Chapter 29 Pei San
“Master, I do not wish to think of marriage at the moment.” Teng Qingshan said.
Zhuge Yuanhong took a good look at Teng Qingshan before he laughed. “Haha, I now understand why you attained the innate realm at the age of seventeen! You are the same as Xiang Fanchen, devoting all your efforts on training. But Qingshan, I have to remind you that marriage is an important stage of one’s life and you cannot ignore it.”
“Mmm, I understand.” Teng Qingshan was stumped by this.
Lady Qing was definitely a good lady, with a pure charisma like that of a goddess who fell from heaven. It was rare to find such a lady in this chaotic world. Usually, one who had seen blood would hardly be able to retain that purity. And Zhuge Qing, as the Sovereign’s daughter, had lived a life of ease. In addition, Zhuge Yuanhong had taught her well, therefore she had such charisma.
However, towards Lady Qing, Teng Qingshan had only shown her the concern as if she was his younger sister. He did not feel love for her.
However, Qingshan understood what his Master ‘Zhuge Yuanhong’ said as well.
Marriage was definitely an important event!
This was the ancient times where, out of the three most unfilial actions, not having an offspring is the worst! Back when he was in the Teng Jia Village, his father ‘Teng Yongfan’ had once tried to force him to get married early. He only agreed to allow Teng Qingshan to delay a few years on the account that he would need to work hard after entering Gui Yuan Sect.
“Even if it’s for the sake of the family, there is a need to have descendents. My father only has one son.” Teng Qingshan sighed in his heart. “No matter what, I’ll still need to find a wife and have kids in a few years time.” As for whether he could find a woman like Cat who could touch his heart, Teng Qingshan had no confidence at all.
But if he were to remain single all his life, even if he was willing to, his parents would be the first to object.
Considering how filial Teng Qingshan was, he did not want to be the one to put an end to his family line. ……
“Master, I passed by Wu An County on my way back. There, I met an expert who had tanned skin and a sturdy body, by the name of ‘Tie Ta’. He challenged me…… But I noticed that he should be an innate master.” Teng Qingshan spoke out his suspicions.
Zhuge Yuanhong was astonished, “An innate master challenged you? Could it be that he knew that you reached the innate realm?”
“It seemed that he did not know beforehand.” Teng Qingshan said. “But after exchanging blows with me, he should have found out.”
To be able to fend off that attack from the metal truncheon, Tie Ta could obviously have guessed Teng Qingshan’s abilities.
“The weirdest thing was that when he had exerted his actual abilities, a flash of golden light flashed in his eyes.” Teng Qingshan could not understand.
“Gold light flashed in his eyes?” On hearing this, Zhuge Yuanhong frowned and said, “Mmm, based on what you’ve said, this guy by the name of ‘Tie Ta’ should be from Mani Temple!”
“Mani Temple?” Teng Qingshan was a bit astonished.
“Mmm, amongst the eight major sects, only the Mani Temple follows buddhism. The other seven major sects cultivate essence into Qi, and Qi into spirit. And for gold light to flash in his eyes, he would have to be from Mani Temple. Afterall, the buddhism of Mani Temple pursues the ‘sarira’, while we cultivate in the pursuance of the ‘innate Golden Dan’. If one’s gaze was as if it had materialized and flashed with a light of gold, in buddhism, one would be able to achieve this at the Arhat realm. But for us, we would need to achieve the ‘innate Golden Dan’ realm.”
Teng Qingshan did not really understand.
It was because he was not familiar with the cultivation of the buddhism. It seemed that the cultivation technique of Mani Temple was completely different from the rest of the sects.
“In short, there’s a 90% chance that Tie Ta is from Mani Temple.” Zhuge Yuanhong said.
“Master, this Tie Ta is the guard of a middle-aged man by the name of Pei San.” Teng Qingshan followed to say. “The other day, at Wu An county, this Pei San had used ten thousand taels of gold to buy a top courtesan. Moreover, this Pei San had looked down on the Young Master of Qinghu Island ‘Gu Shiyou’.”
