... the gang of ’Tomb Tiger’ Yang Daohan!?"

"HISS... so even a famous county expert like him has connections to the ’Outer Demons’..."

"No, that’s not right."

"What Outer Demon? He’s clearly one of us!"

"If he *didn’t* have connections, then I’d be the one who’s finished..."

"Lin Ruxue, that fucking bitch! You stole my foundation and act all high and mighty all day. If I don’t fucking kill you..."

Lin Du muttered to himself, feeling his body, now made of steel bars and iron bones, stronger than ever before.

For a moment, his heart filled with even greater reverence for that Incense and Candlelight General of the ’Central Yellow Taiyi Sect’. He then plunged into the cold wind, heading eight hundred paces west, and gradually disappeared...