In the olden days, many big shots who were of superior status and who wielded real and glamorous power had all been arrested one after the other by the Sentencing Hall for their sins. Occasionally, one or two smart-alecs would escape from the sect in a pre-emptive move but they would still be cleansed and purged of by the master of martial arts in the Sentencing Hall. Of course, there were even more mediocre humans who would not reveal themselves. They would, in a short while, give a sudden display of their great and ma.s.sive strength. They would leap in a short frame of time to become the sect’s new mainstay. After experiencing that great purge, not only did the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect’s power not decrease, it had even swelled in strength.
The root of the matter would get clearer gradually.
It turned out that the chaos involving the dispute between Tang Folei and the Head Li Jianyi, Sword-hidden Peak’s Qi Qingshan and the rest were simply part of a grand narrative, one that had been spun for several decades. Such story spinning that had taken several decades had finally caused some sects within the Tranquility Academy to fall for the trick. Crossing the tribulation on the Sword-hidden Peak, Ding Hao was just a figure who had stumbled upon such a plot. He was just like a chess piece; a bait, a variable, something which created that chance, the sought-after opportunity for the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-sect to pull in the dragnet.
But only then, in that battle of chaos, Ding Hao’s gains were also aplenty.
Notwithstanding, one drop of Baleful Devil White Ape’s blood caused Ding Hao’s power to increase. Those were riches that others wouldn’t have even dared to dream of.
Also, apart from that, battling with those real powerhouses had also allowed Ding Hao to ama.s.s large amounts of battle experience, especially that one wherein he had to cross swords with the expert from the Martial King Realm. That one especially had given him great gains, enough for him to chew on for a month or two.
And lastly, Ding Hao had also gained a great reputation.
The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect had originally created momentum for Ding Hao. That time, it even had capital in spreading its influence. Within a short period of time, almost all the superpowers in the Snow Province had caught wind of Ding Hao’s brilliant war victories. The expert, “Gold Kill Martial King”, from the Tranquility Academy’s Martial King Realm’s deeds of Baiquan, it was completely sufficient to let Ding Hao become the commanding military figure in the youthful generation of the entire Snow Province in a short period of time.
Aside from that, within half a month of the battle’s end, Ding Hao had consistently been secluded to refine himself in the Sword-hidden Peak, contemplating on his recent attainments.
…
The weather was bright and sunny on that day.
Ding Hao appeared on the gra.s.sy mounds on the top of the cliff at the Sword-hidden Peak.
The first inklings of sunrise beamed on Ding Hao’s body and he radiated with a golden glow.
Not far from the peak, a ma.s.sive lake appeared in the surrounding area, about ten miles away.
That was the big and deep ditch that Ding Hao had created when he unleashed the “Lei Guangdi Taoist Seal” as he was in pursuit of “Book”, “Sword” and “Painting”, those three great experts. Later, the ditch was filled with water by the river water in between the dense forests and it had actually transformed into a wondrous squarish lake. In the lake, a behemoth appeared, and there, fish began to breed and life was plentiful, forming a beautiful ecosystem and a miraculous sight at the Sword-hidden Peak.
Fat Cat Evil Moon was very interested in that lake.
Zhe Si would bring his own servant, the bald-headed w.a.n.g Feng for fun and games at the lake everyday.
It became the first and foremost in the surrounding few hundred miles, gathering a sizeable number of spiritual beasts as its little disciples. That place which was named the West Lake by Evil Moon had become his stronghold. The fat cat had actually created his own dwelling there, and would appear there most of the time.
Ding Hao did not inquire more on that, and he was happy to be discreet.
That fella Evil Moon, had an obstinate character. Personally, he liked evil things and at the moment, he had grown a pair of wings and was unparalleled in power. He had stirred up so much trouble in the whole of Swordsmans.h.i.+p-sect and that day, he had even gone to the Water Sword Peak to feast secretly on a guardian spiritual beast. Next, he was going to Divine Sword Peak to pluck off scores of spiritual gra.s.s that were hundreds of years old. The following day, he was planning on going again to Elixir Hall to eat some elixirs, as if he were chewing on edamame.