“An expert of the Arhat realm as a guard?” Zhuge Yuanhong was a bit astonished. “This Pei San is an important character of Mani Temple? But Mani Temple is very much against wastage of money. They would not agree to the spending of ten thousand taels of gold to purchase a courtesan.”
Zhuge Yuanhong was also surprised.
Mani Temple was the best of the eight major sects!
“I don’t really understand. There are people under the Mani Temple who earn money; however, they would never dare to spend ten thousand taels of gold to buy a top courtesan…… or to even offend the Young Master of Qinghu Island!” Zhuge Yuanhong was very certain that those at the top of the Mani Temple could afford to look down on Qinghu Island and spend a large amount of wealth.
However, one must be a monk to be able to be among the top practitioners of the Mani Temple, and monks were prohibited for falling for women’s charm, let alone to spend money on one.
As for the common disciples, while they did not have to stay away from women, their actions made it impossible for them to climb to the top ranks of the Mani Temple. Those common disciples would likely not dare to offend the Young Master of the Qing Hu Island.
“There are two possibilities in this matter. The first possibility is that the Mani Temple is greatly indebted to Pei San, resulting in them sending an expert of the Arhat realm as an escort. The second one is that either this Pei San or his elder is an extremely strong expert. So powerful that they are able to steal the buddhism manual from Mani Temple for the escort to train and eventually achieve the innate realm!” Zhuge Yuanhong said.
Teng Qingshan gasped when he heard this.
Regardless of which of the two possibilities it was, this Pei San was not someone that was easily messed with.
“Qingshan, if there’s nothing else, you can head back to rest first,” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said.
“Yes, Master,” Teng Qingshan replied, and left the study. ……
Yangzhou, Wu An County.
In a small pavilion of a luxurious mansion, Gu Shiyou sat down with a sullen face a strong, bushy-bearded man respectfully standing before him.
Ever since that day when Pei San left with his guard ‘Tie Ta’ and Meng Dujuan, Gu Shiyou immediately sent out thousands of men in search of this Pei San. After a while, Shiyou even resorted to sending out over ten thousand of men. With the status that Gu Shiyou held, dispatching over ten thousand of men merely required him to say the word, and it would be done.
In the land under Qing Hu Island’s control, it was ridiculous to think that ten thousand men were only able to locate Pei San and company the next afternoon.
The news had only reached Gu Shiyou at noon.
“General Li!” Gu Shiyou looked at the big bearded strong man and said, “You ordered thousands of City Guards to surround that Pei San and company; however, hundreds of men were killed, and the leader who had led the thousands of men was even captured!” Gu Shiyou’s face had sunk. “This is the the greatest humiliation! Our Qing Hu Island’s face has been completely lost thanks to you guys!!! There were only three of them, one of whom was a weak lady. There were thousands of you! If it was me that failed this badly, I’d slit my own throat!”
The bearded strong man quickly said, “Young Master, that tanned strong man is an innate master. He covered himself with a layer of Qi which was impenetrable by arrows, and easily captured the leader of the troops.”
“Innate master?” Gu Shiyou was so infuriated that his teeth were clenched. “These are all excuses of the weak who are scared of death! So what if he is an innate master? Could he possibly kill thousands of people in such a short period of time? There is a limit to one’s Innate True Origin, and with thousands of men surrounding them, that guard could only kill a few hundred people. Could the rest not capture that Pei San?”
The bearded strong man said bitterly, “Young Master, it is not that we City Guards are cowardly and fear death. It is just that Pei San is even stronger than his guard.”
Gu Shiyou was stunned.
“Our men had surrounded him, but with a single chop of his hand, tens of men who had gathered around were killed.” The bearded strong man said.
“Blade light shot out from his body? That means that he is also an innate master,” Gu Shiyou’s face paled.
