My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

「The twenty-second day of the first month. Night.」

Liang Cheng ditched his firewood cart in the depths of a dark alley and changed into the gray uniform of a Servant Disciple. He smeared wet mud over the soot on his face, then grabbed a handful of grass ash from a corner and rubbed it into his hair. In an instant, he’d transformed into a grimy Servant Disciple.

He encountered two Martial Arts Academy enforcement patrols along the way. They brushed past him, no one sparing a second glance for a Servant Disciple. But the closer he got to the academy’s rear mountain, the tighter the security became.

Outside the small, bluestone courtyard housing the Alchemy Room, four Steward Disciples were unexpectedly standing watch for the night. With lanterns hanging high, Liang Cheng hid in the shadows of the trees over sixty yards away, observing.

’I can’t force my way in.’

Just as he was contemplating his next move, the courtyard gate suddenly opened.

Elder Huang emerged, draped in a grease-stained outer robe and carrying a chamber pot. He was grumbling, "A bunch of idiots! How’s a man supposed to relieve himself at night with all these bright lights?!"

He casually splashed the contents of the chamber pot toward a corner of the wall, and a few drops of the murky liquid splattered onto the boot of the nearest disciple. The disciple’s expression froze, but he didn’t dare react, only lowering his head and taking half a step back.

Elder Huang turned back into the courtyard. The gate gave a SQUEAK but wasn’t shut properly, leaving a gap about two fingers wide. An idea sparked in Liang Cheng’s eyes.

Ten breaths later, the sound of shattering porcelain came from Elder Huang’s room, followed by his furious roar, "Who broke my Cold Jade Cup?! Get in here!"

The four disciples exchanged glances, and finally two of them pushed the gate open and went inside.

In that instant, Liang Cheng pushed his Wandering Dragon Step to its limit. His toes tapped the ground silently as he slipped sideways through the gap in the gate, immediately ducking into the shadow of a woodpile inside the courtyard.

The two disciples who had entered were thoroughly chewed out by Elder Huang for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. They exited resentfully and shut the gate properly behind them.

Behind the woodpile, Liang Cheng held his breath and waited.

He waited until the yelling in the room faded and the light grew dim. Only then did he move silently to the window and tap the frame with his knuckles. Elder Huang’s hushed voice came from inside.

"Come in through the back window."

Liang Cheng went around to the back of the house. The back window was already propped open a crack. He vaulted inside, and the movement pulled at the wound on his back, causing him to let out a muffled groan.

A single lamp was lit in the room. Elder Huang sat on a broken wicker chair, his small eyes narrowed to slits in the dim yellow light, sizing him up.

"To be so badly injured and still sneak your way here," he sneered. "How’s a taste of the Flipping River Flood Dragon’s Profound Yin Sword Qi?"

"Thank you for your help, Elder Huang."

Liang Cheng cupped his fist in salute. ’He knew Elder Huang had done it on purpose. How else could it have been such a perfect coincidence?’

But Elder Huang just snorted. "Enough with the formalities. Let me see the wound."

Liang Cheng removed his outer shirt, revealing his back. The dark, bluish-black sword mark had already scabbed over. The external wound was nothing serious.

Elder Huang leaned in for a closer look, then placed his fingers on Liang Cheng’s wrist to check his pulse. "Kid, your Hard Skills are impressive. An ordinary person would have died long ago. The external wound is fine, but the Sword Qi has already invaded your organs. Wait another two days, and your very foundation will be damaged."

"Please save me, Elder Huang."

"I can save you." Elder Huang sat back in his chair, rubbing his fingers together. "But I don’t work for free. Two conditions: first, the treatment fee is ten thousand Contribution Points. You can pay me back later. Second—"

He paused, a flicker of fanaticism in his eyes. "You have to test a new elixir for me."

Liang Cheng’s pupils shrank. "What elixir?"

"A Transformation Formula for the Realm-Breaking Pill," Elder Huang said in a low voice. "After Wang Teng failed in his attempt to reach the True Qi Realm, I’ve been contemplating. A normal Realm-Breaking Pill is potent, but its medicinal nature is too fierce. Someone with slightly weaker Meridians wouldn’t be able to withstand it. I’ve altered a few of the secondary ingredients, making the elixir’s nature milder, but it requires a test subject with a resilient physique."

He looked at Liang Cheng. "Your Hard Skills are outstanding, and your physique is strong enough. Moreover, with the Profound Yin Sword Qi invading your body, ordinary methods to expel it would take at least half a month and could still damage your foundation.

However, if you use the medicinal power of this new Realm-Breaking formula to blast it, you can use one force to counter another. You could dissolve the Sword Qi within three days, and it might even help you advance your cultivation."

"And the risks?"

"No risks," Elder Huang said bluntly. "How could an elixir I refined with such care have any risks? You don’t trust me, kid? Then get out!"

Liang Cheng was silent for a moment. The footsteps of the patrolling disciples could be heard outside the window.

"Fine," he finally nodded. "But no Contribution Points. Just testing the elixir. How about it?"

Elder Huang raised an eyebrow. "The kid’s learned to haggle, has he? Fine. As long as the test is a success, forget the Contribution Points!"

