Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

Ping County.

Compared to Mirror Mountain, its territory was much smaller.

Several tributaries of the Lishui River crisscrossed the county like a network of veins. The waterways were extensive and convenient for boating, leading to highly developed fishing and transit commerce.

In previous years, Mirror Mountain and Lishui counties had suffered from widespread hardship due to the national policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields. In contrast, Ping County, with its convenient waterways, had reaped the benefits, absorbing a large population and many business opportunities, growing more prosperous by the day.

The setting sun, red as blood, bathed Yudu Pier in a dusky yellow light.

Seven li from the pier.

A solitary temple stood on an earthen slope overgrown with weeds.

The words "Dragon Bone Temple" on its plaque were mottled and peeling.

Legend had it that a great drought struck this place a century ago. The riverbed dried up, and in the mud, a fisherman discovered a set of enormous, bizarre skeletal remains, shaped like a long serpent with a single horn on its head.

The people, astonished, believed a celestial dragon had fallen from the sky. Seeing it as an auspicious omen, they pooled their funds to build this temple in its honor, praying for favorable weather. Thus, it came to be known as the "Dragon Bone Temple."

As time passed, the temple fell into disrepair, and the incense offerings gradually ceased.

Combined with its remote location, it eventually became a place for all sorts of shady characters to conduct private deals and handle unsavory business.

Qian Laibao led Chen Li, Chen Shouye, and Linglong to the front of the temple.

Inside and outside the temple gate, a dozen or so tough-looking men in short tunics stood sparsely, their sharp eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Qian Laibao hurried forward, cupped his fists, and smiled at the fierce-looking leader. "Apologies to trouble you all. I’ve come as promised."

"Shopkeeper Qian..."

The leader’s gaze swept quickly over Chen Li’s group of three. With a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes, he asked, "And these people are...?"

Qian Laibao quickly stepped aside, his face plastered with a smile. "Please, inform your master. These three are the principals in this transaction."

He introduced them cautiously, careful not to mention Chen Li’s name.

The leader sized up Chen Li for a moment. Seeing that the man’s aura was restrained and his depth was impossible to gauge, he didn’t ask any more questions. He stepped aside to clear the path. "This way, please."

As they crossed the broken threshold, the light inside the temple dimmed abruptly.

In the center of the dilapidated altar was a frame pieced together from massive bones, forming a long, serpentine shape. The bones were grayish-white and emitted a faint, eerie glow.

Beside it stood a clay statue of a deity with a human body and a beast’s head that was neither quite a dragon nor a snake.

Standing in the center of the temple was a man of about thirty. His face had the ruddy complexion common to those who make their living on the water. He wore a set of well-worn water gear with a brocade vest over it, a rather incongruous outfit.

With his hands clasped behind his back and his chin slightly raised, his gaze swept past Qian Laibao before finally landing on the three people behind him, full of scrutiny.

"Shopkeeper Qian, you certainly kept me waiting."

The man gave Chen Li’s group a cold glance. "Are these the buyers you were telling me about?"

Qian Laibao looked at Chen Li with an apologetic smile. Seeing that he had no intention of speaking, Qian Laibao quickly forced another smile. "Yes, exactly. Hall Master Xi, this is Master Chen."

When Hall Master Xi saw the man ignore his question, the smile on his face froze instantly, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes.

"What, are you mute?"

He suppressed his anger, sneered, and his tone hardened. "In that case, let’s cut the crap! Seven taels of silver per bolt, forty thousand bolts of top-grade silk, cash on delivery. If you want it, nod. If not, get the hell out and stop wasting my time!"

Chen Li looked at Hall Master Xi. "You’re not in charge of this deal. Bring out someone who is."

Hall Master Xi was so angry he laughed. "You’ve got some nerve! What, you think my word doesn’t count for anything around here?"

Chen Li said no more, merely shaking his head with an indifferent expression.

Ignored repeatedly, Hall Master Xi could no longer contain his suppressed fury. His face contorted with rage.

He roared, "You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! I’d like to see what gives you the right to act so high and mighty in front of me."