One innate master as a guard was enough to instil fear in Gu Shiyou, but to think that Pei San was also an innate master…… Gu Shiyou had to reconsider carefully. Tie Yi Hall only had three innate masters in total, while Gui Yuan Sect only had four, including Teng Qingshan.
It was very hard to attain the innate realm, but that Pei San and his subordinate were both innate masters.
“What is their background?” Gu Shiyou started to hesitate.
“Young Master, that Pei San even got our men to bring word back to Young Master,” The bearded strong man said.
“Shoot,” Gu Shiyou kept a serious look and said.
“That Pei San said……” The bearded strong man said bitterly, “Tell that Gu Shiyou, if he doesn’t wish to die, then don’t come and bother me!”
“What arrogance,” Gu Shiyou squinted his eyes.
The bearded strong man started to feel uneasy. Based on his understanding of the Young Master, whenever he came across such humiliation, he was doomed to burst into fury.
“Get everyone to retreat,” Gu Shiyou ordered icily. “One more thing……I will be returning to Qing Hu Island later. Go inform my Martial Sister and company.”
“Yes,” The bearded strong man immediately took his leave. ……
On the Anyang River, a two-storeyed leisure boat steadily floated along.
Du Mengjuan sat on the upper deck of the boat, playing the seven-stringed zither as the music echoed throughout the banks of the Anyang River. A boatman in black was rowing the boat, while the man in purple, ‘Pei San’, was at the front deck, casually lying down on a wooden chair, listening to the music of the zither, swaying and humming a small tune.
“Master, do you think that Gu Shiyou will be sending more men after us?” That strong man ‘Tie Ta’ stood behind Pei San.
Pei San closed his eyes and hummed a small tune. “Hmm? Relax. If that Gu Shiyou was really so foolish, then there would be no way he could be listed on the 《Earth Ranking》. But this trip to Yangzhou was really quite enjoyable. That Teng Qingshan was better than I had expected, and in addition, I even found such a good master of the zither like Dujuan.”
“That Teng Qingshan is really good, to be able to attain the innate realm at the age of seventeen. Only the demonic monk ‘Xiang Fanchen’ from hundreds of years back would be comparable.” That strong man ‘Tie Ta’ was also full of praise. However, that Teng Qingshan practices the spear, while Gui Yuan Sect’s spear art is only mediocre. Master, do you think that Teng Qingshan’s talent would be wasted in Gui Yuan Sect?”
“Just wait and see! Won’t we find out after waiting for a few decades?” After saying this, Pei San closed his eyes again, humming a small tune.
The leisure boat steadily headed to the west. ……
Gui Yuan Sect, in Zhuge Qing’s room.
The afternoon sunlight was shining into the room through the windows. Zhuge Qing was just finishing sewing a blue dress on the table. She was also sewing on pockets on the inside of the dress.
“Brother Teng should be returning from the Boorish Desolate now……” A smile broke out on Zhuge Qing’s face. For this blue dress, she had selected the material herself, such that the inner layer was snow silk. The insulation of this outer gown was comparable to that of a top quality fur coat, and it could even fend off ordinary arrows.
“Father said that he would help me bring up the issue of marriage……I wonder what Brother Teng……” Thinking of this, Zhuge Qing blushed.
At that moment, through the windows, Zhuge Qing saw a figure heading over.
“Father?” Zhuge Qing put down her sewing needle and walked out of the room.
“Qingqing, are you not practicing your sword in the afternoon?” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said.
“Mmm,” Zhuge Qing nodded. Of course she was not practicing her sword, she was making clothes.
“Oh right, your Martial Brother Qingshan just came back today,” Zhuge Yuanhong said.
Book 4 Chapter 30 The Magical Effect of the Scarlet Fruit Wine
“Martial Brother Qingshan is back?” Zhuge Qing couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy. She then remembered that her father, Zhuge Yuanhong, would help her as the matchmaker. So she involuntarily felt slightly nervous but also anticipatory.