And so, the deal was struck.

Without dawdling, Elder Huang stood up, retrieved a Red Jade Small Bottle from the depths of a medicine cabinet, and tipped out a longan-sized, pure white elixir.

As the elixir’s fragrance filled the air, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"Take it. Sit cross-legged and circulate your energy. When the medicinal power kicks in, it will feel like a cold tide flooding your body. Endure the first wave, then guide the medicinal power to strike the acupoints where the Sword Qi is concentrated."

Liang Cheng took the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp.

The elixir was cool as it went down his throat, but only for a moment. Three breaths later, an intensely cold energy exploded, shooting like a thousand ice needles through his meridians to every corner of his body!

He let out a muffled groan, and white frost instantly condensed on the surface of his skin. Even his breath came out as a cold mist. Elder Huang took three steps back, staring at him intently.

As the cold tide swept through him, it agitated the Profound Yin Sword Qi lingering in his organs and meridians. The two streams of cold energy crashed into each other like colliding glaciers, raging violently inside Liang Cheng’s body.

His entire body was wracked with excruciating pain!

Liang Cheng gritted his teeth so hard his gums began to bleed, but he didn’t make a sound. He sat cross-legged and centered himself, using the Broken Wave Technique’s Heart Method to guide the medicinal power. Like a great tide, he sent it crashing against the major acupoints where the Sword Qi was lodged.

First, the Danzhong Acupoint. Breached!

The medicinal power enveloped the bluish-black Sword Qi, forcibly expelling a third of it.

Second, the Qi Sea Acupoint. Breached again!

Cold sweat froze into ice crystals before it could even form on his skin. Liang Cheng trembled violently, but his eyes grew brighter. He could feel his meridians undergoing a brutal tempering from the clash between the two frigid energies.

It was like cold iron being forged, the dross burned away to leave only the pure essence.

The final point: the Mingmen Acupoint!

SPURT!

He spat out a mouthful of black blood laced with tiny shards of ice. The flow of Qi Blood in his body instantly cleared, and the speed at which his Broken Wave Technique circulated abruptly increased by a third.

The medicinal power and the Sword Qi wore each other down, eventually transforming into a cool stream of energy that dispersed throughout his entire body. The white frost on his skin gradually melted, and his breathing became steady.

Elder Huang’s eyes lit up. "It worked!"

When Liang Cheng opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashed within their depths.

[Broken Wave Technique First Layer: Great Success (21/6000)]

[Stone Armor Skill (Copper Armor): Beginner Level (320/500)]

[Wandering Dragon Step: Great Success (280/3000)]

’Even my Copper Armor Realm, which I haven’t been able to practice without the right resources, has improved this much. The elixir’s effect is terrifyingly potent!’

When Elder Huang saw him open his eyes, he quickly asked, "How do you feel?"

Liang Cheng rolled his shoulders. His movements were fluid and unrestricted. The cold, stagnant sensation within his body had vanished, and his Qi Blood flowed freely once more.

"I’m fully recovered. In fact, I feel even better than before," he said, looking at Elder Huang with gratitude. "Thank you, Elder Huang."

Elder Huang waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t thank me yet. The elixir’s effects will last for three days. During this time, your Qi Blood will be exceptionally active. It’s a golden window for cultivation."

"Elder Huang, could you let me hide here for a while?"

"Smart kid. The Martial Arts Academy is searching for you everywhere. Chen Bainian’s three warehouses were burned down last night. It’s being passed off as revenge from the Sea Bandits. You’re certainly keeping your composure."

Liang Cheng’s eyes turned cold. "What about Landlord Chen?"

"He’s dead. When the Flipping River Flood Dragon makes a move, who else could have survived besides you?" Elder Huang said with a dismissive curl of his lip. "When your master, Yang Wei, got the news, he immediately took his Martial Arts Hall disciples to the Martial Arts Academy. He’s protecting Chen Bainian’s family now. He’s a decent fellow."

Liang Cheng fell silent, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. ’Chen Bainian was one of his closest friends. But even if he wanted to settle the score, he first needed to get stronger and wait for the right moment.’

’I’m in the shadows now. I can’t be rash.’

...

「That same night, in a secret chamber of the Xu Mansion.」

Xu Zhang looked at the secret report he had just received, his expression grim.

"Ten miles north of Three Bays, we found signs of life. There were bloodstains in a reef cave, and also this."

The spy handed over a torn strip of cloth. Its edge was stained with a bluish-black medicinal paste. Xu Zhang took the cloth strip and brought it closer to the lamp to examine it carefully.

"He’s still alive."

Xu Zhi stood to the side. "Father, should we send more men to hunt him down?"

"Hunt him? How?" Xu Zhang sneered. "The Martial Arts Academy has a ten-thousand-point bounty out for him. The entire city has its eyes peeled. If we make a big move now, do you think we won’t attract enough suspicion?"

He tossed the strip of cloth into the brazier. "Tell the Flipping River Flood Dragon his sword strike didn’t kill the man. We’re withholding half the final payment. And have him send a few of his best men to watch all the apothecaries and clinics near the Martial Arts Academy. He’s seriously injured; he’ll have to seek treatment."

"Yes."

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