Almost the entire upper echelons of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-sect were hopping mad and swearing. If it hadn’t been for the face of Ding Hao, that upstart of the sect, they would have been able to arrest that plague, to later turn him into ashes.
If he became hooked onto West Lake, the instances where Evil Moon would cause tragedy to befall upon the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-sect’s various peaks would be lessened considerably, and Ding Hao wouldn’t have to clean up after that little devil’s actions.
Facing the sun, Ding Hao sat under the peach blossom tree by the edge of the cliff, cross-legged. He was doused in an orange flame that moved with a fanning motion, swelling and contracting in rhythm.
Vaguely visible, on Ding Hao’s body, there were thirty-seven golden light spots, which were distributed in various parts with strange trajectories, like twin stars. There was a mysterious connection between them. Every time they flashed, they would surround Ding Hao. The orange-yellow flame s.h.i.+eld would double and the breath would suddenly increase, and a golden light would slowly grow at the forefront of the thirty-seven golden light spots.
Finally, when the thirty-seven stars flashed for the last time, the golden light rushed, as if breaking through the bondage. Ding Hao’s body lit a star light spot once again.
The thirty-eight acupoints had been opened.
Ding Hao opened his eyes slowly and his handsome face revealed a satisfied smile.
That day, under the abdomen, his dantian had completely opened up a total of thirty-six points in the four meridians of the hand Shaoyin, Xiaoyang, Zu Shaoyin and Zuo Shaoyang, plus the hand yin in the twelve orthodox. The first point of the fifth pa.s.sage “Fish House”, the prison ice Xuanqi had reached a congenital Wu Zongjing.
He had also opened the middle dantian on his abdomen, opening the thirty-six acupoints of the Conception and Governing Meridians. Additionally, within the six miraculous veins, the third breaking out of the vessels vein’s first acupoint, the “Xuan Ji”, and the second acupoint, the “Right Opening”, had accomplished the level of the Heavenly Fire qi’s two-apertured primordial grandmaster.
After more than half a month of infusion training, Ding Hao had finally stood his ground in the realm of the primordial grandmaster.
What followed would be step after step of training at a sure pace, training in the acupoints and the meridians to consolidate both realms, continuing to depend on the advantage of the “Saintly Being of Saber and Sword” and hence, pus.h.i.+ng forward in that direction.
That was because he had consolidated his power very quickly in the past half a year, and had trained simultaneously in elixirs, inscriptions, and craftsmans.h.i.+p. Those three dao, Ding Hao decided not to pursue the uplifting of their realm single-mindedly, and to spend some time to consolidate his own knowledge in order to reach the primordial level thoroughly.
As for him, he had many trump cards and tactics up his sleeve.
Sword Comprehension and the Chinese word inscription, as well as relying on the Baleful Devil White Ape’s blood essence and the “Beast Transform”, those were trump cards that would be sufficient to do away with his opponents. Ding Hao needed to slow down his pace in training, to increase his battle experience, and to increase the clarity of the infusion of his magic skills in order to unleash their true power.
“Just lifting one’s fingers to count, it has been a month after the great examination of the nominal disciples. Today is the day when a new batch of disciples will take the entrance test. How quickly time flies!” Ding Hao rose up gradually and stood at the Sword-hidden peak looking down.
In the far distance, Ding Hao could see the crowds filling in the area where the lowly ranked disciples of the sect were. Thinking about how he had been taken the sect entrance test at that time of the year last year, Ding Hao could not help but feel a sense of disappointment.
“Gao Xue’er and the children of the slums district have already entered the entrance test, no? Who knows how they have fared? Let’s go and have a look.”
Ding Hao’s mind was moved, and in a flash, he turned his body and disappeared from where he stood.