“Yes.” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said, “I, your father, told him that I will arrange his marriage.”
Zhuge Qing bit her bottom lip and stared at her father.
Seeing his daughter act like this, Zhuge Yuanhong couldn’t help but sigh helplessly. Actually, when his daughter asked for the complete version of the 《 Vigor of the Reckless Bull 》Spear Art for Teng Qingshan, he realized that his dearest daughter harbored some affection towards Teng Qingshan.
“I told your martial brother, Teng Qingshan, that in the Gui Yuan Sect, there are a few granddaughters of the elders like your cousin and martial sister, Liu Xiang. They are all nice girls ……” Zhuge Yuanhong was still speaking when Zhuge Qing became worried. Why did her father help these other girls? If Teng Qingshan married someone else, what would she do?
Seeing the worry in Zhuge Qing’s eyes, Zhuge Yuanhong laughed and said, “Alright, Qingqing! I will be frank. Your martial brother Qingshan has devoted his body and mind on cultivation and doesn’t want to get married now. Therefore, he rejected all those girls.”
Zhuge Qing felt perturbed and looked at her father nervously.
“As for you, Qingqing ……” Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and continued, “He did not reject, but only said that he did not want to get married right now.”
Zhuge Qing froze for a second.
“Your martial brother, Qingshan, is an amazingly talented person.” Zhuge Yuanhong sighed emotionally and said, “I forgot to tell you. He has reached the innate realm! A seventeen-year-old innate master! In all nine areas of the land, he is the only one in five hundred years!”
“Martial Brother Qingshan reached the innate realm?” Zhuge Qing was also shocked by the news.
“Alright, Qingqing. Father still has some errands to run. I need to go to the martial depository.” Zhuge Yuanhong immediately left, leaving Zhuge Qing on the pathside alone.
Zhuge Qing stared at her father’s back as he disappeared into the distance and said softly, “Father, thank you.” Zhuge Qing was very smart. She understood the words that her father said just now were just to make her feel better. ……
In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, but Zhuge Qing was feeling depressed.
She turned and stepped back into her room.
“He doesn’t want to get married…… Isn’t that hinting at rejection ……” Zhuge Qing stood dumbly as she stared at the cloak on the table. “However, Big Brother Teng reached the innate realm at the age of seventeen, so he must be completely focusing on cultivating, unlike me, who thinks about nonsense everyday. Yes, I can’t hold him back …… Sincerity can make metal and stone crack!”
Taking a deep breath, Zhuge Qing sat back on the chair and continued sewing the cloak.
Although she was encouraging herself, it was obvious her father failing to matchmake her with Teng Qingshan still affected her. So while she was sewing the pocket, her thoughts wandered involuntarily.
“Ow.” Zhuge Qing immediately pulled back her left hand.
A needle-pricked wound appeared on the left index finger and fresh red blood flowed out. This needle-pricked wound wasn’t small. Zhuge Qing hastily grabbed a xuan paper beside the table and immediately wrapped it around her index finger.
“Aiya, what should I do now?” Zhuge Qing stared at the clothes.
Although she pulled her hand back very quickly, two drops of blood still fell on the pocket she was sewing and the two drops of blood seeped through the Snow silk and the cloth. Zhuge Qing immediately flipped the cloak over and checked and saw that it was alright. There were just two drops of blood that seeped through the snow silk and cloth and only a deep red color with the size of a fingertip was seen outside.
The cloak was azure stone color and so, the drops of blood wasn’t obvious.
“Once it’s dried, no one will see it.” Zhuge Qing heaved a sigh of relief. ……
In the Gui Yuan Sect, at Teng Qingshan’s residence.
“Crack!” The yard door opened and Qingyu was seen skipping and jumping into the yard with a bright smile on her face.
“Qingyu, your brother is back!” A bright and clear voice sounded.
