Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Chu Liang’s Secret?

Defeated!

And a crushing defeat at that.

There was no suspense in this battle.

From the very beginning, Li Feng was suppressed by Chu Liang, and remained so until the end.

Chu Liang did not actively attack, he remained on the defensive the whole time, seemingly very passive, but everyone present knew that if he had switched from defense to offense, this battle would not have lasted until now.

He didn’t even draw his saber, he fought the entire time using only his scabbard.

And Li Feng had already exerted all his strength, his saber was almost shattered!

In terms of Qi and Blood, Chu Liang was completely on par with Li Feng. In terms of saber technique, Chu Liang crushed Li Feng.

Li Feng looked dejected, kneeling on the ground.

The previous sharpness was gone from his body, his aura had completely dissipated, his pale lips trembled slightly, and he said hoarsely, “Master, I have disappointed you.”

“Disappointed about what?” Li Ren asked him.

“I lost, I failed your training,” Li Feng said with his head down.

“So what if you lost?”

Li Ren’s expression was serious, and he shouted coldly, “I’ve lost countless times in my life, haven’t I still made it to this day? How many times have you lost?”

Li Feng’s voice trembled, “I…”

“If you have such a weak mentality, what’s the point of practicing martial arts? What’s the point of cultivating saber techniques? You might as well go back early and be a wealthy master!” Li Ren roared angrily.

Li Feng’s body shook, and he finally raised his head.

These scolding words were like thunder, deafening, and cleared his mind a lot.

He said in a low voice, “Master, I was wrong.”

“It’s good that you know you were wrong!” Li Ren’s tone was stern, “Pick up your saber, go back and reflect properly!”

“Yes!”

Li Feng took a deep breath, picked up the broken saber from the ground, and slowly stood up.

He looked at Chu Liang, his eyes no longer had the sharpness from before, nor the decadent from earlier, they were calmer.

The outcome of this battle was already decided, there was no need to say anything more.

He walked over and cupped his fists in salute to Chu Liang.

“Senior Martial Brother Chu!”

“Junior Martial Brother Li!”

Chu Liang also cupped his fists in return.

The way they addressed each other had officially changed.

In the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall, the ranking was based on strength. Those with greater strength were Senior Martial Brother or Senior Martial Sister, and those with lesser strength were Junior Martial Brother or Junior Martial Sister.

Under the stage, many martial arts disciples cupped their fists in salute to the two, shouting in unison:

“Thank you, Senior Martial Brothers!”

Although the two were not evenly matched in this battle, it was still quite exciting, and many disciples gained something from it.

This gratitude came from the bottom of their hearts.

Especially Qi Bai, Liu Qing, and others. Their attainments in the 《Autumn Blade》 were the highest among the many ordinary disciples present. They were most deeply touched by Chu Liang’s words and gained a lot.

The way they looked at Chu Liang had completely changed to respect and admiration. It was as if they were not looking at a peer, but rather at a martial arts master.

On the stage, Li Feng spoke again, “Senior Martial Brother Chu, I was arrogant and conceited before, I made a fool of myself, please forgive me.”

“It’s nothing, after all, you’re young, there’s nothing wrong with being arrogant,” Chu Liang smiled easily.

“But Senior Martial Brother Chu, you are younger than me, yet you are gentle and reserved, and treat others with kindness.”

“My experiences are complicated, it’s inconvenient to say more, it’s different from yours.”

Chu Liang smiled and shook his head. He had lived two lifetimes, so his mentality was naturally different from these young people.

Li Feng asked, “Senior Martial Brother Chu, I still have many doubts about the Autumn Blade Technique, may I come to you for guidance in the future?”

“Of course,” Chu Liang nodded.

“Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Chu.”

“It’s nothing, it’s a small matter.”

The two cupped their fists again and bowed to each other.

Thus, this battle officially ended.

The outcome of this battle was beyond many people’s expectations, but it was still considered satisfactory, and no one was injured.

“Good! Wonderful, this battle was truly wonderful!”

On the high platform, Merit Hall Master Luo Hong spoke with a smile.

He leaped down and landed on the stage, eagerly asking Chu Liang, “Chu Liang, you’ve only practiced this Autumn Blade Technique for two months, how can you be so good at it? Could it be that Hall Master Li favored you and secretly taught you many experiences? Or is that treasure of the hall useful to you?”

As soon as he spoke, he immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

That’s right, only two months!

Many people were still reminiscing about the battle just now and had overlooked this issue.

Many martial arts disciples then came to their senses—in their eyes, Chu Liang, who seemed like a martial arts master, had only practiced saber techniques for two months to this day, which was shorter than the training time of most of them.

On the stage, Luo Hong said again, “I know this is your personal secret, and I shouldn’t ask directly, but I’m really curious. If you don’t want to say it publicly, it’s fine, we can find a place to talk privately.”

Everyone below the stage was speechless. They didn’t expect that the usually serious Hall Master Luo would have such a side.

Of course, they all hoped that Chu Liang would reveal it publicly.

Is there a shortcut to the path of saber techniques?

Can one go from beginner to mastery in two months?

Even Guardian Hall Master Yan Gong on the high platform cast a look, his eyes filled with curiosity and scrutiny, also wanting to know the answer to this question.

On the stage, Li Feng, holding the broken saber, was originally planning to go back and reflect, but he stopped in his tracks and listened carefully.

Facing everyone’s doubts, Chu Liang smiled gently.