Before his voice had faded, his figure shot forward, pouncing on Chen Li, moving so fast he left behind an afterimage.

A cold light flashed in his hand. A peculiar, foot-long Fish Guts Short Sword had appeared, whistling sharply through the air as it stabbed toward Chen Li’s heart.

The move was vicious, clearly intended to be a killing blow.

"Father, watch out!"

Chen Shouye, who had been on high alert, stepped forward without hesitation.

He instantly activated the Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique, and his skin took on a faint golden sheen.

Facing the rapidly approaching short sword, he didn’t dodge or evade. His right hand formed a seal, thumb pressed against the base of his index finger—it was the Wisdom Fist Seal of the Nine-Character Hand Seal. Carrying a condensed blast of Gang Qi, his fist shot out to meet the sword’s edge head-on.

CLANG!

With a sharp crack, the sound of metal striking metal exploded.

Hall Master Xi felt as if his short sword had struck a bronze wall. The impact sent a sharp, numbing pain up his wrist, and his qi and blood roiled.

He stumbled back two steps, THUD THUD THUD, before barely regaining his balance, his face instantly filled with horror.

’Meridian Passage?’

’How is this possible?!’

He had clearly sensed that his opponent’s aura was only at the Spirit Realm First Level, while he himself had long since entered the Spirit Realm Second Level Profound Acupoint Level.

His cultivation should have been more than enough to suppress the other man.

Yet in that direct clash, he had been completely outmatched and even knocked back.

’This... is completely illogical!’

"You’ve got a few tricks."

A vicious glint erupted in Hall Master Xi’s eyes. He completely discarded any notion of underestimating his opponent.

With an angry shout, he changed his Sword Techniques with the Fish Guts Short Sword. No longer clashing head-on, the blade flickered unpredictably, targeting the vital points where Chen Shouye’s Protective Gang Qi was relatively weak, such as his throat, heart, and armpits.

His swordsmanship became cunning and bizarre, swift and vicious. He used only killing moves common in desperate fights, seeking to overcome strength with skill and slowness with speed.

Chen Shouye was completely unfazed. He pushed the defenses of his Immovable Vajra Bright King Technique to their limit, a faint golden light swirling around his body.

He combined it with the Nine-Character Hand Seal, sometimes using the Wisdom Fist Seal to see through feints and perceive the sword’s path, other times using the peerlessly fierce Demon-Subduing Seal to break skill with force, or using the Sun Wheel Seal to erupt with Inner Qi and force his opponent back.

With his Horizontal Training Skills, he had no fear of a life-or-death struggle. For a time, he fought Hall Master Xi to a standstill, even gaining a slight advantage.

The two figures flickered rapidly around the hall. The force of their fists and Sword Qi stirred up dust from the floor, and accumulated grime on the beams rained down. RUSTLE RUSTLE.

The more Hall Master Xi fought, the more frightened he became. He considered his martial arts to be a full realm higher than his opponent’s, yet he couldn’t even break through the young man’s defenses. The boy’s Horizontal Training Skills were abnormally powerful.

BOOM!

The dilapidated temple, already in disrepair, finally gave way under the impact of their fierce battle’s Qi Strength. With a piercing crack, a section of the roof tiles collapsed with a roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.

’An opportunity!’

A vicious glint flashed in Hall Master Xi’s eyes. Seizing the moment when Chen Shouye’s movement was hampered by blocking the falling rocks, his short sword shot out like lightning, stabbing toward the Empty Gate at his ribs.

This strike contained all his power, a guaranteed killing blow.

However, the instant the short sword struck Chen Shouye, it felt as if it had plunged into layers upon layers of tough leather.

Outside Chen Shouye’s body, nine layers of the Immovable Vajra Bright King Gang Qi were deployed.

After the sword’s edge broke through six layers of Gang Qi, its momentum was spent, and it could not advance another inch.

"What?! That’s impossible!"

Hall Master Xi was dumbfounded, unable to believe his eyes.

’My full-power attack couldn’t even break through his Protective Gang Qi?’

