Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Counter-Kill

“Has Sword-Piercing Fist actually reached Perfection?”

Li Qian muttered to himself.

At the same time, he savored a trace of a peculiar fist momentum, profound and mysterious, with a sense of illusion, yet truly existing.

“I didn’t expect Sword-Piercing Fist, this most ordinary fist technique, to undergo such a magical transformation after reaching Perfection. It’s truly incredible.”

Li Qian exclaimed inwardly.

Suddenly, he lightly threw a punch. His fist was like a sword, his Internal Qi condensed, cutting through the air, several times fiercer than before his breakthrough.

Then, he practiced Sword-Piercing Fist again, his heart even more shaken.

Because the Perfection-level Sword-Piercing Fist had a much better cultivation effect than before. One round of Sword-Piercing Fist could actually complete a Great Heavenly Cycle.

Previously, it took several rounds to achieve this. This meant that the cultivation efficiency of the Perfection-level Sword-Piercing Fist had increased several times over.

During his cultivation, the comprehension of that profound fist momentum became increasingly clear and distinct.

“Even the most ordinary fist technique, when cultivated to the extreme, will become extraordinary.”

Li Qian’s eyes flickered with light.

At this moment, his desire to pursue more advanced martial arts wasn’t as strong anymore.

Because Sword-Piercing Fist still had a lot of room for improvement.

That’s right.

Even the Perfection-level Sword-Piercing Fist could still be improved.

After all, the so-called Perfection was only relative to the fist technique itself.

When it transcended the fist technique itself, it was equivalent to unlocking its potential and entering a higher realm.

Since Li Qian’s Sword-Piercing Fist reached Perfection, the progress of his Postnatal cultivation had accelerated significantly.

Basically, he could improve by about one point every two days.

It was a full four or five times faster than before reaching Perfection.

Since Li Qian had ample time, he began to try to deduce a pure sword technique from Sword-Piercing Fist in addition to his cultivation.

If it were before his fist technique reached Perfection, he definitely wouldn’t have had this ability.

But after entering Perfection, his understanding and comprehension of Sword-Piercing Fist had undergone a transformative improvement.

Through daily deduction and refinement, he gradually perfected this sword technique.

At least in his opinion, this self-refined sword technique would greatly enhance his actual combat ability.

For this purpose, he rummaged through a pile of junk in the Bell Tower and found a rusty short sword. After carefully polishing it, he made a simple scabbard, and it became his personal weapon.

Night fell.

The Bell Tower was pitch black.

Only a faint glimmer of moonlight shone in through the window.

The faint sound of a watchman’s gong could be heard in the distance.

It was already three quarters past the hour of Zi.

Li Qian looked at the information on the system panel, his heart filled with a sense of fulfillment.

Host: Li Qian.

Cultivation: Postnatal （First Level 48/100）.

Sacrificial Instrument: Time Bell （Treasure 783/1000）.

Martial Arts: Sword-Piercing Fist （Perfection）.

His Postnatal First Level cultivation was almost halfway there.

Time to sleep.

Li Qian lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He had excellent sleep quality now. He could fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes and never suffered from insomnia.

Moreover, he basically only needed to sleep for about two hours each day, which was completely sufficient.

He didn’t know how long had passed.

Li Qian suddenly opened his eyes.

He hadn’t woken up naturally.

Instead, he was startled awake by a very slight sound.

His hand instinctively tightened around the short sword he had placed beside him.

The door was gently pushed open.

A gentle night breeze blew in.

Immediately after, a figure flashed in like a ghost, rushing towards Li Qian by the bed.

The speed was extremely fast.

Silent and stealthy.

One hand reached directly for Li Qian’s neck.

But suddenly, Li Qian opened his eyes, and at the same time, the sword in his hand trembled and thrust towards the incoming shadow.

The shadow didn’t expect Li Qian to be awake and to counterattack so quickly. He was quite surprised, but he was very confident in his own strength. He flipped his wrist, Internal Qi surging in his palm, grabbing at the incoming sword.

He was a Ranked Martial Artist, while Li Qian was just an Odd-Job Disciple who had been initiated for just over two years and hadn’t even cultivated Internal Strength.

