Longevity by Grinding Skills

Amidst a spray of stone chips, the Elder Sect Leader hooked a wine jug with his maimed limb, took a deep swig, wiped his mouth, and shook his head.

"Sigh, it’s getting worse and worse. Back in the day, when Ancestral Master Li Jinglei practiced this move, he shattered the Sect’s ancestral hall! Now, it takes some effort just to break a stone stele."

As he spoke, Chen Tiangang glanced at Xu Yunfan with a slightly trembling hand, concealing his inner shock.

"Try it again."

At Chen Tiangang’s command, a fine tremor suddenly erupted from Xu Yunfan’s shoulder blades. As he swung his arms, they left dozens of afterimages in their wake.

The candlelight on the cave walls flickered wildly from the force of his movements. Where the gust from his fist passed, the three-inch-thick bluestone floor cracked like a spiderweb.

Chirping Cicada.

This was a unique, high-frequency, vibrational force-generation technique that came from integrating one’s tendons and bones with the Celestial Cicada Force. It was one of the Celestial Cicada Sect’s most fundamental skills.

CRACK!

As he pulled back his final punch, the skin on Xu Yunfan’s forearm took on an eerie, ashen gray hue. Beneath the skin, his bones slowly slid back into place as if they were alive.

As his Great Tendons snapped, the veins across his body bulged and shifted, faintly forming a pattern like cicada wings. From beneath his skin came the roar of his qi and blood, surging like a great river.

’Twenty days to master Emitting Force, and just three days to channel it through his entire body.’

A keen light flared in Chen Tiangang’s eyes, and the fingers of his lowered hand trembled slightly.

This record even surpassed that of the sect’s founder, who had gone mad and died after only seven days of secluded cultivation.

Other than Li Jinglei, the Ancestral Master who founded the Celestial Cicada Sect, no one had ever accomplished what Xu Yunfan had. Mastering the basics in a month was one thing, but to then integrate his entire body to emit force in just three short days... it was unheard of.

The corner of Xu Yunfan’s mouth twitched. He silently watched as faint, wing-like patterns spread across Chen Tiangang’s body, a subconscious reaction as the old man exerted his force.

It was a unique characteristic of the Celestial Cicada Robe, a Blood Exchange-level Kung Fu.

Noticing Xu Yunfan’s gaze, Chen Tiangang smiled. "This is a physical trait that appears after cultivating the Celestial Cicada Robe to the Blood Exchange Realm. When your blood roils with extreme activity, these cicada patterns emerge on the skin. At that point, your Horizontal Training will make you virtually invincible against others in the same realm..."

He cleared his throat. "If you can cultivate to the Grand Martial Master level of the Outer Three Harmonies Realm and pass the Sect’s assessment, I will teach it to you."

Suddenly, the sound of rustling robes came from outside the cave. The hem of Ning Wuque’s green robes was still damp with morning dew, yet when his feet touched the ground, his toes crushed a half-inch-deep dent into the bluestone tiles.

As he bowed, the veins on his neck pulsed, showcasing his effortless control over the Celestial Cicada Force. Yet, his voice was as gentle as ever. "The weather is warming and the ground is thawing. The fiends of the Incense and Candle Sect have already breached seven cities. The Wuzhou Army urgently needs elite warriors from every Sect to help defend the region. This coalition is being called the Demon-Vanquishing Celestial Army, and where they pass, not even birds or beasts remain."

"Master, a message has arrived from the Wuzhou Army. They require all the Sects of Wuzhou’s Five Ridges and Seven Mountains to contribute warriors to join the Wuzhou Army and resist the Incense and Candle Sect."

Hearing this, Chen Tiangang subconsciously plucked three strands from his beard and nodded slightly. "This is our righteous duty. As part of Wuzhou, the Celestial Cicada Sect must naturally do its part."

Just as Ning Wuque was about to speak, Chen Tiangang cut him off. "Fourth Brother has been cultivating on the mountain for years and hasn’t been out. Third Brother is familiar with Wuzhou’s official circles. Let the two of them lead eight Inner Sect Disciples and two hundred Outer Disciples. As for you, Wuque, you are the Senior Brother and on the verge of breaking through to the Outer Three Harmonies Realm. The Martial Arts of our Celestial Cicada Sect are best honed in battle, so you will go as well. If you return having broken through to the Grand Martial Master Realm, I will teach you this Sect’s highest Ultimate Skill."

Ning Wuque opened his mouth to speak, but then simply said with great solemnity, "I will not fail the Sect!"

His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, yet a warm, pleasant smile graced his face.

With that, he accepted his orders and walked out of the Inheritance Cave in the rear hall.

Xu Yunfan watched this unfold from the side, remaining silent. Chen Tiangang’s words had clearly pre-empted whatever Ning Wuque had intended to say.

The Master’s command had been given. To defy it would ruin the image he had cultivated as Senior Brother in everyone’s eyes.

Besides, from what Xu Yunfan had observed over the past few days, while Chen Tiangang treated his disciples well, his word was law, and he did not appreciate anyone questioning his decisions.

Chu Xuan, who had been standing nearby, saw this and stuck her tongue out, though she didn’t dare make a sound. She quickly walked over to Chen Tiangang, took his arm, and swayed it playfully.