But Chen Shouye seized the opening, just as his opponent’s old force was spent and new force had yet to be generated. He struck back with a Sun Wheel Seal, and a scorching, fierce Palm Wind rushed toward him.

Hall Master Xi retreated in a panic, flustered and disheveled. He stumbled back several steps before finally managing to dissipate the searing Palm Force, his face a mixture of shock and rage.

Chen Li, who had been watching from the side, gently shook his head and uttered two words: "Too weak."

The Tuo Long Bang was a second-rate power in the Jianghu. By all rights, they should have a Grandmaster presiding over them.

Chen Li had thought that even a gang with a poor lineage would have some foundation.

But now, seeing Hall Master Xi fight with Shouye, his Cultivation Technique was crude, and his moves were more vicious than refined. It was all the rough-and-tumble, life-or-death style of the Jianghu.

Compared to a prestigious major sect like the Celestial Sword Sect, the gap was more than a thousand miles wide.

If both were at Spirit Realm Second Level, Chen Li estimated that Shouye would win within ten moves.

"You... insult me?"

Hall Master Xi was thoroughly enraged by the phrase "Too weak."

His face instantly turned from red to blue, then from blue to white. Overcome with shame and anger, he completely lost his senses and shrieked to the men outside the temple, "Are you all fucking dead? Get in here and chop them to pieces!"

The dozen or so gang members waiting outside immediately rushed in with a roar, their swords and sabers drawn and glinting coldly.

"Let’s move."

Qian Laibao shouted, steeling himself as he charged forward using the Tiger Subduing Fist.

But he had never been serious about his martial arts training in his youth.

Surrounded by two leaders at Qi Realm Perfection, he was instantly at a disadvantage, finding himself in a perilous situation.

Just then, Linglong, who had been standing quietly to the side, made her move.

Two snow-white Long Silks slithered out from her sleeves like nimble snakes. They seemed soft, but they moved with the speed of lightning.

The Long Silks coiled, jabbed, swept, and entangled. With a series of muffled CRACKS and pained cries, all dozen or so gang members who had rushed in were knocked to the ground in a matter of moments. Their weapons flew from their hands as they rolled around, wailing in agony, not a single one of them able to stand.

Hall Master Xi had just managed to steady himself when he saw his men completely routed in an instant. He was scared out of his wits.

He was about to make a move, but Chen Shouye was already on him like a shadow, landing a heavy fist seal squarely on his chest.

PTUI!

Hall Master Xi flew backward like a broken kite, crashing into the dilapidated altar. He spat out a mouthful of blood and struggled twice, but couldn’t get up.

As the dust from the battle slowly settled, only the groans of the defeated men filled the ruined Dragon Bone Temple.

Chen Li’s gaze shifted to the rubble. "You certainly are patient. If you keep watching, I can’t guarantee that these brothers from your gang will be able to keep their lives."

It turned out that long before stepping into the Dragon Bone Temple, he had scanned the entire temple with his Divine Sense.

Most of the dozen or so auras inside were impure and mixed. Their cultivation was mostly at the Qi Realm, and many were still at the level of Marrow Refining and Blood Refining.

Even the leader, Hall Master Xi, only had the aura of the Spirit Realm Second Level Profound Acupoint Level.

But there was one extremely faint aura, almost perfectly blended with the surroundings. Although it had concealed all signs of life, it could not escape Chen Li’s perception, which was far beyond that of an ordinary person’s Divine Sense.

This person was the real one in charge.

The temple was deathly silent, with only the occasional sound of debris falling from the crumbling walls.

After a moment, behind the clay statue, the pile of rubble and broken beams was suddenly blasted aside by a wave of Qi Strength. The Inner Qi was focused and did not disperse, so it didn’t kick up much dust.

A figure stepped out from within.

He was a man of about forty. His face was as hard and chiseled as if carved by a knife, and a hideous scar ran from the root of his ear to the corner of his mouth.

He wore a pair of straw sandals caked with dried mud. Two dark, unsheathed short blades were crossed at his waist, and a long weapon tightly wrapped in gray cloth was strapped to his back.

It was none other than the Vice Gang Leader of the Tuo Long Bang, Li Sanli.