But suddenly, a clear and resonant bell sound exploded in his mind, causing his body to stiffen abruptly. The Internal Qi he was controlling dissipated, his palm grasping at empty air. At the same time, he felt a chill in his chest.

Instantly, his eyes widened.

◈◈◈

The next moment, the shadow let out an angry growl from his throat, like a wounded beast. His abundant Internal Qi erupted, his palm trembling, tearing through the air, and slapping towards Li Qian.

But Li Qian rolled over, drew his short sword, and slithered to the other side of the bed like a loach. The short sword in his hand stabbed fiercely towards the shadow’s back.

Bang!

The shadow’s palm struck empty air, and the entire bed was directly shattered by the powerful Internal Qi.

But this was also his last attack.

The sword in his chest was rapidly draining his strength.

Thud!

Li Qian stabbed again, fiercely piercing through the shadow’s back from the spine, and then with a swipe, the bones split apart.

The shadow only felt himself lose control of his body, and then he fell straight to the ground. Only his heavy breathing and the gurgling sounds from his throat remained.

Not long after, the shadow’s breathing grew weaker and weaker, until finally there was no movement at all.

Li Qian stood by the side, not approaching.

At this moment, his hands and feet were ice-cold, his scalp tingling, and he was even trembling slightly.

This was the first time he had killed someone.

When he made his move, he was incredibly calm, without a trace of fear.

But after actually counter-killing the intruder, he experienced intense heart palpitations.

Huff, huff, huff.

He took deep breaths over and over again, forcing himself to calm down.

Li Qian finally calmed down. Although he hadn’t completely relaxed, the extreme tension from before was gone.

He began to reflect on the entire process.

This shadow was definitely a Ranked Martial Artist. Judging from the power erupted from that palm, he might even be at Postnatal Second Level or above.

Fortunately, he didn’t hesitate to use the invisible sonic wave attack ability of his Sacrificial Instrument, the Time Bell.

It caused the opponent to stiffen momentarily, giving him the opportunity to counterattack and kill him unexpectedly.

Otherwise, if they had fought head-on, the consequences would have been unpredictable.

The intruder probably wouldn’t have imagined even in death that Li Qian had already become a Ranked Martial Artist.

Suddenly, he remembered something and hurriedly went to the door, listening carefully to the sounds outside.

After a long while, he determined that there shouldn’t be anyone else, and only then did he light the oil lamp.

Under the orange glow of the lamplight, the situation inside the room was revealed.

Li Qian looked at the completely collapsed wooden bed and shook his head. It was probably unusable.

Fortunately, there was another bed, originally used by Old Song.

Li Qian endured the strong smell of blood, turned the intruder over, who was still wearing a black mask. Pulling it down, an old face was revealed.

“It’s actually him?”

Li Qian was quite surprised.

It was Manager Zhao from the Odd-Job Hall.

After searching for so long in secret without any results, this person finally couldn’t hold back and wanted to capture and interrogate him at night.

Unfortunately, this person would never have imagined that Li Qian was already a Ranked Martial Artist.

Carelessly, he was counter-killed.

Looking at Manager Zhao’s corpse, Li Qian pondered how to deal with it.

Before dealing with the corpse, he still had to loot it. Perhaps there would be some gains?

Soon, Li Qian found a pile of things.

Three medicine bottles.

A small booklet.

A Contribution Token.

A dagger.

Several silver notes.

“Tsk, tsk, there are actually over five hundred Contribution Points.”

Li Qian was quite surprised looking at the points displayed on the Contribution Token.

Unfortunately, with Manager Zhao dead, this Contribution Token was useless.

Only the owner of the token could transfer Contribution Points.

He put the Contribution Token aside and then looked at the two medicine bottles. One bottle was Qi and Blood Pills, with nine pills left inside.

One bottle contained powder. Judging from the label on the bottle, it was Golden Sore Medicine, used to treat external injuries.

One bottle was an ointment called Golden Jade Ointment.

The dagger was very sharp.

The silver notes amounted to about a few hundred taels.

Finally, Li Qian picked up the small booklet, feeling a bit of anticipation. Could it be a martial arts manual?

Bright Jade Palm.

Li Qian’s eyes lit up as he saw the three large characters.

It really was a martial arts manual.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an Internal Skill Manual, but a palm technique.