Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 506 Purity and Turbidity

Dock area.

Master Liao, dressed in a formal suit, adjusted his top hat and walked through the gate.

"Master Liao, you're here too?" A lean old man in a black robe, with large knuckles, greeted him as he played with two iron balls.

"So it was Master Hong of the Iron Mountain Fist."

Master Liao cupped his hands in greeting, stepped forward to exchange a few pleasantries, and then asked in a low voice, "What brings you here, sir?"

He was approached by people seeking his help because he ran a martial arts school, and he couldn't refuse their requests.

But Tieshanquan is more like a family temple, passed down only among the younger generation, with only a few members, so there was no need for them to come.

Master Hong, with a fleshy growth on his left eyebrow, said calmly, "A good-for-nothing descendant in my family has died, so I came to take a look..."

"I see, please accept my condolences..."

Knowing he had spoken out of turn, Master Liao said no more and followed Master Hong into a large hall.

This place was originally the headquarters of the Black Tiger Gang, a spacious three-courtyard house.

The scene was a mess, with an overturned soup bowl in the corner and several pieces of gnawed dog meat next to it...

In the main hall, a row of corpses were neatly arranged, each covered with a white sheet.

When Master Liao entered, he saw many martial arts school owners, with their capable disciples standing behind them.

He stepped forward and exchanged pleasantries, inevitably engaging in some socializing.

"Ahem...everyone."

At that moment, a constable dressed in official robes coughed, and the scene fell silent.

The constable, a man in his forties, wore a black and red official robe and carried a goose-feather saber at his waist. Nicknamed "Ghost Blade Liu Qi," his swordsmanship was renowned in Sheng Hai, and he was a force to be reckoned with. He spoke up: "Last night… a master infiltrated the Black Tiger Gang, killing seventeen people, including the gang leader, Li Heihu… A similar murder occurred in the nearby red-light district, causing passersby to panic and rob, leading to a fire that alarmed our allies… The higher-ups have given a strict order: the case must be solved within three days! You are all veterans of the martial arts world, come and take a look…"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an elderly man with a full head of white hair, resembling a white-maned lion, spoke up in a loud voice that startled everyone around him: "Feng Quanxing, go and take a look..."

"yes!"

A young man dressed in black immediately stepped forward and lifted the white cloth. Upon seeing this "Feng Quanxing," Master Liao inwardly praised him: "The White-Headed Lion can't sit still anymore. It's understandable; he's old and can't fight anymore, so he relies on his two disciples, Dragon and Tiger, to hold his own... Now that Tiger has been killed, he's naturally anxious... However, this Feng Quanxing, at such a young age, has already reached a level of mastery. He's truly landed a dragon among men."

Feng Quanxing has honest and simple features, and looks like an ordinary rural lad. Only when he walks can you see a few traces of his martial arts prowess.

He lifted the white sheet and saw Li Heihu's pale face. He quickly examined Li's limbs and bones, then shook his head: "No external injuries..."

"That's ridiculous. No external injuries? Did they get killed by a ghost?"

A middle-aged man in a red robe sneered.

Feng Quanxing glanced coldly at the man and said indifferently, "Master Yu, you have quite the airs. After my senior brother's seven-day mourning period, how about a life-or-death duel with me?"

Upon hearing this, the museum owner immediately fell silent.

"Maybe... he really was killed by a ghost."

Master Hong, the old boxing master of Tieshanquan, suddenly spoke up, drawing a surprised look from Master Liao next to him.

He came today to check and confirm there were no external injuries, and then suspected poisoning.

Unexpectedly, the old man next to me made people laugh as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Hmph, I know what you're thinking. I'm just a descendant, and I've at least reached the Ming Jin realm. I also died nearby last night... My arm, which I had refined a hundred times, was completely severed. Apart from that, there wasn't a single wound on my body..."

Master Hong's voice grew even lower: "I couldn't figure it out, so I asked a foreign doctor to perform an autopsy... only to find that his heart was broken."

"Has the heart pulse been severed?"

The martial arts school owners looked at each other in bewilderment.

As for things like striking an ox through a mountain, they certainly can do that too. There's even a martial arts school that specializes in teaching Iron Palm, and the owner can smash tofu through a stone slab without leaving a single mark on the slab...

But this is how it appears to outsiders. In the eyes of these experts, the flow of energy and those subtle traces are hard to erase.

At this moment, Liu Qi also spoke up: "I had someone examine a Black Tiger Gang leader, and the cause of death was also a ruptured heart meridian..."

"That's impossible!"

Master Liao looked at Li Heihu: "Even a grandmaster with mastered internal strength can easily kill an ordinary person with a hidden force like 'hitting a cow from across a mountain,' but it's difficult to kill a martial artist... not to mention that Li Heihu himself is a grandmaster of internal strength!"

The martial arts of the Great Zhou Dynasty emphasize releasing power from a distance, weakening the opponent by nine-tenths!

To deal with such a grandmaster, one would need to use a force similar to striking a cow from across a mountain to shatter his heart meridian, without leaving any external scars. Even if Huo Tianqing were to be resurrected, he would not be able to do that!

Liu Qi, the head constable, glanced around and sighed inwardly; then he looked at an elderly man dressed as a Taoist priest with a youthful face and white hair: "Taoist Master Xuanzi, what do you think?"

This Xuanzi is a Taoist priest from the nearby Changchun Temple. He is well-maintained and has mastered martial arts, which is why he was summoned this time.

"Old Taoist... I can't tell for sure, but if it was done by a martial arts master, their skill... is probably beyond measure."

Min Xuanzi sighed and was about to say something profound when suddenly his eyes bulged out, he made a chuckling sound, and pointed his finger at the sky above the mansion.

Just outside the gate, in mid-air, a young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a handsome face, was descending the steps one by one.