"Father, why isn’t Junior Brother going? He’s a Third Level Martial Artist, too! And his talent is... well, it’s a little bit better than Senior Brother’s."

A Third Level Martial Artist at the age of twenty-one or twenty-two was a truly eye-catching talent. Outside of the top Sects of the Great Zhou or the hubs for Martial Artists in Jade Capital Dao and the Central State, such a prodigy was rarely seen in these remote frontier states.

A faint smile touched Chen Tiangang’s lips. "Your Junior Brother has yet to master the fundamentals of the Celestial Cicada Force. He needs to remain on the mountain to cultivate. Besides, I have other plans for him."

Seeing Chu Xuan was about to say more, Chen Tiangang waved his hand dismissively. "That’s enough. Go spend some time with Wuque. He’ll be leaving the mountain soon, and you won’t see him for a good while."

Hearing this, Chu Xuan forgot all about her little scheme. Shouting for Senior Brother Ning, she quickly trotted out of the Inheritance Cave.

The perpetually stern Chen Tiangang watched Chu Xuan disappear from sight and sighed. "The Celestial Cicada Sect is in a precarious state, with the old generation gone and the new one not yet ready. Fortunately, we have Ning Wuque and you. I’ve watched Ning Wuque grow up; he has an excellent temperament and a kind heart. He keeps the entire Sect running in perfect order.

To be frank, before I handed over the reins, the Celestial Cicada Sect was far more run-down than it is now. Our hundred thousand acres of fields were mostly barren. But in the two or three years since Wuque took over, he has made the Sect thrive, and the number of our disciples has multiplied several times over. When he returns this time, I will teach him the Celestial Cicada Robe. However..."

Chen Tiangang turned to Xu Yunfan. "To begin learning the Celestial Cicada Robe, you need Celestial Silkworm Threads as a primer. The Celestial Cicada Sect is currently raising only two silkworms. One is nearly mature, but the other will take another two years. Can you wait?"

"Please rest assured, Master. I can wait," Xu Yunfan replied.

Suddenly, his ear twitched, and his eyes swept almost casually over the outer wall of the Inheritance Cave.

He remembered that the adjoining cavern housed the Celestial Cicada Sect’s Inner Treasury; Lin Hanyi had taken him there once to retrieve a three-hundred-year-old Ginseng.

’It sounds like someone is breathing.’

He shifted his gaze back to Chen Tiangang, who seemed utterly oblivious as he let out a satisfied cackle.

"When the time comes, once you’ve made your breakthrough, we’ll harvest the cocoon and you will master the Celestial Cicada Robe!"

Without another glance at Xu Yunfan, he walked out of the Inheritance Cave on his own, limping as he went to tend to his wound. It was an old injury that required a daily medicinal poultice.

Xu Yunfan was puzzled. ’If Ning Wuque is getting all the best opportunities, why is the master singling me out like this?’

He turned his head toward the outer wall of the cave. He was very familiar with the sound of that breathing. Even through the stone, he could tell it was Chu Xuan.

’She came back to eavesdrop.’

’With Chen Tiangang’s level of power, there’s no way he didn’t notice.’

’It seems Chen Tiangang did it deliberately. He waited until Chu Xuan was right by the wall before he said that.’

’Strange.’

In an adjacent storeroom, Chu Xuan’s back was pressed against the stone wall, already drenched in a cold sweat.

She had heard him say, "...once you’ve made your breakthrough, we’ll harvest the cocoon..." Her mind went blank, and her vision blurred.

An anxious expression appeared on Chu Xuan’s face as she paced back and forth in the storeroom.

"What do I do, what do I do... If Father gives it to that oaf, doesn’t that mean Senior Brother won’t be able to cultivate the Celestial Cicada Robe?!"

She abruptly stopped her frantic pacing.

"No, I have to tell Senior Brother about this. I’ll have him think of a way to talk to Father."

Just as Chu Xuan stepped out of the Inner Treasury, she came face-to-face with Xu Yunfan, who was standing at the entrance. Her expression tightened for a moment before she quickly regained her composure.

"Junior Brother, you scared me, popping out like that."

"Do you know what Master and I were just talking about in the cave, Senior Sister?"

Chu Xuan’s expression remained unchanged as she said with a charming laugh, "How would I know what a master and his disciple discuss?"

Seeing Xu Yunfan was about to speak, Chu Xuan added, "Some things, you only understand when you see and hear them for yourself."

Xu Yunfan’s eyes were profound. After a moment of silence, he said no more and stepped aside to let her pass.

As he watched Chu Xuan’s rapidly retreating figure, a glint appeared in his eyes.

’It seems this woman is being used as a pawn.’

’After what Chen Tiangang said, Chu Xuan will certainly run to Ning Wuque. But what benefit does the master gain by deliberately sowing discord between them?’

The young woman moved as if her feet had wings. Her deerskin boots, embroidered with gold thread, crushed dry twigs underfoot as she strode across the Martial Arts Arena, a Silver Bell at her waist chiming with every step.

Ning Wuque, who was practicing grappling holds with his Third Brother, heard the chiming and turned just in time for the young woman to grab his wide, Cloud Pattern sleeve.

"What is it, Junior Sister? Why so secretive?"