Daqian Martial Saint

Amid the hustle and bustle of Weishui County City, Chen Ping'an, with Chen Erya in tow, finally arrived.

Their party of more than twenty people caused quite a stir, naturally drawing the constables guarding Weishui County City to question them.

Seeing this, Chen Ping'an remained comfortably seated in his carriage, not bothering to show his face. One of his subordinates stepped forward, presented a token, and announced his identity.

"How audacious! This is the carriage of the Outer Trade Road Patrol Envoy, Commander Chen. How dare you obstruct it?"

"We were blind to your greatness! Please, Your Excellency, forgive us!"

These constables, guarding the gates of Weishui County City, had seen countless honored guests come and go. They were naturally sharp and clever.

After confirming the token's authenticity, the head of the city gate's Inspectorate stepped forward to apologize. With a grand wave of his hand, he had the constables shout in unison.

"Welcome, Commander Chen, to the city!"

The commotion was considerable, causing the crowds queued up to enter the city to turn their heads and stare.

"What's with all the commotion? Who is that!?"

"Seems like some Commander-in-Chief is returning to the city!"

"Commander-in-Chief? If I remember correctly, a commander from one of the county's smaller cities is just a commander in name only. Within the County City's hierarchy, they'd just be at the level of a reserve or deputy, right?"

"You're talking about the small cities within the county! An Inspection Envoy is a different matter! The trade routes are tied to immense fortunes. Even an Outer Patrol Envoy holds a rank equivalent to a Commander-in-Chief! A true regional giant!"

"A rank equivalent to a Commander-in-Chief... Outside the County City, that's a bonafide Governor! Even within the County City, a post of that level makes you a giant! No wonder those constables are all scrambling to suck up!"

"..."

The surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion. Under their gazes of awe and respect, Chen Ping'an entered Weishui County City.

"Mang Blade Chen Ping'an has entered the city? Quick! Go report it!"

"Weishui's number one prodigy has entered the city! Report it, quickly!"

At almost the exact moment Chen Ping'an entered the city, spies from the various houses quickly sent the news back.

After entering Weishui County City, Chen Ping'an had no intention of going directly to the Weishui Garrison. At his signal, the group found a rather high-end inn with a private courtyard and settled in.

With his current status, staying at such an inn was perfectly normal. Chen Ping'an himself didn't care, but since the little lass had returned with him this time, he naturally didn't want her to be lacking for anything.

'Since I have the means, why be all fussy and not enjoy it!?'

...

"Why is it still Mang Blade!?"

Looking at the latest issue of the Rising Star Chart, the corner of Chen Ping'an's mouth twitched slightly.

In front of him was a booklet recording the rankings of the Rising Star Chart, open to the page detailing his achievements.

"Chen Ping'an, Third Stage of Inner Qi, Celestial Rain Descending Realm Perfection, has cultivated several superior cultivation methods...

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of intelligence, he can be ranked twenty-first on the Rising Star Chart!

This person acts with reckless abandon. Based on his characteristic behavior and cultivation technique, he is called Mang Blade!

Furthermore, because he has cultivated Horizontal Training in Hard Skills and the Great Vajra Palm, he can also be called Mang Vajra."

'What a crappy list! It's completely self-contradictory. It already said both my blade and sword techniques have reached Perfection and that I have Dual Mastery of Blade and Sword. So why did they still stick me with the name Mang Blade!?

'You could have just called me 'Blade'! Why did you have to add 'Mang'? What's so 'mang' about anything!? When have I ever been reckless?

'Everything I do is carefully planned out! This is total bullshit! I'm so pissed!'

Although the direction of his recent cultivation had taken a strange turn, Chen Ping'an still yearned for a more refined image, like that of a peerless young master, elegant as jade.

For example, a name like Yu Mian Meng Chang, Young Master Taying, or Heartless Sword Master.

'Aren't all of those perfectly good names!? But no, they had to pick Mang Blade!'

Chen Ping'an stayed in his room, fuming for a long while, but in the end, he gloomily accepted the fact.

'So depressing...'