The previously empty air seemed to have an invisible step, making his every step steady and allowing everyone in the hall to see clearly how he was flying through the air.

"Who are you, and why are you trespassing here?" Ghost Blade Liu Qi gripped the hilt of his sword and roared.

"Who am I? Aren't you looking for me?" Fang Qing laughed, laughed wildly, laughed evilly... like a peerless villain.

"Hmph... all that mystification! Do you think I've never seen those rope-flying tricks performed by street performers? Everyone, attack!"

Upon hearing that his murderer was right in front of him, the white-headed lion's eyes immediately turned red. He roared and charged forward like a giant elephant.

Swoosh!

Even faster than him was Master Hong of the Iron Mountain Fist, who flicked out two iron darts from his hand, which turned into two streaks of dark light.

Although not as sharp as a musket, it is incredibly accurate and powerful when used as a concealed weapon at short range.

pat!

Soon, the two dark beams of light collided with a layer of greenish-blue light, were deflected, and struck Old Master Hong in the eye sockets.

Before he could even scream, the man fell backward and became a corpse.

Fang Qing waved his palm in mid-air, as if shooing away flies.

Boom!

The white-headed lion that was charging towards him immediately turned into a rolling gourd, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed to the ground, dying instantly.

"Master?" Feng Quanxing's eyes were bloodshot, and his hands moved like two dragons reaching for a pearl, attacking first.

"Attack together!" Ghost Blade Liu Qi, seeing that the newcomers were hostile, immediately let out a mournful cry, and all the martial arts masters unleashed their skills, filling the air with voices.

In the blink of an eye, Fang Qing swiftly separated his hands, like clear and turbid waters suddenly merging, transforming into a surging torrent that swept across the entire area.

Those experts immediately lay on the ground, like dead dogs... Especially Feng Quanxing and several young martial arts disciples, who were all lying on the ground, rolling around with their dantian in their hands, blood spilling from the corners of their mouths.

"Practicing martial arts without internal cultivation is ultimately futile... You bunch of fools who only practice external skills dare to compete with my internal cultivation?"

Fang Qing stood with his hands behind his back, exuding the air of a reclusive master. He glanced at Master Liao lying on the ground not far away and said, "You've all been struck by my Ji Shui True Qi... Now you know how powerful Qi Gong is, right?"

His gaze shifted to Gui Xuanzi, the only one still barely standing.

The Taoist priest, his face deathly pale, stared at Fang Qing with utter terror: "Immortal magic? Or demonic magic?"

"That's all you've got. My 'Qingzhuo Hall' takes its name from the 'Ji Water,' which signifies clarity above and turbidity below. Those struck by my 'Turbid Palm' suffer daily attacks of true qi, like being gnawed by worms in their bones, an unbearable torment that repeats endlessly, like being in hell... Hence, it also has another name, 'Ink Pool'..."

That was obviously something he made up.

But there's a reason for making things up. After all, there's only one metal element in this world right now, [Ji Water], which is the perfect time to devour other fruit-level images!

Fang Qing chose a direction that resembled clear water and inkstone, the point being to spread the word first and then see how it went.

As for what the Taoist priest said, the gods, demons and monsters disguised as local beings?

Fang Qing had no such thought at all.

Because he brings merit, he is the primary cause! Why bother explaining to these mortals? Why even add unnecessary drama to his own life, creating countless clones to play gods, demons, and monsters… Isn't that embarrassing?

Therefore, Fang Qing simply appeared and spoke frankly and openly.

Furthermore, they immediately proclaimed the existence of Qigong, because existence itself implies rationality.

As for why this achievement didn't exist in the historical context before, and suddenly appeared?

Why bother explaining?

In fact, one could argue that even if an explanation were to be given, it would be up to these people to come up with a reasonable one themselves. If they couldn't figure it out, they might as well just hang themselves... He has no obligation to explain these things.

"However... it seems these martial artists and Taoist priests have never actually encountered any truly inhuman or extraordinary beings?"

Could this be a world on the verge of spiritual extinction? Am I about to unleash a spiritual revival?

"However, the trace of the true seed of [Ji Shui] that I left behind can also be considered a blessing, it all depends on whether you can bear it."

Fang Qing wouldn't admit that he deliberately left behind a seed of true lineage to lure people in, hoping to find someone with exceptional abilities who could solve the problem. After showing off, he turned and prepared to leave the hall.

suddenly!

Boom!

Gunshots rang out; it was Liu Qi!

The constable had deployed a team of quick-draw gunmen outside!

But at this moment, Liu Qi, who was lying on the ground, stared wide-eyed in horror as he saw lead bullets suspended in mid-air by a layer of dark green light.

Fang Qing raised his hand, and the lead bullets bounced back at an even faster speed, causing chaos and screams outside.

He chuckled softly, lightly tapped his toes, and released the energy from his Yongquan acupoint, transforming it into a wall of energy that allowed him to use as leverage to turn and leap through the air, seemingly flying away in an instant...

"Such a person... such a person exists? Evil deeds? True Qi of the Ji River? A seed?" Liu Qi, true to his public servant status, despite the excruciating pain within him, gritted his teeth and stood up: "This matter must be reported immediately! And these martial artists too!"

He glanced at them, his heart filled with a desire to silence them all, but the martial arts school owners opposite him also stood up shakily, clearly having regained some mobility, while his own quick-fire team was almost completely wiped out, so he had to abandon that idea...

Min Xuanzi remained rooted to the spot, muttering repeatedly, "Qingzhuo... Ink Pool?"

"Who...who exactly is this person?"

Master Liao bared his teeth and spoke, but no one could respond. The younger disciples, however, gazed in the direction Fang Qing had left, their eyes filled with fervent desire…