Chapter 50 - 46 Mountain Shaking Five Elements
Translator: 549690339
Han Ye tightened his robe and stepped into the Great Hall.
He saw four Outer Sect disciples standing in the center of the Great Hall, heads bowed and ready to listen. Among them, he recognized Lin Shihuang, an offspring of the royal family of the Great Zhou. The other four were unfamiliar to him. They were not mediocre, though. Elder Gai stood in front of them, seemingly explaining something. His loud voice echoed through the hall.
Sister Shen, standing beside Elder Gai, spotted Han Ye and waved at him with a smile, gesturing for him to come over quickly.
Only after Han Ye approached did he clearly hear what Elder Gai was explaining.
“This ‘Hanshan Five Elements Gang’ is different from any other technique. There are no written instructions or physical carriers. It’s a divine power that needs to be comprehended. You all must remember it well as I will only demonstrate it once!”
“Han Ye, you boy, hurry over here.”
Elder Gai had evidently sensed Han Ye’s presence, turned around and called out with a gruff voice.
Han Ye dutifully stepped forward, nodded at Sister Shen, and then paid a bow to Elder Gai:
“Greetings, Master. I apologize for being late.”
“You’re not early nor late, just right on time. From now on, I will be demonstrating the ‘Hanshan Five Elements Gang’, and you should remember its principles.”
“Yes.”
Only then did Han Ye start to observe Elder Gai’s initiating move in earnest.
Elder Gai stood motionlessly, then suddenly struck out a fist. The movement was slow to fast, from visible to invisible. He explained as he attacked:
“This fist was comprehended from elements such as mountains, sun, moon, and plants by the first peak master of Pure Yang Peak over a hundred years of cultivation on a lofty mountainside. Day and night he trained in rain or shine, twilight or daylight. It is a top-tier divine power named Hanshan Five Elements Gang.”
As Elder Gai demonstrated the technique, a “Ferocious Fire Gang Qi” was projected from his fist, enveloping his body and forming a protective layer like an armor. The Qi scattered around like jet sprays, shooting him off the ground into the air.
“Once you have cultivated the Gang Qi, with the robust True Qi and magic power, its might will be even stronger. This is the Fire Gang among the Five Elements.”
The surrounding disciples longingly felt the turbulent airflow and the whistling sound from breaking the wind.
“Did you remember it?”
Elder Gai landed back on the ground, showing no emotions and asked.
The surrounding disciples looked puzzled and embarrassed, shaking their heads.
They genuinely could not see clearly, even though Elder Gai had intentionally slowed down.
Even Han Ye, who was exceptional in martial arts and had the ‘Unparalleled Fist Intent’ attribute, could only capture Elder Gai’s speed and a few moves.
It was impossible to replicate it without error.
He instantly realized the difficulty of this technique; mainly there were no written instructions or diagrams, one could only rely on comprehension.
Elder Gai, seeing that no one remembered the moves, shook his head in disappointment: “The reason I taught you the Hanshan Five Elements Gang’ in advance is for the Sect’s Big Competition at the end of the year. Pure Yang Peak’s ranking has been declining year by year, resulting in fewer cultivation resources allocated. If it keeps going like this, the disciples of the Sect will starve.”
“So, this is also for your good, understand?”
His voice echoed like thunder, as resounding as a giant gong.
“Disciples understand!”
The disciples’ spirits were shocked, and they all exclaimed aloud in unison.
Elder Gai entrusted Sister Shen Yuxiang standing next to him, “You take charge of the special training for these five people, including the demonstration of martial arts, comprehension of martial intent, and examinations every seven days until they master it.”
“Understood, Master.”
Sister Shen nodded slowly.
Elder Gai looked at the five people, spoke indifferently, “Remember what I said today: within half a year, the first one to grasp this technique will become a senior disciple of the Outer Sect.”
After he finished speaking, he promptly turned around and left.
As the Master’s oppressive presence receded, the other disciples finally dared to let out a sigh of relief.
“Sister Shen, is this Hanshan Five Elements Gang this difficult?”
Han Ye asked Sister Shen.
Sister Shen nodded, “Of course it is. Do you remember what I told you? There are three types of technique inheritance; paper-based, Jade Slip, and the ‘Hanshan Five Elements Gang’ belongs to the third kind. It doesn’t rely on written words but exists within the anomalies of nature and must be understood but not spoken of. Even our Pure Yang Peak’s founding patriarch happened to comprehend this technique while watching the sunset from the peak of a mountain, and few are able to learn it.”
