After uttering the word “Master,” Han Yu's tightly wound nerves finally snapped. Her vision went black, and she passed out on the spot.
Su Yueli looked down at the young girl collapsed at her feet and sighed.
She took out a pill from her storage bag and slipped it into Han Yu's mouth. Then, she bent down to lift the blood-soaked girl, took a step forward, and vanished from the summit into thin air.
...
The next morning.
Han Yu slowly opened her eyes, and the familiar ceiling of her bedroom came into view.
Seeing her sister wake up, Han Qingling, who was sitting by the bedside, felt her eyes redden. She threw her arms around her, her voice trembling with intense distress. “You silly girl, you're finally awake! You scared me half to death last night!”
Han Yu weakly raised her hand and patted her sister's back to comfort her. “Sister, I'm fine... See? I did it. Senior Su agreed to take me as her disciple!”
At this moment, Han Yu felt incredibly fortunate.
She silently resolved to do everything in her power to become stronger. She could not squander this opportunity she had bought with her life, and she would never let her father's tragedy happen to the Han family again.
“Are you awake?”
A calm voice drifted over from the doorway.
The two sisters looked over and saw Su Yueli standing there, though neither of them had noticed when she arrived.
Disregarding her injuries, Han Yu quickly threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and bowed deeply. “Master!”
Su Yueli nodded slightly, a faint curve gracing the corner of her lips.
Looking at the stubborn determination in the young girl's eyes, Su Yueli pondered in silence.
Since the karmic bond of master and disciple had been established, she would naturally teach her with all her heart.
As for how far this girl could ultimately go, it would depend entirely on her own fortune.
Yet, a mortal's lifespan was a mere hundred years. Even if she broke through to higher realms, she would ultimately be nothing more than another passing traveler in Su Yueli's long life.
Putting aside her melancholy, Su Yueli spoke. “If there is nothing else, pack your things and leave with me.”
Han Yu froze for a moment. She experimentally moved her body, only to realize to her amazement that her injuries—which had been so severe that her bones were exposed—had completely healed!
Even the dry, hollow feeling in her meridians was entirely gone. Instead, her blood qi felt more abundant and active than ever before.
She was overjoyed, knowing this must have been the result of some miraculous elixir her master had given her.
Half an hour later, at the main gates of the Han residence.
Han Qingling, leading Grand Elder Han Changqing and the rest of the clan members, came out to personally see the two of them off.
At the moment of parting, Han Qingling tightly held her sister's hand, her eyes filled with reluctance and parting advice.
Although Han Yu felt a lingering attachment, her gaze remained resolute.
After this battle, the entire Luochuan City knew that a terrifying powerhouse capable of slapping a peak Fourth Realm cultivator to death stood behind the Han family. Furthermore, the second young mistress of the Han family had been accepted as her personal disciple.
With this deterrence in place, absolutely no faction would dare touch the Han family in the short term.
Bidding farewell to her clan, Han Yu carried a simple pack and followed behind Su Yueli, stepping out of Luochuan City.
Once they stepped onto the official road, Han Yu could not help but ask curiously, “Master, where are we heading next?”
Su Yueli's expression was calm as she walked unhurriedly. “To retrieve a medicine called Nine-Leaf Nirvana Ice Marrow. That item grows deep beneath the freezing ground of the neighboring Great Qian Dynasty.”
Han Yu was slightly startled. “The Great Qian Dynasty? Are we leaving the Great Li Dynasty?”
She had lived in the vicinity of Luochuan City her entire life and had rarely visited even the neighboring large cities. She had never expected that her first long journey in life would require crossing into another dynasty.
Su Yueli glanced at her from the corner of her eye, her tone carrying a hint of playfulness. “Are you scared?”
Han Yu puffed out her chest, her small face written with excitement. “Of course not! With Master here, I wouldn't be afraid even if we went to the ends of the earth!”
Seeing Han Yu like this, Su Yueli merely smiled without saying more, continuing her trek northward.
The master and disciple traveled for an entire day.
It was not until night fell, surrounded by desolate wilderness, that a roadside inn appeared ahead of them.
The inn was not large, and a dim lantern hung before the door, swaying gently in the night wind.
Su Yueli requested two clean guest rooms.
Upon entering her room, she lit the oil lamp on the table, its warm, dim glow illuminating the space.
Su Yueli walked over to the daybed and sat down. Han Yu hurriedly poured a cup of hot tea and handed it over, then stood obediently to the side.
Su Yueli took a sip of the tea and looked at Han Yu. “You are already at the peak Second Realm, and the physical foundation of your body is quite solid. This saves a lot of tedious introductory work.”
“Since I have accepted you as my disciple, I will begin teaching you true martial path cultivation tonight.”
Hearing the word “true,” Han Yu's eyes lit up, and her expression instantly became extremely focused.
“When ordinary martial artists cultivate, most of them only know how to forcibly temper their bones and flesh, desperately pushing their blood qi to impact their meridians,”
Su Yueli set down her teacup and said slowly, “But the physical body is like a vessel, and blood qi is like flowing water. Without a top-tier technique to govern it, no matter how fierce the flow of water is, it will only burst the vessel.”
“Today, I will first teach you a breathing technique.”
“This breathing technique is called the Heaven-Devouring Breath-Concealing Formula. It is a body-tempering method. By inhaling the clear qi of heaven and earth to nourish the physical body and exhaling the turbid impurities within, and coordinating it with the circulation of blood qi, it can make your physical foundation several times stronger than that of martial artists of the same rank.”
Han Yu was deeply shaken by what she heard. She hurriedly sat cross-legged on the ground as Su Yueli instructed.
“Close your eyes, calm your mind, and focus your intent on your dantian.”
Su Yueli reached out and lightly tapped the center of Han Yu's forehead with her fingertip.
In an instant, a cool, gentle energy surged into Han Yu's mind through her forehead, and a peculiar, ancient breathing rhythm map manifested out of nowhere.
“Listen to my rhythm.”
Su Yueli's cold voice echoed in the room. “Three inhales and one exhale. The inhalation must be long and dense, while the exhalation must be short and swift, like a tiger's breath...”
Han Yu focused her mind and immediately followed the instructions.
Initially, she was accustomed to her previous, unguided breathing methods. Suddenly changing her rhythm caused a dull ache in her chest, and her blood qi became slightly chaotic.
However, under the guidance of that cool energy from Su Yueli's fingertip, she endured the discomfort and adjusted her breathing over and over again.
As time passed, the room gradually quieted down, leaving only the unique rhythm of Han Yu's breathing.
Gradually, Han Yu discovered to her amazement that as she circulated this unique breathing technique, some kind of hidden power in the surrounding air seemed to be drawn into her body. The bones and muscles that had been exhausted from the journey actually began to feel a tingling, soothing warmth...
Seeing Han Yu enter the state of cultivation, Su Yueli nodded with satisfaction.
A strange feeling arose in her heart.
Hundreds of years ago, her master, Lu Chen, had taught her in the exact same way. However, over the past century, she had continuously refined and modified this breathing technique, significantly improving its efficiency, and had given it a new name.
At this thought, her mind grew somewhat melancholy.
She muttered to herself, “If Master and my parents were still here and knew I had taken a disciple, they would probably be happy too...”
However, even if they hadn't met with untimely deaths, a hundred years would have already seen them pass away.
For a moment, she actually found herself envying cultivators a little.
Immortal cultivators had long lifespans—ranging from several hundred to thousands of years. Things like birth, old age, sickness, and death would not happen to them anytime soon.
They could also keep each other company for much longer.
Rate on N.U.
