Chapter 94: Chapter 94: The Transformation Ends

Zou Zhiming sighed. "I knew you’d say that. Here, have a soda."

Yan Sea took the orange-colored drink and stared at the packaging, lost in thought. He vaguely remembered Zou Zhiming treating him to this exact soda when they were just boys. The packaging was identical, which surprised him.

"This brand is an antique, decades old. How did you even find it? It’s not expired, is it?"

Zou Zhiming poured himself a glass of liquor and said with a laugh and a curse:

"Bullshit! They stopped making it ages ago. But there was news recently that one of our contemporaries advanced to become a Grandmaster. He got all sentimental, saying he missed the soda from the corner store of his childhood, so someone immediately dug up the formula and rushed a batch into production. That’s how I managed to buy some online."

Zou Zhiming downed the strong liquor, looking utterly content. He then pointed at Yan Sea and said, "When are you going to become a Grandmaster? Oh, never mind that, just reaching the Grandmaster Realm would be enough for this old friend of yours to bask in your glory."

Yan Sea shook his head with a wry smile. After a moment of thought, he decided to confide in his old friend.

"It depends on Yu Fei. If he can establish the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation, I will have fulfilled my master’s dying wish. My spirit might achieve some measure of completeness then, and I’ll have a chance."

Hearing this, Zou Zhiming spat out a mouthful of liquor, but Yan Sea instantly released his Qi Blood to block it, preventing a single drop from contaminating the food and drinks.

Zou Zhiming looked at Yan Sea with pleasant surprise. "Holy shit, you old bastard! The dead tree is finally blooming? I always thought you were completely washed up after what happened on the battlefield."

Yan Sea just smiled without a word.

For a long, long time, he had tried, but to his dismay, he could never find a suitable heir for the Tribulation Sword lineage.

He needed power to investigate certain matters. Unfortunately, as long as the legacy of the Tribulation Sword remained unpassed, the crack in his mental state would only grow wider. He didn’t even dare to heal the injury to his Dantian.

Over the past ten-odd years, his pain and hatred had pushed his Frenzied Blood Spirit to a new level, even beyond the limits of the Cultivation Technique itself.

Due to the injury to his Dantian, his cultivation had regressed and was being maintained at the third stage of Body Tempering. If his Dantian were to recover, he would regain his former peak strength at the Gang Qi Realm in a very short time. Then, with the surge of his Frenzied Blood Spirit, he would be forcibly dragged into a breakthrough to the Grandmaster Realm.

At that point, his spiritual state would be incomplete. The failure to pass on the Tribulation Sword lineage would create a massive flaw in his spirit, causing him to fall into a demonic state and die.

Yan Sea had a very clear understanding of his own martial path. Trapped in such a dead-end, he had no way to investigate the truth of what had happened.

His original plan had been to take his master’s belongings to the battlefield after his teaching post ended this year and fight until his death. In the afterlife, he would kowtow and apologize to his master for failing to pass on the Tribulation Sword lineage. He figured his master would probably forgive him.

But who would have known that after meeting Yu Fei, he’d feel it was a waste to let the last sword, the Cyan Lotus Sword, be buried with him? He figured he might as well let this cunning brat give it a try. And that one try unexpectedly revealed a prodigy of a Martial Artist.

Fate is truly unpredictable. It can bring you to the depths of despair, only to shine a ray of light upon you in the abyss.

’Fate is just a...’

Yan Sea gulped down the salt soda, stopping those unpleasant thoughts. ’Fate has always been an excuse for losers.’

Zou Zhiming was very familiar with the first stage of the Tribulation Sword lineage’s process, especially the "sword sacrifice" ritual.

Over the past ten-odd years, he had helped Yan Sea attempt it twice, both times ending in failure.

He never imagined that just as his old friend was about to give up, a student would successfully pass the initiation. This was cause for a grand celebration, a proper drunken stupor. But he knew the old bastard across from him was a truly reliable man. When it came to serious business, his friend was resolute, even stubborn.

Martial Artists had an extremely high metabolism for alcohol, but in a high-level confrontation, it couldn’t be said to have zero effect.

The night deepened. Zou Zhiming got drunk. Even though his old friend hadn’t had a single drink with him, he was still overjoyed. More than the salt soda, what he really didn’t want to see was the Yan Sea of the past who drank liquor like water, forcing down that silent, bitter wine that only grew more painful with every sip.

...

「Three days passed in a flash.」

Yu Fei’s mind finally cleared, and his reason returned. He threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. Spreading his arms, he dropped into a lunge and twisted his waist. Instantly, a series of CRACKS and POPS echoed from the bones and joints all over his body. Yu Fei stretched his limbs and loosened up his waist.

Hearing the noise, Yan Sea and the nurse came in one after the other.

Yan Sea looked at Yu Fei, his eyes filled with unconcealable satisfaction.

"Good!"

The nurse huffed from the side and said, "Of course he’s good. His physical foundation is incredible. His Qi Blood is three times that of others at his level. Two vials of Bone Tempering Liquid were almost not enough. According to the final measurements, if we set the Qi Blood of a Martial Artist at his level as a baseline of 1, a normal Martial Artist’s would increase to 1.2 after using Bone Tempering Liquid. Student Yu Fei started at 3, and after the enhancement, he’s at about 3.1."

Yu Fei was a little confused. If the liquid had taken full effect and increased his Qi Blood by twenty percent, he should be at 3.6. He voiced his confusion.

The nurse rolled her eyes. Before she could explain, Yan Sea said, "The stronger a Martial Artist’s foundation, the less effective these kinds of drug-induced enhancements are. You used two vials of Bone Tempering Liquid and managed to increase your Qi Blood by 0.1. That’s already very good. The Sword Dao has its limits."

Yu Fei was suddenly intrigued and asked, "Then what is this so-called limit? How many times the baseline can it be?" He was eager to know the gap between himself and the top Martial Artists.

Yan Sea recalled for a moment. "According to official records and surviving experimental data, there was a Martial Saint about two hundred years ago whose Qi Blood was ten times the baseline for his realm. His Eminence has since passed away. Generally, a prodigy’s total Qi Blood is two to four times the baseline of their peers."

Yan Sea paused here. "Your current Qi Blood level should be in the upper-middle tier among prodigies of the same realm."

Yu Fei clicked his tongue, a little dissatisfied. ’Only upper-middle tier? Looks like the Void Martial Body isn’t that strong among red-tier talents.’ This thought solidified his decision to save the copying ability of the Fate-Defying Pearl. His potential for growth was still immense.

’Ye Feng isn’t worth using my talent copy on to get his ’Stardust Decomposition’ right now. My number of copies is limited, so I have to find the most cost-effective target.’

Yan Sea noticed Yu Fei’s dissatisfaction and said sternly, "Yu Fei, I told you when you first started learning martial arts that if a Martial Artist wants to go far, they must possess a powerful will. Don’t blindly believe in talent. My master’s talent was very poor, but the heights he ultimately reached surpassed the vast majority of so-called prodigies."

He paused, then added, "Even I, your teacher, have defeated many prodigies in my time."

This was no empty boast. He was a Martial Artist who blossomed late. Besides, talent doesn’t always translate into actual strength one-to-one; otherwise, there wouldn’t be so few Grandmasters in the world.

Yu Fei nodded humbly. "I understand, Teacher."

’Of course I understood this principle,’ he thought. ’Talent can smooth the path, but you still have to walk it one step at a time.’