But the old man still had his eyes closed as before, making him feel a small sense of disappointment, as if he did not receive his parent’s praise after getting good grades.
After arriving at the fifth move, reality made Yang Dingtian’s previous complacence entirely dispel cleanly. This was because his speed was as slow as an artist trying to draw a photo dot by dot.
The fifth move is the most important move because it requires sending out a Fist while at the same time, condensing Xuan Qi within the Muscle Vein and sending it into the Qi Sea, thus setting up for the next attack. The requirement of the fifth move was to support at least 3 rounds.
A full three months later, Yang Dingtian had not even completed the first step. He still needed to be able to condense Xuan Qi a half minute after he sent out Xuan Qi.
This progress made him despair a bit. However, Yang Dingtian absolutely was the sort of person who would become more spirited the more they despaired. Therefore, he crazily tried to establish a connection. Every day after the three hours had finished, he would be thinking with all his might and in the evening, thinking in his dreams.
Three months, four months……
This world’s summer went by, as did autumn, then it was winter once again. (The land in the north is winter-like all year long, but in order to distinguish seasons, it is felt by the minute difference in coldness. A little cold is summer, very cold is winter.)
A frigid winter. Heavy snow fell after heavy snow. This made Yang Dingtian put aside the energy used to train ZhengYang Fist and instead use it daily to create the ice stairs.
Because besides practicing Martial Arts, there was a more important matter; that was bringing the old man with him to leave this damned place.
Finally, after this winter’s tenth heavy snowfall, Yang Dingtian had finished 99.99% of the ice stairs. The distance away from the top was just several ice steps, merely 3 to 4 meters away.
As long as there was another snowfall, Yang Dingtian would be able to finish the one year project of building the ice stairs and he would be able to bring the old man out of this damned place.
He had been stranded within this icy cavern for over a year. Now, he could leave soon.
Yang Dingtian was sleeping in a half-awake state when suddenly he felt that his face was a bit cold. Then, he immediately opened his eyes.
Snow, it really snowed! Moreover it was very big, completely enough to finish the remaining ice steps.
Yang Dingtian did not immediately go build the ice stair. Instead, he started 1 hour of cultivating the Heaven and Earth Art by sitting and breathing, then did 3 hours of practicing ZhengYang Fist’s fifth move.
Currently, after he sent out a Xuan Qi attack, his Muscle Veins would only require 15 seconds to accumulate and condense Xuan Qi for the next attack. Thus, it couldn’t be said that he had finished all 3 steps; he had not even completed the 1st step. At this point, Yang Dingtian had already put down any careless delusions and prepared to fight a prolonged fight instead.
However……the Heavens seemed to play a joke on him.
This morning, he carried out practice for ZhengYang Fist’s fifth move as usual.
“Bang……” A fist lashed out, the snow in front of him shook from shock.
“Bang……”
“Bang……”
“Bang……”
…………
Without any foreshadowing, Yang Dingtian successively threw out several rounds of Xuan Qi attacks. Even he himself did not realized that he had sent out successive rounds without requiring any accumulation time and that his body’s Muscle Veins had instantaneously condensed new Xuan Qi.
After this discovery, Yang Dingtian was shocked. How, how it be like this? Previously, he had spent 4 months but was unable to complete even ⅓ of the fifth move and was ready to spend a year or two to achieve completion. However, he did not expect that he would suddenly directly pass through it and complete the fifth move. Moreover, the requirement was to send out 3 rounds, but he had sent out several rounds.
Yang Dingtian was afraid that this was an illusion or something that happened with luck, so he tried sending out ZhengYang Fist’s fifth move again.
He wasn’t seeing things, he could easily send out several Xuan Qi attacks! Only after the 13th round would his Muscle Veins need to accumulate new Xuan Qi to condense.
Yang Dingtian was totally shocked, so much that he forgot to cheer.
But at this time, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and said: “Yes, the Martial Dao is fantastic in this way. It will usually make you depressed, but will occasionally give you an unexpected surprise. Of course, all pleasant surprises are built on perception and talent.”
After that, the old man said this phrase again: “Ai, there is always someone above one, it exasperates one!”
Yang Dingtian looked at his own fist, then brandished his fist within the snowflakes: “Grandfather, I have practiced ZhengYang Fist to completion. In addition, my ice stairs will immediately be finished, we can get out, we can get out……”
“Grandfather, we can get out……” Yang Dingtian could not help but excitedly shout.
He usually would not shout like this, but now that he shouted several times, the result would be being scolded by the old man. But under the excitement, he could not help but shout the two characters of ‘grandfather’. Afterwards, he hurriedly shut up, waiting for the old man’s scolding.
The old man slowly opened his eyes and raised up his head to look at the heavy snowfall. Then, he looked at the excited Yang Dingtian again but didn’t get angry as usual. He first showed a faint smile, then sighed and said: “This day has finally come.”
“Yes, we can finally go out.” Yang Dingtian excitedly said.
“Child, sit down.” The old man said.
Yang Dingtian hurriedly said down by the old man’s side and asked: “What are we learning today?”
“Today we will not be learning anything.” The old man laughed: “Didn’t you always want to learn who I am? Why I would be trapped here? Although you had never asked before.”
Yang Dingtian was slightly stunned, then nodded.
“It’s about time, or else there would be no chance to talk about it.” The old man said with a faint smile.
“I am called Dongfang Niemie, YinYang Sect’s Sovereign.”
Yang Dingtian did not know how big or small YinYang Sect was, but in any case, he was the Sect’s sovereign, so Yang Dingtian immediately asked: “Then were you very powerful before?”
