Chapter 64 Completion of the Fundamental Cultivation Technique

"Never did I expect them to arrange for us to assassinate you at such a time..."

In the silent forest, only Sun Zhengqiu's slightly trembling voice echoed, recounting his experiences and what he had seen and heard within the Hidden Dragon organization in a slow and stiff tone.

His memories before the age of three were extremely vague; he only remembered that his family was not a small one.

After turning three, he was human-trafficked and sold to the Hidden Dragon organization.

From then on, he and other children who entered Hidden Dragon for various reasons lived every day as if in a living hell.

They had almost no time to rest, undergoing various grueling forms of cultivation from the early hours of the morning until midnight.

In Sun Zhengqiu's own words: "Those instructors wearing bronze masks simply did not care whether we lived or died."

Initially, children who failed to complete their cultivation tasks were simply left to starve.

After a few times, these children would be subjected to brutal beatings by the instructors.

If they dared to commit the offense again after being beaten...

Sun Zhengqiu would find that they quietly vanished from that moment on.

It was the kind of vanishing where not even a trace of their existence could be found.

It was as though they had never appeared within the Hidden Dragon organization at all.

"It wasn't until your subordinate was seven years old that a Daoist priest arrived and used the Qi-Observing Technique to assess our innate talents, after which I was selected to become a 'Hidden Dragon Seed' sent to enter a sect."

"It was also then that your subordinate obtained my present identity, a new name, and a place of origin."

"Along with the codename—Lone Wolf."

A Daoist priest? The Qi-Observing Technique? A Hidden Dragon Seed? A codename?

After entering the Taiwei Dao Sect, Chen Yi had learned that Elder Dao had previously used the Qi-Observing Technique to probe their aptitudes back at the Xingwu Academy.

At the same time, he also knew that the Qi-Observing Technique was unique to the Daoist sects.

Based on this, the Daoist priest mentioned by Sun Zhengqiu must have truly existed.

At this thought, Chen Yi asked, "Do you know the specific identity of that Daoist priest?"

"That Daoist priest wore a silver mask on his face, so your subordinate does not know his identity. I only remember his gaze..."

Sun Zhengqiu paused in recollection, then answered truthfully, "It was extremely cold, and the killing intent emanating from him was, well, somewhat present."

Although he desperately wanted to say that the Daoist priest's killing intent back then had been exceptionally dense, when he recalled the young Marquis Chen's tangible, substance-like killing intent from just moments before,

he suddenly felt that the Daoist priest was truly nothing to be afraid of.

Only, he could not fathom how the young Marquis had managed to temper such a terrifying killing intent.

Unaware of Sun Zhengqiu's inner thoughts, Chen Yi continued to ask, "Aside from the Taiwei Dao Sect, were there other 'Hidden Dragon Seeds' who entered other sects?"

"To the knowledge of your subordinate, several Daoist sects, Buddhist temples, and even Confucian academies have received 'Hidden Dragon Seeds'."

"However, all of us took orders from the higher-ups above; the 'Hidden Dragon Seeds' had no contact with one another."

At this point, Sun Zhengqiu paused and hesitated before adding, "Even if we crossed paths, this subordinate fears I would be unable to confirm their current identities."

"Is that so?"

Chen Yi nodded thoughtfully.

From Sun Zhengqiu's account, he had gained a relatively clear understanding of this "Hidden Dragon" organization.

First, the "Hidden Dragon Seeds" assumed false identities to enter various sects and cultivate martial arts.

They had no contact with each other.

Above them should be the relatively core members of "Hidden Dragon," who were responsible for issuing missions to them.

Perhaps they were the exact same batch of people as those instructors wearing the bronze masks.

In addition, there was that Daoist priest wearing the silver mask.

This indicated that within the Hidden Dragon organization, there was a strict hierarchy of ranks.

Through layers of compartmentalization, they could greatly minimize the risk of their respective identities being exposed.

Could such a clandestine organization, which had existed for more than five years and possessed extremely sophisticated rules, have been secretly created by Zhou Cexue?

A subtle frown appeared between Chen Yi's eyebrows.

If that were the case, he would need to completely reevaluate this dutiful Marquis.

"My Lord,"

At this moment, Sun Zhengqiu's stiff limbs regained some mobility. He dropped to one knee, cupped his fists, and said with a solemn expression, "Every word your subordinate just uttered is the absolute truth. I only hope My Lord will grant me this chance!"

Chen Yi asked calmly, "If you pledge your loyalty to me, aren't you afraid of being hunted down by 'Hidden Dragon'?"