Qingyu was surprised and looked into the yard carefully. She immediately rushed over as she shouted, “Brother!” Like a cheerful bunny, she dashed into the yard and hugged Teng Qingshan who was sitting down. “Brother, it’s great you came back. I have been thinking about you these days. I waited for you everyday, and I couldn’t eat nor sleep.”
“Really?” Teng Qingshan winked and said, “But I noticed that my sister doesn’t even come back home for lunch.” Teng Qingshan came back during the morning and ate lunch with cousin Teng Qinghu. As for his sister, Teng Qingyu, she was nowhere to be seen.
Through Teng Qinghu, Qingshan found out that Qingyu and Zhuge Yun were often together.
Teng Qinghu, who was at the side, also teased, “Right. I ate with those soldiers of mine these days and didn’t really see Qingyu.”
“Cousin!” Qingyu cast a glare at Teng Qinghu and looked at Teng Qingshan helplessly, “Brother, I didn’t know you were back, otherwise, I would have waited for you even if it meant not eating any lunch.”
“Alright.” Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “Regarding this matter between you and Little Yun, the Sovereign has told me and I have agreed. After the Yearly sacrifice, I will bring father and mother here, and if they give their permission, this matter between you and Little Yun is settled.”
No matter how care-free Qingyu was, she still blushed when she heard Teng Qingshan’s words.
“Cousin, Little Yu! This is a precious item I brought back from the desolate land.” Teng Qingshan said and pointed at the gourd on the table. “Little Yu, your cousin was asking me what this was just now, but I did not tell him.” Teng Qinghu could only blinked his eyes as he listened and laughed awkwardly, “Qingshan, you can tell us now. What is that thing?”
“Don’t ask me now.” Teng Qingshan said and handed the two bowls beside him to Qinghu and Qingyu.
Then, he pulled the plug out of the wine gourd and poured out the Scarlet Fruit Wine.
“Walla~~” The light red liquid flowed out from the mouth of the gourd, and the aroma of the wine permeated the air. Qinghu and Qingyu couldn’t help but sniff and smell. The two small bowls were soon filled to the brink.
“Finish it.” Teng Qingshan said.
“Yes.” Qinghu and Qingyu were already salivating when they smelled the aroma of the wine, and with no hesitation, they held the bowl up and drank.
Gulp~~
They emptied the bowls in one gulp.
“My whole body is sweating.” Teng Qinghu said in shocked. As for Qingyu beside him, her face was flushed red all over.
After a while.
“How do you two feel?” Teng Qingshan looked at Qinghu and Qingyu who were still in shock.
“My Dantian has become a lot larger.” Qinghu was shocked as he replied.
Qingyu was also shocked and answered, “All my bones and muscles have gone through a transformation. It seems like my entire body feels energized. With this, Qingyu ran to the man-made hill beside the pond and grabbed a rock that weighed a thousand Jin. She exerted a bit of strength with her small arms. Phew! The rock that weighed a thousand Jin was lifted high up.
“When…… when did I become so strong?” Qingyu was shocked.
Since she was young, Qingyu had never really trained and only began cultivating her inner strength when she joined the Gui Yuan Sect. Although she had inner strength, Qingyu relied on her physical strength just now. Her physique did not change, but her physical strength actually improved a lot.
“My strength has increased.” Teng Qinghu forcefully chopped the air with his hand, and a fierce gush of wind blew.
“Good. Drink half a bowl.” Teng Qingshan said and poured the scarlet fruit wine again.
“Drink it.” Teng Qingshan said.
Qinghu and Qingyu were very surprised and immediately finished the wine.
“How do you feel now?” Teng Qingshan asked.
“Not much.” Qingyu shook her head and said, “My whole body is burning comfortably, but my Dantian and body seem to have no changes.”
“Qinghu, what about you?” Teng Qingshan asked.