Although the title on the Rising Star Chart made him quite unhappy, it wasn't as if nothing good had happened.

Just yesterday, before entering the city, after days of arduous cultivation, his Divine Skill Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger had advanced further, entering the Minor Achievement Realm!

A light flashed in Chen Ping'an's eyes, and a Golden Finger Panel appeared in the empty space before him, with several lines of text floating on it.

Name: Chen Ping'an

Realm: Profound Light - Profound Light Penetrating Objects

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt Perfection, Flying Locust Stone Perfection, Public Door Thirteen Sabers Perfection, Thirteen Grand Protectors' Horizontal Training Perfection, Golden Bell Shield Perfection, Gale Blade Technique Perfection, Eight Steps Chasing Cicada Perfection, Flying Star Swordsmanship Perfection, Great Vajra Palm Perfection, Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill Great Success (368/1600), Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger Minor Achievement (12/640)

...

'Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger, Minor Achievement!'

A bright light shot out from Chen Ping'an's eyes, hinting at his excitement.

After entering the Minor Achievement Realm, various insights and mysteries welled up from the bottom of his heart. He had naturally mastered one of the great killing techniques of this Divine Skill Finger Technique! The Xunfeng Finger!

When using the Xunfeng Finger, the fingertip produces a strong and sharp Wind Qi. Even if the opponent has thick Protective True Qi and has also cultivated Horizontal Training in Hard Skills, they cannot block this finger.

The Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger specialized in breaking Hard Skills! And the Xunfeng Finger was the greatest embodiment of this specialty.

It was worth noting that the Wind Qi produced at his fingertip could be made long or short, large or small. This meant that, if Chen Ping'an wished, he could point from the air and defeat an enemy several dozen zhang away!

Of course, in terms of the Xunfeng Finger's power, the activated Wind Qi was most effective when the distance between him and his target was no more than ten zhang. Beyond that, its power would progressively diminish.

Furthermore, if the Xunfeng Finger struck an opponent's body directly, the unleashed Wind Qi could penetrate their major meridians. If the opponent's True Qi foundation was weak and couldn't neutralize the Wind Qi, the only outcome awaiting them would be their heart meridians rupturing completely.

With his Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger reaching Minor Achievement and with this killing technique in his arsenal, Chen Ping'an's Power of Slaughter had skyrocketed.

It wasn't just his Power of Slaughter. As this Finger Technique Divine Skill broke through, Chen Ping'an's True Qi became even more abundant, and faint cracks had begun to appear on the Seed of Profound Light between his eyebrows.

This was a sign that the Profound Light had reached its ultimate brilliance. When the cracks gradually formed, the Seed of Profound Light shattered, and a Spiritual Flower was born, it would represent the achievement of the Jade Balance Realm, a symbol of a Grandmaster!

Of course, taking this step was extremely dangerous. Both the shattering of the Seed of Profound Light and the birth of the Spiritual Flower were incredibly difficult. The slightest mistake could be life-threatening. Throughout history, countless astonishingly talented individuals had been stuck before this step!

The reason a Grandmaster was called a Grandmaster was that, to a certain extent, they were the culmination of the Martial Dao!

The faint cracks appearing on Chen Ping'an's Seed of Profound Light represented that he had already taken a large, solid step forward in the realm of Profound Light Penetrating Objects.

It could be said that, based solely on his Martial Arts Realm and cultivation technique foundation, his combat power was already approaching the top level!

If he were to fully activate his Vajra Unbreakable Divine Skill, supplemented by the Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger, he could absolutely kill a peak-level expert at their full strength!

After the breakthrough of his Three-Point Human Tribulation Finger, Chen Ping'an himself wasn't sure exactly what level his combat power had reached.

Without having personally experienced the combat power of a true master and lacking a practical record to compare against, he couldn't make a good judgment.

But one thing was certain: if he went all out, he would be no weaker than any top-tier expert!

Perhaps even...

Chen Ping'an reached out, placed his hand on the booklet, and turned past his own page, flipping toward the front.

'The Dragon and Tiger Chart! I wonder... just how powerful are the experts on that list?'