"Your subordinate believes that you will surely exterminate 'Hidden Dragon,' and I am willing to serve you as a hound and a horse!" Sun Zhengqiu lowered his head and answered without a moment's hesitation.

He understood very well that in this world, martial arts reigned supreme.

No matter how great one's power or influence might be, it could never surpass raw physical strength.

A person who possessed terrifying swordsmanship proficiency at such a young age was destined to be the person with the strongest fist in the future.

And all he needed to do was firmly grasp this opportunity and become his follower!

Chen Yi gazed down at him, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the hilt of the Spring Rain Sword.

After a moment of thought, his gaze shifted to the two corpses on the ground, and he turned to walk up the mountain.

"I leave this place to you as my test for you."

"If three days from now, the people from the Martial Discipline Hall do not come looking for me, your test will be considered passed."

Joy flashed across Sun Zhengqiu's face, and he once again dropped to his knees in a kowtow.

"Many thanks, My Lord!"

When the surroundings returned to peace, Sun Zhengqiu stood up, glanced toward the peak of Sword Ridge Mountain, and then lowered his gaze to the disciple from the Martial Discipline Hall.

"Thank you."

Only Sun Zhengqiu understood how sincere his gratitude was toward this fellow Martial Discipline Hall disciple, who was also a "Hidden Dragon Seed."

Without the sacrifice of this "comrade," the terrifying young Marquis would never have agreed to his request.

Nor would he have ever had the chance to seek vengeance against "Hidden Dragon"!

After a brief moment of thought, Sun Zhengqiu picked up the Martial Discipline Hall disciple's weapon and inflicted two wounds upon his own body.

"Since you have already helped me once, I suppose you wouldn't mind helping me with one more small favor?"

"Silence means you agree."

With that, after Sun Zhengqiu dragged his injured body and hoisted the two corpses onto his shoulders, he staggered away.

Once he had gone far enough, Chen Yi emerged from behind a tree, chuckled softly, and returned to the mountain peak.

Sun Zhengqiu could still be considered a clever man.

Though his strength was somewhat lacking, he was more than adequate to serve as a subordinate.

More than half a month passed in a blur, and Chen Yi's days within the Taiwei Dao Sect continued much as usual.

Half the day was spent instructing Hua Youxiang and the others in swordsmanship, and the other half was dedicated to practicing foundational cultivation techniques.

Aside from the first two days when a few disciples from the Martial Discipline Hall came to inquire about the incident involving Fang Wentao, no one else had visited since.

Chen Yi did not bother to ask how Sun Zhengqiu had resolved the matter; he only needed to be certain that this person could be of use to him.

Nor was he in any rush to have Sun Zhengqiu begin investigating "Hidden Dragon" or looking into whether "Hidden Dragon" had any connection to Marquis Zhou Cexue.

For one thing, this would avoid alarming the enemy and ruining a useful asset like Sun Zhengqiu.

For another, neither of them was in a position to descend the mountain in the short term. Once the right opportunity matured, it would not be too late to strike.

At the very least, through this entire ordeal, Chen Yi had figured out a few things.

Since both Zhou Cexue and "Hidden Dragon" were hidden extremely deeply, he would either choose not to act at all, or when he did strike, he would uproot them completely.

Only in this way could he dispel the hatred burning in his heart!

Another dozen days slipped by. As the Shangyuan Festival drew near, Chen Yi finally brought his foundational cultivation technique to perfection.

[Name: Chen Yi]
[Age: 33]
[Cultivation Realm: Eighth Rank Qi-Gathering Stage (Lower Tier)]
[Innate Talent: Late Bloomer — The greater the bone age, the faster the cultivation speed.]
[Foundational Technique: Perfection — Dripping water carves stone, eventually achieving greatness.]
[Swordsmanship: Mastery — Having slaughtered for a century, the sword intent is pure and ultimate. With a single sword strike, ten thousand bones wither!]
[Counterattack Points: 5/100]

"With this, I can seek out Senior Sister Ning to learn the sword techniques and heritage of Sword Ridge Mountain."

Chen Yi looked at Ning Xue, who was practicing her sword dance in the distance, a smile blooming on his face.

Although his progress was slower than that of Lin Xueru, Du Yanqing, and the others, who had perfected their foundational techniques two months prior,

he firmly believed that as his age increased, his Late Bloomer talent would surely allow him to catch up from behind.

"Let's get through the Shangyuan Festival with the little girl and the others first..."