“My Dantian hasn’t changed, but my physical strength has improved.” Qinghu said in an unbelievable tone. He could feel the changes in his bones and muscles distinctly. However, the improvement this time was a lot smaller than last time.
Teng Qingshan nodded as he listened.
“This Scarlet Fruit Wine has no use to you guys anymore.” Teng Qingshan said. At the Steel Arms Monkey Mountain, those steel arms monkey and even the demonic beasts vied to get a drink of the wine. However, as you drink more, the effect would decrease until there is no effect anymore.
One more thing!
The better your physical qualities, the more scarlet fruit wine you can absorb. If your body was originally weak, you would absorb less of the scarlet fruit wine.
For example, Qingyu, a girl, had ordinary physical qualities. Thus, no matter how powerful the Scarlet Fruit Wine, she could only gain a strength of two to three thousand Jin and obtain the strength of a second-rated warrior.
As for Qinghu, it was obvious that he absorbed a lot when he drank the first bowl, and he absorbed some more after he drank the second time. He gained a lot more strength than Qingyu did. ……
Most arms of the demonic beast Steel Arms Monkey had a strength of ten thousand Jin, and Steel Arms Monkeys were able to obtain scarlet fruit wine often . It was obvious that the effect of the scarlet fruit wine had its limits. However, before Teng Qingshan first drank the scarlet fruit wine, his physical strength was almost two hundred thousand Jin!
His body was so strong that it was a lot stronger than a Steel Arms Monkey.
His first sip of the scarlet fruit wine caused his physical strength to improve greatly. However, as he drank, the effect weakened. When Teng Qingshan drank one-third of the wine gourd, the wine became useless.
However, because he drank it, his physical strength increased by twenty thousand Jin.
Now, Teng Qingshan’s physical strength measured a total of 240000 Jin.
Although he was only at the state of Emptiness Dan, with the attribute of his physical strength, he was able to fight an Innate Master of the True Dan Realm.
“Qingshan, my strength increased by at least eight thousand Jin!” Teng Qinghu exclaimed happily as he said, “I feel that there is only a little difference between just using my physical strength and inner strength.
“Was it really that much?” Qingyu frowned.
Teng Qingshan smiled, “Qingyu, the stronger the body, the better it can absorb the effect of the scarlet fruit wine. However, you are a girl and aren’t pressured to train your muscles. If you do train and become more muscular than Little Yun, then you better be careful incase Little Yun is afraid of marrying you.”
“He wouldn’t dare.” Qingyu glared and immediately blushed as she said, “Brother, it’s still early.”
“Haha ……” Teng Qingshan laughed and looked at his cousin Teng Qinghu, “Cousin, although you gained the strength of eight thousand Jin, this scarlet fruit wine is not completely finished. Practice hard everyday, and your physical strength will still increase.”
“Really?” Qinghu couldn’t help but feel great joy.
“Of course.”
Teng Qingshan nodded. After he ate the Black Fire Spirit Root he clearly knew the Scarlet Fruit Wine and Black Fire Spirit Root only temporarily improved his ability. However, as he trained, the Black Fire Spirit Root and Scarlet Fruit Wine would still develop slowly. He drank one-third of the Scarlet Fruit Wine, but only a small amount of it was effective.
“However, the effect of the 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》has weakened a lot.” Teng Qingshan had also noticed.
As time passed, it would become increasingly difficult to improve.
Teng Qingshan guessed that in the end, even if the energy of the scarlet fruit wine was within his body, the 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》wouldn’t be able to transform this energy into concrete strength! The 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》was a consummate technique of the Xing Yi Martial Arts in the previous world, and the effect on Teng Qingshan’s body would continually decrease.
One day, the 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》 would be completely useless!
Due to the cultivation of the Internal Martial Arts, Teng Qingshan’s body had reached an incredible level. He needed to create a consummate technique of the Internal Martial Arts that would be a lot better than the 《Godly Tiger Form Technique》.
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