“So, what level of mastery have you reached, Sister?”
Sister Shen revealed the “Azure Water Gang Qi” in her palm and chuckled.
“What do you think?”
“Alright…”
Han Ye smiled reluctantly, but for some reason, he felt the progress was too hurried.
As per his understanding, a divine power like ‘Hanshan Five Elements Gang’ should only be learned upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.
He, with the ‘Book-smelling Intelligence’, had barely grasped the ‘Supreme Limitless Skill’ over the last few days. Now, he was being asked to comprehend such a profound technique. The demands were indeed harsh.
“Concerned about something, master?”
Elder Sister Shen replied with a chuckle, “You’re thinking too much. Nothing really happened. It’s actually normal for our master to be anxious. Elder Yu from Ziwei Peak and our master have some unknown past between them, so they have to compete in the annual Sect Big Competition. Pure Yang Peak has been surpassed for years, it’s reasonable for our master to want to vent.”
“Ahh, okay.”
Han Ye finally understood.
Night.
Han Ye was cultivating in his room, drawing in Heavenly Earthly Spiritual Qi and transforming it into True Qi for his Dantian. To break through to the Pool Realm, he had to circulate plenty of Zhou’s Heaven, accumulating streams of True Qi, until it becomes as calm and steady as pond water.
He consumed a Qi Nurturing Pill that he bought earlier in the day. The Qi transformation process was quite smooth and fast.
The amount of True Qi in his body was skyrocketing; a single Qi Nurturing Pill could increase the Qi four or five times. The effect was remarkable. The only pity was there were very few Qi Nurturing Pills in one bottle, and he ran out very quickly.
He felt as if he was close to breaking into the Pool Realm, and if he had enough Qi Nurtifying Pills, he might be able to make a breakthrough.
But he was out of spirit stones.
Unfortunately, cultivating with the Triple Spirit Roots was too slow and he often hit bottlenecks, causing him to be later surpassed by others.
Hitting a bottleneck, Han Ye stopped cultivating and stood up to inspect the Spirit Gathering Grass in the pot he had planted for experimentation. Although only a few hours had passed, green sprouts had already emerged. It’s growing rather quickly.
“I haven’t harvested the spiritual medicine yet, and other spirit seeds are even more expensive. There’s just no way around it, I’ll have to accept a task tomorrow.”
Han Ye felt insecure without any spirit stones and to buy more spirit seeds, he needed more spirit stones.
Making money was the utmost priority.
So he decided to take on a task tomorrow.
The next day.
Early in the morning, the morning light was dim.
The disciples gathered in the Task Hall, all choosing tasks that suited them. Han Ye was no exception, he stood among a variety of tasks, selecting one that he could do.
All of these tasks were divided into different ranks.
Some tasks could only be done by Golden Core cultivators, while others were quite simple and could be completed by Qi Practitioners.
The variety of tasks is vast, ranging from hunting down demon heads who have smuggled themselves in, exterminating demon beasts causing trouble, and helping sect elders find their lost spirit pets, amongst others.
“There is often a voice in the Chamberlain’s house late at night, suspected to be caused by evil spirits. Please eliminate these spirits. Reward: two hundred lower-grade spirit stones, and ten assessment points. Suitable for Qi Practitioners.”
“This task looks simple, it suits me.”
Han Ye nodded his head, reached out to accept the task.
A delicate and small hand beat him to it, taking the task.
Damn it.
Who took my task?
While Han Ye was annoyed, a woman in a white skirt and a douli hat stood in front of him. Seeing this familiar figure, he was slightly stunned.
“Miss Chu, you’re here to take a task too?”
“What a coincidence, you too.”
The owner of the voice had snowy skin, and in her flowing white skirt, it was Chu Xianyu from Ziwei Peak.
She turned her head, recognized Han Ye, and nodded in greeting.
“Miss Chu, could you please let me have this task?”
Han Ye said very seriously.
“Why? Are you running out of money?”
Chu Xianyu was puzzled.
Han Ye sighed, “Yes, I’m very short of money. Extremely short.”
Seeing his situation, Chu Xianyu pondered for a moment and said, “Why don’t we work together to complete this task? You can have all the spirit stones. I just want an excuse to leave the mountain and avoid practicing swords, to avoid being nagged by the elders.”
“All this just to avoid sword practice?”
Han Ye paused for a moment before repeating the question.
“I also want to hang out with my friends.” Chu Xianyu replied with a soft smile.