Dongfang Niemie was surprised for a moment, then smiled: “En, I was very powerful.”
Then the old man laughed: “You must be very surprised. Since I was so powerful, why would I be trapped in this region?”
Yang Dingtian nodded.
“Child, I cannot tell you this matter right now. Your strength has not arrived at the point where you can know or else this secret will have no advantage to you. Instead, it will harm you.” The old man said: “Me being frozen in this place 1,000 li down is this world’s greatest secret.”
“I had already thought that I would be eternally frozen in this place, that I wouldn’t see the sun, but who would have known that you, from another world, would appear before me. It really is divine intervention!”
“Therefore, when you saved me from inside the frigid ice, I kept asking if you were sent by my enemies. I kept demanding what sort of plots or schemes you had. But even if I were more intelligent, I would not have been able to guess that you were from another world.”
“Child, your appearance made my death-waiting heart to once again come back to life, making my despairing dream recover once more. The Heavens sending you in front of me is to make you inherit my legacy, make you finish the path that I was not able to achieve.”
“The realm that I cannot attain, you can attain. The enemy that I cannot defeat, you can defeat! Because you are the Nine Yang Mysterious Vein.”
Nine Yang Mysterious Vein? The Taoist Priest on Earth had also said something similar; that Yang Dingtian was the Nine Yang Body.
“Did you not ask me before what kind of Mysterious Vein talent you had?” The old man laughed: “Your Mysterious Vein talent is something not seen in trillions of people, something not encountered in a lifetime!”
“The Nine Yang Body may not worth anything in your world and instead bring along lots of trouble. But in this Mysterious Heaven Continent, it truly is something that will only appear in legends.”
“A female bearing the Nine Yin Body, something not met in millenniums. A male bearing the Nine Yang Body, something not met in millenniums.” The old man said: “When you cultivated the ‘Heaven and Earth Art’ and ‘ZhengYang Fist’, these two initiate martial arts, I originally estimated that you would go somewhere near the highest place. However, I would have never thought that your performance would go far beyond my imagination.”
“This world’s Martial Artists begin this initiation martial arts before the age of 7 or 8. They all take about 3 to 4 years to finish the initiation, but you only spent a mere 7 months and 18 days.” The old man said.
Yang Dingtian embarrassedly said: “But they are 7 or 8 years-old and I am 20 years-old, beating a child isn’t an honorable deed.”
“It isn’t like this. The later one starts initiation, the slower one’s progress is.” The old man smilingly said: “You starting initiation at 20 years-old is entirely unique.”
“Child, my talent is also very high, but it is worse compared to you.” The old man said: “I originally thought that my ideal was completely annihilated, but then the Heavens sent actually sent such an amazing talent to my front.”
“My living time is lost and defeated. It is better for me to die than leave. But my ideal and spirit can live on in your body.”
“Child!” The old man stared at Yang Dingtian’s eyes: “Are you willing to pay respect to me as your Master? Are you willing to inherit my legacy?”
Yang Dingtian did not understand the meaning behind the old man’s words, but after he heard the old man’s words, he instinctively replied: “Of course, of course I’m willing, you are my only family member in this world, the person I am most intimate with.”
“Then kneel down!” Old man Dongfang Niemie said.
Yang Dingtian got up, then kneeled down in front of the old man, respectfully knocking the ground with his head thrice.
“Good, good! Starting today, you are my, Dongfang Niemie’s, sole direct line disciple. You are my, YinYang Sect’s 29th Sovereign, heir.” Dongfang Niemie stretched out his palm and suddenly, two balls of flame ignited on his finger, turning into a ring that appeared on his ring finger.
It was an extraordinarily gorgeous ring. It had two ball-like flames circling around each other. One ball was a red fiery flame, the other was a blue icy flame.
Dongfang Niemie took off the raging flames ring off and slowly put it on Yang Dingtian’s ring finger. Just when the ring was worn on Yang Dingtian’s finger, the flame ring directly disappeared.
Dongfang Niemie said: “This is YinYang Sect Sovereign’s command ring. At the present, when wearing this ring on your finger, it is improbable for it to reveal its true form. Only when your strength becomes formidable to a certain degree will the flame ring reveal itself on your finger. When that time comes, you will become the genuine YinYang Sect Sovereign.”
Yang Dingtian was immediately greatly frightened: “Grandfather, oh, Master, how can I be the Sovereign? I am very weak.”
“Every generation of YinYang Sect’s Sovereign are all direct line disciples of the previous Sovereign, so if you don’t become the Sovereign, who will?” Dongfang Niemie said: “After you arrive at YinYang Sect, you temporarily cannot announce the news of my death. You must make other people think that I am still YinYang Sect’s Sovereign. After several years, perhaps 20 years, when you are formidable enough, when the flame ring on your finger shows its true form, you can announce to all external forces of my death and publicly announce that you are YinYang Sect’s new Sovereign.”
After that, Dongfang Niemie took off an accessory from his neck. It was a flame-shaped jade and its fiery red color was incomparably beautiful.
“This ornament, is my and your Master’s wife’s engagement token. This ornament’s name is called ‘Moth Flies Into The Flame’. I and your Master’s wife have one-half. I have the flame half, your Master’s wife has the moth half. You must bring this engagement token to your Master’s wife and she will unconditionally believe you when she sees this item.”
“After attaining the flame ornament, as long as it merges together with the moth ornament, your Master’s wife will be able to see the suicide note I give to her……”