He smiled and said, “There’s no special method. The Hall Master did not secretly teach me any secrets, and I didn’t understand that treasure of the hall.”

“So you figured it out yourself?” Luo Hong asked curiously.

“Yes.”

Chu Liang nodded and replied, “After getting the 《Autumn Blade》, it took me about ten days to get the hang of it.”

“Ten days to master the saber technique?”

◈◈◈

Hearing this answer, even with Luo Hong’s composure, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

This talent was simply too terrifying!

Li Feng smiled bitterly. Although he was mentally prepared, he still almost couldn’t bear it.

He finally understood the gap between them.

“Ten days, such talent is extremely rare even in the prefectural city, right?”

People like him could only be considered geniuses in a small place like the county town, they couldn’t compare to Chu Liang at all.

Li Feng completely gave up the idea of competing with Chu Liang. From now on, he would treat Chu Liang as a master.

And the other disciples below the stage were so shocked that they were speechless.

They all stared with wide eyes, as if they were petrified. The word “shock” was not enough to describe their current mood.

In fact, Chu Liang had mastered the 《Three Autumn Blades》 that night through evolution, after all, the 《Three Autumn Blades》 contained a lot of detailed explanations, descriptions, and illustrations, making it easy to understand.

But Chu Liang didn’t say that. After all, mastering it in ten days could still be described as genius, but mastering it overnight was simply monstrous.

Too incredible!

“To be honest, I originally wanted to take you as a disciple, even though you practice saber techniques,” Luo Hong sighed, “Now it seems that I’m afraid I don’t have the qualifications.”

“Yes, with Chu Liang’s talent, it won’t be long before he can stand side by side with us,” Guardian Hall Master Yan Gong also came to the stage and said.

As he spoke, he smiled and looked at Li Ren, saying, “Old Li, you were probably the first to want to take Chu Liang as a disciple.”

“Yes, but I know I’m not qualified.”

Ever since that night when Chu Liang displayed that amazing saber strike, Li Ren had given up the idea of taking him as a disciple.

In the entire county, perhaps only the four Skin Tempering Realm experts were qualified to take Chu Liang as a disciple.

Li Ren looked at the many disciples below the stage, then looked at Chu Liang, and suddenly spoke, “Chu Liang, I want you to become the fourth master of the martial arts hall, what do you think?”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked again.

The title of master has always been reserved for highly skilled martial artists, especially the masters of the three major martial arts halls.

Luo Hong and Yan Gong’s eyes flickered, they understood Li Ren’s intentions.

They knew that Li Ren was doing this to tie the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall and Chu Liang closer together.

Chu Liang cupped his fists and said, “Thank you for your kindness, Hall Master, but I’ve always preferred peace and quiet, I’m not suitable to be a martial arts hall master.”

“It’s fine, you don’t need to teach apprentices, you just have the same status as a martial arts hall master, an honorary title, everything else remains the same, what do you think?” Li Ren seemed to have expected Chu Liang’s words.

Hearing this, Chu Liang no longer refused.

He nodded and said, “In that case, I’ll listen to the Hall Master.”

“Good!”

Li Ren smiled, in a great mood.

He turned his head, looked at the three martial arts hall masters beside the stage, and asked, “Do the three masters have any objections to this? If there are any objections, this matter can be discussed further.”

“No objections.”

“I have no objections either.”

The three masters shook their heads.

They knew that Li Ren was saying this to show respect, it was just a formality.

Even if they disagreed, Li Ren would eventually find a way to make Chu Liang a martial arts hall master.

“I want Chu Liang to become the second ‘Saber Master’,” Li Ren asked separately, “Does the Saber Master have any objections?”

“No objections, Chu Liang’s saber technique attainments are not inferior to mine.”

The Saber Master expressed his approval.

Chu Liang’s words on the stage earlier had also touched him to a certain extent.

“Since the three masters have no objections, then this matter is settled!”

In this way, Chu Liang became the fourth master of the Autumn Blade Martial Arts Hall.

No one present objected to this decision.

In fact, to become a master of the three major martial arts halls, not only did one need to have a sufficiently high level of attainment in a certain aspect, but one’s own Qi and Blood also had to reach a certain level—Four Strands of Qi and Blood!

Only those second only to the Hall Master could hold the position of master.

Everyone present was curious, how many strands of Qi and Blood had Chu Liang condensed?

This question, not only the many disciples below the stage wanted to know, even Hall Masters Luo Hong and Yan Gong wanted to know, but none of them asked.

Luo Hong had asked about saber techniques earlier because Chu Liang had already demonstrated his saber techniques.

And Chu Liang had not unleashed his full Qi and Blood.

This was his trump card.

A trump card can only be revealed by oneself.

At this point, today’s events were completely over, and Luo Hong proposed to leave, “Hall Master Yan and I still have matters to attend to, so we won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Alright, take care, you two.”

Li Ren saw them off, sending the two out of the martial arts hall.

Outside the martial arts hall, Yan Gong couldn’t help but ask, “Old Li, how many strands of Qi and Blood has this Chu Liang condensed? You’re his Hall Master, you should know, right?”

“How would I know? I never asked,” Li Ren glanced at him.

“How many do you think?” Yan Gong asked again.

“Three strands!”

“But he’s so young… Well, geniuses can’t be judged by ordinary standards. Even if he hasn’t condensed the third strand of Qi and Blood yet, it should be soon.”